To celebrate the kids’ graduation from Hogwarts, Mrs. Weasley had prepared a grand dinner.
She invited quite a few people—Sirius, of course, as well as Cedric, who lived on the other side of the village, and the Lovegood family.
Even Hermione’s family arrived before dinner began.
Her father, Mr. Granger, drove into St. Catchpole Village, filled with curiosity. Although he had visited Diagon Alley and King’s Cross Station—both famous landmarks of the wizarding world—this was his first ti in a village where wizards actually lived.
But when he saw The Burrow—with its crooked, patchwork architecture that looked like a pile of bricks held together by chance—Mr. Granger froze on the spot.
He blinked in confusion and turned to Mr. Weasley, who was admiring his car.
"I heard there are non-wizards living here too. Don’t they ever think this place is... strange?"
As he spoke, his eyes instinctively drifted to another house not far off.
From his current angle, that house looked perfectly normal.
No lopsided attic stuck on like glue, no bizarrely shaped roof—it was so ordinary it didn’t even seem like a wizarding ho.
"Don’t worry, wizard dwellings all have Muggle-Repelling Charms. They can’t see any of this," said Mr. Weasley without turning around. "Oh, this car’s fantastic! Can it fly?"
Mr. Granger hadn’t yet recovered from one shock when he was hit with another.
It was a car, not a plane—how could it possibly fly?
"I used to have one that could fly, actually. Sadly, it got abandoned in the Forbidden Forest at Hogwarts."
That statent made Mr. Granger’s mind briefly freeze, but then he rembered—Hermione had told him about that. One of her classmates had missed the train and flown a car to Hogwarts.
That had been years ago.
While the adults were chatting, Hermione had already run off to find Ginny.
The Burrow had never been so lively. Nearly twenty wizards and one Muggle made even the garden feel a bit crowded.
But no one seed to mind. Everyone was in high spirits—especially Mr. Granger. If The Burrow had had more space, he might have stayed the night.
After dinner, everyone drifted apart in the garden.
Mr. Weasley watched wistfully as the car drove away. Harry left The Burrow with Sirius, returning to 12 Grimmauld Place.
Kyle lived right next door—his house was the closest.
He’d been waiting for Sirius to co over and ask for Snape’s address, but days passed with no sign of him.
Instead, it was Snape who showed up one day, seeking out Sirius as he was preparing to open a shop in Diagon Alley.
When Lupin sent word, Kyle didn’t hesitate. He imdiately rushed to Grimmauld Place.
Even though Voldemort was dead, the protective enchantnts were still active, so Kyle had to Apparate to a nearby abandoned phone booth first.
By the ti he stepped out, several familiar faces had already gathered nearby.
Mr. Weasley, Lupin, Tonks, Fred, George...
Even his father, Chris, was there, speaking with Mr. Weasley.
"What’s going on?" Kyle hurried over. "Why are you all out here? Don’t tell they’re fighting inside?"
"No idea," Fred said, frowning. "Soone locked the door, and none of us can get in. We’re just stuck waiting."
"It’s Sirius..."
Everyone turned to look at Lupin.
"You an Sirius locked the door himself to keep Snape from escaping?" Fred asked, sounding way too excited.
George pressed his face against the window next to the door, trying to catch a glimpse inside. He squished his face so much his features almost blurred—but still, he saw nothing.
"I’m not sure if that’s what he ant to do..." Lupin sighed. "I offered to stay, but Sirius turned away."
"They’re not seriously fighting in there, are they..." Fred suddenly looked up.
"Why do you think that?"
"Well, look," he said, seriously analyzing the situation, "Remus wasn’t allowed to stay because Snape isn’t a Death Eater anymore. If Sirius kills him, the Aurors are definitely going to show up..."
At that, he suddenly glanced at Tonks and Kingsley, who had just arrived.
Co to think of it, they were both Aurors—and one of them was the Head of the Auror Office.
That was convenient. The mont the fight ended, the Aurors could arrest soone on the spot. No waiting needed.
Kingsley looked conflicted.
Fred wasn’t wrong—Snape was no longer a Death Eater. Killing him now would absolutely violate wizarding law.
What made it worse was that Snape was also a mber of the Order of the Phoenix. He’d passed along crucial intel, making him a hero operating in the shadows... well, half a hero.
Sirius was also a mber of the Order.
If they really were fighting, who was he supposed to help?
Or should he help neither?
Kingsley stood there, visibly torn.
Tonks, however, had no such doubts. She was family to the Blacks, and with both Lupin and Sirius being her closest friends, she didn’t care if Snape was in the Order too.
She would always stand firmly with Sirius.
She had already started thinking about how to casually stall Kingsley later, just long enough to give Sirius a chance to slip away.
Kyle was thinking too—but his thoughts ran opposite to Tonks’s. He was wondering whether Snape being arrested would affect Kanna.
It probably wouldn’t. After all, Kanna hadn’t co here today.
Besides, if Snape had chosen to co voluntarily, he couldn’t be stupid enough to actually kill Sirius here. Even if things got heated, he’d most likely try to escape rather than fight to the death.
"Wait a minute—you’re not actually buying into his nonsense, are you..." Seeing both Kingsley and Tonks deep in thought, Lupin quickly spoke up, "I think Sirius just wants to talk to Snape...
"Honestly, if he really ant to fight him, he wouldn’t have left Harry in there too, would he?"
Only then did everyone realize—Harry was still inside the house.
"Why didn’t you say so earlier..."
Fred and George looked visibly disappointed, while Kingsley exhaled in quiet relief.
"Sorry, I only just realized it myself," Lupin said, tugging at the corner of his mouth.
"So... are we staying out here, or heading back to the Ministry? I doubt it takes this many people," he added.
"Forget it, we’re already here. Might as well wait it out," Kyle said first.
He’d had a blissfully quiet few days—not worrying about Voldemort jumping out at him with a wand, no classes, the dragons were Hagrid’s responsibility, the Horcrux work was entirely in Rosier’s hands... he was completely free.
Lately, Kyle had been spending most of his ti at ho on another project, occasionally wandering to Diagon Alley to unwind.
As a side note, during the peak of the Death Eaters’ activity, his shop had briefly shut down.
But it was back open now. Dobby had finished his part-ti stint and returned to Newt, and the new shop assistant was a House-elf Kyle had recruited from the Hogwarts kitchens.
Normally, House-elves were fiercely loyal and wouldn’t leave the families they served—it would feel like betrayal. But thanks to Kyle’s position as a Hogwarts professor, the elves had agreed without hesitation.
Hermione had been particularly interested when this ca up last night.
After graduation, she’d restarted her work with the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare, but with a new focus this ti.
She no longer insisted House-elves be paid in Sickles or Galleons. Instead, she’d written an article encouraging wizards to treat elves with kindness and respect.
Now, "paynt" ant better food and useful tools.
The article had only been published in The Quibbler, but she’d already received several letters in response.
Half were full of criticism—but the other half supported her views.
That gave Hermione a huge boost of confidence. At least now she had allies—unlike back at Hogwarts, where it seed everyone had been against her.
Kyle blinked, setting the thought aside.
After a short discussion, the group decided to keep waiting outside, ears tuned for any sound from inside. So even drew their wands, ready to break in at the first sign of trouble.
But it remained utterly silent inside. Even the Weasley twins’ pride and joy—their Extendable Ears—picked up nothing.
No one knew how much ti passed before—
Bang!
The door swung open from the inside.
George, who had been leaning against it to listen in, lost his balance and stumbled straight into Snape’s chest.
For a mont, even the air seed to freeze.
Then ca a tense silence—until George recovered first. Before Snape’s arm could lash out, he ducked and bent sideways, casually scooping sothing ear-shaped from the floor as if nothing had happened.
At the sa ti, he neatly dodged Snape’s sweeping cloak and arm.
"Oh, here it is. No wonder I couldn’t find it. I’d better go check if it’s broken..." He muttered sothing unintelligible, turned, and hurried off, quickly disappearing down the corridor.
Snape’s face darkened.
But seeing the people still gathered outside, he said nothing. With a cold snort, he vanished on the spot.
"Apparating in front of so many people, in plain sight of Muggles?" Tonks never liked Snape—still didn’t.
She deliberately raised her voice so Kingsley would hear every word.
Kingsley did hear—but chose to ignore it.
It was just Apparition. Even if a Muggle had seen it, the Accidental Magic Reversal Squad could handle it in seconds.
Besides, there were no Muggles left on this street.
Worried they might co to blows, Kingsley had already evacuated the surrounding Muggles twenty minutes earlier and placed Muggle-Repelling Charms around the area.
More than a decade ago, Sirius and Peter Pettigrew had blown up an entire Muggle street during a chase.
He wasn’t about to let sothing like that happen again.
Ironically, it made things easier for Snape—no Muggle saw him Apparate.
Tonks grumbled under her breath, muttering complaints about soone abusing authority and neglecting duty.
Kingsley kept pretending not to hear.
"You guys..." Sirius stood in the doorway, looking at the crowd outside. For a mont, he was at a loss for words. After a pause, he stamred, "I didn’t expect... Well, co in and have a seat."
"No thanks," Kingsley shook his head. "I’ve got other things to do. Maybe next ti."
With that, he Apparated away—along with Tonks, and Mr. Weasley and Chris, who still had work to finish.
They had all rushed over after getting the news, and now that everything seed fine, it was only natural for them to return to their duties.
Kyle, however, stayed. He happened to have sothing to discuss with Sirius.
The two entered the house, and sure enough, Harry was there.
Whatever he and Snape had talked about, Harry was now sitting on a chair in the hall, completely dazed, not even noticing anyone else had arrived.
"He... um..." Sirius looked at Kyle, wanting to explain but clearly hesitant.
"It’s fine. No need to explain—I can guess," Kyle said.
Snape coming to see Sirius... no, more likely, he’d co to see Harry. It had to be about Lily Evans.
As for what exactly they discussed, Kyle neither knew nor cared.
Fred and George had also stayed behind, doing things their own way to snap Harry out of it. George lit a Weasley Whizbang and slipped it into Harry’s shoe.
A few seconds later, twin jets of fla shot from under Harry’s feet, launching him into the air like a rocket.
In an instant, he was no longer dazed—he was shrieking and bouncing off walls in a wild frenzy.
"Sorry, Sirius," Fred said cheerfully. "We just thought Harry needed a little cheering up."
"And don’t worry," he added, "Weasley Wizard Wheezes are thoroughly tested and completely safe..."
He didn’t get to finish—Harry drifted midair and crashed headfirst into a moth-eaten velvet curtain.
"Filth! Scum of the Black line...!"
Mrs. Black’s portrait began to scream, her voice echoing throughout the house.
"Uh... occasional side effects," George said sheepishly. "But Harry’ll be fine."
"All right." Sirius rubbed his forehead, tacitly approving their efforts.
Truthfully, he also wanted Harry to get his mind off things.
And looking at it now—Fred and George’s thod, while a bit reckless, was actually effective in its own chaotic way. Let them be.
Afterward, he took Kyle down to the basent.
"I got your letter last night," Sirius said as they walked. "You asked to help find books on soul-related magic. I haven’t had ti to search—Snape showed up at the worst possible mont."
"No worries. As long as you’re okay with accessing the Black family’s private library," Kyle said.
"Of course! Go right ahead—you can even take the whole lot if you want," Sirius said without hesitation. "But, uh, what do you need soul magic for? No judgnt, but most of it is dark magic. You’re better off staying away from that stuff."
"It’s nothing," Kyle said. "I just want to try making a Horcrux."
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