What Black Gives Away, He Never Takes Back

Christmas gifts?

This time, it was Kyle's turn to be bewildered.

"What did you just say?" he asked instinctively.

"Is it hard to understand?" Sirius said with a laugh. "Didn't you find it strange yesterday? Why didn't you receive my Christmas present?"

"I received it," Kyle said. "Isn't it the Firebolt? It even helped me pass the First Task of the Triwizard Tournament."

"No, no, no, that was a gift for you becoming Champion."

Sirius said, "You don't actually think what I said in the Headmaster's Office was all a lie, do you? You're wrong. I really did prepare a gift that I can't send to Hogwarts..."

"Wait a minute," Kyle interrupted him. "Was this also left to you by your uncle?"

"No, this is the House of Black property," Sirius said, "But now it belongs to me too, and I can do whatever I want with it."

"Let's forget about it." Kyle waved his hand. "The Firebolt is valuable enough as a gift. Forget about the shop; I won't accept it."

Kyle didn't know exactly how much it would cost to buy a shop in Diagon Alley, but he was certain it would be no less than several thousand Galleon, and if the shop was large enough, it could even be ten thousand.

This gift is far too valuable; Kyle finds it hard to accept it without feeling comfortable.

"That won't do," Sirius said solemnly. "You've helped me so many times, I..."

"Stop, it was Professor Dumbledore who helped you."

Kyle said, "Whether it was defending you at the Ministry of Magic or retrieving Regulus from the cave, he was always the one who did the most work; I was just watching from the sidelines."

"You're wrong." Sirius shook his head.

Seemingly tired of standing, he pulled Kyle to Florean Fortescue's Ice Cream Parlour, ordered two hazelnut and peanut ice creams, and sat down at a small table by the shop entrance.

"Or perhaps you're underestimating your role in this," Sirius said, handing one of the ice creams to Kyle.

"Let's talk about my situation first. Actually, I was already prepared to flee, but you changed things."

"With Peter Pettigrew, you'll always be able to clear your name," Kyle said.

"That's the most interesting part."

Sirius looked at the crowds coming and going on the street and said, "I spoke with Professor Dumbledore once, and he told me that even with Peter Pettigrew, even with all the evidence laid out in the open, Fudge would have a hard time getting justice for me."

"This is a scandal for the Ministry of Magic. He might even kill Peter to save face."

"But Fudge didn't do that," Kyle said.

"That's because you said something that made Fudge understand that he could extricate himself from this matter," Sirius said solemnly. "Remember what you said back then, 'If you were the minister at the time, this mistake would never have happened'? It was that sentence that made Fudge's attitude change instantly."

"Professor Dumbledore also said that neither he nor I could have ever thought of this, and I completely agree with that."

In other words, you've paved the way, and all we need to do is walk along it.

Sirius took a big bite of ice cream, smacked his lips, and continued, "And Regulus..."

"You found Slytherin's Locket, and that's when we heard about his past from Kreacher."

"If you hadn't found that Slytherin's Locket back then, I probably would have thrown it away as trash, and naturally none of this would have happened. You know, Kreacher and I had a very bad relationship back then."

"Oh, and even at the cliff, it was you who called Dumbledore. I remember you even used a precious Phoenix Feather... That's something that can save your life; it's worth more than two shops."

"Um...you might not know this," Kyle explained, "I'm on good terms with Fawkes, and he gave me another one yesterday for Christmas."

However, Sirius acted as if he hadn't heard.

"Take it," he said to himself. "Because of you, I can stand in the sunlight, Regulus can go home... I don't know how to express my gratitude to you, and this is the best way Lupin and I could think of."

"There's really no need," Kyle said. "Besides, Harry and I are friends. It's just a small favor to help a friend. You should leave the shop to him."

"This belongs to the House of Black, not mine." Sirius shook his head. "I would never use it, but giving it to you is no problem..."

"After all, Regulus was my parents' favorite child, so I should express my gratitude on their behalf."

That's what they say, but Kyle still felt it was a bit of an exaggeration. This pie that fell from the sky was too big, and it made him a little dizzy.

Furthermore, Kyle never considered opening a shop in Diagon Alley after graduation.

However, Sirius seemed to have already made up his mind.

"This is the shop's magical contract, and it's yours now." He took out a piece of parchment and slammed it on the table. "If you don't want it, just throw it away. I'm not taking it back anyway."

"Just like my uncle once told me, there's never a precedent for Black taking back what he's given away."

"Weren't you kicked out of the house by Black?" Kyle said quietly.

Sirius had barely begun to put on airs of being Pure-blood families, and before he could even show off, he was instantly brought back to reality.

He looked somewhat exasperated.

"No matter what, I can represent the House of Black."

Kyle shook his head, picked up the parchment on the table, and examined it.

There is only one address listed: 31 Diagon Alley.

Below is a complex magic rune; just by holding it in his hand, Kyle could vaguely sense the location of the shop.

"Take it back first. We can talk about the shop after I graduate."

Kyle handed the parchment back, but Sirius ignored it and refused to accept it.

Just as the two were locked in a stalemate, Kyle inadvertently caught a glimpse of the Daily Prophet in a passerby's hand.

On the cover, a large photograph immediately caught his attention.

Kyle got up and went over. "Hello, may I take a look at this newspaper?"

The wizard was startled by Kyle's sudden appearance, but after regaining his composure, he handed over the newspaper. "Oh, okay, here you go. I've already finished reading it."

"Thank you." Kyle took the newspaper.

"What's wrong?" Sirius, coming closer.

Kyle didn't say anything.

He opened the newspaper, quickly read the article on the front page, then pointed to a passage and frowned, saying, "Hagrid might be in trouble."

Sirius instinctively looked over.

"We can exclusively reveal that Professor Hagrid's mother is none other than the Giant Fridwulfa, whose whereabouts are currently unknown."

Giant are inherently bloodthirsty and cruel; we don't know if he inherited this trait, and whether Hogwarts headmaster Dumbledore informed the students and their parents of this."

"Wait a minute!" Sirius exclaimed in surprise, "Could Hagrid be a Half-blood- Giant?"

"That's for sure; normal wizards don't grow to more than three meters tall," Kyle said. "But the problem is, guessing and being pointed out are two different things. Hagrid's behavior at Hogwarts is completely unrelated to bloodthirsty cruelty; in fact, quite a few people like him. But now..."

After hearing Kyle's explanation, Sirius realized the seriousness of the situation.

Because he has a perfect example right next to him: Lupin.

For a whole year, he was one of Hogwarts' most popular professors, but when his Werewolf identity was revealed... even though the school year went by peacefully, he still had to resign and leave.

This stems from people's fear of Werewolf, a fear that cannot be changed.

As for the Half-blood- Giant... to be honest, while this identity isn't as terrifying as Werewolf, it's still pretty bad.

All wizards know that the Giant once served under the You-Know-Who and are synonymous with brutality.

"So what do we do now?" he asked.

"I don't know." Kyle shoved the newspaper haphazardly into his robe pocket. "Let's go back to Hogwarts and ask Hagrid."

"Good!"

Sirius immediately stood up and led Kyle quickly toward the Leaky Cauldron.