Chapter 850: The House of Black

Sirius fell silent.

He felt as if he had found the truth.

"The Dark Lord, will he return?"

Sirius asked in a hoarse voice.

Xiang Xien nodded silently.

"Ah..."

Sirius laughed low, his haggard eyes covered by the slivers of sunlight filtering through the heavy curtains, his dark circles extremely deep, making him look somewhat deranged.

"If you believe this is the answer you seek, I would like to speak with you about Mr. Regulus Black."

Xiang Xien said.

"What is it you want to know about him..."

Sirius sized up the young wizard with a probing gaze, using his hand to comb through his messy, long hair.

"I don't know much, because I hated all of them."

"Everything."

Xiang Xien thought for a moment and said.

"Heh... if it's not too much trouble, then come with me."

Sirius vanished abruptly, leaving only a large black dog in his place.

Sirius had no way to question the other's motives; although absurd, upon careful consideration, it was perfectly reasonable.

A wizard like the Dark Lord would always incite resistance.

All this time, they had seen no hope; this was certain, even with Dumbledore's existence.

But now, they had such an existence in their camp...

Regardless, Sirius believed.

Sometimes he was just that easy to trust someone, and he wouldn't change even in death.

Number 12, Grimmauld Place.

A dilapidated door appeared out of thin air between number 11 and number 13, followed by dirty walls and gloomy windows, looking as if an extra house had suddenly expanded, squeezing everything on both sides away.

The door was knocked upon, but it was not touched by a wizard, but by a black dog.

The black dog gave a rough, low growl, then looked toward the rear.

Behind it, Xiang Xien, while walking up the ragged stone steps, was examining the newly manifested door.

The black paint on the door was peeling, covered in scratches from left to right.

The silver door knocker was in the shape of a coiled serpent; there was no keyhole on the door, nor a mailbox.

The black dog pressed close to the door, and it creaked open.

"Come in,"

A voice came from behind the door,

"But remember, follow me, and it's best not to touch anything."

Xiang Xien crossed the threshold, walking into a hall that was almost pitch black.

He smelled a damp, dusty scent, along with a sweet, rotting odor. The place felt like an abandoned, empty house.

He also heard a rustling sound, and then a row of old-fashioned gas lamps on the wall lit up, casting a flickering, unreal light, illuminating the peeling wallpaper and worn, frayed carpet in the long, gloomy hall.

A cobweb-covered chandelier overhead flickered with a faint light, and some portraits, blackened by the passage of time, hung crookedly on the walls.

And beside the chandelier, on a wobbly table, the candelabra were fashioned into the shape of large serpents.

"This is the old house of the Black family. The Regulus Black you speak of was my younger brother.

Like my parents, he was madly obsessed with pure blood; they believed that being of the Black family meant one was born noble...

So my fool of a brother, whose temperament was too weak, actually believed their words... that is him."

Sirius extended a finger, pointing to a name at the very bottom of the family tree:

Regulus Black. After the date of birth, there was a date of death.

"He was younger than me,"

Sirius said,

"People constantly reminded me that this son was far better than I was.

And so he died.

A stupid idiot... he actually joined the ranks of the Death Eaters."

"You and your brother... you actually..."

Butler Pu Keqi interjected at the right moment.

"Pu Keqi, having seen the state of this house, do you still not understand what kind of wizards my family were?"

Sirius said sarcastically.

"Your parents were also those so-called... Death Eaters?"

Butler Pu Keqi asked.

"No, not exactly, but believe me, they thought Voldemort's platform was correct; they all approved of maintaining the purity of wizarding blood, getting rid of Muggle-borns, and letting pure-bloods hold the power.

They were not unique; before Voldemort showed his true face, many people thought his platform on certain matters was correct...

However, when they discovered he would stop at nothing to gain power, they all turned cowardly and retreated.

But I think my parents must have thought that Regulus joining from the start counted as a brave little hero.

But later, he died."

Sirius's smile grew wider,

"He was murdered by Voldemort. Or, more likely, murdered under Voldemort's orders.

I doubt Regulus was important enough for Voldemort to finish him off personally.

From what I learned after his death, he was already in too deep, and then he felt fear regarding what others wanted him to do, so he wanted to quit.

Alas, you cannot just hand in a resignation letter to Voldemort and be done with it. It's either life-long service or a dead end.

That is his story, how about that? His story tells us what price one pays for keeping company with evil; only cowards and idiots would do such a thing."

Sirius concluded finally.

"Perhaps the story we know is not exactly the same? Mr. Black?"

Xiang Xien's voice was very soft, but it made Sirius very uneasy.

"Do you know what you are saying? Or is it necessary for me to lie to you?"

Sirius frowned.

"I found Mr. Regulus Black in a special place."

Xiang Xien said slowly, and took out a special wooden box.

It was large, looking like a coffin.

Sirius hesitantly pushed open the coffin lid, and then a corpse, gnawed upon, soaked in water, and in a miserable state of death, was presented before his eyes.

Even though Sirius was prepared, at this moment it felt as if a train had struck his chest, and he was speechless for a long time.

"I think, Mr. Kreacher, will tell us a completely different story."

After Xiang Xien finished speaking, a house-elf appeared in the corridor as if by teleportation.

It wore a dirty, ragged cloth around its waist, like a loincloth used by men in tropical countries to cover their bodies; other than that, it was almost completely naked.

It looked very old, its skin seeming to have several times more folds than its body actually needed, and although its head was bald like all house-elves, a large clump of white hair grew out of those two bat-like ears.

Its eyes were bloodshot, watery and gray, and its fleshy nose was very large, almost like a pig's snout.

As soon as it appeared, it let out a shriek:

"Young Master Black!" ===== CHAPTER 851 =====