Chapter 72: 1-3

"Ah... about that, I’ve done some digging myself. The name 'Black' is quite convenient, you see. It’s more notorious than anything else these days, but it still carries weight in certain circles. Fortunately, I happen to be a 'victim' in all this, don't I? ...The Ministry of Magic hasn't announced it yet, but there’s no doubt about it—Peter has escaped."

The air suddenly grew tense. The mist that had been clinging to the forest all along suddenly seemed incredibly eerie.

"...How did that happen?"

"...Ah, well, didn't I prove that one could use an Animagus form to break out of prison? And Peter, of all things, is a highly maneuverable rat. While they were busy figuring out countermeasures, the World Cup happened. On top of that, at Hogwarts... wait, I'll stop there. Best to save the fun for later. In short, the Ministry of Magic got incredibly busy and didn't have time for Peter. And then—someone broke Peter out of the interrogation room where he was being held."

All three of us fell silent. I never trusted the Ministry of Magic of this era to begin with, and Sirius was framed by them too. Harry probably realized how sloppy they were while looking into Sirius's case. Incompetent fools.

"So, the dream I had was—"

"It might not have been just a dream."

Seeing Harry's gloomy expression, Sirius smiled brightly and ruffled Harry's hair—the very hair I had just gone to the trouble of fixing.

"Well, leave that to your Uncle Sirius to investigate. You just focus on your studies, enjoying your youth, and making some mischief. Once school starts, Dumbledore will be there too. Hogwarts is going to be fun this year, you know?"

"Hogwarts is always fun. And if you go encouraging mischief and end up getting summoned to the school like Mrs. Weasley does for Fred and George's detentions, don't say I didn't warn you."

Why are you looking at your older sister there, little brother?

"I'd welcome it."

And why are you looking at me, Sirius? Stop smirking. Even though you look handsome doing it.

"I wonder if Mr. Weasley knows about this."

"Probably not. The Ministry of Magic is a big place, and they're in different departments. He didn't act like he knew, did he? If he did, knowing his judgment, he surely would have told you. You two are 'victims' as well, after all."

There was no one else at the water tap we reached (we're wizards, after all!), so we sat down and continued our hushed conversation. The sound of the water bouncing off the bottom of the kettle sounded rather silly.

"How long does the Ministry plan on hiding this?"

"At least for the duration of the World Cup... and there's a huge event after that. Until then, they don't have the manpower or the headspace to deal with anything else. Even my case is being put on the back burner. This is what happens when you have someone like Fudge at the top. I always think about how things would be if Dumbledore were Minister."

"It's because people keep bringing up Dumbledore like that that Fudge gets so stubborn."

"...You're well informed."

Sirius shifted his gaze from the kettle to me, his eyes perfectly round. When Harry and I gave a wry smile and said, "A little...", he seemed to remember the incident from last year and looked convinced.

"But I agree that Dumbledore should be Minister. He's perfect as a leader, but he's not suited to being a teacher."

"...Is that what you think, Maria? There's no teacher as brilliant as Dumbledore, surely?"

Seeing Sirius knit his brows in confusion, I almost clicked my tongue, realizing I'd slipped up.

Sirius trusts Dumbledore from the bottom of his heart. Even more so after what happened with Professor Lupin. Harry is probably somewhere in the middle. He's not as blindly devoted as I once was, but he has absolute faith in Dumbledore's fundamental goodness.

I, too, have trust in Dumbledore's judgment. Including his ruthlessness in being able to cut things loose—as a commander, he is flawless. ...Though trusting him personally is difficult. He makes some incredibly huge mistakes sometimes.

"Well, you see, a teacher has to guide every single student they take in without abandoning a single one, right? Dumbledore operates on making choices and sacrifices, so I think he's more suited to being a pragmatic military man."

—Not that he would ever take power into his own hands.

He understands from his past mistakes that he cannot completely control the monster that is power.

"...Sorry, am I saying something weird?"

Because Harry and Sirius were staring at me so intently, my voice trailed off uncertainly. The fact that the kettle had long since overflowed with water was probably completely gone from their minds.

"──No, I see. I can understand that. You're clever, Maria. Of course, Harry is clever too. I'm proud of both of you."

Letting go of the kettle, Sirius affectionately patted both Harry and me. The feeling of hair brushing my neck and the warmth in my chest tickled, and Harry and I giggled, exchanging glances.

"Hey, Sirius. We're planning to stay at the Weasleys' until the new term starts... but can't we go to your house?"

Trading places with the kettle, we started filling Harry's pot next. Sirius handed the water-filled kettle to me. What a casual display of 'ladies first'.

"I'd love nothing more than to do that... but I can't yet. I still can't take that old hag's portrait down, Kreacher is being rebellious... and with the Peter situation, they're keeping a strict eye on me. Honestly, who are they treating like the murderer here? ──But listen, Maria, Harry. Next year, we will absolutely be able to live together. Dumbledore and I are working on something special! I've even already prepared your rooms."

""What! You mean our own private rooms?!""

"Of course."

Our eyes sparkling at the appeal of having our own rooms for what might be the first time ever, Harry and I then pondered for a moment and looked at each other again.

The fact that Dumbledore was cooperating meant that I, Maria, was indeed included in the blood wards of our mother's protection.

This was one of the reasons I had absolutely refused to leave Harry's side, no matter what. Because the extent of the spell had been vague until now, I couldn't distance myself from Aunt Petunia just to be safe. But now that we had a guardian in Sirius—ah, but still, I'm anxious about being separated from Harry.

"It'll get lonely at night, huh."

"How about we just sleep in one of the rooms at night? The Black family is wealthy enough to buy a Firebolt, after all. I bet the beds are so big there'd be room to spare even if three people slept in them."

"Then maybe we can just share a room. It'll probably be twice the size of our current one."

"Maybe three times."

"We might even be able to ride our brooms inside the room!"

"That's awesome!"

As we got excited all on our own, Sirius, who had been staring in disbelief, hurriedly told us to wait. Before we knew it, the pot was about to overflow with water too.

"Wait. Hold on. ──Can I ask you something? Maria, Harry."

""What is it?""

Sirius mumbled, his lips moving soundlessly as he searched for the right words.

"...You two share the same room, don't you?"

"Well, it's the Dursleys. We're just lucky to have a room at all."

A different kind of silence from earlier fell between us and Sirius.

".........We'll talk about that later. But still, your beds are separate, right?"

""No.""

"...They are separate, right?"

"We sleep together."

"There's only one bed."

"Are you saying one of us should sleep on the floor?"

"Unbelievable!"

I'm the one who wants to say 'unbelievable'! Yes, Sirius's face said it all. I could tell without him even voicing it.

I'd thought this since his dog days, but Sirius is way too expressive. What a youthful thirty-something.

"Y-you two—you're siblings, yes, but you're a boy and a girl! And Maria, you're... you've started getting a more girlish figure. Harry must be troubled by it."

""Not at all.""

"........."

Sirius finally clutched his head. As someone with a strong sense of masculinity myself, it wasn't that I didn't understand Sirius's argument... but it's too late for that. I'm already completely used to Harry's body heat and how comfortable he is to hug.

"Alright, we'll take our time and discuss this later too. Anyway, your rooms will be separate. And your beds will be separate too. If you're coming to my house, that is an absolute must. Got it?"

Having somehow recovered, Sirius muttered a small confession of "What am I going to tell James and Lily..." as he levitated the pot and the kettle. It seemed he never intended to make us carry them in the first place.

"We really get to leave the Dursleys'?"

"It's like a dream."

"We'll have to leave behind child support for all they've done for us..."

"Child support?"

As we turned back down the path we had come from, walking with our surrogate parent Sirius between us, I gently chided Harry, who was beaming foolishly at our current situation.

What flashed through my mind was the daily tragedy of my first time raising a child: the James edition. Of course, there was also the Albus edition and the Lily edition.

"Look, Harry. Raising magical children is incredibly tough. When they cry, windows shatter; when they laugh, flowers literally bloom; when they're hungry, furniture floats in the air; and when they wake up, every single sound in the house explodes. For a wizard, it's a common bout of accidental magic that can be dealt with by a flick of a wand, but it's completely impossible for Muggles to handle. True, we were abused, and I swear I'll never condone that—and honestly, I retaliate whenever I get the chance—but frankly, I think they suffered from a neurosis brought on by the harshness of raising magical kids. It's a miracle they didn't throw us in an orphanage. Raising their own kid, plus two magical kids, with no financial support—it's pure madness. In that respect, I actually respect Aunt Petunia."

"".........""

Just the thought of surviving those panicked days without magic sends shivers down my spine. That was one of the moments I truly felt the greatness of the Reparo charm. The total cost of damages just from the number of broken plates, furniture, and window panes must be horrifying. Now that we have assets, we have to at least pay them back for that.

For some reason, Harry and Sirius both stared at me simultaneously, as if looking at a mutated rare beast, before eventually sighing in resignation.

"Sometimes, Maria, you seem as grown-up as Mrs. Weasley to me."

...I'd rather be compared to Mr. Weasley, at least.

Once we finished carrying the kettle and the pot, we had to temporarily part ways with Sirius because he had been called away on other business. Needless to say, we were fiercely reluctant to let him go. When Harry and I both hugged him and acted spoiled, he was so moved he half-cried. Even Mr. Weasley, who was watching us, was sniffling.

"Kids are a wonderful thing, aren't they, Arthur!"

"They are indeed, they are indeed."

"To think they'd be this adorable... and a son and a daughter, all at once! I feel like James and Lily are going to chase me even into my dreams."

The arms we had used to hug him were suddenly gathered painfully tight against Sirius's chest. Harry's face, right next to mine, looked like he was about to cry too. It was as if we were parting for the rest of our lives. Even though we would see him again right after the match. Ah, but still—I'm happy.

"Come now, Sirius, you'd better get going."

"I love you, Harry, Maria. It's so hard to leave you... my precious children."

""Sirius...""

"I said get going."

Even Mr. Weasley, who had been sniffling, ended up giving him an exasperated look.

Right after parting with Sirius, we met up with the group that had Apparated. As we watched Ludo Bagman and the Weasley twins settle their bet, Barty Crouch arrived to collect Bagman. The way Percy practically wagged his tail like an eager puppy the moment he spotted Crouch was something else.

Since the adults who worked at the Ministry went straight into talking about work, our trio, bored by dull adult talk, moved over to the peddlers' souvenir carts and browsed as we pleased. As for me, I was craftily thinking of picking up Draco's Christmas present for this year while I was at it. He dutifully sends me a present every year, but if I try to match his spending, my wallet suffers a foolish fate. His and Sirius's sense of money is exactly what not to emulate.

While picking out some suitably rare trinkets and marveling at the Omnioculars that Harry had splurged on for us, the sky completely darkened, and the lanterns leading to the stadium began to light up. The excitement around us was building, the heat of the witches and wizards signaling that the match was about to begin.

Led by a thoroughly excited Mr. Weasley and surrounded by children with sparkling eyes, we followed the trail of lanterns toward the stadium.

The long-awaited Quidditch World Cup had begun.