[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-hogwarts-learning-panel":3,"chapter-hogwarts-learning-panel-hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-515":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Hogwarts Learning Panel",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2250753,4210,"Chapter 515: The Cold Light of the Sword","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-515",515,"\u003Cp>The wind stirred the curtains of Black Manor, their heavy, opulent, and ancient edges glinting with faint moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The room was silent yet tense. Sirius paced back and forth occasionally, eager yet showing not a trace of impatience.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He waited devoutly for that one, as night waits for the moonlight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>For Kreacher beside him, this was nothing new.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Days passed like this, one after another—the wild grass in the center of Grimmauld Place withered, turned brittle and yellow under the sun, while his life remained unchanged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No one had ever lived in Number 12, and the house had never been noticed by the neighbors.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Muggle residents of Grimmauld Place had long grown accustomed to the absurd mistake of Number 11 sitting right next to Number 13.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But today, at last, was a special day.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher glanced occasionally at his locket, feeling strangely “new,” as if the kitchen downstairs had been transformed too.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The kitchen had changed so much that Sirius barely recognized it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every surface now gleamed anew: copper pots and platters shone with a rose-gold luster, wooden tables were polished to a sheen, dinnerware had been set out, glinting in the firelight, and a large pot bubbled merrily over the flames.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the house-elf hurrying toward Xiang Xiang Xien had changed even more—he wore a snow-white towel, his ear hairs fluffy and pure as cotton, and Regulus’s locket bounced against his thin chest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Master Green!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher cried out in delight.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Respected Master Green.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius smiled respectfully in return.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Directly before their gaze, the silhouette of a young wizard emerged from the shadows of the stairs.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He had thick, jet-black hair and eyes so bright even in dimness they could not be hidden—green as emeralds—and beside him walked a small, ever-vigilant creature.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Most striking of all, when the young wizard stepped into the dim room, he held in his hand a long, slender sword:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—sharp, noble, its hilt set with a blood-red gem.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The Sword of Gryffindor?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius’s face changed instantly—he knew this sword, this legend, for he himself had been sorted into Gryffindor.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wizard, you have keen eyes—”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Puckett the butler snorted.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“How could this be...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius could not comprehend it—he remembered clearly that his god had walked the halls of Ravenclaw at Hogwarts, so how could he now carry the Sword of Gryffindor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Where had he found it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And how had he drawn it?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had Hogwarts truly allowed him to appear with the Sword of Gryffindor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“To destroy Horcruxes, we need powerful magical artifacts—the Sword of Gryffindor was forged by goblins and absorbs the power of any creature it harms...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Xiang Xien explained calmly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius fell silent.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Merlin—had any Gryffindor ever not dreamed of finding the Sword of Gryffindor?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Had any Gryffindor ever not wished to become a duelist as great as Godric Gryffindor, wielding that noble, powerful blade across the world?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Yet now it appeared—in the hands of a Ravenclaw—and he seemed unaware of how astonishing this was, speaking as if stating a simple fact:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>—I needed the power of the Sword of Gryffindor, so it appeared, and now it belongs to me.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Can I... can I touch it? Sorry, Master Green, I’m just too excited.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius quickly realized his lapse and regained his composure.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s fine.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Xiang Xien said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He understood the impact this sword had on a true Gryffindor—just as he himself had never expected to draw it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The Sorting Hat always said he possessed the courage Gryffindor recognized, yet sometimes Xiang Xiang Xien wondered...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He was simply walking forward.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Wil.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Xiang Xien called softly.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Puckett the butler understood at once and withdrew an object from a sealed box—the moment it appeared, every eye turned to it.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Sirius stared, startled and frightened—he saw the serpent-shaped “S,” inlaid with glittering green gems, easily imagining it as a small snake coiled on cold stone.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher screamed at once:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s him! It’s him! Kreacher can’t leave a single mark on it!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The house-elf cried out in despair,\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kreacher tried every way, every way! But none worked—not one, not one!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The box is sealed with so many powerful spells—Kreacher believed only something from within could destroy it, but it won’t open...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher punished himself, tried again, punished himself, tried again.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher failed his command—he could not destroy the locket!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The mistress went mad with grief because Master Regulus disappeared, and Kreacher couldn’t tell her what happened—he couldn’t, because Master Regulus forbade—banned him from telling the family about the cave...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher spoke rapidly, choking on his words several times.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even Sirius could not bear to listen:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You fool! How could you destroy it? If only something like the Sword of Gryffindor can harm it—where would you even find such a thing?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Kreacher couldn’t find it. Kreacher couldn’t fulfill Master Regulus’s final wish...”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Kreacher was so broken he let the cold wind blow over his fingers, scorched by self-punishment, let the bleak streetlight cast its pallid glow across his face.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“It’s alright, Kreacher.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Xiang Xien said gently, raising the sword.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>In an instant, a gale swept the earth, hurling the curtains forward, spilling moonlight into the room, outlining the silhouette of the black-haired wizard.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He stood tall, gripping the sword coldly, his pupils sharp as the blade’s edge.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But the sword remained poised—he had just remembered something important.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The locket bore countless powerful enchantments; smashing it outright was impossible—it needed...\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Open.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Xiang Xiang Xien spoke in Parseltongue.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>All eyes fixed on the locket, on the letter “S,” imagining a serpent—and inside, the contents rustled like cockroaches trapped in a cage.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And Xiang Xiang Xien’s final word was a hissing roar—making the locket’s tiny gold lid snap open with a click.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It revealed its interior:\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Two small glass windows, each behind one blinking, living eye—dark, gleaming, alert, just as Tom Riddle’s had been before they turned red and his pupils became slits.\u003C\u002Fp>",976,"2026-06-19T10:00:42.198Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","0c91dc60c2f0665a0545b1d1c383882638e17cbe20c84eb022116944853da3b4","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-516","hogwarts-learning-panel-chapter-514",526,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fhogwarts-learning-panel-cover.jpg"]