Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

The water-mouthed beast stepped aside before he could even speak.

The stone wings retracted to the sides, revealing a spiral staircase behind them. Regulus stepped onto it, and the staircase began to move on its own, slowly spiraling upwards.

The last time he came here was in his first year; Dumbledore had asked him to go then, but this time he came on his own initiative.

The stairs led to the top, where an oak door was ajar. He pushed it open and went inside.

The principal's office was just as big, just as full, and just as cluttered as last time.

Various silver items were displayed on the shelf; some were spinning, some were smoking, and some were making a faint buzzing sound. Their functions were unclear, but they looked strange and unusual.

The walls are covered with portraits of past principals, most of them dozing off.

Several people who were still awake were chatting quietly in their respective picture frames. An old man wearing a top hat was arguing with a witch in the picture frame next door, using Old English with strange pronunciation that was hard to understand.

The fireplace was burning, and the flames warmed the whole room, dispelling the winter chill outside.

Regulus's gaze swept upwards, landing on the topmost portrait.

Phineas Nigellus Black, wearing a green robe and a silver bow tie, sits upright.

When he saw Regulus, his eyes flickered, his gaze moving from Regulus's face to his posture, and then to the detail that he wasn't holding a wand.

He paused for a moment, then looked away, his face expressionless.

Regulus nodded to him.

Phineas gave a very small nod, then looked away from him.

On the perch, Fox hunched its neck, burying its head under its wings, its golden-red feathers gleaming warmly in the fireplace firelight, a magnificent sight.

Regulus glanced at it and greeted it politely, "Good evening, Fox."

Fox twitched its wing, but didn't lift its head or even open its eyes.

Regulus shrugged.

When he last visited, Dumbledore said that Fawkes liked him, that the phoenix could see his soul, and that he had a pure and warm heart.

As a result, the bird didn't even bother to look at him.

Was the old man lying to him?

Dumbledore sat behind his desk, wearing a white wizard's robe, his silver beard spread across the table, and his half-moon spectacles perched on his nose, positioned perfectly so he could look up at people.

A tea set was laid out on the table, with two cups and steam still rising from the teapot.

Two cups.

Regulus's heart skipped a beat.

The old man either knew he was coming tonight, or he always left an extra cup on the table.

The former shows that Dumbledore was fully aware of what was happening in the castle, while the latter shows that he was ready to receive anyone who walked in at any time.

Either way, it's very Dumbledore.

"Good evening, Regulus." Dumbledore looked up, his tone as casual and gentle as if he were greeting an old friend. He pushed his teacup forward. "Have a seat, would you like some tea?"

Regulus walked to the opposite side of the desk, pulled out a chair, sat down, gave a slight bow, and took the teacup: "Good evening, Professor."

Dumbledore then took out a dish of lemon sorbet from the drawer and placed it in the middle of the table, and then took out a dish of cockroaches and placed it next to the lemon sorbet.

He pushed the pile of cockroaches towards Regulus, blinked, and a hint of anticipation flashed in his eyes, as if sharing something good: "Want to try some?"

Regulus glanced at the pile of brown, insect-shaped candies. Some of them were still moving, their antennae twitching as if they were about to crawl out of the dish at any moment.

He remained polite, leaning back slightly, and politely but firmly declined: "No, Professor."

When he came last time, he asked Dumbledore a question: when eating a pile of cockroaches, would he first make sure there were no real cockroaches mixed in?

The old man didn't answer directly at the time; his eyes flickered, and he stopped eating.

Are you ready this time?

Dumbledore picked up a pile of cockroaches from the dish, held it up to his eyes, and tapped it with the index finger of his other hand, a pale blue light flashing from his fingertip.

"I later developed a special spell that can detect whether there are live cockroaches mixed in with the candy. Look, it's clean and safe to eat."

His tone carried a hint of pride, even a touch of satisfaction, as if he had finally solved a problem that had been troubling him for a long time.

Regulus, holding his teacup, didn't reach for it but asked, "Can you check all the cockroaches?"

Dumbledore's hand paused, his tone somewhat confused: "What do you mean?"

Regulus took a sip of tea and said casually, "Ground beetle, earth beetle, giant cockroach, sugarcane cockroach, spotted cockroach—"

These look completely different from cockroaches, but they are actually related to cockroaches and are a type of cockroach.

If you try to recognize a cockroach by its appearance, they might miss your spell.

He looked at Dumbledore's hand in mid-air and added, "There's another kind called the cryptocorypterus, which lives in rotten wood and looks like a hybrid of a cockroach and a stonefly."

There are also cockroaches, with particularly hard shells, completely unlike ordinary cockroaches, and ant cockroaches, which look like ants—”

Finally, he kindly comforted her, "If you can't recognize that spell, it's not its fault."

Dumbledore's fingers were still clutching the pile of cockroaches, and his blue eyes behind his glasses blinked twice.

He glanced down at the candy in his hand, then at the remaining cockroaches on the plate, and then quietly moved the plate of cockroaches to the side, away from Regulus and away from himself.

"Lemon Olaf is safe." Dumbledore pushed another plate, his tone returning to normal, but the smugness in his eyes was gone.

Regulus's lips curved slightly, and he picked up his teacup and took another sip.

This old man is quite something; he even came up with a spell specifically to verify the safety of the candy.

Most people might find this boring, but for Dumbledore, it was just a thought that flashed through his mind while eating candy, and he did it without thinking—it only took a few seconds.

But that's not enough. If the old man really insists on checking all the other types he mentioned, then it's fine; he still has other tricks up his sleeve.

The common cockroach species in Britain are the German cockroach or the American cockroach, so that spell would actually be enough, but it doesn't matter, he can introduce others.

"How have you been lately?" Dumbledore leaned back in his chair, speaking casually.

"Not bad," Regulus put down his teacup. "I've done all my homework."

"Professor Slughorn has mentioned you to me several times," Dumbledore chuckled, "saying that you have a great talent for potions, but your interests don't lie there, and he's quite troubled by that."

"Potions are definitely not my forte," Regulus said casually.

"I know that magic is so vast, there are always more attractive directions," Dumbledore nodded, "but Horace would probably be even more troubled if he knew you said that."

Regulus chuckled, picked up a lemon sorbet, put it in his mouth, chewed it twice, and decided not to eat a second one.

It is too sweet.

That's enough of our casual conversation.

"Professor," he looked at Dumbledore, his tone unchanged, still unhurried, "I need help."

Dumbledore's expression changed slightly.

It wasn't exactly unexpected, but it wasn't entirely anticipated either. It was more like hearing something he felt was bound to happen sooner or later, but he didn't expect it to happen tonight.

He leaned forward slightly, placing his hands clasped on the table, his blue eyes fixed on Regulus with a gentle gaze: "What kind of help?"

“There might be some issues during the holidays,” Regulus said. “I need an escape method, the kind that works anywhere, and isn’t restricted by the Anti-Apparition Charm.”

Dumbledore did not answer immediately.

Anywhere, without restrictions.

In situations not restricted by the Anti-Apparition Charm, the range is very narrow.

The manor of a pure-blood family, the underground vault of Gringotts, certain areas of the Ministry of Magic, Azkaban, and Hogwarts.

But Regulus was talking about holidays, and during holidays he wouldn't be at Hogwarts, the Ministry of Magic, Gringotts' underground vault, and probably wouldn't be going to Azkaban either.

What remains are the estates of the pure-blood families.

During the Christmas holidays, the pure-blood families will host a dinner party. This year, the Lestrange family is hosting, and the Black family will definitely be there.

But what level of threat would it take for Regulus to feel he couldn't handle an emergency escape from the Lestrange family's dinner party?

Dumbledore mentally reviewed what he knew about Regulus's abilities.

Spatial magic—this child's mastery of spatial magic far surpasses that of ordinary wizards; it can be described as highly advanced.

The Starry Sky Kite can traverse space and teleport people, which means that its mobility is virtually limitless in any open space outside of Hogwarts.

He had tamed Li Huo to such an extent that it was obedient, controllable, and even capable of achieving unique flight methods.

Dumbledore knew better than anyone what a wizard who could control Fiendfire meant on the battlefield.

Encirclement and containment forces the opponent to devote significant resources to dealing with environmental threats rather than focusing on attacks.

Pomona told him about natural magic, saying that Regulus's perception of magical plants had reached the level of dialogue, and that if that ability were used in battle, it would be a huge advantage in terms of environmental control.

Regarding the transformation technique, Minerva said he had already touched the threshold of spatial transformation, which is an achievement that is rare for a second-year student.

On a spiritual level, during that long conversation outside the Screaming Shack, Regulus's understanding of the mind and his self-awareness convinced Dumbledore that the boy's inner defenses were far stronger than they appeared.

His later ability to illuminate and see souls further confirmed this judgment.

With these capabilities combined, conventional threats pose no problem for Regulus.

Even if he is surrounded, he has the Fiery Blaze to suppress the area, spatial magic for mobility, and the Starry Sky Kite to carry him away. This configuration is actually his advantage in a multi-against-one situation.

Of course, Dumbledore was only speculating; he had never personally witnessed Regulus go all out, but based on the information he had, this speculation was highly credible.

So when Regulus came for help, his concern wasn't about the large number of people.

Dumbledore knew what Regulus had been up to lately.

His public acceptance of two half-blood students into Slytherin, allowing them to sit at the center of the long table, caused quite a stir within Slytherin.

Those two students are now very close to Regulus's clique, following him around to and from class.

This may have already caused dissatisfaction among some people.

And Lily Evans.

Dumbledore knew that Regulus was teaching her magic, the Ironclad Charm, laying the foundation, practicing combat, and now he was teaching her the Patronus.

A pure-blood heir of Slytherin teaches a Muggle-born Gryffindor witch how to summon a Patronus, a cross-house, cross-bloodline story that lasts for almost a semester.

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