Sirius's Regret

It really is that simple.

A little fire, some wood, and a few spells that you might not learn until second or third grade—that's how Voldemort's magical trap was solved.

Although it's not actually that simple, the reason it's so easy is only because of Kreacher, a bug that allows you to go directly into the heart of the magic traps.

But one thing that gave Harry a headache was that Ron was becoming increasingly arrogant.

"I knew it!"

"We've broken through all the defenses set up by Dumbledore and all the professors at Hogwarts, so what's Voldemort's?" Ron exclaimed excitedly.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Draco, noticing Regulus's marble-white fingers tremble, drew his wand.

What about Regulus?

"Will you just stay petrified like this?" Draco frowned.

"Sirius should have a way."

"What kind of magical ritual could be used to transform someone into an obedient zombie or Ghoul?" Harry stroked his chin.

"Zombies? They stink, and their dead bodies ooze pus."

"Ghoul are even worse; although they don't smell bad, they become even uglier."

"If that's the case, we might as well bury it," Draco retorted.

"We mustn't bury young master Regulus!"

"Young Master Regulus is alive! He can move!" Kreacher's white-furred bat ears twitched slightly as he immediately screamed.

"Regulus?"

"Kreacher, what else of my brother's is hidden here?"

"I'm not going to throw these things away. I order you to put them back in his room," Sirius's languid voice came from outside the boiler room.

"Harry, you guys are here too."

"It's almost dinnertime now," Lupin said.

Then came the sound of two people's footsteps slowly approaching.

Creak!

The door was opened.

"How can it be so clean— Regulus!"

"You're still alive! Where have you been all these years?!" Sirius burst in and grabbed Regulus's body.

Kreacher, standing nearby, tried to push Sirius away, but was unable to do so because Sirius was his master, and was so anxious he was almost in tears.

Regulus's cold body made Sirius understand something.

Sirius trembled slightly and remained silent for a long time before saying, "Kreacher!"

"What's going on?!"

Lupin, who was standing nearby, immediately understood what had happened. He held Sirius's trembling right hand and tried to comfort him.

"Kreacher promised Master Regulus that he wouldn't tell his family," Kreacher refused, sticking his neck out.

For some reason, Sirius didn't get angry. He kept stroking Regulus's body with trembling hands, as if he was thinking about something.

It's more like regret.

"Perhaps the Daily Prophet is right."

"I thought I could sacrifice everything for justice."

"But now I realize that I'm just like Peter, I just haven't realized it yet," Sirius said in a hoarse voice.

As a descendant of Black House, an ancient family skilled in Dark Magic, he immediately recognized Regulus's current state—he was Inferi.

A being that does not need to eat and hates all living people.

Because of their intact, odorless bodies, they were used as servants by Dark Wizard and were more popular than zombies and Ghoul.

Sirius saw this as Voldemort's punishment of the Black House for his joining the Order of the Phoenix.

At this moment, even Ron knew that he shouldn't show a happy expression anymore.

He looked at Harry and Draco, gesturing with his eyes for someone to tell their adventure story.

"Sirius, it's like this."

"When we came to Kreacher's room today, we found Slytherin's Locket."

"I opened it through Parseltongue," Harry said, pointing to a pile of plastic-like fragments in the corner.

For some reason, Harry suddenly felt that something was off about the pile of fragments.

But his worry about Sirius's current mood made him overlook this point.

"Is Regulus hidden inside?"

"That fits Black Family's death perfectly," Sirius said with a self-deprecating laugh.

Slytherin's Locket, one of Voldemort's treasures, was something Sirius, as a Black House, had the privilege of seeing once.

Voldemort was willing to use such a precious treasure to store the executed Regulus, probably out of respect for that madwoman Bella.

After all, it's rumored that Voldemort and she had an affair.

Is this the real reason why his mother went insane?

His own son was given to him because his other son was executed and his body was placed in Slytherin's treasure.

That's ridiculous.

Harry, standing to the side, had no idea that Sirius was once again wildly imagining things based on what he hadn't finished saying.

But he could see that Sirius's sense of world-weariness had become even stronger, even stronger than when he discovered at Hogwarts that Scabbers wasn't Peter and Harry hated him.

Harry coughed and continued, "After I destroyed this Locket with the spell that defeated Voldemort, I learned from Kreacher's fragmented words that Regulus was involved."

Sirius's ears twitched slightly, but he was clearly no longer absorbed in his own world.

Lupin was standing to the side doing nothing, gestured to Harry with his eyes to continue.

Harry, finding his method effective, smiled slightly. "We learned from Kreacher that Voldemort once demanded Kreacher from Regulus and conducted an experiment that almost killed Kreacher."

"But because he didn't value the magic of House-elf, and because Regulus demanded that Kreacher complete Voldemort's task and then go home."

"Kreacher was able to return to the Black House."

"Regulus also learned of Voldemort's horrific experiments and the whereabouts of the Locket."

"After he made a replica, he went back to that place with Kreacher," Harry said.

"Why hasn't Regulus returned?!"

"It's this House-elf!" Sirius suddenly interrupted.

"And why would Regulus go to that place?"

"Just for this box!" Sirius exclaimed angrily, furious that his brother had died because of a box.

"This is Slytherin's box."

"Perhaps this concerns the safety of Hogwarts," Draco said.

He had always felt that the box was related to Hogwarts' defensive magic.

"No, Harry said so."

"He felt like he was facing Voldemort when he was facing this."

"And that box can talk to itself."

"Have you ever read the Tales of Beedle the Bard? This story is very similar to the one in it called the Warlock's Hairy Heart."

"Could this be the reason Voldemort is still alive?" Ron suddenly said.

He might not be as knowledgeable as anyone else in the room when it came to serious academic matters, but he was very familiar with the slang and fairy tales of the Wizarding World.

"It's just a fairy tale." Draco frowned.

"No, many of the stories in the Tales of Beedle the Bard are true; I've looked into that."

"This Locket might very well contain Voldemort's 'heart'," Harry suddenly said.

He knew the Deathly Hallows were real, so this story is quite possible.

"Kids, I don't care what this or that Voldemort bullshit has to do with me."

"I only care about my brother, why Regulus?" Sirius said gloomily.