Dinner went alright for the three new family members who barely knew each other eating together for the first time. Harry did have to convince Dobby and Kreacher that it was alright to sit at the dinner table and eat with him. That Harry liked eating with family and that they were his family now. Harry had always wished for a family that actually liked each other and doing things with them. Normal things like eating together.
He did not give up on this issue with his Elves. He had decided he wanted a lot of friends and family in his future and both Kreacher and Dobby could feel that in the bond Harry had with them. So the three of them had dinner together and it was delicious, even with the two pouting Elves sitting at the table with him.
His evening got even better when Harry felt the wards give him an arrival notice and soon he saw Hedwig flying directly to him. She landed on his shoulder and the beautiful snowy owl immediately rubbed her head against Harry's cheek in a loving greeting. Hedwig hooted approvingly at his head and started preening his newly black hair.
Harry scratched her under her chin and told her lovingly, "Hello girl, did you get here alright? This will be our new home- together with Dobby and Kreacher. I hope you will like it here, girl. You can stay out of you cage as much as you want and the best of all, no more Dursleys!"
Hedwig looked at him with her bright golden eyes, hooted her agreement and went back to preening his hair. She seemed to think it needed to be taken care of after her absence since the both of them left Privet Drive.
Harry had missed his girl. Now this old house felt a bit more like home with his first friend here with him. Harry had rarely been without her since he started Hogwarts. Perhaps he could ask Dobby to get the rest of his stuff from Privet Drive so he could move some of his own stuff in here. Maybe the Elves could even redecorate Grimmauld Place to make it more to his taste. But for now he had some books to read before he got back into bed so he could rest some more.
Harry knew he didn't understand a lot of things about Wizarding Culture so after giving Hedwig a lot of cuddles he chose to read the Wizarding Culture book Sirius left for him. He walked with Hedwig on his shoulder to the living room, which he was glad to see was looking a lot better after the Elves were through with it. He was really lucky that House Elves liked cleaning so much. He really wouldn't have known what to do with a magical house like this.
Magical mold was just plain awful.
Harry was Heir Black now and according to the letter Sirius left him, since he went through with the blood adoption, he would become the Lord Black as soon as he got the ring from Gringrotts. He might have been the Lord Black by birth right but for it to become official he needed Gringotts. Otherwise he would never be allowed to take his seats on the Wizengamot. Not that he wanted to be a politician. It seemed like a complicated job for someone with no experience in it and a bit boring if he was honest.
He needed to know more about the culture he was born in. The Lordship was a very important job and he needed to be able to do it right. He needed to know the rules. He also had to get to Gringotts as soon as possible without anyone stopping him if he wanted the Lordship ring of the Black family.
Perhaps the House Elves could help him with that after he was completely recovered in a few days. But first he still had some exploring to do. Harry knew he had to rest but he was too curious. Harry had never been able to snoop around Grimmauld Place. There had always been an adult around to stop him from going somewhere.
Even Sirius had been very careful in this house. But he hadn't been able to feel the wards after Azkaban so it still must have felt unsafe to the man. Harry had the feeling that Sirius had a nasty childhood here in this house. Sirius hadn't told him much about it, but Harry could fill in the gaps. He had a very similair childhood after all.
He also wanted to find the portrait of Alphard Black whom was disowned after some incident involving a male muggleborn, according to a proud looking Sirius, so Harry assumed that the portrait wouldn't be with the very into blood purity purebloods that were hanging in the hallway and up to the wall by the stairs. Maybe he should ask Kreacher?
"Kreacher." Harry called calmly and Kreacher popped up in front of him. "Master Harry be calling Kreacher?" Harry noticed that Kreacher was looking better already. His old and dirty clothes were clean and it seemed like he was standing up better. Kreacher was looking a few decades younger. He was glad that the bond seemed to be helping the old Elf.
"Kreacher, could you tell me where the portrait of Alphard Black hangs?" Harry asked. He hoped that Kreacher would know where the portrait was otherwise Harry could spent more than a few days looking for it in this big Manor-like house and he did not have the energy for that yet.
To his relief Kreacher seemed to know,"Kreacher be knowing where portrait is. In basement with other shameful former Blacks. Basement door being in end of hallway to the left."
"There is a basement?" Harry asked, baffled. He had not know that. Thought he did wonder what kind of stuff the Blacks felt they had to hide after all the dark stuff they found in the public spaces of the house, apart from the portraits of the disowned Blacks. Perhaps muggle stuff? Fluffy kittens? A fluffy stuffed animal collection?
The corpses of their enemies?
Anyway- he would soon find out but first he needed to find a untraceable wand he could use. One never knew when you needed to defend yourself in a old Manor like this. Thought according to the Wards the Manor was safe. No living creatures apart from Dobby, Kreacher, Hedwig and himself were inside the wards.
There did seem to be a few very dark pieces of magic around, like a few things in the rooms of the Lady of the House, the portrait of Walburga Black and the necklace Kreacher brought him but Harry would not touch them before he knew what it would do. But he did ask the wards to isolate the objects. He had learned his lesson after Tom's diary. Perhaps the goblins could help him with the dark stuff for when he got well enough to go to Gringotts.
"Kreacher, are there any untraceable wands in this house that I could use? And could you get me a cup of tea and a fresh Mandrake leaf?" Harry asked. Kreacher seemed to think about it for a moment before he answered, "There be few untraceable wands left here but most wands be in family fault. Kreacher go get wands left here for Master."
Kreacher popped away and a few minutes later came back with six wand boxes and a brownish leaf in a glass jar and a nice cup of tea. He laid them on the side table next to the old but clean looking couch and popped away again before Harry could thank him.
Harry really needed to make sure his Elves were used to kindness and a basic respect to and for other living creatures.
In the six dusty boxes were six very different looking wands. Luckily he saw that on the top of the box information was written about the wand laying in the box. Harry has always found wand lore interesting but he really didn't think he had the time this summer to look into it much.
The first wand was kinda small, around nine inches and made from Hazulnut wood and contained the hair of a Unicorn. He immediately felt that this was not the right wand for him. It felt dead in his hand. Like a stick he could find in a muggle park.
The second wand was made from Ebony, 12,5 inches long and it looked beautiful. It contained a feather from a Griffin and it felt good in his hands but yet there still like something was wrong. It felt like Harry was still to young and inexperienced for this wand. He decided he would try again in a few years and put the wand back in the box. Harry layed it next to him so he could take it back to his room when he hopefully found a wand he could use .
The third wand was made from a dark and smooth looking Mahogany wood, 12 inches long and it looked strangely new. He knew from Ollivander that his father also had a Mahogany wand and that this kind of wood was good for Transfiguration. Althought this wand looked a lot darker than the wand Harry saw in Snape's memories. Almost a dark bloody red. A red so dark it looked black.
It looked a bit like the wood from the furniture in the Lord rooms. According to the box the wand contained a tail feather from a Thunderbird and the moment Harry held it in his hand he knew he found his new wand. It felt like it was part of him and it made him feel powerful and truly in contact with his magic. So much more so then his Holly wand ever did. His Holly wand always kind of felt like it only was connected to a part of him. Not all of him like the wand he was now holding in his hand.
The sparks and the visable aura of power that came of Harry made Hedwig hoot in startlement and quickly fly from his shoulder to the owl stand that stood in the corner of the living room next to the big window.
To be sure it was totally untraceable he tried out the first spell he thought of, "Expecto Patronum!" Which caused the great big stag to come galloping out of his wand. The stag, made of a beautiful shining silver looked around, stomped his hooves and looked at Harry as if to ask what he was here for.
"Thank you, Prongs, but you may go. There is no trouble here." Harry said and the stag nodded his big head and disappeared again. Harry waited for a few moments but as no Ministry Owl appeared he breathed out a sigh of relief. The wand was safe for him to use. He had done an impulsive thing but it had paid of. No hearing for him he was glad to say.
He felt like the Mahogany wand with Thunderbird feather core was his true match. While his Holly wand felt good too, it was still the brother wand of Voldemort and it still had the trace on it. Harry wanted no part of Voldemort with him if he had a choice. So he would use the Mahogany wand when at home and the Holly wand at school but he would always carry both on him. Just to be sure.
If Voldemort attacked him again Harry would at least have a slight adventage with Harry having the dominant brother-wand.
The other wands he would keep with him in his trunk. Maybe some of his friends could have use one of them, for emergencies. Knowing their lives, there would be some in the near future.
It is always handy to have an untraceable wand when you have a Defense teacher trying to kill you. It would have been a great thing to have when the Toad was at Hogwarts. Even Harry would have liked to prank the Toad.
...Imagine if the Weasley twins got their hands on an untraceable wand. Harry shudderd and quickly moved on from that thought. To reassure himself he took a sip of his nice cup of tea. He needed a small break before going back to his plans. Magical exhaustion was not nice but Harry could feel himself getting a bit better now. He was lucky it wasn't a worse case.
Magical exhaustion could be deadly if taken to far.
Harry finally took the glass jar with the Mandrake leaf after finishing his tea and opened it. He put it in his mouth and stuck the leaf to the roof of his mouth. The leaf was disgusting and Harry was glad he didn't have to taste the leaf as soon as it was stuck to the roof of his mouth thanks to a spell he found in the book Sirius left him.
He was really glad his Dad and Sirius had left him that spell. Mandrake leaves tasted like the inside of a boys lockerroom and a dead rotting animal combined with the feeling of having a living slug laying on your tongue. Ugh.
Now he only would have to leave it in his mouth for a month, make the potion, drink it and find and befriend his inner animal. Then he still had to turn in his animal. Not easy at all. Harry understood now why so little people took the effort to become an Animagus. Wizards were truly lazy.
Harry took his new wand and went to the hallway to look for the basement door. He walked to the end of the hallway and looked to the left side of it as Kreacher said he should do. It took a while but suddenly he saw a door-like shape appear in the wallpaper. The door was camouflaged with magic! What kind of horrible secrets needed this kind of protection hiding them?
Harry took a deep breath, put his hand on where the wards told him the doorknob was and pushed the door open to see a dark staircase going pretty far down.
Harry took another deep breath and made the first step down to the hidden basement of the Black family.