Chapter 272: Spring Cleaning and Going to the Ministry
After handing the locket over to Dumbledore to handle, Aiden returned to Grimmauld Place.
Lupin was taken away by Dumbledore to carry out some secret mission. Before leaving, he asked Aiden for a Prewett family crest with a magical mark.
With three days until Harry's hearing, the group at Grimmauld Place with nothing to do decided to do some thorough cleaning.
"Don't you have a house-elf?"
Aiden, wearing a mask and apron, waved his wand to clean the dust.
"Kreacher never cleans the house, and every time I'm cleaning, he secretly hides some trash!" Sirius complained with frustration.
Aiden looked at Sirius with a teasing expression for a while until he embarrassedly slipped away, then continued cleaning the house.
Aiden lifted the sofa with one hand and found a large pile of dead Puffskeins underneath.
Sirius pulled back the curtains, and a large group of doxies ran out from behind them.
Seeing a large swarm of black-haired pests the size of southern cockroaches rushing toward him, the dragon's hair stood on end.
"Huff." A breath of dragon fire shot out, freezing the entire curtain along with them.
"My God, are you trying to kill me!"
Sirius said, putting down his wand. The Shield Charm in front of him had turned into a large ice ball.
"At least we dealt with the doxies, didn't we?" Aiden said with a wink.
The two then used Cleaning Charms together to clear away the ice debris around them.
Ron, Harry, and Hermione were cleaning cabinets in the attic.
Harry opened a cabinet door, and suddenly a large black spider crawled out.
Ron's face changed dramatically. "Um, I'm a bit thirsty. I'll go out for some tea."
Then he disappeared for a whole hour.
When Mundungus returned with intelligence from Knockturn Alley, the entire old house had been completely renewed.
"Oh, Sirius, can you give me these useless pieces of junk!" Mundungus said, showing a mercenary smile.
Aiden glanced at him and saw through his little scheme immediately.
"Those silver items are very valuable. If you want to dispose of them, you can go to legitimate shops in Diagon Alley," Aiden reminded him.
"Oh." Mundungus made a disappointed sound.
"Alright, what are you here for?!" Sirius said, seeming to really dislike him.
"Intelligence from Knockturn Alley. The actual controllers of Knockturn Alley now seem to have plans to side with the mysterious man," Mundungus said, not wasting time as he told them the intelligence.
"Alright, I know. We'll notify Dumbledore!" After hearing the intelligence, Sirius directly sent Mundungus away.
"The silverware, think about it..." Mundungus still didn't forget about the Black family's silverware as he left.
Then he was driven out the door, and Sirius slammed it shut heavily.
"Sirius, why do you dislike him so much?" Harry asked with some curiosity.
"He's a hypocrite, a thief, a scoundrel. Harry, you'd better have less contact with him," Sirius said, warning him seriously.
"By the way, I suddenly remembered something. How is your Occlumency practice going?"
Aiden suddenly showed a teacher's expression, seriously looking at the two of them.
Having experienced teaching at Hogwarts, Aiden could now completely transform into Professor McGonagall.
The same aura made Sirius and Harry instantly return to school and start trembling.
"Learning... we're learning, Mc... no, Aiden," Harry stammered.
"Let me test you!" Aiden said, giving them a direct look.
Magical power attached to their thoughts, and the power of Legilimency seemed about to pry open their mental defences.
But Aiden felt weak resistance, though it was quite feeble.
"Hmm, at least you haven't been slacking off. You must remember..." Aiden was about to speak, but the two could already skilfully continue his words.
"Voldemort is a powerful Legilimens. If you can't learn Occlumency, you can't even stand in front of him," Harry answered.
"Good." Aiden nodded with satisfaction.
On Monday, Harry's hearing was about to begin.
On this day, Harry was again awakened by nightmares and sat at the dining table eating bread with orange jam.
Aiden, on the other hand, was eating Mrs. Weasley's prepared oatmeal muffins, smoked fish bacon, and fried eggs without any politeness.
After eating, the four people dressed neatly and walked toward London's subway station.
Along the way, Arthur was like a curious child. The crowds, revolving doors, and automatic ticket machines could all make him extremely excited, forming a sharp contrast with the worried Harry beside him.
On the subway, Harry said to Sirius:
"Sirius, if we get expelled, can we come live with you at Grimmauld Place?"
"You'd rather come to Grimmauld Place than go back to those damn Muggles!" Sirius said, his focus not on the same point as Harry's.
Aiden teased Arthur: "Uncle, the reason you're taking the subway is completely because you want to see ordinary people's technology, isn't it?"
"Don't tell Harry," Arthur said, winking at him.
Passing through the crowded crowd and coming out of the subway station, they found a red telephone booth between Downing Street and Parliament.
Arthur led the three into the cramped space and pressed buttons on the telephone.
The telephone booth descended, taking the four into the Ministry of Magic's visitor hall.
Black stone bricks covered the entire hall, with many golden sculptures around.
In the middle were two fountains, with a male wizard standing in the centre of the pool, surrounded by house-elves, centaurs, and goblins looking at him with worshipful eyes.
Aiden inexplicably felt this wizard looked somewhat familiar.
Then a man in platinum robes appeared behind Aiden, trying to put his hands on Aiden's shoulders.
But the next moment, he felt as if he had shuttled back and forth between dreams and reality dozens of times.
The Director stared in confusion. "..."
"Heh, nice try," Aiden said with a smug smile.
"Aiden, who are you talking to?" The three people nearby were very curious, and Sirius boldly asked.
Then the Director materialised from virtual to real, walking in front of everyone.
"Hello, I am the Director of the Department of Mysteries," the Director said, performing a wizard's bow to everyone.
"This guy is one of us; he'll help us vote later," Aiden said, introducing him to them.
Hearing this, Harry immediately felt much better and found the Director's mysterious behaviour much more agreeable.
The group set off for the Wizengamot in the basement, while the Director used some special communication method to chat with Aiden.
Hiss, why are you reciting prayers to me for no reason? Aiden's left eyebrow raised slightly.
Well, there are some little secrets I don't want to share with them, the Director said with a wink.
Speak quickly if you have something to say... Aiden replied.
What exactly are you trying to do now? I'm starting to not understand your thinking, the Director enquired.
As Aiden's power and strength continued to expand, the Director was very curious why Aiden still wanted to play power games with those vermin at the Ministry.
Order built on force alone doesn't last long. I need a bottom-up transformation that people spontaneously form, Aiden answered.
The Director wanted to ask more, but unfortunately, the group had already reached the door of Arthur's office.