Alice Longbottom stopped asking questions the moment she understood why she was not getting answers.
She had asked for details about Medusa. Sirius offered a bright, harmless smile and asked Neville whether he had packed his notes. Bellatrix smiled like the question was a charming joke and began listing desserts that could be served at Black Mansion. Narcissa kept a pleasant expression and replied to Alice's direct inquiry with a softer line about how tired Harry looked after finals.
No fidgeting, stammering or guilty pauses. Just three Blacks refusing to step over a line without ever admitting the line existed.
It could be oaths, contracts, and loyalty to House Black. They simply closed doors and did it kindly.
She pushed once more, carefully, and got the same treatment. Narcissa's smile stayed in place while her eyes cooled. Sirius ignored the questions and started to look around the station. Bellatrix offered a delighted grin and asked Draco about his Dark Arts studies.
The only answer they gave was the one that was safe to give.
Yes, Medusa was a basilisk, and yes, Medusa belonged to Corvus.
Nothing else.
Alice filed the silence away as proof. Oaths were not always spoken. Sometimes they were worn like collars.
She let the subject drop at once. Corvus Black was not a man you sniffed around lightly. Even now, the Bastion Guards were focusing on them after his name was mentioned. Still, one grievance stayed in her teeth.
Thirty-five thousand galleons for a question.
Harry's face had done that tight, brave thing when he tried to pretend it did not matter. Alice had seen the disappointed look on the boy's eyes.
So she insisted.
If Harry was going to spend the summer at Black Mansion, she would see it first.
Frank did not argue. He took Neville and Harry's trunks as if packing was a shield, then followed Alice's lead with the quiet patience of a man who knew his wife never pushed without reason.
Sirius took Neville and Harry by the shoulder and steered them into position. Narcissa drew Draco close with a hand on his upper arm. Bellatrix caught Frank's arm with the same casual certainty she used when she decided a room belonged to her.
Apparition snapped, the world twisted, and cold air hit their faces.
They stood before iron gates tall enough to make Frank hesitate. Black stone rose behind them, sharp lines and gothic teeth. The mansion beyond looked less like a home and more like a monument built to intimidate time itself.
Neville's fingers tightened around Sirius' arm. Harry shifted his weight as if expecting something to jump out of the shadows.
Frank's first instinct was the same as Alice's. Turn, and run.
The place did not feel welcoming. It felt prepared.
A dozen Black Bastion guards appeared in a disciplined ripple. Shields anchored first. The front four drove the pointed ends into the ground with one hand and brought pistols up with the other. Behind them, rifles rose into line, barrels level, faces unreadable under visors.
Alice pulled Harry behind her without thinking. Frank mirrored her, drawing Neville in close. Both of them raised their hands to show empty palms, the old Auror habit that survived wars.
Sirius and Bellatrix did not even flinch. Narcissa stepped forward with her spine straight and her chin level.
Her voice landed calm and respectful, the tone she used for people whose job was to kill strangers efficiently.
"They are our guests. Thank you for your vigilance."
A guard at the back nodded once. A single hand signal flicked through the line. Shields lifted, rifles lowered, and the formation melted away. They left at the same speed they came.
Alice swallowed.
Her eyes stayed on the spot where a rifle barrel had been aimed at her face.
"Maybe we should visit another time," she managed, making the sentence polite by force. "I would not like to disturb your schedules."
Bellatrix waved the concern away with a lazy wave of her hand. "All we do is train and train again."
She glanced toward the walls like someone assessing a sparring ring. "This is the second safest place I know."
A roar split the air.
A heartbeat later, three dragons flew over the gates in a tight formation. Two Hungarian Horntails and a Swedish Shortsnout, wings beating slow and heavy, riders seated like they had done this since birth.
Sirius lifted an arm and waved at one of them like he was greeting a neighbour.
Frank pulled Neville and Harry closer. His shoulders tightened. Alice stared at Bellatrix with deadpan focus.
"I assume the first safest place you know is not Hogwarts."
Sirius and Bellatrix both frowned as if Alice had challenged them.
Their hands rose at nearly the same time. Both started counting on their fingers.
Narcissa's gaze flicked toward them with patient warning. "Please, Alice."
She pointed at the two Blacks, then back to the mansion with a look that begged for mercy on everyone's behalf.
"This place is safe. I would not have brought Draco otherwise. Be a kind guest and do not push them further."
Harry and Neville both failed to hide their chuckles.
Sirius turned toward Alice with the confidence of a man delivering a fact. "Hogwarts is the sixty-fourth safest place."
Bellatrix's voice overlapped, equally convinced. "Hogwarts is the sixty-eighth safest place."
They stared at each other.
Alice decided that asking for the list would not be a smart choice.
She walked.
Crossing the ward line felt like stepping into heavy water. Magic washed over her skin, dense and layered. Wards checked intent, blood, and status in less than a second. Even Gringotts did not feel like this.
The gardens were as welcoming as the rest of the mansion. Venomous Tentacula leaves shifted in the breeze with the patience of something that enjoyed biting. Snargaluffs sat like gnarled stumps until they moved, roots flexing as if they were listening.
Neville's gaze tracked them with a Botanist's automatic recognition. His lips pressed together like he was counting how many of those plants would be illegal anywhere else.
Alice kept walking, posture polite, mind alert.
The mansion's main entrance rose in steps of dark stone. On either side, two carved hearts sat in iron stands. Green flame flared as they entered.
Arcturus Black stepped into view from the left corridor, robes perfect, expression carved into calm authority.
Gellert Grindelwald appeared from the right like the house had decided to produce a second warning sign. His presence made the air feel slightly colder.
Arcturus's gaze passed over the group, measured, then landed on Alice and Frank.
"Lady and Lord Longbottom."
He offered a slight nod.
"I was not aware of your visit."
His attention shifted to the boys. "I do hope you are at the top of your classes."
Arcturus's eyes sharpened with almost amused cruelty. "If you are, you can ask for a gift."
His gaze slid to Bellatrix with the same calm that made laws feel inevitable. "If not, make them study until their elbows bleed."
Some of the portraits along the corridor nodded in approval.
Alice noticed the nods. Not one portrait looked surprised. Not one looked offended. She arrived at one conclusion with brutal clarity. They were all mad. Every last Black.
Bellatrix bounced forward like a delighted child. "Grandfather."
The word came out sweet and shameless.
"I was on top of my class." Her shoulders lifted with pride that would have looked ridiculous on anyone else. "Summon Corvus and ask him to agree to one tiny, miny request of mine, please."
Arcturus blinked.
He shrugged as if this was a normal thing to hear in his own front hall.
"Tibby."
A soft pop answered him.
Tibby appeared with a bow.
Arcturus's hand moved in a small, dismissive gesture. "Where is Corvus?"
Tibby tilted his head. "Master be in Black Sea"
Arcturus nodded like this was an expected answer.
"Call him, please." Tibby vanished with another pop.
He waved the group toward a drawing room. "Come."
Alice walked because refusing would be rude, and because she had come this far. Frank kept a hand on Neville's shoulder. Harry moved with that careful awareness he had learned too young.
The drawing room was too large for comfort. High ceilings. Dark wood. Black tapestries with silver thread.
House elves served tea with speed and silence. Cups settled on saucers without a sound.
Alice wrapped her fingers around her cup and held the warmth like a grounding spell.
She had not planned for the Bastion's greeting. She had not planned for dragon riders. She had not planned to see Arcturus Black and Grindelwald together in a hallway.
All she wanted was to make sure Harry was safe and to discuss the absurdity of a child being charged thirty-five thousand galleons for asking a question.
She took her first sip. The door opened, and Corvus Black walked in.
Alice's mind reached for the Corvus she remembered. The young man from the hospital room. The cold, clever boy who had watched her wake up as if he was checking if a tool still worked.
The man who entered was not that.
He was taller. Much taller. Not a teenager stretching. A giant shaped by power that had hardened into a presence.
Bellatrix leaned toward Alice with conspiratorial delight. "How quickly they grow."
Alice kept her face neutral. She refused to ask what Bellatrix considered quick.
Corvus's gaze swept the room and paused on the Longbottoms. "I was not informed we had guests."
Everyone rose.
Frank and Alice offered the correct nod. Neville and Harry followed suit. Draco rose with perfect posture and waited for the right timing.
Corvus approached Alice first.
He took her hand with the formal gentleness required by etiquette, then leaned in to kiss the back of it.
Alice did not let the moment settle.
"My lord." Her voice stayed calm, not soft. "I do not approve of you taking thirty-five thousand galleons from Harry for a simple inquiry."
Sirius made a low sound that might have been agreement or pain. His eyes flicked away, remembering what his own mouth had cost him.
Corvus straightened. His head tilted slightly, as if he was considering a curious insect.
"It was not for the question."
He released Alice's hand with polite precision.
"I will not return it."
Alice's jaw tightened.
Narcissa stepped in at once, the movement smooth and practised. She placed herself between Alice and Corvus with the grace of a woman who had spent years redirecting disasters before they started.
"Cousin Corvus. It is a pleasure to see you."
Corvus's expression eased a fraction, warmer by his standards. "Likewise, Narcissa."
His gaze moved to Sirius and Bellatrix. A small nod. Acknowledgement.
Draco stepped forward and bowed in perfect form, spine straight, angle exact.
"It is an honour to be in your presence again, my lord."
He lifted his head with practised restraint. "There is not an hour when your name is not called with longing in the noble House of Slytherin."
Corvus's eyes flickered, something like amusement passing through.
Lucius's son, indeed.
Bellatrix could not contain herself. She jumped in with enthusiasm.
"Corvus. I promised Draco you would teach him to become an animagus."
Corvus moved to one of the armchairs, then enlarged it with a casual flex of magic so it fit him without looking absurd. Tibby appeared at once and set a large cup of tea in Corvus's hand as if the elf had been waiting behind the wall.
Corvus leaned back, calm again, then let his gaze rest on Bellatrix.
"It is possible."
Bellatrix's face lit with triumph. Her eyes slid toward Narcissa with a superior look that did not need words.
Tibby turned toward Draco with sudden intensity.
"Master can make the young ferret fire chicken, shadow chicken, even lightning chicken."
Tibby's eyes gleamed with pride that belonged in a parade as they landed on Corvus. "Master is the supreme chicken."
The room fell silent.
Every person looked at Tibby.
Then every person looked at Corvus.
Corvus lifted his cup and took a slow sip, as if this was the most normal thing an elf had ever declared in his life.
Alice leaned back carefully, cup still in her hands, and decided that the safest question she could ask right now was none at all.