Chapter 190: The Black Family Collection

Standing in the dark hallway, Ivan looked around curiously.

As a Black family mansion, 12 Grimmauld Place is a typical pureblood wizard's house.

The decorations that could be seen everywhere are hundreds of years old. If they ever go on the market, they would definitely be valuable antiques.

In front of them was a narrow hallway, the end of which could not be seen.

Directly in front of the hall was a decorative light in the shape of a tree. Both the chandelier and the lamps on a rickety table nearby were shaped like snakes.

After Voldemort returned, the house was used as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. Right now, it should be out of use by everyone, and naturally it was not being protected by magic. You could tell by the thick dust around it that no one had been there for a long time.

Ivan didn't know why Sirius had to bring them here. It would be reasonable to say that the latter had a great distaste for the house. However, Black had just mentioned that he was coming to get a Christmas present for him and Hermione, did Ivan know what it was?!

"There hasn't been anyone living here for over a decade. We'd better hurry up and get out of here when we finish this." Sirius whispered, he took the lead down the hallway.

There was a creaking sound from the old floor, which sounded particularly creepy in the old, empty house.

Ivan didn't know what they were going to get, but he knew that Slytherin's locket was stored there. If he could find it and destroy it, it would save him a lot of trouble.

The locket must be in Sirius's younger brother Regulus's room. He had put it there, and Ivan didn't know where exactly it was.

If he had a chance, he was going to look for it.

Ivan hurried to catch up with Sirius, and Hermione couldn't help but hold his arm. Harry walked ahead of them, his face mingled with inexplicable tension and excitement.

In the dark, narrow hallway, they overlooked a large umbrella stand made from the severed leg of a troll.

On the left side of the umbrella stand was a dark staircase, and the wall next to it appeared to be decorated with something.

Sirius didn't go up, and Ivan, Harry, and Hermione were full of curiosity and gathered to look at the blurry wall decoration. Then, the three of them breathed in cold air, and saw a row of shrunken heads, mounted on the wall on plaques.

They were all heads of house elves, and they all had the same big, ugly nose.

"I don't get it, this house looks like that of the most evil of dark wizards." Harry whispered, "Why did Sirius' parents live here?"

"Remember, except for Sirius, all members of the Black family are from Slytherin House." Ivan also whispered, "Think about their tastes and you can understand."

"Why are they hanging house elf heads on the wall?" The expression on Hermione's face was full of fear and confusion, and there was still some hidden anger.

"They're not the ones hanging them. It's the tradition of the house elves in the house. They've been serving in a wizarding family since they were born. When they grow old, they are decapitated and their heads are disgustingly stuffed and mounted on the walls of the house. This is, no doubt, considered by the house elf to be the highest honor," Ivan said.

"I don't understand, this is the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard!" Hermione hesitated, "Dobby is not like that..."

"He's an exception, he's different from the others." Ivan patted Hermione on the shoulder. "We'd better wait until we get back to school to discuss this matter, I'm feeling really bad here."

He didn't know if it was wishful thinking. Ivan always felt that something was hiding in the house and secretly watching them in the dark. This feeling was very strong.

But looking around, he saw nothing.

Sirius did not stop at all during their conversation; his figure had disappeared in the corner of the narrow corridor.

They hurried after him, and then walked through two long, worm-covered curtains that seemed to be hiding a door.

When Harry stopped, he glanced at the curtain.

The next second, he involuntarily backed up a few steps, panicked, as if he had seen something extremely horrible.

"What is it, Harry?" asked Ivan.

"Inside, there's a portrait inside, upstairs...", stammered Harry.

Ivan turned his head and saw the curtain on the wall automatically slide sideways, revealing something hidden behind it, a portrait of a fierce old woman hanging on the wall.

Seeing the three people, Ivan, Harry and Hermione, the old woman screamed louder than ever, brandishing her clawed hands as if trying to rip their faces off. "Filth! Scum! By-products of filth and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, madmen, out of this place! How dare you soil the Black house?!"

The old woman's face was horrible. Just as Ivan and the other two were standing there, not knowing what to do, Sirius Black came running back.

"Shut up, you horrible old hag, shut up!" roared Black, trying to pull back the curtain.

"You, you!" The old woman's face went white and her eyes widened in disbelief as she glared at Sirius before letting out an even sharper voice, "It's you, the loser, the family disgrace, the sinful son I gave birth to! How dare you have the nerve to come back?! You..."

"I said...shut...up!" Black roared, and with a terrific effort managed to force the curtains closed.

The old woman's screams died and a resounding silence fell.

"Who's that?" asked Harry quietly, still looking disgusted.

"My mother, I think you should meet her. When she was alive, she looked like that." Sirius said while keeping a straight face.

"She, she's your..." stammered Hermione.

"My dear old mother, yes," Sirius said, "Didn't I say that before? This was my parents' house, and they intended to leave it to my brother, but only I am left alive in the family, so this house is all mine now."

"What are we doing here?" asked Ivan.

"We came to get Christmas presents for you and Hermione." Sirius explained, "I asked Lupin, Hagrid and others about your preferences. You and Hermione like to read books, and the Black Family Library is in this house. There are many out-of-print magical books here. Many of them belonged to the Black family for centuries and were never seen outside. I think you'll be interested."

"Precious magic books?" Ivan was stunned.

Compared to Harry and Hermione, he knew the value of such books because he had asked at Flourish and Blotts to collect magic books, Ivan knew their real value.

An out-of-print magical book was priceless and priceless.

These were the inheritance of a pure-blooded wizarding family. No one was going to get it. If not for that opportunity, no outsider would have been able to obtain these books.

The older the wizarding family, the more valuable the collection of magical books.

The history of the Black family goes back to the dawn of millennia, as the noble and distinguished house of Black. They are arguably some of the few true pure-blooded wizards in the magical world. Their family collection... Ivan was so excited when he thought about it.

He wanted to take a look in a hurry, but weren't those magical books too expensive as Christmas presents?

Sirius seemed to be aware of Ivan's fear, he explained in a simple tone, "Don't say anything, you guys helped me, a few magic books can't bring it back to you. Besides, if you don't read those books, they'll just sit there gathering mold."