"The Lively Dinner"

Harry was almost itching to return to Grimmauld Place, Number 12 to see if Professor Snape would accept the Godfather's invitation to the banquet.

He knew it was wrong of him to think like this, but he couldn't help but keep thinking about it.

At this moment, the Mr. and Mrs. Granger also came over.

They greeted everyone first, and then hugged Hermione one after the other.

"Shall we go to Grimmauld Place, Number 12 tonight?" Mr. Granger asked first. "I haven't been there in a long time. Sirius has been too busy ever since he became a big shot."

"Yes, Mr. Granger," Harry nodded.

Sirius and Mr. Granger had a very good relationship, as did Mr. Weasley. The men together seemed to have endless topics to discuss, from the customs and traditions of the Magical World and Muggle World to politics and economics, and finally to history and philosophy—they talked about everything.

Even after becoming Minister for Magic, Sirius had considered hiring Mr. Granger as his private advisor, but since Mr. Granger was a Muggle, it would easily provoke a backlash from wizards, so he didn't bring it up.

"Speaking of which, it's been a long time since I've seen your uncle's family either," Mr. Granger said again. "How have they been lately? Have you been in touch with them?"

"Looks like you're doing pretty well," Harry said, raising an eyebrow.

How can you say it's good?

That's pretty good!

After the Dursley family rose to prominence, Uncle Vernon did not forget Harry. He not only bought him a villa, but also a sports car last Christmas.

Although Harry didn't stay at that villa much.

"Your uncle is a very interesting man," Mr. Granger said with a smile.

Harry merely agreed, but inwardly he disagreed.

Uncle Vernon?

Is he even remotely funny?

If this were in the America, Uncle Vernon would be an extreme conservative redneck.

"I think we should go," Mr. Weasley suggested. "Don't keep Sirius waiting. Come on... let's get in the car first."

They arrived together in front of Mr. Weasley's Flying Car, and Harry counted carefully; it would take at least three cars to fit so many people.

But it doesn't matter, this is a magical world, and this vehicle has been enchanted with Untraceable Extension Charm, enough to seat dozens of people inside.

They boarded the bus in order, with Ron, Harry, and the Twins sitting in the spacious back. As they boarded, Fred showed off his Dragonhide jacket to Ron.

"I'll give you one for Christmas," Fred said, then interrupted Ron as he was about to speak, "Of course, as a reward for your hard work in helping us distribute flyers, we've decided to give you an extra one in advance, the same design as ours."

"Yes, a man should treat his family well," George said, then suddenly added with a solemn expression, "Because a man who doesn't make time for his family isn't a real man."

"He's watched too much ' The Godfather '," Hermione retorted sharply from the front row.

"The Godfather?" Mr. Weasley's interest was piqued. "What's that? A book?"

"It's a book, and also a movie, and it's very popular in the Muggle world," Mr. Granger said with a smile to Mr. Weasley. "Some Muggle World even call it the Bible for men."

"Wow, that's amazing!" Mr. Weasley exclaimed with great interest. "I guess I'll have to find some time to watch this movie."

"Don't worry, Dad, we have videotapes here," Fred and George said in unison.

After driving to a secluded spot, Mr. Weasley immediately activated the Invisibility Device, and the car soared into the sky.

"No matter how many times I've ridden it, I can't help but marvel at the wonder of magic," Mr. Granger exclaimed. "Thanks to our precious daughter's magical talent, otherwise I might never have experienced something so novel and interesting before I died."

The car flies very fast in the sky, so there's no need to find a highway or worry about traffic jams.

It took them about an hour to reach Grimmauld Place, Number 12.

Harry went up and knocked on the door.

The door opened, and it was Draco opened it for them.

"Hey, look who's here!" Draco said with a grin. "A visitor to Grimmauld Place, Number 12?"

Without saying a word, Ron shoved Draco aside.

"Booth boy, move aside," he said.

Draco was so angry that he reached out to kick Ron, but Ron dodged it and instead gave Draco a dirty look.

This really infuriated Draco.

"Looks like everyone's here." Harry looked over Draco's shoulder and saw the Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy sitting in the Living Room, chatting with Professor Snape.

Upon seeing the group arrive, Professor Snape merely lifted his eyelids—and when he saw Lupin, he could clearly make a humming motion.

After all these years, he still can't forget Lupin. I'm devastated.

"Oh, Professor Snape." Harry greeted Snape with a smile, then pulled Ron and Hermione to say hello as well.

Professor Snape nodded stiffly at the three of them, then gave Ron a focused look that made Ron feel uneasy.

"Weasley!" Professor Snape suddenly called on Ron.

"Here!" Ron immediately stood at attention.

"What color should the Shrinking Potion be?" Professor Snape asked.

"Acid Green, Professor," Ron replied quickly.

Professor Snape gave a barely perceptible twitch of his lips, indicating his satisfaction with Ron's performance on the surprise test.

"You've had a very hard time these past few days, Professor Snape," Mrs. Weasley said to Professor Snape.

Professor Snape spoke very slowly.

"Training a little Troll is indeed a difficult task, Lady."

Mrs. Weasley choked.

no?

The little Troll you're talking about, is that my son? It must be my son, right?

However, she wasn't angry. After all, back in their school days, professors were not only sharp-tongued, but they also physically punished students for no reason.

It's just a little Troll, that's nothing.

They sat down in the Living Room, and it was clear that Snape and the Malfoy family were on the same page, while the others were divided into separate groups, each chatting about their own things, clearly distinct.

Besides Harry, he sat with Cassandra and was being quite forward. Cassandra looked disgusted, but her body language betrayed her.

Sirius finally arrived quite late.

As he opened the door and entered the room, he said somewhat apologetically, "Excuse me, everyone—there's something going on at the Ministry of Magic ... Kritcher? Why haven't you turned over my mother's portrait yet?"

As he spoke, Sirius reached out and flipped over Walburga's portrait.

This revelation caused an uproar as Walburga angrily cursed, "It's been half a year already, and only now do you think to turn over your mother's portrait? What did I do to deserve giving birth to someone like you...?"

"I'm sorry, Mom," Sirius said somewhat apologetically. "The Ministry of Magic has been very busy lately. Oh, I haven't told you yet, have I? I'm Minister for Magic now."

"... only then could you give birth to such an outstanding son as you!" Walburga's expression changed drastically upon hearing Sirius's words.

Six months have passed since the last update? No problem! My son is the Minister for Magic! That's more exciting than anything else—oh right, his godson is a legendary wizard from a hundred years ago!

"I'll go greet the guests first, Mother," Sirius smiled apologetically at Walburga. "We have guests over today, and I need to entertain them."

"It's alright, my good son!" Walburga said loudly. "You're the Minister for Magic now, you can't be rude to guests... Kritcher! Get down here right now! Clean the house from top to bottom! And be quick!"

Sirius shrugged, left the Entrance hall, and went into the Living Room.

"Sorry everyone, I'm late," he said.

"Looks like Miss Black has finally decided to go back to her room, hasn't she?" Snape mocked mercilessly.

"Shut up, Snape." Snape forced the words back down Sirius. It used to be fine to say that nickname, but now he was the Minister and he couldn't afford to lose face.

Sirius.

Harry stood up and hugged his Godfather.

Then he asked, "Did you come back alone?"

Sirius was completely baffled by the question.

"Otherwise what?"

"Where's Miss Farley?" Harry asked with a mischievous grin. "I remember she was your girlfriend, wasn't she? Why didn't you bring her home?"

"Oh," Sirius patted his forehead, "They're still behind. Ms. Grindelwald and Gemma will be here soon."

"Miss Farley?"

Snape leaned back tactically, his sharp eyes fixed on Sirius.

"Which Phally? Is it Gemma Phally from the class of 1987?"

"Yeah," Sirius shrugged nonchalantly. "Speaking of which, she used to be a senior in Slytherin."

Snape tilted his head back in disgust.

"You and Lupin, you two really are good friends, equally shameless—look at you, almost forty years old, yet you're still making advances on eighteen or nineteen-year-old girls, you two are truly... birds of a feather."

"Well, at least it's better than some people still being single," Sirius retorted. "At least I won't lose my childhood sweetheart."

Snape's pupils contracted sharply.

That's really something... As the saying goes, you shouldn't hit someone in the face or expose their shortcomings when you insult them, Sirius has both hit someone in the face and exposed their shortcomings.

These words were just as damaging to Snape as ten Cruciatus Curse tied together.

Especially since his childhood sweetheart son was right next to him, and what was even more painful was that this son was born to his enemy.

It hurts, it hurts so much.

"Alright, alright," Mr. Weasley quickly stood up to smooth things over, sensing the awkward situation. "I think we should start our meal now, shouldn't we? Sirius, how's the dinner preparation for Kritcher going? Could you please go and check on it? We're all starving."

"Yeah, we're starving," the Twins chimed in, following the straight man's lead.

Snape Sirius used Mr. Weasley's words as an excuse to slip away, leaving Snape sitting there, casting his Sectumsempra upon him.

The atmosphere in the Living Room was a bit awkward. The Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy didn't know how to comfort Snape, and the others clearly didn't want to provoke him.

Draco, on the other hand, somewhat recklessly asked, "Uncle Sirius just said..."

He was only halfway through his sentence when Narcissa, quick-witted and agile, cut him off.

Langlock (physical).

Draco grunted twice, but realizing he couldn't break free from his mother's physical silence, he had no choice but to give up.

Lucius sat upright, his eyes fixed straight ahead, but inside he was overjoyed.

He had a fairly good relationship with Snape, so he was naturally aware of Snape's past with his childhood sweetheart, Lily Evans.

Oh right, she should be called Lily Potter now.

To be honest, Lucius didn't like Evans much when he was in school, especially since she was a Muggle-born.

But things are different now. The current Mrs. Potter is Harry Potter's mother, and she fully deserves the title of the greatest mother of this century.

In this eerie atmosphere, the door was opened again.

You could hear Walburga's loud voice from the Living Room.

"Welcome, esteemed Miss Grindelwald. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Then, Veratia's gentle voice came through.

"I'm very happy too, Mrs. Black."

Judging from her voice alone, Veratia doesn't sound like the queen type at all; you could say she's somewhat endearingly different.

A short while later, Veratia and Miss Farley walked into the Living Room together.

Almost instantly, she sensed the eerie atmosphere in the Living Room.

"What's wrong, everyone?" Veratia asked with a smile. "Why are you all sitting here without saying a word? Did something happen?"

Harry gave Veratia a sharp nod, signaling her to sit down and be quiet.

Veratia nodded as if she understood. She glanced at Cassandra, who was trying not to laugh, and sat down next to Harry, asking in a barely audible voice, "What happened?"

"I'll tell you tonight," Harry replied softly. "Let's not talk for now."

Can't we say it now?

Oh, that's definitely true.

Miss Farley searched the Living Room but couldn't find Sirius, so she asked, "Hey? Where's Sirius?"

"In the Kitchen," Ron replied quickly, as if he couldn't wait to catch his breath.

"Then I'll go to the Kitchen and help Sirius," Miss Farley volunteered, sensing that something was amiss.

Shortly after Miss Farley left, Sirius walked back to the Living Room with her.

"Dinner's ready, folks," he announced happily.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. As Draco stood up, his mother pinched him hard from behind.

He turned his head in confusion, only to be met with his mother's glare warning him to shut up.

Otherwise, you'll be sorry!

(End of this chapter)