Let Voldemort Witness the Weight of Hogwarts' Senior Alumni!

"However, we need to get over there first." Before they could ask how to retrieve the Horcrux, Dumbledore pointed to the lake and said, "See that small boat over there? We can take it across."

The three looked in the direction Dumbledore pointing, and sure enough, there was a small boat Leviosa on the lake, rising and falling with the waves.

But this ship... it...

It's so tiny!

"Let's not even talk about whether this ship can fit the four of us," Sirius squatted on the shore, turning to Dumbledore and asking, "Do you think Voldemort would be foolish enough to just leave this ship here for us to pass through?"

"Voldemort must have been very confident that no one but a truly great wizard would find the ship," Dumbledore remarked. "He must have thought that after setting up those barriers that only he could pass through, it seemed impossible for anyone to find it. I think he was willing to take that tiny risk, because we will soon find out whether he was right or wrong."

"How do you know?" Sirius asked, frowning. "Couldn't Voldemort have planted some kind of Charms on this ship?"

"As you can see, Sirius," Dumbledore patiently explained to Sirius, "You know how we got into this cave. Normally, even Voldemort himself would have to go through this process to enter this cave—he was far too arrogant and far too confident, but that was precisely his weakness."

"So why don't we Apparition to that Islet?" Sirius asked, frowning. "Do we really have to squeeze onto this wrecked ship that could sink at any moment?"

"Voldemort needs to devise a way to cross the lake that won't anger the Inferi he's placed there, in case he needs to inspect or move the Horcrux," Dumbledore said calmly.

After saying this, Dumbledore walked to the lakeside and stretched out his wand, seemingly groping for something in the air.

Harry followed the path of Dumbledore's wand and seemed to see him picking up some unseen the Chain.

Just then, Dumbledore suddenly reached out and grabbed something in the air, then pulled hard backward, accompanied by the clanging sound of the Chain being dragged.

"Are those the Chain?" Harry asked loudly.

Dumbledore didn't speak. He raised his other wand and tapped it on his clenched fist. Immediately, a thick, patina-green the Chain appeared in the air, extending from the depths of the lake into Dumbledore's tightly clenched hand.

Dumbledore tapped the Chain lightly, and it slid in his hand like a snake, jingling as it coiled itself around the ground, pulling the small boat Leviosa on the black lake towards him.

"How did you know the Chain were here?" Sirius asked curiously.

"Magic always leaves a trace," Dumbledore replied, the small boat gently bobbing against the lake shore. "Sometimes, the traces are clearly visible. I taught Tom Riddle, and I know his ways."

"So this is the boat we're going to take, right?" Veratia lowered her head, carefully examining the small boat. "As long as we take this boat, we won't attract the attention of those Inferi at the bottom of the lake, right?"

"It turns out that's how it should be, Miss Grindelwald." Dumbledore nodded and said, "You see, at least the Inferi in the water haven't attacked us. For now, all is well."

"Furthermore, I don't think Voldemort will be able to return here smoothly, because you all saw what happened just now. A spirit like him cannot pass the trial he set up," Dumbledore added again.

Harry looked down at the small boat; it was so tiny. "It doesn't look like it's made for two people. Can it hold us? Won't the four of us be too heavy?"

Dumbledore chuckled softly and said, "Voldemort doesn't care how much weight he carries across the lake; he cares about the power of his magic—I'm sure this boat is enchanted to ensure that only one wizard crosses the lake at a time."

"Well..." Harry remembered that he had absorbed the Philosopher's Stone. With his magical power, he could probably burn out the CPU of this little boat.

"You and Miss Grindelwald aren't included, Harry. You're still a minor and won't be detected. Voldemort didn't expect any underage children to be here," Dumbledore explained to everyone. "Voldemort is an arrogant man, as everyone knows—he only tests the magic of adults. As for Harry and Miss Grindelwald, as minors, you have exemptions—you should know that given Voldemort's arrogance, the magic he left behind certainly wouldn't test minors."

"That's true." Harry nodded in agreement, then looked at Sirius: "What about Sirius? What will happen to him?"

As he spoke, he looked at Sirius, only to find that the boy had turned into a big Black Dog.

"Woof!" Sirius barked.

"Animagus, you are as sharp as ever, Sirius." Dumbledore stroked his beard and smiled with satisfaction. "Yes, that's one of the reasons I brought you along, not only because you are Regulus's brother, but also because you are an Animagus."

At this point, he began to sharply criticize his former student. "Voldemort was terribly wrong; it was Voldemort's mistake... Underestimating young people is imprudent and foolish... But it's only human nature, after all, no normal person would expect a thirteen-year-old to possess such surging magical power. I think I should make an exception for you next year..."

At this point, Dumbledore realized his slip of the tongue and fell silent.

"What do you mean by 'exceptional'?" Harry asked curiously.

"I'm making an exception and letting you skip a grade." Dumbledore quickly changed the subject. "But that's not the point. We need to cross this lake now to get to the Islet in the center where the Horcrux are kept—so, you go first this time, and be careful not to get wet."

After he finished speaking, he stepped aside, and Harry carefully climbed into the small boat, followed by Veratia and Sirius, who had turned into a big Black Dog.

It was a bit cramped, but there was enough room to stand. As a qualified Seeker, Harry had a very stable center of gravity and could even put one arm around Veratia's slender waist to help her stay steady.

Veratia's face was flushed slightly, but she remained silent, pretending not to care as she stared at the dark lake, lost in thought.

Upon witnessing this scene, Sirius nudged his nose against the edge of the boat, knowing he couldn't stop it and could only try to avoid seeing it.

If I can't control it, can't I at least avoid it?

Dumbledore coiled the Chain on the ground and stepped inside.

There were so many people inside that they couldn't sit down and had to stand.

Soon, the small boat set off, and apart from the soft rustling sound as the bow broke through the lake water, all around was silent.

The small boat sailed automatically, seemingly pulled towards the green light in the center of the lake by an invisible rope.

They soon lost sight of the cave walls, and apart from the absence of waves, they seemed to be sailing on a calm sea.

"Should we use an illumination Charms?" Harry asked softly.

"This is not a good choice," Dumbledore said. "Let's wait until we reach the other side."

Their purpose in coming here was not to clear the Inferi from the cave, nor to find the fake Horcrux, but to find Regulus.

Therefore, they had no choice but to resort to this last resort. It's not that they couldn't deal with these Inferi, but rather that they were facing a massive undertaking.

Yes, Regulus Black was chosen from among thousands of Inferi.

This is indeed a fucking huge project.

"Look, there's a hand in the lake," Veratia suddenly said, pointing to the surface. "Right there, it looks quite white..."

Harry looked in the direction Veratia was pointing and saw a hand reaching out. The hand was deathly pale, a color that no living person could possibly have.

"Oh, Inferi," Harry said calmly. "Looks like we should have brought Hermione and Ron along. We should test their skills in person—after all, back in our second year, Ms. Rosier taught us how to deal with an Inferi..."

"It's not too late to bring them over now, if you want," Veratia said. "These Inferi are indeed good learning material. What do you say, Professor Black, should we keep these Inferi and put them as your teaching assistants in Defense Against the Dark Arts?"

"Woof!" Sirius barked happily, clearly pleased with the suggestion.

"That's settled then, Harry," Veratia said, bowing her head. "Remember not to use any large-scale destructive magic later. It wouldn't be good if you damaged these teaching materials, understand?"

"Okay," Harry nodded.

Their tone was extremely relaxed, to an unsuspecting person it sounded as if they were about to catch a few frogs to use as teaching aids.

Dumbledore was also relaxed. Among the wizards present, Harry's magic was surging, Veratia's combat skills were no less than his own, a veteran of countless battles, and Sirius... well, Sirius was also quite humorous.

He wasn't under much pressure during this cave trip.

"We're almost there," Dumbledore said suddenly.

Sure enough, the green light looked brighter.

A few minutes later, the small boat gently bumped into something and came to a stop.

Harry raised his wand, and a cluster of light shone at its tip.

He found himself on a small, flat, rocky Islet in the middle of the lake.

"Be careful not to get it wet."

As Harry climbed out of the small boat, Dumbledore gave him those instructions again.

The Islet was not much larger than Dumbledore's office, and on this huge, flat, black rock, only a blinding green light shone.

Harry squinted at it, initially thinking it was some kind of lamp, but he soon realized that the green light was coming from a stone basin with a base, similar to Pensieve.

Just then, Veratia and Dumbledore disembarked from the ship and followed Harry to the stone basin, looking at it side by side.

Sirius stood up, leaned against Dumbledore, and craned his neck to look at the emerald green pot.

The basin was filled with a phosphorescent, emerald-like liquid—clearly something of science, magic, and ruthlessness.

"What is that?" Harry asked.

"I can't be sure," Dumbledore said uncertainly, "But it must be something more threatening than blood and corpses; it looks like Potions?"

Having said that, Dumbledore rolled up the sleeve of his injured hand and extended his fingertip toward the surface of the liquid.

"Dumbledore!" Harry yelled, trying to stop Dumbledore anything foolish.

"Don't worry, Harry, I can't reach it." Dumbledore smiled. "See? I can only get this close. You guys try too."

With his eyes fixed on the water, Harry tentatively reached his hand into the stone basin.

However, an invisible barrier kept his hand a foot away, and no matter how hard he pushed, he could only touch something that seemed to be solidified, elastic air.

Veratia stood beside him and also reached out her hand, but just like Harry, she couldn't reach into the basin at all.

"Make way for me," Dumbledore said, stretching out his wand to separate the boy and girl, tapping it on the edge of the bowl, and muttering incantations.

After he stopped, Harry looked at the green basin and then at Dumbledore.

"Do you think the Horcrux is inside, Professor?"

"Oh, yes."

Dumbledore looked closer at the stone basin, Harry saw his face reflected in the smooth surface of the green Potions.

"But we've tried, and since you can't touch the Potions with your hands, you can't separate it, scoop it out, or suck it out—I just tried the Transfiguration Spell and the Vanishment Charm, but none of those worked, and no other method can change his state."

At this point, Dumbledore raised his wand and waved it absentmindedly in the air, conjuring up a crystal goblet out of thin air and grabbing it.

"However, I can deduce that those Potions were probably drunk."

"Drink it?" Harry suddenly remembered Kritcher's words. "I remember now, Kritcher told us that when Regulus brought him here, it was Regulus who drank these Potions and made Kritcher leave—this is the Potions he mentioned!"

Dumbledore nodded and said, "Yes, I think so. Only by drinking it all can I empty the stone basin and see what's at the bottom."

Harry was a little confused. We knew the Horcrux was fake, so why did we drink the Potions to get it out?

"So, all we have to do is drink these Potions?" Veratia asked uncertainly, her eyes fixed on the goblet in Dumbledore's hand.

"Yes, I'll take care of these Potions..."

Dumbledore was interrupted by Harry before he could finish speaking.

"Dumbledore! You are carrying a cruel fate, but it is not yours!"

"Harry?" Dumbledore said with a relieved smile, "Don't worry, Voldemort doesn't intend to kill everyone who arrives on the Islet."

"But we must drink the entire Potions to find this fake Horcrux and thus Regulus," Dumbledore nodded. "And as Regulus's former Headmaster, this Potions is naturally..."

"Not necessarily," Harry suddenly said. "I do have someone who can take the potion, but you'll need to close your eyes..."

As Harry said this, he was also thinking viciously to himself.

You wanted people to drink these Potions, didn't you, Voldemort?

Then I'll show you the profound wisdom of the old Hogwarts seniors today!

"Who is the candidate?" Dumbledore interest.

"Of course it's the Basilisk in the Chamber of Secrets of Secrets," Harry said with a chuckle. "As everyone knows, there's a saying in toxicology: talking about toxicity without discussing dosage is just being irresponsible—these Potions might poison us, but for Basilisk that's dozens of times larger than us, they might not even be enough for it to lick up with its tongue."

"That is indeed a good choice." Dumbledore put down his wine glass and said to Harry, "Voldemort's spell has a loophole. These Potions do need to be drunk by people, but House Elf can also drink them, so the Charms doesn't restrict what exactly drinks the Potions... Therefore, the Basilisk can certainly drink them too."

"Then I'll let him out," Harry said.

"Let it go," said Dumbledore.

Sirius's eyes widened in disbelief; he had no idea his godson had become so ruthless, secretly raising Basilisk.

Then a surge of joy welled up inside him!

Behold, this is indeed James's son! He is indeed my godson! In his love of adventure, he takes after both of us!

"Sirius?" Harry saw Sirius's wide-open eyes and thought his Godfather was shocked by the Basilisk.

He reassured him, "Don't worry, Sirius, Professor Dumbledore allowed me to keep this Basilisk. But you should close your eyes, because looking into it can have some bad consequences."

Sirius immediately closed his eyes; he knew the consequences, of course.

Seeing that everyone had closed their eyes, Harry opened his purse and called out into it, "Alfonso! Alfonso!"

"Yes, my dear master!" Alfonso said obsequiously.

"I need you to help me drink Potions," Harry said honestly. "This Potions won't kill you, but it'll be uncomfortable enough for an ordinary wizard. But you're Basilisk, and your body is hundreds or even thousands of times stronger than wizards. Drinking Potions won't be a problem for you."

"Ah... this..." The Basilisk was a little confused.

No, young master?

When you were cooking... oh wait, when you were cooking you thought of me too, but you can't think of me in this situation!

What is that Potions? I...

Seeing the Basilisk's slight worry, Harry's eyes lit up, and he continued to persuade him, "This is a trap set by that Half-blood- Mudblood Tom Riddle. If we break this trap, we can destroy his Horcrux..."

No, wait a minute?

Is there still any talk of Half-blood Mudblood here?

Upon hearing Tom Riddle's Basilisk, the basilisk sprang to its feet.

If you mention him, I won't be sleepy anymore!

"Drink!" the Basilisk roared. "You must drink! Let me see who dares to defile my master's noble bloodline! This ignorant Mudblood, I will punish him myself..."

"You don't have hands," Harry kindly reminded him.

"That's not important, Master!" the Basilisk said indignantly. "I'll do anything to deal with that guy! Tell me, what do you want me to do, Master!"

"You come out first." Harry shook his wallet, letting the enormous Basilisk swim out.

Alfonso fell onto the rock with a thud, causing a slight tremor.

"This is it," Harry said, pointing to the rock. "But we need to scoop out these Potions. I'll find a bigger container—"

As he spoke, Harry picked up the goblet from Dumbledore's hand, enlarged it slightly, and scooped up a cup of Potions.

The bowl that had been holding Potions was suddenly filled with Potions again, and Harry handed the Potions in the cup to Alfonso.

"Try it, Alfonso," he said.

Alfonso changed his position, his mouth facing upwards, opening wide like a blood-red maw.

"Is that so, Master?"

Harry poured the Potions into Alfonso's snake mouth, and Alfonso smacked his lips and flicked his tongue twice.

"It tastes good, Master. It has a venomous fragrance... I quite like this scent. Is there any more?"

Harry said nothing, scooped up another glass, and poured it into Alfonso's mouth.

"How are you feeling?" Harry asked with concern.

"It's alright." Alfonso. "I'll drink some more, but I can't quite taste anything further. Maybe I'm not savoring it carefully enough."

Dumbledore standing nearby, felt a sense of confusion as he listened.

This Basilisk can actually be used like this? He really didn't expect that...

Young people these days really know how to have fun.

However, this was a good idea. In fact, he originally intended to take a couple of sips himself—though it wouldn't be fatal, it would also be educational, allowing Harry and Miss Grindelwald to understand the importance of sacrifice.

"Anything else?" Alfonso asked again.

Without saying a word, Harry poured another Potions into Alfonso.

One glass after another, Alfonso's spirits were getting better and better.

Finally, the Potions was almost gone.

"What a pity," Alfonso said listlessly. "I thought it was some kind of potent poison. Is this the kind of bastard descendant of the old master? It's truly laughable..."

Before he could finish speaking, Alfonso suddenly jerked his head away.

"Aaaaah!" he hissed in agony, as if he were experiencing immense pain.

Retribution came swiftly; the man who had just been scorning Voldemort for not using enough poison was now immediately met with its own backlash.

"What's wrong, Alfonso?" Harry asked with concern.

"Water! Water! I want to drink water!" Alfonso twisted and turned, even leaning his body over the surface of the water, as if he wanted to drink.

Although he had tricked the Basilisk into coming, Harry couldn't bear to let Basilisk like that.

He patted the Basilisk's scales and said, "I don't recommend you drink that. Calm down, I'll get you some..."

With that, he pulled out his wand and pointed it at the Basilisk's head.

"Aguamenti (Water-Making Spell)!"

A thick jet of water gushed from the tip of Harry's wand and shot into the Basilisk's mouth.

The Basilisk gulped down the water conjured by the Aguamenti, looking extremely thirsty, and showed no sign of stopping.

About half a minute later, Veratia suddenly said, "Harry! Something's climbing up! It's probably Inferi!"

"Can you get it in the wallet, Alfonso?" Harry asked.

"I'm still very thirsty," Alfonso hissed weakly.

"Come in and have a drink." Harry reached into his purse, then opened it and asked Alfonso, "Can you swim?"

"I have gills," Alfonso said succinctly.

Harry opened the wallet and said to him, "The wallet is full of water, you can go in—be careful not to drown, or I'll laugh at you."

"Don't worry, Master."

After Alfonso finished speaking, he slipped into his wallet with a plop.

Harry put his wallet back in, when he suddenly felt a cold hand grip his wrist.

A cold, sticky hand was slowly pulling him back. The lake was no longer as smooth as a mirror, but was churning, and countless pale heads and hands were emerging from the water from all directions.

Men, women, and children with sunken eyes and lifeless gazes are moving towards the rocks.

From the black lake water, an army of dead men rose.

It was Voldemort's army of Inferi.

"The Basilisk is gone!" Harry shouted. "The Inferi are coming up!"

He stared intently at the Inferi in front of him, and seeing that it didn't resemble Regulus, he used magic to levitate it in the air. Then, he pulled up a nearby rock and slammed the Inferi onto the other side of the lake with a thud.

The Inferi struggled a few times after landing, then remained motionless.

"Don't hurt my teaching aids!" Sirius, now in human form, shouted as he used Petrifying Spell to freeze a Inferi.

The Inferi was struck by the Charms, its body stiffened, and it fell into the lake.

"Can you tell which one is Regulus?" Harry shouted back at Sirius.

"I can't see him very clearly either, but I'll recognize him if he appears in front of me!" Sirius shouted.

However, Regulus did not appear, and more and more Inferi surged forward, even Sirius was surrounded by Inferi.

"They're charging!" he shouted, raising his hand to cast a Petrifying Spell on the Inferi that had been confirmed not to Regulus.

But he was so eager to rescue his brother that he delayed the expulsion of the Inferi while trying to identify Regulus.

Just then, a Inferi grabbed his wrist.

Before Sirius could shake off the Inferi, Harry's Charms struck it.

"Petrificus Totalus (Full Body-Bind)!"

The Inferi struck by the Charms immediately stood at attention and fell asleep.

"Well done, James!" Sirius shouted instinctively.

Harry knew Sirius was mistaking him for James Potter, but instead of answering, he pointed his wand at the ground.

"Protego Gubraithian (Protego Gubraithian)!"

A bright, azure flame suddenly rose up, centered on Harry, keeping the Inferi at bay.

Flames are the natural enemy of the Inferi. They roared and dared not approach, but could only surround the flames, layer upon layer, a dark and dense mass.

"This isn't a good idea, Harry," Veratia said to Harry. "If we use a fire shield to protect us, who knows how long it will take to filter out Regulus Black."

"Let's take a look at this first." Harry turned around and fished the small golden box out of the green stone basin.

It's a fake Slytherin's Locket.

The Islet in the middle of the lake was safe for the time being, and considering that Regulus couldn't be found anytime soon, Sirius went to Harry's side.

He wanted to see what the fake Horcrux Regulus had hidden was.

A bizarre scene unfolded in the center of the lake: a ring of Azure flame burned fiercely by the water's edge, surrounded by layers upon layers of Inferi, while four people huddled together inside, staring at a small box in their hands.

"This must be a fake," Dumbledore nodded. "But to be honest, it's quite realistic. At least if we didn't know beforehand, we would never have known it was a fake."

Since it was something Regulus had hidden, Harry wasn't worried about it having any Dark Arts on it.

The main reason is that he had just cast several Detection Charm and even secretly used Avada Kedavra, but there was no reaction.

This was the key reason why he finally confirmed the small box was safe.

"Take a look." He reached out and opened the small box, taking out a slip of paper that read:

To the Dark Lord:

I know that by the time you read this letter, I will be dead, but I want you to know that I discovered your secret, and I have taken the real Horcrux and destroyed it as soon as possible.

I would risk my life so that when you meet your destined opponent, you are just a mortal of flesh and blood.

Sirius suddenly fell silent upon seeing the handwriting on the note.

"?" Veratia asked.

"It's an abbreviation for Regulus Arcturus Black Sirius Black softly.

"I can imagine why Regulus joined the Death Eater and then rebelled," Veratia murmured. "He was too young, and the cruel world of the Death Eater in reality was completely different from what he imagined—but what truly changed him was the moment Voldemort tried to kill Kritcher."

"But how would Regulus know that Voldemort gave him Horcrux?" Harry asked, puzzled. "And why did Voldemort trust him so much, as if he didn't care at all that Regulus knew..."

"Horcrux weren't magic invented by Voldemort, but no one has ever done as much as he has," Dumbledore sighed. "Voldemort was too arrogant, too conceited that no one would know such profound magic. But Regulus became suspicious of his certainty that he wouldn't die. He had heard of this magic before, and after investigation, he was right."

Harry handed the note to Sirius, Sirius took it and clutched it tightly in his hand.

"We have to find him!" Sirius was already in tears. "We have to find him!"

"But there are just too many of these Inferi, Sirius," Dumbledore said to Sirius after looking around. "Solving them one by one to find Regulus is no easy task; it's a massive undertaking..."

"I might have a way," Harry suddenly said, "a way to find Regulus quickly—"

"What method?" Sirius asked hurriedly.

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