HP: Wormwood and Lightning Wood

With Regulus by their side, the four of them returned to Hogsmeade Village.

Dumbledore looked at Regulus, who had lost his mind and could only growl and attack instinctively. His ruddy face had long since turned pale. He sighed, "Send him back to Black's old house."

Black's old house is located at 12 Grimmauld Place, London. It is usually shrouded in a Muggle-shielding charm, and only wizards who know its location can see it.

When Dumbledore arrived, a dilapidated old house squeezed between the adjacent houses number 11 and 13. The old house was dirty and messy, with old walls and filthy windows, giving it a gloomy and dilapidated feel.

West raised an eyebrow in surprise, not expecting the old Blake mansion to be in such a state.

Snape snorted coldly, a look of disgust and disdain flashing across his face.

West interlaced his fingers with Snape's. The moment their fingers were clasped together, Snape's discomfort eased considerably.

"Should we go back first, Severus?" West asked.

Snape shook his head. "It's alright, go inside."

Dumbledore stepped forward and knocked on the door.

A hurried shout came from inside the house: "Kreacher, go open the door!" This was followed by a string of curses.

After a while, Sirius opened the door, revealing his disheveled head.

"Dumbledore? West?" Sirius's gaze fell on West, his heart filled with surprise, until he saw Snape beside him and the two of them holding hands tightly.

Sirius Black froze, standing stiffly in the doorway, as if even a fragile gust of wind could shatter and carry him away.

"Perhaps we can go in and talk, Sirius?" Dumbledore asked gravely.

"Uh... okay," Sirius said blankly.

Sirius didn't see the corpse that they had tied behind him until the group entered the old house.

"...Regulus?" Sirius stared wide-eyed at the familiar face.

He stood there in disbelief, his mind blank, trying to figure out what was going on.

Regulus's face was deathly pale, his eyes were cloudy and had lost their former luster. His skin had begun to rot, emitting a putrid stench.

"...How could this be? How could this be..." Sirius muttered in despair. He lunged forward and grabbed Regulus's wrist, but was jolted by the strange, soft touch and instinctively let go.

He felt a bloody taste spreading across his tongue.

Prior to this, Sirius had speculated that Regulus might have died during a mission before Voldemort's downfall, or that he was purged by Voldemort for trying to leave the Death Eaters.

But he never imagined that his hated brother, the brother with whom he had parted ways due to differing ideals, would become a cold, lifeless, soulless, and mindless corpse.

"What on earth happened?" Sirius asked, leaning weakly against the wall in the corridor.

Dumbledore sighed. "We don't know, Sirius. But I can tell you that we found Regulus in the cave where Voldemort hid Horcruxes, and I think we should bring him back."

A piercing scream suddenly came from the stairwell.

West stroked Snape's palm while looking at the house-elf standing at the top of the stairs.

He was very old, with a hunched back, bluish-gray skin, and loose eyelids covering cloudy eyes.

The little elf's whole body trembled violently, and its withered lips emitted muffled sobs.

He suddenly collapsed to the ground, a sharp and hoarse cry bursting from his throat.

"Master... my little master Regulus..." Tears rolled down his sunken cheeks.

Kreacher struggled to reach Regulus, looked up into Regulus's colorless eyes, and let out a mournful wail, "It's all Kreacher's fault! Kreacher shouldn't have abandoned his master!...It's all Kreacher's fault!"

"Kreacher! Do you know what happened?!" Sirius roared, his eyes bloodshot.

"No, Kreacher doesn't know! Master Regulus forbade Kreacher to tell anyone!" Kreacher cried and screamed.

"Can you stop arguing?" West stepped forward. "Let's discuss how to solve this problem first." He glanced at Regulus.

"For example, let him rest in peace? I can dispel the dark magic on the undead."

Sirius: "...Please, West."

Vester pointed his wand at Regulus's brow, and a beam of green light pierced through the tip of the wand and entered Regulus's skin, outlining a magical array on it.

As the formation shattered, the dark magic on Regulus was removed, and his out-of-control body slowly collapsed.

Kreacher supported Regulus as he lay down, tears falling onto Regulus's mottled arms.

"Bury him as soon as possible," West instructed briefly.

Snape was puzzled. What exactly happened back then? Although he and Regulus were both Death Eaters at the time, they weren't familiar with each other.

He couldn't understand why Regulus had become the way he was.

"He came to that cave before, but for some reason, he was dragged to the bottom of the lake by the Inferi and became one of them," West asked softly. "Kreacher, it seems you know something, don't you?"

"It seems Regulus has told you something? What was his last wish that he wanted to fulfill?" West crouched down, coaxing him word by word, "Tell me, and I can help you fulfill your young master's last wish."

Kreacher looked up, his eyes like two old glass beads soaked in tears.

He recognized the young man before him: the sole heir of the Somerset family, Amy's master.

Kreacher suddenly knelt before West, his forehead slamming heavily against the cold floor. "Please, Mr. Somerset, help my young master! He... he wants me to destroy something..."

Dumbledore and Grindelwald exchanged a glance.

Kreacher suddenly started slapping himself. "It's all Kreacher's fault for being useless! Kreacher couldn't do what the young master asked him to do! It's all..."

"Kreacher, stop," West ordered.

Kreacher instinctively stopped moving and froze in place.

Sirius roared from the side, "Why didn't you tell me these things?!"

However, Kreacher ignored him and just stared longingly at West.

"Tell me, what did your little master ask you to destroy?" West asked.

Kreacher hesitated for a moment, then stood up and went upstairs.

When he returned, he had a gold pendant box in his hand, with a snake shape inlaid with emeralds on the front.

"The Slytherin pendant box..." Snape's expression was complicated.