"I'm heading out." Uncle Mu En picked up a small box, opened the door to the wilderness, and said goodbye to Harry. "Work hard. If there's anything you don't understand, ask Lucifer."
"Yes, Uncle Mu En." Harry nodded.
Watching Mu En leave, Harry began talking to Lucifer as well. "Mr. Lucifer, where is Uncle Mu En going?"
Lucifer answered lazily, "He's probably going to hide the castle, so other people won't find it. I saw him take a box of Silver Chalk."
"What is Silver Chalk?" Harry grew curious again.
"It's chalk made by adding a special binding agent to silver powder. Silver powder conducts magic very well, so it's quite useful for drawing temporary magic circles." Lucifer explained patiently.
"How do you plan to deal with this mess?" Lucifer suddenly asked.
Harry turned around, glanced at the cluttered living room, and scratched his head. "I'll stack up all the books first, then clear away the miscellaneous things and throw out the unwanted rubbish."
Lucifer nodded, then suddenly remembered something. "Oh, right. You have a colleague too."
"A colleague?"
A rustling sound suddenly came from behind him. The broom that had been leaning behind the door began running on its bristles. When it reached the small step by the entrance, it even jumped.
"This is?!" Harry suddenly felt that he was no longer quite so surprised. In this entire castle, a broom that could walk was not all that strange...
"It's a flying broomstick," Lucifer explained.
"A flying broomstick?!" Harry's eyes widened as he stared fixedly at it. The thing was covered in dust, and its bristles were tangled with cobwebs. It looked no different from the Dursleys' broom.
"That's right. It was a gift someone gave Mu En after he... cough, cough... acquired it. But Mu En rarely uses it, so he has it sweep the floor whenever it has nothing to do."
Harry could not help reaching out his hand, but the broom suddenly twisted aside and avoided him.
"It can sweep by itself. So you can throw the rubbish on the floor and burn it all together later." After explaining, Lucifer urged, "Get started. If you don't know whether something should be thrown away, ask me."
"Okay." Harry nodded, rolled up his sleeves, and began the big cleanup.
Seeing this, Lucifer slowly narrowed his eyes. Normally, his greatest hobbies were sleeping, robbing people, and burning things.
Recently, he had been unable to do the latter two, so he spent his days sleeping.
But he had barely closed his eyes when Harry's voice suddenly rang out. "Mr. Lucifer, what is this? Can I throw it away?"
Harry held up a small stack of parchment. Every sheet was covered in symbols Harry could not understand, along with doodles and what seemed to be magic circles.
"Those are Mu En's drafts. Put them all together and let him deal with them when he comes back."
Harry nodded, set Mu En's drafts aside, and began clearing the table again.
"What's this?" Harry picked up a leaf that had been flattened beneath a pile of books.
"This is... it seems to be a Potion Ingredient. Throw it away."
"What's this?"
"What's this?" Harry found another object, a palm-sized stone pendant. Its center was hollow, with an eye-sized opening.
"That's a Manifestation Stone. It goes with the book by your left hand, Arthur Spiderwick's Field Guide: How to Enter the Fantastic World Around You." Lucifer sounded helpless, his tone growing even lazier.
"Of course, I have no idea what you'll be able to see with it in this world. Mu En left it behind after one of his earlier adventures."
Harry clicked his tongue at that. He did not rashly put his eye to the Manifestation Stone, instead obediently putting it away.
Throughout the process, Harry kept curiously asking Lucifer all kinds of questions. Though Lucifer looked lazy, he did not refuse him, clearly having enough patience.
It was not until Harry picked up a Grimoire made of human skin that he was thoroughly startled. More than half his curiosity vanished at once, and Lucifer finally got some peace and quiet.
What Harry had not expected was that Uncle Mu En, who looked so solemn and dignified, would have such a chaotic home.
Was there no household magic for this sort of thing?
If Mu En had heard Harry's muttering, he might truly have spread his hands apologetically. There really wasn't!
Who knew how much time had passed? When Lucifer opened his eyes again, Harry was mopping the floor. Dozens of huge books had been stacked by size in a corner, while all sorts of miscellaneous items had been placed on the table.
The remaining plates and kitchen utensils in the dining room had been washed clean, and the sofa cushion covers had been tossed into the washing machine.
There were also two full bags of rubbish by the door.
"Ahh, that feels much better." Lucifer gathered up some firewood beside him and placed it beneath himself, then sighed contentedly.
"Mu En used to complain that Hal was a lazy dog. Who would have thought that not long afterward, he himself would become exactly what he hated most?"
Seeing Lucifer open his eyes, Harry turned his head. "Mr. Lucifer, what is this castle called?"
"A name..." Lucifer thought for a while, only to realize that the castle had never had one.
There had never even been any need to name the castle.
"It has no name." Lucifer shook his head. "But back when we were in the Caribbean Sea, this place wasn't a castle. It was a ship, and it was called the Moonlight Queen. So you can call this place Moonlight Castle."
"Moonlight Queen... Why is that so strange? It's not cool at all." Harry found it odd. Shouldn't ships be called things like Trafalgar, Sovereign, or Victory?!
Hearing Harry's question, Lucifer could not help laughing. "Those are names for royal warships. Pirates wouldn't name their ships like that.
"Pirate ship names back then were more like the Black Pearl, Queen Anne's Revenge, and the Silent Mary."
"I see..." Harry nodded, only half understanding.
Harry worked quickly, but the living room was simply far too much work. In the evening, Mu En came back once more. After dinner, he carried a pile of books into the basement.
Meanwhile, Harry resumed clearing out coal ash, chopping firewood for Lucifer, and wiping away dust that had accumulated in every corner. It was only after a long while that he barely managed to finish cleaning the entire living room.
Mu En came up from the basement holding a book, took out a golden pocket watch, and checked the time. It was ten past nine at night.
"Looks like I won't get the chance to show you some magic today. You need to go home, kid." He spoke with a smile.
Harry found it a little regrettable, but he did not think it was a problem. On the contrary, he had enjoyed himself. The various books and miscellaneous objects had already opened the door to a new world for him.
He could feel that Moonlight Castle still held far too many secrets waiting for him to uncover.
Of course, the prerequisite was that he had to do his job properly.
This was ten thousand times better than being a servant at the Dursley Residence!
Before you continue