Unlikely Companions

Chapter 9 Family Matters

Credence opened his eyes again when everything stilled around him and Mathilda's hand let go of him. They were standing in a small square, hiding behind a twisted tree that shielded them from any onlookers. She walked by his side until they left the square, and stood in front of an elegant row of townhouses that had seen better days.

"We're here," she said. "Number 12, Grimmauld Place."

He squinted his eyes, looking at the houses that seemed carved into the dirty London street of Grimmauld Place. He counted, fifteen, fourteen, thirteen, and... eleven?

"There is no number 12," he said.

"There is, you just have to come closer."

She laced her arm with his, walking beside him across the street – and then he saw it. The wall, which still seemed solid to him, had begun moving to accommodate and reveal the missing number 12.

"They hid it centuries ago," Mathilda said. "It was a simple way to keep non-magical people away from us, which is why only wizards and witches can see it."

"Why?"

"It's... complicated. I don't know the full story of the house but I think that it has been here since before the International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy came into effect, which means it may have been visible at some point. My family, however, upon choosing this as our ancestral home, probably hid it as soon as they could so they wouldn't be bothered by impures."

"Impures?" he asked.

"It's a very long story," she said. "And not a nice one. Maybe for some other day."

They had arrived in front of the door, which now stood menacingly closed before their noses.

"Good luck, Credence," she muttered.

Mathilda knocked on the polished surface of the black door, twice.

"Pretend like you know what you're doing," she whispered. "If something startles you, ignore it for now. I'll explain everything later."

The door opened with a soft creak, but there was no one there as far as Credence could see.

"The shameful miss Burke returns," a voice said from below them.

She squared her jaw at very same moment that he noticed that the voice came from a small grayish creature with bulging eyes and bat ears that were covered in graying hairs.

"Good morning, Kreacher," she said. "Tell my uncle Cygnus that I'm here."

"Right away, miss Burke."

"What-?" he asked.

"Later," she said, crossing the doorframe with him behind.

The house seemed ancient. The anteroom where they stood was small and gloomy, covered in dark wallpaper. There was a staircase that seemed to go down onto some sort of basement, and one that seemed to go up into the first floor.

"I've always hated that thing," she said suddenly, snapping him out of his thoughts.

Along the staircase that went upstairs, there was a collection of miniature heads that were hanging from old wooden plaques. She muttered something about it being barbaric.

"Miss Burke, my master waits for you in the drawing room. He would like for the impure to stay behind," the creature from before said, returning from his trip to the first floor.

"Let's go," she said, extending her hand to him.

"Maybe I should stay," he began.

"No, you'll come with me."