Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

Hogwarts, early morning.

In late April, Britain was unusually sunny, and sunlight streamed in through the high windows of the Great Hall, filtering through the stained glass and casting patches of pale gold on the floor.

It rained lightly last night, and the air is very humid. Breathing it in feels cool, and my lungs feel damp.

Regulus stood at the entrance to the Great Hall, having changed back into his Hogwarts robes.

A black base with a Slytherin silver-green tie, and a silver snake coiled on a green background on the left breast badge.

I haven't worn this outfit for a month and a half.

Baruch huddled in his inner pocket, his spider head peeking out from the edge of his collar, his amber eyes scanning the candles on the ceiling before retreating back inside.

During breakfast time, the auditorium restaurant was noisy with the sounds of knives and forks clattering, talking, laughing, and the flapping of owls swooping down from the ceiling to deliver mail.

Someone in Ravenclaw was reading a paper aloud, someone in Hufflepuff was laughing, Gryffindor was as noisy as a marketplace, and Slytherin seemed quiet in comparison.

Regulus pushed open the door and went inside. Lina saw him first at the Slytherin table.

She was speaking to Samuel sideways, holding a piece of toast with unspread jam in her hand. Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at the entrance to the Great Hall, stopped, and held the toast in mid-air, jam dripping down its edge.

Lena nudged Alex with her elbow. Alex, who was putting fried eggs into his plate, frowned and looked in the direction Lena was looking and saw Regulus walking towards them.

He paused for a moment, then his whole face relaxed, his eyebrows loosened, the corners of his mouth turned up, he put down the fork, and raised his hand to poke Hermes.

Hermes was drinking pumpkin juice, and when Alex poked him, he almost choked.

He also saw Regulus, and froze instantly. He then immediately looked away, lowered his head, and stared at the table.

Before leaving school, Regulus said that if he didn't meet the requirements when he came back, he would have to clean up.

He practiced a lot in the past month, practicing the brain-closure technique on his own and the magic manipulation technique together with everyone, but he wasn't sure if it was enough, so he didn't dare to look directly at it.

But that didn't stop him from kicking Avery hard under the table.

Avery nearly jumped up from the kick, stuffing a piece of buttered bread into his mouth and glaring angrily at Hermes with his bulging cheeks.

Alex reached out and pulled him, then gestured with his chin toward the door.

Avery looked over, then sprang up from the bench, his fork clattering into his plate with a sharp sound, while in his other hand he held a half-eaten piece of bread, raising it above his head and waving it toward the door.

This immediately drew the attention of everyone at the Slytherin table. The younger students stopped what they were doing and looked towards the door, while the older wizards from the Twenty-Eight Clans exchanged glances.

The commotion spread from the middle of the long table to both ends, and more and more people looked up.

Polyus Greengrass rose from his seat. He was thin, with neatly combed light brown hair, a silver-green sergeant's badge pinned to his left breast, and his robe was without a single crease.

He walked up to Regulus and extended his right hand: "Black."

Regulus shook hands with him: "Greengrass."

He shook hands briefly and then let go, without saying a word or giving a second glance.

Pollius was certainly interested in Regulus, and the entire Slytherin was interested in where the Black heir had been and what he had done over the past month and a half.

Nobody believed Avery's description of India; even house-elves didn't want to go there, and goblins who went never came back.

But he didn't inquire; the Greengrass family had been able to maintain its lineage for over a dozen generations precisely because it never made any mistakes.

He was simply fulfilling his duties as a prefect. The Black family heir had returned, was in good condition, and the school's order was unaffected. Just like he had done at the beginning of the semester, he was setting the tone with his attitude.

Veronica Yaxley rose to her feet immediately. She was tall with golden hair tied in a low ponytail, sharp features, and her prefect badge gleamed in the morning light.

He walked up to Regulus, a smile playing on his lips, and said in a friendly tone, "Regulus, you're back."

Regulus's lips curled into a slight smile: "Veronica."

After the two prefects shook hands, they began to maintain order. It was breakfast time, a public place, and the auditorium was occupied by all four colleges, so the scene couldn't be too noisy.

Pollius tapped the goblet lightly with a silver spoon, and the commotion at the Slytherin table subsided.

At the Gryffindor table, James Potter was poking a sausage with a fork, but his eyes were glancing towards Slytherin.

The little viper is back, and the Slytherin are all in an uproar. Some are respectful, some are friendly, and some are just looking for an opportunity to show off—all sorts of people.

"All that's missing is a red carpet for him," he said, his face showing undisguised displeasure, his lips pursed and a hint of sourness in his voice. "Does he also have to kneel down and kiss his shoes?"

Lupin put down the pumpkin juice he was holding, subtly tugged at James's sleeve with his left hand, and glanced at Sirius.

James followed Lupin's gaze, snorted heavily, shut his mouth, but his expression remained unpleasant. He then lowered his head and stabbed at another sausage on the plate.

Sirius Black had a big mouthful of fried egg and bacon stuffed in his mouth, his cheeks bulging out, as he looked up at Slytherin, watching Regulus standing there shaking hands with the prefect.

His eyes were glazed over, he chewed and chewed for a while, then lowered his head and continued chewing, looking rather silly.

Lily looked up from the other side of the Gryffindor table, her green eyes gazing toward Slytherin before landing on Regulus.

His eyes lit up instantly, and the corners of his mouth turned up, which he couldn't suppress.

Marcia leaned closer, her light blonde hair swaying over her shoulder. She glanced in Lily's direction towards Slytherin, then covered her mouth and giggled, whispering in Lily's ear, "Who are you looking at?"

Lily pretended not to hear and ignored her completely, though the tips of her ears turned a little red.

Marcia laughed even harder, nudged Susan next to her with her elbow, and Susan glanced over too. Then the two of them huddled together, whispering and laughing, looking very youthful.

Lily glared at them, but it was no use.

After the excitement subsided, Regulus sat down at the Slytherin table.

Avery immediately leaned closer, his mouth still full of bread, and began to speak eagerly: "You're finally back! You have no idea what this past month and a half has been like—"

Then she couldn't stop, chattering away, her lips moving at lightning speed.

They talked about who got into a fight and got points deducted, Slughorn making a fool of himself by calling someone's name in class, something seemed to have happened in the Forbidden Forest and Hagrid brought in a huge bucket of meat, and Hermes injuring someone in Gryffindor during Defense Against the Dark Arts and getting scolded by Vance.

Regulus listened, occasionally humming in agreement.

Alex chimed in during Avery's rambling: "Professor Vance's class has added practical exercises this semester, emphasizing confrontation even more. Professor McGonagall started teaching the theoretical part of cross-species transformation last week, but there hasn't been any actual practice yet."

He spoke logically and clearly, mentioning the progress of several core courses, and then asked, "How about France?"

"Not bad." Regulus forked a piece of fried egg.

Avery was clearly not satisfied with the answer and was about to press for more information when Regulus glanced at him and shut his mouth.

Hermes sat opposite him, his eyes darting around, looking left and right, but never forward.

Regulus didn't even bother to acknowledge him.

Lena sat next to Alex, her eyes bright, glancing at Regulus every now and then. Samuel sat beside her, quietly eating.

The breakfasts in England, compared to those I ate during my three weeks in France, lacked a bit of sunshine.

Regulus looked at the people around him; he hadn't seen them for a month and a half and didn't miss them at all.

After finishing his meal, he got up and walked towards the cellar.

He knocked twice on the door of Slughorn's office, and a melodious voice came from inside.

"Come in, come in!"

Pushing open the door, I was greeted by the familiar sweetness, the familiar temperature, and the familiar woody scent of dried herbs.

Slughorn nestled in his velvet armchair, a pot of freshly brewed Darjeeling tea and a plate of jackfruit in front of him.

"Ah, Regulus!" Slughorn put down his teapot, a smile spreading across his round face, his eyes narrowing into slits. "You're back, you're back. Was the journey smooth? How's the weather in France? Provence should be quite pleasant in April—oh, by the way, have a seat, have a seat."

Regulus sat down in the chair opposite the desk, his attitude respectful yet friendly: "Have a smooth journey. The climate in France is warmer than in London, and the sun shines brightly in the south."

"Sunshine, ah, sunshine," Slughorn picked up a piece of jackfruit and popped it into his mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and wiped his fingers with a handkerchief. "It's still raining in England in April, but in France you can already sit outdoors and drink coffee."

"I have an old friend in Beauxbatons who sends me lavender honey from Provence every year around this time. Guess if he sent any this year?" He patted his belly, chuckled, and poured Regulus a cup from the teapot. "He sent two jars! One more than last year."

Regulus picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said, "Thank you, Professor."

Then he said, "Professor, look, I'm canceling my leave—"

"Ah, right, right, canceling leave, normal procedure," the old man flipped through a notebook on the table, casually scribbled something down with a quill pen, and that was it: "Did anything interesting happen in France? The alchemy industry is thriving there, did you go to any bookstores?"

"I went shopping and found an old bookstore in Marseille with a more complete collection of alchemy textbooks than the Hogwarts library. I bought some basic ones and flipped through them."

"Flipping through books is good, flipping through books is good," Slughorn nodded, his gaze lingering on Regulus's face before returning to his own. He then asked, his tone casual yet deliberately suggestive, "Is everything alright at home? Is the manor alright?"

"It's all good, Professor," Regulus said, his tone relaxed and his attitude respectful, knowing immediately what Regulus was probing. "It was just some routine business at the manor; I came back as soon as I finished."

Slughorn looked at his expression; it was relaxed, normal, without any sign of strain, his mental state was good, he had no injuries, and his emotions were stable.

He leaned back and laughed, "Alright, alright, it's good that you're back. Focus on your class and don't be late."

Regulus stood up and bowed slightly: "Thank you, Professor."

He left the office and went upstairs; it had been a long time since he had taught a class.

The Baruch inside the inner pocket clicked.

Let the spider also be exposed to knowledge.