A Place to Stay

If this house-elf hadn't been summoned by Dumbledore at Canopus's request, he would have immediately channeled magic through his body and sent it flying with a kick.

The house-elf was called Kreacher. Even by house-elf standards, he was a textbook eyesore. Add to that his bullfrog-like hoarse voice and his deranged mental state...

God, who said anyone liked him? They must have been blind.

Yet this sort of fellow was indeed the Black Family's most loyal servant, as well as its last remaining direct member.

"Master, you've finally returned!"

Kreacher clung tightly to Canopus's calf, his body trembling as though electrocuted. He seemed to have mistaken Canopus for Regulus.

"Kreacher, calm down." Seeing tears and snot running down Kreacher's wrinkled face, Canopus hurriedly spoke up.

"I'm not Regulus. Whatever you have to say can wait until after the bloodline test."

Kreacher muttered under his breath as he somehow produced a small object resembling a compact case.

The little box was made of sandalwood and carried a faint fragrance. Its exterior was inlaid with silver threads and emeralds, and when opened, it revealed an inscription inside.

"The Most Ancient and Noble House of Black shall always be pure."

Canopus pressed his index finger against the engraving and felt a light bite.

Bright red blood seeped into the dark-red grooves, which immediately flared with dazzling light. The Black Family crest also appeared on the inside of the lid.

At the same time, the family tree hanging on the wall of the Black ancestral home at 12 Grimmauld Place changed as well.

Beneath Regulus Black, the name Canopus Black appeared, connected to his by a golden line.

Kreacher let out an ecstatic howl. "The young master's son! Still pure-blooded, just as expected! How noble, how glorious!"

He frantically kissed the tips of Canopus's shoes, tears streaming endlessly from his tennis-ball-sized eyes.

"Stop, Kreacher."

Canopus endured the discomfort and waited for a while. But Kreacher showed no sign of stopping, so Canopus had no choice but to order him to stay still.

"Young master, let us go home. Don't suffer humiliation in this stinking tavern filled with lowborn people."

Kreacher looked up at Canopus eagerly, but Canopus shook his head.

"Kreacher, everyone is the same kind of person. Whatever you may think in your heart, at the very least, I don't want to hear you discussing other people's bloodlines in front of me."

Kreacher nodded with difficulty.

"And besides, I don't want to go home for the time being."

12 Grimmauld Place was the Black Family's ancestral home, but the previous generation's last male heir, Sirius Black, had been disowned by the family and locked in Azkaban for many years. Kreacher was mad and muddle-headed, and he had long since stopped cleaning the rooms.

The Black ancestral home had now become a paradise for harmful magical creatures such as doxies, not to mention the countless traps the old Black matriarch had set up before her death.

To Canopus, that house was not a warm home, but a dungeon that needed a whole party of burly men to clear.

At the very least, he would wait another two years, until his strength had fully taken shape. Only then would he consider returning with Sirius and thoroughly cleaning out the old house.

Kreacher found the young master's decision difficult to understand, but a house-elf had no right to object.

He could only blame it all on Dumbledore, that "Mudblood protector and doddering old fool who opposed the Dark Lord."

Dumbledore acted as though he had not heard Kreacher's quiet curses. Canopus covered his face, resolving to properly teach Kreacher some manners in the future.

"Oh, right, Headmaster." Canopus suddenly changed the subject. "I'm planning to buy a house near where Harry lives."

Dumbledore's blue eyes immediately fixed on Canopus.

"There is more to Sirius's case, but I have no evidence yet."

"Still, I thought that looking after Harry could count as fulfilling a little of the responsibility his unworthy godfather failed to shoulder."

Canopus's words plunged Dumbledore into thought. That day, Merlin had found him in a dream and told him that a child who possessed the whole truth would soon come into the mortal world.

From what he had seen over the past few days, the boy carried the inheritance of the ancient Druids and bore traces of training by a great knight.

He was very mature in how he dealt with others, yet he also possessed a heartfelt kindness toward everyone.

With Merlin's endorsement, Dumbledore was willing to trust Canopus's position. After a brief silence, he decided to take the risk and let him come into contact with Harry.

"However, don't tell him about the existence of magic before term begins." Though Dumbledore nodded, he also set a condition.

"I understand, Headmaster."

In the original story, once Harry entered Hogwarts, he no longer cared much about the abuse his aunt's family inflicted on him during the holidays.

He had inflated Aunt Marge because she insulted his mother. Other than that, he had never harmed his aunt's family merely because they confined him or insulted him.

On one hand, his mindset had changed; once he was grown, he could simply cut ties with them for good. On the other, his aunt's family no longer dared bully him as they had when he was younger—such as setting a dog on him or shoving his head into the toilet.

But what if he learned of magic's existence in advance?

Perhaps the next time Dudley found someone at school to beat him up, Harry's uncontrolled magic would blow that person into a mass of mangled flesh.

"Don't worry, Headmaster. No one in the magical world understands ordinary people better than I do." Canopus smiled. "I'll make that wicked family never dare bully Harry again, in a perfectly reasonable way."

Canopus disliked the word Muggle, just as he disliked the notions of Mudbloods and pure-bloods. Such terms, which inherently divided people into ranks, only disgusted him.

After Dumbledore took his leave, Kreacher returned home to fetch the vault key, and Canopus went to Gringotts with him once more.

When the Black Family's ancestral vault opened, the mountains of gold and silver coins were no longer the main attraction.

A great many wicked Dark magic items were displayed on the vault shelves, giving off black smoke of varying thickness.

Some were skulls, some were poisoned daggers, and Carno even saw a mummy tightly bound by several silver chains.

The intense aura of Dark magic made him start gagging. He quickly grabbed the coins and fled the underground vault as if running for his life.

"Kreacher, take the money and go to Privet Drive in Little Whinging, Surrey, and buy a house with a yard. Remember, use normal procedures."

"Once you've bought the house, just set up a few warding spells. Don't use Muggle-Repelling Charms or anything like that. I don't want to create a haunted house."

After repeatedly warning Kreacher not to place any magical items in the house or put some stuffed giant snake in the entrance hall, Kreacher snapped his fingers and vanished.

Lying on the soft bed in a guest room at the Leaky Cauldron, Carno thought this before falling asleep.

Harry's disgusting aunt and her family, your wonderful new neighbor is here!