"So, what are you guys doing?" Vivi asked curiously.
"I'm introducing them to where I used to live." Little Sirius looked around with his hands on his hips, "Look, this was my room back then..."
"It seems you quite like Muggle girls." Vivi glanced at Little Sirius with a half-smile, then looked at Harry, "Too bad you, the godfather, didn't set a good example."
Little Sirius's face turned red as he mumbled something about "having Muggle girl posters doesn't mean liking them," and "it's just pin-ups" with a bunch of incomprehensible words, filling the room with a joyful atmosphere.
"No, you've misunderstood." Vivi said after Little Sirius's flurry of attempts to save face, "I just think you haven't fulfilled your duty to ensure your godson has a proper understanding of love."
The implication being—you're so obsessed with beauty, could you let your godson start realizing the same?
But what she didn't know was that Harry had already caught on long ago, perhaps a bit too much.
As for Harry now, he's thinking about getting more, you're all my wings, and I don't want to let anyone down.
"You really dare to say that, Grindelwald." Cassandra said leisurely from the side, "I'm not worried Mr. Black will have any bad influence on Harry; I'm more afraid you'll lead him astray."
"Oh?"
Vivi squinted and looked at her lifelong rival, Cassandra.
"I'm curious how I could possibly lead Harry astray?"
"There's no need for me to say it, Grindelwald—you know it in your heart."
Cassandra crossed her arms, thinking to herself—this Grindelwald, after all these years, has been trying hard to make Harry into someone who depends solely on her, rather than letting Harry grow into a legendary wizard, she's quite devious, Germans are more scheming than anyone!
Vivi ignored her, she just assumed Cassandra was teasing her.
"Alright, we should go down to dinner." Little Sirius started to smooth things over, "Don't you agree, Miss Swedding?"
After calling once, Little Sirius didn't hear Pabi's response.
He turned his head and saw Pabi standing aside, dozing with her head lowered.
"Miss Swedding? Miss Swedding?"
Pabi awoke with a start, immediately jumping a little in place, and wiped the corner of her mouth: "What, what happened?"
"Looks like she's been a unicorn for too long and has forgotten how humans should sleep." Cassandra looked Pabi up and down, "Seems she still thinks of herself as a donkey, rather than a human."
"You're the donkey!" Pabi retorted defiantly: "You venom-spitting old snake!"
"Indeed, Pabi." Vivi walked over to Pabi, reached out, and ruffled her head, saying to her: "Don't listen to this sharp-tongued woman's words, you know, she never says anything nice."
As she said this, Vivi subtly gave Cassandra a challenging glance.
She had seen in Mr. Granger's undisclosed collection that one must unite all who can be united.
And the Pabi in front of her was someone she had to unite with.
Teaming up to fight against Cassandra was secondary; the most important thing was to prevent Pabi from being united on Cassandra's side.
Before Cassandra could add anything, Kreacher appeared before them.
"Esteemed masters, and Young Master Potter." Kreacher bowed and said, "Old Kreacher has prepared a sumptuous dinner for you and the guests, please move to the dining room to dine."
"Dining room?" Ron muttered: "I hope it's not as neglected in cleaning as here."
Kreacher said nothing, only muttering a phrase about the Weasleys being pure-blood traitors, then left Little Sirius's bedroom.
"He's always like that, don't look at me." Little Sirius laughed indifferently, "Let's just say, this family instilled many inappropriate ideas in him, and it's not something that can be changed overnight."
"What else can I say?" Ron shrugged, "For the sake of dinner, I won't make a fuss with him—if there's chicken legs, perhaps I might even thank him."
"You still can't forget chicken legs, Ron." Hermione shook her head, sighing.
She thought Ron was incorrigible; in his eyes, maybe nothing was more important than chicken legs.
The dining room was not, as Ron imagined, neglected in cleaning; rather, it was as resplendent and magnificent as it had been in the old days.
This perfectly matched the style of the Black family, and the décor had been decided by Phineas Black back in the day.
"He really wished he could stick gold in the walls." Cassandra commented on Phineas like that.
Even as a fellow Slytherin and member of a pure-blood family, Cassandra still had no intention of withholding her critique.
After all, Phineas was the most unpopular headmaster in the history of Hogwarts; even his son, Sirius Black II, greatly disliked him.
"Wow!" Ron cheered as he sat down, "There really are chicken legs—oh my, how did Kreacher know my preferences?"
"Perhaps he just happened to prepare a recipe involving chicken legs." Hermione said, sitting down next to Ron, "But I think, Kreacher has been working so hard for so long, he must be very tired... I never understand why wizards enslave house-elves to work for them, and treat them like servants to boss around and even abuse them. Isn't a house-elf worthy of respect?"
Ron lifted his head confusedly, not understanding what had gotten into Hermione.
But Vivi knew; it's evident this little girl had a bout of a savior complex.
Back in the palace, some well-fed noble ladies with excess energy loved showing off their compassion—some sympathized with cats, some with dogs, yet none spared a thought for the poor homeless people selling their children to survive.
Some are simply moved by their own actions, while others are trying to build an image.
It seemed Hermione was the former, and Vivi didn't say anything, just thought Hermione needed some harsh life lessons.
Why should it matter to me that house-elves are enslaved by wizards?
However, she hadn't expected Hermione's rebuke would come so quickly.
"That damn Mudblood spreads her misplaced compassion to old Kreacher, as if she's trying to move herself or the assembled — but old Kreacher does not need the sympathy of an inferior Mudblood, it makes him feel sick."
Kreacher muttered to himself, loud enough for everyone present to hear clearly.
Indeed, everyone could hear.
Hermione clearly didn't expect Kreacher to say such things about her. She was fighting for Kreacher's rights but instead was insulted so harshly.
The young girl had never faced such grievance before; her eyes reddened, and tears welled up.
"Sometimes, this is more effective than book education." Cassandra commented coolly from the side.
Little Sirius coughed twice, then scolded: "Kreacher! Apologize to Hermione!"
Kreacher raised his head, glancing at Little Sirius reluctantly, and continued to wipe a nearby table.
"Alright, old Kreacher will apologize to the Mudb—"
"I will not allow you to say such words again!" Little Sirius ordered again.
"Old Kreacher apologizes to Miss Granger." Kreacher's voice bore no trace of apology, "Hopes that when she has nothing better to do, she won't always think of herself."
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