Harry Potter: Raised by Wolves.

Chapter 64: Chapter 64:



Sirius was dressed too when Harry met him, in loose jeans with a hole in the knee and a worn-looking muggle band t-shirt that might have actually come from the 1970s. "Perfect! Come on!" Sirius grabbed him by the hand, tugging him over to a room he hadn't yet been in, and the tour began.

There was the parlour, the smoking room, the downstairs bedroom suite, the pantry — of course the kitchen, where Ceri waved while cracking several eggs into a bowl — the formal dining room, and the duelling room.

And that was just on the ground floor.

Harry was whizzed through another sitting room, a playroom, at least eight bedrooms, a nursery, four bathrooms, a library — where they found Remus absorbed in a book — the big study and the small study, the music room, another playroom, the Owlery, a bathroom with a bath the size of a small swimming pool, a dressing room, a drawing room, and then all the way down to the basement to see the wine cellar, the wardstone and ritual room, the safe room and the door to the potions lab.

"I won't knock, Snape'll bite our heads off," Sirius said at that one, gently steering Harry past it. Harry was out of breath, and didn't understand how Sirius was still talking a mile a minute as they returned to the entrance hall.

"This place is enormous!" remarked, and Sirius laughed.

Harry "One day I'll take you to the Black family manor, down in Cornwall. It makes this place look like a dollhouse." Harry stared at him incredulously. "Come on, I'll show you around the grounds."

It was a glorious sunny day outside, and Sirius tipped his head back with a grin, basking in the sun for a minute. "Still not used to that," he murmured to himself. Harry's heart twisted; there wasn't any sun in Azkaban. Sirius shook it off though, cheerfully marching onwards. "The treeline is the property line, so don't ever go past it unless one of us is with you." The woods circled the whole house; even the driveway just led into the trees. "All the fun stuff is around the back, come on."

Their first stop was the stables; five stalls, only one of which was occupied. "Buckbeak!" Harry greeted cheerfully, offering the hippogriff a bow. Buckbeak bowed in return, then butted his head into Harry's chest, demanding to be petted. When they left, Buckbeak followed them, occasionally nudging Sirius' shoulder fondly with his beak.

"There's a greenhouse over there, it's a bit wild at the minute. Ceri wasn't sure what to do with it all these years. I think Snape plans to grow some potions ingredients in it, but I don't know how much of a green thumb he has. If you want to get stuck in, take one of us with you; we're not entirely sure what's growing in there right now. Something might bite your head off." Harry laughed, but a glance at Sirius' face made h im realise the man was completely serious. He thought of some of the plants in the restricted greenhouses at school, for seventh year study only, and grimaced.

"Is that a swimming pool?" Harry gaped, seeing the stone-edged pool sunk into the ground.

"Yup," Sirius replied proudly. "Got it up and running on Saturday. Feel free to take a dip whenever. If you're drowning, yell for Ceri." That was a joke, and Sirius winked. "Also, look over there."

Harry looked in the direction Sirius was pointing, only for the man to tilt his chin until Harry was looking up. He gasped. "A quidditch pitch!"

"Half-pitch," Sirius corrected. "Not quite enough room for a full one. I know you're not a chaser, so the goals aren't as important to you, but they're there if you ever fancy your hand with a quaffle. There's a full set of equipment in the broom shed — the snitch hasn't been used in a while, so it might be a bit wonky, but we can always have Remus or Snape pick up another one."

"Sirius, this place is incredible." Not only was he away from the Dursleys, but he was away from them at a house that had a swimming pool and a quidditch pitch. Unbelievable.

"It's pretty great, isn't it?" Sirius agreed wistfully. "It brings back old memories. I stopped going after my parents kicked me out; spent every summer at James' instead. Mr and Mrs Potter were brilliant, don't get me wrong, and The Pottery is a dream house, but… I've missed this place."

"Your parents kicked you out?" Harry asked, surprised.

"Oh, yeah. First I sullied the family name by being sorted into Gryffindor, then I made friends with halfbloods and muggleborns and light wizards, and there was no going back. Blasted my name off the family tree, but never officially disinherited me. There's a ritual, it's a bit complicated, I s'pose Mum never got around to it. Or she hoped I'd see sense… either way, I'm the head of the family, now. At least, I would be if I weren't a convict." "So who's head at the moment?"

"No one, technically," Sirius said with a shrug. "The family magic went a bit dormant in me while I was in Azkaban, but it's still there; since I never had a trial, it was never officially stripped from me. I just can't fully access it until I can step into the Wizengamot and claim my seat again, which obviously I can't do until I'm a free man. Until then, Dumbledore's my proxy." His sour expression showed exactly what he thought of that. "Once you come of age, you can take it back, though."

"Unless we can get your name cleared before then," Harry pointed out. "Don't give up hope, Sirius." Sirius shrugged again. "Doesn't really bother me either way. I've got you, and Moony, and I'm out of that blasted prison cell. S'all I need for the minute." Both of them looked up when they heard a bell ring out across the grounds. Sirius grinned. "Lunch is ready."

Remus and Snape were already at the table when Sirius and Harry joined them, talking quietly to each other. "I still think it's too early, Severus," Remus was saying, before he looked up at their arrival. "Hello, boys. Been keeping out of trouble?"

🚀New updates on my Ko-fi!🚀

Support me and read the novel, now available in PDF, with the advanced chapters.

https://ko-fi.com/cmrowling

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

Tip: You can use left, right, A and D keyboard keys to browse between chapters.