A certain broken Hogwarts

Chapter 200 The Lost Treasure?

The birthday party lasted until the early hours of the morning. That night, everyone tacitly put aside their past grievances and enjoyed the revelry together. Several people who usually disliked each other went about their own business without any conflict arising.

After Sirius Black drunkenly sang an old, worn-out love song, the people, having had their fun, said goodbye with smiles and one by one jumped into the fireplace and disappeared.

"We're going on a trip to Greece next. Where are you planning to go?" Daphne watched Neville's figure disappear into the flames, then handed the box of Floo Powder to her sister. "Astora, you go first..."

"I want to go exploring the Amazon rainforest. You know, someone recently discovered an extinct magical creature there," Blaise said enthusiastically, then pouted, "but my mom won't let me go."

"To be honest, I don't think you'll come out unscathed after you go in... Oh, it's my turn. See you when school starts." Daphne waved and disappeared into the raging flames.

"Actually, you can come to Norway with me..." Draco said slowly, raising his pointed chin.

"Come on, my mom won't let me go anywhere now," Blaise shrugged and complained. "Ever since that burglary, she's been paranoid, like I could be stolen from her."

"Did a thief break into your house?" Owen, who was fiddling with his cello standing to the side, glanced at him with interest. This was quite a strange thing.

"Yeah, they broke into my house in broad daylight, knocked out my house-elf, and ransacked my room," Blaise muttered, grabbing a handful of Floo Powder. "Too bad my whole family was at the theater that day, otherwise I definitely could have caught that wretched thief!"

"No thief has ever dared to break into my house. No intruder has ever been able to break the spell on my house." Draco proudly raised his chin even higher. "Did you lose anything?"

"A lot of my collection was broken. That thief really didn't know its value," Blaise grinned angrily, then said casually, "Only some trinkets I kept at home were stolen. The most valuable one was just a sapphire, which I think was a family heirloom from my mother's family."

Owen blinked, his eyes darting around slightly, as he recalled the gem he'd stolen—the one whose purpose he didn't know. What a coincidence!

"What kind of sapphire?" he pressed.

"Dark blue, and it glows." Blaise gestured with his hand, saying nonchalantly, "My mother said it's the key to unlocking some lost treasure..."

"But to be honest, I don't think that's true, otherwise it wouldn't have been passed down for so many generations without ever being used." With that, he waved his hand casually and jumped into the fireplace.

"A lost treasure?" Owen muttered thoughtfully, his fingers casually plucking the strings of his cello. The deep, melodious tune echoed in his ears like a soft whisper, making him smile with a lighthearted expression.

The thought that the sapphire belonged to the Blaise family and was also a "key" dampened Owen's curiosity considerably, making him somewhat uninterested. Although he was somewhat interested in treasure hunting, he had no reason to take possession of someone else's treasure; he was simply more curious about the origins of the thieves.

"Once we figure out what's going on with that organization, we'll find a chance to return the sapphire to Blaise." He casually squinted his eyes. "Hmm, maybe we can even find out the location of the treasure from those thieves and go treasure hunting together?"

He didn't care about the treasure itself; he was interested in the process of finding it.

Owen was lost in thought, his gaze wandering, as the guests of the party began to jump into the fireplace and leave one after another. Harry was talking to Hermione and Colin at the living room doorway. The two young wizards from Muggle families couldn't get back through the fireplace and had to stay the night, returning home at dawn.

Harry was very happy, as this was the first time he had invited friends to stay at his house. Just as he was about to lead the two to their respective rooms, he realized that Owen was still there.

"Owen, are you planning to stay here for the night too?" he called out to Owen, his emerald green eyes sparkling.

Owen shook his head, removed his hands from the cello, glanced at the obscured family tree, and said in a calm tone, "Before I leave, I have something to tell you." He paused, then casually glanced at Hermione and Colin, who were staring wide-eyed with curiosity, and said casually, "Take them to rest first, I'll wait for you here."

He planned to get his hands on Voldemort's locket as soon as possible. Although he got along fairly well with Voldemort's main soul, and the grudges from last year had been wiped clean, he was afraid they would eventually fall out again, so it was necessary to secretly sabotage him beforehand.

Harry responded, suppressing his curiosity, and led the two young wizards out of the living room.

The lively living room fell silent, leaving only Owen. The Fairy Band had already left with their instruments, and Sirius Black saw Lupin out. Well, as a diligent worker, Lupin still had to go back to the bookstore for his night shift; he couldn't bring himself to skip work in front of his boss.

Irving yawned, walked slowly to the far end of the living room with his hands behind his back, and deftly parted the floral vines covering the wall to reveal a tapestry embroidered with a family tree behind it.

The tapestry was old, with several holes torn by the fox spirits, but the gold thread still shimmered, like a flowing river of gold under the light. The intricate and elaborate family tree, like a large, leafy tree, could be traced back to the Middle Ages. Embroidered at the top of the tapestry were the words: "The oldest and noblest Black family, forever pure."

Looking the tapestry up and down, Owen patted his pocket and sighed with slight regret. "Tsk, what a photo opportunity! Too bad I didn't bring a camera."

Time ticked by, and the house-elf Kreacher peered into the living room from outside the door, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Owen as if he were guarding against a vicious robber.

The scene was rather eerie in the empty room after the guests left. Owen tilted his head with interest, playing a game of staring at each other.

"Kreacher, I think you'd better go back and rest..." Harry's voice came from outside the door, sounding somewhat helpless.

The house-elf withdrew its head and disappeared into the distance with a soft muttering sound.

Harry walked in, yawning, and asked in a forced, muffled voice, "Owen, what do you want to tell me?"

He stood beside Owen, straining his eyes to examine the family tree on the tapestry, and continued, "You seem quite interested in this?" His gaze shifted downwards, and he pointed to a name below, saying, "Look, Draco's name is up here. He's related to Sirius."

"Pure-blood families are all related," Owen said lazily, leaning back in a high-backed chair with his arms crossed.

"Sirius said the same thing," Harry said, pointing to a small, charred hole in the tapestry. "Sirius isn't on it; his name was erased. Actually, he always wanted to throw this tapestry away..."

As he spoke, he looked at Irving curiously: "Are you related to Sirius Black?"

"Of course, but only distant relatives." Owen extended a pale, slender finger, pointed to the small round hole representing Sirius Black, then moved his finger up two rows along the branch, and said softly, "Sirius's grandmother was my grandmother's aunt, so in that sense, he's my cousin."

“But I’m closer to this branch,” he said, pointing to a branch beside him. “My mother’s aunt married Sirius’s uncle…” As he spoke, he moved his finger down to a few names in the next row: Bellatrix Black, Narcissa Black, and a burn mark.

"They are my mother's cousins, my aunts. According to this relationship, I should also call Sirius my uncle," Owen said slowly.

Wow, what a complicated relationship. Harry blinked, bewildered, and said a beat late, "So, you and Draco are cousins?"

"Ah, actually you're also our cousin," Owen said, shrugging. "The relationships between pure-blood families are just that complicated, and there's no need to worry about it too much."

Harry blinked again, decisively ending this confusing topic: "Do you have a similar family tree in your family?"

"Of course," Irving nodded. "Let's get back to the main topic, about RAB."

Harry was stunned for a moment, then nearly jumped up with excitement, all sleepiness instantly gone: "You found RAB?"

"What RAB?" Sirius's deep voice came from the other side. He had just seen Lupin off and heard Harry shouting "RAB" outside the door, so he frowned and walked over, glancing at the tapestry in front of them with a disgusted expression.

"Um, this..." Harry's tone was hesitant. He hadn't decided whether to tell Sirius about Voldemort yet. It wasn't that he didn't trust him, but he felt that Sirius had finally escaped Azkaban and should enjoy his freedom instead of worrying about his own affairs.

"An initials of a name—I think Mr. Blake has more to say on this matter," Owen said casually, a polite smile on his face.

Harry paused, then looked at the tapestry beside him with a start: "Could it be...?"

"My brother," Sirius suddenly said in a hoarse voice, pointing with one finger to the name at the very bottom of the family tree: Regulus Black, followed by his birth and death dates.

"Regulus Arcturus Black, a stupid, weak idiot." He looked up from the tapestry at Harry. "I've told you about my wretched family before. They're insanely obsessed with pure-bloods, believing the Blacks are inherently noble, and they even supported Voldemort's ideas back then..."

As they spoke, he secretly scrutinized Owen standing beside him, trying to glean something from the man's expression. As Harry's godfather, he felt it necessary to test whether Harry's Slytherin friends were trustworthy.

Irving maintained his unchanging, calm smile, pretending not to notice the other man's scrutiny, and nodded slightly.

This performance made Sirius's heart skip a beat. He had expressed his disagreement with the pure-blood theory in front of the other party and even mentioned Voldemort's name, yet this young wizard remained unfazed. To be able to do this, one must either be an idiot or extremely cunning; he clearly didn't think Owen was the former.

Sirius Black silently added Owen to his list of people to be wary of, sighing inwardly. He felt increasingly worried about Harry's situation. Surrounded by such a group of friends, he felt that Harry would either go astray or be severely harmed.

"Slytherin? How did he end up in Slytherin?" Since learning about part of Harry's experience getting into Hogwarts, Sirius Black had this perplexing thought more than once, and even had the urge to chop up the Sorting Hat and feed it to the dogs.

"Ahem, my brother Regulus, he joined the Death Eaters just like our dear cousin Bellatrix," Sirius continued, his face hardening. "Later, he got scared and wanted to quit, but you can't just hand Voldemort a resignation letter and call it a day. It's either life or death, so obviously, he paid the price with his life for his stupidity and weakness."

"No! Maybe not!" Harry retorted, his eyes blazing. "If he is RAB, then he is not weak at all, but rather exceptionally brave, Sirius."

"A locket... Did we see a locket while we were cleaning this house?" He paced back and forth in front of the tapestry, frowning and deep in thought.

Sirius shook his head in confusion, wanting to ask Harry more about Regulus, but not interrupting his thoughts.

Seeing that things were on track, Irving leaned back in a high-backed chair with a smile, propping his chin up with one hand and squinting his eyes.

"Oh, right, Dobby!" Harry called out suddenly, raising his voice as he couldn't find any clues about the locket in his memory.

The diligent house-elf materialized with a "snap," his shrill voice proclaiming, "Dobby is ready to serve Harry Potter!"

"No, I need you to think about it, Dobby. Have you seen a locket in this house?" Harry gestured, "About this big, maybe a little smaller, um, maybe with an 'S' or something on it..."

Dobby's large, glassy eyes lit up, and he exclaimed in a shrill voice, "Dobby saw a little box that couldn't be opened! Dobby obeyed Mr. Black's orders and threw it away as trash, but Dobby saw Kreacher pick it up!"

Listening to Dobby's words, Harry's emotions went through a rollercoaster ride before finally settling down. He let out a sigh of relief, let Dobby leave, and then looked at Sirius with anticipation.

Sirius, not knowing why he wanted to find a locket, reluctantly called Kreacher over.

"Young Master." A skinny, tiny house-elf, dressed in a dirty rag, appeared in the living room, bowed slightly, and muttered to himself while looking at his knees, "Young Master is a despicable scoundrel, bringing his mud-blooded nature to ruin the mistress's house. Oh, my poor mistress, what will she say if she sees Kreacher serving Young Master? How much she hates him..."

"Shut up, Kreacher," Sirius said impatiently, watching Kreacher choke as if he'd been choked. "I'm asking you, did you take one of Dobby's lockets that he threw away?"

Kreacher kept his mouth tightly shut and glared at him with resentment.

"Speak up!" Sirius said irritably.

"Kreacher won't take anything from the young master's house out of the proper place," Kreacher hissed, then muttered in a low voice, "Kreacher will absolutely not let the young master, with his little brats and those vile house-elves, destroy anything in the house..."

"I asked you if you took a locket!" Sirius said irritably.

"Don't be like that, Sirius..." Harry comforted him.

"Yes!" Kreacher screamed in a bullfrog-like voice with his eyes closed, "Kreacher took Master Regulus's locket! Kreacher will not allow Master to lose the locket that Master Regulus risked his life to retrieve!"

He froze, realizing that the house-elf he had let slip was standing there stiffly, then let out a piercing scream that seemed to shatter eardrums. He lunged toward the fireplace, grabbed the fire poker standing beside it, and slammed it against his head.

Harry lunged forward, grabbing the fire poker to snatch it away, but accidentally bumped his elbow on the corner of the table, wincing in pain. Kreacher screamed and tried to stick his hand into the fireplace flames.

"Stop, Kreacher!" Sirius finally snapped out of his daze and shouted the command, finally stopping the house-elf from its actions.

He looked at Kreacher, who was lying on his back on the floor, panting heavily, and said with a grim face, "Kreacher, I order you to tell me about that locket, and what Regulus did?"

Kreacher raised his ugly head and glared at Sirius with bloodshot eyes, but in the end he could not disobey the order and reluctantly began to tell the story of Regulus in a low, hoarse voice.

(End of this chapter)