The Hogwarts Emerald

Chapter 657 Daily Prophet

The next morning, the sun was shining brightly, making the spacious office exceptionally bright.

The large office desk was polished enough to reflect a person's reflection. On the desk was a list of names and a copy of today's Daily Prophet.

Ada sat upright in a high-back chair, holding another list in her hand, the list of missing persons from yesterday. She had to look at the names on the list every day, even though she didn't like it, she still insisted on doing it.

Putting down the missing list and picking up the death list, Ada finally breathed a sigh of relief after reading the names one by one - there was no one she was familiar with on the list, and no names she didn't want to see.

From these two lists, we can see Voldemort's main targets of attack. The first target is definitely wizards of Muggle origin, the second target is wizards who are close to Muggles or have a tendency to support Muggles, and the third target is wizards who resist Voldemort.

In addition to these "cleansed" wizards, there were naturally Muggles who suffered persecution from the Death Eaters.

It is said that when Mr. Weasley went to meet the Muggle Prime Minister, the lists of dead and missing Muggles, as well as the strange things that continued to happen in Britain, were almost driving the Prime Minister crazy.

The raging tornadoes were caused by giants walking around, the frequent attacks by wild beasts were caused by werewolves trying to satisfy their appetites, the thick fog over the city was caused by Dementors spreading despair, and the skyrocketing crime rate was caused by the Death Eaters' carnival...

Facing the questioning of the masses and the difficulties faced by both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the Muggle Prime Minister said: I am tired, destroy it, and quickly.

It is conceivable that once Voldemort achieves the final victory, Britain will become a purgatory for Muggles, and the lives of Muggles will completely become food for werewolves and tools for the Death Eaters' entertainment.

Muggles do have technological and warfare capabilities that far exceed those of wizards, but wizards are unknown and mysterious beings to Muggles, and humanity’s greatest fear comes from this.

When the time comes when Muggles are ruled by unknown fear, whether they can muster the courage to resist is more important than their advanced technological level.

Ada picked up the Daily Prophet again. Today's front page was no longer about Dumbledore, the Ministry of Magic, or deaths and missing persons, but a huge photo - a photo of Regulus Black.

The photo was provided by the house-elf Kreacher. Ever since the fake locket and Regulus' suicide note were given to Kreacher, the old elf seemed to have a second spring in life. Not only did he work much more diligently, but his attitude towards Sirius also took a 180-degree turn.

Sirius, who teaches at Hogwarts, opens his eyes every morning to see Kreacher's big bald nose, hear Kreacher's "Good morning, Master Sirius", and the loving breakfast that Kreacher carefully prepares.

Sirius was flattered and felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. He was so frightened by Kreacher's behavior that he didn't know what to do.

Back to the Daily Prophet, Regulus in the photo looked handsome and high-spirited. It was a photo taken when he had just joined the Death Eaters.

At that time, he believed that Voldemort was the hero of pure-blood wizards, the leader who maintained the purity of wizards, and his idol.

Ideals are full, but reality is very skinny, the kind that feels uncomfortable to the touch.

The pure-blood wizards were fooled by Voldemort. Even if they recognized his true face, they could not escape the control of the Dark Lord. They could only be coerced by the powerful Voldemort and continue his bloody and terrifying career.

The Daily Prophet did not explain the existence of Horcruxes or the cause of Regulus' death. It only described in detail how he joined the Death Eaters and how he finally withdrew from the organization, praising his courage to resist Voldemort's dark rule.

The entire report did not say that Regulus had done anything to resist Voldemort except quitting the Death Eaters, but at the end of the report, it stated that the Order of Merlin was considering posthumously awarding Regulus the First Class Order.

Some people may think that the Ministry of Magic is setting an example to encourage everyone to stand up to Voldemort. However, in the eyes of those in the know, this first-class medal is very meaningful.

The Order of Merlin is divided into three different levels - the third-level medal is used to recognize individuals who have "contributed to our knowledge or entertainment", and the color of the ribbon is white. Gilderoy Loanhart was awarded the third-level medal, but the medal was taken back when he was imprisoned.

Second Class Medal: Used to recognize "achievements or efforts beyond the ordinary", the color of the ribbon is purple. Newt Scamander is the holder of the Second Class Medal, which is used to recognize his outstanding contributions in the field of "magical creatures".

First Class Medal: Used to recognize "outstanding bravery or outstanding achievements" in magic, the color of the ribbon is green.

Let me ask, what kind of contribution did Regulus Black make to be posthumously awarded the Order of Merlin, First Class more than ten years after his death?
Did he defeat the "most dangerous dark wizard" like Albus Dumbledore did when he defeated Grindelwald? Or did he save a lot of Muggles in Ilfracombe like Tilly Tork did? Or did he restore the Colosseum to prevent the wizarding world from being exposed like Orabella Nutley did?

Regulus did none of these things, he had no such heroic deeds.

Regulus had been dead for more than ten years, and it was impossible for him to be awarded the first-class medal by donating a large sum of gold to the Ministry of Magic like Arcturus Black.

Why do you think this is the case? Why should a person who has made no contribution be awarded a first-class medal?
The people in the wizarding world were confused and could not figure out the reason. But Voldemort must know. As long as he saw or heard Regulus and the first-class medal, he would know why.
Back then, Voldemort needed a house-elf to experiment with the mechanisms in his cave, so he found Regulus and got Kreacher, the house-elf of the Black family.

But Voldemort never thought that Kreacher could escape from the cave, let alone that Regulus would dare to rebel against him and steal the Horcrux he hid in the cave.

Voldemort's arrogance caused him to suffer a lot, but he never realized it.

According to Sirius, the Black family knew nothing about the real cause of Regulus' death, and only thought that he was killed because he wanted to leave the Death Eaters.

Voldemort has always been ruthless towards traitors.

However, Voldemort would not do it himself for a man of Regulus's level. It is more likely that he would send his Death Eaters.

After receiving the order, the Death Eater naturally wanted to find Regulus and kill him. But Regulus had already died in the cave, and the Death Eater could not find him.

Failure to complete the task would be terrible, and you would be punished with the Cruciatus Curse.

This Death Eater obviously did not want to be punished, so he deceived his master Voldemort and made Voldemort think that he had killed Regulus.

Otherwise, knowing that Regulus was not killed by the Death Eaters, Voldemort would have realized that the secret of the cave was exposed long ago, and he should have massacred the Black family and searched for his stolen Horcrux.

The Daily Prophet's report on Regulus was to remind Voldemort -

Noseless and hairless old Voldemort, your Horcrux has been stolen and your secret can no longer be hidden. Are you going to continue to endure it?

If you continue to endure, all your Horcruxes will be found and destroyed one by one.

Will you still have the confidence to face Esmeralda Drizzt and the "rival of destiny" Harry Potter at that time?

Get excited, Dark Lord!

Let the entire wizarding world feel your wrath and your terror!

(End of this chapter)