Hogwarts: This professor is too Muggle.

Chapter 362 I'm willing to risk my life

Blue flames illuminated the small island in the middle of the lake, surrounded by cold water vapor. The potion in the stone basin glowed with phosphorescence, and water droplets had formed on the outer wall of the goblet made of deformed pebbles.

Sirius stood in front of the stone basin, his throat bobbing, and looked at Dumbledore and Melvin. He wanted to tell them something, but didn't know what to say.

The locket had been replaced, and the stone basin contained only a fake left by Regulus, but he still wanted to take it out and retrieve Regulus's remains, so that nothing belonging to Regulus would remain in this filthy, dark place.

Melvin and Dumbledore stood on either side, still observing the dark magic in the stone basin and the cave.

The old headmaster surveyed the lake, his expression complex as he looked down at the densely packed Infernal corpses at the bottom. His eyes were slightly dazed. Back then, Grindelwald had searched for the Deathly Hallows in order to create an army of Infernals.

The young professor is researching potion traps. According to Kreacher, to obtain the locket, someone must drink all the potions.
"Sirius, this is not a good idea. This potion will make you delirious and in extreme pain until you lose consciousness and fall into the lake. You will not be able to drink the potion in the stone basin by your own will."

"Then you can force the potion into my mouth!" Sirius declared fiercely.

Just as he scooped up the potion, ready to drink it down, Melvin grabbed his wrist: "I mean, you're a wizard, you should use magic to break another spell, not stupidly drink potions."

Sirius looked somewhat bewildered.

Melvin began rummaging through his pockets. Although they looked like ordinary coat pockets, they made a tinkling sound, as if they contained a small warehouse. He pushed aside the pile of candy and snacks and pulled out a black wooden box.

The creature inside sensed the emotions from the outside world and became restless, causing the box to tremble.

“Boggart?” Dumbledore had already noticed what was in the box.

The little werewolf stood there blankly, holding a cup of phosphorescent potion in his hand, unsure whether to drink it or pour it out.

"Boggarts are very peculiar creatures. They change their form based on the fear they perceive, and this form is not just an empty shell, but has certain characteristics."

Melvin tapped the box with his wand, unlocking the reverse-locking spell: "For example, real, tangible flesh and blood, magic that can be detected by magic, and the principle of acting according to the memory of fear."

Dumbledore's face showed approval: "Voldemort's traps require someone to drink the potion, and Boggart's transformation can fool this magic."

As they were talking, Melvin opened the box, cast a false memory spell, and transmitted his will to Boggart. The box lid suddenly opened, and a thin figure emerged.

"Another Sirius Black?" Kreacher couldn't believe his eyes.

Sirius, the master he both respected and loathed, was a prisoner who always disobeyed his mistress and despised pure blood. He had driven his master and mistress to their deaths with just one of his own. Now, two of them had appeared at the same time: one standing blankly by the stone basin holding a potion, and the other stepping out of a box.

The latter was slowly approaching the stone basin, seemingly trying to snatch the cup of poison.

"Melvin! Levent! Couldn't you have given Boggart a different look?" Sirius paused, then felt a chill run down his spine as he saw his exact replica approaching. He shouted angrily, "Get this guy away from me! Is he going to attack me suddenly?"

Melvin ignored him and instead watched Boggart's actions quietly, using a false memory charm to weave a false fear and trick Boggart into drinking the potion. He wasn't sure if the potion would work properly or if the two magical forces would clash.

Boggart did not approach the stone basin directly. With his well-defined fingers, he took the goblet from Sirius's hand, stared at the phosphorescent poison inside for a few seconds, and then drank it all in one gulp.

The body began to tremble, its brows furrowed tightly, as if it were suffering intense pain. But Boggart still followed its instincts, turning the young wizard's fear into reality. It closed its eyes, dipped the cup into the stone basin again, scooped out a full cup, and drank it down its throat.

After drinking three cups in a row, the body could no longer hold on. It staggered and collapsed onto the stone basin. The potion turned into intense heat, baking the body's internal organs, almost making Boggart lose his shape. His chest heaved violently, and his heavy breathing echoed in the cave.

Sirius instinctively took a step back, as if he truly felt the same way.

He wasn't sure if it was just his imagination, but he felt like the corpses at the bottom of the lake were staring at him. The cave felt even colder, and goosebumps rose on his skin.

"What... do we do now?" Sirius swallowed hard.

The act of taking the medicine has been temporarily suspended.

Boggart's eyes were tightly closed, his face twitching and shifting, as if he were asleep, having a terrible nightmare. The muscles in his body relaxed, and he could not even hold a wine glass.

"Pour it down his throat, force the rest of the potion down his throat," Melvin whispered.

Sirius reluctantly approached, took the crystal goblet that was about to fall, scooped it full, brought it close to Boggart's mouth, pinched his cheeks to open a gap, and poured the potion into it.

"Swearing an oath in Merlin's name feels so eerie, like I'm poisoning myself."

"I don't want to...stop...stop now."

Sirius's body stiffened. The voice came from Boggart's mouth, who had a body and face exactly like his own, and was speaking heavily, but it was almost unrecognizable as his own voice. He had never imagined that he would show such a weak and fearful posture.

He stared at the all-too-familiar pale face, hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and continued to pour the potion into his mouth.

"No...I don't want to..."

"Let me go...stop..."

"Make it stop, make it stop!"

Poison was poured into Boggart's body cup after cup. Boggart's illusory body curled up into a ball, flailing his arms and legs wildly and pounding the ground, almost knocking Sirius to the ground. He had to restrain his arms and legs in order to continue the process of administering the poison.

"No... Mother... Regulus..."

“James… I’m not, I’m not…”

The terrified expression on his face suggested that many unseen ghosts were tormenting his body. His groans, sometimes low and sometimes high-pitched and shrill, echoed through the silent lake and into the cave.

After five minutes of continuous pouring, totaling twelve cups of magic potion, the stone basin was finally emptied.

Sirius almost collapsed to the ground when he released Boggart, his face ashen, his body covered in a fine sweat, yet he was shivering with cold, trembling unsteadily. Even when facing Dementors in Azkaban, he had never had such a terrifying experience.

Boggart also collapsed to the ground, still bearing Sirius's face, his eyes tightly closed, his mouth weakly open, revealing crooked, yellowed teeth, and twitching a few times.

Just when the group thought it had stopped moving, the Boggart's eyelids twitched, and it began to breathe heavily: "Water...water..."

Was Regulus in this kind of pain back then?

Sirius was feeling particularly complicated at that moment. For some unknown reason, he picked up the crystal glass and filled it with water.

But as soon as he brought the glass of water close to Boggart's lips, the water inside vanished into thin air.

"Kreacher knows where the water is! Kreacher knows where the water is!" The house-elf, tears streaming down his face, rushed towards the lake like a madman, scooped up a handful of water, and ran back, spilling it as he went. He lunged forward and clumsily poured the water onto Boggart's face.

That's enough for now.

Melvin's voice rang out, followed by the loud crack of a whip.

Boggart's limbs contracted and shortened, and fine black fur grew on his body, quickly transforming him into a black dog. He panted heavily and trotted back into the box.

Kreacher's face turned ashen, for he had disturbed the ini at the bottom of the lake. A pale, swollen hand grabbed his ankle, and the lake surface, no longer smooth and flat, began to churn violently. More ini followed behind the first one, all working together to drag the house-elf to the bottom of the lake.

Melvin turned his head and saw pale, grotesque heads everywhere. Swollen, white corpses emerged from the dark lake. Men, women, and children, dressed in various clothes, stared blankly at them with empty eyes, slowly but resolutely approaching, leaving wet trails in their wake.

"As expected... Voldemort killed all the Muggles," Dumbledore said in a low voice.

"Let them rest in peace." A flame ignited at the tip of Melvin's cane.

"Wait! Melvin, wait! Regulus is still inside!" Sirius's face was filled with anxious panic; a grieving older brother didn't know how to face his younger brother's corpse.

Melvin paused briefly and laid his wand flat:
Give me directions

This spell could only point to due north. Judging from the waves and the path they came from, north was clearly on the opposite shore of the lake. However, as the wand spun rapidly, it showed no sign of pointing to the lake shore. In this cave filled with dark magic, it searched for Regulus among hundreds of corpses according to its master's will.

The tip of the staff suddenly stopped, pointing to a dark, lean face not far behind Kreacher, half-submerged in the water, with hollow, sunken eye sockets visible above the surface, and a sinister look on the swollen face.

“I’ve found you, Regulus,” Sirius whispered.

He waved his wand, and several straight, cold white beams shot toward Kreacher's back. It was the effect of a quick-cast Binding Charm. The spell was like a cannonball, petrifying the Infernals while the enormous impact overturned the huddled Infernals.

The attempt to drag the house-elf was thwarted, and the water churned even more violently. Sirius Black cast spells in succession, unleashing more than a dozen powerful incantations into the water. The cold white beams of light formed a straight line, piercing the dark cavern with their light, accompanied by his roaring incantations.

"Dumbledore, Melvin, help me!" Sirius shouted.

A denser torrent of spells poured forth, the two legendary wizards pointing their wands diagonally forward, their chanting barely audible, washing over the horde of undead like a torrential downpour, clearing a path without obstruction. Sirius Black, wand in hand, charged into the pile of corpses and saw Regulus swimming toward him.

This was merely the Infernal's instinctive reaction to living beings, but in Sirius's eyes, it was the expression his brother intended. At the same time, another resolute figure rushed to the Infernal's side—it was Kreacher.

The master and servant dragged Regulus's body through the water. Perhaps the soaking time was not long enough, or perhaps some consciousness really remained in that body, Regulus did not struggle much and let the two drag him to the small island in the middle of the lake.

"Regrus's body has been taken back by his family, but the rest... will not live to see their families."

Dumbledore sighed, raised his wand above his head, and the firelight flickered in his deep blue eyes:
[Vulcan clears the way]

The Elder Wand spewed out dazzling golden flames, and whirlwinds carrying the flames swirled in the dark cave, like a spectacular fiery cloud. The high temperature caused water vapor to rise, triggering a thunderous roar that made the entire island tremble.

On the other side, a long serpent made of fierce fire plunged straight into the water, like a fragment of a blazing sun falling into the water. In an instant, the lake water burst open, and steam turned into white mist, carrying the fierce fire and spreading in all directions, devouring the Yin Corpse.

The scorching flames swept through the cave, the air rushing through the cracks with a buzzing sound like a mournful howl. Kreacher covered his ears; he had never heard such a sound before, like some kind of sinister laughter, or a sigh of relief after liberation.

The last flame died down, the lake dried up, and there was no trace of the undead. A layer of grayish-white bone dust remained at the bottom of the lake.

"ended."

Sirius let out a long breath, but there was no joy as he had expected. He slumped to the ground, turned to look at Regulus, whose body was still trembling, but whose eyes were empty and lifeless.

Melvin reached into the stone basin, picked up the locket, and handed it to the dazed Sirius.

Regulus risked his life to replace the real locket more than a decade ago, leaving the fake here. Whatever his purpose, he disobeyed Voldemort's orders and thwarted the Dark Lord's plans as an ordinary wizard.

Sirius Black took it with trembling hands and looked down at it.

Compared to the real locket, this fake is smaller, lacks intricate patterns and markings, and has no Slytherin-specific symbols. It can be opened with a gentle press.

There was nothing inside, except for a note.

……

To the Dark Lord:
I know that by the time you read this letter, I will already be dead.

But I want you to know that I discovered your secret. I stole the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as possible.

I am willing to risk my life in the hope that you will be killed when you encounter an opponent.

RAB

On the yellowed note was the neat handwriting of an outstanding Slytherin graduate; on the tray beside it, a locket without a photo sat quietly on the table.

At Grimmauld Place, in the old Black house, around a large round table, Sirius Black found a photo his brother had left at home, made a copy, cut it out, and put it into the locket that represented courage and sacrifice.

Melvin and Dumbledore sat a short distance away, examining the real locket.

(End of this chapter)