My Hogwarts has a serious problem.

Chapter 408, Section 405: Sirius Black Runs Away from Home

"Kreacher! Why is it dry bread again for dinner tonight?!"

In the Black family's ancestral home, Sirius roared and summoned the old house-elf.

Kreacher, a house-elf who looked about the same age as Kira, started banging his head against the floor as soon as he appeared in the living room.

"Kreacher is useless! Kreacher can't provide Sirius with anything, not even bread!"

It screeched sharply, punishing itself, yet its eyes revealed undisguised disgust and loathing.

It hates Sirius, but because he is the only master of the Black family, it has to obey him.

Sirius Black knew perfectly well what this stubborn house-elf, thoroughly brainwashed by his mother, was thinking. He frowned and stopped Kreacher's self-harm.

"Enough! I clearly brought back fresh meat and vegetables, why didn't you cook them?"

The house-elf, his eyes darting away, said, "Kreacher hasn't cooked in a long time and has forgotten how to serve Sirius."

"lie!"

Kreacher started self-harming again, slamming his large head against the wooden floor with a loud thud.

"Yes, Kreacher deceived his master! Kreacher lied!"

"Get out! Get out of here! Don't ever show your face in front of me again!"

Sirius, annoyed, chased Kreacher away. He picked up the dry bread, looked at it with a gloomy expression for a moment, and just as he was about to take a bite, suddenly, another sharp scream rang out.

"You unfilial son! You vermin! A disgrace to the Black family! Why didn't you die outside! Don't ever set foot in the Black house again! Your filthy body defiles this place!"

The person who hurled the insults was a portrait of a mean-spirited old woman, Sirius Black's mother.

"Shut up!"

The old woman in the portrait shouted even louder.

"You bastard! You useless bug! Get out of my house! You have no right to be back here! You were expelled from Blake long ago!"

Sirius was so annoyed that he finally couldn't take it anymore. He went straight to the wall and covered the screaming portrait with a rag.

However, his actions did not stop the insults directed at the portrait.

One after another, all sorts of nasty words screamed out from that sharp mouth, like a never-ending screaming letter.

Sirius angrily picked up the magic spell, intending to destroy the only portrait his mother had left behind, but after hesitating for a moment, he ultimately did not do it.

He turned and stormed into his bedroom, stuffed some clothes into his suitcase, and then left his house.

He really couldn't stand staying in this awful place anymore.

He didn't sleep a wink for five days after returning home, constantly annoyed by the portrait and Kreacher.

Anyway, he now owns the entire Black family fortune, so buying a house in Diagon Alley wouldn't be a big problem for him.

Since he can't deal with the portrait or Kreacher, he might as well just leave on his own.

In any case, Sirius had absolutely no attachment to this nominal home.

After the door slammed open and closed, Kreacher, who had left, returned to the living room.

Its big eyes shone with joy, and then it carefully pulled off the rag covering Sirius Black's portrait, allowing Mrs. Black in the portrait to see the light again.

"That traitor is gone, mistress. He probably won't be coming back."

"An insult to the Black family bastards! He's not even worth a hair on Regulus's head!"

Upon hearing the mistress mention Sirius's name, Kreacher wept sadly; tears would stream down its face whenever it thought of Master Regulus.

After carefully wiping Sirius's mother's portrait clean with a rag, Kreacher picked up the untouched piece of dry bread from the table and curled up in a corner to eat it.

It ate the dry bread with utmost seriousness, as if savoring some rare delicacy. It even picked up every crumb that was scattered on the ground and put it in its mouth. Finally, it put its mouth under the tap and took a sip of water before it was considered to have finished its dinner.

Just as Kreacher was about to go to Sirius's bedroom, where he had been sleeping, and throw out all of Sirius's belongings, he was quite satisfied.

The gate of the old house was suddenly pushed open once again.

The portrait screamed again.

"He dares to come back! Go! Kreacher! Throw him out! Don't let him insult this land!"

Kreacher agreed, but he knew there was nothing he could do if Sirius wanted to stay there forever.

The house-elf appeared in front of the gate with a "snap," but when it saw a large group of unfamiliar people walking in from the gatekeeper, it cried out in alarm.

"Who are you! This is private property! You are not allowed to enter!"

"And there's a house-elf here, Bella."

The Death Eater who spoke was Alecto Caro, the sister of the infamous Caro siblings.

She looked at the nervous and uneasy Kreacher with a playful gaze and spoke to the people behind her.

The Death Eaters in front moved to either side, making way for Bella behind them.

Kreacher saw Bella, and Bella saw it too.

"Lady Lestrange!"

Kreacher shouted excitedly.

This emotion was clearly different from how he had treated Sirius before; his tone was filled with surprise rather than disgust.

"Kreacher".

Bella walked into the Blake family's ancestral home as if she were returning to her own home.

It's not wrong to say this is her own home; before marrying into the Lestrange family, her last name was indeed Black.

According to their relationship, she is actually Sirius's cousin, making her arguably the person in the world most closely related to him by blood.

But being closely related by blood does not mean being emotionally close. On the contrary, Bella wished Sirius dead, and Sirius felt the same way about her.

"Have you been living alone in this house all these years?"

Bella led a group of about four or five Death Eaters into the living room. She saw the sheets and clothes that Kreacher had just taken from Black's room on the sofa and asked indifferently.

Kreacher did not lie to Bella; from any standpoint, he stood firmly on Bella's side.

Even if Bella and Sirius were fighting to the death and simultaneously gave it an order, it would definitely obey Bella's command without hesitation.

"Sirius returned five days ago! He stayed here for five days and just left the Black family before dinner!"

(End of this chapter)