Hogwarts: Even Voldemort Can't Stop Me From Studying

Chapter 186: Chapter 76: An Invitation from Sirius

As soon as he arrived at the field, Michael ran over to find Padma. That area was filled with girls, so Vid didn’t go over and casually found a spot to watch the match.

He wasn’t actually very interested in Quidditch, but he felt he should show some support for his own school’s team.

”Look, the players from both teams are off! We can see that the Hufflepuff team has undergone some changes in composition; they have a new seeker, Cedric Diggory, who has a face I’m jealous of—”

”Jordan!”

”Sorry, Professor, it just slipped out. Okay, let’s look at the match; the ball is with Ravenclaw at the moment—”

The entire field was filled with the commentary of Lee Jordan. Vid was trying to recognize the Ravenclaw players—most of whom he didn’t actually know—when suddenly, someone sat next to him. Vid turned his head to take a look.

”Harry?” Vid asked, ”Is your arm better?”

”The bones have all grown back.”

Harry showed his arm, moving it a bit stiffly.

”Madam Pomfrey said I should keep it moving, and in a few days, it’ll be as flexible as before.”

”Magic is so convenient.” Vid couldn’t help but exclaim, ”If you were a Muggle, you’d be disabled for the rest of your life.”

”Yeah.” Harry said, also grateful.

”Where’s Sirius?” Vid asked, looking at the figures in the sky.

”He went back this morning,” Harry said. ”Sirius asked me to thank you; he wants to give you a birthday present and asked what you’d like. I, of course, said you like reading.”

Harry smiled.

”He said the Black family is a very old family, with many books in the house—”

Vid looked over, his eyes lighting up immediately.

”So Sirius wants to invite you to the old Black family home for the Christmas holiday. He said you can tour the library as you like, and if you fancy it, you can take the lot.”

Harry said this while nodding vigorously, as if emphasizing the truth of his words.

Vid couldn’t help but laugh.

”That would be too rude...” he said modestly, ”I’ll just need to copy them.”

”I knew you’d really like it.” Harry said, ”But Sirius also asked me to remind you... the Black house is the kind of place you’d imagine the most sinister Dark Wizards live. It’s neither glamorous nor elegant, and might even be a bit dangerous.”

”Isn’t that even better?” Vid raised an eyebrow and said.

Harry also laughed, equally filled with anticipation.

The buildings of Granian Farm were quite ordinary, but the numerous magical creatures were truly fascinating;

The Weasley family, though poor, had magic that made ordinary daily life seem special and interesting.

Lupin’s home was cozy and comfortable, the best kind of home Harry could imagine.

Sirius had also been arranging his house recently; Harry initially planned to help out over the weekend, but his injury yesterday ruined his plan.

Despite Sirius describing the old Black home as a grim, eerie, and uninteresting place, Harry thought he might just be used to it, having grown up there.

But for them, a mysterious old mansion was much more worth exploring than an ordinary wizarding home.

While they were chatting, a long whistle sounded in the air.

The match ended, with Cedric capturing the Golden Snitch and Hufflepuff winning the match by 20 points.

The stands erupted in applause and cheers, even though Ravenclaw students—besides the dejected-looking players—mostly clapped politely.

The likes of Vid and others, even if they didn’t need Cedric’s help with procuring goods anymore, were quite happy for his victory.

Especially the girls, most of whom were indifferent to the match results and just wanted an excuse to openly admire that handsome face.

Harry, however, looked slightly apprehensive.

”In March, we’ll be playing against Hufflepuff.” Harry said worriedly, ”I thought Cedric as a seeker would be clumsy...”

Vid then remembered that in the story, their second-year match didn’t happen due to a basilisk attack.

In their third year, Dementors appeared on the field, and Harry passed out, losing the match to Hufflepuff.

As for their fourth year, with the Triwizard Tournament taking place, the Quidditch matches were canceled, and Cedric was ultimately killed by Peter Pettigrew.

So in that story, Harry never really had a seeker showdown with Cedric on the field.

Vid, thinking about these plot points, sympathetically patted Harry’s shoulder and said, ”Looks like Wood is going to double your training.”

Harry nodded apprehensively, ”Good thing Christmas holidays are almost here...”

Even Harry, who loved Quidditch, found Wood’s grueling training a bit too much.

This year, Harry wouldn’t be staying at school, as he wasn’t without a place to go, and once the match ended, he went to invite others for the holidays.

”It’s my first time inviting friends over during the Christmas holiday... really first time in my life... Sirius asked me to bring a few more friends over to help with the cleaning.”

Harry said in a cheerful mood when bidding farewell.

He seemed to think Sirius was joking, so he said it in a humorous tone.

But Vid’s smile suddenly froze.

Clean... the Black family’s old house was filled with years of grime, and the house-elf, who hated Sirius as a master, refused to work.

In the story, Mrs. Weasley, with her extensive experience as a homemaker, took quite a few days with a few kids, just to clean up enough rooms to be usable.

Vid’s expression instantly turned troubled.

He could pursue magic with relentless dedication, but he didn’t want to spend a lot of time on mundane and repetitive chores.

Should he use magic puppets to do the work?

Or modify the Cleaning Crab again?

He could do both, but the problem was, what if that rebellious house-elf secretly sabotaged things? These alchemy works weren’t indestructible.

He had to handle that house-elf first... he remembered its name was Kreacher, and there was a strategy written in books...

Vid originally planned to wait until Sirius was in better shape before going to the cave.

But now, for the sake of the Black house’s library, to reduce the housework—for more time to study magic—he discreetly moved up his plans...

Thinking of the cave, he thought of the Soul Artifact, then the Resurrection Stone in the bag, and then Dumbledore.

Vid noticed that Dumbledore wasn’t in the teacher’s stands watching the match this time.

Yesterday, did Dumbledore come specifically because of Harry?

Because Harry was injured in the maze, and he feared someone might take advantage of the match to attack Harry again, that’s why...

A thought abruptly struck Vid.

When Harry finished inviting Ron and Hermione, and walked past Vid again to find Michael, Vid waved him over. Harry, puzzled, came back.

”What is it?” he asked.

”I forgot to ask you...” Vid said seriously, ”Why did you suddenly fall from the sky after yesterday’s match ended?”