Disturbing the Old Father

Regulus followed Baruk's footsteps, stopping and starting, listening to his fragmented descriptions of each plant.

Which seed did it bring back from the edge of the depression? Which seedling did it water Tiantian? Which mushroom did it pluck and try to grow?

Glowcap Mushroom don't normally grow in the soil, but this one somehow managed to grow there. The mushroom stem leans crookedly in the ground, half-dead, but still glowing.

And that sapling, it dug it out from deeper in the Forbidden Forest. While digging it out, it startled a nest of Gnomes under the tree roots, and then it ate them.

This scene would seem unremarkable to anyone: a large spider, a few weeds, and a sapling not even as thick as a magic wand.

But he thought it was fine.

Baruk spoke incoherently, his syllables and the clicking sounds of his chelicerae mingling together, and some parts were not clearly expressed, but the general meaning was understandable.

Regulus didn't interrupt, but followed it, listened to it talk, and nodded occasionally.

After Baruk finished introducing all the plants, Regulus looked at it and said softly, "Continue planting, but in a different spot."

Baruk's eight legs suddenly jerked, and his chelicerae opened, making a crisp and rapid clicking sound.

Then he stopped moving, turned around, looked at the small patch of turned soil and the tender shoots in front of him, and then looked at the sapling that was half a person tall and the crooked support.

It gestured with its front paws towards the open space in front of it, its tone hesitant. "Change? Trees?"

Regulus thought for a moment.

These plants are growing well, but they've just taken root. Digging them up and transplanting them now would likely damage them. Besides, they're familiar with the soil in the Forbidden Forest, so moving them elsewhere would likely cause them to not adapt to the new environment.

Regulus took a step forward and leaned closer to coax it, "Keep these for now, no one will touch them in the Forbidden Forest. Next, I'll take you out with me, there'll be plenty of places for you to mess around with."

The plants outside the Forbidden Forest have never seen spiders before, so they won't mind you and might be easier to grow.

Baruk lowered his spider head, tucked his eight legs together, and squatted down. His chelicerae opened and closed gently twice, making a very low clicking sound.

Then it stretched out its front leg and touched the two-inch-tall wild grass seedling with the tip of its claw. The touch was so light that the leaves only trembled slightly.

Then it turned back, raised its head, and suddenly opened its chelicerae, making a loud clicking sound, "Go."

It still couldn't bear to part with it, spending more than ten days and nights loosening the soil, watering it, and patting it down. It watched the sun during the day and the moon at night.

Regulus is back, and it wants to go with Regulus. It may be reluctant to leave, but it wants to stay with Regulus more than anything else; it doesn't even need to choose.

It glanced down at the small nursery again, then decisively turned around, strode over to Regulus, lay down, tucked its eight legs in, rested its spider head on its front legs, and prepared to be shrunk.

Regulus pointed his finger, and the Transfiguration spell took effect, causing Baruk's body to begin to shrink.

The carapace area is shrinking, the bristles are transitioning from coarse bristles to fine down, the eight legs are gradually shortening, and the warm-colored markings at the joints shimmer in the moonlight.

Before it had fully shrunk, it couldn't wait any longer. With all eight legs pushing off the ground, it launched itself onto Regulus's shoulder, already the size of a palm.

Its dark red bristles were fluffy and shimmered with a scale-like sheen. Its eight amber eyes darted around in the moonlight, and a ring of fine white spots around each eye gleamed slightly.

It pressed against Regulus's ear, making a long series of clicking sounds, its pincers gently clamping onto a strand of his hair, tugging at it, and then letting go.

Regulus glanced at it, and Baruk spun around on his shoulder, adjusted his position, curled up his eight legs, and settled down.

It's time to go home.

The next moment, a ball of silvery-white light surged out from his chest, growing larger and larger until it condensed and took shape in front of him.

First the wingtips, then the entire pair of wings; the Starry Sky Kite unfurled its wings from the Silver Light, wider than his outstretched arms.

Its tail feathers trailed shimmering fragments of light, and with each flap of its wings, starlight spilled from the tips of its wings.

With a flap of its wings, a ring of silver light spread through the air, Silver Light the treetops overhead and overshadowing the surrounding luminous plants.

The entire open space seemed to be submerged in shallow water, and all colors became clear and transparent.

The Starry Sky Kite circled above the Forbidden Forest, emitting a clear cry. Its enormous wings flapped silently, leaving only Silver Light flowing between the tree trunks.

Baruk propped himself up on Regulus's shoulder, waved his pincers, and cackled in greeting, having not seen his friend in a long time.

After circling once, the Starry Sky Kite flapped its wings, spreading them fully. The silvery-white light instantly brightened, and the starlight it cast, trailing long tail feathers, illuminated the small mounds of earth around Baruk.

Then it flapped its wings violently, turned around, and pounced straight at Regulus, its entire body instantly enveloped in light.

A silvery-white light spread from his chest to his limbs, flowed down his shoulders to his fingertips, and down his waist and abdomen to his ankles.

He was enveloped in a flowing cocoon of light, the light threads seeming alive, entwining and intertwining, clinging to his body, his vision filled with Silver Light, and the Forbidden Forest outside was no longer visible.

The journey has begun.

The Starry Sky Kite carved a path through space, blurring the surrounding scenery. Occasionally, a bright light would flash by, like stars or distant lights.

The space became warm and welcoming, as if welcoming him. There was no sense of confinement or dizziness, only the Silver Light flowing on the surface of the cocoon and the soft clicking of Baruk in his ear.

A moment later, the light receded.

12 Grimmauld Place, Study.

After Orion finished dinner, he returned to his Study. Kreacher had just come to refill his tea, and the bone china teacup was placed on the right side of the desk.

Steam rose from the rim of the cup, gleaming greyish-white in the green glow of the fireplace.

The streetlights outside the window cast a dim yellow glow. The curtains on the houses across the street were already drawn. Occasionally, a Ford car would pass by the street corner, its headlights tracing an arc across the window before disappearing.

He picked up the teacup, about to bring it to his lips, when his fingers froze in mid-air.

The old house's defenses were breached.

Something came straight in from the inside, penetrating the Anti-Apparition Jinx barrier and the spatial blockade reinforced by generations, appearing directly in the central area of the old house.

The defensive Magic of the entire house was activated at the same instant.

The green flames in the fireplace suddenly shot up, and at the same time, the Portrait of the ancestors on the wall opened their eyes, with a dozen pairs of gray eyes looking down from the frames.

A deep hum came from deep within the floorboards, and the shadows in the corner began to spread outwards, climbing up the base of the wall and swallowing up the light in the room.

The Crystal chandelier on the ceiling suddenly swayed, its pendants colliding with each other and making a soft, tinkling sound.

Before Orion could even put down his teacup, the wand had already slipped into his hand.

Someone entered Black Ancestral Home in a way that shouldn't exist.

He stood up, his expression grave, and the Study door opened automatically.

Then he recognized the texture of the power that pierced the barrier, the silvery-white Magic Power residue, and the freedom that seemed innate, capable of breaking through all barriers— Starry Sky Kite.

The last time I experienced this was last summer, the day Regulus returned from Germany.

The kid did the same thing before, passing right through the Anti-Apparition Jinx barrier and startling the old house's defenses awake.

Orion sat down again, his wand in his hand, resting on his knees, not raised.

The corners of her mouth lifted very slightly, then disappeared again.

The child is bringing the Starry Sky Kite home again. He was startled last time, and he's doing it again this time.

The flames in the fireplace returned to their place, the Ancestral Portraits looked at each other, some closed their eyes again, the shadows shrank back into the corner, and the chandelier stopped swaying.

He picked up his teacup, took a sip, and waited for his son to either appear in the Study or go to the Kitchen to ask Kreacher for something to eat.

The next moment, starlight burst forth in the Study, silvery-white light squeezing out of the air, as if something was turning outward from the texture of space.

The light grew brighter and denser, eventually coalescing into a cocoon shape.

Starlight drifted outwards, landing on the desk and the carpet, spreading out in circles of silvery-white light in the air. It shattered into smaller starlight upon hitting the wall, slowly dimming in the air.

A figure emerged from the light.

White hair cascaded over his shoulders, coarse and stiff, with amber-colored vertical pupils and fine radial patterns in his irises. His pupils dilated slightly in the dim light of the room.

He was over 180 cm tall, with broad shoulders and a sturdy build. He wore a dark gray short vest, and his Magic Power radiated intensely. The air around his body was slightly distorted, and light rays traversed the curved paths as they passed through him.

A completely unfamiliar face, with strong features and rough lines, a crooked mouth, and a rather impolite smile.

Not Regulus.

Orion's pupils contracted slightly, and his brain made a decision in an instant.

White hair, vertical pupils, young, scorching Magic Power —it perfectly matched the description sent back by the Death Eaters.

A dangerous, unfamiliar wizard, extremely powerful and ruthless.

The old house's defensive Magic began to hum again, shifting from a warning to a state of readiness.

The green flames in the fireplace rose again, turning from green to a ghastly white, and the flames licked at the stone carvings above the fireplace.

The Ancestral Portraits all opened their eyes, each one, each pair, from the Study to the Corridor, from the first floor to the fourth floor, all turning towards the Study.

The shadow in the corner spread again, this time faster, surging out from the base of the wall, seeping down from the ceiling, and converging towards the center of the Study; something was flowing in the shadow.

The air became thick and viscous, the oppressive force of pure Magic Power density making it feel as if something was squeezing your chest with every breath.

The Rune under the floor also lit up, and dark green patterns crawled along the brick seams to the base of the wall, and then climbed up the wall, making every inch of the Study glow.

The Crystal chandelier swayed violently, its clinking sounds creating ripples like water.

Orion's figure twisted in place and disappeared into the shadows behind him.

The shadow embraced him, swallowing the outline of his robes, swallowing his hand holding the wand, and even the green light shining from the tip of the wand was swallowed up the moment it disappeared into the shadow.

The person's entire being was erased simultaneously on three levels: sight, hearing, and Magic Perception.

Only the white-haired wizard remained in the Study, along with a room full of Ancient Magic that had been activated.

Regulus stood in the center of the Study, feeling the threat posed by the old house.

That's definitely something special, the Shadow Trace Charm.

I witnessed it when I sparred with my father last time; he can create absolute darkness, suppress perception, and even swallow incantations.

Looking back now, it seems that my father only used about 30% of his strength that time. The Shadowless Trail, enhanced by the old house's home advantage, was on a completely different level from the one used in the Training Ground.

He could feel the Magic Power he had spread in the surrounding air being forced back piece by piece, and an absolute void appeared within his perception range, right in the shadow next to the bookshelf.

The eyes could not see it, and there was nothing in the senses. As the gaze moved, the area of the void expanded rapidly, almost instantly spreading to the entire Study.

The old house was still under pressure, the Rune were getting brighter and brighter, the floor began to tremble, and the Muggle streetlights outside the window went out.

Regulus's Magic Perception was suppressed, but his Spatial Perception was still active, and he could clearly feel that the old house's defensive Magic had directly sliced the entire house out of the Muggle world.

The dark green veins on the walls had climbed up to the ceiling, merging with the shadows spreading down from the four corners, turning the entire Study into an absolutely sealed cage.

Regulus's lips curled into a grin.