The Tree of Blacks (English version)

The Arcturus Black's Manor

Sirius would be with her, sure, but the twins had never got along too well and Alya feared that her brother would put a clear distance between them once they left the walls of their house in Grimmauld Place. She had never been very good at making new friends. And without Regulus as her wingman, she would have felt lost.

Alya closed her eyes and took a deep breath, inhaling the salty air into her lungs and exhaling deeply. She tried to banish those agitated thoughts, entrusting them to the light summer breeze.

Suddenly, a shrill voice reached her ears: Regulus was calling out to her. Alya stood up limply and walked home. Her little brother frowned at her.

"Are you deaf, now? I've been calling you for a century!"

"What a bore! I'm here, right?" Alya snorted.

"Mom wants us all in the dining room, we'll eat soon. She's already pretty angry, so we better hurry." Regulus explained brusquely.

"What's happened?" Alya questioned, seriously concerned.

"Sirius" he sighed with disapproval "He flew away while we were playing Quidditch and he came back home late."

"What? And where did he go?"

"He found out that a Muggle family moved in the little house beyond our wood. He wanted to spy them, I suppose." Regulus replied with sharp indifference. Alya sighed exasperated.

On the edge of the vast Arcturus Black's estate, there was a small grove which the Blacks used as a natural border between them and the Muggle world. A barrier used to hide themselves and their house from prying eyes, made even more impenetrable by the powerful spells of Orion Black.
If any Muggle had entered the grove, an insane, inexplicable fear would have caught him, forcing him to backtrack.

In this way, no one but the Black family members could enter the magical, secret estate.
Likewise, it was forbidden for the little heirs of the Black family to cross the border beyond the grove and mingle with the non-magical world.
Never let the Muggles see you. That was the supreme rule of the Clan, as Alya's mother stated everytime.

However, this prohibition seemed not to enter the head of Walburga's disobedient eldest son. Since he was very young, he showed a peculiar interest in Muggles and in that non-magical world which looked like so distant from his. A dangerous curiosity, which often led the rebel child to many troubles and punishments.

Another slight sigh slipped from her lips, as she already predicted the stern reproaches Sirius would soon face.

Alya and Regulus quickened their pace to reach the dining room in time. They perfectly knew that Walburga was already enraged enough, so it was best not to make the situation worse.

***

After the frugal meal, all the five Blacks dispersed in the immense manor.

Alya and Regulus were sent upstairs to play.

Sirius had to stay downstairs, in the dining room, with Walburga, in order to be subjected to the harsh reproach inside his mother's words.

Orion Black quickly vanished into the library of the house, instead. He preferred to be enveloped by silence and surrounded by ancient books rather than deal with the education of his heirs. This was a duty earmarked to the mother.

Alya partly understood her father's desire to shut himself up in the library of Arcturus Black's manor. The room was located on the ground floor and, although it was quite small compared to the other rooms in the house, the library housed books and volumes of inestimable value. The walls were flanked by high wooden shelves, which kept ancient manuscripts, handed down from generation to generation, transmitting a powerful magical knowledge that otherwise would have been lost.