"Filthy—filthy Mudblood! How could you possibly know Master Regulus's secret?!"
Kreacher screamed, pulling violently at his long, bat-like ears, staring at Ethan in absolute terror as if witnessing something monstrous and incomprehensible!
Sirius stared in confusion: "?"
What locket? What secret involving Regulus? Am I still even the eldest son of this family? How does Ethan know more about my own brother than I do?!
Sirius was completely bewildered. But seeing the obvious terror and desperate rejection on Kreacher's wrinkled face, his sharp Gryffindor mind turned quickly, and he immediately scolded sternly, "Didn't you hear him?! Get Ethan the locket he wants immediately!"
Kreacher flinched as if struck, his bloodshot eyes widening with betrayal. "Young master! You cannot side with outsiders against family—even an ungrateful traitor should understand this basic principle."
Sirius almost laughed in bitter anger, narrowing his gray eyes and saying with grave authority, "Do you want to disobey your master's direct orders? Kreacher? Ethan is my honored guest and a great benefactor to the Black family! I order you to do exactly as he asks!"
Hearing this unbreakable command, Ethan raised his eyebrows in genuine surprise, casting an appreciative glance at Sirius. Not bad. He's catching on quickly.
Kreacher froze completely, then his entire body trembled violently with conflicting magical compulsions. But under the crushing pressure of a direct master's order, he had no choice but to bow his head in defeat. "...Yes—yes, master—wah!" The previously arrogant house-elf looked on the verge of tears, let out a choked wail of distress, and pop—disappeared with a crack of Apparition.
Seeing this complete capitulation, the seriousness on Sirius's face instantly vanished as he laughed heartily with vindictive satisfaction! "Refreshing! I've never seen that haughty elf look so utterly frustrated in my entire life!"
Sirius took a deep, cleansing breath—without the irritating elf and his screaming mother's portrait, even the mansion's stale air somehow became fresher and more breathable. Looking at Ethan now with not just admiration but genuine worship radiating from his expression! First time visiting our house, yet he knows everyone's weaknesses with perfect clarity! As if he already knew everything that happened here.
Ethan's calmly smiling figure suddenly became unfathomably mysterious in Sirius's perception.
"Indeed, eliminating all logical impossibilities, Ethan must be some ancestor I've never met," Sirius thought with complete seriousness, then laughed at his own wild speculation. "Couldn't possibly be someone who traveled from another timeline, right? Hahaha."
Without Kreacher's constant harassment and his mother's screaming, everything became peacefully quiet. Sirius said with obvious relaxation, "That useless waste will definitely drag his feet for a while. Let me show you around the place first and help find whatever ancient magic you're looking for?"
Ethan nodded appreciatively, following Sirius deeper into the mansion. Mr. Black's notes hadn't specified where exactly he'd hidden the ancient magic research, so they needed to search thoroughly and systematically. Ethan wasn't particularly rushed—there was plenty of time, and he was genuinely curious about exploring this ancient, historic mansion.
After curiously touching the intimidating troll-leg umbrella stand and climbing to the second floor with its macabre wall of mounted, preserved house-elf heads, Sirius pointed mockingly at a conspicuously empty spot. "Look there—that's where Kreacher's already saved his future place of honor."
Ethan nodded thoughtfully, mentally envisioning hanging a certain noseless Dark Lord's head on that very wall. Hmm, definitely would be very artistic and fitting.
In the large, dusty living room, Ethan stopped before the giant tapestry embroidered with the elaborate Black family tree spanning centuries. After searching the intricate genealogy carefully, he didn't find Eve Black's name among the unburned entries.
"Sirius, do you know if, about three hundred years ago, there was an ancestor named Eve Black in your family line?"
"Eve Black?" Sirius shook his head with obvious doubt. "Never heard of her in any family stories. But the Black family only keeps records of honorary members in good standing. Any so-called 'defective products' with problems get completely removed and burned away."
"Defective products—" Ethan frowned slightly with distaste, touching the deliberately burnt holes in the ancient tapestry. Miss Eve Black—in my memories, an outstanding and exceptionally brave military commander. Hard to associate someone like that with the label "defective."
Sirius added helpfully, "Speaking of which, that particular historical period also produced a notorious dark magic fanatic! Killed dozens of innocent Muggles, even conducted grotesque experiments on his own daughter. He had a huge impact back then, with some family members actually following him. But the whole group soon disappeared mysteriously—maybe they all backfired from their own dark magic."
"Hmm." Ethan responded noncommittally. Anyway, I'll personally participate in the last major goblin-human battle through time travel. Modern mysteries—I'll witness all the answers directly in the past.
After methodically searching through the entire gloomy mansion, Ethan found no significant magical fluctuations anywhere. Shaking off a venomous Doxy from his sleeve, he muttered, "It should be concealed and sealed with powerful magic, like the previous scroll and ancient well. Only when actually discovered will enormous magic surge forth—this is really troublesome."
Wonder if a dog's enhanced nose could help with magical detection...
"Achoo!" Sirius sneezed suddenly, thinking uneasily, Why do I feel like someone's watching me with disturbing intent...
"Really no obvious clues at all—" Ethan muttered with frustration. Even a cryptic riddle would be helpful!
"Ah!" Ethan suddenly cried out with realization, his eyes brightening sharply with dawning comprehension as he snapped his fingers! There is! There IS a hint! And very clearly pointed out—Professor Trelawney's apocalyptic prophecy!
[When the dusty mansion is opened, when treasures behind paintings are revealed]
Treasures behind paintings! Very likely referring to the ancient magic original research notes! And the specific painting...
Professor Trelawney! Thank you! You've made a tremendously great contribution!
Under Sirius's surprised and bewildered gaze, Ethan suddenly sprinted at full speed downstairs to the mansion's most special, prominent painting—Sirius's mother's massive portrait!
"Swoosh!" Ethan yanked down the covering cloth with dramatic flair, raising his wand directly at the scowling old woman frozen in painted form.
Sirius rushed over in alarm. "It won't work! That painting has an incredibly strong Permanent Sticking Charm cast on it—there's no way to—"
"Finite Incantatem."
Red light shot from Ethan's wand tip.
THUD! The heavy gilded frame that Phoenix members couldn't remove despite months of effort fell to the floor with a satisfying crash!
Sirius gaped in shock, standing frozen! His entire worldview was being reshaped in real-time!
Ethan turned casually. "What did you just say?"
"...I—I said nothing important," Sirius stammered in disbelief, suddenly remembering Ethan's earlier confident words: "I can accomplish anything." Those weren't empty boasts. From killing supposedly unkillable Dementors to entering this hidden mansion, Ethan had accomplished things that generations of wizards couldn't.
From where the portrait had fallen, subtle magical energy began seeping out—an ancient magic aura! Concealed by the exact same powerful illusion as discovered under the ancient well!
Ethan's pupils contracted with barely controlled excitement, his heart surging with uncontrollable anticipation! He raised his hand toward that shimmering magical aura—
"—!" Sirius gasped sharply in amazement, watching in complete shock as Ethan's hand went straight through the seemingly solid wall surface like passing through water!
Wait—this is MY family house! How did I not know about this hidden magical compartment?!
The Gryffindor adventurous nature made Sirius involuntarily excited despite his confusion, watching with bated breath as Ethan carefully pulled out a thick stack of yellowed parchment pages from within the wall.
[Congratulations!]
[You discovered the ancient magic research notes!]
[You learned the ancient rune of absorption.]
[Absorb others' magic, unique characteristics, even curses and bloodline powers for your own growth and enhancement.]
Ethan's eyes widened dramatically: "?!" Bloodline powers?!
He raised his eyebrows in genuine amazement, immediately thinking of "werewolves" and their supernatural transformation curse. Does lycanthropy count as an absorbable bloodline power? This could be absolutely revolutionary!