The Return to Hogwarts

"You were too careless, young man."

As soon as he finished speaking, a loud bang suddenly echoed in the howling wind, and Sirius Black's figure vanished abruptly, leaving only the chaotic snowstorm.

"Ha, such inexplicable confidence—"

Seeing Blake Apparate, he was not alarmed. Instead, a hint of joy flashed in his purple eyes. He closed his eyes and sensed for a moment. The next second, he took a step forward, and his body also disappeared into the pure white painting.

Chapter 234 Sadness

With a flash of light, Amosta was released from the state of Apparition, not voluntarily, but forced out of the void by something.

"really--"

Looking at the bronze chain wall in front of him, and behind it, the turbulent spatial currents that surged like a river, and the five-story building suspended above it, Amosta revealed a satisfied smile.

The Black family’s old house is located in Grimmauld Place in northwest London, far from the bustling Muggle city center. It is a quiet place, and the old house is protected by a lot of ancient magic and defensive spells you can imagine. Without the invitation of the owners, it would be very difficult for outsiders to break in with their magical abilities.

Amostah's previous attempt to enter this place ended in failure, not because he was powerless against the bronze chain walls that divided the world, but because he did not know the mansion's coordinates in space. Even if he broke through these defensive spells, he would get lost in the spatial turbulence. But now, there happens to be someone inside the house that he marked with magic, who can serve as a 'coordinate'.

-

Previously, in the Screaming Shack, Amosta had ulterior motives for letting Blake out of the house.

Since his failed attempt to force his way in last time, Amosta suddenly realized that this house was actually quite a good match for his ideal place to live.

boom!

A heavy thud shattered the silence of the darkness, and the mansion, untouched for twelve years, finally welcomed back the only surviving direct descendant of the Black family.

Sirius lay on the ground, groaning weakly. Although he had narrowly escaped the powerful magic that the young wizard named Amosta Blaine had used at the end, he was not unharmed. The explosion had created a sharp shockwave that swept across his upper body, easily breaking several of his ribs. In the most serious places, the broken bones had pierced his skin, and blood was dripping down like a stream.

However, Sirius didn't focus on his injuries; instead, he looked at the old house in front of him with a complicated expression.

The air was filled with a damp, dusty smell, along with a lingering sweet, rotten odor. As if hearing the sound of someone entering, a row of old-fashioned gas lamps on the wall of the long corridor connecting to the entrance were all lit up, casting a shimmering, unreal light that illuminated the peeling wallpaper and worn, frayed carpet on the long, gloomy corridor walls.

A spiderweb-like chandelier flickered overhead, and portraits, blackened by age and lack of protection, hung crookedly on the walls.

Sirius took a deep breath. The moment he saw those familiar furnishings, unpleasant memories from the depths of his mind surged up again. He had sworn never to return here, but now, in order to save his life, he had to break his vow.

The memories of those years living there clung to Sirius's mind like maggots, making his already gloomy expression even more sinister. However, he knew that he couldn't spend too much time dwelling on those terrible memories, otherwise he would waste the chance to live that he had so painstakingly won from Amosta Blaine.

Excessive blood loss turned Sirius's face deathly pale, and the pain from the broken bones assaulted his consciousness wave after wave, like the tides under the bright moon. Perhaps at any moment, he would fall into a coma.

With his teeth clenched tightly and his teeth stained yellow, Sirius crawled toward the wall, leaving startling dark marks on the dusty wooden floor.

"Ouch, that was quite a blow--"

Lifting the tattered prison clothes, and under the yellow light of the gas lamp, Sirius gasped, finally seeing just how serious his injuries were.

Sirius Black struggled to raise his hand, and the swirling wand emitted streaks of white light. Under the cool glow, the broken ribs shrank back into his chest cavity, and the wound healed itself, leaving a hideous scar.

After roughly treating his external injuries, Sirius exhaled as he looked at the dilapidated mansion before him, braced himself against the wall, and struggled to his feet.

Because of excessive blood loss, his cheeks were even more sallow than before, and he looked like he was barely alive, almost like a dried-up corpse. Suppressing the dizziness that was overwhelming his consciousness and the uncomfortable feeling that the old house gave him, Sirius staggered inside, supporting himself against the wall.

Now that he's back, there's no need to rush to leave. He needs to find some food to replenish his strength and also carefully consider how to carry out his plans.

The Hogwarts Head of Student Safety has found him and discovered that he is an illegal Animagus. Therefore, it would be extremely foolish to try to sneak into Hogwarts using the old methods. The difficulty of avenging James and Lily has increased significantly. In the short term, the only way Sirius can think of is to take advantage of the boy taking his pet mouse home for the summer holidays and find an opportunity to strike.

This means he will have to wait another six or seven months to achieve his goal, which is an extremely painful torment for Sirius, who dreams of revenge.

Thinking this through, Sirius let out a faint, incredibly sorrowful sigh.

How exactly did Amosta Blaine get to the Screaming Shack tonight?

There are two possibilities. The first is that the wizard finally remembered that Hogsmeade still had his secret experimental base, and on a whim, decided to come back and take a look.

However, Sirius Black thought this possibility was not high, because that terrible young wizard had not returned for more than two months and probably no longer wanted to use that place.

His sigh stemmed from the second possibility—that Amosta Blaine had come through the secret passage under the Willow Tree.

At present, only one person at Hogwarts knows that he still has the ability to pass through that secret passage, and that is his best friend—Remus Lupin.

For a while after his trip to Hogwarts on Halloween night, Sirius was worried. He knew that Remus was currently teaching at the school, and he was afraid that Remus would tell Dumbledore about his past and accuse him of being an illegal Animagus, thus sealing off the secret passage under the Willow Tree.

But in the days that followed, Sirius Black, who was constantly monitoring Hogwarts from Crook Hill, was relieved.

Dumbledore did not seal the secret passage, which means that Remus probably didn't say anything to Dumbledore.

Sirius, as Remus's former best friend, could probably guess why Remus reacted this way.

But now Amosta Blaine has arrived at the Shrieking Shack through a secret passage and called out his own name while still in his transformed state. Sirius has reason to believe that Remus has told the young man everything.

"Have you decided to kill me, Remus?"

The long-numbed heart pounding in his chest surged with uncontrollable sorrow, and a look of grief appeared on his skeletal face.

"This is all karma—"

Sirius Black chuckled bitterly as he whispered. His physical and mental strength were already at their limits. Suddenly, his legs gave way and his body collapsed involuntarily, crashing headfirst into the giant leg umbrella stand at the end of the hallway leading to the basement kitchen.

wow-

Two velvet curtains riddled with wormholes were pulled open, and in the portrait behind them, an ugly old woman wearing a black hat suddenly opened her eyes. She looked at Sirius Black lying on the ground, struggling to breathe, took a deep breath, and the next second, a terrible, deafening, and chilling scream instantly awakened this mansion that had been dormant for many years.

"You unfilial son!!!"

Chapter 235 Impolite

One by one, the portraits inside the room came to life, their shrieks rising and falling like the noise of a machine running at full speed in a Muggle factory, making the air ripple.

But no voice in the portrait could be more piercing than the old woman's. It glared at Sirius, who sat panting on the ground. After the initial shock, the old woman's toothless mouth opened, and her loose, yellow skin taut.

"You—you, you spendthrift, a disgrace to the family, you are a bastard!"

The old woman in the picture frame is baring her teeth and brandishing her claws, as if she's about to rush out and bite Sirius Black's neck.

"You actually dare to come back here, you—you disgraceful bastard, you filthy scum, get out of this house left by our ancestors right now!"

A fire suddenly ignited in Sirius's dark pupils. He glared menacingly at the old woman in the picture frame, who looked like she was being tortured by a demonic spell. A surge of power suddenly welled up in his weak body, making him proudly raise his chin and slowly stand up.

Sirius Black stared fearlessly at the old woman who was uttering the most vicious curses she could muster, and said coldly,

"Long time no see, my dear mother—"

The old woman in the portrait held her breath, her expression one of utter humiliation. Sirius Black felt a surge of pleasure at the sight, but before he could say anything more, the old woman howled again.

"Kreacher, Kreacher, you damn thing, where have you been slacking off again!"

boom!

Under the dim, flickering light, the air suddenly exploded as a house-elf named 'Kreacher' burst through the air and appeared in the bustling corridor.

This house-elf looked old, with loose, excess skin several times more than its body actually needed. Although its head was bald like all house-elves, a lot of white fur grew in its two large, bat-like ears. Its eyes were bloodshot, watery and gray, and its fleshy nose was so big that it looked like a pig's nose.

Kreacher appeared beside Sirius, but he didn't even glance at him. Instead, he bowed respectfully to the portrait of the old lady, bending so low that his forehead touched the instep of his feet.

“My most honorable mistress, Kreacher has been waiting for your command.”

The little house-elf kept muttering in a hoarse, deep voice like a bullfrog.

“Kreacher has not slacked off, my esteemed mistress. Kreacher has dedicated her life to serving the noble Black family—”

"Get this ungrateful wretch, this disobedient brat, out of my house!"

The old woman pointed her index finger frantically at Sirius Black's chest, who was staring coldly at Kreacher, and yelled.

"Ah—it's you, young master—"

Kreacher, acting as if he had just noticed Sirius Black, turned around, slowly, reluctantly, and perfunctorily bending down, then lowered his voice and began to mutter...

“Young Master Black is a wretched, ungrateful scoundrel who broke his mother’s heart. Now, this despicable man has escaped Azkaban and returned to my mistress’s house. But why has he come back? He should have stayed in Azkaban to atone for the foolish things he did—”

"Long time no see, Kreacher--"

Sirius leaned against the wall opposite the portrait, clutching his aching ribs and speaking with a sullen face.

"To be honest, I'm a little surprised. I thought you were already dead from old age. But you haven't gotten much better; you look like you're getting senile—"

"Young Master always likes to crack a little joke; Kreacher isn't senile at all—"

The house-elf spoke while bowing to Sirius, as if it were an instinct that compelled it to do so.

“Kreacher noticed the young master as soon as he entered the house. If it weren’t for the mistress’s orders, Kreacher would have preferred to stay hidden, because Kreacher knew that the young master must have gotten into big trouble again, just like before, which would only make my respected mistress sad—”

The old woman's portrait on the wall kept yelling at Kreacher to kick Sirius out of the house, while Kreacher muttered something under his breath. Sirius's face turned from yellow to green, and he gritted his teeth and said to the old woman...

“Shut your mouth, or I’ll order Kreacher to throw everything in this house out, including your portrait!”

The old lady was stunned, seemingly not expecting Sirius to dare to say such outrageous things.

Meanwhile, Kreacher, standing at Sirius's feet, also showed an indignant expression. He was about to say something when suddenly a violent flash of light appeared at the other end of the corridor, and a loud explosion made the whole house tremble!

"Yo-ho--"

Amostella stamped his foot, frantically swatting out the flames on his sleeve, then looked at the dumbfounded Black and his filthy house-elf fifty feet away, waving his right hand and smiling merrily.

"Wow—it's really not easy to just drop by in this house. Sorry, did I interrupt your reunion?"

After a period of oppressive silence, the old woman on the wall was the first to unleash her fury.