The Cave

The next morning, Harry felt a little sleepy when he got up.

He felt as if he had encountered a legendary Succubus last night, and that Succubus was just too...

Fortunately, the Succubus was young and didn't do anything to him, but it was still enough to cause him trouble.

Harry yawned, the meaningful smile Veratia gave him before she left last night still lingering in his mind.

What is she expecting?

Harry scratched his head. Oh well, if he can't figure it out, he'll stop thinking about it.

He rolled out of bed and went into the Living Room.

"Hey, good morning!" Sirius, wearing a long Gryffindor robe and holding a coffee pot, greeted Harry.

"Good morning," Harry said listlessly.

"You don't look too good, man," Ron said, sitting on the sofa with a book on Wizard Chess in his hand. "Looks like you haven't had a good rest."

"Really?" Harry reached up and smoothed his hair.

Is it really that obvious?

He muttered to himself, "It's just that I didn't sleep well last night..."

"Of course, I'll pour you a cup of coffee." Sirius poured Harry a cup of coffee. "Drinking this will make you feel much more energetic, so I won't add any sugar."

Harry took the coffee and drank it all in one gulp.

It was very bitter, but refreshing enough that he felt more energetic and less sleepy.

"It's really good," Harry said with a smile. "It tastes great."

He then turned his head and asked, "Where are Headmaster Dumbledore and Professor Snape?"

"You can't expect me to let Snivellus live here, can you?" Sirius said smugly. "Last night, Professor Dumbledore took old Snivellus back with him. I think he knows that there's been a little unpleasantness between old Snivellus and me."

Ron put down the book and looked at Sirius.

He really wanted to ask, "Do you really think it was just a minor unpleasantness?"

But he held back, deciding to let it go and not say anything.

"Let Kritcher make breakfast," Sirius said again. "I already felt bad for troubling Miss Grindelwald with cooking last night. House Elf recover quite quickly, and I don't think Kritcher needs any rest."

He put down his coffee cup and said to Harry, "Once we find Regulus, there's nothing urgent to do for the time being—by the way, I remember there's the Quidditch World Cup next year, we should go watch it together, after all, it's a sport that happens every four years."

"The Quidditch World Cup?" Hermione asked, raising an eyebrow and frowning. "Is it like the Football World Cup in our Muggle world? Is it that popular?"

The Quidditch World Cup is also known as the World Cup or the World Championship.

As Quidditch enthusiast, Ron certainly wouldn't pass up the chance to act like a know-it-all in front of Hermione.

"Held every four years since 1473, the Quidditch team World Cup is a competition in which teams from various countries and regions compete against each other to win. The number of countries that register for each Quidditch World Cup varies. Any country may register a team within 12 months after the final of the previous tournament."

"The rest is pretty much like the Muggle World Cup," Harry added. "You should know the rules of the Muggle world, like the group stage and knockout stage, that's it."

"That sounds interesting, but I wonder if it will be a lot of fun," Hermione said with a smile.

"Won't it be a huge event?" Ron exclaimed dramatically. "Oh, Merlin's stinkiest socks! You really don't know what the Quidditch World Cup is all about, do you? It's the most popular and deeply ingrained event in the Wizarding World, bar none! I believe that if it were the Quidditch Grand Final, tens of thousands, even nearly a hundred thousand wizards would come to watch the game!"

"That is indeed very popular." Hermione nodded knowingly. The concept of the Wizarding World held by tens of thousands of people is equivalent to the concept of the entire Muggle world held by tens of millions of people.

"The Quidditch World Cup knockout stage will be held in England next year, and we'll go watch it," Sirius said with a grin. "Don't worry, I have plenty of ways to get tickets so we can all go see Quidditch."

"Hopefully, one of the three Britain teams will make it to the World Cup final!" Ron said wistfully. "But we know it's unlikely, after all, England team isn't exactly a dominant team, as is Scotland, and Wales is even worse... However, Bulgaria has a chance to reach the Quidditch World Cup finals, you know, their Seeker is Viktor Krum, my favorite Seeker!"

At this point, Ron realized his words were a bit inappropriate and quickly explained to Harry, "Oh Harry, I didn't mean it that way, I like you too..."

"I can tell you really like Krum." Hermione looked at Ron with pity. "I remember your bedroom was full of his posters—oh dear, oh dear..."

"Who said that? It's clearly Charlie's Cannons!" Ron quickly retorted.

As they were talking, Dumbledore also arrived at Black family home.

This time he didn't bring Snape with him, since there was no need for him to prepare any Potions. Snape simply declined Dumbledore's invitation to come to Black family home.

For him, seeing Sirius in person was far more disgusting than seeing James's (Harry's ) face.

"Looks like old Snivellus didn't come along, that's a good thing," Sirius said with a grin. "If he had come, he might have given us some kind of Potions..."

"Severus isn't that kind of person, Sirius," Dumbledore began, trying to play peacemaker.

But Sirius, with a keen sense of self-awareness, said, "He might not drug you, but he'll definitely drug me..."

That makes perfect sense, because the Snape disliked most in the whole room was Sirius, and there was no one else.

A little while later, Kritcher came over and told them that breakfast was ready.

Breakfast was quite substantial; at least Kritcher had put in the effort.

Harry picked up a piece of pie and placed it in front of Ron.

Ron didn't think much of it, casually picked up a piece of pie with his Prongs, and put it in his mouth.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked.

Ron swallowed the pie with difficulty, then picked up the glass and emptied the milk out of it.

"Aside from the fact that it's a bit salty, a bit sweet, a bit bitter, and a bit sour, there's nothing wrong with it," he commented sharply.

Harry decisively chose not to touch the pie and opted for something else instead.

Unexpectedly, Sirius ate the pie with great relish.

Judging from his expression, you'd think he'd tasted some heavenly delicacy.

"This is my mother's cooking. It's awful, it really is awful," Sirius said, spouting useless nonsense, before turning back to Kritcher and saying, "It's very good. Please don't use my mother's recipe next time, okay?"

"Of course, the young master who is known as the family's honor," Kritcher said, croaking like a bullfrog.

"But I think this pudding cake is right up my alley."

Dumbledore, holding a piece of pudding cake on his Prongs, said to Kritcher, "It's really delicious, Kritcher."

Harry had almost reached for the pudding cake, but he quickly pulled his hand back.

Just kidding. Headmaster Dumbledore said it was delicious, then it must at least be the kind that's so sweet it'll kill you.

"Why aren't you eating?" Ron asked Harry, Prongs in his mouth. "I saw you were almost touching that cake."

"I suddenly don't want to eat anymore," Harry said honestly, tilting his head and whispering to Ron, "Think about it, Ron, Headmaster Dumbledore loves sweets so much, and he can say that a really delicious cake must have been quite something..."

Ron thought about it for a moment and was able to figure out the lethal amount of sugar in that pudding cake.

He shuddered and instantly gave up the idea of taking a bite.

Isn't it good to be alive?

Just then, Veratia walked in from outside.

She lazily walked behind Harry, bent down, and kissed him on the cheek.

"Sigh." She sighed contentedly, sat down next to Harry, and glanced at Cassandra with a smug look.

However, she noticed that Cassandra wasn't paying attention to them and was instead taking small bites of the food in front of her.

Having failed to get what he wanted, Veratia gave up on any further ideas and instead sat quietly next to Harry, eating her breakfast.

Sirius's eyebrows twitched; he had noticed that his godson had received a good morning kiss from the wicked Slytherin woman.

Although the Britain didn't forbid early romance, Sirius always felt that his godson, this little Pigwidgeon, had been taken by a beautiful, fresh cabbage...

What do you mean by "reversing the Heavenly Gang"?

After taking a couple of bites of breakfast, Ron suddenly remembered an important question.

"But do you know where that cave is?"

"Of course I know," Sirius said with a chuckle. "Kritcher has been to that cave; he could easily point us in the right direction, or to put it simply—he could just take us there."

"Yes, old Kritcher knows where that place is. Hopefully, the young master, who has recently won the mistress's favor, will keep his promise to Kritcher and rescue Young Master Regulus in time."

Kritcher rambled on, sounding somewhat reluctant and sarcastic.

Even though the mistress had forgiven her Sirius, Kritcher still stuck to his previous opinion. Even though he had taken Harry Potter as his godson, it did not erase the fact that he had angered the mistress in the past.

"I don't need Kritcher anymore. I already know exactly where that cave is," Dumbledore said, looking up. "At least I know some strategies for dealing with it."

Since Professor Dumbledore had said so, no one had any questions and continued to eat their meal with their heads down.

After lunch and about an hour of rest, Dumbledore called everyone to set off for the cave.

However, he didn't bring many people with him, only Harry and Sirius, while the others waited at home.

"Are you sure you don't need me to go, Professor Dumbledore?" Veratia asked, tilting her head.

"No need, Miss Grindelwald, it's not a dangerous place," Dumbledore said with a smile. "But if you'd like to come along, I have no objection."

Although the cave was not Voldemort's or his Horcrux ' hiding place, Dumbledore still felt that having another person would be of great help, since Veratia was not someone who would hold them back.

After saying that, Dumbledore reached out and grabbed Sirius and Harry.

Seeing this, Veratia grabbed Harry's arm as well.

Cassandra's lips twitched, but she ultimately didn't say she wanted to go together.

Cassandra's gaze dimmed only after they had disappeared from the spot.

"Miss Malfoy?" Hermione asked tentatively.

Cassandra looked down at Hermione.

"If you want to go, why don't you come along?" Hermione asked cautiously.

Although I was careful, afraid of angering Cassandra, my curiosity ultimately prevailed.

"I don't want to go with Potter!"

Cassandra left the Living Room with those words and went upstairs to her room.

"She's angry," Pabbie said, drifting through the air. "See? Cassandra is a classic hypocrite—she actually wants to die, but she's too proud to tell the truth, which is why this awkward situation has arisen. If I'm not mistaken, she's probably regretting it under the covers right now."

"No, really?" Hermione was a little surprised that such a powerful young lady could be like this.

"I know her too well," Pabbie said smugly. "Believe it or not, she's probably shedding pearls in bed right now!"

"I don't believe it." Hermione's expression showed absolute disbelief.

Pabbie crossed her arms and floated away.

"Are you planning to go check on her?" Hermione asked loudly. "Or I think I should go and comfort her..."

"No," Pabbie denied. "I don't want to be hit by an Avada Kedavra. Believe me, she absolutely could—"

"Yes, all Slytherin are so evil," Ron whispered to Hermione. "Especially since she's from the Malfoy family and a wizard from a hundred years ago, who would have thought she might actually be a ruthless Dark Wizard?"

"You're being a bit stereotypical, Ron," Hermione retorted. "Look at Veratia, isn't she a kind and gentle person? Can you deny that she's not a kind person just because she's Slytherin?"

"Her gentleness is only because you and I are both Harry's friends," Ron said with a clear head. "Forget it—I can't argue with you. I'm going to look at the Wizard Chess records. If you have the guts, go upstairs and comfort Miss Malfoy."

"I'm not going!" Hermione said quickly, choosing to follow her heart.

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(End of this chapter)