Chapter 400: Chapter 400: Christmas at the Granger House (Edited)
"Since the luggage in the original car was inconvenient, I changed to a more convenient one," Mr. Granger said as he opened the car's rear door and placed the two suitcases inside.
Afterward, the three embarked on their journey back home.
When Mr. Granger crossed his small garden and opened the front door of the house, a scent of freshly baked flour and butter greeted them from inside.
"Mum must be baking a cake!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly as she rushed towards the kitchen. She placed Crookshanks on the floor, quickly unzipped her boots, took them off, and hurriedly made her way to the kitchen.
Tom, who followed behind, helped her put on her shoes with an ironic smile, all the while reassuring Crookshanks, who was a bit nervous about being in a new place.
By the way, it was Crookshanks' first time visiting the Granger's house. He huddled in a corner, with his small eyes rapidly spinning. When Tom's hand approached his belly, he instinctively extended a claw but relaxed when he realized it was Tom.
In Tom's arms, Crookshanks felt at ease, with his big eyes attentively observing the surroundings.
"Minnie!" When Hermione rushed into the kitchen, Mrs. Granger gave her a hug and kissed her on the forehead, then held her face for a while.
"Your skin looks even better, my dear Minnie. You've become even more beautiful," Mrs. Granger said with a happy smile.
"Mom..." Hermione broke free from her mother's embrace and looked at the stove. "What delights did you prepare today?"
"You little glutton," Hermione's mother teased while tapping her nose. "The cake is almost ready; I'll add cream and decorate it afterward."
Mrs. Granger was very skilled in baking, and the last time she made a bag of small cakes left a strong impression on Tom's memory.
Of course, a Christmas dinner couldn't consist of just cakes. In the kitchen, there was a beef stew in red wine on the stove, the salad on the cutting board was already prepared, only needing some seasonings and mixing. In the oven, aside from the cakes, there was a large tray of finger-shaped cookies. The turkey, sausages, and pork chops in the refrigerator obediently waited in line.
"Oh, by the way, Hermione, can you help me take the Yule log from the fridge?"
The Yule log was a log-shaped cake that resembled a tree trunk. It was a traditional dish in the UK. In the past, people used to go to the woods to cut a lot of wood before Christmas and bring it home to fill the fireplace, ensuring a continuous fire for 12 days starting from Christmas Eve. With the advent of modern society, it was no longer practical to cut down trees, so it was replaced with consuming this Yule log-shaped Christmas cake.
This cake was ordered by Mr. Granger from a bakery.
In most households, parents usually ask their children to help with kitchen chores, and the Granger family was no exception. After the initial excitement, Hermione's mother skillfully directed Hermione.
Hermione approached the refrigerator door and, upon opening it, saw a figure resembling a small mountain.
Hermione: ...
"Mom, are we having turkey again this year?" Hermione looked at the mound of meat and displayed a despairing expression.
"Of course, it's a tradition!" Mrs. Granger said proudly. "This time, I marinated the turkey in advance."
"What kind of tradition is that?" Hermione complained. According to what she had read, turkey was introduced to England in the 16th century; it was an imported food, how could it be called a tradition? Seeing her mother's proud expression, Hermione thought about the unpleasant taste of turkey and how it would be related to food for the next week. She couldn't bear it and started arguing.
The result was that her mother gave her a tap on the head.
"This year, we have Tom, don't we? Now there's one more mouth to eat, so we'll surely finish the turkey faster than before," her mother said while consoling her dear daughter.
Hermione fell into her thoughts.
Oh! Now that I think about it, it's possible. Tom probably likes turkey. If he doesn't, I can try to convince him and explain. Hermione believed that if she provided the right reasons, Tom would end up enjoying the turkey.
If not, she could let Tom transform into a magical creature and eat it; his three-headed dog form would be perfect, he seems like he can eat a lot.
Once Hermione realized this, her mood improved, and she continued to help in the kitchen happily.
When night fell, Mrs. Granger had already prepared a delicious Christmas dinner. A juicy red turkey, roasted meats oozing with oil, and next to the white Christmas cake were several black things that looked like tree trunks – they were the pre-made log-shaped cakes. In addition to that, there was beef stew in red wine and chicken curry placed on the table.
"It's a feast!" Mr. Granger exclaimed when he saw all the food on the table, very pleased. He opened a bottle of champagne and grabbed a beer.
After a brief prayer, the Christmas dinner began.
Mrs. Granger took a kitchen knife and served turkey pieces to each person. She and her daughter had chicken thigh meat, Tom got a part of the chicken wings, and as for Mr. Granger, he was given a large piece of chicken breast.
Perhaps knowing that turkey's taste was a bit bland, this year Mrs. Granger made some improvements: she had marinated the turkey in advance with sauce to let the flavor soak into the meat. During roasting, she had also stuffed the turkey with carrots, celery, onions, chestnuts, sage, and other ingredients. This made the roasted turkey have a delicious aroma. Mrs. Granger also had the patience to cut the meat into small pieces and poured a bit of barbecue sauce on it.
The meat that had gone through all these complicated steps was much tastier. Although it was still a bit dry, overall, it was good.
"Oh, this turkey is delicious!" Mr. Granger exclaimed as he put a piece of breast meat into his mouth and chewed it; his eyes lit up.
"Then have some more," Mrs. Granger said as she added more meat to his plate.
Dinner went smoothly. The family enjoyed their meal while chatting and laughing.
"Minnie, tell us about your life at Hogwarts lately. Is everything going well? How are you getting along with your classmates?" Mr. Granger asked excitedly as he opened a third bottle of beer. "I remember this year you signed up for many subjects; can you keep up?"
"Of course," Hermione said, lifting her chin, a proud expression on her young face. "I'm just a bit busy every day, but thanks to Professor McGonagall, we got a Time-Turner."
"A Time-Turner?"
...
Everyone was in good spirits, even Tom had some champagne and a few beers. When they were satisfied and had exhausted conversation topics, it was already eleven o'clock at night.
"It's quite late now," Mr. Granger murmured sleepily, looking at the clock. "We should go to bed..."
"Yes," Mrs. Granger said as she got up and cleared the remaining food from the table. Hermione went upstairs to the second floor to prepare for a bath.
Tom also got up, remembering that his room was on the second floor as well, but before he could leave the table, Mr. Granger stopped him.
"We... had a good chat today! Come on, let's go back to the bedroom together... and continue the conversation..."
Chapter 401: Chapter 401: Number 12, Grimmauld Place (Edited)
Tom: Huh?
Mr. Granger startled Tom with his sudden act, leaving him confused.
At that moment, Tom didn't understand why Mr. Granger was doing that, and he went along without fully grasping it.
On the side, Hermione understood her father's thought and felt embarrassed. What was her father thinking? Hermione couldn't help but tease that she and Yodel were the clean and pure ones, while her own father had impure thoughts on his mind.
After making a fool of himself, Hermione was taken upstairs by her mother, leaving Tom and Mr. Granger alone in the living room. Mr. Granger took Tom's arm and dragged him into his bedroom.
The room was spacious, with a double bed in the center, a dresser in one corner, and a huge wardrobe that melded into the wall. Along with numerous photographs of the Granger couple scattered everywhere, it wasn't hard to guess that this was the host's master bedroom.
Tom decided not to say anything and went straight to the bathroom attached to the room. He took a hot shower and felt refreshed. When he came out of the bathroom, he noticed that Mr. Granger was already asleep on the bed.
Tom was getting ready to lie down when he suddenly remembered that he hadn't placed his Christmas gifts under the tree. He got off the bed and approached the bedroom door. To his surprise, the door was locked, and he couldn't find the key anywhere.
Tom turned the doorknob twice, but the wooden door didn't budge an inch.
"Where are you going?" The sound of the door awakened Mr. Granger, who propped himself up on one elbow, with sleepy eyes, looking at Tom.
"I forgot to put my Christmas presents under the tree for tomorrow..."
"Tomorrow morning, I'll go with you. Now go to sleep quickly."
Tom's instinct told him that something was amiss, but alcohol had dulled his mind, and what Mr. Granger said made sense, so Tom didn't argue and obediently lay down on the bed, entering the world of dreams.
...
A few hours ago.
Sirius landed in an empty square, surrounded by a desolate wasteland. Harry looked around, trembling not out of fear but because of the cold enveloping him in the air.
Everything was dark, the street lamps barely emitted light and seemed ready to go out at any moment. The nearby houses had a gloomy appearance, with many broken windows. The peeling doors and trash-covered stairs all revealed the neighborhood's decay.
Sirius found a spot to park his motorcycle and secured it. Then, he led Harry across the meadow and a street until they stood in front of a residential building.
Standing outside the building, Harry could clearly hear the deafening music blasting from the speakers, as well as smell the stench of decaying garbage. Even the Dursleys would be repulsed passing through this place, considering that the dirt on the ground would soil the tires of their new car.
"Is this your home?" Harry looked at Sirius.
"Let's say it is," his godfather replied absentmindedly, while observing the building in front of them.
The building was peculiar: the house adjacent to number 11 was number 13, and number 12 had completely disappeared. This was strange because even to avoid the unlucky number, it would be logical to eliminate number 13, but why conceal number 12?
After a brief moment, the walls of the building turned rubbery, and a broken door emerged between numbers 11 and 13, followed by dirty walls and windows. In no time, a house "squeezed" and appeared.
While all this happened, the people living in house number 11 didn't seem to notice anything, as if nothing was happening.
"Es just a little trick; most wizarding families living in Muggle areas do this," explained Sirius Black to Harry about the concealment charm on his house. "Well, stop standing there, come inside with me."
He led Harry up the weathered stone steps to the front door of his house.
Sirius's house door was in poor condition and didn't live up to the prestige of his ancient pure-blood lineage. It was covered in scratches, and the black paint had peeled off. The only impressive thing was the silver ring on the door, shaped like a coiled snake and looking exquisite.
Sirius pulled out his wand and tapped the door, producing a resonant metallic sound and a jingling like chains moving behind the door.
The grand door in front of Harry creaked open, revealing a dimly lit foyer. Sirius entered first, followed by a whisper of sounds, and then a row of antique lanterns on the wall lit up. The lantern light filtered through the frosted glass, creating a sense of unreality and mist.
Harry noticed that most of the furniture in the house had snake-like shapes.
"Haha, luckily the lights still work!" Sirius exclaimed cheerfully. Due to his good mood and being back in his home, his voice sounded a bit louder than usual.
Before Harry and Sirius could do anything else, they heard...
"Beasts! Despicable! Offspring of dirt and sin! Bastards, monsters, deformed abominations, be gone from here! How dare you defile the ancestral residence of my family?" A horrible, deafening, spine-chilling scream echoed from behind two hole-ridden velvet curtains, and in the next second, the curtains opened automatically, revealing a portrait roughly the size of a real person.
The portrait depicted an old woman, spitting saliva and her eyes rolling in their sockets. Her yellowish skin was taut from the scream, and she waved her clawed hands as if trying to scratch Harry and Sirius's faces through the portrait.
However, when Sirius approached while covering his ears, the old woman closed her mouth. Her eyes widened, and her face turned pale. "Sirius Black, you... you've really... come back..." she said in a trembling voice.
She stopped screaming, and her eyes regained composure. Harry saw a flicker of sanity in her gaze, something that hadn't been present moments before.
"You've come back," she said in a much more normal tone.
Sirius looked at her in silence, as if examining her face, comparing her current appearance to his memory of her. Finally, he nodded wordlessly.
The old woman watched him in silence.
"I've come back... Mother." Sirius hesitated for a moment and finally uttered those words with effort.
The old woman nodded, and perhaps it was an illusion on Harry's part, but he seemed to catch a fleeting glimmer of relief in the old woman's expression.
"From today, you are the new head of the Black family," said the portrait of the old woman to Sirius.
Weekly Power Status
200+ Power
Ranking 
0 Power
stone You may also Like
Paragraph comment