Hogwarts: Harry's Path to Witches

Chapter 236: Blake’s Old Mansion (6000 words long chapter, plus Saturday holiday note)

After Harley left, Rita lay on the ground and didn't get up for a long time.

She looked helplessly at the mark on the back of her hand, her eyes slightly dull.

This mark is extremely complex, flashing and emitting a strange light at the same time.

Rita already knew how to use this mark and could easily hide the mark from the back of her hand.

And this made her even more in awe, because the legendary Dark Mark could not hide itself.

"Oh, I'm so mean, I kicked the iron plate this time." Rita couldn't help but hit her head, which was still aching, and sighed in a low voice,

"But it's okay, Harry Potter seems to have great ambitions, and she knows how to use politics and public opinion."

"She should be able to become the Minister of Magic. Following her and working for her seems to be a very good choice."

After a long time, Rita turned into a beetle with a complicated mood and flew towards Hogsmeade.

……

On a path leading to the outskirts of the Forbidden Forest, Hedwig was asking Harry about the doubts she had been holding back for a long time:

"Sister Harley, didn't you say that there are various curses and black magic in the witch path?"

"I remember you once mentioned that you could kill that rat named Peter Pettigrew anytime you wanted."

"Then why didn't you use the same method to threaten this woman named Rita Skeeter and forcibly control her?"

Harry listened to Hedwig quietly, and then did not choose to explain directly: "Hedwig, let me give you an example."

"I order you to deliver the letter for me or I ask you to deliver the letter for me. Which one do you prefer?"

Hedwig tilted her head and thought for a while: "The second kind."

"Yes," Harley continued her analysis patiently.

"Look, I threatened that Skeeter with her life to ask her to do something for me, and I asked her to help me in the form of a deal. The latter is definitely more acceptable to her."

"In this transaction process, I only used her life and concealed a secret that would be meaningless to me after being leaked, in exchange for her doing things for me."

"If you think about it carefully, I didn't actually pay anything, but it could minimize Skeeter's resistance."

Hedwig nodded thoughtfully, and then asked: "Aren't you afraid that she won't take the transaction seriously? After all, the transaction is not mandatory."

"I've given her dignity and steps. If she doesn't understand, then I can only say sorry."

Harley said calmly, her voice unusually cold.

"That mark is a dark magic I designed based on Voldemort's Dark Mark and the ability of the alien pathway."

As he spoke, Harley raised her right hand, and the symbol representing the witch appeared out of thin air.

"This symbol itself contains occult meanings and is equivalent to a constant ritual. From the current point of view, it will only point to me in this world."

"If Skeeter betrays me and wants to do something bad, it will be easy for me to lock her location or take her life."

"And she is also a smart person. Although she doesn't understand the witch, she can definitely associate this special mark with Voldemort's Dark Mark, and she can also guess my purpose of leaving this mark."

"Skeeter has seen my previous methods of dealing with the Acromantula, and knows that I am not a so-called suspected dark wizard, but that my methods are far better than a dark wizard."

"So I think Skeeter himself should know exactly what to do."

"As the saying goes, hit her with a stick and give her a sweet candy. Emperor Russell's words are rough, but the truth behind them is not."

Hedwig nodded and did not continue to ask who Emperor Russell was. She just said at the end: "Human beings are really complicated."

"This is normal." Harley said casually, and then one person and one bird entered the invisible state directly at the edge of the Forbidden Forest.

……

Easter is finally here, but the students don't like this holiday.

Halloween has its Halloween dinner, Christmas has its Christmas holiday, and Easter has its…

Easter homework!

After all, the Easter holidays are here and the time is approaching for final exams.

The professors tacitly increased the homework load several times, and even Professor Luping, who always had very little homework, assigned a few more papers on dark magical creatures.

And everyone seems to firmly believe that their course is the most important, and the homework of other professors can be put back later, so no one is willing to reduce the homework.

This is very difficult for students.

But Harry and Hermione didn't have this problem. After all, their excellent performance in the last few classes before the holiday exempted them from most of the homework.

Now, under the leadership of Professor Lupin, the two have gone to the Black Mansion with the help of the door key made by Professor Dumbledore.

Blake's old house is located at 12 Grimmauld Place. The house is magically hidden between numbers 11 and 13.

Neither Muggles nor ordinary wizards who know this place can see the front door of Black House.

Even a very powerful magic master can only see that there is an incongruity caused by magic, and cannot enter the old Black house without knowing the specific location.

After all, the Black family also has powerful magic masters. After years of reinforcement, there are basically no loopholes in the interior of this house.

Under the leadership of Professor Luping, the three of them walked up the stone steps.

Professor Lupin tapped the silver snake-shaped door knocker with his wand.

Suddenly there were many loud sounds of metal hitting inside the door, as well as the clicking sounds of chains running.

After a while, the door slowly opened.

The bottom of the door was constantly rubbing against the floor, making a harsh "squeaking" sound. It was obvious that it had not been maintained for a long time.

"Fluorescence."

Professor Lupine recited the spell calmly, and the tip of his wand emitted a warm light, illuminating the dark hall.

A damp breath hit his face, mixed with a lot of dust, and a strangely sweet smell of decay.

Hermione thoughtfully took out three cloth masks, one for each of Harry and Professor Lupin.

"Thank you." Professor Lu Ping took the mask and said in a relaxed tone, "What a pity, I didn't think of wearing a mask before coming here."

"I should have thought that this old Blake house has not been maintained or cleaned for so long, and there must be a lot of dust."

"And Sirius is not good at cleaning."

As they spoke, the three of them looked carefully at the foyer.

A row of old-fashioned magic gas lamps on the wall automatically lit up after hearing the voice.

However, the gas lamp is probably too old, and the magic inside has not been re-cast for a long time, so the light is extremely turbid.

Under this dim light, the foyer looked extremely eerie, with the peeling wallpaper reflecting a strange light.

There is also a spiderweb-shaped chandelier above the head. The chandelier is green in color and has a large number of snake-shaped patterns on it.

But the chandelier was no longer working, and only one or two bulbs still shone with the dim glow of magic occasionally.

In addition to lamps, there are many portraits on the wall, but the portraits have turned black and the frames are almost decayed.

Harry remembered that a book introducing common knowledge about life in the magical world once mentioned that although magical portraits could visit each other, they still had a deep connection with the original portrait of themselves.

If their own portraits are not properly preserved and eventually become rotten, then these portraits will also die, even if they escape into other people's portraits, it will be useless.

This is probably the case for the ancestors of the Black family whose names are written below the frame.

"Harry! Remus! Hermione!" A shout of surprise sounded from deep in the house, and then Sirius strode out.

But his image is really not good-looking:

Sirius was wearing a patched black robe from an unknown date, holding a worn wand in one hand and a bottle of bug spray in the other.

"Oh, I'm so sorry, it's still very dirty in here," Sirius said loudly, stepping over a shabby chair lying on the carpet.

"That old beast Kreacher always tries to interfere with me, prevents me from cleaning, and secretly picks up the things I throw away."

"Sirius," Professor Lupine shook his head, "I really think you should be friendly to it. After all, it is very pitiful."

"Yeah, it's really pitiful." Sirius snorted coldly,

"Sorry, Remus, I mean... you know, Kreacher has been completely brainwashed by my mother and only recognizes my mother."

"It doesn't look down on me at all. If it weren't for the magical restraint of the Black family, it would even want to drive me out of the Black old house."

"Of course, I don't care about the garbage dump that is the Black Mansion, but I can leave on my own initiative and it can't drive me away!"

As he spoke, Sirius waved his wand subconsciously.

"Who is Kreacher?" Hermione couldn't help but ask.

"A house elf, a house elf who has served the Black family for a long time..."

Sirius explained loudly, and Hermione couldn't help but frown.

After what happened before Harley's second grade started, she didn't have a good impression of this kind of creature.

Harry also mentioned the history of house elves when chatting with Hermione, especially their "glorious record" of trying to exterminate all wizards and enslave the human race.

This brought Hermione's impression of this creature to a freezing point.

Although Hermione was very pleased with the good service attitude of the elves in the Hogwarts kitchen, it did not prevent Hermione from having a good impression of this group itself.

Sirius continued to explain, and even began to trace back to Kreacher's ancestors who had their heads cut off and hung on the wall of his house.

"Okay, Sirius." Professor Lupine said,

"I understand how much you hate Kreacher. There is no need to waste your time on him."

At the same time, he gave Sirius a subtle look and motioned to Hermione beside him.

Sirius also immediately realized that this topic seemed inappropriate in front of two underage wizards.

He abruptly changed the subject: "I have already made a room for you, it's on the second floor."

"But Harley...can you two sleep in the same room?"

As he said that, Sirius's face looked vaguely embarrassed,

"I'm really sorry. I only cleaned two rooms. Remus can live with me. I think..."

"Harry and I can live in the same room." Hermione quickly replied, "We usually live in the same dormitory. This is normal."

"That's good, that's good," Sirius wanted to rub his hands in embarrassment, but suddenly remembered that he still had a wand and insecticide spray in his hands, so he could only smile helplessly.

"That old guy Kreacher has been interfering with my work. Otherwise, the Black Mansion would never be so big..."

He didn't know how uncomfortable Sirius was being tortured by Kreacher during this period. He always subconsciously led the topic in this direction.

Fortunately, Professor Lupine dragged him forcefully and offered to settle the children first.

The group walked around various facilities and passed the row of wrinkled house-elf heads that Sirius had mentioned.

Looking at this scene, the expression on Hermione's face became more and more unnatural.

Although she didn't like the house elves, Hermione was deeply disgusted by the brutal behavior of the Black family.

Harry and Hermione's room is located on the second floor, the second door on the right.

The room was dimly lit, had a high ceiling, and had two single beds side by side.

"Sorry, I'm afraid you have to clean it again." Sirius said apologetically, "I have prepared two sets of quilts for you. You can tidy them up yourself."

"I'm going to take Remus to our room first, and then we'll have lunch after the cleaning is done."

After Sirius left, the door was slammed shut and the lights in the room were turned on.

Looking at the two beds in front of her, Hermione seemed a little regretful. She pulled out her wand and waved it a few times: "Tornado sweep!" "Clean up!"

After using the two spells, the room suddenly became much cleaner.

Harry took out the two mattresses from his pocket and threw them on the bed. At the same time, he stuffed the purple quilt that Sirius had prepared into the cabinet nearby.

"Look, I'll just say it." Hermione said proudly as she made the bed.

"I know that if you want to go to an old house like this that has not been lived in for many years, you should bring all kinds of daily necessities with you."

……

After tidying up the room, it was almost noon.

Sirius originally wanted to show off his cooking skills by himself, but Professor Lupine forcibly held him back and did not allow him to destroy the intestines of the two little witches.

Harry took out some pounds from his pocket, and the four of them finally chose to have lunch at a nearby Italian restaurant.

After returning to the old Black house, Sirius went straight to the point and took Harry and Hermione to the Black family library.

After all, the house was so dirty, many places had not been cleaned, and there was nothing to visit.

As for Professor Lupine, he chose to stay in the living room and rest.

After all, he is a werewolf, and the Black family's important place would not welcome a werewolf no matter what.

Sirius apologized deeply for this, but Professor Lupine was very open-minded and seemed very free and easy.

"This can be said to be the most precious place of the Black family."

After bidding farewell to Professor Lupin, Sirius walked carefully along the corridor while introducing Harry and Hermione.

"I left a note in my room, and I didn't expect that the note wasn't cleared away."

"I thought my room had been cleaned out, but I didn't expect it was still there and intact."

"I know that in the entire Black family, I am the only one who was sorted into Gryffindor, and the others are all Slytherins."

"So only my room is decorated in gold and red, with lots of lion decorations, which is incompatible with everyone else's silver and green snakes..."

Sirius suddenly remembered something, "...I'm sorry, I got off topic."

"In short, even I need to look at that note again before I can find the correct route to the library."

"There are various magics applied here. Although they are not fatal, they can trap people."

"Without the help of the Black family members or the superb magical attainments of Professor Flitwick, that person could have slept here forever."

"After all, knowledge is always the most valuable asset of a wizard family, and for a family like the Black family, which is considered a pure-blood family, the value of hidden knowledge is even more immeasurable."

Sirius led a group of people to avoid various defensive magics, and finally came to an ancient door.

The door has no decoration, just like the door of an ordinary room, with only a silver handle in the shape of a snake's head.

But Harry could feel that there was powerful magic constantly working on this door.

It seems that only a special medium poured into the snake's head handle can the door be opened correctly.

Otherwise, the intruder will enjoy a fatal counterattack.

Apparently the ancestors of the Black family were also old silver coins, leaving non-fatal spells in the front, and only the last line of defense was mixed with a fatal spell.

If a magic master really made it all the way through and cracked all kinds of non-lethal magic, he would probably let down his guard when he got here, and end up being tricked by this magic.

After standing in front of the door, Sirius pulled out a brand new wand.

He bought this wand from Ollivander, specifically for fighting.

The old old wand was just a second-hand wand that Sirius bought from Knockturn Alley. After all, Sirius, who had experienced the Wizarding War, knew the importance of a spare wand.

Sirius lightly scratched his arm with his wand, blood flowed out quickly, and the wound healed quickly.

The blood was suspended in mid-air, and then automatically poured into the mouth of the snake-shaped handle.

After devouring the blood of the direct members of the Black family, the silver snake seemed to come to life and began to spin on its own.

Sirius also pointed the wand at the handle in time and silently recited the spell.

After going through a series of complicated operations, the door slowly opened.

"Dear ladies!" Sirius said in an exaggerated voice after the door was fully opened.

"Please allow me to solemnly introduce to you here - the Black family library!"

As he spoke, Sirius took a step forward and then turned sideways.

Looking at the scene in front of her, Hermione opened her mouth in shock, and a flash of excitement flashed in Harry's eyes.

Harry was lucky enough to see Nico's book collection, which was far superior to the library in front of him in terms of quantity, but not as good as the quality.

Although Nico has lived for more than six hundred years and accumulated a massive collection of books, his collection includes a large number of Muggle books——

Whether it was Muggle food magazines, music collections, or art journals, Nico collected them all.

But the Black family is different.

As the oldest and richest pure-blood wizard family that has existed in the Middle Ages, members of this family only collect valuable magic books.

"Go ahead, there won't be any magic left in the library. After all, no one wants these valuable magic books to be destroyed."

Sirius waved his hand and took the two little witches into the sea of ​​books.

"You pick some content you want to learn, but don't choose too many. Focus on understanding a certain knowledge first, and then move on to the next one."

"It's easy to bite off more than you can chew. Anyway, the book is here and it won't run away."

"Oh, by the way," Sirius suddenly said loudly as if he had remembered something, "the bookshelf comes in three colors, green, silver and black."

"The green bookshelf contains ordinary magic, and the silver bookshelf contains advanced magic, but the nature is more like normal magic."

"As for the black bookshelf..."

Sirius paused, and his voice rose a little higher,

"The magic books above all record black magic. The darker the color of the bookshelf, the higher the danger of magic."

"When you see a black bookshelf, try to avoid it. After all, many black magic books don't need to be read. Just being close to it may cause interference."

Harry agreed, and at the same time the wand slipped from the wizard's robes into his hand.

A bright silver snake appeared and merged into a magic mirror, forming a simple clone.

"Sorry, Sirius." Harley thought silently, "How could the witch let go of dark magic?"

After wandering in the sea of ​​books for more than an hour, Sirius greeted Harry and Hermione to leave.

Hermione had several prophecy books about astrology under her arm. Apparently she still couldn't forget Professor Trelawney's prophecy.

Harley only held an ordinary magic book in her hand, but the silver patron saint clone had retrieved several dark magic books for her.

"Have you chosen?" Sirius looked at their books, "Charms, as expected, astrology... divination class?"

"To be honest, I have never taken this class. After all, we didn't have a divination teacher at that time."

"I remember that Professor Dumbledore was planning to cancel this course. After all, most of the people who sell divination prices nowadays are old liars."

"It turns out that somehow, he recruited Sybill Trelawney out of nowhere, and the course continued."

Hermione nodded repeatedly, obviously very much in agreement with Sirius's point of view.

Although Professor Trelawney successfully made a real prophecy, after thinking about it, Hermione also realized that Professor Trelawney obviously only occasionally made real prophecies.

Most of the time, especially during class time, Professor Trelawney was still the same old liar who only boasted and lied, but did not teach students their true talents.

"Okay, now that you have made a decision, let's leave." Sirius waved his hand.

"If you need any books in the future, you can just write to me and I will replace them for you."

……

……

(Thanks to "Angels Supporting God" and "Nine-Tailed Yanhu" for their rewards!)

(ps. The original magician's Loyalty Curse in Order of the Phoenix is ​​not here, it is just an ordinary hidden magic.)