Sirius spread his hands, pulled over a reasonably sturdy wooden chair, and eyed the Black family crest carved into it with disgust.
He plopped down on it.
"All right, all right. I'll wait here, clean up the entrance hall, and see if I can figure out how to get my mother's portrait off the wall."
Kreacher did not dare insult Black directly. He shuffled out of the room, sniffling softly and cursing Sirius under his breath with words they had never heard before.
The Four Little Ones had already dashed up to the top floor. They planned to start cleaning there.
The Black family's ancestral home was enormous. It seemed to have an Undetectable Extension Charm on it, too, making the five-story building feel like a labyrinthine castle.
Before long, the four came running back down. Ron spoke with the air of someone with considerable experience.
"There are loads of Doxies hiding in all the velvet curtains. We'll need a lot of Doxycide."
That was something they had overlooked. Magic was considerably less effective on living things than on inanimate objects.
Malfoy folded his arms and offered a highly uncharacteristic compliment. "Weasley, you seem to have quite a talent for housework. Unlike me-I can't do any of it."
"Really? Oh, not really. I just watched Mum doing chores a lot and picked things up," Ron said, looking rather embarrassed.
Beside him, Harry and Hermione had already covered their faces, unable to watch. That wasn't a compliment, Ron!
After a bit of bickering, a suggestion from Black led Zhang Xiao to discover that there were actually shops specifically for house-elves. They did not need to bring money; purchases were charged to an account.
Whenever a master needed something, they sent their house-elf to buy it. The cost was charged to the