"Welcome to Number 12, Grimmauld Place—"
Sirius grabbed the cold object from Harry's hand and shoved it into Jane Yu's palm. He looked as if he had an invisible tail wagging furiously behind him.
"A gift for you, Yu! A Portkey I made—"
Jane glanced at her palm and was surprised to find that the Portkey was a silver badge engraved with a large dog.
Judging by its rough craftsmanship, it was clearly something Sirius had hastily put together.
It was even shedding silver powder.
Wait... silver powder?
A ridiculous thought suddenly popped into Jane's mind. She recalled the four silver cauldrons she had blown up—
"What did you use to make this Portkey?"
Sirius' eyes lit up, clearly pleased that she had asked the right question.
"Yu! I knew you'd figure it out!"
"Of course, it's the old bat's cauldrons!"
Even Harry looked proud of himself. He scratched his head, his emerald-green eyes gleaming with pride.
"We staked out Spinner's End for three whole days! Unfortunately, all we saw were cauldrons Snape had ordered."
"A whole bunch of cauldrons delivered by owls—as if he bought out the entire cauldron shop—"
Sirius eagerly cut in, grinning triumphantly as he gestured animatedly at Jane.
"We hijacked the owls—did some custom modifications to the cauldrons—and then sent them back—"
"I bet the old bat never expected us to shave off the bottoms of his cauldrons!"
"It took him a day and a half to finally notice the problem, and he fell right into our diversion—"
Case closed.
The culprits were standing right in front of her!
Jane looked at Harry with a sympathetic gaze—
Look at this poor kid, so excited. Did he not realize what awaited him after the school term began?
She could already imagine the Gryffindor hourglass resetting to zero!
Clearly, Sirius hadn't considered, in his brilliant plan to sabotage the cauldrons, that his dear godson—
Would still have to endure four years of mandatory Potions lessons under Snape.
Harry felt uneasy under Jane's gaze.
Why wasn't she saying anything?
Was she upset because he had taken Yu without asking her first?
His eyes darted nervously, and he stammered, his face turning red.
"Uh... sorry... I got carried away... I should've told you first..."
But Jane quickly forgave the protagonist.
Because her guardian, Dumbledore, had already descended the stairs, fixing the godfather and godson duo with a benevolent yet piercing gaze.
...
"This is truly unbelievable," Dumbledore sighed in a tone of disappointment, shaking his head. "Sirius, I never expected—"
"I waited here for an entire day... Kreacher said you went out to do something morally questionable... I thought he was joking... but alas..."
He had never imagined that after sending the child to Snape, he would see her again so soon at the Black family home!
If stealing Harry was somewhat understandable, given the godfather-godson bond—
But stealing Jane from Snape? Especially since Sirius despised Slytherins the most?
This was simply outrageous!
Sirius must have picked up some bad habits in Azkaban!
Not even St. Mungo's could cure him!
Under Dumbledore's reproachful gaze, Sirius and Harry shrank into themselves, their eyes downcast, noses nearly touching their chests.
They hadn't expected that after enduring countless obstacles and finally succeeding in their "rescue mission," they would run straight into the legitimate guardian!
"It was just an accident—Sniv... Snape has never been good with kids, and I was more than willing to take over—"
Sirius racked his brains to defend himself, but Dumbledore interrupted him.
"No, no, Sirius. I don't think sending me an owl to inform me would have been too difficult for you."
"Frankly, I'm a bit disappointed... I hoped you could be more rational... I thought being with Harry might help you curb your impulsiveness..."
Under such pressure, Sirius fell silent, feeling as though he were back in his school days being scolded by a professor. Harry's head hung so low it was nearly touching the ground.
They simultaneously turned to Jane for help.
Unfortunately, all they got was her expressionless profile.
"Alright, then—" Dumbledore led the way into the second-floor living room. "I came here for something important, Sirius. I know this might be hard for you to accept—but Yu and I have found Regulus' remains."
What followed was a scene Jane found difficult to describe.
Regulus, now an Inferius, writhed and twisted on the floor. Sirius collapsed into a sagging armchair, his fingers buried in his hair, his eyes fixed on his brother's contorted body as if struggling to accept the reality.
He didn't cry, but when he finally spoke again, his voice was completely hoarse.
"My foolish brother, too soft-hearted... He actually believed in my parents' nonsense about pureblood superiority... He was their proud son..."
"Stupid... He joined the Death Eaters, and he wanted out... But Voldemort would never allow that... Either serve for life or face death..."
Perhaps having witnessed too much death over the years, Sirius appeared somber but calm. After a moment of silence, he drew his wand.
"I need to bury him... After all these years... I was prepared for this..."
But with a sharp snap, a house-elf appeared before Jane. It threw itself over Regulus' body, shielding him from Sirius' wand.
The elf looked ancient, its skin wrinkled, its bat-like ears filled with white hair. Its bloodshot eyes, clearly from prolonged crying, stared at Regulus' pale face as it screamed:
"No! Filthy... Master Sirius!" The elf swallowed the curse word it almost spat out, tears streaming down its long nose and into its open mouth. "Please leave Master Regulus! Kreacher can take care of him!"
"What are you talking about, Kreacher?" Sirius shouted back, frustrated. "He's dead! This is an Inferius!"
Kreacher trembled, swaying as it turned to face him, its eyes tightly shut, its shriveled chest heaving rapidly.
"Kreacher is willing to take care of Master Regulus, no matter what he has become—"
"Kreacher has cared for him since he was a baby—what does it matter if he's an Inferius—"
Sirius stared at the elf, looking as though he wanted to give it a sock right then and there.
His eyes were filled with complex emotions, as if he were seeing Kreacher as a sentient being with human-like feelings for the first time.
His wand slowly lowered.
"Do as you wish," he said.
Kreacher, as if granted a pardon, trembled as it stood up, its thin legs barely supporting its frail body. Its bulbous eyes turned to Jane.
"Honorable Miss," it said, bowing deeply to her with great effort. "Thank you. Kreacher has prepared a room for you—"
Harry and Sirius exchanged bewildered looks.
After all, when they moved in, all they got were rooms full of doxy infestations and boggarts!
Kreacher hadn't even spared them a glance, as if one more look would sully its eyes.
It disappeared up the stairs with Regulus.
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