Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Thursday afternoon, after the History of Magic class.

Regulus walked alone down a quiet corridor leading to the library, carrying his books.

Professor Binns' hypnotic voice still lingered in his mind as he pondered the records of the combination of 17th-century goblin metalworking and magical runes.

Suddenly, three figures appeared around the corner ahead, blocking the way.

James Potter stood in the middle, a mischievous, fake smile on his face.

Remus Lupin stood slightly to his side, his brow furrowed, while Peter Pettigrew shrank back, his eyes darting away.

"Oh, look who's here? The young master of Slytherin." James deliberately drew out his words, "Alone? Where's the master's sidekick?"

Regulus stopped and calmly swept his gaze over the three men, lingering particularly long on Lupin.

The brown-haired boy had a slight frown and a somewhat imperceptible stiffness in his posture. He was neither as aggressive as James nor as timid as Peter Pettigrew; he seemed more like a helpless bystander.

Or rather, he was more like a container that was desperately suppressing something.

Regulus subtly scanned Lupin with his magical senses and could clearly feel a kind of magical quality within him that was forcibly suppressed yet instinctively restless, inhuman, primal, and imbued with a bloody and moonlit chill.

It lies dormant, lurking, incongruous with Lupin's own gentle nature.

werewolf.

A somewhat absurd thought crossed Regulus's mind: why couldn't it be a pig-man, a dog-man, or a goat-man?

Perhaps on the night of the full moon, it will transform into something else, burrowing in the soil in the forbidden forest, chasing its tail, or quietly grazing. That would be quite interesting.

The thought flashed through his mind. He knew Lupin's secret, but he thought that werewolves were nothing special and not worth paying too much attention to.

He didn't intend to point it out, so he let them continue playing that game called friendship.

Regulus knew that Sirius wasn't on the other side, and he found it both amusing and a little impatient.

It's like when you're focused on getting somewhere and you encounter a few kids playing in the mud in the middle of the road and trying to throw stones at you.

"Potter," Regulus began, his voice devoid of emotion, "if your intellect is as barren as your magic, I suggest you head straight to the medical wing instead of wasting your already limited brainpower here performing this unoriginal provocation."

James's face flushed red instantly: "You—!"

"What about me?" Regulus interrupted him, his tone carrying a hint of mockery bordering on pity: "You think this is some kind of game for the brave?"

Pick fights, brawls, proving who's stronger? Is your life reduced to nothing more than Quidditch, pranks, and these childish games?

He looked at James, as if through this angry young man, he saw the man who would one day fight Voldemort and the Death Eaters in the same simple and direct way.

The courage is commendable, but the method is too crude and idealistic, even unwise and reckless.

It seems like the whole world can operate on a single model: "Good people should beat bad people."

This optimism, born of love and sunshine and untouched by real cruelty, is sometimes outrageously naive.

Enraged, James yanked his wand out: "Grinn! Whoosh! Legs freeze to death!"

The two spells, one above the other, were fired simultaneously, clearly the result of deliberate practice, and their speed was much faster than that of a typical junior wizard.

However, in Regulus's eyes, this was still incredibly slow.

He didn't even move a step, casually drawing a semicircle in front of him with his wand.

"Armor protection." A solid silver barrier instantly unfolded.

Jaime's two spells struck the barrier, exploding into two balls of light, but the barrier remained completely still.

"What?!" James was stunned.

In the instant he was stunned, Regulus pointed his wand forward: "Expelliarmus."

James reacted quickly, living up to his reputation for athleticism in the original work; he immediately rolled to dodge.

But it was no use; all his intentions were laid bare to Regulus.

A thick, condensed red light struck his chest like lightning.

"Ah!" James cried out in pain as his body was sent flying. His wand flew out of his hand, but Regulus used a levitation charm to suspend it in mid-air.

"Petrify them all." The third spell was almost seamlessly connected, hitting Lupin's shoulder precisely just as he was about to make a move.

Lu Ping's body stiffened instantly, frozen in his forward-stepping posture, unable to move, only his eyes revealing shock.

Peter was already terrified. Seeing his two companions being dealt with in an instant, he screamed and turned to run away without even taking out his wand.

"Imprisoned by many barriers." Regulus didn't even look at him. With a wave of his hand, invisible magic formed in front of Peter, locking him firmly in place, leaving him only able to whimper in terror.

The whole process took less than ten seconds. The corridor returned to silence, leaving only the scene of James clutching his chest and gasping for breath, Lupin frozen in place, and Peter struggling silently.

Regulus, holding James's wand, walked up to him and looked down at his face, which was contorted with pain and disbelief.

"Your confidence is built on such a fragile trick?" He tossed the wand back into James's arms, his tone like that of a disobedient child: "Go back and read more books, Potter."

Or, look at what the people around you are doing, and why they don't learn from those who are successful.

Regulus ignored them and prepared to turn and leave, just then he heard hurried footsteps coming from the other end of the corridor.

He paused briefly, then released Lupin and Peter from the spell. Lupin staggered, but steadied himself by leaning against the wall, while Peter collapsed to the ground, panting heavily.

"James Potter! What have you done now—!" Lily Evans came running up, panting, her red hair flying and her green eyes filled with anger.

She came to stop them after hearing the rumors.

But when she saw Regulus, who was unharmed and calm, and the trio of James, who were disheveled and had their wands on the ground, she was stunned for a moment.

"It seems you're late, Miss Evans." Regulus nodded to the stunned Lily, his tone calm but not harsh.

He looked down at James Potter again, his gray eyes devoid of any emotion, only indifference.

"This is the last time, Potter." His voice was not loud: "I don't care about your childish games, and I have no interest in indulging your boring ego."

This is the second time you've provoked me, and the last. I won't give you a third chance.

James suddenly raised his head, his eyes almost spitting fire. He wanted to argue, he wanted to curse.

But the pain in his chest and the reality of being completely crushed and powerless in that instant felt like two heavy stones blocking his throat.

He understood Regulus's warning: if he made the same mistake again, the consequences would never be as lenient as they were today.

After Regulus finished speaking, he turned away from him and said to Lily, whose expression was complicated, "Perfect timing, I was just about to go to the library to look up some information on potions, want to come along?"

Lily glanced at James, who looked defiant but was clearly intimidated and no longer spoke, then at Regulus, who remained calm and composed. After hesitating for a moment, she finally nodded.

"Okay, I also have a potion thesis to write."

The two walked side by side toward the library, leaving James Potter standing there, watching their backs, his face pale and ashen, feeling for the first time a complete and utter defeat.

Remus Lupin stood leaning against the wall, gazing in the direction Regulus had gone, his heart filled with complex emotions, including a hint of guilt.

On both occasions, they were the ones who actively sought trouble with each other.

Regulus Black, though a true Slytherin, never had a reputation for bullying the weak or using underhanded tactics.

On the other hand, James, in particular, took advantage of his numbers and superior spellcasting abilities compared to other young wizards to play pranks and bully those he disliked, and afterwards laugh and mock them.

He stepped forward and pulled James, who was still somewhat dazed, to his feet.

Peter got up from the ground by himself, his little eyes still full of fear, clearly quite frightened by the swift and decisive way the problem had been solved.

James's expression was extremely ugly, as if Sirius had died. He gripped his wand, which he had just recovered, so tightly that his knuckles turned white.

His mind was now filled with everything that had happened in those few seconds: his spell was easily blocked, his wand slipped from his hand, Remus was petrified, and Peter was imprisoned.

He did heed Regulus's warning.

Even so, he must get his revenge and wash away today's humiliation.

But this requires... a more meticulous plan, greater power, or, waiting for a better opportunity.

At the very least, he couldn't afford to engage in such a reckless head-on confrontation as he had today. This thought filled him with immense frustration, and his face darkened to the point where it seemed as if water could drip from it.

"Let's go." James finally squeezed out the two words through gritted teeth, shook off Lupin's hand that was supporting him, and walked towards the Gryffindor Tower without looking back, his steps heavy and hurried.

Lupin and Peter exchanged a glance and quickly followed.