Chapter 507: The Terror Gang

The sunset over Diagon Alley arrived as usual, marking the last day of Wizard Sean’s week-long holiday.

After this day, he would return to Hogwarts.

The Slytherin locket still rested in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts, waiting for the wizard who would draw the sword.

So today, before Wizard Sean left the Leaky Cauldron, Sirius had hesitated all day.

“I want to tell you a story.”

Sirius said hesitantly.

In England, night had just unveiled its stillness; the Leaky Cauldron had few patrons left, and apart from the dozen or so wizards who lived there, no other sounds stirred.

Wizard Sean already knew what Sirius was about to say, but he still nodded.

“It happened long ago. If you believe me, please take my wrist.”

Sirius extended his hand—and strangely, this was the first time since his escape from Azkaban that he felt nervous.

Fortunately, he rarely misjudged a wizard; that was his gift.

Though exceptions always existed, he had paid dearly for them… oh no, his mistake had nearly cost him everything… but now, he still chose to believe.

To believe in the wizard before him, to believe he would lead them toward the tomorrow they would win.

Before Sirius could react, the young wizard had already grasped the edge of his cloak.

“Let’s go, sir.”

Wizard Sean said.

“Oh…”

Sirius could not suppress his joy; after a twist of space, they left the Leaky Cauldron.

They arrived instead at 12 Grimmauld Place.

The house could not be mapped, so no one could ever visit it—but these past few days, it had been haunted by shadows.

Sirius stood before the tapestry, and Wizard Sean saw in his eyes an unshakable melancholy.

“I haven’t looked at this in years.

This is Phineas Nigellus… my great-grandfather. Do you see him?

He was the most unpopular headmaster in Hogwarts history…

And Araminta Meliflua… my mother’s cousin… who tried to force a Ministry law to legalize the killing of Muggles…

And my dear Aunt Euladora… she cut off the heads of house-elves when they grew too old to carry trays—this family tradition was her invention…

Of course, whenever a relatively decent person appeared in the family, they publicly disowned him.”

Sirius spoke slowly, and Wizard Sean thought every single Black, even by magical standards, qualified as a terrorist.

Indeed, the entire family was a terror gang.

“The only exception I noticed is that my niece Tonks’s family isn’t on here.

By the way, Tonks—her mother Andromeda—is my favorite cousin.

Andromeda isn’t here either—look—”

Sirius pointed to another charred circular patch between the names Bellatrix and Narcissa.

“All of Andromeda’s sisters are here, because they married lovely, respectable pure-blood wizards. Only Andromeda married a Muggle-born—Ted Tonks—so—haha—”

Sirius made a shooting motion with his wand toward the tapestry and laughed bitterly.

But Wizard Sean’s attention was drawn to the names just to the right of Andromeda’s charred mark.

There, a double strand of gold thread linked Narcissa Black to Lucius Malfoy, and a single vertical gold thread extended from their names down to Draco’s.

“You’re looking at that… As you see, pure-blood families are all interrelated.”

Sirius said,

“If wizards only want their children to marry pure-bloods, their choices are extremely limited.

There are so few of us left. Molly and I are first cousins by marriage; Arthur is probably my great-uncle’s great-great-grandson.

But you won’t find them here—any family that’s entirely a nest of blood traitors must be the Weasleys.”

Wizard Sean now looked again at the name to the left of Andromeda’s charred mark:

Bellatrix Black, connected by a double strand of gold thread to Rodolphus Lestrange.

“As for these people, they’re locked in Azkaban.”

Sirius said briefly.

Wizard Sean watched him in silence.

“Bellatrix and her husband Rodolphus went in with Barty Crouch Jr.”

Sirius said in a flat, harsh tone,

“Rodolphus’s brother Rabastan was with them too.”

Wizard Sean knew them well—Bellatrix and Rodolphus were the ones who tortured Neville’s parents into madness.

“Everyone you see here has committed acts of unspeakable cruelty.”

Sirius gave a bitter laugh,

“No person with conscience could accept them—if anyone does, it’s only because they lack courage.

As you know, I completely severed ties with them after I turned sixteen.

In the summer of 1976, I ran away and went to live with James.

James’s parents took me in and treated me like their own son.

Though I was disowned by my family, my name erased from the family tapestry by my mother’s magic… you cannot imagine how James’s ideals, and the acceptance and love his parents gave me, lifted me up.

For the first time in my life, I had a place to belong.”

Sirius’s face flushed with excitement, his eyes gleaming.

“Then I destroyed everything…”

His tone suddenly shifted.

“They say I betrayed James and Lily to the Dark Lord. They’re right.

I killed them… when they were being hunted, when they needed a wizard to serve as Secret-Keeper for the Fidelius Charm…

At the last moment, I convinced Lily and James to switch to Peter—to make him, not me, their Secret-Keeper…

On the night they died, I went to check if Peter was still safe—but when I reached his hiding place, Peter was gone, and there was no sign of a struggle.

I felt dread, I panicked, and rushed to James’s house. When I saw the ruins of their home, their bodies…”

Sirius’s eyes grew wet, his voice choked, his face pale.

“I doomed them. I robbed them of peace. But what of them?

I’ve never seen them in my dreams. Why won’t they haunt me?

The spirits of the dead always cling to their killers.”