bioinnovel Chapter 232 Home - Cage
Chapter 232 Home - Cage
Chapter 232 Home - Cage
After leaving the Ministry of Magic, Belvina and Sirius did not use Apparition; the siblings chose a very unmagical mode of transportation.
The two walked silently into the crowded subway station in central London and bought tickets from the automatic ticket machines, all of which were completed by Belvina.
The brother and sister stood on the platform with their heads down, neither of them speaking.
Five minutes later, they boarded the subway. The train sped underground, carrying the two of them towards Islington.
Belvina and Sirius acted like strangers, exchanging no words or even making eye contact.
Sirius sat casually in the chair, showing no joy at being cleared of his name; instead, his gaze was unfocused and he looked dejected.
When the trial ended, Sirius caught up with Dumbledore, who was about to leave, and asked him about Harry's summer vacation plans.
Sirius Black sees him as Harry's godfather and the guardian appointed by James and Lily, and Harry's summer vacation should rightfully be spent with Sirius.
However, Dumbledore rejected Sirius's suggestion without even thinking about it, without giving a decent reason, only saying that Harry had to stay on Privet Drive until after his birthday.
Therefore, Sirius was very unhappy. He had already planned to take Harry sightseeing and to see the Quidditch World Cup.
As a result, Harry had to stay at the Dursleys' house and spend his fourteenth birthday there, completely disrupting Sirius's plans. Belvina stood by the carriage door, her body and head pressed against the carriage wall, looking rather unenthusiastic.
Her mind kept replaying Ms. Burns' words in the corridor, wondering whether she should abandon Hogwarts and return to the corrupt and treacherous Ministry of Magic.
Belvina felt a little annoyed; she knew Ms. Burns was right.
Hoping that Cornelius Fudge would change his mind, or that he would want to remotely control the Ministry of Magic, is all unrealistic fantasy.
If one wants to interfere with the Ministry of Magic's operations and aspire to become Minister, one must return to the Ministry of Magic as soon as possible and seize more power before the "Great War" arrives.
Only in this way can the Ministry of Magic, which has been infiltrated like a sieve, avoid collapsing at the first touch and gain greater influence after the war.
However, Belvina was also reluctant to leave the peaceful life at Hogwarts. Although there were ups and downs every year, it was generally stable, and at least there weren't so many upsetting things.
In 1991, Belvina absolutely refused to go to Hogwarts; now, in 1994, she refuses to leave the school and return to society.
I have to say, the "it's actually pretty good" principle is absolutely true.
The subway started and stopped, stopped and started again, and before we knew it, it swayed and bumped its way into Islington.
A cold, emotionless electronic announcement sounded, the subway came to a stop on the deserted platform, the carriage doors opened immediately, and Belvina and Sirius stepped out of the carriage one after the other.
The somewhat shabby subway station was deserted. Belvina and Sirius boarded the escalator and passed through the rotating gates at the ticket gate.
Step out of the inconspicuous station entrance.
The somewhat dilapidated streets were deserted. Belvina walked ahead with her head down, while Sirius, following behind, slowed down his pace.
The closer Sirius got to Grimmauld Place, the heavier his legs felt, as if they were filled with lead.
Even on a sunny day, the facades of the houses in Grimoire Square remained as gloomy as ever. The grass in the center of the small square was messy and overgrown, and the steps in front of several houses were piled with garbage.
Belvina stood at the intersection between numbers 11 and 13. The old Blake family mansion appeared out of nowhere, like an extra house that suddenly expanded, squeezing out the houses on both sides.
"Can you hurry up? Are you a turtle that just came ashore?" Belvina said impatiently.
This was the first thing the brother and sister said to each other after the trial ended.
"I don't like it here." Sirius walked slowly down the sidewalk. "Every time I walk into this house, I feel like I'm in prison."
Number 12 Grimmauld Place, the place where Sirius Black was born and grew up, a place he viewed as a cage.
"Aren't you Gryffindor? Where's your pride and courage?" Belvina said. "It's just an old house. Look how scared you are, you've lost your mind."
Unable to resist being provoked, Sirius stepped forward and said, "Who said I'm scared! I just don't like it here, not that I'm scared. You'd better understand the difference."
With that, Sirius stepped onto the stone steps in front of door number twelve. He pulled out his wand and knocked on the dark wooden door.
With a loud clanging of metal and the rattling of chains, the dark wooden door creaked open.
Then Sirius retreated back into his shell, standing on the steps, hesitant to step over the threshold.
Belvina shoved Sirius aside irritably and walked straight into the Black family's old house. As she walked, she called out "Kreacher" loudly.
Sirius, who had been pushed aside, took a deep breath and, as if he had made a great decision, stepped over the threshold.
A row of old-fashioned gas lamps cast a swaying light on the walls of the foyer, a net-like chandelier flickered overhead, and Slytherin snake decorations were everywhere.
Everything at Number Twelve Grimmauld Place was exactly as I remembered it, even the house-elf Kreacher looked the same, only much older.
"Welcome home, Miss Belvina, who is forever pure." Kreacher bowed deeply, his pig-like nose almost touching the floor.
"Kreacher, didn't I tell you not to put random prefixes in front of my name?" Belvina said helplessly. The Black family's house-elf was also a kind of creature.
"Yes, Miss Belvina, forever pure." Kreacher remained unchanged, sticking to his usual style of "you say yours, I say mine."
Immediately, the house-elf, now upright, spotted Sirius Black. Old Kreacher immediately recognized him as the family's unworthy descendant, the rebellious son the heroine had spoken of.
"Young Master Sirius, welcome home." Kreacher said, bowing again, and then lowered his voice to continue, "Young Master is a despicable, ungrateful scoundrel who has broken the mistress's heart... As expected of Kreacher, he always speaks ill of others to their faces."
"My mother has no heart, Kreacher," Sirius said irritably, glancing reproachfully at Belvina as if blaming her for insisting on returning to Grimoire Square.
"No matter what Sirius says, he's not worthy to carry Mistress Kreacher's shoes," Kreacher muttered. "Poor old Kreacher has to serve Sirius again. What will Mistress say if she finds out—"
Belvina decides to stop the house-elves from speaking ill of people to their faces.
She said, "Alright, Kreacher. Is Sirius's room ready? Also, could I borrow your locket for a bit?"
Kreacher was full of resentment towards Sirius; but he was very respectful towards Belvina, even though he could never get rid of the problem of how he addressed her.
"Yes, Miss Belvina, forever pure," Kreacher said, taking off the locket hanging around his neck.
Sirius looked at the pure gold pendant box inlaid with gemstones with confusion. How could a house-elf possess such a valuable item?
"Let's go to the living room and talk," Belvina said. "Kreacher, prepare some food and bring it over."
With that, Belvina walked towards the living room first, with Sirius following behind, full of doubts.
Before the brother and sister had taken more than a few steps, the poor mistress of the house, Mrs. Black, began to assert her presence.
"You spendthrift, a disgrace to the family, the bastard I bore!" Mrs. Blake in the portrait yelled. "Get out! Get out of my fathers' house!"
Mrs. Black yelled and cursed, her sharp claws waving wildly as if she wanted to break through the picture frame and scratch Sirius Black's face.
"Shut up, you horrible old witch!" Sirius shouted, then turned to Belvina and said, "Why don't you take down the portrait of the esteemed Mrs. Black?"
Belvina, who was watching the commotion from the stairs, crossed her arms and said nonchalantly, "Mom wasn't scolding me, so why should I take it off? If you really don't like it, just smash the wall. There's a permanent seal on the back of the portrait; you can't take it off."
Mrs. Blake in the portrait is still shouting and cursing with all her might, while Sirius Black has his eye on the curtain next to the portrait, ready to interrupt Mrs. Blake's chanting.
Belvina remained standing on the shore and continued, "I've always wanted to hear her scold you, but—their insults are so unoriginal, just clichés, I'm tired of hearing them."
"Shut up! I said shut up, you old witch!"
Sirius Black dragged the curtain with all his might, barely managing to block Mrs. Black's view and stop the old lady from yelling and cursing.
Then, he looked at Belvina and said irritably, "She's an old witch, and you're the little witch born of an old witch."
"Ha! That's hilarious, as if you didn't crawl out of her guts," Belvina said sarcastically. "You spendthrift, a disgrace to the family, a bastard who crawled out of Mrs. Blake's belly."
As they talked, Belvina was the first to break down and covered her mouth to laugh.
Then Sirius started laughing too, laughing so hard that tears came out.
The brother and sister didn't know what they were laughing at, but they couldn't help but laugh. One of them held their waist and the other clutched their stomach as they slowly climbed the stairs.
Before long, Belvina and Sirius arrived at a spacious drawing room.
The Black family’s sprawling family tree tapestry covers an entire wall, with names on it dating back to the Middle Ages.
Sirius stared silently at a small, charred hole in the tapestry, next to which were the names of Regulus and Belvina.
Belvina stepped forward, gently stroked Regulus's name, and whispered, "I brought that bastard back, Regulus."