days at Hogwarts

Chapter 558: Stars of Leo
The night is already deep.

12 Grimmauld Place, Blake's old house.

Loren walked up the old wooden stairs to the top floor, turned left at the staircase, stopped at the door of the second bedroom, and looked up at the house number.

There was a small square sign nailed to it. The workmanship was crude. The person who nailed it was probably not satisfied and made several corrections. The paint underneath had deep scratches. There were delicate patterns engraved around the wooden sign, and the handwritten letters were very neat:
"Without my express permission

No Entry
Regulus Arcturus Black

Loren retracted his gaze, raised his hand and knocked lightly, waited a few seconds, and then pushed the door open.

Crossing the threshold, what came into view was an old and simple bedroom, with the silver and green main colors of Slytherin College covering the bed, walls and windows. The Black family crest and the motto "Forever Pure" were carefully engraved on the head of the bed, and many yellowed briefings were piled up beside the bed, sticking them into irregular collages, covered with dust, and it was difficult to see what the specific images were.

The bed looked much brighter after a simple cleaning. Regulus' body lay quietly on the bed, wearing a neat suit. However, his skin had lost its elasticity due to being swollen from being soaked in water for a long time, and his muscles seemed to be made of clay. His face looked strange and had no elasticity at all.

There were three living people in the room.

"You finally came, Loren, I thought... I thought..."

Sirius moved his lips but didn't say the second half of the sentence. He rubbed his brows tiredly, "Come and take a look at this damned Inferi Curse. It has always controlled Regulus' body and he won't be able to rest in peace even after his death!"

He used to be a professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and knew how to deal with Inferi, but he was not good at "healing" them and seemed a little powerless when dealing with curses.

Loren seemed not to have heard the first half of his sentence, and asked calmly, "Mrs. Weasley encountered a Boggart at the stairs, so she was delayed for a while. How is the situation?"

"Not good, I have to use a binding spell to keep him quiet..."

Bill, who used to be a curse breaker at Gringotts, half-crouched by the window. The wand in his hand emitted a faint silver light. The pure light fell on the pale and swollen arm of the Infernal Corpse, making a slight "hissing" sound and stirring up a few wisps of foul-smelling water vapor. The arm became like a deflated ball and shriveled up a little.

"【Whirlwind Sweep Clean】"

Bill swept the foul-smelling steam out of the window, retracted the light from the tip of his staff, and shook his head solemnly, "It's been too long, Sirius. The curse has permeated every part of his body. Even his bones are filled with vicious magic. I can't remove the curse without damaging his body."

Lupin, who was leaning against the bedpost, glanced at Sirius. His no longer young but still handsome face was filled with grief and fatigue, an expression that he had never seen when he was in school. He said softly, "After the Inferi riot in Brooklyn, New York last year, the Magical Congress of the United States organized a related study. Unicorn blood has a certain purifying effect on the Inferi curse, but it is very weak. The Inferi curse only flows in the blood..."

Lupin sighed, patted his shoulder, and whispered: "Cremation, Sirius, this will be a relief for him. If he could learn about this in the world of the dead, he would agree."

"..."

Sirius' lips trembled a few times, and he took a deep breath before calming down, then cast a hopeful look at Loren.

On the way here, Loren already had the answer in his mind, but when he saw the miserable corpse on the bed, he sighed silently and took a few steps forward to check the condition of the corpse.

Pressing the inside of the pale and swollen arm, the swollen muscles suddenly sank, and it took a long time to recover its shape, with no elasticity at all. It had been more than ten hours since it was fished out of the lake, and the corpse's limbs were still cold and piercing, much lower than the room temperature.

The wand was placed against the chest of the Inferi, and a warm magical power penetrated through the skin barrier. There was no blood left in his body, only the cursed lake water. The magic power fell into his heart that had been stagnant for decades, and wanted to spread to the whole body through the blood vessels, but was quickly dispersed by the ominous aura.

Bill's eyes lit up. The idea of ​​using blood circulation to resolve the curse was very inspiring. If combined with the curse-breaking methods he had learned before, it would save a lot of effort.

Loren put away his wand and shook his head: "There's nothing I can do..."

Sirius' eyes dimmed, and he lowered his head to look at the face that was different from what he remembered, and said in a hoarse voice: "I know."

"..."

Outside the window, the sickle moon hanging obliquely on the treetops has only a thin tail, cold and dim, but fortunately the night sky in late summer is clear and without cloud cover, and a faint silver-white glow can still be seen. In the center of the Leo galaxy, Regulus 14 quietly blooms with blue-white brilliance, a star that symbolizes compassion and mercy.

……

There was no dim, flickering candlelight, no somber music, and no flowers such as white lilies and roses. As the second son of the Black family, the funeral of Regulus Arcturus Black was silent.

There were no guests. It was not convenient to invite members of the Order of the Phoenix to the funeral of a Death Eater, and it was also not appropriate to invite old friends of a rebel who died fighting Voldemort...Except for the people who were temporarily staying in this house, no one else received the news.

In the foyer of the old house, two rows of candles floated quietly in the air, and the flickering lights illuminated the aisle. The dark curtains that had been closed for a long time were now opened. The mean and hot-tempered old woman inside did not shout, spit, or get hysterical, but stood silently in the center of the frame, looking at the urn not far away with a trance expression.

The old and unrecognizable house-elf huddled behind the curtain, tightly clutching a small locket in his hand. Tears kept rolling down his huge eyeballs, soaking the curtain.

Dumbledore stood behind the main table, and his solemn voice echoed in the house:

"Regulus Arcturus Black, an excellent young man, impressed us with his courtesy and gentleness. He took on his responsibilities to his family. He loved his brother and his family... He once made a wrong choice, but soon discovered his mistake and was willing to sacrifice his life to make up for it...

"At the best age of his life, he sacrificed himself in obscurity and slept at the bottom of the lake. He interpreted what bravery is in his own way. He had compassion for the weak. His wisdom played tricks on the most powerful dark wizard. He had a powerful force beyond imagination in his heart..."

Loren and Hermione stood side by side in the corner, and heard Harry and Ron talking about ghosts.

To be honest, they were not familiar with the deceased named Regulus, and at first they even thought he was one of the Death Eaters, because of the portrait of Mrs. Black, who was as hysterical as the wailing banshee, they even had a slight dislike for Regulus. After learning that he died in order to resist Voldemort, the slight dislike turned into respect, but there was no grief.

"You said, Regulus obviously accomplished such a great feat, why didn't he become a ghost and stay?" Ron looked at the small urn and asked puzzledly, "Kreacher couldn't fulfill his wishes. If it weren't for Loren and Hermione, we wouldn't even know about it. Kreacher is already very old. What if... the locket might be lost. Would his sacrifice be in vain?"

"Perhaps becoming a ghost requires some kind of ritual?" "What ritual? When Nearly Headless Nick died, his wand was confiscated, but he still became a ghost..."

"Maybe this is a talent? Just like Tonks' Metamorphmagus, only a few people can turn into ghosts?"

"Stop guessing."

Loren turned his head and explained in a low voice: "Whether or not one can become a ghost depends on the wizard's own will. Only those who are afraid of death and unwilling to accept death will become ghosts and stay in the world, living painfully in the place where they left their mark in the past..."

"But Regulus did not lack the courage to accept death."

Sirius' hoarse voice sounded from behind. The hair that he had cut short when he was wandering among Muggles had grown back. The curly and messy black hair hung down, covering his bloodshot eyes, but he still looked extremely haggard. He hadn't slept for two days. The first night he watched over the cremation of Regulus' body, and the second night he talked to himself in front of his belongings.

"He is very brave, at least braver than me..."

Sirius muttered to himself as he looked down at an old photo he was holding in his hands.

Several young wizards secretly glanced at the figures in the photo. It was a photo that was turned out from a pile of old papers. There were tiny cracks on the four corners and it was a little faded. A Slytherin College Quidditch team was smiling and waving in the frame, and a snake pattern was embroidered on the chest of the team uniform.

Regulus sat in the middle of the front row. He had the same black curly hair as Sirius, a slightly arrogant expression, and was relatively thin among the players.

Harry's eyes lit up. "He was a Seeker?"

"Yes, a very good Seeker, but not as good as you and James..." Sirius fell into memories again.

Who would have known that the boy with the sour look on his face would actually do something like this?
He was so good, he had his own ambitions and pride, he once read books quietly in the library and shone brightly on the Quidditch field, but in the end he ended up like this, and even the sacrifices he made were almost unknown to anyone?

In the afternoon, Sirius carried the box into Arthur's Ford Anglia luxury car and drove towards the Black family cemetery into the glorious sunset clouds.

A few brilliant pink and golden sunset clouds rolled in the distant sky like huge waves, and the setting sun was molten gold.

……

Because it is located at the end of Spider Alley, this street is called Spider Tail Alley. The street is located on the edge of the industrial area. There is a small river beside the street. Abandoned metal cans and paper scraps float across the water from time to time. The ground is full of scattered stones, and the muddy water is turbid. There is a faint smell of dampness and mold in the air. At the corner of the street, there are a few crooked street lamps, and the lights are dim.

The whole street was narrow and dilapidated, with mostly old brick houses, the walls weathered and peeling, revealing the inferior bricks inside. Most of the residents on the street had moved away, and there were almost no pedestrians. Occasionally, a few skinny wild cats would rummage through the garbage for food, making a slight rustling sound.

Snape glanced at the wild cat with an indifferent look, without any intention of stopping, he walked quickly across the street and pushed open the closed door of his house. Ignoring the greeting of the house elf, he hurried upstairs and knocked on the wooden door of the study.

After getting permission, he pushed open the door and walked into the dark room that was like a nest.

Voldemort raised his face to look at the photo: "Severus, you are not in the school castle preparing for the start of school, what are you doing back?"

Snape lowered his head slightly, and said in a serious voice: "When I returned to Hogwarts, I overheard a piece of news that Barty Jr. and Walton have fallen into the hands of the Order of the Phoenix. I have verified it. According to the staff of the Ministry of Magic, Walton's vacation ended a long time ago, but he has not returned..."

The scarlet snake pupil shrank into a vertical line, emitting a dangerous light. Voldemort asked in a cold voice: "Where are they?"

"Only Dumbledore knows this. He is not confident in the protection of Azkaban, so he did not hand the person over to the Ministry of Magic." Snape replied quickly, "He refused to tell me, even if I used the excuse of providing truth serum to help the interrogation."

“Of course he doesn’t need truth serum. He is a master of Legilimency. His gaze is the truth serum…” Voldemort frowned and made a hissing sound like a snake spitting out its tongue, which made people shudder. “Yes, Dumbledore, of course he will go looking for the giant. I should have expected it! Barty… Walton… We must speed up the plan. We need help!”

"You mean, Azkaban?"

"Yes, I want to give him a surprise before Christmas!"

"And one more thing……"

Snape raised his head cautiously to peek into his face, as if he didn't know what to say. He hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "Dumbledore destroyed one of your Horcruxes... Slytherin's locket..."

"Dumbledore!"

Voldemort's voice suddenly became sharp, and the sound waves almost solidified into a pale hand, stirring the hazy dream, pulling, stretching, and deforming the picture...

Hundreds of kilometers away, the sleeping Harry frowned, his eyes moving rapidly under his eyelids, as if he was about to wake up from a nightmare, but he quickly calmed down and sank back into the deep shadows.

A film image gradually began to play in his mind. It was more blurred and hazy than the dream he had just had. He couldn't see the house number or the words on it, but some details were very clear.

"Where is this?"

He walked along the empty corridor towards a black door, past rough stone walls, torches, and a doorway on the left that led to stone steps downstairs.

"What am I doing?"

I reached out and touched the black door, but couldn't open it...

Harry felt a little restless. He wanted to go in. Behind it was something he wanted so much, something he had dreamed of...

(End of this chapter)