To be honest, Armostat's evaluation is a bit harsh. It is true that Sirius' discovery was an accident. Who could have imagined that Featherquill would fear punishment and therefore entrust Lupin to convey that he had not found the living map, thus leading Lupin to discover the clue.
For a moment, Sirius indeed wanted to defend himself with a few words, but after a brief hesitation, he suppressed his impulse and unexpectedly nodded at Ammosta instead.
"In any case, Ammosta, I must thank you."
To a Slytherin-born guy, the words sounded almost unimaginable to Sirius, who was used to the idea. But the past twelve years' experience, along with the pleasant memories of rejoining Lupin's life recently, had indeed prompted some changes in his thinking.
"You helped me get into Hogwarts... and your words did give me some inspiration."
Amostat was a bit at a loss for how to respond to Sirius's angry expression, which had been accompanied by a fierce glare just a few words before. Fortunately, Remus, who was smiling as he watched the scene unfold, stepped forward in time to prevent any further misunderstandings.
"In this celebratory moment, I believe we should have a proper feast. Oh... it's been many years since I last celebrated Christmas in earnest, and this time it just so happens that I'm in Hogwarts, coincidentally, for a transformation."
Lupin was in high spirits, pointing to the mess on the kitchen counter.
"We can work together to prepare a sumptuous dinner for ourselves!"
"A splendid idea—"
Sirius immediately brightened up, jumping down the last step of the staircase, and joyfully rushing to the kitchen counter.
"But the problem is, Remus, I and you might not be very good at turning ingredients into edible food. Oh, well, maybe I can bring Chopper down to help us, and we'll just watch him closely so he can't cause any more trouble!"
"No need to trouble that old, decrepit house-elf--"
The candlesticks on the table cast a soft glow, warming up the cold-toned great kitchen. Watching the two middle-aged men chatting and laughing, Ammosta shook his head and smiled. In this moment, he truly didn't feel like being too picky.
Amostat hung his coat on the back of the chair, and his wand automatically jumped into his hand as he waved it lightly towards the kitchen counter. After washing the potatoes and putting them in a row, they automatically peeled themselves by following a neat line. Then, they lined up under the blade and were cut into thin slices one by one. As they shone with a dazzling light, uniform potato slices were flying into a new plate.
The flames rising from the stove were occasionally emitting a thick smoke, and several steaks flew into the iron plate. Sizzle sound accompanied by the light aroma spreading throughout the kitchen.
"Isn't this astonishing, Ammosta?"
Looking at the orderly kitchen, Lupin expressed both surprise and admiration,
"I didn't expect you to be good at this?"
"It's a personal preference," Ammosta said lazily.
"I remember my father's room has some of his collected Scottish whisky. I'll go find it!"
This warm scene was especially rare for Sirius, who burst into great enthusiasm. He rushed up the stairs quickly after uttering a few words, his steps echoing in the quiet house.
This was a long overdue reunion of old friends, twelve years in the making. The cheerful atmosphere filled the kitchen, and throughout the dinner, no one mentioned anything about Peter. Lupin and Sirius shared some humorous stories from their school days, of course, always avoiding any mention of Professor Snape.
And Ammostat also shared some funny stories from his Hogwarts days. Moreover, Sirius and Lupin were both interested in theHalf-Blood Prince that caused much panic in the castle last year, so he also shared some with them.
"No wonder he's James's son."
When Amostat mentioned that night when Harry and Ron, without any professor accompanying them, directly rushed into the washroom to save Ginny, Sirius was immediately enthusiastic and praising. But soon after, the smile on his face faded away as he said gloomily.
"If it hadn't been for... I might have been able to invite Harry and his friends to join this feast."
"There will be a chance, Sirius..."
Lupin said gently,
"I remember you're still Harry's godfather, when the summer vacation comes... I believe everything will be over by then. You can invite Harry to stay here for a few days then... Oh, there's the Quidditch World Cup during the summer vacation--"
"Good idea, Lupin!"
Sirius's smile was radiant, almost restoring him to the dashing and charming young man he had been in his youth.
"We can go together then!"
"Ladies and gentlemen, before you look forward to a brighter future--"
A little tired after the journey, Ammostat rubbed his forehead and stood up.
"Could someone help me clean up a bit?"
"It's okay, Amostta--"
With too much wine, Sirius's courage grew, and he put his arm around Ammostat's shoulder, slurring his words.
"This little job is more than enough for Chopper to handle--"
As he spoke, Sirius turned to yell at the ceiling, but unfortunately, after a few growls, there was still no sign of Chopper in the kitchen.
"Oh, what's wrong?"
Sirius was angry and about to go up the stairs, but he was stopped by Lupin.
"Clearly, it's pretending not to hear, Sirius--"
"House-elves dare to defy their masters' orders?"
Ammosta also expressed his astonishment with a sound of wonder.
"Actually, when we first entered the house, he dared not openly ignore Sirius' orders."
Lupin said helplessly,
"Later, when we started to disturb the cleanliness of the house, you know, Ammosta, there's a lot that needs to be dealt with in this old house that might have been around for centuries. Sirius suggested throwing away some useless things in the house, and that thoroughly enraged Chopper."
He would ignore Sirius' orders under various pretexts, not appear in front of us, and sneak around us when we weren't paying attention, hiding the worthless items and valuable antiques in the house to prevent Sirius from throwing them away."
"I bet--"
Sirius pointed to the cupboard a few steps away and coldly said,
"That's where Chopper usually sleeps, and I bet it's filled with things that are supposed to 'show the noble heritage of the Black family,' but are probably worthless."
"Oh, that's not very good--"
Amostta furrowed his brow.
"Neither of you nor Chopper are allowed to secretly hoard or throw away items from the house without my permission--"
Sirius's expression froze, and he then remembered that the ownership of this house currently rested with Ammosta.
"Those are just worthless trash, Amostta," Sirius unhappily emphasized, "They have no value!"
"Whether they have value or not, it's not up to you to say so, Sirius."
Ammosta beckoned to the cupboard with a finger, and with a snap, the door opened, spewing out a pile of dusty and smelly odds and ends, led by a stained pair of pants.
"That's my father's pants. Chopper should be wearing it to remember his father."
It seemed that Sirius thought the pants could prove his earlier statement, so he happily said, "I told you, Ammosta, they are all useless things--"
"It's not necessarily so, Sirius--"
Amostaa crouched down and, with the soft candlelight, inspected the pile of odds and ends on the ground. He held a silver snuffbox in front of him, examining the inscription on it with interest for a long time.
"This is a masterpiece by the gnome, dating back to the 18th century. It would be worth about three hundred Galleons in the underground world, oh, you dare to say this is trash? I think your mother's assessment of you is correct in some aspects. Prodigal son..."
Sirius was at a loss for words, and Lupin chuckled happily as he said.
"Amostaa is an expert in this field, Sirius."
As he spoke, Lupin, who had also been active in the underground world, was also interested. He addressed a silver pair of tweezers with five claws trying to break free.
"This must be something Chopper secretly stashed away," Lupin said, pointing to the silver tweezers with five claws that were trying to break free. "These seem to be the work of a wizard from a specific school, and they're quite valuable. Well--I think they're worth at least five hundred gold coins..."
Sirius's face turned even darker, as Lupin's words almost confirmed him as a wastrel.
Chopper's stash of valuable items was quite extensive. Ammosta and Lupin were like a contest to see who knew more, squatting down and trading insights on the treasures of the Black family, while Sirius, who had grown up surrounded by these objects, knew their origins but struggled to assess their 'market value.'
"This music box--"
Lupin's dazed gaze returned to alertness. He carefully picked it up.
"We'd better be careful. The music it plays should put people to sleep, right? Alright, I'll give it eight hundred gold Galleons."
"It's my turn!"
Amostaa was excitedly picking up a gold chain, which had a gold-plated pendant box attached to it.
"I can give... um... this..."
The candle on the dining table finally reached the end of its life, and this immediately dimmed the kitchen quite a bit.
Amostaa stared at the pendant box, and gradually, the haze in his eyes dissipated. The redness caused by drinking that stained his face was also rapidly fading. The light purple eyes turned impossibly deep at some point in time. ŴŴŴ.
"This I can offer..."
For some reason, Ammostat's corner of the mouth curled up, revealing a smile that exuded a hint of malevolence.
"Eight thousand..."
"..."
Library
