0256 Return

A rush of footsteps from the second floor was very conspicuous in the empty castle. Harry and the others heard it. It was Filch's footsteps. The caretaker was notorious for his hatred of students and his obsession with cleanliness. Seeing the muddy mess on the clean marble floor, the three of them shrank their necks and quickly slipped away through the other staircase.

They knew they would be in trouble if Filch caught them, and they didn't want to ruin their good mood.

"Dirty things, making a mess of the castle again. Who did it in the end!"

As expected, a minute later, Filch, now back in his usual brown jacket, appeared with Mrs. Norris, his cat and accomplice. As soon as he saw the stains on the floor, he flew into a rage.

"Smell it, dear. We have to find the little troublemakers who did this!"

The skinny gray cat jumped off his shoulder as soon as it received the command and quickly darted towards the entrance to the basement stairs. Filch followed closely behind, muttering curses under his breath. Just then, a student hiding behind a tapestry walked out under the supervision of Mrs. Norris.

"Ah, it's you!"

Filch's nose was covered in snot bubbles, and he glared at Malfoy fiercely.

"Making a mess of the castle on Christmas day, no doubt about it. Come with me, Malfoy!"

He grabbed Malfoy's sleeve and dragged him along, ignoring his protests.

"It wasn't me–"

Malfoy lowered his head and said in a dull voice, "It was Potter, Weasley, and Granger. You can see their footprints entering the castle from outside, Filch."

Filch looked skeptical, but Malfoy added,

"They just returned to the common room. If you hurry over now, maybe they haven't had time to clean the marks off their boots."

"Alright, Mr. Malfoy, come with me!"

Hearing Malfoy's words, Filch had no more doubts. He let go of Malfoy's sleeve and rushed up to the Gryffindor Tower, leaving his cat behind. He was determined to catch Harry and his friends red-handed, and punish them severely.

The Fat Lady's portrait opened, and as Harry, Ron, and Hermione, who were sitting by the fireplace playing wizard chess, were shocked by Filch and Malfoy's appearance, a rat crawled out of Malfoy's trouser leg, quickly ran into the sofa bottom that was spread, and sneaked up the boy's dormitory.

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Bryan returned to Hogwarts three days before the end of the Christmas break, when the young wizards who had gone home for the holidays were still not back, but the heads of the four houses had already returned to school to deal with the next term's affairs.

He did not disturb anyone, but went straight to his office, intending to see how the two enemies were getting along.

To his surprise, the spotlessly clean office was empty, except for the fireplace that automatically lit up when it sensed the room's owner had returned. The warm and cozy fire cast a soft glow on the wooden furniture and the bookshelves that lined the walls. Bryan could see that someone had tidied up his papers and books, and even watered his plants.

After putting his suitcase on the sofa, Bryan turned his head and saw a note on the desk, which looked like it was left by one of them.

Bryan,

Tom and I discussed it, that it's useless to blindly search for that rat without any clues, so we decided to stay at Tom's old house for two days. I heard from Tom that you have the right to use that house, and that you planned to clean it up during the Christmas break. I think Tom and I can help you with that.

If you return back to school, you can come to the old house and find us. We can have a party together to celebrate Tom's freedom.

Yours sincerely 

Remus Lupin

The handwriting on the note was not exactly the same as Remus's usual writing, and there was a lightness between the lines. It was obvious that Remus was in a very good mood when he wrote this letter. 

"What do you mean 'I have the right to use that house'?" Bryan snorted, "I hope these two guys don't forget that the Aurors from the Ministry of Magic are still outside."

Bryan threw Remus's note into the fireplace, and a smell of burnt hair filled the air. As he watched the paper turn into ashes, Bryan muttered to himself, and his eyebrows furrowed slightly.

As he said, the Ministry was still watching that place, and these two guys shouldn't get too carried away. 

"Well–"

Through the monitor screen, Bryan glanced at the deserted Hogwarts castle, and after a brief thought, he picked up the coat he had thrown on the bed and walked out of the office quickly.

The sky was getting dark, and the chimney on the roof of Hagrid's hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest was emitting a faint smoke. Bryan had sharp eyes, and through the window, he could vaguely see the dimly lit interior, where several different figures flashed by. He guessed that it was Harry and his friends who were visiting there. 

At this time, if he waited for the train to go back to London, he would probably arrive at Grimmauld Place at least by midnight, and the Knight Bus was a mode of transportation that he absolutely did not want to face. He had no choice but to choose apparition, which was very exhausting as it consumed a lot of his magic, but at least it's fast.

The world was blurred in front of his eyes, and the sound of the howling wind filled his ears. In an instant, Bryan crossed the mountains and rivers and the ancient defensive spells that guarded the old Manor, and landed steadily in the narrow and shabby hallway of the entrance hall.

When he saw the condition of the house, Bryan raised his eyebrows and felt a bit surprised.

It was a big change compared to the last time.

Every inch of the dusty floor seemed to have been wiped with a stain remover, and under the new branch-shaped chandelier on the ceiling, it reflected a gem-like light. The walls on both sides had been renovated, and the dark green walls had been torn down and replaced with a more pleasing sky blue. The house looked brighter and more spacious than before, and it had lost some of its gloomy and oppressive atmosphere.

But he didn't know if it was intentional, the portraits of the Black family's ancestors on the walls had not been touched, and they were still blackened by the years. 

The last time he came, the old lady who had yelled at him had been covered by a starched curtain, but she had not been taken down. 

Bryan smacked his lips, and when the ownership of the house was officially transferred, he would not keep these frames that could go crazy at any time. 

There was a clanging noise from the basement, as if someone was cooking. Bryan stepped forward and opened the door leading to the basement. He was greeted by a wave of heat and steam, and a smell of burnt potatoes and herbs. He wrinkled his nose and frowned, wondering who was responsible for this culinary disaster.

"Ah, Bryan, it's you–"

Remus, who was facing the chopping board with a bitter face, clumsily dealing with the potatoes, turned around when he heard the noise, and when he saw who it was, a smile appeared on his face, which had regained some vitality. His amber eyes sparkled with joy, and his fatigue seemed less noticeable. 

"When did you return back to Hogwarts, did you see the note I left?"

Bryan nodded noncommittally, he walked down the stairs, his eyes wandering around the kitchen and the small dining room, and after a moment, he nodded with satisfaction. He could see that Remus and Sirius had done a good job of cleaning and decorating the place. 

The kitchen was equipped with modern appliances and utensils, and the dining room had a large wooden table and chairs, covered with a white tablecloth and a vase of fresh flowers. The walls were painted with a warm yellow color, and the windows were adorned with lace curtains. The whole atmosphere was cozy and inviting.

"Who allowed you to appear in my house, Professor Lupin?"

Remus immediately gave a wry smile, compared to most Slytherins, Bryan was easy to get along with, but that didn't stop Bryan from retaining some of the standard traits of Slytherins. 

"Speaking of which, why did the cooking task fall on you, Remus, did Sirius secretly fire my house-elf while I was away?"

He glanced at the uneven potato slices on the chopping board, and Bryan sneered. He could tell that Remus was not a skilled cook, and he wondered how he had survived all these years on his own. 

"It's a long story, Bryan–"

Remus threw away the knife in his hand, and shook off the juice that stained his hand. He wiped his hands on a towel, and gestured for Bryan to sit down at the table. He poured him a glass of water, and then began to explain.

"When we first moved in, it was indeed that house-elf called Kreacher who cooked for us, but you know, he's not likely to be very friendly to me, a werewolf.

In fact, 'not very friendly' is a bit of an understatement. To drive me out of this house, he tried to poison me several times through my meals. Honestly, if I hadn't spent some years in the underworld, and had some awareness of these kinds of poisons, I might have really been done in by him."

'Hehe, interesting–'

Bryan laughed. 

Remus continued, "Later, Sirius got furious, and ordered him not to do that. Kreacher couldn't defy Sirius's order, but he didn't want to give in. My meals gradually had a lot of interesting things, such as dead mice in the mushroom soup, spider legs and frog guts in the salad, and foxglove in the roasted chicken."

Bryan grimaced, and felt a surge of nausea. 

"Remus, who are you talking to?"

Just as Bryan was listening with interest to the unfair treatment that Remus had suffered, Sirius's voice came from upstairs, followed by a rush of footsteps. A moment later, Sirius also stood at the doorway connecting the entrance hall and the basement. He looked surprised and annoyed to see Bryan, and his expression darkened.

Although it had been less than ten days, Sirius's condition had improved a lot compared to before.

Maybe it was because he had eaten a few decent meals, or maybe it was because he had let go of some knots, anyway, he didn't look like a skeleton that had crawled out of hell, his gaunt cheeks finally had some flesh, and his hair was washed clean. He had changed the old robe that Bryan had lent him before, and wore a black and gray robe, and the whole person looked like he had some shadow of twelve years ago. 

"Oh, it's you, Bryan–" Sirius muttered a bit unhappily. 

"I had a feeling that you would expose yourself to Remus when I left Hogwarts,"

Bryan followed Sirius's eyes as he came down the stairs, and showed a smile that could be said to be playful, or mocking. 

"But I didn't expect you to be so outstanding, Sirius, It hasn't even been twelve hours, and you've been exposed?"

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