After leaving the Dursleys, Sirius took Harry on a broomstick to a suburban villa.
"You bought a house in Little Whinging?!"
Seeing such a luxurious single-family villa in front of him, Harry looked at Sirius beside him in surprise.
"Yes, I originally wanted to buy a house on Privet Drive, but I couldn't find a tenant willing to sell it." Sirius jumped off his broom and said casually.
"Thinking about it, it's actually quite good to be wanted. At least I can use the Confusion Charm on those Muggles without any psychological barriers. That's much more convenient."
He rummaged through his pockets and shrugged, "Can't find my keys, never mind..."
"Alohomora."
Harry stared at Sirius's actions blankly, and asked in a low voice: "Sirius... Tell me the truth, did you really buy this villa yourself?"
"What are you thinking about?" Sirius laughed, "I just lifted the wanted order, so I'm not that depressed. Besides, I don't need this little money at all!"
As he said that, he turned around and shouted into the house, "Kreacher, is this room cleaned up?"
A house-elf with a bald head and a fierce-looking face walked out of the house.
"It's all packed, Master Sirius." Kreacher replied, and then he whispered, "The prodigal Master Sirius, he just came back and he's already using the property that Master Regulus had worked so hard to get back..."
"Not only did he buy an expensive but useless broom for an outsider, he also paid a premium for an old Muggle house. Sooner or later, the Black family's fortune will be squandered by him..."
Although Kreacher was mumbling in a low voice, the volume of his voice was just maintained at a level that both Sirius and Harry could hear.
Harry's expression was a little stiff, and he looked at Sirius awkwardly, wondering whether he should return the Firebolt to Sirius... But he really liked that broom and was a little reluctant to part with it.
And Sirius's face suddenly darkened.
"Kreacher, I am the ultimate heir to all the property of the Black family!" He said to Kreacher with a stern face, "Is there any problem with me spending my own money to buy things for my godson?"
"No problem." Kreacher glanced at Sirius and then said, "That's why I'm worried that the Black family's fortune will be squandered by Sirius's indifferent mentality sooner or later."
"Um... Sirius, I don't know the situation in your family, why don't you return the Firebolt?" Harry asked in a low voice.
"Don't pay any attention to him, this house-elf is against me all the time!" Sirius felt a little embarrassed, and drove Kreacher out with gritted teeth, "Leave quickly after you've packed up, and go find your Master Regulus!"
After Kreacher Apparated away, until Harry and Sirius entered the living room together, Harry was still struggling over whether to persuade Sirius to return the house and broom.
"Sirius, I don't really have to use the Firebolt. I can also win the Quidditch Cup using the Crossfire..." Harry finally made a decision and said to Sirius resolutely.
"You really don't need to care about what Kreacher says..." Sirius looked at Harry helplessly, "I really don't lack money, it's just that the house-elf has been with my mother since he was a child, just like her, and has always looked down on me, a traitor to the Black family."
"You know, Harry, I'm the only Gryffindor in the Black family, which is tantamount to betrayal in their eyes. If I wasn't the only heir left in our family, those properties would never have been passed on to me..."
"But, didn't the house-elf just now say... that you have a younger brother?" Harry asked doubtfully.
Sirius fell silent.
"This matter is a bit complicated. In short, everyone thought Regulus was dead... or rather, he was really dead." He said softly, "With the help of Dracula, he came back to life, but the family property has been passed on to me."
"Resurrection from the dead?!" Harry opened his mouth in shock.
"It can't be considered resurrection, but it's not too far off." Sirius's arrogant eyes were also vaguely mixed with a hint of admiration. "I have to say, your Professor Dracula is really a very powerful person."
Harry nodded heartily.
Although Professor Dracula seems unreliable, looking for fun everywhere, idle and doing nothing all day long, many of his unintentional actions will bring great shock to the students.
"Okay, let's not talk about those complicated things." Sirius shook his head and passed the topic on. "Instead of discussing those things, it's better to think about who will win the Quidditch World Cup this year."
"Arthur and I have already discussed it. We will go to Weisley's house together and go to the Quidditch World Cup final with them."
As a Quidditch fan, Harry immediately diverted his attention.
"That would be great!" He jumped up in anticipation. "I've been thinking about it all summer, and Ron told me that Mr. Weasley could get tickets for the event from the Ministry of Magic."
"Yes, it's in the top box!" Sirius looked a little regretful, "I wanted to buy a few tickets for you personally, but it seems that it's not necessary..."
"That's good, so Kreacher won't blame you for spending money indiscriminately." Harry laughed.
"Never mind, he'll find a way to tease me anyway." Sirius shrugged.
"By the way," he suddenly moved his eyes and asked, "Does your Professor Dracula like Quidditch? He has helped me and my brother a lot, and I think I should give him some gifts."
"Um... maybe he doesn't like it very much?" Harry thought carefully for a moment, then shook his head, "It seems that Professor Dracula doesn't go to the Quidditch field to watch the game every time. He just wants to watch the fun we have when we play."
"Is that so..." Sirius fell into deep thought.
…
At the same time, Dracula, who was being talked about by Sirius and Harry, was sitting in the most luxurious exclusive booth in the White Dragon Bar in Knockturn Alley, leisurely sipping a drink.
Sitting opposite Dracula was a pale man with light blond hair, who looked particularly anxious.
"Professor Dracula, I have completely fallen on your side. You must help me!" Lucius moved his body back and forth, fidgeting, as if there were thorns prickling him on the soft and luxurious cushion in the compartment.
"Don't move here. It makes me upset." Dracula raised his eyes and glared at him, then continued to taste the wine in the goblet in his hand.
Lucius really calmed down and didn't dare to move anymore, but his breathing still seemed a little rapid.
After leisurely tasting the wine in the glass, Dracula gently placed the wine glass on the table and looked straight at Lucius.
"Tell me, Lucius, why are you in such a hurry to find me this time?" Dracula asked casually.
Lucius didn't say anything, but pulled open the sleeve of his left arm, revealing a red skull mark. A huge python emerged from the skull's mouth, like a tongue sticking out.
"Professor Dracula, the Dark Mark has become clearer recently." He said uneasily, "When I first discovered it a few days ago, I thought it was an illusion, but in the past two days, the mark has even shown signs of fever..."
"You should know what this means!"
Dracula's expression became a little more serious as he looked at the mark that had caused countless disturbances and brought endless fear to the magic world.
"I remember that last time in the bunker built for him by you Death Eaters, didn't Voldemort burn his own soul on his own initiative?" he asked softly.
"That's right. I thought the Dark Lord's era was over." Lucius' lips trembled, and a few drops of cold sweat dripped down his forehead. "It was indeed like that in the beginning. The Dark Mark almost disappeared..."
"But starting from this summer, the markings have become clearer every day. Today, they are not much different from those during the war!"
Seeing Lucius sweating profusely, and then looking at the extremely clear Dark Mark on his left arm, Dracula's eyes flashed with solemnity.
Voldemort has actively burned his own soul. Even with the existence of the Horcrux, he can retain a remnant soul that is even weaker than a wandering soul, but his power has indeed been weakened to the limit.
Up to now, it has been less than two years since Voldemort's spontaneous combustion. Theoretically, it is still far from the time for him to revive.
If it were a few months ago, Dracula might still feel confused.
But now, he could judge one thing very accurately: Voldemort really borrowed the power of the so-called God of Death!
"So you come to me now, do you have any ideas?" Dracula asked.
"Yes, I do have an idea... but I need to ask for your opinion," Lucius said awkwardly.
"Tell me about it," said Dracula.
"Ahem..." Lucius coughed twice and said carefully, "Professor Dracula, you know... the Dark Lord doesn't trust me, or even us Death Eaters who are not imprisoned in Azkaban."
"Of course, it's strange that he can trust you." Dracula sneered, "Although Voldemort is a little stupid, he is not completely a fool."
Lucius didn't dare to say anything about Dracula's comments on Voldemort. He could only lower his head and pretend he didn't hear it, and then continued to explain his own thoughts.
"Yes, we are indeed untrustworthy, so we must do something to gain trust." He said, "We all know that the thing that the Dark Lord is most upset about is that after he fell from power, we, the Death Eaters who have preserved our freedom, did not take any action to look for him..."
"So, before the Dark Lord summons us with the Dark Mark, we can do something in advance to show that the Death Eaters are still active, that we haven't forgotten him, and that we haven't stopped looking for him."
After Lucius finished speaking, he looked at Dracula guiltily, fearing that he would think he was taking advantage of the opportunity to do something.
"Do you think you can regain Voldemort's trust like this?" Dracula didn't care whether Lucius was playing tricks or not, but felt that his plan was a bit self-deceptive, so he glanced at him sideways.
"Of course not, but at least we can have something to say when facing the Dark Lord." Lucius said, "He must be in a hurry to use people now, and he will not attack us without a good reason."
"That's an interesting statement." Dracula thought for a moment, then raised the corner of his mouth, "Are you sure you can convince other Death Eaters to act with you?"
"I think their ideas are similar to mine." Lucius said, "Now we just need a leader. I think I can get this position, and then I will be more confident in front of the Dark Lord."
"It seems you have already thought about it." Dracula chuckled and picked up the bottle to refill his glass of wine. "What is the specific method?"
"I want to start a riot in the name of Death Eaters at the upcoming Quidditch World Cup." Lucius took a deep breath and said through gritted teeth.
"If things get out of control, Professor Dracula, I hope you can help me control the situation!"
…
Obviously, the Weisleys, Harry, Sirius and others were unaware of the upcoming "planned" riot.
On the day of the Quidditch World Cup final, they woke up early and used the portkey to reach the camping site around the Quidditch pitch.
There were hundreds of oddly shaped tents here, rising up the gentle slope of a large expanse of ground that stretched toward the dark woods above the horizon.
There were so many wizards coming to watch the Quidditch World Cup final that the Ministry of Magic had to implement a "portkey landing planning management" for them to prevent teams using different portkeys from colliding with each other and causing major traffic accidents.
The Weisley family was unlucky. They were assigned a portkey drop time of 5:07 in the morning, so they had to wait in the campsite for several hours before the Quidditch match officially started.
Of course, there were many more people who arrived earlier than Wes's family, and some of them had already stayed in the campsite overnight.
Along the way, Mr. Weasley proudly explained this year's Quidditch World Cup to the young wizards, telling them that the World Cup stadium could accommodate 100,000 spectators.
Of course, the price paid was that 500 staff members of the Ministry of Magic were busy for a whole year!
"Fudge did not handle the matter concerning Sirius and Buckbeak well and received many complaints. In addition, he was eager to get rid of his image as Dumbledore's yes-man in his early years, so he had long wanted to make a big news."
Mr. Weisley said so.
Then, he looked mysteriously at the little wizards who were still in school, "It's not just this matter, there is another event that is equally important and is closely related to you!"
…
…