A certain Hogwarts professor of runes.

"I even wrote him a letter, telling him to stay away from Voldemort and hide. But what happened? He joined the Death Eaters right after graduation. My parents must have been overjoyed. They finally washed away this stain on my reputation. They can now tell the outside world that they have a brave little hero in their family, right?"

Kreacher lay on the ground, sobbing softly, spewing out a string of profanities, "...shameless, making Muggle friends...filthy, cowardly, stinking..."

Sirius said angrily, "Stinky? Then I'll let you try the Muggle method. To be honest, I've wanted to do this for a long time."

He dragged Kreacher to the second-floor bathroom, threw him into the bathtub, and turned on the faucet with the snake pattern. "You're so filthy! I've been in Azkaban for twelve years and you've never been this outrageous!"

Sirius Black held Kreacher down and washed him from head to toe. Sirius even conjured a brush with his wand and scrubbed him relentlessly, cleaning even the grime from the wrinkles of Kreacher's bald scalp. Sirius said smugly, "Are you satisfied now? Your master is serving you..."

A minute later, he began to regret it. The water in the bathtub felt like a dozen bottles of ink had been poured into it, and it emitted a foul stench. "Ugh!" He couldn't help but feel nauseous and incredulously raised Kreacher's hand: "Is this what you've been using to cook for me all this time?"

Sirius Black turned on the bathtub plug and let the water flow. Half an hour passed—

Kreacher sat cleanly on the sofa, his skin pink and tender, even the fur in his bat-like ears was white and fluffy like cotton wool. He seemed very uncomfortable, staring at his toes and examining them closely.

Sirius came out of the bathroom and took a shower himself, otherwise he would have smelled strange.

He watched with satisfaction as the taciturn Kreacher lay comfortably on the sofa reading comics. These comics had been given to him by a guy named "Felix Heap," who said they were to help him pass the time. Along with a whole bunch of Easter chocolate eggs, he had picked the ugliest one and given it to Kreacher.

The afternoon was pleasant enough, and even the air felt fresher. He stayed until the afternoon, then left the Black House and went to an activity room in the Grimaldo Square community.

"Hey, young man, you're here again today?" said a gaunt old man.

“Yes,” Sirius said casually, setting up some pieces. “Shall I go first?”

“Then you should choose white,” the old man said.

"What does it matter?" Sirius muttered, holding a Black Knight in his hand. "It would be nice if this piece could move."

The old man laughed heartily, "You're really funny... but no way!"

The two played two games, both ending in Sirius's defeat. In the third game, he kept scratching his chin, deep in thought: "I don't remember it being this difficult. When I played with Remus, we could go sixty or seventy steps..."

An old woman carrying a cloth bag walked into the activity room, looked around, and then came over and grabbed the old man's ear. "Your son and daughter-in-law are back, and you're still playing chess here?"

"Finish this dish, finish this dish—" the old man pleaded.

So the old woman sat down beside them and watched them play chess. The old man frowned; they had reached a crucial stage, locked in a fierce battle. The old woman watched coldly and suddenly said, "Old man, make a move on your queen."

“Yes.” To Sirius’s astonishment, the old man used his White Queen to devour Sirius’s Black Knight.

"That's not fair!" Sirius exclaimed. "There are two of you against me!"

The old woman pursed her lips. "You can ignore him; he's someone I taught." However, she didn't say anything more, but the situation was beyond saving, and Sirius watched helplessly as he was checkmated.

The old man scattered the chessboard. "This game doesn't count. We'll play again later." He then left with the old woman.

"Did my son have a fight with the people across the street?"

"No, they even gave me a gift. There's a saying, 'turned over a new leaf'... They haven't played music late at night for the past six months. You won't believe it, but I took a young man's advice and handed him a card. Like the young man from before, he had black hair..."

Meanwhile, in a gloomy and dilapidated hotel.

A sharp voice whispered, its tone as cold and piercing as the wind: “Go, Barty, tell Peter… bring me Harry Potter alive.”

“Yes, my master! I am willing to give my life for you!” said Barty Crouch Jr., with his light blond, disheveled hair, with fervor.

“No, my dear Barty,” the voice behind the chair said, “you must remember that this is a dangerous attempt—you must first protect yourself under Dumbledore’s nose.”

Chapter 304 Follow-up and the Locket

Fudge has lost a lot of face.

His expression was quite something, like someone who's just having a good time and feeling incredibly proud, only to be suddenly hit on the head with a club. Fudge wiped the cold sweat that kept pouring out of him and stammered, "That was...that was really amazing."

Felix said earnestly, "Now that things are over, the Auror squad stationed at Hogwarts by the Ministry of Magic—"

“Ah, you mean this? Of course we have to leave. The Ministry of Magic is severely understaffed right now…” Fudge immediately agreed: “You know, we’re hosting two large events in a row.”

Felix withdrew his magic with satisfaction, hiding the Dementor he had intercepted from under the noses of the Aurors at the Ministry of Magic in a hidden compartment of his ring. He had used the ring to store Blackroot last year, one of the spoils of his and Belby's adventure in the Forbidden Forest.

As for the number of Dementors, there aren't many, only a dozen or so. After all, putting on a show requires some investment.

Felix then chatted with Fudge for a bit, and Fudge, with a flattering and even slightly ingratiating tone, promised to give away the best tickets to the Quidditch World Cup this summer. Although he didn't really need them, Felix accepted them with a smile.

“This was indeed a mistake on our part, no, it was someone else’s mistake,” Fudge glanced disgustedly at the unconscious Umbridge. “We will minimize the damage, please rest assured…”

As he said this, Umbridge's body trembled.

"So she was faking it," Felix thought. "It seems I really have left a deep psychological scar on this high-ranking official from the Ministry of Magic; she'd rather lie on the ground than face me." Or perhaps she simply doesn't want to face the harsh reality...

Fudge hurriedly left with his men, still having to clean up the mess. In his high-profile manner, he even arranged for reporters to come. However, according to his plan, the front-page photo should have been him escorting Sirius Black out of Hogwarts, solemnly declaring that no evil would be allowed any fertile ground to exist. But this charade took an unexpected turn halfway through, and afterwards, like a wild horse, it galloped headlong in a completely unpredictable direction.

Umbridge lay on a deformed stretcher, being carried away on a levit, with Peter Pettigrew's body beside her. She was utterly devastated; she'd likely be put on hold once she got back, and it was uncertain when she'd regain Fudge's trust.

As they reached the main entrance of Hogwarts, Fudge gestured for one of his men to go out ahead. The unfortunate Auror walked out of the school gate expressionlessly. Faced with a barrage of blinding flashes, he quickly covered his face and waved his other hand frantically, shouting, "Stop taking pictures! Stop taking pictures!"

A few minutes later, Fudge cautiously revealed half of his face, and only after confirming that all the reporters had been driven away did he quickly leave with his men.

Unlike the Ministry of Magic's disheveled departure, Hogwarts was a completely different scene. Students cheered and raised their wands, shooting out dazzling sparks from the tips—red, green, yellow, blue…it looked like a grand fireworks show.

Hermione appeared quietly, gave Felix a thumbs-up, and jumped around a couple of times with the students, pretending that she had actually been there the whole time.

Just then, several people from the covered bridge came over. Harry helped Sirius, while Lupin dragged Severus behind them.

"Harry! Your Patronus is amazing!"

Quidditch captain Oliver Wood scooped Harry up, and before he could react, he found himself lifted onto the shoulders of the crowd, who cheered and tossed him into the air. "We've won!" "We've won!" the crowd shouted excitedly, their voices rising in waves. As Harry was thrown to his highest point, he turned to look at Sirius Black, who was smiling at him. Harry felt something surging in his chest—a surge of pure joy. He drew his wand, and the silver stag Patronus once again flew from its tip, leaping through the air.

A few daring students tried to pull Felix over as well, threatening to throw Professor Hyp into the air if he didn't stop them. However, this didn't happen. When Professor Hyp stared at them calmly, the students sheepishly retreated and went to find Harry.

Later that evening, Dumbledore returned. In the headmaster's office, he listened patiently to everything, then smiled and said, "It seems I missed quite a wonderful scene." He looked at Sirius and said cheerfully, "Tomorrow I'll go to the Ministry of Magic and talk to Fudge about pardoning you."

Professor McGonagall said, "The Ministry of Magic will definitely compromise; too many people heard what Peter Pettigrew said before he died."

Dumbledore nodded slightly. "I agree with you, Minerva, but I also know how easily Fudge is swayed." He paused slightly, glossing over the topic, "Peter Pettigrew really mentioned that Voldemort is coming back? It seems he did get quite a bit done during his months of disappearance."

Felix cautioned, "He also found Voldemort an accomplice, and we know nothing about this person's identity."

Dumbledore said gently, “You’re right. Voldemort has been lingering in the Albanian forest for a while now… but it won’t be long before he appears in the open, if all goes as expected.”

"The Albanian forest?"

“According to my sources, he hides deep in the forest, possessing various small animals,” Dumbledore said thoughtfully. “Perhaps Peter Pettigrew received help from those little friends.”

Felix knew what the headmaster meant; he was referring to the mice, and Peter Pettigrew could communicate with them.

“But—Albus,” Professor McGonagall said in astonishment, “if he had been there all along, why…”

“Because we can’t do anything with him. He’s less than a ghost, like a shadowy, ethereal thing. Believe me, Minerva, that must have been very painful,” Dumbledore said.

After leaving the principal's office, Sirius found Felix, his expression quite complicated: "I know you're very knowledgeable about old things..."

“What,” Felix looked at him and teased, “are you thinking of selling some of the Black family’s collection?”

Sirius Black pursed his lips. "I'll give you whichever one you want for free. Don't interrupt, Kreacher told me something, something about Voldemort, and also about my...brother."

"Your brother?"

"Regulus Arcturus Black, he's not quite what I thought. Anyway, he stole something from Voldemort and got himself killed for it, and I think it must have been very important to Voldemort."

Felix's expression turned serious: "What is it?"

"A gold pendant box, filthy, with a little snake on it. If Kreacher hadn't confessed, I wouldn't have paid any attention to it; there are too many similar things in the house..." Sirius described its appearance in detail.

He continued, "But after studying it for a long time, I discovered that it was really extraordinary. Kreacher couldn't destroy it, and neither could I. Even when I used my most powerful magic, I could only barely make a small cut on it, and it healed itself in no time."

Felixst can stop in his tracks, is indestructible, and can self-repair – these are all characteristics of Horcruxes!

The book "The Secrets of Advanced Black Magic" that he saw at Black's old house had a very detailed description of the methods of making Horcruxes and their characteristics. In addition to being difficult to destroy and able to resist most spells, it also has a strong ability to self-repair with magic. If the right method is not found, even tearing the Horcrux to pieces, smashing it, or crushing it into powder will be useless.

The known methods to destroy Horcruxes are either Fiendfire or a massive influx of magical energy, but those are methods only available to the four great wizards.

“We’ll go there now!” Felix said decisively.

They turned down a corridor and saw Harry around the corner, head down, seemingly lost in thought.

“Harry!” Sirius said, “Why are you here all alone? Aren’t you celebrating with your friends?”

Harry stammered, "There wasn't much of a celebration. I went to see Ron, and he was fine, except for the Scabbers thing which made him a little sick... When I came back, I heard you were in the headmaster's office, so... so I came to check on you. How's your injury?"

"It's nothing serious, look, just some minor injuries." Sirius exclaimed, kicking his leg exaggeratedly.

Harry smiled and said expectantly, "Do you have time now? Are you staying at Hogwarts tonight? I can give you my bed."

Sirius looked at him hesitantly, and Felix said understandingly, "Harry can come with us; we can bring him back before lights out."

Harry looked at them, puzzled. Why were they leaving school so late? Where were they going?

When he saw the fire burning in the fireplace in the professor's office, it suddenly dawned on him: "Floo Powder? I've seen it at Ron's house, and I even used it..."

He recalled his less-than-pleasant experiences traveling with Floo Powder. He hated the dizzying feeling of spinning around in the furnace, but he had to admit that compared to Apparition, Floo Powder was a fairly comfortable way to travel.

“Don’t worry, Harry,” Sirius said. “Take a breath and remember, number 12 Grimmauld Place.”

Harry grabbed a handful of Floo Powder and sprinkled it into the fireplace. The fire leaped up and turned a vibrant green. He held his breath and uttered, "Number 12 Grimmauld Place." Then he vanished.

Sirius remained motionless in the office.

"Do you have something to say to me?" Felix asked.

“I actually want to ask you for a favor—” Sirius took a deep breath, his fists clenched tightly, “I want to bring Regulus back.”

“Regulus? You said earlier…” Felix suddenly realized, “He didn’t take the locket from Voldemort, but from some hidden location?”

Sirius nodded. "I've been there, but I couldn't even get through the door."

Chapter 305 Parsleyan and the Locket

“The Easter holiday ends tomorrow, and the weekend is in two days. How about we set it for that day?” Felix suggested.

"Can't we do it tonight? It'll be just the two of us, let's do it together," Sirius said impatiently.

"If that place is Voldemort's secret treasure trove, would he let us leave so easily?" Felix countered, especially since Felix was already fairly certain that it was where Voldemort had placed the Horcruxes, and it was always better to be cautious.

"Sirius, I need to make some preparations, and so do you. You seem a bit impatient right now."

“You’re right, Felix,” Sirius said finally.

Felix smiled slightly. "Let's go, Harry is waiting for us."

The two of them went into the fireplace, one after the other.

At Blake's old house.