Before Harry could deny it, Herman grabbed her hand, his face full of sincerity, and said with apparent heartfelt earnestness, "Uncle, heaven and earth can bear witness to my feelings for Harry. They're completely sincere. Please give us your blessing to be together! Thank you so much!" As he spoke, Herman made to bow ninety degrees.
At those words, Harry froze, even forgetting to keep a firm grip on her wand. Sirius was equally stunned. He had only meant to make a joke, but this boy had actually seized the opportunity to push his luck.
Seeing this, Herman hurried to strike while the iron was hot. "Since you aren't saying anything, Uncle, I'll take that as your agreement. Now that we're all family, rest assured that I won't tell anyone I saw you today. I promise to keep my lips sealed."
At this point, Sirius finally understood. The boy was afraid he would kill him to silence him. He had probably read too many newspapers and genuinely believed Sirius killed every wizard he saw.
In truth, he had killed far fewer wizards than Voldemort.
"All right, little fellow, enough joking. Harry has mentioned you to me. Your surname is Horace, and you don't come from a pure-blood family, correct?" Sirius dropped his joking expression and asked seriously.
"Yes." Herman nodded. It seemed Sirius was much as the original story had described him, or at least not as deranged as the newspapers made him out to be.
Sirius nodded too and said, "First, I owe you an apology. This prank of Harry's has dragged you into things. Although you're a child and a Hogwarts student, so the Ministry of Magic won't do anything to you, they'll certainly question you a few times. That'll be quite a nuisance."
"It's all right. I've already prepared myself. Harry said earlier that the Aurors probably have my file laid out on a conference table to study by now." Herman shrugged, his tone carrying a helplessness that made him sound as though he had accepted his fate.
Seeing how calmly Herman took it, Sirius couldn't help finding it amusing. "Not bad, Harry. This friend you've found is quite interesting."
Harry curled her lip and said disdainfully, "He's just someone I hired to run errands."
"All right, enough about that. Time is short. We need to get moving. Little fellow, since we're practically family now, come with us. Leaving you here alone would be rather irresponsible." With that, Sirius pulled his hood back on and led the way.
Harry naturally followed close behind. Feeling the ill-intentioned gazes coming from the surrounding shops, Herman didn't hesitate for a moment. Pushing Harry's little trolley, he hurried after them.
The farther they went, the more familiar the route seemed to Herman. Only when they reached the shop with the enormous window full of horrifying exhibits did he realize they had actually returned to Borgin and Burkes.
They entered the shop, and the bell above the door rang out with a clear jingle. Borgin slowly emerged from behind the counter, greeting them warmly as he walked. "Esteemed customers, is there anything you wish to purchase, or do you have something to sell? Borgin and Burkes is certainly your best choice."
Sirius didn't remove his hood immediately. Hidden beneath his robes, his hand gave Harry a small wave.
Harry understood at once. Pretending to browse casually, she moved inconspicuously around the shop, gradually edging behind Borgin.
Borgin noticed nothing amiss. Thinking the customer hadn't heard him clearly, he slowly approached Sirius, preparing to ask again.
Just then, Sirius slowly raised his hands and removed his hood. The instant Borgin saw Sirius's face, his legs became remarkably nimble. He turned and took to his heels. The Daily Prophet's publicity really did seem to have worked wonders.
But before Borgin had taken two steps, Harry, who was already waiting behind him, swiftly waved her wand and cried, "Impedimenta!"
An invisible force instantly tripped Borgin, sending him crashing to the floor. Seeing this, Sirius waved his wand too. A rope shot from its tip and hoisted Borgin upside down.
"Hello, long time no see, Mr. Borgin," Sirius said, waving his wand, which was spouting blue flames, back and forth beside Borgin's face.
Borgin immediately shouted in panic, "Mr. Black, Mr. Black, I never followed You-Know-Who! I'm a half-blood too, not a pure-blood! I have proof. My... my grandmother was a Squib!"
The flame at the tip of Sirius's wand vanished instantly. He lightly patted Borgin's aged face with his wand and drawled, "Don't be afraid. You know perfectly well that I'm only taking revenge, and you aren't on my revenge list. So I simply have a few questions I'd like you to answer. Of course, if you don't know the answers, I'm not too sure what will happen to you. After all, I'm a wizard killer. Using a few Unforgivable Curses or the like would be perfectly normal."
"I know, I know! I'm sure I know! What would you like to ask?" Borgin hurriedly answered in terror. Sirius glanced at Herman and Harry. Herman understood immediately and walked away, pretending to examine the shop's merchandise as though nothing had happened.
Only after several looks from Sirius did Harry reluctantly edge away, one step at a time. Once the two had left, Sirius turned to the upside-down Borgin and said, "I found out that a group of Dark wizards and dark creatures recently smuggled themselves into the country from abroad..."
"No, I can't tell you!" "Aaargh!"
A while later, after two successive screams from Borgin, Sirius's voice reached them. "All right, Harry, Herman, it's time we left."
When Herman and Harry came over, they found Borgin bruised and battered, though still reasonably clearheaded.
It looked as though, while Sirius hadn't used any Unforgivable Curses, he certainly hadn't held back on the hexes. It was rather pitiful, too, considering how old Mr. Borgin was.
"Thank you, Borgin. Although the information you provided differs somewhat from what I wanted to know, I should still express my gratitude."
Sirius thanked Borgin very politely. It would have seemed more sincere if he had let Borgin down.
With that, Sirius pulled on his hood and was just about to leave when, looking at the roomful of Dark Magic items, he suddenly seemed to remember something:
"Right, Harry, I haven't bought you a start-of-term present yet." Harry waved her hand and said, "There's no need. The statue I took from the vault counts as a present."
Sirius shook his head and said, "I don't want anything belonging to the Black family. Since I've already given you the vault, how could anything inside count as a present? Come on, choose something you like from the shop. I suppose I'm probably the first person to buy a school present here. Herman, pick something too. Don't be shy."
At Sirius's words, Borgin's expression grew even uglier. He had just been tortured for information, and now they were going to take things from his shop as well. Fortunately, Sirius promptly added, "Don't worry, Borgin. I'll pay. Consider it your reward for giving me information, even if it wasn't quite what I expected."
Herman was still a little hesitant, feeling rather embarrassed. Harry, however, knew Sirius's personality very well and started choosing straight away. Before long, she had picked a shriveled human hand-the Hand of Glory.
Looking at Harry's choice, Sirius nodded in satisfaction. "Not bad. That goes quite well with James's cloak."
With that, he turned his gaze to Herman. Herman made a circuit of the shop before finally picking up a deck of playing cards stained with black blood, handling it carefully. It was one of the items in the shop from which Herman sensed relatively little malice.
But Herman didn't rush to decide. First, he found Borgin and politely asked, "Sir, what does this deck of playing cards do?"