Vid turned around and saw Sirius, almost thinking he mistook someone else.
He looked as if he had just come out of Azkaban, with a scruffy beard, and long hair tangled in strands. His eyes seemed sunk in a valley's well, dark and devoid of light, making him appear more ghostly.
Behind him was an ancient building.
The intricately carved door was now tattered and covered in scratches. The walls were dirty and dilapidated, with moss and vines crawling over the stones.
Weeds grew rampant in the yard, barely clearing a narrow path for passage. A garden goblin with a pointed hat was peeking through the grass, seemingly sizing up these strangers.
"Hey, Sirius." Lupin deliberately said in a relaxed tone, "How are the kids doing?"
"They're okay."
Sirius said expressionlessly. He nodded politely to the two and then moved the coffin into the door.
"Has he been like this lately?"
Until Sirius was out of sight, Vid lowered his voice to ask.
"Yeah."
Lupin sighed and said, "I hope after the funeral, he'll recover."
The two walked up the crumbling stone steps, and behind them, the silly goblin suddenly floated up, spun around in the air for a dozen times, and then flew out with a "whoosh" sound.
Lupin saw Vid glance back and said, "Once you spin the goblin dizzy and throw it out, it can't find its goblin hole. Only then can you drive it away. These guys love destroying the roots of plants and always make a mess of the garden."
"I know, I've read about garden goblins in books. But..."
Vid gave Lupin a speechless look and asked, "Remus, what exactly do you think of me? Are you worried I'd have pity for the goblin?"
Lupin was taken aback, then laughed softly, "Sorry, I guess my mind's a bit muddled lately."
The two crossed the threshold and entered.
The old Black house had something eerily similar to the Slytherin Common Room. The entire building felt like a dim crypt, with small windows dirty and covered in cobwebs, completely shutting out the sunlight.
This made the indoor lighting extremely poor; even during the day, the old-style gas lamps hanging on the walls were always lit.
Vid believed this must have been Lupin's doing, because Sirius looked like he wanted to bury himself and wouldn't care about the lighting.
Once, this house must have been very magnificent, with exquisite wallpaper on the walls, remnants of the carpet's luxurious patterns, and the chandeliers twisting and coiling, faintly shimmering with a golden hue.
But now, the wallpaper was peeling, the carpet stained, the chandeliers hung with cobwebs, and the entire house emitted a decayed smell.
Sirius was carrying the coffin upstairs, seemingly intending to temporarily place Regulus in his former bedroom.
Michael and the others, who had originally heard the movement and were about to come downstairs, were stunned when they saw the coffin, standing closely against the wall, not daring to make a sound.
Ginny, who was coming down, screamed at the sight of the coffin.
"Ah, I'm sorry."
Sirius now seemed to realize his actions were inappropriate and politely said, "Don't be scared, it won't bite."
However, as he spoke, two long velvet curtains suddenly drew apart, as if pulled forcefully, followed by a terrifying, shrill scream—
"Brat! Scoundrel! Family disgrace! The bane of my womb! How dare you come back? Why don't you go die! Get out of here, mongrel! Werewolf! Mudblood! Filth! Get out of my house!!"
In the life-sized portrait, an old lady with a black hat and sallow skin was shrieking insults.
Immediately, all the portraits in the hall were awakened, emitting deafening screams.
The young wizards seemed to have their souls flying away as they hurriedly covered their ears.
Sirius acted as if he heard nothing, even managing a stiff smile and saying to Ginny, "Would you mind stepping aside, Miss Weasley?"
Ginny was too stunned to react, so Ron reached out and pulled her over.
"Thank you."
Sirius nodded and carried the coffin upstairs.
Regulus's bedroom was on the fifth floor.
In the hall on the first floor, Lupin spent all his effort to pull the curtain back, and then cast the Stunning Spell on the other portraits one by one.
Only then did Harry and the others lower their hands and come down from upstairs.
"Vid, you finally came."
Michael, looking worn out, raised a hand to greet him, eyes lacking spirit, "You really should see how much work we did all morning!"
Lupin said helplessly, "As I said, this place can't be lived in for the moment."
Several young wizards showed regretful expressions, though earlier, everyone's words had been too firm, so now they felt embarrassed to say, "You were right, we should stop working and go to your place."
"I thought it was just a matter of casting the Scouring Charm multiple times..." Michael muttered, "We're very proficient with this spell."
"But the house is resisting our magic...it seems unwilling to be cleaned, and the Scouring Charm is nearly useless; we can only clean it the normal way." Hermione said hesitantly, sharing her discovery.
"Because there's a really annoying house-elf in this house." George said, "I understand now how much trouble these things can cause if they don't listen."
"Why doesn't Mr. Blake simply release him?" Percy asked puzzled, "Having such a house-elf is worse than none."
"Sirius said... Regulus really liked that Kreacher fellow..." Harry said hesitantly.
While they were talking, the subject of their conversation appeared.
It was a very old house-elf with wrinkled skin and white hair growing out of his ears. He was emaciated, wearing a filthy rag around his waist, and his pale eyes looked somewhat dim.
"Uh... Vid, this is Kreacher..."
Harry said in a tone uncertain of whether introductions were appropriate.
"Another little brat... making the mistress angry."
Kreacher muttered to himself in a hoarse and low voice, "Those awful creatures, ruining the mistress's house like goblins..."
"Silence, Kreacher!" Harry said loudly.
Kreacher paused his muttering and bowed, "Young master, Kreacher greets you."
Then he resumed his muttering, "The brat brought back another little fool, they say he defeated the Dark Lord, but Kreacher didn't see he had such capability..."
Harry's expression turned a bit awkward as he hurriedly shook his hands to explain to the others, "He's very old, his mind isn't very clear, and he likes to babble. Sirius says just let him be, he won't live much longer anyway..."
"Hello, Kreacher." Vid crouched down, looking at the dirty little house-elf and asked, "Hasn't anyone told you why so many of us came here?"
Kreacher acted as if he didn't hear him, or perhaps didn't want to acknowledge him, continuing to mutter incoherently to himself:
"Kreacher serves the noble Black Clan for life, but Kreacher doesn't want to serve the scoundrel master...how the mistress loathes him, everything about him disappoints the mistress..."
Vid also ignored Kreacher's words and directly said, "We're here for Regulus Black's funeral."