Have You Seen Harry Potter?

Dumbledore's words made a lot of sense, and at least Harry agreed with them.

Harry could understand Sirius's eagerness to find Regulus, but he didn't agree with it.

As everyone knows, Voldemort was extremely cunning and wicked. Who knows if he left anything indescribable in that cave, or some dangerous Dark Magic Curse?

Don't doubt it, he's perfectly capable of doing it.

After hearing Harry express his concerns, Sirius sighed and sat down next to Kritcher.

"Of course I know that cave is dangerous, but I had to do something..."

Even though Sirius initially thought Regulus was Death Eater who was wholeheartedly following Voldemort, Sirius antisocial Dark Lord, he never gave up trying to persuade his brother to turn over a new leaf. Moreover, he now knows that his brother is a hero who fought against the Dark Lord.

Having learned the location where Regulus was last seen, how could Sirius was deeply devoted to his brother, remain unmoved?

"I still don't recommend you go there right away." Lupin sat down next to Sirius, patted him on the shoulder, and said, "We all know that Voldemort is extremely cunning. Now that he knows about Regulus's betrayal, he will definitely not remain indifferent. Think about it—he has cast several Dark Magic Curse on Black family home in the past year, let alone that cave. I think he will definitely set some kind of trap, just waiting for you to walk into it."

"So we can only watch from the outside?" Sirius slammed his fist on the bed, sending Kritcher flying.

"That's all we can do for now," Lupin sighed.

Sirius rubbed his hair in frustration, knowing that Lupin was right.

To put it bluntly, we're not going to rescue anyone, we're just going to collect the body, there's no need to rush...

If Voldemort really did set some kind of trap in the cave, then we'd be in real trouble.

"It seems our guess was right," Dumbledore said softly. "Voldemort did indeed collect the relics of the Four Founders and used them to create Horcrux —besides the Slytherin Locket he gave to Regulus, he also made the Hufflepuff's Cup into Horcrux, which is kept in the Lestrange family vault."

"Did you get it out?" Sirius asked with concern.

"It's been retrieved," Dumbledore replied. "However, we don't intend to destroy it immediately. After all, it's Helga's relic, and we're looking for a way to destroy the Horcrux without damaging the vessel."

"That's a real problem," Snape added ominously from the side.

"Therefore, I suspect that Voldemort somehow obtained Ravenclaw's Diadem and turned it into Horcrux." Dumbledore looked around and continued, "But we don't know where he hid the Diadem. Perhaps he entrusted it to a trusted Death Eater, or perhaps he hid it somewhere like the pendant."

After a moment's thought, Sirius continued, "Kritcher, besides that pendant, what else Regulus Kritcher? Voldemort need you to tell me the truth, without hiding anything."

"Besides the locket, I remember he also gave Young Master Regulus a portrait," Kritcher said in a shrill voice. "The portrait was placed under Young Master Regulus's bed, Kritcher put it there himself—I just don't know if the Dark Lord took the portrait with him when he controlled Kritcher."

"Portrait?"

Everyone was taken aback.

He's Voldemort ruthless, what kind of portrait could he possibly have?

"Let's go take a look," Sirius said after a moment's thought. "Perhaps the portrait holds some secret, some unspeakable secret about Voldemort."

They led Kritcher upstairs and opened Regulus's door.

Kritcher walked to Regulus's bedside, lifted the silver-green sheet, and searched carefully underneath for a long time before finally pulling out a box.

He took the box out and placed it on the floor.

"This is it. Kritcher remembers that Young Master Regulus told him to keep this safe."

Sirius was about to step forward and open the box when Dumbledore stopped him.

"This isn't as simple as it seems, Sirius. I suggest you get it checked out."

Dumbledore glanced back at Snape, Snape understood, stepped forward, picked up his wand, and flicked it at the box.

A plume of black smoke rose from the box, and after a short while, it was slowly opened.

"You guessed right, Dumbledore." Snape smirked. "If we let Black go up there like that, we might all end up with a pot of dog meat soup tonight."

Sirius glanced back at Snape but didn't say a word.

"Look whose portrait this is," Harry said, using Charms to pull the portrait out of the box.

The portrait looked exquisite, protected by an elegant frame. Harry stared intently and saw a black-haired boy in a Slytherin uniform sleeping peacefully in the portrait.

"Ominis?"

Harry turned back in surprise to look at Veratia and Cassandra, but he didn't rush to say the names of the portraits.

Dumbledore noticed Harry's expression and immediately understood what was going on.

As a man who had lived for over a hundred years, Dumbledore was extremely adept at reading people and situations.

"Perhaps this is a portrait of Ominis Gaunt," Dumbledore confirmed. "When Harry and I went to Gaunt Old House, we saw Marvolo Gaunt... Voldemort's grandfather..."

"Gaunt? Old Gaunt is Voldemort's maternal grandfather?" Sirius asked in astonishment. "The old madman of the Gaunt family? I've also heard of Morfin Gaunt; rumors say their whole family are mad..."

"Your family isn't much better off either," Lupin muttered to himself, but the tactful Professor Lupin didn't say it aloud.

It's no wonder the friendship capsized so easily, after all, the Wizarding World all know about Walburga Black's glorious deeds...

"Yes, Voldemort's mother was Marvolo Gaunt's daughter, Merope Gaunt —his middle name comes from his maternal grandfather Marvolo," Dumbledore nodded slightly. "After graduating, Voldemort returned to Gaunt Old House, murdered his Muggle father's family, and framed his uncle Morfin Gaunt, stealing the Gaunt family heirloom ring he wore on his middle finger."

"So there's another layer of connection..." Sirius said, seemingly enlightened. "Then why did Voldemort take this... Ominis Gaunt away?"

"By seniority, this Mr. Ominis Gaunt should be Voldemort's maternal grandfather's older brother..." Dumbledore continued, "In addition, you may not know that this Ominis Gaunt is also my senior, having entered school six years earlier than me. He was quite famous at school because of his excellent Charms skills. Even though he was blind, he was still able to become the champion of duels."

"No wonder Voldemort took his portrait," Sirius said with sudden realization. "So this Ominis Gaunt is really that powerful... That explains it... But what could he possibly know?"

"Oh, that's a lot." Dumbledore winked mysteriously at Sirius. "He must know some of Voldemort's secrets, and he should also know some things that are unknown to others, otherwise Voldemort would not have asked Regulus to keep this portrait."

However, at that moment, Kritcher suddenly muttered, "You're wrong. Headmaster Dumbledore — Young Master Regulus— was ordered to destroy this portrait, but he disobeyed Voldemort's orders..."

"Destroy?" Harry asked in surprise. "Why would Voldemort want to destroy the portrait of Ominis Gaunt? Besides... even if he wanted to destroy it, wouldn't it be better for him to do it himself..."

"You saw it too, Harry," Sirius said, frowning. "This might be part of Voldemort's plan. I've always been inclined to interpret Voldemort's actions with the utmost malice. Perhaps the Dark Magic Curse he left on this box was intended for Regulus, who knew his secret and helped him store the Slytherin's Locket —if he obediently followed Voldemort's orders, he would be Voldemort ... And by some twist of fate, Voldemort didn't expect Regulus to betray him in the cave, so he assumed Regulus's death was due to carrying out his orders..."

Ron reached out and scratched his head, looking at Sirius and then at Hermione.

He felt like his CPU was about to burn out. What was all this?

How come Voldemort is so cunning? Sigh, Merlin's fattest briefs, Voldemort, how come Voldemort is so evil?

"Is that so?" Dumbledore turned his head and glanced at Snape.

"Without a doubt," Snape said coldly, "That's very much in line with the Dark Lord's style; he doesn't trust anyone."

"If a person lives like this, trusting no one, what's the point of living?" Sirius sighed.

Unexpectedly, upon hearing these words, Snape's pupils suddenly contracted.

"It's much better than believing everyone like some fat-headed guy," he greasyly sarcastically remarked. "It's because of his stupidity, arrogance, and haughtiness that he dragged down people who shouldn't have died."

I thought Sirius would argue back, but to my Sirius, he sat silently on the edge of the bed.

After a long silence, he said in a hoarse voice, "You're right, James and I did trust the wrong person—if we had seen through that traitor's true colors sooner, perhaps Harry wouldn't have lost his father and mother..."

"That's fate, fickle fate," Veratia murmured, placing a hand on Harry's shoulder.

Harry reached out and touched Veratia's little hand, not thinking about why his father and Sirius believed Peter, but rather wondering what Voldemort would set up in the cave.

Going to the cave wasn't a pressing matter; after all these years, Regulus, trapped there, would have long since become Inferi.

Becoming Inferi means there's no need to rush to find him, since it doesn't make much difference whether it's sooner or later.

Even if it were a few days earlier, it wouldn't have saved Regulus, who had already turned into Inferi. There's no such Charms in the world.

Dumbledore didn't actually expose Snape. Although Snape leaked the Prophecy to Snape, if James had listened to his advice as Headmaster and made him the Secret Keeper, Voldemort wouldn't have been able to threaten the Potters even if Voldemort had searched to the ends of the earth.

When he thought about this, Dumbledore also felt something was very strange.

Why would James write to him, asking him to borrow the Invisibility Cloak from Godric's Hollow?

Of course, even if the Invisibility Cloak is Deathly Hallows, it makes no difference to wizards of Voldemort and Dumbledore's caliber.

Back when James and his gang of bad boys were causing trouble all over the school while wearing Invisibility Cloak, Dumbledore would have intervened long ago if he wanted to discipline them.

However, Dumbledore thought it was harmless for Gryffindor to be a little mischievous, so he tacitly approved of their nighttime strolls around the school while wearing Invisibility Cloak.

"Then let's ask Mr. Gaunt," Lupin said promptly, changing the subject to Dumbledore. "Perhaps he knows some secrets about Voldemort, like how many Horcrux he has and what they are. What do you say, Dumbledore?"

"A very good suggestion," Dumbledore said, tapping the picture frame with his wand.

In the portrait, Ominis, who was fast asleep, opened his sleepy eyes, looked up at Dumbledore, and then looked at the weather outside.

Ominis stretched out his arms and gave a big yawn.

"Looks like I've already come out of that box, right?" he said casually. "You're not my eccentric and deranged junior. May I know your identity?"

"Albus Dumbledore," Dumbledore said to Ominis.

"I've heard of you. You're the person he fears most," Ominis said softly. "Oh, I'm sorry—I've been locked up for too long, so I'm a little talkative... Let me introduce myself, I'm Ominis Gaunt."

"I've heard of you too, Mr. Gaunt," said Dumbledore. "I entered Hogwarts in 1892, so I'm your junior."

"So that's how it is," Ominis said with a sudden realization.

After a moment, he continued, "So, Headmaster Dumbledore, I have a question for you—have you seen Harry Potter?"

Upon hearing this name, everyone present was taken aback.

Everyone looked at Harry, wondering why this Hogwarts alumnus from a hundred years ago would know Harry.

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