0234 A Deal

"Dumbledore and Remus, I don't want to see either of them now!" Sirius shouted, his voice hoarse with anger and pain.

He took a quick step back, avoiding Bryan's hand that reached out to grab his shoulder. 

"I won't ask for your help, Watson. As long as you don't reveal my secret to them, I'll find a way to catch Peter myself!"

"Save it, Black." Bryan said coldly, his frown deepening. "No matter what, I am the Director of Student Safety Office. Black, don't expect me to let you run wild in the castle. Whether it's Dumbledore or Remus, someone needs to monitor your actions."

Bryan had figured out Sirius's character. Perhaps he was loyal to his friends, but he was also a stubborn and arrogant fool. He had a reckless disregard for the rules and the consequences of his actions. Letting him run wild in the castle would inevitably cause trouble. If this trouble only involved himself, it wouldn't matter, but the potential result could harm the young wizards in the castle. Bryan couldn't allow that to happen.

"Don't make me use magic to force you, Black." Bryan impatiently threatened, waving his wand in a menacing gesture. "You know I'm more powerful than you. You don't stand a chance against me."

Sirius clenched his fist tightly, glaring at Bryan fiercely. He hated to admit it, but Bryan was right. He had lost his wand and couldn't use spells, and he knew that even if he had his wand, he couldn't put up a decent resistance. 

The only way he could express his anger might be to suddenly transform into a dog and give Bryan a bite when he wasn't paying attention! But that would be foolish and futile. How could he convince Bryan not to hand him over to Dumbledore?

Sirius desperately thought about this question, and suddenly, the sparks exploding in the fireplace gave him an inspiration. He remembered something that might sway Bryan's mind. He hurriedly said,

"Wait, Watson, I want to make a deal with you!"

'A deal?'

Bryan raised an eyebrow, and something flashed in his eyes.

Noticing the change in his expression, Sirius felt a secret joy. He knew how to deal with this powerful and somewhat excessive young wizard. 

"Don't hand me over to Dumbledore and Remus, help me enter Hogwarts to find Peter. If you can agree to this," Sirius gasped, as if he was making a great sacrifice,

"You want the bounty money from the Ministry on me, right, Watson? How much was it, fifty thousand Galleons? No problem, I can pay you that!"

Bryan pursed his lips, his expression showing intense 'struggle'.

"No, Mr. Black–" Bryan shook his head and said, trying to sound noble and virtuous. "I can't give up my principles for money. I've said before, letting you run wild in Hogwarts may harm those innocent and lovely young wizards. I can't pretend to ignore this possibility, Mr. Black. My conscience would condemn me!"

'Principles and conscience, do you really have any of that, Bryan Watson!' Sirius thought scornfully.

"I just want to kill Peter, Watson." Sirius's pale face turned livid. "Unless I've gone mad, I will never harm those children. They have nothing to do with this. Alright, let's stick to the previous number, I'll pay double the price for my freedom!"

'These spoiled rich kids are so annoying' 

Bryan thought indignantly!

"The smooth-talking, ungrateful young master is lying again. He doesn't have a single galleon in his pocket, but he dares to lie to a powerful wizard–" A croaky voice interrupted their conversation.

Suddenly, Kreacher, the old and ugly house-elf who had been eavesdropping on the stairs, slowly crawled out. Its voice made both Bryan and Sirius change their expressions.

Bryan didn't need to say anything, he immediately scrutinized Sirius, his gaze suspicious. He wondered if Kreacher was telling the truth, if Sirius was really broke and desperate.

And Sirius, who noticed that Kreacher was still alive, looked surprised for a moment, but his eyes quickly flashed with relief. However, as soon as he regained his composure, he immediately asked in a sinister tone,

"So, you've been pretending to be dead all this time, Kreacher. When did you become so clever? Never mind that, what do you mean by saying I don't have a single coin in my pocket? If I remember correctly, the Black family's Gringotts vault should be filled with mountains of galleons and a large number of antique gold items, accumulated over several centuries, worth at least hundreds of thousands?"

Bryan's lips tightened even more at the mention of hundreds of thousands. He really wanted to rob Gringotts.

After being beaten up by Bryan, Kreacher's attitude became much more respectful. It walked down the stairs with a limp and stopped in front of Bryan, pressing its fleshy nose to the ground, as if it was worshipping him.

"Kreacher apologizes for the previous rudeness, esteemed powerful wizard. Kreacher knows he has offended you greatly. Therefore, Kreacher must tell the truth. My noble mistress hates the young master. The young master is a prodigal who no longer cares about the family's honor. He has betrayed the pure-blood ideals of the Black family. She doesn't want to leave any property to the young master. So, before her death, my noble mistress left a will, distributing everything in the vault to Miss Bellatrix and Miss Narcissa. Kreacher likes the two young ladies. They are much nobler than the young master–"

Sirius's face visibly darkened, even though his original expression was already unpleasant.

Just as Kreacher said, he didn't care about the so-called honor of the Black family. Of course, he didn't care about those boring galleons either. He had never been interested in money or material things. However, his mother would rather give all the wealth to 'outsiders' than leave it to him, which hurt his feelings.

"Just like something my mother would do-" Sirius sneered dryly, trying to hide his pain. 

But then he noticed that Watson's gaze towards him was a bit off. His heart skipped a few beats, and he quickly said,

"I have my own vault, Watson. My uncle Alphard left me a sum of money in the underground vault of Gringotts.!"

Saying that, Sirius fumbled in his tattered shirt and quickly pulled out a small piece of parchment, still bearing the Gringotts seal. 

"What is this?" Bryan asked, curiously taking the parchment from Sirius. He had never had stored money in Gringotts before. He had always kept his money in a secret place, hidden from prying eyes. He didn't trust the goblins, or anyone else for that matter.

"I used an owl to help Harry order a Firebolt, using the money from my own vault. When he was competing, those Dementors caused his broom to turn into a pile of splinters. This is the receipt from Gringotts, stating that there is still over thirty thousand in my vault." Sirius explained.

"Sorry, Mr. Black." Bryan said, coldly handing back the parchment to Sirius. But, He was a bit surprised, that Sirius cared so much about Harry. 

But Bryan remained unmoved. He calmly said, "I've thought it over carefully, and I still can't trust you to roam around Hogwarts. In my opinion, we should go see Dumbledore. He must have a way to help you find Peter."

'Greedy and shameless scoundrel, a Slytherin-born villain!' 

Sirius thought indignantly. 

"I only have this much now, Watson!" Sirius gritted his teeth and said, desperately trying to change Bryan's mind. "If you're not satisfied, there might be some valuable old things in this house that you can take!"

Upon hearing this, Kreacher immediately widened its reddened eyes and was about to scream. However, when it tried to do so, it found that it couldn't make a sound at all because Bryan had already blocked its voice and movements!

"Don't think too badly of me," Bryan shook his head and defended himself, as he pointed his wand at Kreacher. He had noticed the house-elf's reaction, and he quickly silenced it. 

"I'm not after your wealth, Mr. Black. I just want to get the reward I deserve, that is, the fifty thousand Galleons from the Ministry for you. But since you've lost your family inheritance and don't have enough money, well, I have an idea–"

Sirius didn't notice Kreacher's strange behavior. He stared at Bryan, angrily saying,

"Tell me your plan, Watson. I want to know how you can agree not to hand me over to Dumbledore and Remus!"

"Well, here it is!" Bryan's face changed, and he enthusiastically looked around the kitchen. 

"Since you don't have enough gold coins to compensate for my loss, in my opinion, you can temporarily mortgage the right to use this house to me for a year. After a year, if you manage to gather enough money, I'll return the house to you. If you can't do it by then, well, with interest, you'll need to hand over the right to use the house to me for two years. If you still can't repay the mortgage after three years, the mortgage period will be four years–"

Looking at Sirius's unexpected expression, Bryan smiled. 

"Of course, while you're still alive, I'll allow you to live in this house." Bryan said, 'generously'.

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