Professor, please pay the debt

"Yes..." Dumbledore said, "if such a spell exists, then the ownership of this house is likely to belong to the oldest surviving member of the Black family, Sirius' cousin, Belle. Latrix Lestrange is gone."

Harry jumped up before he realized what he was doing, rolling his binoculars and sneakers to the floor.Bellatrix Lestrange, Sirius' killer, inheriting his house?

① Bellatrix Lestrange was originally named Bellatrix Black, and because she married Rodolph Slestrange, she took her husband's surname.See page 80 of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for more details.

"No!" he said.

"Yeah, we sure don't want her to have it either," said Dumbledore quietly. "It's quite complicated. Sirius doesn't own the house anymore, and we don't know about some of the magic we've put on it.

For example, making it impossible to plot on the map, etc., it still doesn't work.Bellatrix would show up at the door any moment.So we had to move out first, and wait for the situation to be clarified. "

"But how can you find out if I can have it?"

"Fortunately..." said Dumbledore, "there is an easy way to test it."

He put the empty glass on the little table beside the chair, and before he could do anything else, Uncle Vernon called out, "Can you get these damned things off of us?"

Harry turned to see that all three of the Dursleys were covering their heads with their arms, as their glasses were bouncing up and down on their skulls, spilling wine everywhere.

"Oh, sorry," Dumbledore said politely, raising his wand again.The three glasses disappeared in a flash. "But you know, it's more elegant to drink it."

Uncle Vernon seemed tempted to say something nasty in retaliation, but he just huddled in the sofa cushions with Aunt Petunia and Dudley, saying nothing, his little pig eyes fixed on Dumbledore's. wand.

"Look..." said Dumbledore, turning back to Harry, and continued as if Uncle Vernon hadn't spoken at all, "if you do inherit that house, you will also inherit—"

He swung his wand for the fifth time.With a loud pop, a house-elf appeared, with an upward snout, large bat-like ears, and brass bell-like, bloodshot eyes.

He was squatting on the plush rug in the Dursleys' house in filthy rags.

Aunt Petunia let out a hair-raising shriek: nothing this nasty had ever come into her house as long as she could remember.Dudley hastily lifted his huge pink bare feet off the floor, almost above his head, as if he was afraid the monster would climb up the pant legs of his pajamas.Uncle Vernon growled, "What the hell is that?"

"Kreacher," Dumbledore continued.

"No Kreacher, no Kreacher!" hoarse the house-elf, almost as high as Uncle Vernon's, stamping his long, wrinkled feet and tugging at his big Ear, "Kreacher belongs to Miss Bellatrix, oh yes, Kreacher belongs to the Black family, Kreacher wants a new mistress, Kreacher does not belong to the Potter boy, Kreacher does not, no -"

"You can see that too, Harry..." Dumbledore raised his voice, overshadowing Kreacher's incessant "No, no", "Kreacher doesn't want to be yours."

"I don't care..." Harry looked at the writhing, stomping house-elf in disgust, and repeated, "I don't want him."

"Don't, don't—"

"Then you'd rather let him fall into the hands of Bellatrix Lestrange? Don't you forget, he's been living at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix for the last year!"

"Don't, don't—"

Harry stared blankly at Dumbledore.He knew that Kreacher must never be allowed to live with Bellatrix Lestrange.

But the thought of Kreacher being his, the thought of him being responsible for the guy who had betrayed Sirius, made him sick.

"Give him orders," said Dumbledore. "If he's yours now, he'll have to obey. If you don't want him, we'll have to find some other way to keep him out of his legal mistress." Together."

"No, no!"

Kreacher was literally screaming at the top of his lungs.Harry couldn't think of anything to say, so he yelled, "Kreacher, shut up!"

Suddenly, Kreacher seemed to be choking.He was choking himself, his mouth still moving angrily, his eyes bulging outward.

He gasped for breath for a few seconds, then flung himself forward on the carpet (Aunt Petunia was sobbing), pounding the floor with his hands and feet in a ferocious but absolutely silent explosion. temper.

"Okay, this makes things simple..." Dumbledore said happily, "It seems that Sirius is very clear-headed. You are the legal owner of 12 Grimmauld Place and Kreacher."

"Do I—do I have to take him with me?" Harry asked in horror as Kreacher writhed violently at his feet.

"If you don't want to, you don't have to," said Dumbledore. "I might as well make a suggestion. You can send him to Hogwarts and let him work in the kitchen. That way, the other house-elves will be okay." Watch him."

"Okay..." Harry said with relief, "Okay, that's it. Well - Kreacher - I want you to go to Hogwarts and work in the kitchens there with the other house-elves. "

Kreacher was lying flat on the ground at this moment, with his feet up in the air, rolling his eyes and looking up at Harry with resentment.Then, with another loud pop, he disappeared.

"Very well..." said Dumbledore, "and one more thing about Buckbeak the Hippogriff. Hagrid has been looking after Sirius since his death, but Buckbeak now belongs to the You. So, if you'd like to make other arrangements—"

"No..." said Harry immediately, "just let it stay with Hagrid. I think Buckbeak would like that too."

"Hagrid will be very happy." Dumbledore said with a smile. "By the way, for Buckbeak's safety, we have decided to temporarily change his name to Driftwing. Actually, I don't believe the Ministry of Magic will guess that it is what they used to be. The hippogriff for the death sentence. Now, Harry, are your boxes packed?"

"Um……"

"Don't believe I'm really coming?" Dumbledore pointed out sharply.

"I'm going to - um - pack it up," said Harry hastily, picking up his binoculars and sneakers from the floor.

It took him more than ten minutes to find everything he needed.Finally, he pulled out his invisibility cloak from under the bed, screwed on the cap of the bottle of color-changing ink, and pressed the lid of the box firmly onto the cauldron to close it.

Then, carrying the suitcase in one hand and Hedwig's cage in the other, he came downstairs.

He was disappointed to find that Dumbledore was not waiting in the hall, which meant he had to go back to the drawing room.

No one spoke.Dumbledore hummed softly, looking very pleased with himself.

But the air in the room was heavier than frozen custard.Not daring to look at the Dursleys, Harry said only, "Professor — I'm ready."

"Very well," said Dumbledore, "and one last thing..." He turned again to the Dursleys and said, "As you are no doubt aware, Harry will be an adult in a year's time— —”

"No," said Aunt Petunia, speaking for the first time since Dumbledore's arrival.

"Excuse me, what did you say?" Dumbledore asked politely.

"No, he's not yet of age. He's a month younger than Dudley, and Dudley won't be until the next year."

"Ah..." Dumbledore said kindly, "But in the wizarding world, one becomes an adult at the age of seventeen."

Uncle Vernon muttered "ridiculous," but Dumbledore ignored him.

"As you already know, the wizard named Voldemort has now returned to this country. The wizarding world is currently in a state of open warfare.

Voldemort has attempted to kill Harry many times, and Harry is in a much more dangerous position now than when I put him on your steps 15 years ago.

I left a letter explaining that his parents had been killed and I hoped you would take care of him like your own. "

Dumbledore stopped, and although his voice was still relaxed and calm, and his face showed no trace of anger, Harry felt a chill emanating from him.

He noticed the Dursleys huddling closer together. "You didn't do what I said. You never thought of Harry as your own son. He got nothing but neglect and constant abuse in your hands. As luck would have it, at least he escaped your scrutiny of sitting on the bench." That horrific injury done by that hapless boy among you."

Both Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon instinctively averted their eyes, as if expecting to see someone other than Dudley huddled between them.