#170 - Section 170

"Why don't you use a Portkey? You could come over in your free time and maybe catch a few more games?" Ethan suggested.

He wasn't sure if Cho Chang had a Portkey back in China.

However, Ethan was certain that a Portkey could travel between Europe and Asia without any problems.

Hearing Ethan's words, Cho Chang was clearly tempted, but after thinking for a moment, she shook her head and gave up.

"Forget it, I'll just stay home and keep Grandpa, Grandma, and my maternal grandparents company."

Seeing Lupin and Harry walking over, Ethan didn't continue chatting, as they could always communicate through the Wizarding Wireless Network.

"You guys can use the Portkey to go back first, I'm going out for a bit!"

After saying goodbye to Hermione and the others, Ethan turned to look at Cassandra and Penelope.

They were still planning to go to Ethan's house in Godric's Hollow. Cassandra, of course, needed no explanation.

Even if Penelope wanted to go to the Ministry of Magic, she would have to wait until after the Quidditch World Cup.

The Ministry of Magic had been busy for a whole year for this Quidditch World Cup, especially Ludo, who had spent almost half his time at the venue.

Now that the opening was near, not only the Department of Magical Games and Sports but also several other departments were helping out, such as the Magical Accidents and Catastrophes Department, the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, and the Department of Magical Law Enforcement.

The main goal was to ensure safety, provide various protective charms, patrol with security personnel, and prevent Muggles from discovering the anomalies, taking various preventive measures.

As for the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, it was simply to manage the magical creatures. The teams from various countries all had their own mascots, and these mascots were dangerous magical creatures, some even classified as XXXXX. To prevent riots, they were more worried than anyone else and had to prepare the venue in advance.

During this time, even when the new graduates of Hogwarts were looking for jobs, no one at the Ministry of Magic was available to oversee the matter.

"Okay, we'll wait for you at home then."

Cassandra glanced at Harry and Lupin, who were approaching, nodded to Ethan, and then disappeared with Penelope in a swirl of space.

They both knew about Ethan's deal with Sirius Black, and they knew that Ethan was going to collect his reward.

After Lupin came over, Ethan directly followed behind him.

Although Lupin had resigned and was preparing to track down Peter, he would wait until after watching the Quidditch World Cup.

Mainly because Harry was interested in it, Sirius had booked a top-notch VIP box to take Harry to watch the Quidditch World Cup.

Harry had also communicated with his aunt's family and would go back after watching the Quidditch World Cup, bringing them gifts.

However, since Sirius was still a wanted man, he couldn't show himself and could only accompany Harry in the form of a large black dog, which wasn't very suitable. Another person was needed.

Lupin agreed with this. After so many years, he also wanted to chat with Sirius more, and he also hoped to take care of Harry more.

"We'll take the Knight Bus later, the address is Grimmauld Place, he's waiting for us there."

Walking beside Ethan, Harry looked around and said softly.

This was the address Sirius had told him, in the Wizarding Wireless Network.

"Harry, have you ever ridden the Knight Bus?"

Ethan had never ridden that thing before. He either used Muggle means of transportation or Portkeys and Apparition.

In the original story, Harry had ridden it at this time, when he encountered the big black dog last summer.

But here with Ethan, Harry had a good relationship with his aunt's family, so there was really no need to stay at the Leaky Cauldron, so it wasn't certain if he had ridden it before.

"No, but Professor Lupin has ridden it. He said it's just like a regular Muggle bus, but faster, and the driver drives too bumpy and likes to brake suddenly."

Harry had also asked Lupin beforehand, so he knew this.

"Speaking of which, didn't Sirius give you a Portkey?"

Ethan asked curiously.

The Black family's status and identity would definitely not lack Portkeys.

Wouldn't it be very convenient to use one?

Portkeys are rarely used in movies and novels, but in reality, they are not uncommon.

"No, what's a Portkey?"

Harry shook his head, he didn't even know what a Portkey was.

"Doraemon's Anywhere Door, you know that, right?"

A too profound explanation would probably be difficult for Harry to understand.

Unless necessary, Harry would not read extracurricular knowledge. His free time was mostly related to Wizard's Chess and Quidditch.

This aspect, or the knowledge of Apparition, was not mentioned in the third year.

It could only be said in simple and easy-to-understand terms, such as Doraemon. At this point in time, its animation and anime had already come out, and it was quite popular, and there was also a market for it in Europe.

Wizarding children probably haven't heard of it, but those who grew up in the Muggle world, as long as they didn't come from remote mountain villages, have almost all seen its comics or anime.

"I know, is it like the Anywhere Door, where you can go anywhere after opening it?"

Harry's eyes lit up, he didn't expect there to be such a tool in the world.

The author who drew Doraemon must also be a wizard!

"Not exactly, a Portkey can set a fixed location, and activating it will take you there. No matter where that location is, it can instantly take you there."

"Just now, Penelope and Cassandra disappeared using Portkeys."

"Usually, when you see wizards suddenly disappearing, many of them are using Portkeys, and some are Apparating, which can only be learned after adulthood."

Hagrid took Harry to school, and he would never Apparate.

Hagrid was expelled from Hogwarts and had his wand confiscated when he came of age.

If another professor had taken Harry to school, he would probably have experienced the taste of Apparition.

"That's pretty good too."

Although it's not as convenient as in the anime, it's still okay.

During this time, Harry had felt a long-lost kinship with Sirius, which was completely different from his aunt's family.

It was just like being with his father, although Harry didn't understand what it felt like to be with his father, being with Sirius was indeed very good.

Harry knew from Dumbledore that he had a charm cast by his mother on him, and before he came of age, he had to spend some time with relatives every year to ensure the charm was effective, but it should be okay to meet Sirius in between.

Just as the two were chatting idly, they followed Lupin to the outside of King's Cross Station.

At a deserted intersection, Lupin raised his wand to the sky, and with a deafening "bang," a bus rushed around the corner.

Then it screeched to a halt in front of the three of them, leaving streaks of black skid marks on the concrete.

This was a triple-decker bus, colored a gaudy purple, with the words "Knight Bus" written in large gold letters on the windshield.

As the door opened, Lupin skillfully raised his wand and boarded the bus.

"Three to Grimmauld Place!"

After Lupin got on the bus and greeted the driver, he handed the ticket collector thirty-three silver Sickles.

During his time as a wandering wizard, Lupin didn't often take the Knight Bus, mainly because he didn't have the money, but when he was with James and the others, he was a regular customer.

After paying, the ticket collector led Ethan and the others to their seats. There were also beds here, but Ethan and the others didn't need them.

Grimmauld Place was located in the northwest of London, not far from King's Cross Station.

If Lupin hadn't never been there, he could have Apparated them directly.

Mainly because Sirius Black's relationship with his family wasn't good at the time. The Black family members also looked down on those half-blood and Muggle-born wizards, so Sirius Black had never invited friends to his house.

When the bus started moving, Ethan felt that Harry was wrong.

It wasn't that the driver was driving erratically or liked to brake suddenly.

But that he didn't know how to drive at all, and definitely didn't have a driver's license.

He drove recklessly on the road, repeatedly driving onto the sidewalk, but because of magic, whether it was streetlights, mailboxes, or trash cans, they would all actively avoid the bus as it passed.

When the bus left, these things would return to their original places.

It could be said that without magic, this driver couldn't be on the road at all.

In less than ten minutes, the Knight Bus screeched to a halt.

"Grimmauld Place reached."

The young ticket collector said to Ethan and the others.

Because the journey was too short, he didn't even want to recommend hot chocolate, otherwise he probably would have just prepared it for them when they had to get off.

After Ethan and the others got off, they found a large black dog lying under the shade of a tree.

Harry immediately trotted over.

Chapter 214: The Black Family Home

As the Muggle houses outside separated, Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place, the Black family's old residence, was truly revealed.

The first thing that came into view was a black-painted door covered in scratches. The silver doorknob was in the shape of a coiled snake. There was no keyhole or mailbox on the door.

In addition, the other places were not much better. The whole house was dirty and messy, and the windows were even more filthy.

Harry looked at the so-called Black family home with some doubt.

This was completely inconsistent with the image of a magical family's old house that had been passed down for thousands of years in his imagination.

However, Ethan did not dare to underestimate this old house. Being chosen as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, the spells arranged in it must be considerable.

Sirius Black also noticed Harry's gaze and felt a little embarrassed.

If he had known, he would have cleaned up in advance, but now he was giving his godson a feeling that he was down on his luck.

It was really unpleasant, knowing that this was one of the oldest and richest pure-blood wizarding families in Britain.

As a result, it was now in a dilapidated state.

This was also his own fault. These days, he had been arguing with his old mother at home and had completely ignored these things.

In order to receive Harry, he had tried to lock his mother's portrait in the basement last night, just in case she would scare Harry.

As a result, he still failed. He didn't know if it was because of the Permanent Sticking Charm, but he couldn't take it down at all.

Sirius Black couldn't directly destroy the painting. Even if their relationship wasn't good, this was still his mother.

As a result, Sirius Black argued until midnight. Helpless, he could only cover it with curtains.

This led to the fact that Sirius Black had not cleaned up at all, even though he had been home for so long.

Kreacher was also slacking off. If Sirius Black didn't order him to do anything, he wouldn't move at all. He hadn't taken the initiative to clean for so many years.

After clearing his throat twice to hide his embarrassment, Sirius Black took out his wand and tapped the silver snake-shaped doorknob.

With a "creak," the heavy black door slowly opened.

Sirius Black took the lead, and Ethan and the others followed, finding that the inside was no better than the outside.

After walking in, there was a long corridor, and a strong smell of mildew came over them. The walls were covered with peeling wallpaper, and there was a dilapidated carpet, gas lamps, and a cobweb-like chandelier and sconces in the shape of a large snake.

On both sides of the wall hung some portraits that had blackened with age, including a huge portrait covered by a moth-eaten, moldy curtain.

At the end, there was a staircase leading upstairs.

When Ethan walked past here, he was prepared for the person in the portrait to rush out, but it was really unnecessary. There was no movement at all.

According to Ethan's understanding of Sirius Black's mother in the original book, if she knew that Muggle wizards had entered her old house and were preparing to take away her family's inheritance, she would have made a scene and tried everything to drive them out.

But now she didn't move at all, presumably she had resigned herself to fate.

Ethan guessed that she knew that Sirius Black had made an Unbreakable Vow with him.

That's why she didn't dare to act rashly. If Sirius Black violated the contract, it was estimated that their family's only heir would be gone.

Although his mother didn't like Sirius Black and even expelled him from the family, he was still her son after all. After Regulus died, this was the family's only hope.

It was probably because this only hope entered Azkaban that she died depressed, otherwise a wizard would be quite able to live a long life without being injured or cursed, and would not have died at the age of fifty like she did.

Sirius Black also glanced at the portrait of his old mother in surprise, and then didn't stop there. He directly led Ethan and the others up the stairs, preparing to go to the second floor.

It was just that on the wall next to the stairs on the second floor, the heads of house-elves were hung all over it.

"Sirius Black, this, this is . ?"