Output: Vocalization - --
A piercing screech of brakes jolted Grimmer Square out of its snowy embrace. A sudden gust of wind tore through the snowflakes drifting in the air, while vibrations in the air caused a corroded light fixture a few steps away to have its wiring come loose. The dim light flickered rhythmically.
"Ewww..."
Harry was the first to dash off the Knight Bus, completely ignoring Stan Shunpark's enthusiastic farewell. He crouched down in the snow, which was barely thicker than the snow on Hogwarts' grounds, and started retching. Harry's classmates Hermione and Ron bent over at the bus stop too, hands braced on their knees, gasping weakly.
"The wizard who designed this vehicle should be sent to Azkaban for life."
Ron gasped weakly as he spoke between breaths.
"I swear --"
The cool but fresh air made Harry feel much better, allowing him the energy to observe the small square located in the London suburbs.
The small circular square was surrounded by single-story buildings that looked neatly arranged, but were all quite old. The facades of the houses had a sinister look, as if they were trying to keep people away. Some of the windows that had not been lit up were broken, with clean cracks in the walls that seemed to indicate an earthquake had occurred. Even the houses where people lived were unimpressive. Harry noticed several families had piled garbage outside their front door steps.
"--If I ever take another Knight Bus, let me be poisoned to death by Snape!"
Harry chugged the cold air into his stomach, cursing.
"I advise you to retract that vow, Harry--"
Sirius was the last to step off the carriage, his face pale and he was breathing heavily, which was mostly due to the fact that he was carrying two large trunks by himself.
"Because the chances of this vow being fulfilled are quite high. To say, Hermione, what did you put in your trunk? Your trunk alone is heavier than Harry and Ron's combined."
"Oh, sorry, Sirius—" Hermione's cheeks flushed, "I brought a few books to pass the time..."
"Books? To pass the time? Oh, don't trouble yourself, we can use magic to resolve this."
Sirius sighed helplessly, blocking Hermione's outstretched hand with his own. He looked around cautiously before tapping the two large trunks with his wand, causing them to wobble slightly, hovering one inch above the snow layer.
"Come with me, you three. We'd better not let any Muggles see, or Molly will certainly scold me for causing Arthur to work overtime on his Christmas holiday--"
Sirius's joke made Harry and the others chuckle softly. They helped push the floating trunks forward, following Sirius to a wooden door whose black paint had chipped away.
The door knocker was a silver serpentine snake, its sinister appearance making Harry, whose mood had been in an excited state all along, furrow his brow slightly. He remembered encountering a snake monster when he entered the Slytherin Chamber during his second year. However, he knew that Sirius's ancestors had all come from the Slytherin School, and there was nothing to say about it.
By the way, ever since this year, they have become less prejudiced against Slytherin House.
When discussing the school, they often focused on the issues rather than the people, and this was undoubtedly due to the subtle influence of a professor who came from Slytherin.
"Come in, you --"
After Sirius tapped the door with his wand, a series of loud metal clanging sounds echoed from behind the door, followed by a warm breeze from the slowly opening gap.
"This place used to be quite rundown, but it's much better now."
After Sirius stepped over the threshold, he turned around and smiled at Harry and the others, waving his hand.
Since entering the magical world, Harry had only visited the Weasleys' family home. Ron's home fulfilled Harry's best fantasy of a complete wizard family. He couldn't wait to follow Sirius inside and see what his godfather's home looked like.
The air was filled with a faint incense, but beneath the fragrance there was a subtle scent of decay, which wasn't surprising. After all, since this house was Sirius Black's ancestral home, it must have been around for some time. Moreover, during the years that Sirius was unjustly imprisoned, the house had been abandoned.
Feeling someone enter, the narrow hallway's walls on both sides were hung with gas lamps that sequentially lit up, emitting a bright glow. Harry noticed that the metal brackets of the gas lamps on the wall had rust stains, but the glass lampshades were quite clean. In addition, the wallpaper and carpet under his feet were also brand new, especially the carpet --
The carpet beneath their feet was no ordinary one; the pattern woven from dyed silk threads was constantly changing, shifting in an endless array of designs. Harry and Ron were so captivated by the movement of the patterns that they watched for a while before realizing what these 'flowing' designs actually were.
"It's a pattern of Krume using the Lanskoy feint to outmaneuver Lynch in the World Cup!" Harry exclaimed, "And this is - "
"An iconic moment from the last World Cup!" Ron added, wide-eyed, "That carpet is so cool!"
"I knew you'd like it!" Sirius smirked, "This carpet probably cost me two months' salary!"
Hermione raised an eyebrow, clearly not approving of Sirius's purchase of a carpet for two hundred gold coins. However, the Black family's decline was a relatively recent matter, and until recently, the Blacks were considered a 'noble' wizarding family. As such, Sirius's views on money were quite different from that of the average person.
"Leave the trunks here; Kreacher will deal with them later."
"How is Kreacher?"
Hermione immediately perked up, following Sirius as she asked. Meanwhile, Harry and Ron were walking forward, mesmerized by the flowing yarn beneath their feet.
"Not too bad, I guess?"
Sirius's tone was filled with a confusing hesitation.
"Since I decided to change the house, it hasn't been very eager to show its face around here."
Sirius casually slapped the walls on either side.
"There were many ancestral portraits of the Black family here before, some of which were completely ruined. I kept them in a separate room, but Kreacher always managed to put them back up when I wasn't home. I had a big argument with it and gave it an order, finally making it submit. Be careful, you three --"
Hermione's arm brushed against a curtain on the wall, and Sirius immediately tensed, saying,
"This curtain hides the last portrait painting. I can't take it down, so be careful; she won't welcome my guests."
Sirius's words caught their attention, and the two boys finally reluctantly pulled their gaze away from the carpet. They looked curiously at the curtain and followed Sirius to a door.
The door to the right led up to the upper floor, and Harry curiously looked up into the dimly lit upper floor before following Sirius inside the door.
"Harry, Ron, Hermione, are you all right?"
As they walked down the stairs, Harry, Ron, and Hermione passed a Christmas tree adorned with holly and ribbons, surrounded by several little fairies, which was placed opposite the bottom step of the staircase. They looked around at the rough stone walls and a very neat and tidy kitchen.
In the kitchen, a long table was placed that could accommodate many dining chairs. Remus was sitting at the other end of the long table, smiling at them.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione's faces broke into joyful smiles.
Compared to the summer, Remus' cheeks seemed to be fuller, making him look younger overall. Moreover, the faint melancholy in his eyes was almost gone, and the extra vertical lines above his eyebrows added a touch of severity, giving him a sense of authority that was new.
"That's good, Remus --"
Harry walked over and glanced at the pile of scattered parchment on the table in front of Remus, which was filled with various tables and graphs that Harry couldn't understand.
"And you, how's your business with the house-elf?"
"Huh --"
In front of these people, Remus didn't have to hide much. He sighed, a wry smile on his face as he shrugged.
"I can only say that it's much more troublesome than being your Defense Against the Dark Arts professor!"
(The End of this chapter)
