Hogwarts: I'm Truly a Model Wizard

Sirius Black had always thought Kyle was a rare, exemplary student. His grades were top-notch, his abilities surpassed most of his peers, and he knew when to be flexible, not bound by rigid rules and regulations. Best of all, Snape hated him—a sure sign, in Sirius's mind, that Kyle was a genuinely good kid. Privately, he and Lupin had even speculated that one day, Kyle might become the headmaster of Hogwarts.

But by the following night, Sirius had started to question this idea.

Between Kyle's earlier threat to "beat up Harry" and his current, seemingly effortless use of the Blasting Curse, Sirius began to reconsider his impression of "good students."

For nearly half an hour, the drawing room had sounded like a battlefield, with explosions and cracks echoing nonstop. In the midst of all this noise, Sirius noticed Kyle using a curse that looked disturbingly familiar.

Sirius stared at the magnificent round table as it split cleanly down the middle, the edges so perfectly smooth they looked intentional. He'd seen that particular spell in action before, back in his days of dueling with Death Eaters. Snape had used it on him more than once. But how did Kyle know it? He couldn't have learned it from Snape… or could he?

Sirius shook his head, dismissing the thought. Both Harry and Lupin had confirmed that Snape disliked Kyle intensely. And that was beyond question.

After thinking it over without finding an answer, Sirius finally gave up. Maybe Kyle had found the spell in a book in the library, just as Snape must have at some point.

Meanwhile, after casting spell after spell, Kyle let out a tired sigh, lowered his wand, and dropped into a nearby chair. The box was proving far tougher than he'd expected. Neither the Blasting Curse nor the Slicing Charm had left any marks, and even Sectumsempra had only managed to make a faint white scratch.

While Kyle rested, Lupin and Sirius tried their hands at opening the box, but they had no better luck. The barrage of spells had attracted Kreacher's attention, and the House-elf pushed open the door to the destroyed room. His eyes were wide with fury and horror as he took in the wreckage, muttering words like "spoiled brat," "scum," and "bastard" under his breath.

Sirius, already frustrated, turned and snapped, "Shut up!"

Kreacher fell silent for a moment, but barely a minute later, he was muttering again, casting Sirius a poisonous look. "The master's trying to destroy this place… If my mistress knew, oh, how she'd weep. And this disgrace of a son is even working with outsiders to pry open Miss Bella's—"

Kreacher stopped abruptly, realizing he'd said too much. But Sirius, Kyle, and Lupin had all caught his last words and turned toward him.

"Kreacher!" Sirius demanded. "Do you know what this box is? You've seen it before, haven't you?"

"Kreacher doesn't know," the House-elf squeaked, his ears twitching defensively. "Kreacher would never betray Miss Bella!"

"Tell me! That's an order!" Sirius bellowed.

Kreacher's expression twisted with anger, but bound by Sirius's command, he finally bowed and replied in a low, reluctant voice, "This is the box the old master left for Miss Bella. Only the ancient and noble Black bloodline can open it!"

Sirius's eyes narrowed in thought. Kreacher usually referred to his mother as "mistress," which meant the "old master" had to be his grandfather. But none of that mattered now. Finally, he understood how to open the box.

"Incarcerous!" Just as the thought crossed Sirius's mind, a spell flew past his ear and wrapped Kreacher in ropes before the elf could head-butt the door. Kreacher had probably planned to punish himself for revealing the secret, but now he was firmly bound, unable to move.

"I order you to stop trying those ridiculous self-punishments, Kreacher," Sirius said, frowning.

The elf stilled, though he continued muttering under his breath.

Sirius ignored him and turned back to the others, his excitement mounting. "Right, back to what we were doing!"

Without hesitation, he made a quick slash across his palm with his wand, letting a few drops of bright red blood fall onto the box. Instantly, the blood droplets spread along the grooves of the box, forming an intricate, glowing red pattern.

Click!

With a sharp sound, the box split open, revealing a peculiar, golden key. Sirius recognized it immediately as a key to a Gringotts vault—he'd once held one almost identical to it.

"We'll split it when we get there!" Kyle said quickly, grabbing the key and tossing the now-empty box to Sirius. "Since it's a Black family heirloom, I'll leave it with you. It might have a few scratches now, but it's still good as new."

"Wait…" Sirius began, but Kyle had already pocketed the key.

"I'm not after the Lestrange family vault's Galleons," Kyle added, shrugging off Sirius's mild protests.

Sirius's brow furrowed. "But let me warn you, the goblins at Gringotts won't let anyone into the vault with just a key. They're too greedy for that."

Kyle grinned. "But that's why you're here, isn't it? Once you're cleared of all charges, you'll be able to go to Gringotts. You're Bellatrix's cousin, after all, and family to the Lestranges."

Sirius shook his head. "It's not that simple. The Lestrange vault is likely among the highest-ranking in Gringotts. To transfer anything from a vault like that, Bellatrix or Rodolphus themselves would have to be present. Unless, of course, they're both dead."

"No, I think you've misunderstood," Kyle said, his expression firm. "The gold isn't my priority. There's a particular object in her vault that I'm after."

"An object?" Sirius looked puzzled, but intrigued. "Well, if it's just one item, that shouldn't be too difficult. What do you need? The deed to their property on Diagon Alley, maybe? That alone's worth tens of thousands of Galleons."

Kyle shook his head, resolute. "No."

Sirius looked even more bewildered. He couldn't think of anything more valuable than the property itself. "No?"

"It's… an extremely old artifact," Kyle said, clearly trying to keep his mind off any tempting thoughts of Galleons. "I can't say for certain, but I believe it's in her vault."

Though Sirius didn't know exactly what Kyle was after, he nodded without further questions.