Harry ran the length of the room, skidding to a halt at the door to Kreacher's
cupboard, and wrenched it open.
Kneeling down beside him, Sirius glanced inside the filthy cupboard. There was the
nest of dirty old blankets the house-elf had once slept in, but they were no longer glittering
with the trinkets Kreacher had gleaned. The only thing of worth left behind was an old
copy of Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy.
"Damn," Harry exclaimed and pulled out the old book. "Nothing here but this book
and a bunch of rubbish." He sighed as he handed over the volume to Sirius, who dusted
off the cover.
"What is it?" Hermione asked as Harry and Ron continued to dig through
Kreacher's cupboard.
"Old book on pureblood genealogy," Sirius answered, running his finger along the
spine. "My brother and I had to have the thing memorised before we entered Hogwarts.
Make sure we didn't mingle with impure blood." He rolled his eyes and opened the book,
flipping the pages in disgust as he stood and walked around the room. "It's magically
updated, so when a new child is born or someone dies, the parchment changes. A lot like
the tapestry upstairs."
"You think my family's in there?" Harry wondered aloud just as Sirius landed on
the page where fine ink script was written across the top:
POTTERSirius glanced over the page anxiously, running his thumb over the names he
recognised so well. One in particular stood out, and he touched the name affectionately
with one finger before reaching up and tugging the silver chain around his neck.
"Sirius? Do you think my family's in that book?" Harry asked again.
Sirius looked up from the pages and let go of the chain. "Sorry; got lost for a bit."
He cleared his throat and met Harry's gaze over the top of the book, while his wand,
which was screened by the large pages, touched the parchment. Using a non-verbal
Vanishing Spell, the Potter page disappeared from the book altogether.