The Mightiest Badger at Hogwarts

In fact, it is not surprising that Grimmauld Place is so dilapidated.

Because the area where Grimmauld Place is located is originally the old city of South London, many of the buildings here are antiques with hundreds of years of history. In addition, the main functions of South London are industrial and commercial and ordinary residential areas. In the current area, In the [-]s, the London government did not invest much money in repair and reconstruction, so it was normal for the city to be in such a bad state.

In fact, there are many old towns like this in London, a city that is the first in the world to enter industrialization and complete urbanization.

Many foreign tourists and some of the country's literary and artistic youth may also think that this is a part of Chinese culture and classical art, which is of great ornamental value.

But for the residents who actually live in this area, everything here is simply terrible.

If I had to describe it, it would be the same as many so-called ancient towns in the Jiangnan region of later generations.

Tourists and scholars think that things like the blue brick bungalows and corridors are historical relics and have great charm, but the residents only think of it as a rural village.

"Professor Snape, are you sure this is here?"

Emily frowned and looked around, and said with some disgust.

She felt that it was impossible for the ancestral home of the famous Black family, known as the oldest and noblest, to be located in such a Muggle-inhabited area. You must know that the Black family is a well-known pure-blood supremacist. They regard Muggles as The enemy is here.

"This is it. The Black family's pursuit of pure-blood supremacy has only just begun in these generations. Earlier they liked to hang out with Muggles.

Of course, by messing around I mean using magic to bully Muggles and rob them of their belongings. "

As Link spoke, he stood in front of a row of neatly arranged townhouses. The villas here all have their own numbers, but the two villas in front of Link that are close together are more special. They are No. 11 and No. 13, it's as if someone has separated No. 12 from them, it's extremely weird.

Upon seeing this, Snape gave Link a deep look and said:

"Okay, come to my place quickly. After a while, some Muggles have started to notice us!"

Snape wasn't lying.

When Mrs. Foley came today, she heard that Link was going to visit the Black family. She ignored the hot weather and gave Link and Emily two sets of French dresses with black velvet interiors. Libby was even more fancy than when she attended the Yule Ball last year. She looked out of place in Grimmauld Place. It was normal to be watched.

Link didn't care about the looks of those Muggles.

He knew very well that a large number of complex Muggle expulsion spells had been cast around the old house at No. 12 Grimmauld Place. Not to mention that they went in wearing formal clothes. Even if they rushed in at noon, those Muggles would not have it in their minds afterwards. Leave no impression.

But after hearing what Snape said, Link still obediently took Emily closer to Snape.

Snape took out a small piece of parchment.

Link and Emily can clearly see it says:

The Order of the Phoenix headquarters is located at 12 Grimmauld Place, London.

Link recited it silently, keeping it firmly in his mind.

Then a shabby door appeared out of thin air between No. 11 and No. 13, and then dirty walls and gloomy windows also appeared. It looked like an extra villa suddenly expanded, covering both sides. Everything was squeezed away.

"This is……"

Emily's mouth covered by the veil opened slightly, looking a little surprised - this was the first time she had come into contact with a house that was so tightly protected.

Upon seeing this, Link explained:

"The Loyalty Charm is a very difficult protective spell often used in top safe houses.

The principle is to hide a secret, such as the location of a safe house, forever in the soul of a living person.After that, as long as the secret keeper doesn't take the initiative to leak it, the intruder will not see them even if he puts his nose to the glass of their living room.

I'm not sure whether the Fidelity Charm on this old Black family house originally existed or was placed by Dumbledore later.

But now that it has become the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, the secret keeper here should be..."

"Link!"

Snape interrupted Link angrily.

He was really angry.

You know, Harry is hiding in here now.

Link directly revealing the secret keeper's information outside like this would very likely lead to the leakage of information about 12 Grimmauld Place.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything."

Link spread his hands and said helplessly, turned around and silently said a name to Emily - Dumbledore.

All this was seen by Snape. He couldn't help but take a deep breath before suppressing his anger. He took the lead on the broken stone steps and rang the number 12 Grimmauld Place. doorbell.

……

At the same time, the atmosphere in No. 12 Grimmauld Place seemed a bit dull and depressing.

Harry, whose hair was a mess, was alone in a dilapidated room on the second floor, covering his face with his hands.

Only in this way could he suppress his depressed mood.

This is already his fourth day at No. 12 Grimmauld Place.

He was actually quite happy when he first came here. After all, although he had to face Voldemort's pursuit and the upcoming Wizengamot trial, he still had Hermione and Ron here, as well as others such as Lupine and Sirius. Accompanied by acquaintances.

As long as they were around, Harry felt that this place was a paradise - at least it was much better than staying at his aunt's house and being bullied.

Accompanied by Hermione and Ron, Harry basically explored 12 Grimmauld Place in the past few days.

Although this wizard's ancestral house with a history of several centuries is somewhat dilapidated, it contains a lot of secrets. For example, the day before yesterday, they found it in a room that was full of dust and debris and had not been sorted out. A finger bone of an unknown creature. According to Sirius' explanation, this thing should be a relic of his great-grandfather. It is said to be a material for a certain black magic ritual.

Such an old house is almost a paradise for Harry and his group of Gryffindor 'explorers'.

But as the Wizengamot Judgment Day gradually approached, anxiety finally filled Harry's heart.

Although Hermione and Ron had tried their best to appease Harry, when Harry thought that he was about to be deprived of his spellcasting ability and even his memory of being a wizard, and was stuffed into a Muggle correctional school as a second-rate student again, he His emotions will explode in an instant, and he can't be persuaded to come back.

Once the mentality changed, many of the original advantages of No. 12 Grimmauld Place turned into disadvantages.

For example, the dark and poor decoration in the villa, the musty smell permeating the air, and the meetings that Moody, Sirius and other members of the Order of the Phoenix have every day, almost all of which contain bad news.

All this makes No. 12 Grimmauld Place feel lifeless and unpleasant.

Oh, and the most unpleasant thing was the house elf named Kreacher.

As a house elf of the Black family, that guy is simply crazy. He keeps talking to himself all day long, cursing everyone he sees, turning his head but acting pitiful. His appearance made it hard for people to teach him a lesson.

In such an environment, Harry felt that he might go crazy without being tried by the Wizengamot Council.

Jingle Bell--

Suddenly, a harsh doorbell sounded from downstairs.

Harry blocked his ears in annoyance. His experience in the past few days told him that more terrifying noises would come next.

What he didn't expect was that not long after, a violent knock on the door came from outside the door of his room. At the same time, Hermione's excited voice also sounded:

"Harry! Come down quickly, Link is here!"

"what?!"

Upon hearing this, Harry jumped up from the bed with a look of surprise on his face.

He really knows Link's strength very well. Just like Professor Lupine has been saying in the past few days, the relationship between Link and Minister Fudge has always been very good.

If Link is willing to help him intercede with Minister Fudge, maybe the Wizengamot trial can be cancelled!

Of course, compared to these things, what Harry wants to do now is just to see his powerful and close friend, and then complain about the unfortunate things that have happened to him recently!

……

On the steps outside the door.

Link was surprised to find that after Snape rang the viper-shaped doorbell, the entire Grimmauld 12 became lively.

I heard first the roar of a man inside, then the thump of feet on the wooden steps, and then a weird tinkling sound. Finally, the door opened, and the face of Sirius Black appeared. In front of several people.

Sirius looked unhappy at the moment, and when he discovered that the person who rang the doorbell was Snape, his unhappiness soon turned into rage.

He lowered his voice and roared:

"Damn slug! Dumbledore should have mentioned in his letter to you that he told you not to ring the doorbell, right? It's all over now!"

"Oh, I think I mentioned it before, but I forgot."

Snape said slowly, but there was no apology on his face, instead he seemed to be gloating about his misfortune.

Emily looked at Link in confusion. She didn't understand why Sirius had such a big reaction just by ringing the doorbell - even though the doorbell was indeed unpleasant.

Link raised the corners of his mouth and did not explain, but just gave her a calm look.

And this was when Sirius finally discovered Link and Emily standing behind Snape. He frowned, as if he wanted to say something.

But at this moment, a hysterical scream came from the hall behind him.

"Damn! She was woken up by you!"

Sirius' expression changed, and he cursed angrily and rushed back into the house.

Link and the others looked at each other and followed in.

Although the summer sunshine outside is still bright, the light in the entire house is extremely dim. The only lighting can rely on the candlesticks in the corner. In fact, the air of the entire house is still filled with a sweet rotten smell, giving It feels like this is an empty house that has been abandoned for a long time. There may be disasters such as termites and mouse nests inside.

What made people even more uncomfortable was that women's screams and curses were constantly coming from the place covered by two velvet curtains deep in the foyer.

Sirius looked a little furious, and he rushed forward and pulled down the curtain.

Hidden inside was a life-size portrait, in which an old woman wearing a black hat was struggling and screaming desperately, as if she was being tortured.

The old woman was drooling, her eyes were rolling, and the yellow skin on her face was stretched tight from screaming.

Perhaps because the curtain was lifted, the volume of her screams became louder, causing other portraits in the foyer to also start screaming. The terrifying noise caused by this resonance was almost deafening. To be deafened.

"Shut up, everyone!"

Sirius swung his wand angrily, and he accurately fired one stun spell after another at the portraits in the foyer, and the accompanying screams quickly stopped.

Only the portrait of the old woman seemed to have some kind of protective spell cast on it, and it had no effect on it while it was in a coma.

Standing in the entrance hall, Snape looked delighted.

He pointed to the portraits in the foyer and introduced Link and Emily one by one:

"These are the ancestors of the Black family. For example, Mr. Sirius Black is the great-grandfather of the black dog, and Arcturus is the uncle of the black dog.

Look at this!Phineas Nigellus Black, Black Dog's great-great-grandfather, once served as the headmaster of Hogwarts. Why does he have a hole in his face?oh!I guess the black dog used too much force when he cast the fainting curse just now, which damaged the portraits of his ancestors.Poor Phineas had such an unfilial son.

and this……"

Snape kept introducing, with a happy smile on his face.

At the same time, the meaningless screams of the old woman's portrait at the far end of the foyer began to turn into clear words.

I saw her yelling at Sirius with a ferocious face:

"Prodigal son, the disgrace of the family, the evil seed I gave birth to! Get your weird friends out of here! How dare you desecrate my ancestor's home——"

Upon hearing this, Sirius was so angry that his whole body was shaking, but Snape introduced with a smile:

"That was Sirius Black's mother, Walburga Black, a typical old-fashioned aristocrat who advocated pure-blood supremacy and was a staunch supporter of Voldemort.

I had met her a few years ago, when she was still an elegant and noble woman.But now...

You also saw that this poor woman was tortured crazy by his prodigal son. "

"Snot-nosed! No one will think you are mute if you don't speak!"

The flustered Sirius finally heard Snape's words clearly and roared angrily.

"And you!" After saying that, he looked at the portrait again, "Shut up, you scary old witch, shut up!"

Sirius's order had no effect, and upon hearing this, the portrait of his mother screamed even louder.

But what was strange was that when Walburga Black in the portrait glanced at Link and Emily in the foyer, he suddenly became quiet.