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Chapter 190: The Black Family's Collection
🕑 Added 2018-08-01 06:48:24 +0000 UTCStanding in the dim hall, Evan looked around curiously.
As the mansion of the Black family, 12 Grimmauld Place is a typical pure-blood wizard's house. The decorations that could be seen everywhere are hundreds of years old. If ever put on the market, they would definitely be valuable antiques.
In front of them is a narrow corridor, the end which couldn’t be seen.
Right in front of the hall was a tree-shaped decorative light. Both the chandelier and the candelabra on a rickety table nearby were shaped like serpents.
After Voldemort returned, the house was used as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Right now, it should be in use by anyone, and naturally it wasn’t being protected by magic. It can be seen from the thick dust around it that no one has been there for a long time.
Evan didn't know why Sirius had to bring them here. It would be reasonable to say that the latter held an awful lot of disgust for the house. However, Black just mentioned that he would come here to get a Christmas present for him and Hermione. Evan didn’t know what it was?!
"There has been no one living here for more than a decade. We'd better hurry up and leave here when we finish this." Sirius whispered, he took the lead into the hall.
There was a crunch from the old floor, which sounded particularly creepy in the old, empty house.
Evan didn't know what they were going to get, but he knew that Slytherin's locket was kept there. If he could find it and destroy it, it would save him a lot of trouble.
The locket should be kept in the room of Sirius's younger brother, Regulus. He had put it there, and Evan did not know where it was exactly.
If he had a chance, he was going to look for it.
Evan hurriedly caught up with Sirius, and Hermione couldn't help but hold his arm. Harry walked in front of them, his face mixed with inexplicable tension and excitement.
In the dim, narrow corridor, they bypassed a large umbrella stand made from the severed leg of a troll.
On the left side of the umbrella stand was a dark staircase, and the wall next to it seemed to be decorated with something.
Sirius did not go upstairs, and Evan, Harry, and Hermione were full of curiosity and gathered to see the blurring decoration on the wall. Then, the three of them took a breath of cold air, and they saw a row of shrunken heads, mounted on the wall on plaques.
They were all house-elf heads, and they all had the same ugly big nose.
"I don't understand, this house looks like that of the most evil of dark wizards." Harry whispered, "Why did Sirius' parents live here?"
"Remember, except for Sirius, All members of the Black family are from Slytherin House.” Evan also whispered, “Think about their taste, and you should be able to understand.”
“Why are they hanging house-elf heads on the wall?” "The expression on Hermione's face was full of fear and confusion, and there was still some anger hidden.
"It’s not them who hang them up. It’s the tradition of house elves. They have been serving in a wizarding family since birth. When they grow old in age, they get beheaded and their heads get sickeningly stuffed and mounted on the house walls. This is, no doubt, considered by the house-elves as the very highest honour."
"I don't understand, this is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!" Hermione hesitated, "Dobby is not like this…"
"He is an exception; he is different from other house-elves." Evan patted Hermione's shoulder gently. "We’d better wait to go back to school to discuss this matter, here I feel very bad."
He didn’t know if it was an illusion. Evan always felt that something was hiding in the house and secretly watching them in the dark. This feeling was very strong.
But looking around, he didn’t see anything.
Sirius did not stop at all during their conversation; his figure had disappeared into the corner of the narrow corridor.
They hurried to follow, and then they walked through two long, worm-covered curtains that looked like they were hiding a door.
When Harry passed, he glanced at the curtain.
The next second, he involuntarily stepped back a few steps, in panic, as if he had seen something extremely horrible.
"What's wrong, Harry?"
"Inside, there is a portrait inside, above..."
Evan turned his head and he saw the drapery on the wall automatically slide to the sides, revealing something hidden behind him, and a portrait of a fierce old lady hanging on the wall.
Seeing the three people, Evan, Harry, and Hermione, the old lady screeched louder than ever, brandishing clawed hands as though trying to tear their faces.
“Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Halfbreeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers?”
The old lady's face was just horrible. Just as Evan and the two others stood there still, not knowing what to do, Sirius Black rushed back.
“Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut UP!” he roared, trying to pull the curtain back.
“Yoooou!” The old woman’s face blanched, and her eyes popping at the sight of Sirius. Then she roared. “Blood traitor, abomination, shame of my flesh! You have a face to come back?! you are this..."
“I said … shut … UP!” roared the man, and with a stupendous effort he managed to force the curtains closed again.
The old woman’s screeches died and an echoing silence fell.
“Who is this?” Harry whispered, still looking worried.
"My mother, I think you should know it. When she was alive, she had this look." Sirius said keeping a straight face.
"She, she is your..."
“My dear old mum, yeah,” said Sirius, “ Didn’t I say before? This was my parents' house, and they had intended to leave it to my brother, but only me lived on in the family, so this house is all mine now."
"What are we doing here?" Evan asked.
"We came to get Christmas presents for you and Hermione." Sirius explained, "I asked Lupin, Hagrid and others about your preferences. You and Hermione both like to read books, and the Black Family Library is in this house. There are many out-of-print magic books here. Many of them were in the Black family for centuries and were not seen outside at all. I think you will be interested."
"Precious magic books?!" Evan was stunned.
Compared with Harry and Hermione who were out of it, he knew the value of such books
Because he had asked in Flourish and Blotts Bookseller to collect books of magic, Evan knew their actual value.
An out-of-print magic book is priceless and of immeasurable value.
These were the inheritance of a pure-blood wizard family. No-one was going to get it. If it wasn’t for such a chance, no outsider would’ve been able to check out these books.
The longer the pedigree of a wizard family is, the greater the value of the collection of magic books gets.
The history of the Black family can be traced back to the dawn of millennia, as The Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. It can be said that they are some of the only few true pure blood wizards in the magic world. Their family collection… Evan was so excited when he thought about it.
He wanted to hurriedly take a look, but weren’t such magic books too expensive for Christmas gifts?!
Sirius seemed to be aware of Evan’s fear, he explained in a plain tone, "Don't say anything, you guys helped me, a few magic books cannot repay you. Besides, if you don't read those books, they will stay there gathering mold."
