A New Use for the Extraction Curse

Anduin took out his wand again and cast the Scouring Charm seven or eight times around the house. Then he used the Water-Making Spell to thoroughly rinse the room, leaving no corner untouched—not the walls or even the ceiling.

After directing the water that had washed the room out through the window, he cast a few Drying Charms inside. It took a while, but at last the room met his standards—more or less.

Just then, Sirius's voice came from downstairs. "Hey, I have to head out and meet up with a few friends. You can stay here, don't worry. I'll bring dinner back later. If you get too hungry to wait, there are a few Muggle restaurants nearby. There's an Italian Restaurant with pretty good pizza. Just be careful on your own, and don't let any Muggles nearby see you using magic."

After saying that, Sirius vanished from the spot with a whoosh.

"Meeting up with a few friends? He's probably off to a meeting with the Order of the Phoenix." Anduin thought it over, then let the matter drop and went back to cleaning. It took a while, but at last the room was up to his standards.

Anduin went downstairs and was once again appalled by the state of the house. He also noticed that Sirius had quite a few Muggle appliances: a fridge, a radio, electric lights, and even an oven. It was probably built into the house. Unfortunately, there was no television to watch.

After making a round of the living room, Anduin couldn't stand the mess any longer. He rolled up his sleeves, ready to give the whole house a thorough cleaning.

"If you can't even keep your home in order, how can you maintain your Combat Will?" Anduin grumbled about Sirius, then got to work.

First, Anduin went to the kitchen, turned on the tap, and waved his wand. The pots, plates, and bowls in the sink lined up in the air like soldiers, then one by one came to the tap to be rinsed clean under his direction. Next, they moved over to be wiped with a cloth. Once they were done, he washed them all again. After three rounds, he gave them one last going-over with the Cleaning Charm.

At the same time, Anduin rinsed every corner of the kitchen with the Clear Spring Spell and used the Cleaning Spell to remove stubborn stains. After a good while, the kitchen was finally clean and tidy.

Then Anduin went to the living room and repeatedly tried the Cleaning Spell and Clear Spring Spell on the oil and grime covering the sofa, but they had little effect. The dirt seemed to have become one with the fabric.

"So stubborn?" Anduin rubbed his chin, pondering. Suddenly, he came up with a brilliant idea.

He immediately pointed his wand at the sofa again, but this time he didn't use a Cleaning Spell. Instead, he used the Extraction Curse he had learned at Hogwarts. Applying a unique Casting Skill, he pulled the stubborn stains off the sofa in patches with the spell.

"I never thought that after learning this spell, the first thing I'd use it for would be cleaning." Anduin thought with a wry smile. The spell was almost too effective: once the grime had been extracted, the sofa looked as good as new.

After discovering a new use for the Extraction Curse, Anduin did the same to the first-floor carpet, tabletops, and floors. It worked even faster than the Cleaning Spell. Before long, he had cleaned every corner of the entire first floor and rearranged the furniture so it was no longer crooked.

After that, Anduin cleaned Sirius's fridge, threw away all the moldy, unidentifiable things inside, and went to a nearby Muggle supermarket to buy a fresh batch of groceries.

"Job done." Anduin looked at the gleaming living room, and felt his mood brighten too.

At around eight that evening, the Muggle street outside was empty of pedestrians. The houses were all lit up, and some had already been decked out with Christmas decorations. Carrying a pizza box, Sirius ambled toward home.

Sirius pushed the front door open with a bang, ready to walk inside as he always did. But then he seemed to get a fright and backed out of the house. He looked around outside, up and down, then muttered, "That's right, this is my house. So why don't I recognize the inside?"

As if he needed to make sure, he went in again. All the furniture, carpets, and curtains looked brand-new. The air was sweet with a pleasant scent, and even the lights seemed brighter. But none of that was the strangest part. Why was there a Christmas tree beside the living-room fireplace?

The tree was decorated with plenty of little ornaments depicting Lions, Snakes, eagles, and Badgers. A golden five-pointed star sat at the top. Sirius called out, sounding uncertain, "Anduin?"

A boy came out of the kitchen, with a pair of dark eyes and tousled black hair that fell past his ears. He wore an apron and carried a large platter of roast lamb chops. It was Anduin. Without a change of expression, he set the chops down on the clean, tidy dining table and said to Sirius as if nothing were out of the ordinary, "Oh, you're back. I've got good news: your oven still works, and it works pretty well."

Only then did Sirius feel completely certain this really was his house. He clutched his head with one hand and stared at Anduin in disbelief. "You—you did all this to my house? I was gone for just a few hours! How did it end up like this? And what's with the Christmas tree?"

Anduin looked at Sirius, a little confused. What was wrong with making his house clean? Still, he replied, "Nothing much. Your place looked a bit dirty, so I gave it a quick clean. As for the tree, I saw a man selling them while I was shopping at a nearby supermarket. I thought your place could use some Christmas spirit, so I bought one. I made the decorations on it with Transfiguration. Pretty good work, right?"

Sirius still felt as if he were living in a dream. He said helplessly, "You call this a quick clean? You practically renovated my whole house!"

"So, are you going to eat or not?" Anduin untied his apron and sat down at the table.

"Eat!"

Sirius could only answer through gritted teeth.

"Good, good. This tastes great. But I still have to ask—how did you make it?" Sirius asked, stuffing his mouth with lamb chops.

"It's simple. Crush some Pistachios into crumbs, then fry the lamb chops in butter with rosemary until golden. Coat them in the crumbs, then put them in the oven. I cooked these medium. If you want them rarer..."