bioinnovel Chapter 347 When in doubt, consult Old Deng
Chapter 347 When in doubt, consult Old Deng
Chapter 347 When in doubt, consult Old Deng
Since we need to get advice from Dumbledore, it's better to do it sooner rather than later.
Belvina immediately stood up and walked towards the door of the underground kitchen.
Seeing this, Sirius also stood up and left the kitchen together.
The brother and sister walked up the stairs one after the other and came to a room on the third floor.
On the surface, this room appears to be no different from the other rooms in the house, except for an empty portrait hanging on the wall.
Belvina walked up to the empty portrait, took out her wand, and tapped and poked at the frame of the empty portrait as if she had a grudge against it.
After a while, a figure suddenly appeared in the empty portrait. The person had black hair, dark eyes, sparse eyebrows, and a goatee.
"Hey! How's my charming and adorable grandfather doing lately?" Belvina said obsequiously. "It's so nice to see you! Every time I see you, I feel refreshed and invigorated!"
Faced with Belvina's obsequious expression, Phineas Nigellus Black in the portrait scoffed disdainfully.
He said, "I know your character very well, so don't try to play these tricks on me. Just say what you have to say, or just disappear from my sight immediately."
As he spoke, Phineas frowned, looking disdainfully at the two great-grandsons standing in front of the portrait frame.
In the eyes of the most unpopular headmaster in history, these two great-grandsons were good-for-nothings who spent their days associating with Muggles.
"Alright, then I'll get straight to the point," Belvina said. "Is Professor Dumbledore at the school?" Her beautiful face still wore an extremely obsequious expression.
Sirius, standing to the side, shook his head at this blatant disdain. What does it mean to use someone and then discard them? Belvina is a perfect example.
"Dumbledore, of course he's at school. Where else would the headmaster be if he's not at school!" Phineas said matter-of-factly. "Is there any difference between you saying what you mean and saying nothing at all?"
.
Hmm~ That sounds familiar, like I've heard it somewhere before.
"It's good that he's at school. Please tell Professor Dumbledore that Bertha Jorkins, who was missing, has reappeared," Belvina said. "Also, Sirius and I will return to school as quickly as possible."
"Next time you need to do something like relaying messages, don't come to me. I'm not an owl," Phineas said. "I'm a dead man, a dead man who's been dead for many years."
Even so, Phineas still stepped out of the portrait frame to deliver the message.
Before long, Phineas returned to the empty canvas, leaning against the frame and stroking his beard.
"Who is Bertha Jorkins?" Phineas asked. "Dumbledore seems to value this person highly, very highly."
"An unpopular person who disappeared for a long time and then suddenly reappeared," Belvina said. "I didn't mean to imply anything about you."
If it weren't for that final additional explanation, no one would think you were alluding to Phineas, Sirius thought to himself.
"Dumbledore asked me to tell you that he has some business to attend to and will be in London in about half an hour. We'll discuss the details when we meet," Phineas said. "I hate being a messenger. I'm not an owl."
"That's all then, goodbye, Phineas." Belvina waved dismissively. "I hope I see you again next time, and please don't get beaten to death by the other old headmasters."
As she spoke, Belvina strolled out of the room.
What does "killing the donkey after it has done its work" mean? It means that not only the donkey that was killed was caught off guard, but even the millstone didn't realize what was happening.
Sirius sighed to himself, then shook his head and walked out of the room without saying a word to Phineas.
"You two unfilial descendants!" Phineas in the portrait shouted hoarsely, "If I were still alive, I would definitely drive you both out of the house!"
However, neither of the two unworthy descendants of the Black family turned around, leaving only Phineas with the backs of his head.
After leaving her room on the third floor, Belvina went down the stairs to the second-floor reception room.
The reception room was a long room with high ceilings and huge tapestries hanging on the olive-green walls.
Belvina lounged comfortably on the sofa, first staring blankly at the ceiling, then squinting her eyes for a nap, seemingly lost in thought.
Sirius stood before a set of glass-fronted cabinets, and he seemed to suddenly develop a keen interest in the gold and silver artifacts engraved with family crests and inscriptions on the shelves; even Arcturus's medals seemed intriguing.
About half an hour later, the doorbell rang shrilly downstairs.
Belvina, who was lounging on the sofa, opened her eyes. Before she could even sit up, Sirius had already rushed out in a hurry.
Immediately afterwards, Mrs. Blake's portrait emitted a piercing scream, as if she had paronychia and had been unfortunately stepped on.
Belvina covered her ears as she stood up and walked to the door of the reception room.
The thick curtains in front of the portrait had closed, and along with Mrs. Blake, her shrill screams had also disappeared.
"Kreacher, Kreacher, bring out the elderflower liqueur!" Sirius called to the house-elves as he led Dumbledore through the hallway.
"Professor Dumbledore," Belvina greeted from the second-floor stairwell.
Then, the three of them walked into the living room together, along with Kreacher, the house-elf who was carrying elderflower wine.
The elderflower liqueur used to entertain Dumbledore was something Sirius had shamelessly begged from the Burrow, ever since he visited it last summer and couldn't stop thinking about its taste.
While Sirius was explaining the situation to Dumbledore, Belvina picked up her wine glass, took a sip, and nodded contentedly.
The taste is indeed very good.
During his last visit to the Burrow, Percy kept nagging in Belvina's ear, preventing her from properly enjoying Mrs. Weasley's cooking.
"That's roughly the situation," Sirius said. "Bertha Jorkins appeared at Barty Crouch's house, but it's not certain yet whether she was there the whole time or Skeeter just happened to run into her."
After hearing Sirius's account, Dumbledore's expression became more serious, as if the headmaster also felt that the current situation was somewhat troublesome.
"I remember that in Harry's dream, Bertha Jorkins wasn't in it," Dumbledore said.
"I don't think so." Belvina thought for a moment. "No, Harry only mentioned Barty Crouch Jr., not anyone else."
"From what I know of Bertha, she could not possibly be a Death Eater," Dumbledore said with a sorrowful expression. "Although she is always getting into trouble and sometimes hurts people with her words, she is fundamentally different from a Death Eater."
Dumbledore's statement is quite consistent with Belvina's impression of Jorkins.
This guy has never shown the slightest support for pure-blood supremacy, nor has he ever shown any discrimination against Muggles or people of Muggle origin.
To some extent, Bertha Jorkins, that bumbling woman, did treat everyone equally.
Whether they are purebloods, mixed-race, or Muggle-born, they are all just rumor-mongers and spreaders in her eyes.
"According to Skeeter, there are no signs of imprisonment on Jorkins," Sirius said slowly. "Is it possible that..."
Was she bewitched by Crouch?
Belvina thought about it and felt that this possibility existed.
With Bertha Joggins' muddle-headed mind, she probably wouldn't even realize she'd been sold out.
Whether it was Barty Crouch, who almost became Minister of Magic, or Barty Crouch Jr., the Hogwarts genius, it would have been a piece of cake for them to trick Jorkins.
Sirius continued carefully, "Jorgins is a fool, completely clueless, and easily falls into traps. Besides, she's not sensitive to danger at all."
Surprisingly, Dumbledore shook his head, clearly disagreeing with this statement.
"Even if a person forgets everything, some principles will never be forgotten," Dumbledore said. "I am more inclined to believe that poor Bertha was controlled by the Imperius Curse and had no choice but to obey."