Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Regulus stared at Snape's face, his thoughts a jumbled mess.

The wizarding world has been practicing discrimination for hundreds of years, and the targets of discrimination are very precise: Muggle bloodline, that's all, everything else is disregarded.

The Shakel family, one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Families, was included in the Pureblood Register in the 1930s and is officially recognized as a pureblood.

They have obvious African ancestry and are well-connected in pure-blood circles. In fact, because of their ancient bloodline and unique origins, they are even regarded as an alternative and noble group by some people.

Regulus had nothing to say about this.

Earth is simply not big enough for wizards. With their abilities, wizards can go wherever they want and whenever they want.

If you like a place, settle down there. If you stay long enough, you'll become a local.

The Shackle family doesn't even have a clear origin; no one knows when they came to England or how they ended up as one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Tribes among a group of white wizards.

But the Pureblood Register recognizes it, the Ministry of Magic recognizes it, and other pureblood families also recognize it.

There's no record of Muggle intermarriage in the Shackles family's genealogy, so they're purebloods, it's that simple.

The Bout family are also Black and are on the list, so there's not much to say about them.

It can only be said that the magical world has always been diverse, and as long as one's bloodline is clean enough, skin color has never been a topic of discussion.

Regulus glanced at Snape's face.

Although the Prince family has declined, it is still an old family name.

Erin Prince married a Muggle and had this child, making him mixed-race, but Prince's blood is in the child, which is beyond question.

The problem is that there are indeed pure-blooded Black families in the British wizarding world, and they are doing quite well.

Regulus accepted that existence is existence, and there's no point in fussing over it.

But after searching through his memory, he had never seen a pure-blooded white family with no African ancestry suddenly produce a black person.

While the wizarding world does not discriminate based on skin color, he has indeed never seen a precedent for intermarriage between people of different races.

Even among the Blake family, there was never a Black person.

So this face in front of me...

Regulus glanced at Snape's face again.

There was something coated on it, probably some kind of potion. An ordinary novice wizard might just think that the face was abnormally pale.

But Regulus's magical perception followed his gaze, and the color beneath the potion was clearly visible.

The forehead was gray, the cheekbones were gray, and it got darker and darker down to the chin, almost completely black.

It looks terrible.

Regulus looked away.

Snape stood there, the corridor light was dim, making it impossible to see the shades of his face, but one could see that his brows were tightly furrowed and his lips were pressed into a line.

He went back to his dorm and stood in front of the mirror for who knows how long, being looked down at and scrutinized by Rabastan, and then waited in the corner of the corridor for half an hour.

The anger in my heart was neither subsiding nor rising; it was stuck in my chest, neither making me feel uncomfortable nor not uncomfortable.

Blake had just taken a step back with a look of disdain, and for a moment he didn't know how to categorize that action.

insult?

He said he couldn't.

He sensed something different from Lestrange.

That kind of gaze sweeps from head to toe, but it never lands on him as a person, but rather on his origins, his lineage, his family background, and the wear and tear on the cuffs of his robe.

So Snape thought almost nothing, his mind was completely blank, and he headed straight for the library.

He knew that Black... Slytherin's Black was different.

Snape couldn't pinpoint exactly what was different, but after spending over two years in Slytherin, he had witnessed too many forms of contempt and had discerned the distinction.

Some people look down on him because he is inferior to others, using family background, bloodline, clothing, and everything else to rank them.

Blake also looks down on people, but he doesn't use this approach.

Needless to say, the Black family's bloodline is incredibly pure. They rank among the top of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans, and their family tree goes back more than ten generations and they are all pure-blooded. They are so pure that they don't need to compare themselves with anyone else.

Moreover, Black's own demeanor, the way he stood there doing nothing yet exuded an aura of dominance over everyone around him, made Snape think that bloodline and lineage probably didn't really matter to him.

It's as if what he sees is on another level; if you look further down, you won't see anything about bloodlines.

It's completely different from Lestrange's approach of using bloodlines as a stepping stone and then stepping down on them.

But Blake took that step back—

Snape frowned.

He could tell that Blake was only looking at his face, at his disheveled state, and there was nothing else in his gaze—

No, there are other reasons, like disdain.

This made him frown even more.

Then he thought of Sirius Black, that bastard Black, and how he was in this state because of that spell.

The one in front of me is also Blake.

Snape's face darkened.

Regulus looked at the face hidden in the shadow of his hood, his expression shifting back and forth, and guessed that he had been tricked into looking like this.

For some reason, Regulus felt a sense of relief.

As long as it's not something he wanted to become like this, that's fine; otherwise, he really doesn't know whether he should accept it or not.

Although the wizarding world is diverse and the Shackle family exists, the Prince family bloodline has never gone in that direction.

Snape can be a dark wizard, but he cannot be black.

Regulus raised a finger and pointed it at Snape.

Snape swayed back slightly, his hand already reaching for his robe pocket—a swift, instinctive reflex.

Then he stopped.

If Blake wanted to hit him, he wouldn't be here; besides, there's no reason for it.

Snape steadied himself, removed his hand from the edge of his pocket, and didn't move again.

The next moment, Snape felt a change coming from beneath his skin, from the magical realm, like something being quietly unlocked.

Before he could discern the details, he heard Regulus's voice coming from the front, his tone a little more relaxed than before: "Wipe your face."

Snape raised his hand, took out his wand, and touched it to his face, removing the whitening potion that had covered his face.

He waved his wand again, and a mist of water condensed at the tip. The mist gathered and formed a thin mirror, which hung in mid-air.

He took a closer look; it was a waxy yellow.

normal now.

He lowered his head, his voice dry and stilted: "Thank you."

Regulus nodded without saying anything.

Snape was waiting for him here at this time, in the corner of the corridor, his hood pulled down over his head, his face looking like that, he still came out, something must have happened.

Snape looked up, his gaze lingered on Regulus's face for a moment, then fell back to the stone wall beside him.

His tone finally softened: "Tonight, Labastan Lestrange came to see me."

He told me to find out why Blake was protecting Lena Costa and Samuel Vance, and whether he had arranged anything for them.

Regulus didn't speak, he just nodded.

"He said to find out and come back to tell him," Snape said, turning his gaze from the stone wall to Regulus before looking away again. "He also said not to let you know that he sent me."

He shut up after he finished speaking and stood there, waiting for Regulus's reaction.

Regulus's expression remained largely unchanged throughout, nodding occasionally. After Snape finished speaking, he simply replied, "Understood."

The corridor was quiet for a moment, and the shadows of the torches danced on the walls.

Labstan Lestrange, who was defeated by Avery, Alex and Hermes last year.

They were only in first grade then, and Rabastan was already covered in dirt and grime, spending their holidays in the medical wing and unable to go home.

There's really not much to say about this kind of person on their own; they're just like that.

But the timing of his emergence was wrong.

Rabastan is a member of House Lestrange, and the Lestrange family holds considerable influence on Voldemort's side.

Bella married Rodolphs, whose younger brother, Rabastan, was Bella's brother-in-law.

His sudden appearance at this moment was undoubtedly to inform Bella.

But that's not important; what's important is that he stepped out of that situation.

Although the Lestrange family is not as prominent as the Black family, they are still well-known in the pure-blood circle. They are one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Clans, a core member of Voldemort's side, and the entire family are Death Eaters.

If Regulus were to directly attack Rabastan, it wouldn't be a mere skirmish between minor wizards.

That would be a conflict between Black and Lestrange, between two pure-blood families, and it would be difficult to resolve if things escalated.

The key is to let Labastan take the initiative first.

Lena and Samuel were under Regulus's protection, so if Rabastan made a move against them, he had a reason to retaliate. Moreover, his actions were a response to being offended, so his reasoning was sound and could be traced back to his own position.

This wasn't difficult to do. Rabastein wasn't exactly known for being shrewd; he sent Snape to gather information, and Snape immediately betrayed him. That speaks volumes.

Moreover, regardless of whether Labastan acted in order to inform Bella, Regulus could make it seem that way.

He was targeting the Black family; he crossed the line first. The logic is easy to follow. Once things move in that direction, there's room for maneuver in how to handle the situation afterward.

There's one more thing, Betelgeuse.

Since Labastan volunteered, why not take advantage of it?

Regulus asked calmly, "Why didn't you do as he said?"

Snape didn't answer, but looked away.

Regulus waited for a while, but nothing came, so he didn't ask again.

He could probably guess.

He didn't really understand Rabastan; all he knew was that it was incredibly stupid.

But he knew the Lestrange family; a half-blood like Snape had no respect in their household.

Regulus looked at Snape and said, "Rozier will contact you."

Snape paused for a moment.

He came to Blake to talk about it subconsciously, and after he finished speaking, he thought that was the end of it.

He even thought that, given Blake's past work style, he would receive a fair return, or even more than expected.

Snape never doubted this.

But when Rozier came looking for him, that was a different story.

Alex Rozier, a member of Black's inner circle, was known throughout Slytherin, and Snape certainly knew him too.

He even knew that Rozier was the one specifically in charge of Costa and Vance, those two mixed-race individuals.

Black's words made it clear that he was to be used against Rabastan, and that it might even involve the Lestrange family.

This is to include him, to put him on Blake's side.

Snape knew perfectly well what the Lestrange family's social standing was.

He looked up at Regulus, his eyes dark and brooding.

Regulus stood there, not urging him, his face expressionless, just waiting.

The only sound in the corridor was the crackling of torches, which occasionally made the shadows tremble.

Snape stood there for a long time, his mind racing with thoughts that eventually settled on one thing.

He's already here, he's explained things, and by taking this step, he's already chosen sides, he just hadn't realized it before.

Blake is simply making his point clear.

And ultimately, everything he has done and all the efforts he has made so far have been for the purpose of getting into that circle, haven't they?

Blake...

He lowered his head and nodded.

Regulus nodded without saying anything, turned around and pushed open the library door. The hinges turned with a low thud, and he went in. The door closed again.

Snape remained standing there, staring at the closed door. He stood there for a long while before turning around and walking to the other end of the corridor.

Once I made the decision, I felt a sense of relief.

My face has recovered, and I no longer need to hide when I bump into people in the corridor.

The auditorium was still open, so he quickened his pace and headed there.

eat.