Chapter 205: The Funeral (2in1)

Wade hesitated briefly before saying, "I saw the Black family library yesterday. It's really impressive. When I borrow books, don't feel bad about it, okay?"

Sirius laughed. "Take the whole lot if you want! I'd be thrilled to see it gone!"

He paused, and then instead of brushing off the moment with humor, he returned to their earlier conversation.

"Since leaving Azkaban, finding Regulus, preparing the funeral, and finally quieting my mad mother…"

Sirius listed the recent events with a wry smile.

"For whatever reason, you've helped me far too much. Some books in that library can't begin to repay what I owe you—not even a tenth of it. Wade, what can I do for you?"

Wade considered for a moment and then asked, "Can I ask you a question?"

"Of course," Sirius said, taking a casual swig of his beer.

"What made you break ties with your parents and oppose Voldemort back then? I've done some reading. When Voldemort's power was at its height, many believed he was invincible. Very few dared to risk their lives to stand against him."

Noticing Sirius frown, Wade pretended not to see it and continued,

"If you hadn't taken that path, you could've inherited the Black family's wealth. With your status and abilities, Voldemort would likely have valued you highly. Given the circumstances at the time, wouldn't that have been the 'smart' choice?"

"Why?" Sirius raised an eyebrow and said in a direct tone. "To do what's right, to save innocent lives. Isn't that reason enough?"

Wade smiled. "And when you saved people, did you expect them to repay you?"

Sirius froze for a moment before letting out a laugh.

He raised his beer bottle in acknowledgment but said nothing more.

He would remember kindnesses shown to him, but there was no need to dwell on them endlessly. Yet the feeling of having his convictions affirmed by someone else—it was different.

Before today, Wade Grey had been, in Sirius's mind, Harry's friend, a student Lupin admired, and someone he owed a great deal to.

But today, Sirius finally saw beyond those labels to the real Wade.

…

With the funeral approaching, the group spent five days cleaning the house, disinfecting, replacing or repairing furniture, and preparing the garden for the ceremony.

Cleaning charms and repairing spells couldn't solve every problem—especially when it came to old, stubborn magical stains that had accumulated over the years.

Percy was forced to seek advice from his mother. Mrs. Weasley, an experienced homemaker, recommended several affordable and effective magical cleaning products, along with some handy cleaning tips.

Sirius also pulled himself together and began handwriting invitations one by one.

Regulus's funeral presented an awkward situation.

He was a known Death Eater who ultimately died defying Voldemort—a fact not yet widely known. Even among the Death Eaters, he was considered a coward who fled in the face of danger and was killed for it.

Regardless of the side, it was difficult for him to be fully accepted.

Upon reflection, Sirius realized he wasn't sure if Regulus ever had close friends like he and James had. The classmates Regulus had often been seen with during school were either dead or imprisoned.

Sirius wasn't inclined to invite those who barely remembered Regulus or might tarnish his name, even if they had once been his comrades.

As a result, the list of invitees was quite short.

After much deliberation, Sirius decided to send an invitation to the Malfoy family.

His favorite cousin was Andromeda, but in his youth, he had been on good terms with Narcissa as well. More importantly, Regulus had been particularly fond of Narcissa, and often listened to her among his sisters.

—And besides, Narcissa wasn't a Death Eater. The Death Eater in the family was her despicable husband, Lucius Malfoy.

Sirius used that last reasoning to convince himself.

As a naturally impulsive person, Sirius had always done things on a whim, and even eleven years in prison hadn't changed that. For the first time in his life, Sirius exercised patience and restraint, and set aside his preferences to thoughtfully plan something.

The young wizards who came to help were invaluable.

Without them, Sirius couldn't imagine what kind of mess the funeral might have become. He might have burdened Lupin from start to finish and still left everyone dissatisfied.

But seeing how well the kids handled everything, Sirius resolved not to let his impulsiveness ruin the event. Even he wouldn't forgive himself if that happened.

Owls carrying the invitations braved the biting winter wind and falling snow, flying to destinations far and wide.

…

In his downtime, Wade spent most of his time in the study.

The Black family, being a wealthy and ancient pure-blood lineage, had an extraordinary collection of books. Some of their volumes weren't even found in the restricted section of the Hogwarts library.

Before her decline into madness, Mrs. Black had taken great pride in the family library, and Kreacher had diligently maintained it ever since. The books were in excellent condition, with only a thin layer of dust and no signs of damage or insect infestations.

These books were heavily protected by powerful magic. If anyone outside the Black family attempted to read them, some would corrode the intruder's hands, others would cause severe damage to their eyes, and a few even carried deadly curses.

But Sirius, as the current head of the family, had removed most of the harmful magic from the books. For the ones he couldn't deal with for the time being, he simply threw the books into a box in the basement.

Kreacher was heartbroken.

Recently, Kreacher had begun to see Sirius as his master, and he was working diligently and following orders.

However, after this incident, Kreacher wiped away his tears and carefully cleaned up the books thrown into the basement. He sprinkled them with anti-bug powder, and muttered "Wastrel" several times under his breath.

But Kreacher only complained about Sirius, not about Wade, who was reading the books.

Kreacher had heard about what Wade had done from Lupin and was very respectful toward him. While Wade was reading, Kreacher would often bring hot tea or pastries to the study.

As for Mrs. Black, it was unclear whether she knew about this, but she had been very quiet recently. The curtain blocking her portrait had never been pulled back.

While cleaning the fifth floor, the group occasionally heard faint sounds of crying coming from Regulus's room.

On the third day, the Italian wizard painter hired by Sirius arrived. Using a few old photographs, he carefully painted a portrait of Regulus.

It was not the pale and eerie image of Regulus as a corpse, but rather the image of the proud and spirited young man from before he turned sixteen.

From that day on, Mrs. Black became completely silent.

Occasionally, when the wind gently blew the curtain, people would see her eyes closed in peaceful sleep, as if trapped in a dream from which she would never wake up.

Only Lupin frequently intervened in Wade's reading.

Most of the books in the Black family's library were related to dark magic, and Wade even came across a description of Horcruxes in one of them.

Sirius believed that there was no harm in learning about the effects of dark magic, as long as one didn't study or become obsessed with it. What they mainly focused on was defense and how to resist dark magic.

He had grown up in an environment surrounded by dark magic and had not been heavily influenced, so Sirius believed that Wade would be fine as well.

Although Lupin had a different view, he didn't stop Wade from reading or lecture him about right and wrong. Instead, he would occasionally check on him in the study.

Whenever Wade read a book related to dark magic, not long after, Lupin would tell one or two stories during dinner or while cleaning—

About a wizard who made a mistake while researching dark magic and was twisted into a monster, wandering in a dark forest, living a life worse than death.

About a dark magical creature that, unable to endure the abuse, suddenly rose up, killed its master, and escaped.

About a wizard who became so obsessed with dark magic that his personality changed drastically, and one night he killed all his family members, which led to a series of tragic events before being eradicated by a passing white magic wizard.

And so on.

The young wizards listened with rapt attention, while Michael would always look at Wade with a half-smile after hearing these stories.

"What book did you read this time?"

After the story ended, Michael quietly asked Wade,

"A hand-tied book?"

Wade replied, "Just learning about how wizards researched magic in the past. Back in their day, it wasn't considered outrageous."

"Right." Michael laughed mockingly, "For ancient people, eating humans seemed pretty normal, right?"

Wade hesitated for a moment. "Even now, in some countries, eating humans isn't illegal."

"Really?!"

Michael widened his eyes, then quickly adjusted his expression, and said smirking, "Haha, the Weasley twins are much better actors when they're lying."

Wade looked at his naive classmate sympathetically. "It's true."

Michael was silent for a while.

"…Really?"

"Mm."

"Muggle law?"

"To be precise, some Muggle countries don't have laws that make eating humans illegal. Of course, our Ministry of Magic doesn't have such regulations either, does it?"

"Although, saying that…" Michael tried to save his worldview, "The law doesn't have those regulations because eating humans is something that just doesn't happen… unless there's famine… unless it's an extreme survival situation…"

He cautiously patched up his words, but then saw Wade's lips curl into a mysterious smile.

He didn't say anything, but it was as if he had said everything.

Michael: "…"

Because of that smile, the boy spent most of the night anxiously tossing and turning. 

The next morning, he got out of bed with dark circles under his eyes, ran out of the Black ancestral home, and spent a little more than half the day at the nearby Muggle library.

When he returned, Michael remained silent for a long time.

"Crazy Muggles."

Before going to sleep, he couldn't help but express his thoughts to Wade.

However, Wade shook his head.

"You saw the bloody, cannibalistic act in the book and thought it was cruel and insane. But in a society of the survival of the fittest, 'eating people' actually happens all the time, you just haven't noticed."

"Look, wasn't Regulus 'eaten'?"

Michael shuddered, his scalp tingling, and goosebumps spread across his body.

...

The day before Christmas, it was Regulus's funeral.

It had been snowing since morning, with fine snowflakes falling on the ground, on the buildings. 

At first, they formed tiny ice crystals, but gradually they gathered together, covering the weathered marks on the walls and the garden that the young wizards had carefully decorated.

The vast expanse of white seemed very fitting for the funeral.

Sirius wore a black wizard's robe, his attire was entirely in black and white, and it was the first time anyone had seen him dressed so solemnly. Lupin accompanied him, and greeted the guests who arrived for the funeral.

Wade saw the Malfoy family and Draco Malfoy. The three of them looked very alike, with light blonde hair, pale skin, and a haughty expression.

However, while talking to Sirius, both sides remained composed, and at least no conflicts occurred face to face.

He also saw a witch with light brown hair walking in with a Muggle-dressed man. The witch quickly stepped forward and embraced Sirius, whose expression softened slightly.

Wade immediately realized that the witch was Andromeda, the disowned member of the Black family. Sirius had once pointed to the family tree and introduced his family to the curious young wizards.

On that huge family tree, Andromeda's name had already been burned off.

In fact, the so-called pure-blood Black family had disowned a member in almost every generation, sometimes more than one.

Behind them was a beautiful young witch with striking bluish-gray hair.

Even though an adult witch skilled in Transfiguration could easily change her hair color, the color of her hair was so unique that it left a lasting impression on anyone who saw it.

Andromeda introduced her to Sirius—saying this was her daughter, Nymphadora Tonks.

Sirius had met young Nymphadora, but the young woman before him was of course a stranger to him.

They shook hands politely.

While the group was talking, Draco Malfoy kept his eyes fixed on Tonks. When he heard her name, his expression immediately turned to one of disgust, as if he had seen something revolting.

Though he didn't say a word, it felt as though he had said everything.

Tonks blinked. When the others turned to greet more guests, she suddenly turned her head toward Draco Malfoy, and her head transformed into that of a Hungarian Horntail.

"Ah!"

Draco Malfoy turned his head just in time to see a huge dragon head, with yellow-brown eyes the size of longan fruit, staring intently at him. He was startled and let out a scream.

Everyone turned to look at him.

"She... she... she just..."

He pointed at Tonks, stumbling over his words, but saw that Tonks had already transformed back, and was now showing an elegant yet surprised expression, looking at him along with everyone else.

"Mind your manners, Draco," Narcissa said faintly, giving a haughty glance at the half-blood Tonks, before shifting her gaze away.

Andromeda shot her daughter a fierce look, silently warning her not to cause trouble.

The Weasley couple arrived from abroad.

Madam Longbottom also arrived, and Neville hurriedly stood beside her.

Dumbledore had also arrived early in the morning.

Guests arrived one after another, and by noon, there were already twenty or thirty people sitting on the benches, and among them there were many prominent surnames, along with some lesser-known ordinary wizards, and even Muggles.

They sat together to attend Regulus's funeral.

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