The Tree of Blacks (English version)

Number twelve, Grimmauld Place

"Here we are. Look!" Jim announced, pointing to the house.

Tommy looked up and scanned the building looming before him. At first glance, he couldn't find nothing strange in it, it looked like a house like any other nearby.

"Oh... it's a house." he said with a tired voice. Why had those kids brought him there? Tommy couldn't understand.

"It's not a simple house." Jack protested harshly, considering Tommy's comment as a personal offense.

"You notice anything unusual?" Luke asked.

"And what should I notice?" Tommy retorted, a little frowning.
He watched the facade of the building appear in front of his eyes and the only thing he saw was dirt stains.

"Look carefully!" Jack insisted as he pointed his index finger at the house number posted above the door of the building.

"Eleven" Tommy read coldly "So what?"

"Now look at the others!" Luke exclaimed.

Tommy rolled his eyes, then looked back at the numbers hanging above the filthy doors. In the house to the left of number eleven he read the number ten, written in beautiful handwriting on a white ceramic plaque, yellowed by dust that had never been peeled over the years. In the building to the right of eleven, however, he saw the number thirteen. He studied those three numbers carefully several times, before announcing:

"Twelve is missing." Tommy's voice was flat and a little bored.

"Exactly!" Jim exclaimed, in the same encouraging tone of a teacher praising a schoolboy who answered a question well.

"So what? It's a simple numbering mistake..."

"That is where you are wrong! It is not a simple human mistake. The number twelve exists, you just can't see it!" Jim explained seriously.

Tommy furrowed his eyebrows unconvinced.

"He's under the effect of a spell that makes it invisible!" Jack said, as if that were the most plausible explanation. "It's a haunted house and ghosts live inside." he declared like a scientist at the conclusion of a scientific explanation.

Tommy rolled his eyes in shock. He couldn't believe his ears.

"You're kidding! Witches and ghosts do not exist!"

"They exist and how!" jumped on Luke, deeply offended, "Jim and Jack are right! It's a haunted house with spirits inside."

Tommy couldn't hold back a laugh. He didn't know if they were making fun of him or if they were really foolish enough to believe such a story. He had stopped believing in ghosts, witches and all that nonsense when he was still very young.

"You won't really believe it? You're kidding me! I'm not falling for it!" Tommy exclaimed, his mood souring, as he scowled at the four kids around him.

"Every now and then you see a window on the wall ... a window that is not there now! It appears and disappears as it pleases." Lindsay intervened, very serious and a little frightened.

"My brother saw it too!" Luke declared agitated.

"I guess he just imagined it." Tommy said amused.

"No, he didn't imagine it! My brother does not tell lies. He's fourteen and he's not afraid of anything!" the chubby child snapped, as if the older brother's age had the power to dispel any reasonable doubt on the matter.

Tommy shook his head in exasperation. However, he decided to humor them. After all, he had nothing to lose and would have a laugh.

"So the test... what is it about?" he asked, with a sardonic smile on his face.

"It's very easy. Grab a stone and throw it against the wall, exactly between number eleven and number thirteen." Jim simply explained.
Tommy furroed his eyebrows again.

"That's all?"

"Yep. That's all." Jim confirmed in an affable tone.

Tommy sighed. He considered the situation absolutely ridiculous. But he decided to grin and bear it.
He looked on the ground, on the sidewalk around his feet, for a stone that was right for him. When he found the stone, he grabbed it and threw it with all his might at the spot Jim had pointed out to him.

The clash produced a thud, which echoed loudly in the stillness of the evening. Then, Tommy scanned the wall of the building, which still looked dirty and empty, as it had been a moment before. A caustic, victorious smile spread across his face.

"Did you see that? Nothing happ..."

But Tommy couldn't end the sentence up.

With his eyes still on the gray wall, it was a few seconds before Tommy - and all the other kids with him - realised what he was seeing. In the exact spot hit by the stone, the wall that had been absolutely empty a second before (and Tommy was more than sure, since he had been watching it for several minutes) began to move in a bizarre way. The bricks that made it up began to twist, first stretching, then spreading, as if they were stretching. Gradually, a rectangular figure began to take shape. Out of nowhere a window appeared. Tommy couldn't believe his eyes. He pinched the skin on his arm hard to check that he wasn't dreaming. But it was all real: in front of him, on the facade of the building, stood a new window, with dark glass reflecting the thick, angry grey of the sky.

Jim, Lindsay, Jack, Luke and Tommy stood there, unable to move, with bated breath. They all kept observing the same spot, hardly blinking.
Suddenly, the shutters of the mysterious window opened, emitting a sinister creak. Tommy tried to swallow, but his mouth was no longer able to produce saliva. A moment later, the indistinct outline of what resembled a child appeared. Luke gave a little cry.

The child peered out, showing sharp features and a penetrating gaze, despite the fact that he did not appear to be more than seven or eight years old. He had thick black hair that barely fluttered in the cold evening breeze. For a moment, Tommy had the impression that the bizarre, frightening figure had raised his hand, waving it in greeting. Nevertheless, he was unable to make sure because his legs had come to life and they began to move of their own free will. By now, Tommy was running at breakneck speed, in the middle of that filthy street of Grimmauld Place, screaming in terror. His fellow adventurers had imitated him, and now all four of the boys and the little girl were running fast in opposite directions, only wanting to get back to their safe homes as soon as possible.

Before anyone else could notice the weird window that appeared out of nowhere on the empty wall between number eleven and number thirteen, the dark glass closed quickly, fading into darkness until it vanished completely.

The child who had looked out, cheerfully greeting those kids who had seemed so nice to him, was a little disappointed to see their terrified reaction.

After all, it was they who had thrown that stone at his house, at number twelve of Grimmauld Place.