37 News Update

Unwilling to get the burns of the Black's escapade, the Ministry works fast. Many Aurors are stationed around the British Wizarding area, including the Diagon Alley, Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts. Even then, people are still afraid to continue life as before. They remember the horrors of the previous war.

News of sightings is few and inconclusive. No one has really seen Black anywhere. And that worries the masses. The Ministry couldn't do anything as well without any clues.

In Hogwarts, I saw Kingsley Shacklebolt and two other Aurors stationed there. They patrol around the Hogwarts ground. Thankfully, no dementors this time, but sadly they're very strict.

The school then decided to decrease the night curfew by a lot. Now everyone has to be at the dorm right after dinner at 8.30 PM. No exception. Prefects are also limited to patrol until 10.00 PM and always in pairs. The Weasley twin got caught and reprimanded multiple times. They now have detentions with many professors till the end of the year. Not only that but my ROR looting is also postponed for a while.

Jelly is still lying low, so I couldn't get much info around Hogwarts. So, in the meantime, we rely on Kevin's spying skills. From Kevin, we know that the Aurors were notified about Quirrell's death by Dumbledore. He cited an accident as the cause. Not sure about the detail, but the Aurors let it go. I suspected that it was due to Kingsley's presence. He is in the Order, after all. He would look up to the leader.

The stone was never mentioned, and the traps on the 3rd-floor corridor were dismantled before the Aurors arrived. The Weasley twin boasted their adventure on the Gryffindor table, and somehow Kevin knew. I have no idea how.

Life proceeds as usual while classes come and go. We are swamped by homework and the end-year exams, especially the older students. OWLs and NEWTS wait for no one, after all. They're huge things since the results will decide their future in the Wizarding world.

Therefore, between the Black escapade and the year-end exams, very few in Hogwarts noticed Gringott's annual wealth report this April 1992. The Daily Prophet did not even post it, preferring to report more on the Black investigation and the reassuring news the Ministry designed. The latter was getting more frequent nowadays.

However, the few that did would know that the Vautour tops the list by a wide margin. And ultimately, they would also know that the Black family is active once again. It means that, at some point, Sirius Black paid the goblins a visit and activated the Blacks' vault in person.

I wonder if the Ministry knows about it? And if so, what would be their next steps?

The goblin nation and, by extension, the Gringotts building is sovereign. Therefore, the British Magical Constitution could not impose its rule on the goblins. The Ministry couldn't block Sirius' access to the vault without creating another goblin rebellion.

I believe that Sirius stays in the Black Manor at 12 Grimmauld Place now. It's a good choice, I'd say. The ward would kill anyone who got in without his permission as the current Lord Black.

I wonder how he reacted if he knew I had Black blood. Should I tell him? (A/N: what do you guys think? Please comment. ^^)

Sometimes I thought that maybe my wickedness came from the Black madness. It was a possibility.