Professor Flitwick craned his neck with difficulty to read the words beneath the statue halfway up the rock wall:
"Regulus Arcturus Black? I remember him being Sirius's younger brother. He was a clever student at school. What a pity..."
Professor Sprout also recalled how this student had performed at school:
"A special Slytherin. He was one of the few Slytherins who could make pansies bloom in vivid colors, and Mandrakes didn't reject him either. 'Seeking light in the darkness, selflessly dedicating himself to justice.'"
(Pansies: flowers that can display different colors depending on a person's emotions and character. It is said that if someone is kind at heart, pansies will bloom in vivid colors; if someone harbors malice, the flowers will turn dull and lusterless.
Mandrakes: apart from their known functions, they are also believed to possess the ability to distinguish good from evil, as they reject impure or evil souls.)
Professor McGonagall felt rather sad after reading it, remembering the intelligence she had seen in the Order of the Phoenix during the war. When the Order received that news, Sirius had ignored everyone's attempts to stop him and gone out to hunt down two Death Eaters.
"Albus, I remember hearing that Voldemort killed him, didn't he? Was it because he discovered Voldemort's Horcrux? Does Sirius know about this? But what is a Horcrux? It sounds evil."
Douglas saw that Snape's expression had grown cold enough for water droplets to condense on it. He had no idea whether it was because he had heard the name Sirius or seen the surname Black.
Snape practically forced the words through clenched teeth:
"A Horcrux? Albus, how much more are you keeping from me? The Dark Lord is relying on Horcruxes to return again. Why didn't you tell me sooner?"
Although he addressed