Obscured by long velvet curtains and a chandelier thickly coated in dust with candle

Scrubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax banging in frostlike drips. A fine film of dust

covered the pictures on the walls and the bed’s headboard; a spiders web stretched

Between the chandelier and the top of the large wooden wardrobe, and as Harry moved

Deeper into the room, he head a scurrying of disturbed mice.

The teenage Sirius had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that

little of the wall’s silvery-gray silk was visible. Harry could only assume that Sirius’s

Parents had been unable to remove the Permanent Sticking Charm that kept them on the

wall because he was sure they would not have appreciated their eldest son’s taste in

Decoration. Sirius seemed to have long gone out of his way to annoy his parents. There

Were several large Gryffindor banners, faded scarlet and gold just to underline his

Difference from all the rest of the Slytherin family. There were many pictures of Muggle

motorcycles, and also (Harry had to admire Sirius’s nerve) several posters of bikini-clad

Muggle girls. Harry could tell that they were Muggles because they remained quite

Stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and glazed eyes frozen on the paper. This

Was in contrast the only Wizarding photograph on the walls which was a picture of four

Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera.

With a leap of pleasure, Harry recognized his father, his untidy black hair stuck

up at the back like Harry’s, and he too wore glasses. Beside him was Sirius, carelessly

Handsome, his slightly arrogant face so much younger and happier than Harry had ever

seen it alive. To Sirius’s right stood Pettigrew, more than a head shorter, plump and

Watery-eyed, flushed with pleasure at his inclusion in this coolest of gangs, with the

much-admired rebels that James and Sirius had been. On James’s left was Lupin, even

Then a little shabby-looking, but he had the same air of delighted surprise at finding

Himself liked and included or was it simply because Harry knew how it had been, that he

saw these things in the picture? He tried to take it from the wall; it was his now, after all,

Sirius had left him everything, but it would not budge. Sirius had taken no chances in

Preventing his parents from redecorating his room.

Harry looked around at the floor. The sky outside was growing brightest. A shaft

Of light revealed bits of paper, books, and small objects scattered over the carpet.

Evidently Sirius’s bedroom had been reached too, although its contents seemed to have

Been judged mostly, if not entirely, worthless. A few of the books had been shaken

Roughly enough to part company with the covers and sundry pages littered the floor.

Harry bent down, picked up a few of the pieces of paper, and examined them. He

Recognized one as a part of an old edition of A History of Magic, by Bathilda Bagshot,

And another as belonging to a motorcycle maintenance manual. The third was

Handwritten and crumpled. He smoothed it out.

Dear Padfoot,

Thank you, thank you, for Harry’s birthday present! It was his favorite by

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 1017