The Return to Hogwarts

Kreacher froze instantly, lying stiffly on the dining table, staring at the locket in Amostella's hand, tears streaming from its sunken eye sockets.

Sirius had seen Kreacher go mad before, but he had never seen this loyal elf so insane. He glared at Kreacher, his rough hand still gripping Kreacher's neck, not because of his offense, but because of the words Kreacher had just screamed.

“My brother’s locket, hmm, you know something, don’t you, Kreacher? I order you to tell me everything!”

"Let it go first, Sirius—"

Remus grabbed Sirius's wrist and then said to Kreacher, who had sat up,

“Don’t get me wrong, Kreacher. We’re not trying to take Regulus’s… relics. We just want to know how he got this locket. We think you might know something about the truth, right?”

Kreacher stepped back on the table, instinctively avoiding Remus's outstretched hand to help it up. Ignoring Sirius's angry glare, it stared intently at the locket in Amostella's hand. It didn't want to say anything, but Sirius's direct command left it no choice but to curl up, resting its wet face between its knees, and began to rock back and forth.

When it began to speak, its voice was low and muffled, but quite clearly audible in the quiet, echoing kitchen.

"The irresponsible young master Sirius has run away--"

Kreacher's first words made Sirius's face turn dark, but Amosta and Remus simultaneously stopped him from getting angry with a look.

"--His behavior broke the mistress's heart, but young master Regulus had pride and knew what the Black name and his pure blood meant."

For many years, he often spoke of the Dark Lord, who wanted wizards to no longer have to hide, but could come out and rule over Muggles and their descendants. Young Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord's organization at the age of sixteen, and he was so proud and happy to serve the Dark Lord—”

snort!

Sirius let out a contemptuous sneer, but his eyes revealed endless sorrow.

"Speak the key."

Amostella interrupted Kreacher's praise of Regulus and the Dark Lord.

“Let us understand the whole story in the simplest terms, Kreacher.”

Kreacher shuddered in fear. As a magical creature, its 'sense' was more acute than that of an ordinary wizard. It could vaguely sense that Amosta was different from others. Moreover, this young man also had the authority to command it.

“A year later, one day, Master Regulus came to see me, Kreacher, in the kitchen. Master Regulus liked me.”

Seemingly recalling Amosta's orders, Kreacher shook his head, tears welling in his eyes, and changed the subject.

"The Dark Lord needs a sprite, and young master Regulus has provided Kreacher."

"What would Voldemort need a little fairy for?"

Remus couldn't help but ask, "Werewolves, giants, vampires, Death Eaters—many dark creatures are Voldemort's supporters. Doesn't he need more men?"

Remus's doubts were quickly answered, and as the story continued, they seemed to follow Kreacher back to many years ago, to the large cave on the beach that Muggles could not enter.

Sirius's breathing grew heavier, his face ashen as he stared at Kreacher, his clenched fists causing veins to bulge on his back, as if he wanted to rush up and beat Kreacher up at any moment. Remus's expression was also more serious than ever before. By a twist of fate, they learned of a bizarre past of Voldemort, which probably involved Voldemort's deepest secret.

The story of the boy named Regulus was indeed admirable, and Amosta couldn't help but feel a bit of admiration for him, but by the end of the story, he had begun to think about other things.

Dumbledore was searching for Voldemort's Horcruxes, and his method was to trace Voldemort's life in the wizarding world in hopes of finding clues.

Hmm. Voldemort gave the notebook to Lucius Malfoy and had Regulus Black involved in hiding the locket. Could he be using this as an employee perk, getting every Death Eater who is loyal to him involved in such matters?

As he spoke, Amosta found this behavior somewhat incomprehensible.

He never crafted a Horcrux, but if he wanted to, he certainly wouldn't reveal the location of his soul everywhere. Perhaps he would stuff fragments of his soul into an inconspicuous stone and then quietly sink it into the Mariana Trench.

Perhaps, the number of times his soul split occurred caused problems with his thinking?

"--Young Master Regulus took out a locket from his pocket, just like the Dark Lord's."

Kreacher stared at the locket in Amostella's hand, tears streaming down his long nose.

"He told Kreacher to hold onto it and change the locket after the stone basin dried."

Kreacher's sobs became heavy and piercing, requiring Remus and Sirius to concentrate fully to understand him.

"He ordered—Kreacher to leave—ignore him, he forbade Kreacher to tell the mistress what he had done—but Kreacher was to destroy the Dark Lord's locket. Kreacher switched the locket—and watched helplessly as the young master was dragged underwater. And then, oh!"

Kreacher collapsed onto the table, wailing and sobbing at the top of his lungs like a bullfrog.

The candles on the candlestick went out one by one as Kreacher recounted the past, and now only one candle remained, its light flickering erratically.

Sirius's face turned deathly pale, and his eyes were blank, as if he had been under a spell.

"Have you ever tried destroying the locket, Kreacher?"

Remus reached out his hand, but the instant he touched her, Kreacher recoiled as if electrocuted, tears welling in his eyes as he mumbled something.

"That despicable wolf cub touched Kreacher, and Kreacher wouldn't allow it. What will the mistress say?"

Remus couldn't make any expression other than a wry smile.

"answer the questions--"

Amosta stared at the runic symbols encircling the surface of the locket, a thoughtful expression on his face.

Hogwarts is at the forefront of the magical world today, and its interpretation of ancient runes is undoubtedly the closest to the truth. However, even the wizards who know runes best would not dare to say that they have a complete understanding of the magical script that may contain extraordinary magical power in ancient times.

Amostella didn't recognize the meaning of the ring of mysterious symbols, but he did find the characters familiar, as he had seen similar characters on the Ravenclaw tiara he had handled for some time.

Sirius Black's expression froze, and in a delirious tone, he commanded Kreacher to answer Remus's question. Kreacher wailed in agony while simultaneously trying to suppress his sobs.

"Kreacher couldn't leave a single mark on it. He tried many methods, but to no avail. Kreacher punished himself, tried again, and punished himself again, but it still didn't work. The box was covered in so much powerful magic; Kreacher believed that only by destroying it from the inside could it be destroyed. Kreacher failed to carry out the order; Kreacher couldn't destroy the locket; Kreacher let down Master Regulus."

"You still dare to mention Regulus!"

Sirius suddenly erupted in anger; had Remus not intervened in time, he would have been so furious he could have strangled Kreacher to death.

"Why didn't you tell me all this back then, Kreacher, why!"

He was only seventeen then, just coming of age, and you just watched him get dragged down with you!

Let's go check out Chapter 266

Sirius may have resented his parents and the Black family, who had brought him countless pains and repressions, but he always cared for his brother, even though he was a Death Eater. Otherwise, he wouldn't have investigated the truth of Regulus's death alone after Regulus's passing.

Sirius sat in a chair, his hands covering his face, his shoulders trembling slightly.

Regulus was only seventeen years old at the time, still a child. He couldn't imagine how much courage his seemingly foolish younger brother had mustered to decide to fight against the most evil dark wizard in history, Voldemort, who had always been his idol.

In that cold, corpse-filled cave, with only Kreacher as an audience, Regulus waged a duel against evil at the cost of his own life.

His death proved that the glory of the 'noble and oldest Black family' was real, and not just the delusion of a group of people obsessed with bloodlines.

Remus took a few candles from a drawer under the cupboard, replaced the burnt-out candles on the candlesticks, and lit them, thus restoring brightness to the kitchen.

Kreacher was still sobbing on the table. This old house-elf loved Regulus more than anyone else, but he had to watch Regulus die before his eyes. Sirius didn't understand him, but Remus knew that his heart must be filled with unspeakable bitterness. Perhaps because Remus himself was an outcast in the eyes of wizards, he understood him all the more.

"Amosta?"

Remus looked at Amosta, who was examining the mysterious symbols on the locket, and asked softly.

"Voldemort values ​​this locket so much, and you recognized it at a glance, so you must know what it is, right?"

"Don't ask too many questions, Remus—"

Amosta put the locket into his pocket, then spoke in a casual tone.

“You don’t have the ability to keep secrets; the more you know, the more dangerous it becomes.”

“That’s what Regulus fought for with his life, Amostella,” Sirius looked up, his eyes red as he stared at Amostella, who was about to claim the locket for herself. “I can’t give this to you. It should be destroyed. It was Regulus’s last wish!”

"You also lack the ability to do this."

Amosta remained unmoved.

"Moreover, this locket possesses a very powerful bewitching magic. If you wear it for a long time, you will become Voldemort's puppet. Only wizards who are proficient in Occlumency and have high magical power can resist its temptation."

Remus and Sirius looked at each other in silence.

"Do you have the ability to destroy it, sir?"

Kreacher seemed to glean something from Amosta's words. It struggled to stop crying, wobbled to its feet, jumped off the table, and came to Amosta, staring at him with its large, blurry eyes.

Perhaps out of pity, Amosta's tone softened slightly.

“I will do it, Kreacher, but not now.”

"We should notify Albus immediately—"

After a long silence, Remus suddenly spoke.

"Since Voldemort values ​​this locket so much, it must be hiding some important secret, which may be Voldemort's own weakness. Albus must know this."

Amostella raised an eyebrow, about to say something, but Sirius beat him to it, speaking gruffly.

“If you want to tell Dumbledore, Remus, I have no objection, but I don’t have time for that right now. I need to go and bring Regulus’s body back; I can’t leave him there!”

Kreacher stared blankly at Sirius, as if he were just meeting him for the first time.

"Calm down, Sirius,"

Remus looked solemn.

“Regulus is a hero, and we certainly can’t leave him alone, but I still think we should inform Albus first.”

From Kreacher's description, they knew that the cave must be extremely dangerous, containing many safeguards left by Voldemort to protect the locket. Remus believed that, given his poor condition and Sirius's fact that he had been in Azkaban for over a decade, they were very likely to perish there.

Remus automatically ignored Amosta, knowing that Amosta didn't like Sirius very much and that he thought it was very likely that Amosta wouldn't accompany Sirius to search for Regulus's remains.

“I’m not afraid of danger, Remus,”