Chapter 977: I Just Want to Create a Horcrux
Chapter 977: I Just Want to Create a Horcrux
To celebrate the children's graduation from Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley prepared a grand feast.
She invited many people, including Sirius, Cedric who lived on the other side of the village, and the Lovegood family.
Even before the dinner started, Hermione's family arrived.
Mr. Granger, Hermione's father, drove into the village of St. Cattermole, filled with curiosity.
Although he had been to Diagon Alley and King's Cross Station, famous wizarding attractions, this was his first time visiting a village inhabited by wizards.
Especially after seeing the Burrow, with its crooked architecture that even building blocks couldn't replicate, Mr. Granger was left in a daze.
He blinked in bewilderment and looked at Mr. Weasley, who was stroking his car.
"I heard there are non-wizards living here. Don't they find this place strange?"
As he spoke, his gaze subconsciously fell on another house not far away.
From his current angle, that house looked completely normal.
There was no crooked loft as if glued on, nor any bizarrely shaped roof. It was so normal that it didn't resemble a wizard's residence at all.
"Don't worry, there's a Muggle-Repelling Charm on all wizarding residences, so they can't see it," Mr. Weasley said without turning his head. "Oh, this car is fantastic. Can it fly?"
Mr. Granger was still recovering from his previous surprise when he was stunned again.
He was driving a car, not a plane, so how could it possibly...
"I used to have a flying car, but it was left in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts."
This statement caused Mr. Granger's brain to pause slightly, but soon he remembered that Hermione had mentioned this to him before. She had told him that her classmate had missed the train and eventually gone to Hogwarts in a flying car.
But that was many years ago.
As the adults chatted, Hermione ran off to find Sirius.
The Burrow had never been so lively, with nearly twenty wizards and a Muggle, making the garden feel a bit crowded.
But everyone was happy, especially Mr. Granger, who wanted to stay overnight if not for the limited space in the Burrow.
After dinner, the group dispersed in the garden.
Mr. Weasley watched the car drive away from the village with longing eyes, while Harry left the Burrow with Sirius and returned to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.
Kyle, whose home was the closest, lived next door.
He had been waiting for Sirius to come and ask for Snape's address, but several days had passed without his arrival.
Instead, Snape took the initiative and found Sirius, who was preparing to open a shop in Diagon Alley.
After receiving a message from Lupin, Kyle didn't hesitate and immediately came to Grimmauld Place.
Although Voldemort was defeated, the magical protection here remained, so Kyle could only Apparate to a nearby abandoned phone booth.
When he emerged, there were already several familiar faces nearby.
Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, George...
His father, Chris, was also there, talking to Mr. Weasley.
"What's going on!" Kyle hurried over. "Why are you all outside? Did something happen inside?"
"I don't know," Fred frowned. "Someone locked the door, and none of us can get in. We can only wait here."
"It was Sirius..."
The group looked at Lupin.
"You mean Sirius locked the door to prevent Snape from escaping?" Fred's voice was filled with excitement.
George even pressed his face against the window next to the door, trying to catch a glimpse of the situation inside. But even with his features almost squished together, he saw nothing.
"I don't know if it's to trap Snape..." Lupin sighed. "I intended to stay, but Sirius insisted I leave."
"They wouldn't have fought, would they?" Fred suddenly looked up.
"Why do you say that?"
"Well..." He analyzed seriously. "By not involving Remus, it seems that Snape's identity is no longer that of a Death Eater. If he were killed, the Aurors would surely come, right?"
As he spoke, he suddenly looked at Tonks and Kingsley, who were among the group.
It seemed convenient that they were both Aurors. Once the battle inside ended, the Aurors could immediately make an arrest without any delay.
Kingsley was also conflicted.
Fred was right; Snape was no longer a Death Eater, and killing him would definitely violate the Wizardry Law.
Moreover, Snape was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, a hidden hero—or half-hero—who had passed on many messages for them.
And Sirius was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
If they really fought, which side should he support?
Or perhaps he should stay neutral.
Kingsley stood there, torn.
But Tonks didn't have such concerns. Being related to the Black family and with Remus being Sirius' best friend, she would firmly stand by Sirius' side, even if Snape was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix.
He began to consider how he could naturally stall Kingsley to buy Sirius some time to escape.
Kyle was also deep in thought, but his thoughts were the opposite of Tonks'. He wondered if Snape's capture would affect Conna.
Probably not, since Conna didn't come with them.
Additionally, since Snape chose to come here, he wouldn't be foolish enough to kill Sirius here. Even if a fight broke out, he would likely choose to flee rather than fight Sirius.
"Wait, you don't believe his nonsense, do you...?" Remus quickly spoke up, seeing that both Kingsley and Tonks, the two Aurors, were deep in thought. "I think Sirius just has something to say to Snape...
"After all, if he really wanted to fight Snape, he wouldn't have left Harry behind, right?"
Only then did everyone realize that Harry was also in the room.
"Why didn't you tell us earlier..."
Fred and George's faces fell in disappointment, while Kingsley let out a slight sigh of relief.
"Sorry, I just noticed it myself," Remus said with a slight smirk.
"Are you staying here, or going back to the Ministry? I think we don't need this many people anymore."
"Forget it, we're already here, might as well wait," Kyle spoke up first.
These days, Kyle had been very relaxed. He didn't have to worry about Voldemort suddenly appearing and attacking him with a wand, and he didn't have to teach classes. Hagrid was taking care of the dragons, and Vandar Rozier was fully in charge of the Horcrux matter... Kyle was completely free.
These days, Kyle had been busy with another task at home, occasionally taking walks in Diagon Alley.
By the way, his shop had been closed for a while during the peak of the Death Eaters' activities.
But now it was reopened, and Dobby had already finished his part-time work and returned to Newt. The new employee was someone Kyle found from the Hogwarts kitchen.
House-elves usually wouldn't leave the families they served easily, as this was considered betrayal in their culture. However, thanks to Kyle's identity as a Hogwarts professor, the elves agreed without any hesitation.
Last night, when this topic came up, Hermione was particularly interested.
After graduation, Hermione restarted the House-Elf Welfare Society, but this time, her focus had changed.
She no longer forced house-elves to demand payment, but instead wrote an article about how wizards should treat house-elves kindly.
The so-called payment was no longer Sickles or Galleons but instead more abundant food and handy tools.
Well, although this article could only be seen in The Daily Prophet, she was said to have received several letters.
Half of them cursed her, but the other half affirmed her views.
This greatly encouraged Hermione, as she now had supporters, unlike at Hogwarts, where everyone opposed her.
Kyle blinked and stopped thinking about these things.
After a simple discussion, everyone waited outside, listening carefully to the room. Some even took out their wands, ready to break in at the first sound.
But the room remained silent throughout, and even the Weasleys' Extendable Ears didn't pick up any sound.
After an unknown amount of time, the door was suddenly opened from the inside.
George, who was eavesdropping by leaning against the door, stumbled and firmly collided with Snape's arms.
At this moment, it seemed even the wind had stopped.
After a heart-wrenching silence, George was the first to react. Before Snape could swing his arm, George bent down and pretended to be nonchalant, picking up his arm and cloak and walking away without looking back.
"Oh, here it is, no wonder I couldn't find it. I need to check if it's broken..." He said some incomparable words and quickly disappeared into the other end of the corridor.
Snape's face turned ashen. Despite the crowd outside, he remained silent, letting out a cold huff before vanishing on the spot.
"Using Apparition in front of all these people, in a place where Muggles could see?" Tonks disliked Snape, and she still did not like him now. She deliberately spoke loudly to ensure Kingsley could hear her clearly.
Kingsley did hear her, but he chose to feign ignorance.
Apparition was not a big deal, even if Muggles had witnessed it. The Reverse Occasional Events Team could resolve it in an instant.
Moreover, there were no Muggles on this street anymore.
Concerned about a potential altercation, Kingsley had evacuated all nearby Muggles twenty minutes earlier and cast Muggle-Repelling Charms in the area.
A decade ago, Sirius and Peter Pettigrew's chase had destroyed an entire Muggle street.
He did not want a repeat of that incident.
However, this situation benefited Snape, as no Muggle had witnessed his Apparition.
Tonks muttered something under her breath, seemingly complaining about someone's dereliction of duty and abuse of power.
Kingsley continued to act as if he hadn't heard.
"You..." Sirius stood at the door, gazing at the crowd outside. For a moment, he was at a loss for words, and it took him a while to stammer, "I didn't expect... Come in and have a seat."
"No, thanks," Kingsley shook his head. "I have other matters to attend to. Maybe next time."
With that, he Apparated away.
Along with him were Tonks, an Auror like himself, and Mr. Weasley and Chris, who had not yet finished their work.
They had rushed over upon receiving the news, and now that the situation was under control, they naturally wanted to return to work as soon as possible.
However, Kyle stayed behind, as he had something to discuss with Sirius.
The two of them entered the house, and sure enough, Harry was there.
Unaware of what had transpired between them and Snape, Harry was sitting in the foyer, lost in thought, and he didn't even notice the arrival of the others.
"He... um..." Sirius looked at Kyle, wanting to explain but seeming to have some reservations.
"It's fine, you don't need to explain to me. I can guess," Kyle said.
Snape had come to see Sirius... or rather, he had come to see Harry because of Lily Evans.
As for what they had said, Kyle didn't know and wasn't interested.
Fred and George also stayed behind, and they were trying to cheer Harry up in their own way... George lit a Weasley's Wizard Wheezes firework and slipped it into Harry's shoe.
A few seconds later, flames shot out from Harry's feet, and he soared into the air like a rocket.
In an instant, he snapped out of his daze, screaming as he crashed around the room.
"Sorry, Sirius," Fred said with a grin. "We just thought Harry should cheer up a bit."
"And don't worry, our Weasley's Wizard Wheezes fireworks are thoroughly tested and guaranteed safe..."
Before he could finish, Harry drifted in mid-air and collided with a moth-eaten velvet cloth.
"Mudblood, Black family's disgrace..."
Mrs. Black's screams echoed through the house.
"Well... there might be a slight hiccup," George said sheepishly. "But Harry definitely isn't moping anymore."
"Okay," Sirius rubbed his forehead, tacitly approving of their actions.
He also wanted Harry to shift his focus quickly.
Fred and George's method seemed a bit unreliable, but from a certain perspective, it was indeed effective. He decided to let them be.
After that, Sirius led Kyle to the basement.
"I received your letter last night," Sirius said as they walked. "You asked me to help you find books related to soul magic, but I haven't had the chance to look yet. Snape's arrival was quite untimely."
"It's fine. As long as you agree to let me borrow from the Black family's private library, that's all I need," Kyle said.
"Of course, feel free to use it. You can even take all the books if you want," Sirius replied without hesitation. "But what are you doing with soul magic? Just so you know, most of those are Dark Arts, so it's better to minimize your exposure."
"It's nothing," Kyle said. "I just want to try making a Horcrux."
...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
