Chapter 174: Casual Conversation
"Hello, I'm Sirius Black," he said, seizing an opportunity to step forward and extend his hand toward Gomez Addams.
"Gomez Addams," Gomez replied with a wide grin, firmly shaking his hand.
Just as Sirius was about to pull back, Gomez suddenly tightened his grip—then, without warning, executed a clean shoulder throw, attempting to slam him to the ground.
Though Sirius had wasted away somewhat during his years in Azkaban, his combat instincts were still sharp. He twisted midair, trying to break free.
But to his surprise, Gomez's strength was overwhelming. Before he could react, Sirius was already slammed onto the floor.
Oddly enough, it didn't hurt much.
Still… it irritated him.
I was polite enough. I didn't act arrogantly. I even took the initiative to show goodwill… so why the hell did he do that?
As Sirius was still trying to process it, Gomez suddenly pulled him back to his feet and wrapped him in a hearty embrace.
"Sirius, was it? Thank you—for everything you've done for Russell," Gomez said warmly, clapping him hard on the shoulder—hard enough to make Cyrian cough twice.
"That's the Addams family's way of welcoming someone," Russell explained with a shrug.
"Seriously?" Sirius shot him a skeptical look. What kind of bizarre welcome ritual is that?
"Of course it's real," Gomez said, clearly offended by the doubt. "Let me demonstrate."
"Fester."
"Alright, alright…" Uncle Fester muttered, stepping forward and extending his hand.
Gomez grinned.
He grabbed Fester's hand—and with a powerful swing, hurled him straight into the wall.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, he produced a series of throwing knives.
Thunk. Thunk. Thunk.
The blades embedded themselves into the wall one after another, outlining Fester's body like a chalk silhouette at a crime scene.
"Impressive…" Sirius stared, dumbfounded, before instinctively applauding.
Clap. Clap. Clap.
The commotion quickly drew the attention of Albus Dumbledore and Grandmama Addams.
"Gentlemen," Dumbledore said with a pleasant smile, "damaging Hogwarts property is a violation of school rules."
"Good to see you again, Headmaster Dumbledore," Morticia Addams said as she approached, noticing that Grandmama had seemingly finished her conversation.
She had once been a student at Hogwarts herself—and an outstanding one at that. Her name was even recorded in the school's Hall of Fame.
"Indeed, Morticia. You've changed quite a bit," Dumbledore remarked.
The last time they had met—at the Ministry of Magic—it had only been a brief encounter, as Dumbledore had been escorting Sirius and hadn't had the chance to talk properly.
Her appearance hadn't changed much.
But her presence had.
Back then, Morticia had been sharp, radiant, and unstoppable.
As captain of Hufflepuff's Quidditch team, she had led them to victory year after year—never once losing the championship during her tenure.
She had also served as Head Girl and as a Hufflepuff prefect—Pomona Sprout had been especially fond of her.
Who would have thought that after marrying into the Addams Family, she would become so reserved—almost unrecognizable from her former self?
Still, perhaps that wasn't a bad thing.
Seeing his former student find the happiness she wanted brought genuine warmth to Albus Dumbledore's heart.
"Wednesday must have caused you some trouble," Morticia Addams said with a faint smile, beckoning Wednesday over with a wave.
"Not at all," Dumbledore replied kindly. "Wednesday has always been a well-behaved child. She's never given me any trouble—unlike certain others."
At that, he paused… and cast a pointed glance at Russell.
"Professor Dumbledore, what exactly are you implying?" Russell immediately protested, clearly displeased.
"I'm not well-behaved?" he demanded, eyes wide as he stared straight at Dumbledore.
"You? Well-behaved?" Dumbledore looked as though he'd just heard the greatest joke in the world.
"Let's see… in your first year, you apprenticed yourself to a dark wizard—and during your duel, you blew up the Shrieking Shack, which, I might add, is school property."
"And this year, you've only escalated things. Before even half the term was over, you've already caused quite a series of incidents—discovering that the Weasley family's pet rat was actually Peter Pettigrew, sneaking out at night, harboring clear hostility toward Quirinus Quirrell…"
"And breaking into areas I explicitly forbade. Most recently, you even used a curse to injure a fellow student."
Dumbledore stopped, looking at him calmly.
"Now then—tell me. Which part of that suggests you're a 'good, obedient child'?"
"That's slander—pure slander!" Russell flushed red, quickly defending himself.
"Last term, I had no choice! That was entirely because Professor Corvey tried to kill me—I was just defending myself!"
"As for the damage to the Shrieking Shack," he continued confidently, "didn't you restore it afterward, Professor? That means there was no actual loss, right?"
"The loss," Dumbledore replied mildly, "was my magic."
"Magic?" Russell waved it off. "Just eat more sweets—you'll recover it."
___
The Addams family didn't leave right away. By now, it was around six in the evening, and they decided to stay and enjoy dinner at Hogwarts.
"Delicious—absolutely delicious!" Uncle Fester ate at an astonishing speed.
He used to eat rather crudely—understandable, since the witch who had found him never bothered to teach him manners. But after spending time with the Addams family, he had gained a touch of refinement… even if his pace remained terrifying.
A half roast turkey barely lasted a minute in his hands before disappearing entirely.
Gulp.
Watching him, Sirius unconsciously swallowed. His appetite, which had been lacking moments ago, suddenly returned in full force.
"Are those your parents, Wednesday?" Cho Chang and Cedric Diggory sat stiffly beside her, whispering.
They had never seen a family quite so… distinctive.
"Of course," Wednesday replied calmly. "Aside from my parents, there's my Grandmamma, my uncle Fester, and our butler Lurch. I also have a younger brother, but he's still in school, so he didn't come."
"Oh, and Wednesday—Russell," Morticia said, dabbing her lips lightly with a napkin, "I have some good news."
"Your cousin Ethan and Margaret are expecting a child soon. We're planning to visit them and help out."
She looked at the two of them.
"So for Christmas, you may stay at school. Of course… if you'd like to visit the baby, Gomez will come pick you up."