Mysterious Journey
Chapter 646: A Delightful Summer Tutoring
12 Grimmauld Place, London.
This is a small square located on the edge of a messy and desolate meadow. The surrounding houses look gloomy and dilapidated, as if rejecting strangers. Many of the houses have broken windows, reflecting a bleak light under the street lamps.
Many of the front steps of the houses are piled with garbage, and a pungent smell of rotting garbage permeates the air in the square.
Since the end of World War II, most wizarding families have not lived as comfortably as they used to.
The cost of wizards hiding in the Muggle world has become increasingly high, and the procedures for wizards to replace or buy new homes have become more complicated. Although wizards don't care about those colorful pieces of paper, clean and comfortable street facilities, or basic home decoration and maintenance, are still extremely troublesome.
Therefore, wizarding families either choose to stay away from Muggle towns and live alone in remote suburbs; or they choose some well-known wizarding settlements, but with the rampant dark magic forces more than a decade ago, this form has become less reliable.
However, compared to this, both the clean and tidy Privet Drive and the luxurious Malfoy Manor are obviously better than this broken house - as Dumbledore's figure disappeared into the night, Sirius Black's impulsiveness and joy gradually dissipated, and a hint of worry began to emerge in his heart.
Black turned around, walked up the dilapidated stone steps, and pondered what to do next.
"The door definitely needs to be repaired, but there's no rush for now. Apart from the black paint peeling off, a lot of scratches, and the lock being a little insensitive, the magic of opening and closing the door is still working. The main problem is inside the room."
Sirius Black crossed the threshold melancholically and entered the almost pitch-black foyer.
The whole room was filled with a damp, dusty smell, along with a sweet, rotten smell. After all, it had been vacant for ten years. If it weren't for Kreacher, it might have been completely uninhabitable.
Although from the current situation, it is still far from the standard of livability...
Harry and Draco were standing obediently in the foyer corridor not far from the entrance, as he had instructed. They didn't go too far forward, nor did they touch anything indiscriminately, but observed their surroundings with curiosity in the dim light.
These two children are much more obedient than him and Potter when they were young.
Carefully observing the expressions on the two children's faces, he didn't see any obvious disgust or dislike, which made Sirius Black, who was originally a little uneasy, relieved and not as nervous as before.
You know, let alone taking care of children, Sirius Black hasn't even had a complete relationship.
Being with two children for a month out of the blue is indeed a challenge for him. Fortunately, Professor Dumbledore gave him a suggestion just now - considering that both children have only completed their first year at Hogwarts, Sirius Black can tutor them in their magical studies at home for the next period of time to solidify their foundation.
In addition, Hogwarts will be adding some new general education courses starting this September.
Therefore, Professor Dumbledore also promised to send a few copies of the new course materials that second-year wizards might need to study in a few days, so that Sirius Black could tutor the children to preview them in advance, and also learn about the new changes at Hogwarts.
After all, according to the previous statement, after the end of the summer vacation, Dumbledore found Sirius Black a new job at Hogwarts - an internship professor for the Transfiguration course. If he can pass Professor McGonagall's assessment and recognition, he may be able to independently teach a batch of little guys as soon as the next semester begins.
And the time of this vacation is just right to let him familiarize himself with the courses, and also find the feeling of being a professor in Harry and Draco, so that he can quickly enter a better teaching state after the start of school.
Of course, Harry and Draco don't know about these things yet.
For these two young wizards who have finally escaped from their respective homes, although the Black family's mansion looks a little unsettling, this exciting and fresh atmosphere is obviously much more interesting than the boring time spent at home.
However, since experiencing the "Dark Magic Defense Test" at the end of the last semester, both Harry and Draco have developed a pretty good habit - don't touch things randomly in unfamiliar places, restrain your curiosity, and listen to the advice and suggestions given by others, which is the best way to protect yourself from strange magic traps.
"Well, good, the first rule in the Black family."
Looking at the two little boys standing in place with satisfaction, Black nodded and lowered his voice.
"When you are near the foyer, you must be quiet. Now let me create a little light first, and then we will go upstairs to pack your luggage and sleeping places, and I will briefly introduce the environment of the house."
While speaking, Sirius waved his wand gently.
There was a rustling sound in the room, and then a row of old-fashioned gas lamps on the wall all lit up, casting a swaying and unreal light, illuminating the peeling wallpaper and the worn-out carpet in the long, gloomy foyer.
Above their heads was a spider web-shaped chandelier, flickering with faint light. On both sides of the wall hung some portraits that had darkened due to the passage of time, crookedly. The chandeliers and the candelabras on a shaky table next to them were all shaped like large snakes, and looked as if they were still alive in the shadows.
Harry suddenly remembered what Draco had whispered to him just now. Apart from Sirius Black, the outcast, all members of the entire Black family, like the Malfoy family, graduated from Slytherin.
"Especially... if you don't want to face the roars and scolding of the Black family's ancestors, and the gentle and lovely greetings from my kind old mother, it's best never to go near this..."
Sirius Black led the two past the foyer, and when passing two long, worm-eaten curtains, his cheeks twitched, and he looked at the two boys behind him who were looking around nervously with a particularly serious expression, repeating it again.
And going up the dark stairs, the decorations on the side of the wall became a pile of wrinkled heads. Harry barely restrained himself from screaming - they were all the heads of house-elves, each with an ugly big nose, and most of them still had particularly hideous fanatical expressions on their faces, which made people feel a creepy feeling.
At the same time, Harry felt that Draco's palms seemed to be sweating as well.
Obviously, this kind of decoration that seems to only appear in the lairs of extremely evil dark wizards is a very disturbing scene even for Draco Malfoy, who also comes from a wizarding family - after all, according to Malfoy, his father should be a respected wizard with social status, law-abiding, and close to the Ministry of Magic and Hogwarts.
Harry swallowed, lowered his voice, and asked cautiously.
"Mr. Black, this room... these decorations..."
"Shhh, don't worry, Harry. I know there must be many question marks in your mind at this moment. When we get upstairs, I will explain them to you little by little - as for the arrangement in this room, that's, well, the Black family tradition..."
Sirius Black sighed helplessly, opened the nearest bedroom door on the second floor while speaking.
"Huh? This efficiency is really high. Your luggage for the rest of the summer vacation has already been placed here..."
"Luggage? Isn't our luggage..."
Draco Malfoy frowned, turned his head and looked down the dark staircase. He remembered that the pile of things that had been packed from Harry's house before should still be piled up in the living room by the foyer.
"Oh, I'm not referring to clothes."
Sirius Black shook his head with a smile, stepped aside and walked in, pointing to the large packages piled on the floor, and said in a cheerful tone, as if Santa Claus was giving gifts at Christmas.
"Professor Dumbledore just said that he will let that 'Chubby Chick Express' send all the textbooks you will learn next semester, the reference books for the new general education courses, directly to me in advance, so that we can reduce our frequency of going out on the one hand, and on the other hand, it will not delay you from previewing the content of the next semester..."
This is a room that looks a little clean. Two single beds are placed side by side under the high ceiling.
And with Sirius Black's words, the two boys quickly scanned the dimly lit room, and their eyes fell on the pile of unopened packages piled in the center of the room, like a small fortress.
Harry Potter: "..."
Draco Malfoy: "..."
The joy of running away from home for the first time and the first time staying together is disappearing rapidly.
Since seeing that pile of packages, they know who the mastermind behind the scenes is even better than Black. The most important thing is that they don't even have the right to refuse now - a silver wing pattern is printed on the top of the package.
That is the exclusive mark of the big sister, Ellena Kaslana, which means no refusal.
Of course, Draco and Harry also know very well that this is not so much a pressure as a cheat sheet sent by the big sister in advance. As long as they follow the big sister's arrangement, they will definitely stand out quickly and be one step ahead next semester.
At the same time, the same package also appeared in the homes of Hermione, Neville, Crabbe, Goyle and others.
The pleasant summer study life has finally begun.
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Gu Ya Gu Ya~ Cute Ellena asks for love~~
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