I, Hogwarts Second Time Around.

Chapter 222 Blake's Funeral

"Let's get started!" Owen's voice was somewhat urgent.

He looked at Principal Dexter in the mirror, whose face was somewhat yellowed.

His eyes showed no trace of panic; on the contrary, he looked very anxious.

As if they couldn't wait.

hoo hoo hoo!

I'm going to work on the Outer Gods.

Wow! That sounds really interesting!

"Start what? We need to think about this carefully," Sirius was the first to refuse.

That was about dealing with a god, so why did it come out of Owen's mouth like it was as simple as catching an eight-eyed giant spider in the Forbidden Forest?

Moreover, he glanced at Dumbledore beside him.

He saw that the old principal's face was also full of solemnity, and he immediately felt calmer.

Yes!

Dumbledore would never allow a minor wizard to do such a dangerous thing.

Principal Dexter seemed to sense the two professors' concerns, and he calmly said, "He doesn't need to enter the veil now. In fact, all the inheritors of ancient magic in the past only entered the veil to resist the outer gods after they came of age."

"But I want to say that you must be prepared, because the world behind the veil will be a lonely journey. You will face not only the challenges of physical magic from the Outer Gods, but more importantly, the challenges of the mind."

"I'm ready!" Irving said without hesitation.

It was as if he was desperate to die.

Beside him, both Hermione and Harry looked at him in utter shock.

The little witch gently tugged at his sleeve.

"No, let this adventure end here!" Dumbledore slowly stepped forward, shielding Owen behind him, and said in the calmest yet most unwavering tone, "I am the Headmaster of Hogwarts, and my students will not embark on that absurd fate alone before I fall."

Upon hearing this, Principal Dexter looked at him but said nothing.

Two wizards who both served as headmasters of Hogwarts.

The feelings we all share for our students are the same.

He simply sighed slightly, for he knew that fate was predetermined, and any wizard who mastered ancient magic would inevitably embark on that path.

Because all ancient magic ultimately originates from the Tower of Divine Gifts, which is like the source of a river, those who seek it will inevitably return here to confront the terrifying power born from behind the veil.

No one can resist such magic.

Especially those who inherit the throne.

Having already witnessed the power of ancient magic, trying to abandon it would be even more difficult than killing them.

So eventually, they will all come back here.

It's just a matter of time.

"This is Principal Dexter." A brief silence suddenly fell upon the towering structure, which seemed to belong to a divine realm.

After a short while, Sirius broke the silence.

He took a deep breath.

His gaze shifted away from Owen and Dumbledore.

Kreacher, standing nearby, kept tugging at his trouser leg, reminding him of the purpose of his visit.

"Have you seen my brother? He should have been here more than ten years ago."

"Yes, I have seen him," Principal Dexter said slowly.

Then, with a gentle flick of the finger.

Suddenly, as if stars were being squeezed out of the sapphire ground, a crack appeared.

"Young Master! It's Young Master Regulus!"

Kreacher suddenly shouted.

From within that crack, a young figure slowly floated out. He looked only seventeen or eighteen years old, dressed in a black wizard's robe, with the prominent Black family crest on his chest.

Thanks to the magic, he retained his appearance from the moment he died, almost unchanged. Compared to Sirius, he looked darker, but also healthier and more energetic.

"Regrus!!!" Sirius shouted with all his might.

The heart-wrenching sound drew all of Irving's and the others' attention to him.

He rushed over, fell to the ground, and then, trembling, held Regulus in his arms, his eyes fixed on Regulus's face, calling his name repeatedly.

This is because his brother, Regulus, still looks the same as he did when he was alive, with a rosy complexion and even body temperature.

It doesn't look like a corpse at all.

It looked more like they were asleep!

This gave him a misconception.

It was as if he could awaken Regulus.

"This..." Harry stared in surprise at the young man lying in Sirius's arms.

He looked exactly like Sirius in his old photo from the Order of the Phoenix.

He was even more surprised by Regulus's current physical condition.

This is almost indistinguishable from a living person, except that the chest no longer rises and falls.

"It is the power of ancient magic."

Irving said slowly.

In his vision, Regulus was enveloped in silvery-white magic, and a large amount of ancient magic surged from the sapphire-like floor.

The confluence at his neck.

"Regulus!!!" Sirius's mournful cry kept repeating, tears streaming uncontrollably from his bloodshot eyes.

Irving slowly walked forward.

Seeing Sirius's heartbroken state, he didn't offer any words of comfort.

He needs to vent; comforting him isn't always the right thing to do.

"This is--"

Owen easily spotted the pendant box Regulus was wearing around his neck.

That was completely different from Slytherin's locket.

It was shaped like a six-pointed star, sky blue, and wisps of ancient magic emanated from the box, like water overflowing from a bucket.

Of course, what surprised Irving the most was the engraving on the locket.

It looks like a triangular eye, with a vertical line in the middle of the pupil.

A vertical line and a circle are drawn inside an equilateral triangle.

He knew this sign all too well.

He was wearing a necklace like that around his neck.

This is—the Deathly Hallows.

Most people would only associate it with one person.

That is—Grindelwald.

"The Gellert symbol," Dumbledore said calmly, though Owen could still see a flash of surprise in the old headmaster's eyes.

In an instant, Regulus's identity became shrouded in mystery.

He bears the mark of Grindelwald's relics, so he can't possibly be a pure Death Eater.

Is he also a double agent like Snape?

That is indeed possible.

He knew that his mother, Gabrielle, had visited England more than a decade earlier and had invited Regulus to join the saints.

It's not impossible that Regulus chose to join the Saints back then.

But how did he end up here?

Does that locket contain ancient magic?

Is it the technology of the saints?

Alchemy?

Did he use that pendant box to unlock the door to the Divine Tower?

All of this became increasingly mysterious with the insignia on Regulus's chest.

What exactly happened back then?

What kind of deal did Regulus make with his mother?

These things may all become permanent mysteries over time.

"Home, let's go home, Regulus!" Sirius murmured. He seemed oblivious to the Deathly Hallows emblem on Regulus's chest.

His eyes were fixed on his younger brother's face.

Kreacher was also crying out.

Its bullfrog-like croaking echoed throughout the hall.

"Home! Kreacher is taking the young master home!"

He stared intently at Regulus in Sirius's arms, afraid of losing him again, afraid that this was just a dream, and that after the dream, Regulus would remain alone in Black's ancestral home, guarding an old secret.

Seeing this touching scene, Harry couldn't help but cry.

Hermione bit her lip and turned her head away, unable to bear it.

Dumbledore gave Sirius time.

He turned and went to discuss something with the Principal Dexter in the mirror.

Owen, on the other hand, found a remote place and began to capture the ancient magic that roamed around him.

As for Hermione, she was somewhat restrained and saddened, resonating with the bond between the brothers. She felt quite lost.

But instead of disturbing Sirius, she turned and walked to the surrounding openwork walls, which were also covered with dense patterns. Upon closer inspection, one would find that they were all ancient runes.

Some of them are even not found in textbooks.

It is a completely new and never-before-seen rune.

She took out parchment and a quill from her pocket and wrote down all the ancient text.

Time seemed to have passed for a very long time.

When Owen, who was sitting on the ground, opened his eyes again, he found Dumbledore looking at him with a worried expression.

"We should go," he said.

"About the Outer Gods, about what lies beyond the veil," Owen asked.

"I think, at least for now, you can still rely on your headmaster, Owen. Things haven't gotten so bad that the headmaster's student has to face danger alone," Dumbledore said firmly.

Then he waved to signal everyone present to come back to their senses.

They walked together toward the mirror.

Irving waved to the old Principal Dexter.

"The times have indeed progressed beyond my expectations. You have a group of excellent professors and relatives," Principal Dexter said calmly. "But I still hope that you will shoulder your responsibilities at some point in the future."

Ancient magic was a gift from the gods, and also an inescapable responsibility for its inheritors.

Always remember that.

With great power comes great responsibility.

Dumbledore extended his wand and gently tapped the ancient mirror.

Then it spread out like water.

The wizards, each carrying different emotions, passed through the mist.

I snapped back to reality.

They have returned to Hogwarts Castle, located in the Scottish Highlands.

------

The setting sun.

The earth was bathed in golden light.

A secluded cemetery near Place Grimaud.

Comfortable yet lonely.

The panting sounds from the dark cave were no longer heard, and the eerie scene of corpses emerging from the water was no longer visible.

Yes, everyone present knew that.

It's all over now.

They found the brave Slytherin.

They brought him back to his family.

May his soul find peace at this moment.

"May Merlin bless him," said Dumbledore.

This is the Black family cemetery.

It is located in a wasteland not far from Grimmauld Place, and at least from the outside, from a Muggle's perspective, it is a wasteland.

At the center of the cemetery stands a tall, imposing, dark black marble monument.

The ancient stone tablet was covered in rust and even bird droppings, and the base of the stone was carved with the coat of arms of the Black family.

Above the coat of arms is the striking inscription made of gilded metal: "Eternal glory to the noble and oldest Black family."

Surrounding this monument are countless tombstones from different eras, each with a different shape, but all sharing one thing in common: they are made of extremely fine materials.

The closer you get to the monument, the more ornate the tombstone becomes.

Irving found the name Phineas Nigellus Black on a tombstone closest to the monument.

This most unpopular headmaster of Hogwarts in history holds a revered position in the family cemetery.

To the right of the cemetery are three tall yew trees and the black outline of a small chapel; to the left, one can see the exquisite old house at 12 Grimaud Place.

Like 12 Grimmauld Place, everything here is neglected and only faint traces of its former glory remain.

The cemetery was overgrown with weeds, and crows would occasionally land on the tombstones, watching the intruders warily.

Under the relentless ravages of time, most of those tall and exquisite tombstones have been damaged. They stand there silently, telling the story of the decline of the Black family.

In front of a grave where the pit had already been dug, Dumbledore, Sirius, Lupin, Harry, and the others stood solemnly around the coffin inside the pit.

They met Professor Lupin by chance at Hogwarts Castle; he seemed to be looking for Headmaster Dumbledore.

Upon hearing about Regulus's death, he had originally planned to invite more people to his funeral.

But looking back on his life, those who were on good terms with Regulus were undoubtedly pure-blood wizards, all of whom were loyal followers of Voldemort.

Inviting them was indeed somewhat difficult.

But Irving still had Dobby deliver letters to the three people.

One of them is Malfoy's mother, Narcissa Malfoy.

The other is Bellatrix, who is in the deepest cell of Azkaban and is said to have completely lost his personal freedom, with his entire body bound by metal chains.

The last one is Tonks, Nymphadora Tonks.

His main invitation was to Nymphadora Tonks' mother, Andromeda Tonks, Sirius's cousin, but he didn't know where this Black member who had married a Muggle lived. So he had to ask Dobby to go to the Ministry of Magic to find Nymphadora Tonks.

As dusk falls.

Irving almost thought they wouldn't come.

Suddenly, space distorted.

An elegant woman dressed in a black robe, with a white rose on her chest and a black veil hat on her head appeared on the road beside the cemetery.

A house-elf was following beside him.

Then, as if by prior arrangement, a Muggle car suddenly drove up and came to a steady stop on the side of the road. A woman wearing a brown Muggle trench coat got out of the car.

She was accompanied by her husband and her daughter, a girl with very attractive pink hair.

I thought you wouldn't come.

Covered in mud, Sirius Black walked up to Andromeda Tonks, the woman in the brown trench coat.

He was covered in mud, for he had dug Regulus's tomb himself, bit by bit, with an iron spade. He had not used magic, nor allowed anyone to help him.

Perhaps only when the shovel is plunged into the soil will he feel a sense of atonement.

"He's my brother. Sirius!" Andromeda Tonks said sorrowfully, "And you too!"

"This has nothing to do with faith. Whatever he did, he is still my brother."

The woman's tone was firm, filled with deep concern for her loved ones.

As the second of the three Black sisters, Andromeda always cared deeply for her family, even though her mother had removed her from the family tree.

Aside from her ruthless older sister, Bellatrix Lestrange, she cared about every one of her brothers and sisters.

"I've heard about you, Sirius."

"You've been in the newspapers for days," Andromeda suddenly changed her tone, turning her attention to Sirius. "That's not good!"

She said, "You've become a thorn in their side."

"I don't care!" Sirius said irritably.

"But I do care. You're my only brother left. Do you want me to hold another funeral?"

"Hmph!" Sirius scoffed. "Do you think I'd want to lie down here and keep company with those decaying old things?"

"This just makes me feel nauseous!"

He paused for a moment, then continued, "If I die, Lupin will know where to bury me. You don't need to come then." As he spoke, his gaze involuntarily fell on Narcissa.

She stood gracefully at the entrance to the cemetery, as if she belonged to a different world from them.

A thick barrier separated the brothers and sisters.

Although they are from the same family, each of Blake's children has a unique personality.

Everyone is different.

Narcissa heard Sirius's faint mockery in her ear, but she didn't say anything.

She simply walked quietly past the two people, then came to the grave, slowly extended her wand, and transformed the rubble beside the tombstone into a daffodil.

Delicate and tender flowers bloom on the soil.

The pure white petals drooped, silently telling a story of sorrow.

His restrained emotions touched everyone present.

Even Sirius, who had always been at odds with her, shut his mouth.

The tombstone of Regulus simply reads: Here lies Regulus Arcturus Black, who rests forever.

The inscription doesn't even describe his achievements.

Because this was still a dark period, and for the safety of the Black family, his achievements could not be displayed at this time, and everything about the Horcruxes was still a secret.

Narcissa frowned slightly upon seeing this.

Then she waved her wand again.

A new sentence was suddenly added to the tombstone: "Here lies an unsung hero, the eternal pride of the noble Black family."

At this moment, Sirius and Andromeda stepped forward.

They looked haggard, but didn't shed a tear. They just silently gazed at their brother's coffin.

Perhaps none of him ever imagined that the first of his siblings to have his funeral would be the youngest, Regulus.

(End of this chapter)