Chapter 194 The Genealogical Tree Of The Black Family
Just as Evan destroyed the Horcrux, Sirius, Harry, and Hermione descended slowly down the stairs in the darkness.
"Where did Evan go, is he not following us?" Hermione asked with concern, looking around in the darkness.
"He probably wants to have a word with Kreacher, or visit the house. Don't worry, there is no danger except for my old mother's portrait. I'll go check on that later," Sirius said lightly. "We'll be there soon."
Ten seconds later, they arrived in a spacious underground room.
The scene before them was spectacular. The room looked like a vast library. The shelves were filled with books, all of them valuable magical books.
On the surrounding walls, there were green tapestries with the emblems of the Black family and black embellishments. Although many parts of the tapestries seemed to have been nibbled by Doxys, the golden thread with which they were embroidered still shone brightly.
The most striking was the tapestry facing the stairs, which was very large and covered almost the entire wall.
Sirius approached it, and Harry and Hermione hurried after him.
As they advanced, they discovered the magnificence of this tapestry. Harry could clearly see a genealogical tree with branches and tendrils dating back to the Middle Ages.
And that was not all, it continued upwards to the top of the wall.
On the right side of the tapestry, from top to bottom, was embroidered with large golden characters: "THE NOBLE AND ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK 'TOUJOURS PUR'".
"This is the genealogical tree of the Black family!" Sirius said softly. "In addition to this one, there is another piece kept in my mother's room. She considered these two genealogical trees as her most cherished treasures. They are the most direct proof of the family's blood purity. When she was alive, nobody but her could touch them!"
"You're not here," Harry pointed out, after scanning the bottom of the tree.
"I used to be there," said Sirius, pointing to a small round scorched hole in the tapestry, resembling a cigarette burn. "My dear old mother erased me from after I fled home. I suppose it was the same in her room, it wasn't an accident. I know my mother well enough to know she definitely would have done it."
"You fled home?" said Harry.
"Yes," Sirius replied with a serene tone. "I was around sixteen. I had had enough."
"Where did you go?" Harry asked, staring at him.
"To your father's house," Sirius said. "Your grandparents were really kind about it; they practically adopted me as a second son. Yes, I stayed at your father's house during school holidays, and then, when I was seventeen, I got my own place, my uncle Alphard had left me a good amount of gold, he doesn't appear here either, probably that's why."
Sirius pointed to another small round hole in the tapestry and continued, "Anyway, after that, I took care of myself. I was always welcome at the Potter's house for Sunday lunch. They were all good people."
"But... why...?" Harry started.
"You left?" Sirius completed with a bitter smile. "Because I hated that whole group. You don't know them, Harry: my parents, with their obsession with blood purity, convinced that being a Black made you practically royalty... my idiot brother, naive enough to believe them... there he is."
Sirius pointed with a finger at the bottom of the tree, at the name of REGULUS BLACK.
There was a death date after the birth date, roughly 13 years ago. That's a year before Voldemort's fall and Black's imprisonment.
"He was younger than me," Sirius said with a hint of disdain at the corner of his lips, "and a much better son, as they constantly reminded me."
"But he died," said Harry.
"Yes, I'm not surprised in the least," said Sirius. "Stupid idiot... he joined the Death Eaters."
"You must be joking!" Harry and Hermione said in unison.
"Come on, haven't you seen enough of this house to know what kind of wizards my family were?" Sirius said irritably.
"Were... were your parents Death Eaters too?" Harry asked hesitantly.
"No, no, but believe me, they thought Voldemort was right, they were in favor of the purification of the magical race, getting rid of Muggle-borns and letting purebloods take charge."
Upon hearing Sirius, the faces of Harry and Hermione grew even paler.
"They weren't the only ones, there were quite a few people, before Voldemort showed his true nature, who thought he was right about certain things... Some pureblood wizarding families believed in him and thought he could lead them back to the glory of the past. But they backed off when they saw what he was willing to do for power. My parents, however, probably thought Regulus was a true hero for joining in the beginning."
"Was he killed by an Auror?" Harry asked cautiously.
"Oh no," said Sirius, and the contemptuous smile at the corner of his mouth grew stronger. "No, he was killed by Voldemort. Or more likely on Voldemort's orders, I doubt Regulus was important enough to be killed by Voldemort in person. From what I found out after his death, he went so far, then panicked at what they were asking of him and tried to back out. Well, you can't just resign from Voldemort. It's a life of servitude or death."
Although Sirius's tone was mocking, a trace of pain still lingered. He was deeply concerned about his brother's death.
Otherwise, Sirius wouldn't bother investigating his death.
Harry wanted to say something to console Sirius, but suddenly his scar pained him.
He couldn't help but scream and cover his forehead with his hand.
"What's wrong, Harry?" Sirius asked worriedly. "Are you..."
He didn't finish his words, on the stairs, there was a sudden deafening scream, the scream of a dying man.
Sirius stared for a moment and hurried upstairs. Harry and Hermione followed him, and Evan was still there. Had there been an accident?
They didn't know what was happening, especially Harry, who sensed an unusual ominous premonition, as if something was approaching.
This feeling he had experienced twice before, facing Voldemort in the first year and Tom Riddle in the second; the voice simply sounded like Voldemort's. As soon as he thought Voldemort might be in that house, Harry almost felt suffocated and was afraid even to imagine it.
With all the strength of their bodies, they ran to the top of the stairs as fast as possible, and then collided with something on the stairs.
They all fell, and Sirius jumped up with his wand in hand.
By the light of his wand, he saw Evan standing unharmed in front of him, looking calm and not at all in danger.