Chapter 529: What the Blacks Give Away, They Never Take Back
Chapter 529: What the Blacks Give Away, They Never Take Back
A Christmas gift?"
This time, it was Kyle's turn to be baffled.
"What did you just say?" he asked involuntarily again.
"Is that hard to understand?" Sirius chuckled, "Didn't you find it strange yesterday? Why didn't you receive the Christmas gift I sent you?"
"I did." Kyle said, "Isn't it the Fire Crossbow? It even helped me pass the first task of the Triwizard Tournament."
"No, no, no," Sirius said, "That was a gift for your initiation as a Warrior."
"This is the property of the Black family." Sirius continued, "But now it belongs to me, and I can dispose of it as I wish."
"Never mind." Kyle waved his hand, "The Fire Crossbow is already a generous gift. I'd rather not accept a shop on top of that, I'm not that greedy."
Kyle had no idea how much it would cost to buy a shop in Diagon Alley, but he was sure it wouldn't be less than a few thousand galleons. If the shop was spacious, it could even cost as much as ten thousand.
This gift was too extravagant, and Kyle didn't feel comfortable accepting it.
"That won't do." Sirius said seriously, "You've helped me so many times, I..."
"Stop right there." Kyle interrupted, "It was Professor Dumbledore who helped you. Whether it was defending you at the Ministry or going to the cave to rescue Regulus, he was the one who did the most. I was just watching from the sidelines."
"You're wrong." Sirius shook his head.
Perhaps feeling tired from standing, he pulled Kyle towards Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlor, ordered two hazelnut peanut ice creams, and sat down at a small table by the door.
"Or perhaps you're underestimating your own contribution." Sirius handed one of the ice creams to Kyle and continued, "Let's talk about my situation first. To be honest, I had already prepared to flee, but you turned things around."
"With the help of Peter Pettigrew, you could always clear your name." Kyle said.
"That's the most interesting part."
Sirius gazed at the bustling crowd on the street, "I had a chat with Professor Dumbledore, and he told me that even with Peter and all the evidence laid out, Fudge would have a hard time delivering justice for me.
"This is a scandal for the Ministry, and he might even go as far as killing Peter to save face."
"But Fudge didn't do that." Kyle said.
"That's because of what you said, which made Fudge realize he could extricate himself from the situation." Sirius said solemnly, "Remember your words? 'If you had been the Minister at the time, such a mistake would never have happened.' It was that sentence that instantly changed Fudge's attitude.
"And Professor Dumbledore also said that neither he nor I would ever have thought of that sentence, and I agree.
"In other words, you paved a path for us, and we just had to walk down it."
Sirius took a big bite of his ice cream, licked his lips, and continued, "And then there's Regulus...
"You found the Slytherin locket, and only then did we learn about his past from Kreacher.
"If you hadn't discovered that locket, I probably would have thrown it away as trash, and none of what followed would have happened. As you know, Kreacher and I weren't exactly on good terms back then.
Oh, and at the cliff, it was you who summoned Professor Dumbledore. I remember you used a precious phoenix tail feather... That's something used for life-saving purposes, worth more than a couple of shops."
"Well... You might not know this." Kyle explained, "I have a good relationship with Fawkes. Yesterday, on Christmas, he gave me another one."
But Sirius acted as if he hadn't heard a word.
"Please accept this." he said, ignoring Kyle's explanation, "Because of you, I can stand in the sunlight again, and Regulus could finally go home... I don't know how to express my gratitude, and this is the best way Lupin and I could think of.
"After all, Regulus was my parents' favorite child. I should express my gratitude on their behalf."
Though he said so, Kyle still felt that it was a bit too much. This unexpected windfall was too large, and he felt a bit dazed.
Additionally, Kyle had never thought about opening a shop in Diagon Alley after graduation.
However, Sirius seemed to have already made up his mind.
"This is the magical contract for the shop. It's yours now." He took out a piece of parchment and slapped it on the table. "If you don't want it, just throw it away. I will never take it back.
"Just like my uncle once told me, what the Blacks give away, they never take back."
"But weren't you disowned by the Black family?" Kyle said in a low voice.
Just as Sirius had started to put on airs of a pure-blood family, he was immediately knocked back down.
He looked a bit flustered.
"Regardless, I can represent the Black family in this matter."
Kyle shook his head and picked up the parchment from the table to examine it.
There was only an address on it: Diagon Alley, Number 31.
Below it was a complex magical rune. Just by holding it, Kyle could faintly sense the location of the shop.
"You can take it back first. We can discuss the shop again after I graduate."
Kyle handed the parchment back, but Sirius ignored it and refused to take it.
Just as the two were at a stalemate, Kyle inadvertently glanced at a copy of the Daily Prophet in a passerby's hand.
A large photo on the front page immediately caught his attention.
Kyle stood up and walked over. "Hello, may I take a look at your newspaper?"
The wizard was startled by Kyle's sudden appearance, but after he recovered, he handed over the newspaper. "Oh, sure. Take it. I'm done reading it anyway."
"Thanks." Kyle took the newspaper.
"What is it?" Sirius asked, moving closer.
Without a word, Kyle opened the newspaper and quickly scanned the article on the front page. He then pointed to a paragraph and frowned. "Hagrid might be in trouble."
Sirius instinctively looked over.
"We can exclusively reveal that Professor Hagrid's mother is none other than the giantess Friddlewava, whose whereabouts are currently unknown.
Giants are known for their bloodthirsty and violent nature. We do not know if he has inherited these traits, and whether Headmaster Dumbledore of Hogwarts has informed the students and their parents about this."
"Wait a minute!" Sirius exclaimed. "You don't mean to say that Hagrid is a half-giant?"
"That's for sure," Kyle said. "Normal wizards don't grow to be over three meters tall. But the problem is, guessing and having it pointed out are two different things. Hagrid's behavior at Hogwarts has never shown any signs of bloodthirst or violence, and many people even like him. But now..."
Hearing Kyle's words, Sirius also realized the seriousness of the situation.
After all, he had the best example right beside him—Remus Lupin.
For an entire year, Lupin had been one of the most popular professors at Hogwarts, but when his werewolf identity was revealed... Even though the school year had passed without incident, he still had to resign and leave.
This stemmed from the fear of werewolves that was deeply rooted in people's minds, and it couldn't be changed.
And a half-giant... To be honest, while this identity might not be as frightening as a werewolf, it was still pretty bad.
All wizards knew that giants had once joined forces with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, and they were also synonymous with brutality.
"What should we do now?" Sirius asked.
"I don't know," Kyle said, crumpling the newspaper into his robe pocket. "Let's head back to Hogwarts first and ask Hagrid about it."
"Okay!"
Sirius immediately stood up and, along with Kyle, quickly made their way toward the Leaky Cauldron.
(End of Chapter)
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