Sherlock Holmes at Hogwarts.

Chapter 370 The Noblest and Oldest Black Family

After Sherlock finished talking about the house-elf Kreacher, Sirius fell silent.

Harry looked at him with some concern.

Hermione lowered her head in thought.

The other young wizards looked at each other in disbelief.

After a while, it was unclear whether Sirius had taken Sherlock's words to heart, but in any case, he walked to the other side of the room alone.

That's the tapestry that Kreacher was trying so hard to protect.

It covered the entire wall, making it appear exceptionally large.

Hermione tugged at Sherlock, and the others followed.

The tapestry looked very old, the colors had faded, and it seemed to have been chewed up in several places by foxes.

However, judging from the material alone, it is excellent, and the gold thread embroidered on it is still shining.

It was a family tree that stretched out like the branches of a large tree, going back all the way to the Middle Ages.

Sherlock glanced at it and realized that Kreacher was right.

This thing has indeed been stored for seven centuries.

Several large characters were embroidered on the top of the tapestry.

The most noble and ancient Black family

“I was up there.”

After a moment, Sirius suddenly spoke.

He pointed to a small, charred hole at the very bottom of the family tree on the tapestry—it looked like a cigarette burn mark.

“Kreacher liked to whisper this story: Ever since I ran away from home, my dear old mother has destroyed me.”

"You ran away from home?"

Sherlock looked at Sirius with interest; he was unaware of this past event.

“I was about sixteen years old that year—I had had enough of the Black family, so I came to live with Harry’s father.”

Sirius seemed lost in a distant memory, his eyes filled with longing as he looked at Harry:

"As I told you before, your grandparents are very understanding; they practically treat me like their second son."

So whenever school was out for holidays, I would stay at your father's house temporarily until I was seventeen, when I finally found a place to live on my own.

At that time, my uncle Alphat left me a considerable amount of gold—look at the row above me—well, he also had the last name Black, so he was also my uncle.

Everyone looked up in the direction Sirius was looking and sure enough, they saw another burn mark there.

Sirius laughed self-deprecatingly:

"I think that's probably why he was removed from here."

In short, from then on, I started taking care of myself.

However, Mr. and Mrs. Potter always welcomed me to their home for dinner every Saturday.

"I don't know."

Hermione asked, somewhat puzzled, "But Mr. Sirius, why would you...?"

Although some clues can be gleaned from the attitude in Mrs. Blake's portrait.

But she still couldn't understand what kind of family environment could make a sixteen-year-old boy run away from home.
It's important to understand that the Dursleys had done some really bad things to Harry before, but even Harry hadn't considered doing this.

What's even more outrageous is that Sirius's parents have completely ignored this situation.

Even after his death, his portrait was used to attack him.
What kind of parents are these!
"You want to ask me why I ran away from home, right?"

Sirius gave a wry smile. "Because I hate all of them—except for those who were expelled from the family."

My parents and others were madly obsessed with pure blood.

They believed that being a member of the Black family meant being born noble.

They also disliked me, considering me a heretic and a disgrace to the Black family's unparalleled glory.

"Another group of victims of the bloodline theory that believes in the supremacy of pure blood."

Sherlock shook his head upon hearing this, "You win and win, but in the end you lose everything."

Among the pure-blood families Sherlock knew, the Malfoys were one such example.

Now it seems that the Black family is no less impressive, and perhaps even more so.

Although Draco Malfoy was like that, judging from the behavior of his father Lucius Malfoy, he was not completely superstitious about bloodlines and knew how to weigh the pros and cons.

But the Black family, needless to say, is another story.

Sherlock had read Cantankerous Nott's "The Pure Blood List" a long time ago, so he already had some knowledge of the Black family.

However, through this family tree and Sirius's description, Sherlock gained more information.

He took the initiative and asked, "So... you had a younger brother who has passed away?"

Hearing Sherlock's words, everyone present, including Harry, was taken aback.

"Yes, my foolish brother, he's too weak-willed—he actually believed their nonsense about the Black family being born noble."

Sirius nodded, smiled wryly, and pointed to the name at the very bottom of the family tree.

Following the direction Sirius pointed, everyone saw a name written next to Sirius, who had already been removed from the list.

Regulus Black (1961-1979)

“Although he is my brother,” Sirius’s eyes showed a complicated look, “there are always people reminding me that his son is much better than me.”

"For you to say something like that... so, he joined the Death Eaters?"

Everyone except Sirius and Hermione stared at Sherlock in astonishment.

It's not surprising that Sherlock could immediately tell that Sirius had a deceased brother.

Although this family tree is densely packed with information about a large number of people, as long as one is patient and looks at it slowly, even they can find relevant information.

It just takes a little longer.

To directly say that Sirius's brother is a Death Eater would be going too far.

Harry couldn't help but speak up:
"Sherlock, you must be joking!"

“Unfortunately, Harry, Sherlock is absolutely right, that stupid idiot…”

Sirius noticed the surprised expressions on everyone's faces and showed a hint of impatience. "You've all seen the state of this house. Don't you understand what kind of wizards my family are?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Sirius, this question may be a bit offensive, but were your parents also Death Eaters?"

"Offensive? No, not at all, Miss Hermione."

Sirius said dismissively:
"Although they were not Death Eaters, they believed Voldemort's claims were correct."

Upon hearing this name, the young wizards of the Weasley family all shuddered. Sirius Black ignored them and continued:
"Because before Voldemort rose to power, they advocated maintaining the purity of wizarding bloodlines, getting rid of Muggle-born people, and letting pure-bloods hold power."

For example, Alaminta Melifren, my mother's cousin, tried to force through a Ministry of Magic decree that would legalize the killing of Muggles.

People like them are not unique among wizards; before Voldemort revealed his true face, many believed that his claims about certain things were correct.

However, once Voldemort truly gained power, these people discovered that he had resorted to any means to obtain power and had done many heinous things.

At this point, they become timid and withdrawn again.

But I think my parents must have considered Regulus a brave little hero for joining from the start.” “So…your brother…was he killed by an Auror?”

Harry asked, not quite sure.

"No, not an Auror, he was killed by Voldemort."

Or, more likely, he was murdered at Voldemort's behest.

Sirius's voice lowered slightly when he mentioned his younger brother:
"I suspect that Regulus is not so important that Voldemort needs to kill him himself."

From what I've learned since his death, he was already very, very deeply mired in this situation.

Based on my understanding of him, it's probably because he's afraid of doing things that others ask him to do, so he's thinking about quitting.

Unfortunately, this is not an ordinary job; you can't just hand in your resignation to Voldemort and call it a day.

"Either... risk your life for it, or... die."

Sirius's words silenced everyone.

Sherlock nodded slightly.

Even so, Voldemort's status in his heart had dropped another level.

I really don't understand how someone like that could have ruled the magical world back then.

Based on what I know right now, he doesn't even qualify as an excellent leader.

On the contrary, the Tom Riddle from fifty years ago in the diary has more of a leadership quality.

I really don't know how I ended up becoming such a brain-dead person.

Just then, Mrs. Holmes pushed open the door and walked in.

She was holding a tray in both hands, which was piled high with sandwiches and cakes.

"Children, come and have something to eat!" she said to everyone with a smile.

Ron was the first to run towards her.

Then the others gathered around her, scrambling to grab food.

Only Sherlock, Harry, and Hermione remained by Sirius's side without moving.

Sirius moved closer and examined the tapestry more closely.

After a moment, he pointed to a name and introduced it to the three of them:
“I haven’t seen this in years. This is Phineas Nigellus, my great-grandfather. Do you see it?”

Harry nodded subconsciously.

Hermione immediately realized, "He's also the headmaster of Hogwarts! I saw his name in 'Hogwarts: A History of the School'."

“That’s right, Hermione,” Sirius said with a smile, “but he’s the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history.”

"In some ways, he is actually the most successful principal."

"Why do you say that, Sherlock?" Hermione asked curiously.

"During Phineas Nigelles' tenure as rector, there were no barriers between the four colleges, and the relationship between the faculty and students was excellent."

Even among Gryffindor and Slytherin students, a united front would spontaneously form as long as they opposed Phineas.

It can be said that Principal Phineas Nigelles Black single-handedly united the entire faculty and student body.

This is something even Albus Dumbledore couldn't do.

Of course, the book you're reading certainly won't include these details.

Sirius couldn't help but laugh out loud. "That's not entirely wrong, Sherlock."

"There is also a portrait of him in the principal's office."

Sherlock looked thoughtful. "When you went to the principal's office with us that day, he wanted to say something to you, but Professor McGonagall stopped him."

"Is there such a thing?"

Sirius knew that Phineas had a portrait in the principal's office, but he didn't know that he had missed a little incident.

Hearing Sherlock mention it now was naturally a bit of a surprise.

“He probably wanted to speak rudely to you,” Sherlock said honestly.

"That was to be expected. He has always looked down on me and people like me who are unconventional."

Sirius gave a cold laugh, unsurprisingly, and continued:

There are countless people like him in the Black family:

Besides Alaminta Mellivren, whom I just mentioned, who attempted to legalize the killing of Muggles by passing legislation.

And my dear great-great-grandmother Eladora.

When the Black family's house-elves got too old to lift plates, they would cut off their heads and hang them on the wall—a family tradition she started.

Of course, not everyone in this family is a bastard.

However, whenever a reasonably decent person emerges in the family, they declare that they are severing ties with him.

For example, here is Phineas's sister Isla, because she married a Muggle.

Another example is Phineas's child, another Phineas, who was excommunicated for supporting Muggle rights.

My great-uncle Marius did nothing, but unfortunately he was a dud and still couldn't escape being removed from the list.

And then there's my uncle Alphat, whom I just mentioned who sponsored me, haha.

In our generation, besides me who ran away from home, there was also my favorite cousin, Andromeda.

Look, there are Andromeda's sisters up there, because they married lovely, respectable pure-blood wizards.

Only Andromeda married a Muggle-born man—Ted Tonks, so—"

Sherlock looked at the numerous burn holes in the tapestry on the wall and couldn't help but sneer.

"Is the so-called purity of one's bloodline maintained by expelling 'bloodline traitors' from the family tree?"
Doesn't that sound a bit ridiculous?
This is nothing more than self-deception.

"Who says it's not?"

Sirius Black, upon hearing Sherlock's words, shook his head with a helpless smile, then made a shooting motion with his wand at the tapestry, and chuckled bitterly.

But neither Harry nor Hermione laughed.

As Sherlock said, the names Sirius mentioned are represented on this tapestry by a small, charred spot.

Those places were originally inhabited by members of the Black family, but they were expelled from the family for some seemingly ridiculous reasons.

How can such a family inspire a sense of belonging?
Just then, they were all drawn to several names.

They are to the right of the scorch marks representing Andromeda, the favorite cousin Sirius just mentioned.

There were a few acquaintances there.

First was Narcissa Black.

Then a double-stranded gold thread connected Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy together.

Then, a single vertical gold line connects their names to Draco Malfoy's name.

"You...you're related to the Malfoys!"

At that moment, Harry couldn't help but exclaim in surprise.

(End of this chapter)