Due to the limited number of organized bedrooms, apart from the two girls, the boys were squeezed three or four to a room.
Vid naturally shared a bedroom with Michael, Theo, and Leian. He's not accustomed to compromising, so he used the Undetectable Extention Charm to expand the space and the Gemino Curse to change the original single bed into four.
Although these spells don't last long, they won't revert for three to five days, which is enough for them to use.
Before going to sleep, they talked about those portraits that seemed almost like living people.
"I wonder how Mrs. Black is doing." Leian said worriedly: "Seeing Mr. Regulus's body might be an even greater shock for her, right?"
"She already knew about Regulus's death." Vid said, "So... finding his body might be somewhat a comfort to her?"
After a long while, Leian murmured, "Poor thing... So young, and already passed away... How much pain his death must have brought to his family..."
Michael didn't want to talk about these depressing things, so he casually found a topic: "These portraits in the Black Family are completely different from the ones at school."
He said, "Before I came, I thought I'd hear them tell some old stories... then when I first saw them, I thought they were all mad. But when Mr. Phineas came, they seemed to become normal."
"Maybe because we're not Pure-Blood, so they don't want to talk nicely to us?" Vid speculated: "If Malfoy came as a guest, maybe they'd greet him politely."
Everyone laughed.
They didn't feel resentful or inferior because of this, thinking instead that determining one's attitude based on bloodlines is ridiculous.
Michael also laughed and said, "So when Mr. Phineas leaves, do they all go back to sleep?"
"This might not be related to their attitude, it's just necessary.
Theo said, "I heard from my grandfather that the magic of portraits comes from three sources—the personal magic of the portrait, the magic spell the artist casts, and the magic from the building the portrait is in."
"Usually, as time passes, the magic of the portraits grows weaker, and what we see is the person in the painting falling into a deep sleep over long periods until one day they never wake up."
"But if the building's magic is abundant and active, the portrait's magic can be replenished, allowing it to last longer."
"So the portraits of Hogwarts appear more animated." Michael thoughtfully summarized, "Though those older ones also spend most of their time sleeping every day."
"So unless Mrs. Black wakes them, the portraits in the Black Family don't open their eyes generally."
Leian said, "Sirius's imprisonment, Regulus's passing, this house becoming neglected... they're dying along with the house."
Vid didn't speak; he inadvertently recalled Griffiths.
That portrait was one of the most animated ones he had ever seen, even the former heads of Hogwarts wouldn't break into other portraits and even beat the people up like him.
Of course, a large part of this might be due to his personality.
But from Griffiths' usual words, it seemed his living era was at least a few hundred years ago.
Doesn't he weaken? Or does he continuously receive magical replenishment from Hogwarts?
Vid had some guesses... but wasn't quite sure.
...
Many things happened today, leaving many people tossing and turning unable to sleep all night, but Vid's biological clock still let him fall asleep on time and awaken at the set time.
Vid opened his eyes, his hand reaching for the side of the bed. The next second, the top of the alarm clock on the cabinet cracked open, and a little yellow bird peeked out, opened its mouth to chirp—
It didn't even manage to chirp before Vid pressed it down.
Vid didn't get out of bed but directly pointed the tip of his wand toward his heart, whispering, "Armando, Animado, Animo, Animagus!"
Thump!
Vid suddenly opened his eyes, thinking he had felt wrong.
Thump!
Inside his chest, suddenly he felt a second heartbeat. So intense, it seemed he could hear his heart striking against his ribs.
Thump!
Vid was instantly filled with immense joy, nearly shouting out.
He turned his head, wanting to share his joy with the people beside him, only to see Michael and the others deep in sleep.
Vid kept his voice down, picked up the bag next to him, quickly walked out of the bedroom, into the living room, sat on the sofa in front of the fireplace, drew out the Friendship Book, opened the first page, and wrote a line with the help of the firelight:
[I felt the second heartbeat!]
After a while, the Friendship Book heated slightly, and new words began to emerge—
[Fiona: That's amazing!]
[Ferdinand: Is it the heartbeat needed for practicing Animagus?]
[Fiona: Duh! What else could it be?]
[Fiona: My son is fantastic! Come home early, I'll prepare a banquet to celebrate!]
[Vid: Okay]
[Ferdinand: After so much effort, you've finally achieved it, it's all deserved! But don't slack off, don't forget many people fail just a step before succeeding.]
[Fiona: Vid surely understands! He's the most self-aware kid in the world! Vid, next is to wait for stormy weather, right?]
[Vid: Yes. Some people have to wait long to get suitable weather.]
[Fiona: Don't worry, we'll go check historical weather changes now!]
No more messages came from the Friendship Book.
Vid could almost picture his mother pulling his father out of the warm bed with tousled hair, dragging all the old newspapers to the fireplace, flipping through them one by one, recording daily temperatures around the world.
He wanted to say it isn't necessary to bother, just because it rained last year doesn't mean it will rain this year, all he could do was patiently wait.
He also wanted to say, perhaps there's a more convenient way to check, like inquiring at the weather bureau, or there might be related content online.
But Vid picked up the pen several times, finally chuckled, and put it down again.
Why show your cleverness at this moment? Ferdinand might know these, but he'd still accompany Fiona to flip through old newspapers.
Giving to those you love is itself a form of happiness.
"Contacting a girlfriend?"
A voice suddenly sounded in the room.
Vid was startled, only then realizing there was another person in the living room. He was sitting in the corner away from the fireplace, almost like part of the shadow.
"Sirius?" Vid said in surprise, then recalled what he just said, and said, "No, it's my parents."
Sirius leaned on the couch, saying, "Seems like you have a happy family."
Vid curiously asked, "How do you see that?"
"You've been smiling all along."
Sirius gestured an arc at the corner of his mouth, saying tiredly, "Just like James when he first fell in love, very infectious, making people unconsciously want to smile along with you."
Vid touched the corner of his own mouth subconsciously, unintentionally smiled, then suddenly remembered the tragedy of the Black Family, and put away the smile, asking, "You didn't sleep all night?"
"Mm." Sirius looked up at the ceiling, "I wanted to talk to my mother, but all she cares about is whether Regulus's funeral was decent enough, nothing else she wanted to talk about."
Vid paused and asked, "Regulus didn't leave a portrait?"
"No." Sirius said, suppressing his pain, "He was still young when he died... Portraits with magic aren't the same as photos, wizards usually don't casually make portraits."
"Perhaps you could commission someone to create a portrait of Regulus?" Vid suggested, "It might not be too... lively. However, it could be a comfort for Mrs. Black."
—and for you, as well.
Vid thought.
Sirius was stunned for a moment, saying, "That's a good idea... I remember my mother kept Regulus's baby teeth, there should be his hair and blood too... Using these as materials might make the portrait closer to a real person."
He thought dazedly for a while, then suddenly said, "Vid, I need to thank you."