Hogwarts: This holy light is righteously evil.

Seeing his hesitant expression, as he repeatedly looked him over but couldn't recognize him, Puni couldn't help but feel a little helpless.

"Do you remember Ravenclaw's belongings?"

This reminder struck Regulus like a thunderbolt, his pupils contracted sharply, his breath hitched, and his teeth chattered slightly as he spoke haltingly, his voice trembling with disbelief, to confirm the news.

"This...is...Ravenclaw's heirloom tiara?"

"uh-huh."

Puni raised his hand and completely removed the Ravenclaw crown from his head. The exquisite metal object detached from his hair and landed on his fingertips. He looked at Regulus, who was filled with shock, and slowly began to tell the story of this treasure.

“I found this crown in the Room of Requirement at Hogwarts. If you had seen how it was originally abandoned, you would never have been able to connect that dilapidated state with the exquisite object it is today.”

As she spoke, Puni gently handed the crown to Regulus's palm, allowing him to touch and examine it closely. After Puni's purification and restoration, the Ravenclaw crown had long since shed the dilapidated marks left by years of dark magic. The dark magic, broken patterns, and decaying texture that remained from when it was Voldemort's Horcrux had completely disappeared, and the entire crown had been restored to the complete form of an ancient magical artifact.

The entire structure is made of neat and meticulously intertwined silver threads, with each line flowing with pure magical luster. The rare gems inlaid on the crown continuously emit a warm and bright halo. This clean and pure magical aura carries a faint holy light, which is completely different from its previous state of carrying fragments of dark souls and being filled with violent black magic. It has a dignified and heavy sacred quality, and its attraction is far greater than that of the soul weapon form that has become an evil object.

Regulus held the crown in both hands, his gaze fixed on this legendary artifact, completely ignoring its considerable collectible and magical value. Compared to the object itself, he was more concerned about the deadly hidden danger within the crown. His hands trembled slightly as he gently stroked the patterns on the crown, repeatedly comparing it with the ancient records in his mind, confirming that the object before him perfectly matched the original form of the Ravenclaw crown. The moment he confirmed it was correct, his voice trembled noticeably as he urgently asked, suppressing his emotions.

"Have you completely removed the fragments of soul that were attached to this artifact?"

"I have completely removed and disposed of the soul fragments inside."

Puni deliberately used a more cautious approach, avoiding specific details of the process, "After all, if there were any lingering traces of dark soul energy, I naturally couldn't wear it on my body for long, as that would be tantamount to leaving myself with a huge hidden danger."

After a slight pause, Puni pointed to the gemstones on the crown and continued to share his genuine feelings after wearing it.

"However, I must say that the legend that the Ravenclaw crown can amplify thinking and improve mental clarity is true. Since I started wearing this crown, my mind has always been clear and sharp. My thoughts are processed more quickly, and my understanding and absorption of various magical knowledge has greatly improved. The progress and quality of my daily studies have also made significant progress."

Regulus listened quietly to his story, but did not entirely agree with the statement. He knew that Puni had been studying advanced magic ahead of time, had a solid academic foundation, and was exceptionally talented. It was only natural that his grades would steadily improve, and it could not be entirely attributed to the crown's amplification effect.

But he didn't dwell on this trivial matter. His thoughts quickly returned to the core Horcrux plan, and he looked down at the crown in his palm.

"So, we destroyed another Horcrux from Voldemort? Great, I didn't expect you to encounter a Horcrux at school, this is simply... unbelievable!"

"You're like Voldemort's nemesis."

Regulus looked at Puni.

Puni shrugged.

Chapter 125 The real problem is the ring from the Gaunt family.

At this moment, Regulus displayed a confidence and composure far exceeding that of Puni. However, Puni saw through him and realized that this strength was not from the heart, but rather a deliberate display by Regulus to stabilize his mindset and prevent the overall plan from falling into a complete slump.

Puni didn't expose his feigned strength, but instead took over the conversation and steered it back to the core clue investigation.

"Putting aside the few confirmed Horcruxes, have you found any useful clues about the remaining ones recently?"

Regulus shook his head slightly, a hint of helplessness and frustration flashing across his face. The recent shifts in the winds within the pure-blood circle of the magic world had made his investigation work extremely difficult.

“I’ve distanced myself from most of the established pure-blood families. Now everyone in the industry deliberately distances themselves from me and avoids me, unwilling to have any interaction with me.” He paused, then continued to describe the difficulties of his investigation, becoming increasingly helpless.

"I have been investigating Voldemort's diary for many years, but to no avail. All the scattered clues that were originally there have been cut off. Now the situation is even more passive, and it is even more difficult to dig out new clues."

Previously, Puni had informed Regulus of key information about the diary Horcrux.

This object, which carries fragments of the soul, like the Hufflepuff Cup, was entrusted to Voldemort's most trusted confidant for safekeeping. Over the years, Regulus has been investigating the Death Eaters' network of contacts, trying to pry clues from his former subordinates.

However, without exception, all the Death Eaters who once followed Voldemort remained silent about that dark past.

They were extremely reluctant to discuss their past experiences, fearing that it would expose their past crimes and draw the ire of the Ministry of Magic, so they would never reveal any useful information to Regulus.

Regulus investigated all possible connections and families, but overlooked the Malfoy family, which was right in front of him.

This is a typical blind spot. The closer something is to a location, the easier it is to be habitually overlooked, which has kept his years of investigations stuck in place with no progress.

Puni was fully aware of this, but he did not directly reveal the truth. He maintained his calm and composed demeanor, gently soothing the persistently anxious Regulus.

"There's no need to be overly anxious about the diary. I know what's going on. The diary will be brought back to Hogwarts, and its whereabouts will be fully exposed then. We don't need to waste our energy searching for it."

The tone shifted, and Puni hesitated for a moment, raising his hand to lightly scratch his forehead as he brought up the most difficult and critical hurdle to overcome.

"The real problem is the Gaunt family ring. Have you pinpointed the exact location of the Gaunt family's former residence?"

As one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Families, House Gaunt is the last direct bloodline of Salazars-Lytrin remaining in the world. At its peak, the family possessed immense wealth and a very high status as pure-bloods, wielding considerable influence in the magical world.

However, the extravagant lifestyle of several generations completely depleted the family's wealth accumulated over a century. In addition, the Gaunt family's obsession with pure blood and long-term practice of closed endogamy led to the family's bloodline becoming increasingly thin, and the family members' personalities becoming increasingly eccentric, paranoid, and irritable, with their minds gradually showing defects.

The family's final downfall stemmed from Morfin Gaunt, the last male heir, who, in a fit of rage and madness, attacked a Muggle family of three without provocation, resulting in a fatal tragedy. He was ultimately sentenced to life imprisonment by the Ministry of Magic and imprisoned in Azkaban, where he eventually died of illness. With Morfin's passing, the Gaunt family, which had continued for a thousand years, was completely wiped out, its lineage declared extinct.

Regulus knew Voldemort's background very early on, knowing that his mother was the last direct descendant of the Gaunt family, which was the core reason why Voldemort was recognized by the pure-blood circle and had pure blood certification.

But it wasn't until he learned the truth from Penny that he fully understood that Voldemort's biological father was an ordinary Muggle with no magical talent. This Dark Lord, who was feared by the entire wizarding world and claimed to be the supreme pure-blood, was essentially just a half-blood wizard. This cruel fact was full of extreme irony.

Although the Gaunt family's old house was dilapidated, cramped, and long abandoned, as the family heritage of Voldemort's maternal line, it legally belonged to Voldemort himself. It was the most logical choice for him to make the Gaunt ring, which represented the family heritage and carried the Slytherin bloodline, into a Horcrux and hide it in the old house.

Voldemort knew the importance of this old site. In order to protect the Horcruxes hidden there, he used a lot of high-level dark magic and invisibility spells to completely shield and hide the entire old house. Even though Regulus locked onto the general area through ancient records, he could not penetrate the layers of magical barriers and could not find the specific entrance to the old house.

Knowing full well that the target was somewhere, yet unable to reach it, this impasse of being able to see it but not touch it caused Regulus's days of investigations to all come to nothing, leaving him feeling frustrated and powerless.

When the topic turned to the magical seal on the Gaunt family mansion, Regulus's expression grew increasingly solemn, tinged with an undisguised melancholy and helplessness.

His investigation over the past few days had allowed him to fully grasp the intricacies of the matter, and ordinary magical methods were simply ineffective against it.

"Voldemort's concealment spells are extremely high-level, and the spellcaster's strength is required to break through the hidden magic of Gaunt's old house."

Regulus spoke in a deep voice, "Ordinary wizards cannot even touch the core of the restriction. Only top experts who are at least on par with Voldemort in strength, or even superior in cultivation, have a chance to completely break through the barrier."

Upon hearing this, Puni raised an eyebrow slightly, instantly identifying the only suitable candidate in the entire magical world.

"Looking at the wizarding world today, Dumbledore is probably the only one who can reach this standard."

After speaking, he lowered his eyes slightly in thought, and immediately rejected the feasible plan, adding, "But given our current situation, it is definitely not the right time to establish a deep cooperation with Dumbledore."

Regulus nodded slowly, fully agreeing with the assessment. When Dumbledore's name was mentioned, a complex sense of resistance flashed across his eyes, and his heart was filled with unspeakable entanglement and apprehension.

Even though the entire wizarding world revered Dumbledore as a leader of justice and a legendary hero, Regulus always maintained an extreme distance from the old man, and was unwilling to have any deep interaction with him.

On the one hand, the two sides have completely different positions and demands, and their ideas of action and strategic considerations are completely contradictory. On the other hand, he has truly witnessed Dumbledore's real strength and is filled with awe for this top-level power from the bottom of his heart.

In the power struggles of the magical world, the best way to deal with powerful individuals whose strength far surpasses that of ordinary people and whose minds are unfathomable is to keep a distance and avoid close relationships. This has always been Regulus's guiding principle.

"Since the ring at the Gaunt mansion is temporarily out of reach, let's put this lead on hold for now. Do you have any new progress in investigating the other Horcruxes that haven't been found yet?"

This question struck at Regulus's predicament again. His aura instantly became oppressive, and the irritation between his brows intensified, revealing another deadlock.

“It’s Nagini. Ever since Voldemort was defeated at Potter Manor and went into complete hiding, this giant snake has vanished without a trace. No one in the entire wizarding world can find a trace of it.”

Mentioning Nagini's unusual behavior finally brought Regulus's long-suppressed doubts to a head. For years, he had been puzzled by the giant serpent's condition, but now, connecting the secrets of the Horcruxes, all his questions were finally answered.

“I’ve been wondering for a long time that ordinary wild vipers have a limited lifespan and it’s impossible for them to live for sixty years and continuously strengthen themselves over time,” Regulus said. “Conventional magical modifications and bloodline enhancements can never achieve such a heaven-defying amplification effect.”

It wasn't until he fully understood the complete mechanism of the Horcrux that he truly grasped the reason behind it.

The reason Nagini was able to break biological limits, grow stronger, and even become completely immune to most common magic damage was because it carried a fragment of Voldemort's soul.

Before this, Regulus had never imagined that the vessel for a Horcrux could be a living being.

He had always believed that all fragments of the soul could only attach themselves to inanimate objects such as artifacts and treasures, which was the core reason why he had overlooked this crucial clue during his long investigation.

Through the cruel concept of living Horcruxes, Pony and Regulus finally saw through Voldemort's true nature.

Throughout his life, he was suspicious and distrustful, harboring extreme vigilance towards all his followers and Death Eater confidants, and never truly trusted anyone.

Looking at all his schemes and all his vehicles, only Nagini, who has been by his side for many years and is bound to him by the same Parsleyan language, is someone he accepts without reservation.

Perhaps in his cold, lonely, and calculating life, this giant serpent that accompanied him the longest was the only one that Voldemort let down his guard and treated with genuine sincerity.

After discussing the clue about Nagini, the living Horcrux, Regulus naturally turned the topic to Harry Potter, a figure who had always puzzled him. He was somewhat perplexed when the legendary baby of the wizarding world was mentioned.

"I've tried many methods to track Harry down, but I still haven't been able to pinpoint his exact location."

Regulus frowned and said slowly, "The residence seems to be completely covered by high-level concealment magic, with an effect very similar to the complete 'Loyalty Charm.' All wizard-level detection methods will be completely ineffective. But strangely, his Muggle relatives are completely unaffected. They can still live normally on weekdays and even freely allow other Muggles to enter and leave the mansion, without any sign of being imprisoned by magic."

Regulus had spent many years studying dark magic and various high-level secret spells, and he already had a thorough understanding of the mechanics of the Loyalty Spell.

The orthodox Loyalty Spell uses the human will as its core for secrecy. As long as the person who holds the secret does not actively reveal it, no one can find the hidden location through magic, sensing, or tracking.

Furthermore, the judgment mechanism of this spell is highly targeted, mainly affecting all wizards with magical aptitude. It can completely block wizards' perception and tracking, while also having a hidden effect similar to the Muggle banishment spell, preventing Muggles from spying on or intruding.

But the state of Harry's residence completely subverted the rules of orthodox spells.

Wizards cannot enter, but Muggles can come and go freely without any restrictions. The superposition of these two completely opposite judgment effects in the same location is bizarre and defies common sense.

Faced with Regulus's doubts, Puni happened to know the inside story and calmly opened up the long-standing mystery.

"This is not the effect of the Faithful Charm, but a bloodline protection spell that Lily Potter left for Harry before her death."

Puni smiled slightly and calmly explained the special rules of this ancient magic: "As long as Harry lives in the home of a relative with a direct blood relationship, this area will continuously trigger a stable high-level protective field, with a protective strength no less than that of a complete 'Loyalty Charm.' Moreover, this protective mechanism has strict access control; only wizards recognized by the magic itself can successfully enter this dwelling."

He paused briefly, then added the most core and awe-inspiring characteristics of this magic, and couldn't help but sigh at fate.

"The true strength of this protection lies in its ability to deflect top-tier dark magic, even unsolvable killing spells like the Killing Curse, which can completely negate the backlash. Such a powerful protection was achieved at the cost of Lily Potter's life; it was a barrier built by a mother who gave her life for her child."

Unraveling this fateful bond reveals a poignant cycle of cause and effect.

Voldemort himself was born from his mother's desperate protection. His mother exhausted herself to give birth to him and save his life, but he devoted his life to the practice of dark magic, completely abandoning and forgetting the purest emotional power of "love".

He trampled on warmth and despised bonds, but in the end he was defeated by the child that another mother protected with her life. He was crushed by the power that he had never understood or cherished. This ending can be said to be the cycle of karma.

It was precisely because of the stringent conditions of this bloodline protection magic that Dumbledore insisted on sending Harry back to live with the Dursleys.

In the entire wizarding world, Harry's only remaining direct relative is his aunt Petunia, who is also the only one who can maintain this bloodline barrier.

Dumbledore had long foreseen that Harry would suffer exclusion, mistreatment, and deliberate abuse in his Muggle relatives' home, and would not have a good environment to grow up in. However, in his weighing of the situation, temporary physical and mental distress and hindered growth were far less important than his life safety.

The wizarding world is currently in turmoil, with Voldemort's remnants still lurking in the shadows, waiting for their chance to strike. Countless dark forces are eyeing them covetously. As the core of the prophecy, Harry is always at the most dangerous juncture. Only by relying on the absolute protection of his bloodline barrier can he completely isolate himself from all the risks of attacks from the shadows.

Puni snapped out of his thoughts, looked at Regulus beside him, and offered his advice on action.

"Therefore, there is no need for us to waste any more energy investigating Harry's whereabouts. Dumbledore values ​​Harry's safety extremely, and the Order of the Phoenix must have already secretly deployed defenses in that area, constantly on guard against any unusual activity. If we rashly approach to investigate, it will only cause unnecessary suspicion and misunderstandings, which would be a loss."

"Moreover, Harry will enroll in Hogwarts as usual next school year, at which point he will be in our sight for a long time. At that time, we will have plenty of opportunities to observe him up close and verify the specific state of the Horcrux inside him."

Harry, as the key figure in the prophecy of fighting the Dark Lord, has always been the core person that Dumbledore has been focusing on and protecting. Although Penny and Regulus are not currently on the enemy side, their secret plan is extremely sensitive, and there is absolutely no need for them to have any conflict of position or misunderstanding with the Order of the Phoenix or with Dumbledore.

Regulus lowered his head and pondered for a moment. After carefully weighing the pros and cons, he agreed with Puni's judgment that postponing the investigation of Harry's residence was indeed the safest option at the moment.

Even though Harry was at Hogwarts the whole time, under Dumbledore's watchful eye, he couldn't be trapped in the castle forever. On the other hand, Dumbledore had many duties and was too busy to keep an eye on Harry's every move.

He is not only the headmaster of Hogwarts, but also holds multiple top positions, including president of the International Federation of Wizards and chief wizard of Wizengamor.

Each position wields immense power and carries a vast amount of responsibility, far exceeding the workload of the Minister of Magic. The sheer number of official duties they must handle daily inevitably leads to numerous oversights and gaps in their schedules.

After thoroughly finalizing the current status of all Horcruxes, the points of doubt, and the subsequent investigation plan, the two ended their discussion on this topic.