Before, when Maca was busy going back and forth between the United States and the United Kingdom, Black's old house was not idle. Voldemort's infiltration of the Ministry of Magic has never stopped.

The members of the Order of the Phoenix don't have much time to rest, because there are always tasks in front of them, one after the other, and they don't even have room to breathe a sigh of relief.

Kingsley's physical condition was good, and he was concerned about the situation at the Ministry of Magic, so he just returned to his post and continued to run for the Order of the Phoenix.

When Kingsley was not in the old house, Lupin became the prime minister's choice. All sorts of intelligence documents, as well as pre- and post-mission reports, were piled up in front of him.

Now Sirius is finally back, but judging by his injuries, recuperating is his first priority. So, even though he wanted to help Lupin himself, Lupin still pressed him decisively to the bed.

But let's be honest, the old Black House is much more lively now than it was when it was first rebuilt.

Of the children that Maca had rescued from the dungeon, the children who had been taken captive had been returned to their homes as they wished; The other children, who had nowhere to go for various reasons, were left behind in the Black Mansion to continue to look for a possible way out.

Regardless, one thing these children have in common is that they have all experienced their first magical rampage, and they are children with wizarding talents. After this incident, as soon as they reach their age, they will probably be accepted as students by the magic school.

And the little girl who was the first to be rescued from the cage by Maca was one of the children who remained. Her name is called—

“…… Isla, it's time to eat. ”

Lena, the elder sister of the werewolf sisters, is still the same as gold, even in the face of children, she is no different from usual.

However, after living in Black's House for so long, she is not completely unchanged.

Her cooking, for example, seems to be even more sophisticated than Mrs. Weasley's. It's just that she always likes to try all sorts of "new menus", which leads to a weird-looking dish appearing on the table every now and then.

But it can be seen that at least she is really used to the leisurely life here. As long as her sister Leni is happy every day, she can enjoy it in her own way.

"I see." Isla, who was sitting on the stairs in a daze, nodded when she heard this.

The little girl was obviously frightened in the dungeon, and it seemed that she had encountered some painful past before she was captured by the old wizard. Such an experience that she was just in a daze many times and didn't like to talk much.

Speaking of which, when Maca met her in the dungeon, she was already dirty. The black, dry blood was mixed with dirt and dust, and the tattered clothes and clumped hair looked like a tattered doll that had been knocked out of the trash.

But when she was sent here and cleaned up again, Mrs. Weasley and the others found that it was a pretty little girl.

I'm afraid that only an old wizard like Lenny, who only cares about research, would torture such a lovely little girl like that without mercy, right?

After informing Isla, Lena walked past her and went upstairs to call the other children.

Ishra pursed her lips, but did not immediately get up and go to the kitchen, still sitting on the wooden steps of the stairs, as if thinking about something.

It was only when Lena came downstairs with five or six children that she stood up softly and walked slowly down the opposite corridor without saying a word.

When passing through this corridor aisle, you should be as quiet as possible. These children who have been through hell are sensible and obviously more mature than their peers. Here, they are always careful not to cause trouble to anyone in the old mansion as much as possible.

So, the portrait of Old Lady Black, who was always alarmed by the shaggy Tonks, none of them had ever provoked her.

As Maca had speculated, the children were nervous when they were sent here. They have a great deal of distrust of everything in this world.

In order to try to control them, old Lenny often uses both hard and soft methods, and these children have not seen the so-called beauty. But when the beautiful past is superficial, what awaits them is always boundless fear and helplessness.

However, distrust and disobedience are two concepts that can be distinguished.

There can be no trust in their hearts, even for the big brother who saved them from hell, they may not be convinced from the bottom of their hearts. But even so, they will never be disobedient.

There is one thing they keep firmly in mind, and that is that those who disobey are dead.

The dining table in the kitchen was replaced by a larger long table, which had been taken down from the living room overhead. Even the rooms in Black's old house were spacious, even the kitchen, but after setting up this long table, it became quite crowded.

The children sat quietly at the long table, as little as they could.

If someone were able to observe more closely during this time, they would have found that they were sitting in a fixed position. Since the first time I sat down to eat here, it hasn't changed.

This time, however, it was a little different.

It was Isla, but instead of sitting down like the other children, she stood to the side with her lips pursed. On her face, the expression of wanting to speak and stopping gradually deepened.

It's lunchtime, and there are very few people who stay at Black's house for dinner; Coupled with the fact that Mrs. Weasley had taken Percy, who was still awake, back to the Burrow yesterday, the lunch was even more deserted.

“…… What's wrong? Lupin, who was sitting on the other side of the long table, asked softly, "Is there anything you want to say?" It's okay, just say it if you want to, it's okay......"

"Yes, yes! Say whatever you want, this uncle is easy to talk to! "Leni is still so lively.

“…… Maka, I want to see Maka......" Isla said softly, "where is he?" ”

"Oh—he's too busy to walk away right now," Lupin explained, "but Christmas is coming, and he'll be back here then." ”

"'Christmas'?" Ezra seemed a little confused, "What's that?" ”

Her situation seemed to be a bit peculiar, and it was clear that she had never known about the festival at all.

"Uh...... It was a day of sacrifice to give thanks to nature and life, a major festival of ancient Druidism. It's just that now Muggles call it 'Christmas', and we're getting used to it......"

Lupin was naturally surprised that Isla didn't know about Christmas, but he also learned something about the unusual experiences of these children from Sirius. So no matter how surprised he was, he didn't dig deeper, so as not to accidentally touch the pain in the child's heart.

It's just that the more he explained, the more he felt that it was better not to explain, because Isla was obviously more dazed in what she heard.

“…… Well, in short, a happy day. Lupin finally gave up on explaining the origin of Christmas, and instead chose to explain it in an easy-to-understand way, "There will be good food, there will be fun, and there will be gifts......

Speaking of this, he suddenly nodded and smiled, "Oh, yes! Be sure to prepare well on that day, and each of you will have a gift! ”

“…… That is, on that day, will Maca come back? "Isra was obviously not interested in gifts or anything, all she cared about was seeing Maka.

Unlike the other children, Isra seems to care deeply about the older brother who gave her freedom and hope.

"yes, he'll be here that day!" Lupin replied affirmatively, "And I'm sure he gave you a gift too—Maca, the person, who has not missed a single time in such heartwarming little details!" ”

"Okay." Isla nodded slightly, then pulled out her chair and sat down, "Thank you for your answer, Mr. Lupin." ”

"As I said, you don't have to be so polite to us, kid." Lu Ping waved his hand and said, "Hurry up and eat!" You don't have to be so restrained all the time, it will be easier to let go. ”

But no matter what he said, the children were always cautious, as if it had become their habit.

Trying to keep things as silent as possible, they quickly settled the food that had been placed on their plates, and then left the table silently with a thank you.

From beginning to end, they didn't even glance at the plates in the middle of the table.

Generally speaking, everyone has no food on their plate, and they are free to choose what they like. But when Mrs. Weasley found out that the children had only a small amount of food and ran away when they were done, she had to mix them on their plates from the beginning.

Because she knew that it was useless to rely on persuasion alone, and if they took it themselves, they would still only take that little.

It is foreseeable that it will take a lot of time for these children to return to normal life, and it will not be able to adapt to it in a while.

“…… Thank you for the food. ”

Isla finished eating, and she, like the other children, thanked her and walked out of the kitchen slowly under Lupin's helpless gaze.

"Lena, you're close to these kids, how do you think you should get along with them?" After watching the children leave one by one, Lupin couldn't help but turn his head and ask, "They are always like this, it must not be good." ”

Lena put down her fork and looked at Lupin with a rather serious expression.

"I don't know."