The Portkey Sirius used had been issued by the International Quidditch League and was entirely aboveboard.
Dumbledore's, however, was another matter.
Dumbledore might have seemed quiet and law-abiding, spending all his time at Hogwarts, but as far as Tris was concerned, he never took laws or rules to heart.
Now was a perfect example.
The Portkey brought Tris and the others to a shabby little house beside a valley.
Sirius and Remus were already waiting there.
Harry asked Dumbledore where they were. His answer was simple, yet startling. "The Gaunt family's last residence. In a sense, it was Voldemort's home."
"Vol... his home?" Harry instinctively started to say Voldemort, then just as instinctively swallowed the rest.
Ron was more concerned with the dilapidated house before them, which would have been pitifully small even in good repair. "The Gaunt family's... honestly, I can hardly call this thing a residence."
The Burrow was already quite small, but at least it had several floors and a little yard. From outside, it looked peculiar or comical, perhaps a little crude.
This house, however, was truly as shabby as they came.
The Gaunt family was one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight Families, after all. How could their home look like this?
"The Gaunt family had several generations of wastrels in a row. They were lucky to have a roof over their heads. In fact, without magic, the last few generations might have starved to death." Sirius spread his hands. "By the way, I heard the last descendant of the Gaunt family died in Azkaban. What did he have to do with Voldemort?"
Neither Sirius nor Remus had any qualms about saying Voldemort's name. They had not feared it before his downfall, let alone now.
"The Gaunt family's last male member was the older brother of Voldemort's