bacchusnovels Chapter 526 One Day Before School Starts
Chapter 526 One Day Before School Starts
Chapter 522 The Day Before School Starts
In short, the big clean-up came to an end at noon.
The old Blake mansion didn't seem to change much after the big clean-up. If there was any change, it was that the curtains no longer hummed, and the foxes were densely packed in a bucket to the side, which looked extremely unfriendly to people with trypophobia, and was utterly disgusting.
"I think we should continue after we finish eating."
"We're continuing this afternoon?" Ron exclaimed in surprise.
This is usually a line from his two older brothers, but George and Fred are preparing to open a shop, and given their great enthusiasm for using vixens as test subjects, they don't resist doing a thorough cleaning.
This also illustrates one thing: some things are not impossible to do, but there is no relevant benefit or interest to do so.
While I was cooking, the doorbell rang again.
Mundungus, the Order of the Phoenix's pay thief, always arrives at Black's old house precisely at mealtimes.
If freeloading is a talent, then Mundungus's talent would probably be something even Dumbledore and Voldemort combined could only dream of.
It was as if... he had installed cameras at the Black mansion, or perhaps he lived next to the Black mansion in his spare time, constantly observing the chimney of the Black mansion with binoculars—whenever smoke rose, he would immediately put down his binoculars and come to report.
"This is not a place to hide stolen goods!"
Facing a large, haphazardly stacked pile of crucibles at the doorway, Molly stood with her hands on her hips, her face flushed, and loudly reprimanded them.
But faced with Molly's rebuke, Mundungus seemed deaf, ignoring her and simply keeping his head down, silently carrying out his work as a crucible mover.
"You're completely irresponsible! As if we don't have enough troubles already, you have to add this whole pile—a stolen crucible—"
Drag him inside!
Even a real pay thief probably wouldn't do something like Mundungus.
British civil servants have always taken their whiskey and glasses home, but no civil servant has ever gone to the trouble of bringing something from elsewhere to 10 Downing Street.
But...maybe.
In short, Mundungus had a very bad reputation as a notorious criminal.
How bad is it?
So badly that after the Second Wizarding War, the Ministry of Magic's investigation into which house he had graduated from failed—most wizards in their thirties and forties were unwilling to admit that Mundungus had graduated from their house. They were even ashamed to say that they had attended school at the same time as Mundungus.
As Molly's angry roar echoed through the room, Sean suddenly felt a strong urge to order takeout.
He stared at the messy pile of crucibles by the kitchen door, and listened to Mundungus's continued feigned ignorance in silence. He had a feeling that lunch today was probably not going to be very good.
After all, he always believed in the saying: cooking requires a calm and sincere heart.
Right now, Molly's emotions have clearly reached their peak—can she really cook a delicious and visually appealing dish in this state? Sean has no hope.
Therefore, "ordering takeout" became the only rational option in his mind.
That's not all; he began to seriously consider: why not just dine in?
After all, the noisier place than the kitchen was the room next door.
Sirius Black and Kreacher are at odds again.
The two of them talked back and forth, and every now and then there were sounds of plates clattering or chairs scraping the floor, giving Sean the illusion that he was in a chaotic battlefield of pots and pans.
A volcano in the kitchen, an earthquake in the living room—who wants to eat in peace?
But just as he was about to quietly stand up and pretend to "get some fresh air," he thought of something else: wouldn't it be too impolite to suddenly say that he wasn't going to eat and was going out while someone was cooking?
Especially in front of a chef like Molly who is "emotionally volatile but principled," the next meal might turn into a permanent "hunger strike."
He hesitated, then sat back down and sighed.
As for takeout—let's wait until she finishes yelling before deciding.
Half an hour later, Molly came in with lunch.
As it turned out, his guess was right—the lunch wasn't very to his liking; the eggs and bacon in the sandwiches were a bit burnt.
After lunch, everyone immediately resumed tidying up the house.
While tidying up the house, Sirius began to tell Harry about his family tree. It mentioned many people, including but not limited to:
Bella, Narcissa, Phineas, Tonks, Tonks' mother...
They were all acquaintances.
After an hour of cleaning, Sean made an excuse and left the Black family home.
He was more looking forward to spending time with Penelope and Tonks at the Ministry of Magic than to doing a spring cleaning, even if... Umbridge would cause him trouble from time to time.
The remaining days of summer vacation passed by one by one.
Among them, Burns also returned to the Ministry of Magic.
On her first day back, Sean and she bumped into each other in the hallway, exchanged nods and pleasantries, and then barely saw each other again. After all, Sean was still using his "invisible man's way of slacking off," while Burns was the kind of person known for his efficiency and execution.
She threw herself into her work almost immediately upon returning, handling documents, meetings, reports, and coordination, like a rapidly resuming gear without a moment's pause.
In contrast, Sean's life seemed much easier.
But the Ministry of Magic is ultimately not a place where one can "enjoy the summer in complete comfort".
On one occasion, Burns was so busy that he brought Susan into the Ministry of Magic with him—ostensibly for "temporary supervision," but in reality, he was "carrying her around while working."
This allowed Sean to see that familiar little girl again after a long time.
However, compared to how she looked last semester, Susan's temperament and appearance have changed somewhat.
She's grown taller and her baby fat has lessened, making her look more sharp and energetic. But her figure is still worth mentioning.
Few witches are still able to develop physically at this time; Susan is clearly an exception.
A simple, light blue, loose-fitting dress couldn't completely conceal the outline of her chest, making her breasts appear and disappear, sparking all sorts of fantasies.
For a moment, Sean had a dazed feeling that "time really flies":
Some things grow too fast, sometimes we don't even have time to react.
In the last few days before the end of summer vacation, Fudge wanted to hold Harry accountable for the Dementors incident, but Sean stopped him, arguing that Harry hadn't revealed any dirt on him and that he shouldn't be reminded, but rather that the dirt on Harry should be used as a means of countermeasure.
Fudge readily agreed.
Meanwhile, Umbridge's progress toward becoming a Defense Against the Dark Arts professor is also proceeding steadily.
When Fudge's appointment letter arrived, she smugly went to Sean's office to brag about it. But when Sean suddenly mentioned the fates of the previous Defense Against the Dark Arts professors—she suddenly stopped laughing and even began to doubt whether her decision had been correct.
Sean comforted her, saying that Dumbledore's acceptance of fate and Fudge's acceptance of fate were fundamentally different.
At least, Umbridge took this argument to heart.
On the last day of summer vacation, Sean officially handed over his work to Bertha and Penelope and returned to Black's old house, ready to get into the role of "Hogwarts Professor".
After a summer of cleaning, Blake's old house was restored to its former tidiness.
If Sirius Black's goal was to hire cleaners without paying, then his plan had succeeded. The next step in the plan was to drive out the Order of the Phoenix and live with Harry in Black's old house.
Good morning, everyone.
Sean walked in with a smile, carrying several envelopes he had just received from the owl's beak. The envelopes were stamped with the familiar Hogwarts crest, the ink still wet, with slight traces of the owl's claws on the edges. Even without reading the contents, those who had spent years at Hogwarts could guess what was inside—a reading list for the new semester.
"Your letters," he said, placing several letters on the table. "The reading list for the new semester. Because Diagon Alley is under stricter control right now, please compile a list of subjects. I'll have Bertha deliver everyone's books this afternoon. Pack your bags at home, and if you need anything else, please give me a list as well..."
Several people immediately surrounded them.
"School's starting again?" Ron groaned with a bitter face. "Every year around this time, I still feel like summer vacation has just begun."
"Only two new books." Hermione had already opened the list and compared the titles: "Standard Spells (Level 5)" by Miranda Gossack, and "Defense Against the Dark Arts Theory" by Wilbert Slinka. She looked up at Sean thoughtfully. "Professor, does that mean Dumbledore has found a professor for Defense Against the Dark Arts?"
"Hmm." Sean nodded, deliberately keeping everyone in suspense, "This person is very special; Arthur and I see him quite often."
This statement successfully misled several people into believing that the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was someone they had seen before—some even speculated that it was Bertha. In any case, they were very much looking forward to the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.
Sean couldn't imagine what kind of expressions they would have when the pink toad appeared in their sight.
However, we can still look forward to it.
While she was guessing, Hermione's voice suddenly stopped, her mouth slightly open, staring blankly at the letter in her hand.
"What's wrong, Hermione?" Harry noticed Hermione's unusual behavior, leaned closer, and then looked surprised, followed by a genuine smile. "Congratulations, Hermione. Prefect, the new prefect is fantastic!"
Upon hearing this, Ron immediately came over. "What? Hermione, you became a prefect?"
Hermione finally snapped out of her daze, a blush rising to her cheeks, as if she had finally realized it was real. "Yes—yes, I—" She looked down at the letter, then glanced at everyone, her voice trembling with barely suppressed excitement, "I really—became a prefect."
This result seems unsurprising.
In all of Gryffindor, who is more suitable to be a prefect than Hermione?
However, the choice of prefect was somewhat strange—it wasn't Harry. Who else could it be? Ron hadn't considered it, and neither had anyone present considered that Ron might become a prefect.
But the fact that it wasn't Harry left everyone puzzled.
"Professor, who is the prefect of Gryffindor?" Hermione asked, looking up.
When asked about this, Sean shook his head, indicating that he was unaware of the matter.
This is not surprising, since Dumbledore decides who the prefects are, not him, and it's even less likely that he would consult the professors on such a trivial matter.
However, since he is neither Harry nor Ron, he must still be a fifth-year student.
Meeting these requirements narrowed the scope considerably, and a hazy figure appeared in his mind—it seemed that apart from that little lion, no one else could catch Dumbledore's eye.
But in the end, Ron had no idea that he had become a prefect in another timeline.
So when he didn't get the prefecture title, he wasn't disappointed (because he hadn't had any hope). Instead, he comforted Harry, saying that perhaps the return of the mysterious man had made Harry too prominent, and that this factor needed to be considered.
Harry was somewhat disappointed, but he accepted it with equanimity.
Around three o'clock in the afternoon, Bertha arrived at the Black family home with many bags and packages.
In addition to the school supplies that the students needed for the start of the semester, they also brought some food.
To celebrate the children's successful start to the school year, Sirius, Lupin, Moody, Arthur, and many other members of the Order of the Phoenix also came to Black's old house to hold a small celebration.
Even Tonks took half a day off.
Molly was busy in the kitchen the whole time.
"Ten Galleons?"
I won't make a move if it's less than twenty.
"Eight, I guess."
Eighteen.
'
'
A transaction is underway in the living room.
The two parties in the transaction were the Weasley twins and the pay thief Mundungus.
They wanted the seeds of the poison tentacles, but these seeds were always on the list of prohibited items for trade (Category C), so they went to Mundungus to buy them.
However, Mundungus seems to be suspected of raising prices arbitrarily.
It was actually twice as expensive as the originally agreed ten Galleons.
"If you don't act soon, once Moody finds out you're carrying contraband, then..."
"Okay, ten it is."
Under Moody's intimidation, the deal returned to normal. But Moody probably didn't expect that his name would be worth ten Galleons (maybe if he had known, he might have personally arrested Mundungus). At this moment, he was exchanging pleasantries with Harry.
“The original Order of the Phoenix,” he said, then pulled a very worn magical photograph from a pocket inside his robe. “I found it yesterday while tidying up my spare invisibility cloak—I thought someone might want to take a look.”