Regulus of Hogwarts: Lord of the Stars

On July 1, 1974, in the restaurant at 12 Grimmauld Place, the fireplace was burning, the flames were low, and the green light danced on the silver candlesticks.

Kreacher carried a silver tray and placed the last dish on the table: stewed lamb chops with mint sauce and roasted garlic.

There were already seven or eight dishes on the table: creamy truffle soup, butter-baked lobster, French onion soup, a whole plate of thinly sliced ​​smoked salmon, and steaming rye bread in the bread basket.

The Blake family's dinner is always lavish, and today was no exception.

Walbuga sat opposite Regulus, eating as she served him food, passing him a lamb chop, a lobster, and when her soup bowl was empty, she asked Kreacher to refill it.

"The bread with that salmon sauce is delicious, you should try it."

Regulus tore off a piece of bread, dipped it in, and chewed it a couple of times. It was indeed quite good.

Baruch was perched on the corner of the table, occupying a silver plate. His six thin legs were folded neatly, and his two front legs were holding a piece of Swedish short-nosed dragon neck meat cut into sections. His mouthparts were grinding rapidly, making crunching noises, and his head was bobbing up and down as he ate.

It would occasionally lift its amber eyes to look at Walbuga, then at Orion, then back at Regulus, before continuing to gnaw on its food.

Walbuga had Baruch served at the table; she knew perfectly well that it was the little thing Regulus kept, and without explaining why, she simply had it brought up.

Regulus glanced at it; this spider now seemed more like a proper family member than Sirius.

Orion sat opposite, cutting a steak, occasionally glancing up at the mother and son. His grey eyes reflected the firelight from the fireplace, and a faint smile played at the corners of his mouth.

Regulus caught a glimpse of his father's expression out of the corner of his eye and inwardly smacked his lips.

His father was probably jealous of how well his mother took care of him.

Walbuga then put another lamb chop on his plate.

Regulus knew that his mother was handling the evening in her own way.

She didn't ask about the Luo family, didn't mention the contract, and didn't touch anything related to the war. She served her son food, urged him to drink the soup, and reminded him to dip his bread in sauce.

Regulus looked up from his soup bowl at her and suddenly wondered, "Is my mother nervous right now?"

They must be nervous.

Old Raoul is not Bella. No matter how crazy Bella is, she is still a witch who has only graduated a few years ago. She has learned black magic very well, but her foundation is shallow. She relies on her murderous intent and ruthlessness to fight.

Old Raoul was different; he was an old wizard who had served Voldemort for many years, his men dealing with nothing but torture, executions, and dark magic experiments, his reputation built on the blood of others.

The Rolle family's manor is located in the Yorkshire moors, giving them home ground. Three days would be enough time for him to turn that place into a killing field.

It's impossible that Walbuga didn't know these things.

She was the matriarch of the Black family, not some noblewoman who stayed in Grimmauld Place drinking tea. She knew the true worth of the Roll family, the level of old Roll, and what the family revenge pact meant.

Facing one of the Twenty-Eight Sacred Clans head-on is beyond the scope of a duel; it's a war between an entire family and another. The Roel family won't sit idly by; they'll unleash their accumulated resources from hundreds of years, and her son will stand at the forefront of any confrontation.

Regulus stirred the soup with a spoon.

Wolbuca didn't know what he really wanted to achieve by doing this, he didn't know about Betelgeuse, he didn't know about soul nourishment, and he didn't know about the cycle that Lemaître spoke of.

All she knew was the reason stated in the contract: Dorffin Roll had twice offended the Black family's bloodline and dignity.

For her, that reason was more than enough; offending Blake was a capital offense. Pureblood logic had always been like that—not fighting back was shameful.

Regulus knew his mother's worries, and he also knew that his mother knew there must be something between his father and him that he hadn't told her, and that it was something big, big enough that he dared to launch a war of annihilation at his age.

So Walbuja neither stopped him nor tried to dissuade him. Despite her concern, she didn't say a word, but simply served him food, added soup, and asked if he had enough.

Baruch finished the last piece of dragon meat, leaving only scraps on the plate. He lay motionless on the table leg, his eight eyes fixed on the lobster meat in Walbuga's hand, the two main eyes at the top shining brightly.

Walbuga broke off a small piece, dipped it in the sauce, and handed it over.

Baruch extended its claws to take it, sniffed it, and then nibbled at it, its claws opening and closing rapidly.

The meal was eaten slowly. The soup was finished, most of the lamb chops were eaten, the bread basket was empty, and Baruch's little silver plate was taken away by Kreacher.

Walbug wiped his mouth with a napkin, then looked Regulus up and down. "Want another pudding?"

Regulus shook his head: "Mother, I'm full."

After the meal, Orion didn't go back to his study but sat at the dining table with a glass of after-dinner drink in his hand. Walbuga also didn't get up and sat next to him.

The family of three is still in the restaurant.

Regulus glanced at Orion and casually asked, "Where's Sirius?"

Walbuga's brow furrowed slightly.

Orion glanced at him, his tone subtly surprised: "Before the announcement, I sent people to the vicinity of the Potter's house, and by evening they discovered that the Potter's house was missing."

Regulus raised an eyebrow: "Can't find it?"

"The Potter family's location has disappeared," Orion said, taking a sip of his drink. He glanced at Walbuga and then looked back. "I could see it before, but suddenly all I could see was a hillside and a few old trees. After coming back, I couldn't even recall the exact location of the Potter family's house. My memory became very blurry. I couldn't remember the direction or the distance. I only remembered that there was such a place, but I had no idea where it was."

His tone carried a hint of感慨 (gǎnkǎi, a complex emotion encompassing admiration and reflection): "The Potter family is indeed capable."

When Walbuga heard Orion praising the Potters' abilities, he curled his lip and said dismissively, "The Potters have been doing this for generations; they've never lost their ability to hide their skills."

Regulus picked up the pumpkin juice, raised the glass to his mother, and Walbuga glanced at him and smiled.

The Potter family's ability to remain hidden to this extent is comparable to the Fidelity Charm. The people Father sent were no ordinary individuals; upon their return, their memories were blurred, indicating direct manipulation at the cognitive level.

He thought of the invisibility cloak, guessing that this ability came from it.

The item belonged to Ignotus Peverell, the youngest of the three brothers, who supposedly wore it to escape death until he was willing to take it off.

The Deathly Hallows are valuable items, and it would be a lie to say I wasn't interested, but all three of them are currently owned, making them quite difficult to obtain.

The Elder Wand is in Dumbledore's possession; it became his after the duel in 1945, and he should have always carried it with him.

Regulus thought for a moment; he had seen the old man make a move twice.

On one occasion, at a werewolf camp, Dumbledore cast a tracking spell; on another, at the Raven and Violin Tavern by Lake Windermere, Dumbledore used his wand to summon a Patronus to send a message to Moody.

Neither time did they use the Elder Wand.

Find an opportunity to borrow directly from the old man, without beating around the bush. Just say you want to play around with it, and whether you lend it or not, you can talk about it after you borrow it.

The remaining item is the resurrection stone, which is the most functional item to consider.

The Gaunt family ring, which Voldemort made into a Horcrux from his Muggle father and grandparents in the summer of 1943, has that black stone set in the ring.

Voldemort probably never recognized it as the Resurrection Stone until his death.

Regardless of whether he was black or white, Voldemort was one of the most powerful wizards on this planet. He went further down the path of dark magic than anyone else alive, and even among those who are no longer alive, he would rank among the very top.

He expanded the boundaries of magic, pushing the path of splitting souls beyond the limits of human understanding. Six Horcruxes—unprecedented—and there will be a seventh, an eighth.

In a sense, he did succeed; he found his own way to fight death and made it work.

Yet, this person, who had obtained the resurrection stone for thirty years, did not recognize it.

It's a bit ironic, but it's not stupid at all.

Voldemort's entire magical philosophy rests on one premise: death must be conquered.

Death doesn't need to be understood; he chooses to conquer it, transcend it, and completely eradicate it from his existence.

In his world, there is no place for death, and therefore no place for the resurrection stone.

The entire significance of the Resurrection Stone is based on the recognition that death is irreversible and that the dead have gone to another place, so that we can use this stone to speak to them.

Voldemort would never admit that death meant the end, that it meant defeat. So, to him, the ring was simply the blood of Gaunt, the emblem of Slytherin, and proof of his noble lineage.

He turned the ring into a Horcrux and hid it in the ruins of Little Hangleton, letting it lie there in the mud for decades.

The person furthest from death on this planet holds the only thing that can communicate with the dead, but has never used it.

Thinking of this, Regulus smiled to himself.

Upon resurrection, you can summon the image of the dead. By rotating the stone three times, the deceased will appear in some form of projection. You can see, talk, and interact with them. If you can obtain this stone, there are many things you can do.

But that's it. You can't touch that ring now. Voldemort's curse is still on it. Going to it would be like flipping a card.

tell you later.

Orion saw Regulus slipping away but didn't urge him. He took a sip of his wine occasionally, his gaze fixed on his son's face as he waited.

After a while, Regulus finally lifted his gaze from the rim of the cup.

Orion put down his glass and continued, "Narcissa is at Malfoy Manor, and Abraxas is still alive. The Roll family doesn't have the guts or the ability to touch her."

Regulus nodded.

Narcissa is indeed safe, as is Andromeda. She has been removed from the tapestry and is no longer on it; she is a purely third party and is in France, so she is also safe.

As for Bella, he actually hoped the Roll family would get their hands on her; that would be quite interesting.

"I've already spoken to your grandfather."

Walbuga added, "Your uncle also sent a letter."

Regulus shrugged; he didn't really care about that.

Orion looked at Regulus: "Silas will go with you."

Regulus glanced at his father with some surprise; he knew the name.

Silas Croft, the man in black robes following behind his father.

There has been this person since he was born; whenever Orion goes out to do something truly important, Silas is always behind him.

His mother was from a disowned branch of the Black family in the previous generation. Arcturus III secretly gathered a group of people in 1945, and Silas is the only one of them who has survived to this day. No one has ever asked where the others went.

He possessed a loyalty to the Black family that was difficult for outsiders to comprehend.

Regulus replied, "Okay."

Orion stood up and straightened his robes. "Come with me, I have something for you."

Regulus then stood up.

Walbuga remained seated, folding his napkin repeatedly in his hands.

He walked to her side, put his hand on his mother's shoulder, and gently patted it: "Mother, I'll come down in a bit."

Walbuga looked up at him and smiled gently: "Go ahead."

Baruch was lying face down in the fireplace, his belly pressed against the embers, his eight legs limply spread out.

Hearing the noise, Regulus raised his spider head and beckoned to it. Baruch sprang up and landed on his shoulder, skillfully finding a spot to lie down.

He followed Orion out of the restaurant.