Chapter 54: Funeral
Sherry never worried about whether Dumbledore would act with him. Don't forget, he still owed Sherry three treasures. According to the agreement, he had to give the locket to Sherry.
After about two or three hours, Kreacher came back with all the wizards again. They brought back a tightly wrapped bag, and Harry and other underage wizards were driven upstairs. And soon there was a cry downstairs, including the woman in the portrait and Sirius himself, not to mention Kreacher. After nearly an hour, Harry and the others were allowed to come down to attend Regulus' funeral.
In a cemetery in the suburbs, all the deceased members of the Black family were buried. At this moment, an empty grave has been dug here, which is prepared for Regulus. Sirius directed with his wand and put Regulus' body into the grave. Harry took a quick look and found that although this person had been dead for many years, there was no sign of decay. Except for the fact that his body was blue and hard, he was no different from an ordinary person.
"Today, we are here to hold a funeral for an unknown fighter," Dumbledore said, "Regulus Arcturus Black has completed his short but extraordinary life. He may have strayed into the darkness, but after discovering the true face of the dark forces, he suddenly realized, defied and challenged the Dark Lord, and sacrificed his life for it. His actions are not meaningless. This will bring hope of complete victory to all of us. We thank him for his contribution to all justice. On the road to resisting darkness, we will never be alone, because the soul of such a hero will be with us." After speaking, he raised his wand, and a shining silver star floated from the tip of the wand and rose into the air.
Everyone took out their wands, including all the underage wizards, and recited the spell they learned in the first grade, "The Resting Spell". Silver stars floated up to the sky in groups, drifting towards the invisible heights. This spell has no offensive power. It just uses magic to send out a silver star that keeps rising upwards. First-year students can learn it easily. The Resting Spell has only one purpose, which is to express wishes and prayers for the deceased at the funeral, hoping that his soul can also follow these silver stars and rise to a better world.
"The fire is blazing!" In the surprised eyes of Harry and others, Sirius, with tears in his eyes, ignited Regulus's body with flames. Sherry understood why this was because Regulus had become a corpse similar to the undead creature. If the fire was not used for purification, then the person who created these corpses (such as Voldemort) could summon these people with one command and let them continue to serve him. So for the peace of the dead, these corpses will be purified, and fire is the most commonly used purification method.
The flames summoned by magic soon burned Regulus's body and turned it into a layer of ashes. Sirius used his own hands to pour the soil into the grave, and Kreacher also helped with his hands. Everyone else, including Harry, was taken back to the Black House. This was the Black family's own moment, and no one should disturb them.
Mrs. Weasley's eyes were also red, but she still remembered that today was Harry's birthday, so she suppressed her sadness and went into the kitchen to work. Hermione and a witch named Tonks went into the kitchen to help.
Everyone sat down at the table, and all the adult wizards looked at Harry with a strange look, as if they had seen something incredible. Dumbledore spoke first: "Harry, can you tell me in detail how you knew about Regulus?"
Everyone around showed a curious look. Although they had heard of prophecy in the magic world before, and had taken prophecy classes at Hogwarts, this kind of magic requires talent and is difficult to learn later.
"I let him know." A voice sounded in Dumbledore's ears, "Don't forget the agreement between you and me. This Slytherin locket will belong to me." But Sherry's voice was not heard by anyone except Dumbledore. Everyone was still waiting for Harry's explanation. "Directed communication," can talk to a designated person at a certain distance without being noticed by others. This is a zero-level spell of the Transmutation Department, which is just right for use here.
Dumbledore immediately heard who was speaking, but he didn't know in what form the other party was following Harry, which made him a little intolerable, but it was not easy to talk about these issues at the moment.
"I don't know what happened, but I suddenly saw those phantoms and couldn't help but say something." Sorry, he still has a lot of first-level spells of the Transmutation Department to learn, so where is the time to learn the prophecy department spells. Moreover, to reach this level of exploring past events, one must wait for the ability of a senior wizard, and Harry is far from that! So, he simply didn't know anything and just muddled through.
After hearing what Harry said, there was no way for everyone to verify the truth, and Dumbledore had already learned the truth from Sherry, so he naturally wouldn't ask about some fictitious things, so it just ended like that. Soon, some people began to say goodbye, and even though Mrs. Weasley repeatedly tried to keep them, most of them still left. Only Tonks, who was helping, and Dumbledore were left, and the rest left through the fireplace. Sherry sensed through the magic network that Dumbledore and all adult wizards had signed an oath to promise not to tell a word about what happened today, so as to prevent the Dark Lord from learning this important information.
When it was dark, Sirius brought Kreacher back here. He looked very sad, but he still forced himself to attend Harry's birthday dinner. Harry wanted to speak to comfort him, but found that he didn't know what to say. The pain of losing a loved one could not be alleviated by any language. No one said much. After wishing Harry a happy birthday, they buried their heads in eating. This birthday party was extremely depressing. It was not as lively and joyful as last year's birthday party. Sherry couldn't help but feel a little guilty towards Harry. After all, it was because of Sherry that Harry's birthday party was ruined.
The birthday party ended quickly. Hermione was sent back by Mr. Weasley. Mrs. Weasley gave Harry a big hug and walked into the fireplace with her family. As for Dumbledore, he went to a room with Sirius and talked for a long time before coming out. Sherry heard that Dumbledore was going to reconvene the Order of the Phoenix, and Sirius offered his old house as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix.
The rest of the time was dull and long. There was always a faint sadness in the Black's old house. Those portraits that used to pick on Harry had become much better to him. And Kreacher seemed to have completely changed into a different person, being extremely attentive to Harry. For the house elves, it was Harry's words that made the young master Regulus, who had been sinking outside for a long time, return to the Black family again, and let his mistress see her youngest son again, who was his benefactor. In the last few days of August, a person Harry did not expect visited the Black old house.
"Hello, Professor McGonagall!" Harry was surprised to see his Transfiguration teacher came out of the fireplace.
"Good day, Mr. Potter, is Sirius here?" Professor McGonagall asked, "I have something to discuss with him."
"Yes, Professor, please sit down first. I'll go upstairs to call him." After saying that, Harry hurried upstairs and knocked on Sirius's door. Soon, Sirius opened the door, looking very sloppy.
"Sirius, Professor McGonagall is here. She is waiting for you in the living room downstairs. She seems to want to discuss something with you." Harry said.
"Okay!" Sirius scratched his hair, making it look more messy, and walked downstairs with weak steps. Harry was afraid that he would fall, so he followed behind, intending to support him if anything went wrong.
When Professor McGonagall saw Sirius's appearance, her face became very serious. When Sirius came to her, her lips were pursed tightly, looking very stern. She first said to Harry: "Mr. Potter, you go upstairs first. Your godfather and I have some private matters to discuss. Please give us some time." Harry nodded and went upstairs obediently.
Shortly after Harry went upstairs, a loud roar resounded in the living room of the Black mansion, "Sirius Black, do you still remember that you are someone else's godfather? Look at yourself now, do you look like an elder at all?" Then there were a lot of words of teaching. Professor McGonagall had taught Sirius for seven years, and it was not an exaggeration to say that she had watched him grow up, so naturally she had the qualifications to teach Sirius.
Sirius was taught so hard by McGonagall that he couldn't even raise his head. During this period of time, he had been immersed in the pain of being wronged and losing his brother, and he had indeed neglected Harry a lot. But fortunately, there was Kreacher, who regarded Harry as a benefactor and took very good care of him. After teaching Sirius a lesson, McGonagall explained her purpose and said that she was entrusted by Dumbledore to take Harry to school early.
Sirius asked in surprise why, and McGonagall replied, "The special abilities he showed were too rare. To be on the safe side, Dumbledore decided to give him a detailed physical examination." This reason was very strong, and Sirius agreed. After explaining the situation to Harry, Sirius asked Kreacher to help Harry pack his luggage. Sirius hugged Harry and said, "I'm very sorry, Harry, I've wronged you these days. I promise to make it up to you. You can go to Hogwarts without worry. I will buy your textbooks and mail them to you."
"It's okay, Sirius, I understand. I hope you can live better when I'm not around." Harry hugged Sirius back, "See you at Christmas!"
"See you at Christmas!" Sirius patted Harry on the back, then let him go, looked at him and Professor McGonagall, walked into the green flames of the fireplace, and disappeared. (To be continued)