We tried our best not to think about the hearing while we emptied the glass cabinets that afternoon. Fortunately, it was a job that required a lot of concentration, as many of the objects in there seemed very reluctant to leave their dusty shelves. Sirius sustained a bad bite from a silver snuffbox; within seconds, his bitten hand had developed an unpleasant crusty covering like a tough brown glove.
"It's okay," he said, examining the hand with interest before tapping it lightly with his wand and restoring its skin to normal, "must be Wartcap powder in there." He threw the box aside into the sack where we were depositing the debris from the cabinets. We found an unpleasant-looking silver instrument, something like a many-legged pair of tweezers, which scuttled up Harry's arm like a spider when he picked it up, and attempted to puncture his skin; Sirius seized it and smashed it with a heavy book entitled Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy. There was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling tune when wound, and everyone else found themselves becoming curiously weak and sleepy until I had the sense to slam the lid shut; also a heavy locket that none of them could open, a number of ancient seals and, in a dusty box, an Order of Merlin, First Class, that had been awarded to Sirius's grandfather for "Services to the Ministry."
"It means he gave them a load of gold," said Sirius contemptuously, throwing the medal into the rubbish sack. Several times, Kreacher sidled into the room and attempted to smuggle things away under his loincloth, muttering horrible curses every time we caught him at it. When Sirius wrested a large golden ring bearing the Black crest from his grip Kreacher actually burst into furious tears and left the room sobbing under his breath and calling Sirius names we had never heard before. "It was my father's," said Sirius, throwing the ring into the sack. "Kreacher wasn't quite as devoted to him as to my mother, but I still caught him snogging a pair of my father's old trousers last week."
"He was snogging a pair of trousers?" I said "and I thought he was weird enough already..."
"Yeah, and there's likely still more to come" Sirius replied.
Mum kept us all working very hard over the next few days. The drawing room took three days to decontaminate; finally the only undesirable things left in it were the tapestry of the Black family tree, which resisted all our attempts to remove it from the wall, and the rattling writing desk; Moody had not dropped by headquarters yet, so they could not be sure what was inside it. We moved from the drawing room to a dining room on the ground floor where we found spiders large as saucers lurking in the dresser (Ron left the room hurriedly to make a cup of tea and did not return for an hour and a half). The china, which bore the Black crest and motto, was all thrown unceremoniously into a sack by Sirius, and the same fate met a set of old photographs in tarnished silver frames, all of whose occupants squealed shrilly as the glass covering them smashed.
Demelza was very hesitant when we encountered a nest of beetles in a cabinet in the living room, though she did eventually help after much persuasion.
"I don't mind dead beetles" she said when I questioned her on using them in potions. "The live things though with their scuttling movements, they give me the creeps"
Snape might refer to their work as "cleaning," but we were really waging war on the house, which was putting up a very good fight, aided and abetted by Kreacher. The house-elf kept appearing wherever we were congregated, his muttering becoming more and more offensive as he attempted to remove anything he could from the rubbish sacks. Sirius went as far as to threaten him with clothes, but Kreacher fixed him with a watery stare and said, "Master must do as Master wishes," before turning away and muttering very loudly, "but Master will not turn Kreacher away, no, because Kreacher knows what they are up to, oh yes, he is plotting against the Dark Lord, yes, with these Mudbloods and traitors and scum. . . ." At which Sirius, ignoring Hermione's protests, seized Kreacher by the back of his loincloth and threw him bodily from the room, to great cheers from the rest of us!
"Hermione, how can you still stick up for him, what's it gonna take?" said Harry angrily. "At this point, I feel like he could attack someone and you'd still back him!"
"No I wouldn't!" Hermione snapped back, though she did go slightly red at this accusation.
The doorbell rang several times a day, which was the cue for Sirius's mother to start shrieking again, and for us to attempt to eavesdrop on the visitor, though they gleaned very little from the brief glimpses and snatches of conversation they were able to sneak before Mum recalled them to their tasks. Snape flitted in and out of the house several times more, though to our relief we never came face-to-face; we also caught sight of our Transfiguration teacher, Professor McGonagall, looking very odd in a Muggle dress and coat, though she also seemed too busy to linger. Sometimes, however, the visitors stayed to help; Tonks joined us for a memorable afternoon in which we found a murderous old ghoul lurking in an upstairs toilet, after which she joked that it was at least easier than dealing with an angry Bill. Lupin, who was staying in the house with Sirius but who left it for long periods to do mysterious work for the Order, helped us repair a grandfather clock that had developed the unpleasant habit of shooting heavy bolts at passersby. Mundungus redeemed himself slightly by rescuing Ron from an ancient set of purple robes that had tried to strangle him when he removed them from their wardrobe.
"Merlin, the Blacks must have been real nutcases, leaving these death traps lying around!" Ron said
Far too soon for our liking though, it was the evening before Harry's trial, and the mood at dinner was rather muted.
Mum broke the silence by saying to Harry ""I've ironed your best clothes for tomorrow morning, Harry, and I want you to wash your hair tonight too. A good first impression can work wonders."
I was tempted to point out that this would mean absolutely nothing to Cornelius Fudge, who would just see it as an extra attempt to deceive him, but I didn't want to ruin Harry's mood further, so kept silent.
"How am I getting there?" Harry asked
"Arthur's taking you to work with him" said Mum
Dad smiled encouragingly at Harry across the table. "You can wait in my office until it's time for the hearing," he said.
Harry looked over at Sirius, but before he could ask the question, Mum had answered it. "Professor Dumbledore doesn't think it's a good idea for Sirius to go with you, and I must say I —"
"— think he's quite right," said Sirius through clenched teeth. Mum pursed her lips.
"When did Dumbledore tell you that?" Harry said, staring at Sirius.
"He came last night, when you were in bed," said Dad.
Sirius stabbed moodily at a potato with his fork. Harry dropped his own eyes to his plate, and I could tell what he was thinking. Dumbledore had come to the house but hadn't asked to see him. This would only make him feel even worse. I shuffled up and gave him a hug and a kiss on the cheek before whispering "It'll be alright" in his ear, and resting my head on his shoulder.
Harry relaxed a little and settled back into my embrace, but did not answer.