The Forgotten Olympian |BOOK 1| PJO X HP | Alexandra Marine

Chapter 112 - Alex - Sirius' Speech

The de-doxying of the curtains took most of the morning. It was past midday when Molly finally removed her protective scarf, sank into a sagging armchair, and sprang up again with a cry of disgust, having sat on the bag of dead rats. The curtains were no longer buzzing; they hung limp and damp from the intensive spraying; unconscious doxys lay crammed in the bucket at the foot of them beside a bowl of their black eggs, at which Crookshanks was now sniffing and Fred and George were shooting covetous looks.

"I think we'll tackle those after lunch."

Molly pointed at the dusty glass-fronted cabinets standing on either side of the mantelpiece. They were crammed with an odd assortment of objects: a selection of rusty daggers, claws, a coiled snakeskin, a number of tarnished silver boxes inscribed with languages. The clanging doorbell rang again. Everyone looked at Molly.

"Stay here," she said firmly, snatching up the bag of rats as Mrs. Black's screeches started up again from down below. "I'll bring up some sandwiches."

She left the room, closing the door carefully behind her. At once, everyone dashed over to the window to look down on the doorstep. I could see the top of an unkempt gingery head and a stack of precariously balanced cauldrons.

"Mundungus!" said Hermione. "What's he brought all those cauldrons for?"

"Probably looking for a safe place to keep them," said Harry. "Isn't that what he was doing the night he was supposed to be tailing me? Picking up dodgy cauldrons?"

"I'll go down and check," I volunteered. "I wanted a glass of water anyway."

I sneaked down the stairs. Quite sounds came from the porch as Sirius and Kingsley talked with the thief. Just as I inched closer, ready to listen- 

"WE ARE NOT RUNNING A HIDEOUT FOR STOLEN GOODS!" Molly screamed.

I flinched. Mrs. Black could have been good competition to the redheaded woman if she'd only been alive.

"--COMPLETELY IRRESPONSIBLE, AS IF WE HAVEN'T GOT ENOUGH TO WORRY ABOUT WITHOUT YOU DRAGGING STOLEN CAULDRONS INTO THE HOUSE--"

Molly's voice was lost amid fresh shrieks and screams from the portraits in the hall.

I stepped away from my hiding and shouted at the top of my lungs, "Cerebrus!"

The ground shook slightly. I could almost hear my favorite pet jumping with joy, waiting for his master to appear with a large ball.

Almost the moment she heard me, Walburga shut up. I couldn't help but smirk. "That's good."

Sirius was staring at me in shock, but his eyes told me that he was too proud to express his joy. "How'd you do that?"

"Some secrets are best kept secrets," I said, grinning.

Sirius smiled. "You're the most awesome niece ever," he said, putting an arm around my shoulder. "Let's go upstairs, and I'll help you all clean this time."

"You're not so bad for an uncle, either," I replied. "But don't even think that I'll let you know the secret just because you're helping us."

Sirius pouted. "Oh, man." 

As we opened the door to the attic, I saw all the Weasleys blushing red with fury, and Hermione trying her best to keep her calm. Percy, Jason, Annabeth, Will and Nico were rolling their eyes and trying their best not to laugh.

"Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar, it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it--" the lump in front of us said.