High EQ: There's Still Plenty of Room for Improvement (Wishing You a Peaceful Dragon Boat Festival)

After seeing Harley and Hermione return with bread, the two middle-aged bachelors belatedly realized they were hungry.

After thinking it over, they realized they hadn't eaten anything since lunch the day before.

Professor Lupin managed to retain some dignity, but Sirius simply tore off pieces of bread and stuffed them into his mouth without even using a knife. He clearly didn't care about appearances.

While they ate, Harley gave Hermione a detailed account of the previous night's adventure and took out Regulus's fake Locket.

According to the excuse Harley had prepared, she'd taken the Locket out of the stone basin the night before.

Apparently, the basin's magic had temporarily stopped working after it was removed from the cave's unusual environment, allowing Harley to take it easily.

"That makes sense. The cave's environment was so unusual, after all." Professor Lupin nodded.

"I never would have thought of that—you managed to cut the black stone slab away from the island and take the whole thing with you."

Sirius downed the milk beside him, forced himself to swallow the bread in his mouth, and then took the fake Locket.

The Locket was very ordinary, a little smaller than the Slytherin's Locket Voldemort had turned into a Horcrux.

It was made of ordinary metal and bore no Slytherin crest. It was also missing the ornate S-shaped mark made of green emeralds.

Sirius opened the Locket easily. Where a portrait should have been, a folded piece of parchment was tightly tucked inside.

Without hesitation, he took out the parchment and read it carefully. As he looked at Regulus's handwriting, tears slowly slid down his cheeks.

"...I am prepared to die in the hope that when you meet your match, you will be killed..."

Sirius read the words softly, his fingertips repeatedly tracing the abbreviated name