Anduin, now operating under his own rigorous standards, felt a profound need to eradicate the physical representation of Sirius's chaos. The magical cleaning started in his own room, progressing far beyond a simple draft.
He pulled out his wand and meticulously cast seven or eight rounds of the Scourgify Charm (the fundamental Cleansing Spell) on every surface. Then, he activated the Purifying Fountain Charm, flooding the room with jets of clean, fresh water to rinse every speck of residue—including the walls and the ceiling.
After the dirty water drained quickly out the open window, he employed a barrage of Drying Spells, leaving the air crisp and dry. Only after this obsessive, multi-stage process was complete did the room meet Anduin's minimum standard for acceptable living space.
Just as he was admiring the sanitized environment, Sirius's voice echoed loudly up the stairwell. "Hey! I'm shooting off for a bit to meet the others. Don't worry, I'll bring some sort of dinner back for you later. If you get desperate, there's an Italian place with decent pizza nearby—Muggle places, obviously. Just be absolutely careful not to show off any magic to the neighbors, alright?"
A sudden crack of Apparition followed, and the house was silent.
"Meeting the others? He means an Order of the Phoenix meeting," Anduin realized, but the thought was fleeting. His immediate priority was the persistent, offensive filth of the downstairs.
He descended the stairs, pausing in the living room. He noted the sheer volume of Muggle appliances—a humming refrigerator, a clunky radio, and a surprisingly sturdy-looking oven. No television, he lamented internally, a minor tactical deficiency. But the overwhelming reality was the filth.
"How can he guarantee his effectiveness in a war against dark wizards if he cannot even manage the simple order of his own existence?" Anduin muttered to the absent Sirius, rolling up the sleeves of his borrowed shirt. He began his comprehensive operation immediately.
He started, logically, in the Kitchen. Turning on the faucet, he waved his wand. The impossible pile of greasy pots and pans instantly rose from the sink, hovering in the air like an unruly magical infantry unit. Each item, one by one, glided silently toward the faucet, where jets of water and scrubbing charms directed by Anduin's cold focus stripped away the layers of grime.
They were then stacked neatly for a final dry wipe. Not satisfied with the mechanical wash, Anduin subjected the entire stack to three more rinsing charms, culminating in a powerful Scourgify. The kitchen surfaces and floor were next, receiving the same relentless cleansing treatment. Within forty minutes, the kitchen, which had been a biohazard, was gleaming and organized.
Next was the Living Room. The couch, the source of the worst odors and stains, proved resistant. Anduin directed the most potent Scourgify and Purifying Charms at the deeply ingrained oil and dirt, but the effect was minimal. The grime seemed to have fused with the very fibers of the fabric.
"Are you truly this obstinate?" Anduin stroked his chin, considering the problem. Cleaning spells relied on generalized magical solvent action. For deep, specific removal, a different, more surgical approach was required. A brilliant, lateral thought struck him.
He aimed his wand again, but instead of a cleaning spell, he focused his intent and performed the advanced, complex charm he had learned in his first-year studies: the Elimination Charm, usually used to vanish objects entirely. Using his refined, newfound control over magical boundaries, Anduin didn't target the couch, but the molecular boundary between the stain and the fabric fiber.
Elimination is merely targeted extraction of matter.
With a subtle mental command, the spell focused its destructive energy only on the greasy, dirt-laden molecules, selectively extracting and eliminating the stubborn stains from the fabric of the sofa. Piece by piece, the grime lifted and disappeared, leaving the underlying fabric perfectly preserved and spotless.
Anduin stared at the pristine result, a wry smile forming. "I never anticipated that my first real-world application of the advanced Elimination Charm would be for deep-cleaning upholstery," he mused. The effectiveness was immediate and absolute.
Suddenly infused with a powerful sense of magical efficiency, Anduin applied the same technique across the entire ground floor. The greasy carpets, the stained tabletops, and the grimy floorboards all yielded to the surgical precision of the Extraction Spell.
The process was far quicker and more efficient than any conventional cleaning charm. He worked swiftly and methodically, rearranging the chaotic furniture, restoring order, and banishing the accumulated residue of years of neglect.
Finally, he tackled the source of much of the mystery odor: the refrigerator. He ruthlessly purged all the moldy, unidentifiable objects inside and then cast a powerful freezing charm on the empty unit. He made a quick, necessary trip to a nearby Muggle supermarket, returning with fresh milk, eggs, and bread—provisions necessary for his own self-sufficiency.
"Project completion achieved," Anduin pronounced, stepping back into the newly transformed hall. The air was clean, the scent was neutral, and the space felt ordered and tranquil. He felt an intense, visceral satisfaction—a clean environment was simply necessary for a clear mind.
Around eight o'clock that evening, the Muggle street outside was quiet, illuminated by the soft glow of window lights, many festively adorned with simple Christmas decorations. Sirius Black returned from his mission. He ambled down the pavement, a hot, greasy pizza box casually balanced in one hand.
He slammed the front door open, ready to navigate the familiar, fragrant clutter. But as he stepped inside, he stopped dead, blinking rapidly.
He instinctively backed out of the house, turning to stare at the small brick villa. He checked the address plaque, the window frames, the rusty gate. "Yes... this is my house," he muttered, utterly bewildered. "Why, then, do I not recognize the inside?"
Hesitantly, he stepped back across the threshold. All the furniture, the once-dingy carpet, and the heavy curtains appeared startlingly brand new. The air was sweet, carrying a faint, pleasant scent of rosemary and lemon. The lighting seemed brighter, cleaner. But the detail that truly shocked him was the presence of a modestly sized, perfectly decorated Christmas tree standing beside the fireplace.
The tree was adorned not with tacky tinsel, but with intricate, small, shimmering ornaments that depicted the four Hogwarts House emblems—lions, snakes, eagles, and badgers—all topped by a golden, five-pointed star.
"Anduin?" Sirius called out, his voice thick with confusion.
A figure emerged from the gleaming, spotless kitchen. He wore a crisp apron tied neatly around his waist, his dark hair tucked behind his ears. He was carrying a large platter of perfectly prepared, golden-brown roast lamb chops.
It was Anduin. He laid the dish down on the now-spotless dining table and looked at Sirius with an expression of mild, clinical satisfaction. "Ah, you're back. I have good news, Sirius. Your Muggle oven is still working, and working quite efficiently. You should invest in a better cleaning charm, though; the original grease was highly resistant."
Sirius dropped the pizza box—the sound echoing unnaturally loud in the clean space—and stared at the boy. He ran a hand through his hair, gripping his head. "What in the name of Merlin's baggy trousers did you do to my house? I was gone for four hours! How is it like this? And where did the festive abomination come from?"
Anduin looked mildly surprised by his host's reaction. "What's the issue? I simply found the dwelling lacking in hygienic integrity, so I cleaned it." He gestured toward the tree.
"As for the tree, I observed a local vendor selling them while I was shopping for provisions at the nearby Muggle grocery store. It seemed highly un-Christmassy without one, so I acquired it. The ornaments are basic Transfiguration exercises—I find it helpful to practice fine detail work. What do you think? Efficient, wouldn't you say?"
Sirius Black slowly walked over and tentatively touched the gleaming wood of the table, then the clean fabric of the sofa. He looked back at the impeccably clean kitchen, a place he hadn't seen tidy in years.
"You call that 'cleaning'?" Sirius whispered, sounding utterly traumatized. "You've re-engineered my house! You've banished the very soul of the disorder!"
"Are you going to consume sustenance, or are you planning to remain immobile?" Anduin asked, untying the apron and sitting down at the now-tidy table. The succulent smell of the lamb chops finally pierced through Sirius's shock.
"To eat!" Sirius declared, his stomach overruling his existential crisis. He dropped into a chair, his eyes still darting around the unnaturally clean room. He grabbed a chop and took a massive bite, chewing furiously. "Okay, it's actually delicious. But I still demand to know the methodology. How did you do all of this in four hours?"
Anduin shrugged, picking up his own knife and fork with precise care. "The culinary process is simple, involving standard Muggle techniques, though they are quite primitive. I finely chopped some pistachios, then pan-seared the lamb chops in butter and rosemary until a golden-brown crust formed. The pistachio pieces were sprinkled on top before a final brief bake. I cooked mine to a medium-rare internal temperature, but if you prefer a less bloody result, you could easily increase the baking time."
Sirius choked slightly on a piece of meat. "No, you insufferable prodigy! Not the recipe! I mean the house! How did you perform a month of deep-cleaning and decoration in a single afternoon?"
Anduin took a small, careful bite of his chop. "Ah. That was an application of the Elimination Charm with a targeted reduction of effect. I used it to surgically remove the contamination from the fabric and hard surfaces. It's remarkably efficient, providing superior results to a generalized Scourgify. Perhaps you should incorporate it into your domestic routine, Sirius; it would significantly improve your quality of life and decrease your potential susceptibility to fungal-based illnesses."
Sirius stared at him, holding a glistening lamb chop, the chaos-loving Gryffindor completely at odds with the clean, logical world Anduin had imposed. He was trapped in a home that no longer reflected his true self, yet the food was spectacular.
"You are truly terrifying, Anduin," Sirius managed, shaking his head. "You are going to ruin all my friends. They'll demand I start cleaning up too." He then leaned closer.
"So, the Elimination Charm, but controlled? Tell me exactly how you modulate the field boundaries on the counter-molecular level..." The food, spectacular as it was, was already secondary to the fascinating new magical technique.