Hogwarts: I Am an Exemplary Wizard-Chapter 530 - 528: Once Blake Gives Something Away, He Never Takes It Back
Christmas gift?
This time, it was Kael’s turn to be confused.
"What did you just say?" he asked instinctively.
"Is it hard to understand?" Sirius said with a smile, "Didn’t you find it strange yesterday? Why didn’t you receive the Christmas gift I sent you?"
"I did receive it." Kael said, "Isn’t the Firebolt it? It even helped me pass the first task of the Triwizard Tournament."
"No, no, no, that was a gift for becoming a Champion."
Sirius said, "You wouldn’t think that what I said in the Headmaster’s Office was all a lie, would you? Then you’d be wrong. I really prepared a gift that couldn’t be sent to Hogwarts..."
"Hold on." Kael interrupted him, "Is this also something your uncle left you?"
"No, this is the Blake family’s property." Sirius said, "But now it belongs to me, and I can handle it as I see fit."
"Better not." Kael waved his hand, "The Firebolt gift is valuable enough, forget about the shop, I couldn’t accept it."
Kael didn’t know exactly how much it would cost to buy a shop in Diagon Alley, but he was sure it wouldn’t be less than a few thousand Galleons, and if the shop was big enough, it could even go up to ten thousand.
This gift was too valuable, and Kael found it hard to accept it with peace of mind.
"That won’t do." Sirius said solemnly, "You have helped me so many times, I..."
"Stop, it was Professor Dumbledore who helped you."
Kael said, "Whether it was defending you at the Ministry of Magic or going to the cave to fetch Regulus, he did most of the work, I was just watching from the side."
"You’re wrong." Sirius shook his head.
Seemingly tired of standing, he led Kael to Florean Fortescue’s Ice Cream Parlour, ordered two hazelnut peanut ice creams, and sat at a small table by the shop entrance.
"Or rather, you’re underestimating your own role in it." Sirius handed one ice cream to Kael and continued:
"Let’s talk about my situation first. In fact, I was prepared to go on the run, it was you who gave things a turn."
"With Peter Pettigrew, you’ll always get your name cleared." Kael said.
"That’s the most interesting part."
Sirius gazed at the bustling street, "I talked to Professor Dumbledore once, and he told me, even with Peter Pettigrew, even with all the evidence laid out, it was difficult for Fudge to exonerate me.
"It was a scandal for the Ministry of Magic, he might even directly kill Peter to save face.
"But Fudge didn’t do that." Kael said.
"That’s because you said something that made Fudge realize he could extricate himself from the whole thing." Sirius said seriously, "Do you remember what you said at that time, ’If you were the Minister then, such a mistake would never have happened’, it was that sentence that instantly changed Fudge’s attitude.
"And Professor Dumbledore also said, neither he nor I could have ever thought of this, and on that point, I quite agree.
"In other words, you paved a path, and we just needed to walk it."
Sirius took a big bite of the ice cream, licked his lips, and continued: "And Regulus...
"You found the Slytherin locket, only then did we hear about his past from Kreacher.
"If you hadn’t found that locket back then, I might have thrown it away as trash, and none of the subsequent events would have happened. You know, my relationship with Kreacher was really bad then.
Right, even on the cliff, it was you who called Dumbledore, I remember you even used a precious Phoenix Tail Feather... that’s something for saving lives, worth more than two shops."
"Uh... you might not know." Kael explained: "I have a good relationship with Fawkes, and it gave me another one yesterday for Christmas."
But it was as if Sirius hadn’t heard.
"Accept it." he said on his own, "Because of you, I can stand in the sunlight, and Regulus can go home... I don’t know how to express my gratitude, this was the best way Lupin and I could think of."
"Really, there’s no need." Kael said, "Besides, Harry and I are friends, giving a friend some advice is a small favor, you should leave the shop for him."
"This belongs to the Blake family, not just mine." Sirius shook his head. "I will never use it, but I have no problem giving it to you...
"After all, Regulus was my parents’ favorite child, I must show their gratitude."
Though he said so, Kael still felt it was a bit too much, this pie falling from the sky was too big, it made him a bit dizzy.
Plus, Kael had never really considered opening a shop in Diagon Alley after graduation.
But it seemed as if Sirius had made up his mind.
"Here’s the magic contract for the shop, now it’s yours." he took out a piece of parchment and placed it on the table, "If you don’t want it, throw it away, I’m not taking it back.
"Just like my uncle once told me, anything given by the Blake family is never taken back."
"Weren’t you already expelled from the Blake family?" Kael said faintly.
Sirius had just put on his pure-blood family airs, not yet having time to show off, when he was immediately returned to his original state.
He looked somewhat exasperated.
"No matter what, I still represent the Blake family."
Kael shook his head and picked up the parchment on the table and examined it.
It only had an address: 31 Diagon Alley.
At the bottom was a complex magic pattern talisman, just holding it, Kael could vaguely sense the location of the shop.
"Take it back first, we’ll talk about the shop after I graduate."
Kael handed the parchment back, but Sirius acted as if he hadn’t seen it, refusing to take it.
Just as the two were at an impasse, Kael accidentally caught a glimpse of a passerby holding the Daily Prophet.
On the cover, a large photo instantly caught his attention.
Kael got up and walked over, "Excuse me, may I take a look at this newspaper?"
The wizard was startled by Kael’s sudden appearance, but once he regained his composure, he handed over the paper, "Oh, sure, you can have it, I’ve already read it."
"Thank you." Kael accepted the newspaper.
"What’s up?" Sirius also came over.
Kael didn’t speak.
He opened the newspaper, quickly read through the front-page article, and then pointed to a passage, frowning, "Hagrid might be in trouble."
Sirius instinctively looked over.
"We can exclusively reveal that this Professor Hagrid’s mother is the Giant Fridwulfa, whose current whereabouts are unknown.
Giants are inherently bloodthirsty and violent. We do not know if he has inherited this trait, nor whether Hogwarts’ Headmaster Dumbledore has disclosed all this to students and their parents."
"Wait!" Sirius exclaimed in surprise, "So Hagrid is a half-giant?"
"Sure, a normal wizard could never reach over three meters tall." Kael said, "But the problem is, guessing and pointing it out are two different things. Hagrid’s usual conduct at Hogwarts is nothing like bloodthirsty and violent, and many people like him, but now..."
As Kael spoke, Sirius also realized the seriousness of the situation.
Because he had the best example right next to him, Lupin.
For a whole year, he had been one of Hogwarts’ most popular professors, yet when his werewolf identity was revealed... even though the school year passed peacefully, he still had to resign and leave.
This stemmed from people’s fear of werewolves, something that couldn’t be changed.
And a half-giant... to be honest, while this identity isn’t as frightening as a werewolf, it is just as problematic.
All wizards know that giants were once under You-Know-Who’s command, synonymous with brutality.
"So what do we do now?" he asked.
"I don’t know." Kael stuffed the newspaper haphazardly into his robe pocket, "Let’s head back to Hogwarts and ask Hagrid."
"Alright!"
Sirius immediately got up, leading Kael briskly towards the Leaky Cauldron.
