The Butcher of Hogsmeade

After a while, Professor Slughorn pushed open the door and waved to the young people at the end of the corridor: "Dumbledore wants you to go in." He then hurried away without saying another word or glancing back, his steps as hurried as if he were fleeing some huge trouble.

Shen Hou followed behind the four upright Hogwarts graduates, tiptoed into the room, and was immediately met with a cold glare from Madam Pomfrey. Only after the middle-aged woman left did he dare to approach the bedside.

Dumbledore's face was still pale, but his breathing was much more stable than before, and his eyes had regained their brightness. Without waiting for the younger people to ask, he spoke first, "Let's hurry. The Prewitt brothers and Mr. Shen have to go to work at the Ministry of Magic as usual tomorrow, so as not to let anyone discover their unusual whereabouts tonight."

As he spoke, the old wizard took out a delicate little locket from his pocket, tied with a long, thin metal chain. In the candlelight, the gold trim of the locket glittered.

"This is what I found on the island in the middle of the lake," Dumbledore said. "It's at the bottom of the potion potion; you have to drink the last drop before you can see it."

"It can't just be an ordinary locket, can it?" Sirius asked. "I mean, that freak laid so many traps and used hundreds of inanimate objects just to protect this thing?"

"This is the only one that can be found on the island in the middle of the lake, so there is no doubt that this is the secret that Voldemort has been trying so hard to hide." Dumbledore's tone was calm, but his slightly furrowed brows seemed to indicate that something had taken him by surprise and made him puzzled.

"So what does it actually represent?" Gideon asked.

"I don't know either. I haven't detected any trace of dark magic on it, or even any trace of magic being cast," Dumbledore said.

"Shall we... open it and take a look?" Fabian suggested instinctively, only realizing afterward that he seemed to have said something pointless.

"Good idea," Dumbledore readily agreed, "but it's best to be careful; so please step aside."

The locket was first placed on the bedside table. The young people then moved the bedside table away from its original position, making it seven or eight steps away from the hospital bed. Then, everyone moved even further away, forming a loose encirclement around the locket.

A dozen pairs of eyes were simultaneously fixed on the exquisite yet ordinary locket, as if facing a formidable enemy.

Dumbledore flicked his wand lightly, and the locket leaped off the counter before landing back down. The lid was open, and apart from the brief moment it was stirred by magic, nothing unusual happened.

The group cautiously approached and found only a small, folded piece of parchment inside the box, with faint writing on it. Immediately, the parchment flew up and landed in Dumbledore's hand.

"What does it say, Professor?" Everyone gathered around the bed again. Fabian couldn't contain his excitement and accidentally raised his voice, which immediately earned him a "beating" from his fellow students.

"Keep your voice down, don't let Mrs. Pomfrey hear you."

Dumbledore slowly unfolded the note, seemingly wary of any magical traps being triggered, but ultimately nothing happened. The note was clearly visible in the candlelight, each stroke exuding aristocratic elegance and meticulous neatness.

"To the Dark Lord: I know that I will be dead by the time you read this letter, but I want you to know that I discovered your secret; I risked my life for you, for you were just a mortal of flesh and blood when you met your destined opponent."

Dumbledore read the note aloud in a calm tone, sentence by sentence. The young man beside the bed was completely bewildered and looked at each other in confusion.

"What does this mean? It sounds like... like it's written to a mysterious person?" Fabian stammered, very unsure of his own judgment.

"It's obvious." Dumbledore put the note down. "Someone beat us to it and got Voldemort's secret before we did. It seems the person who wrote this note was very sure they would die because of it and deliberately left these sarcastic words."

"Doesn't that mean we've wasted our time?" Sirius muttered in dissatisfaction. "Who did it? Who could steal something from that cave? Even Professor Dumbledore almost failed."

Although it was Sirius Black who spoke, the other young people nodded in unison, and no one questioned the truth of his words. In the minds of these Hogwarts graduates, if even Dumbledore couldn't do something, then no one in the entire wizarding world could.

Dumbledore lowered his head, his gaze returning to the note: "The signature is not a name, only an abbreviation: RAB."

Upon hearing this, the others either expressed doubt or sighed, but Sirius Black was suddenly stunned, and then his expression changed drastically.

"Professor, what did you just say?" His voice was filled with urgency and excitement, as if he were experiencing intense emotional turmoil when he said those words, which made everyone present realize something was wrong.

"I said, the signature is RAB; do you recognize this signature?" Dumbledore also noticed Sirius's unusual behavior, but his tone remained calm.

Sirius opened his mouth as if to say something, but then changed his mind: "Could I see this note?"

"Of course." Dumbledore handed over the parchment.

Sirius's gaze was fixed on the parchment, as if it were nailed to it by some force; the note contained only two or three short sentences, yet he read it over and over again.

"Sirius?" James put one hand on his best friend's shoulder and was surprised to find that the other's body was trembling slightly.

"This is...this is Regulus's handwriting; James, this is Regulus's handwriting." Sirius's voice began to tremble, each word uttered with great difficulty. "You've seen him before, James; my brother Regulus Arcturus Black—RAB."

The words caused a stir among the crowd; astonishment quickly spread throughout the ward.

Dumbledore's expression also turned serious as he looked at Sirius and said, "Regulus Black, yes, I remember that name. He was your only brother… Two years ago, he suddenly took leave of absence near graduation and never returned. About a month later, the Auror office put him on the missing persons list, and most people assumed he was dead."

"I've always thought so too. He's a Death Eater, and his sudden disappearance is never a good thing. I never had much hope, but... but I always thought it was because of infighting among the Death Eaters, or that he offended Voldemort..." Sirius held the note, looking lost and dejected, and even unconsciously blurted out the name he usually never mentioned.

Dumbledore sighed, "Now it seems there's more to your brother's disappearance than meets the eye; if the note is true, he may even have made some kind of sacrifice to fight Voldemort—like his life."

"No, I have to go back..." Sirius suddenly stood up and turned to leave.

Dumbledore shouted sternly, "Halt, Mr. Black! Where are you going?"

"I want to go back to that cave, if, if Regulus really..." Sirius stammered.

"No, any rash action is unacceptable now," Dumbledore said sternly.

"But……"

"No buts!" Dumbledore interrupted Sirius directly, then looked at James, "Mr. Potter, I require you to take Sirius to your safe house and take away his wand; it will be dawn soon, and from now on you must watch over him the whole time and not allow him to do anything on his own."

"Professor..." James looked troubled.

"Do as I say," Dumbledore snapped again, but quickly softened his tone. "I only ask you to watch over him for one day. Any questions can wait until tomorrow night. I need rest and time to think things through."

"Uh... alright!" James finally accepted Dumbledore's arrangement, knowing that it was the most reasonable thing to do.

"You should all go back now; it seems there will be work to do again soon. Also, I ask that all of you keep the events of this night a complete secret," Dumbledore said to Shen Hou and the Prewitt brothers.

"Don't worry, Professor," everyone assured him.

"Alright, let's go. I'm worried that Mrs. Pomfrey's patience is about to run out."

Whether they liked it or not, the young people left as instructed; Dumbledore watched their backs disappear outside the door, and only after the ward had returned to calm did he slowly raise a hand and stretch it out.

The next moment, another parchment, identical to the one in the locket, appeared out of thin air in his palm.

The note was opened, and the handwriting and signature were exactly the same. The only difference was that this new note had one more sentence than the original:

"I've taken the real Horcrux and destroyed it as soon as possible..."