Chapter 200 Secrets Of The Darkest Art
For instance, Araminta Meliflua, mother Sirius's cousin, was referred to as a dignified lady by Kreacher.
But was she truly as virtuous as Kreacher claimed in the novel? If Evan remembered correctly, the most notorious deed this "lady" accomplished was attempting to push a Ministry bill to legalize the hunting of Muggles.
Under the lure of Galleons, this inhumane bill nearly passed. Thankfully, it was rejected due to its horrifying content.
Then there was Elladora, Sirius's aunt.
In the Black family, she initiated the ancestral practice of beheading house-elves when they grew too old to carry tea trays, a practice quickly mimicked and endorsed among other pure-blood wizarding families.
It was astonishing that this behavior, utterly ludicrous to ordinary folks, had earned high praise from the last house-elf of the Black family, Kreacher. He seemed truly inclined to have his head hung alongside his predecessors!
Moreover, there were many others akin to them praised by Kreacher.
In summary, unlike Harry and Hermione, perplexed and bewildered, Evan saw the names displayed on the Black family tree worsening with each generation.
Especially in this century, the Black family was predominantly comprised of either malevolent dark wizards or repugnant pure-blood idealists. They committed numerous wicked and cruel deeds, so much so that decent individuals were almost imperceptible among them.
This isn't to say there were no virtuous figures in the Black family, but upon their emergence, like Sirius, they were swiftly ostracized by all family members and expunged from the family tree as if they had never existed.
"Evan, Hermione, look at this spot." Harry pointed to a name on the right side of the tapestry and remarked with curiosity, "It's Malfoy, also in this family tree."
Following Harry's gesture, Evan noticed a double line of golden embroidery linking Narcissa Black to Lucius Malfoy, and a single vertical golden line stemming from their names leading to Draco's.
"Miss Narcissa, Draco's mother, is a cousin of young master Sirius," Kreacher hastily clarified. "When my mistress was still present, Kreacher saw her many times; Miss Narcissa visited the mistress every week. Unlike the speechless and rowdy young master Sirius, she is a respected witch. She had a good relationship with young master Regulus. She also holds much, much affection for Kreacher…"
Evan grasped Kreacher's implication. It was evident this house-elf had deep affection for Narcissa.
There was no need to guess; Narcissa was kinder to him than Sirius.
This was also one of the main reasons why Kreacher eventually divulged information to Malfoy, leading to Sirius's demise.
It seemed he would have to be cautious in the future.
"I can't believe it. Sirius is actually related to the Malfoys!" Startled by Kreacher's explanation, Harry exclaimed. "How is this possible?"
"Nothing is impossible. A pure-blood wizarding family can only be connected by marriage to another pure-blood wizard. Needless to say, a Muggle, not even a Muggle-born wizard, can be accepted. Following this criterion, the choice of marriage partners is extremely limited."
Parallel to Narcissa, Evan spotted Bellatrix Black, a double golden line linking her to Rodolphus Lestrange's name.
Thinking of the most deranged Death Eater under Voldemort's command, Evan felt a strange and ominous stir deep in his heart. He was unwilling to continue witnessing this disturbing genealogy. He sought to inspect the Black family's book collection.
Before them, the entire room was divided into four collection areas, with the northwest wall section housing the history of magic and family Black archives; east of these books, were study notes on the Black family's history. This section was the largest, with over 30 bookshelves.
On the southern side near the exit, there were numerous books on white magic such as metamorphosis and potions, many of which had duplicates in the Hogwarts Library.
The most striking collection was in the southwest corner, separated by ropes from the other areas. The shelves there differed from the wooden ones in the other three areas. They were unpleasantly black, and the collection of books was very small. There were only four shelves, and they were not fully stocked.
If Evan was not mistaken, all the books on black magic should be placed there.
He hesitated and saw Hermione in the history of magic section, where there were many internal notes from the Black family members, all of which were secretive and not open to the outside world. She was very interested in that information.
Accompanied by Kreacher, Harry went to the other side of the shelf, and Evan heard him inquire about books on defense against the Dark Arts.
Seeing that no one was watching him, Evan quickly went to the area where the books on black magic were placed.
He walked to a huge shelf filled with books on magic. Those old shelves were covered in thick dust and tiny cracks.
The thick magic books placed on top were also covered in dust, their worn and faded golden letters on the spines could no longer accurately display the titles.
Evan struggled, and most of the words and grammar in the books were very esoteric and hard to comprehend. They all used a grammatical vocabulary from past centuries or some ancient magical text, and some books didn't even have text on the cover.
Evan didn't know if it was a hallucination, but he could sense a surge of whispers coming from the book in front of him.
Under the dim, gloomy candlelight, every hair on his body stood on end.
Fortunately, Sirius was not there, as Evan was sure Sirius would not allow him to approach this section. Surely, he intended to give him and Hermione normal magic books as Christmas gifts.
Evan examined it for a moment, excluding several books he had seen before, along with those without names and written in ancient magic.
Unlike a normal magic book, a book on black magic is very dangerous and must be handled with caution.
Moreover, most of these black magic books were manuscripts. The authors themselves were often very wicked. Many were extremely fierce dark wizards. They probably left a trace of evil in them while copying the magic book. This black magic, if not handled carefully, could be deadly.
The language itself, the ancient magical text itself, had magical power. If ordered and combined correctly, it meant that magic was set in motion.
In history, there were many people who wanted to become dark wizards. When they opened their first book of black magic, they tragically lost their lives.
Evan did not want to end up like that. He hesitated, then took the black and silver book closest to him and placed it on his lap. This book had paper from centuries ago, its title had peeled off, and it was covered with various dark prints, very similar to blood, which looked very terrifying.
Evan did not rush to open it; he gently caressed it with his fingers.
Just by touching it with his fingers, he recognized the name of the book in his hands, and it was "Secrets of the Darkest Art."
What, how was that possible?
He looked at the magic book on his lap in horror, and it was actually a book about the secrets of sophisticated black magic, documenting how a Horcrux was created.
According to the information Evan had found before, this magic was extremely rare. As one of the main books on black magic, "Secrets of the Darkest Art" was known to have even been lost to the magical world. Except for a copy in Hogwarts, it cannot be found anywhere else.