Dinner at Grimmauld Place had become strangely comfortable over the past few months.
The long dining hall no longer felt cold or abandoned. Candlelight reflected softly across polished silver and dark wood, the old Black family atmosphere still present—but no longer oppressive. The transformation of the house had changed more than its appearance.
As the house-elves served dinner, conversation flowed naturally.
Kreacher remained as restrained and formal as ever, every movement precise from decades spent serving the ancient House of Black. Yet even he had changed slightly since Blake's return. There was less bitterness in him now, replaced by quiet purpose.
Kipp and Liri, meanwhile, were noticeably calmer than when I had first met them.
Not entirely disciplined—far from it—but improved.
That, more than anything, was the effect of Kreacher's training.
The older elf tolerated no laziness, no disorder, and no carelessness in service. Kipp had stopped popping randomly into rooms simply to announce trivial discoveries, while Liri no longer spoke at a speed that made half her words unintelligible.
Mostly.
They were still curious about Hogwarts.
Especially the house-elves working there.
"Liri heard Hogwarts kitchens are enormous!" Liri said excitedly while pouring tea. "Hundreds and hundreds of plates! And elves making puddings all day!"
Kipp nodded vigorously. "And Hogwarts elves know ancient castle maintenance magic! Kreacher says only old family houses still use some of those methods!"
Kreacher gave a dignified sniff.
"Hogwarts is an ancient institution," he said stiffly. "Naturally its elves maintain proper standards."
Blake hid a small smile behind her goblet.
After the conversation drifted through Hogwarts gossip and holiday plans, I turned slightly toward Liri.
"Liri," I said, "how are the reconstruction of Salvius Manor and the renovation of the two Diagon Alley shops progressing?"
Liri straightened immediately.
"Master, manor reconstruction is proceeding on schedule," she replied quickly. "The goblins completed installation of the new protective wards last week."
That earned my full attention.
"The foundations and external structure have been preserved exactly as requested," she continued proudly, "while the internal architecture and decorations are being fully redone. Modern muggle ambience is being incorporated while preserving the noble identity of House Salvius."
Blake looked amused at that description.
"So basically," she said dryly, "you're building a noble manor disguised as a modern mansion."
"More or less," I admitted.
Liri nodded enthusiastically.
"The manor will be fully prepared before Master returns for summer vacation."
Good.
That removed one of the larger concerns from my mind.
"And the shops?" I asked.
"The preliminary cleaning and ward setup are already complete," Liri answered. "However, layout finalization has been delayed because we still do not know what products Master intends to sell."
Reasonable.
There was little point designing interiors before deciding their purpose.
"Alright," I said after a moment. "That's good progress."
Then another matter surfaced in my thoughts.
"In the morning, send an owl to Griphorn," I instructed. "Inform him that I'll be visiting Gringotts tomorrow."
Kreacher's ears twitched slightly at that.
"I want a complete review of the family's finances," I continued calmly. "Vault holdings, investments, active contracts… and any outstanding debts owed to the Salvius family by other houses that still haven't been repaid."
The room quieted slightly at that.
Even Blake looked toward me with sharper interest.
Old noble families rarely forgot debts.
And the Salvius family was older than most.
"Yes, Master," Liri said immediately. "Liri will send the owl first thing in the morning."
I nodded once and returned to dinner.
After that, conversation drifted back toward lighter topics again—Hogwarts gossip, holiday plans, the twins' latest antics, and Kipp enthusiastically describing how one Hogwarts house-elf had nearly fainted after hearing that the legendary dueling hall had reopened.
After dinner, Blake and I moved to the study.
The room had changed almost as much as the rest of Grimmauld Place. Dusty shelves had been restored, the fireplace cleaned and enchanted to burn with steady emerald-tinted flames, and the massive windows now overlooked snow-covered London beneath layers of old protective wards.
The large desk near the center of the room was covered in parchment.
Notes.
Spell structures.
Rune diagrams.
Enchantment arrays.
Half-finished calculations.
Several failed prototypes rested off to one side, including one circular metal disk that had partially melted inward after an unstable projection attempt.
Blake glanced at it briefly.
"We're not testing that version again," she stated flatly.
"Agreed."
I leaned back slightly in my chair before looking toward her.
"Blake, how is the research into the Howler enchantment progressing?"
She adjusted one of the parchments before answering.
"I'm about eighty percent finished," she said. "I should be able to complete the base structure before Christmas break ends."
That was faster than I expected.
The Howler enchantment itself wasn't especially advanced, but recreating it artificially while maintaining stability was complicated. Traditional Howlers relied heavily on emotional imprinting and temporary magical persistence.
Artificial replication required rebuilding the entire structure from scratch.
"No need to rush it," I said. "I'm still stuck on enchanting Lumos Proiectura with preset projections."
I picked up another parchment covered in crossed-out rune structures.
"The projection changes properly when controlled manually, but preset storage keeps destabilizing the light construct after repeated use."
Blake nodded immediately.
"The memory retention structure?"
"Partly."
"The projection tries to reinterpret the stored image every activation instead of reproducing it exactly."
That was exactly the problem.
Light-based projection magic was annoyingly unstable once permanence entered the equation. The spell wanted to behave dynamically rather than mechanically.
"I may need to ask Professor Flitwick about it," I admitted after a moment.
There was no shame in that. Flitwick's understanding of charms and layered enchantments vastly exceeded ours.
Blake leaned back slightly in her chair.
"Honestly, that might save us weeks of failed testing."
"Probably."
Silence settled briefly as both of us looked toward the object resting at the center of the desk.
A rough prototype sketch.
Circular.
Palm-sized.
A smooth outer disk surrounding a central enchanted lens.
Several rune pathways had been drawn along the outer ring, with layered projection anchors branching inward toward the lens structure.
Blake tapped one section lightly.
"The stabilization runes need refinement here," she said. "Otherwise the projection edges blur after extended activation."
I nodded absently while studying the design.
"I've been thinking," I said after a moment. "This should probably become the first product sold through the shops."
That earned her full attention immediately.
"The projection device?"
"It has practical value," I explained. "Communication, entertainment, educational demonstrations, visual spell instruction. If we perfect the enchantment properly, it could become extremely useful."
Potentially revolutionary, honestly.
The wizarding world lagged behind muggles in many areas of convenience magic simply because innovation moved painfully slowly.
Blake considered it carefully before nodding.
"That's actually a very good idea," she admitted. "But if we're selling it publicly, then we need to make absolutely certain it's stable."
Her gaze drifted toward the melted prototype again before returning to the parchments.
Outside the study windows, snow continued falling softly over London while Grimmauld Place remained warm and quiet around us.
For the next several hours, the two of us remained there beneath the glow of enchanted lamps, continuing to refine enchantments most Hogwarts students our age wouldn't even understand existed.
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