[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-wizard-war-at-hogwarts":3,"chapter-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-235":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","Wizard War at Hogwarts",{"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},2358208,4612,"Chapter 235: Regulus","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-235",235,"\u003Cp>“Let’s not talk about this for now,” Harry said. “If we lose the final battle, nothing we say will matter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s true. You should rest well,” Zhang Qiu said.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>From the day after Sirius sent them back to Beauxbatons, Harry indeed enjoyed a relatively carefree period. He attended whatever classes interested him at Beauxbatons, learned any knowledge he wished, occasionally met with Hermione or Elina to gossip about Fleur and Cedric’s progress. On weekends, if Donna didn’t go to the market to look at marble, they would seize the chance to do something mischievous—like stealing bird nests or casting nets to catch fish.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This routine lasted until just before Easter, when Beauxbatons once again demonstrated a teaching schedule far longer than Hogwarts’s, causing Ron to exclaim, “We’re totally beaten.” Even more embarrassing was that Dumbledore actually suggested they not return home for the holiday, claiming the break was too short.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Fleur and Cedric went to Marseille, Donald took Hermione to Bordeaux to visit vineyards, and now I’m stuck with you again,” Elina said, knocking on the train door with a resigned expression. “I hope you’ve got something fun planned.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Well, since Donna’s vanished too,” Harry scratched his head, “either we search the deserted school for hidden rooms or the Room of Requirement, or we write a letter to Sirius and go play in Gilneus.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I vote for Gilneus,” Ron’s voice came from behind.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The letter Harry sent in the morning was answered that afternoon by Sirius himself.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I never expected you to get off so early,” Sirius said. “I was just thinking about writing to invite you over for Easter.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>When they arrived in Gilneus, Harry was surprised to find the pink-haired Auror there too. It took him three seconds to remember her name was Tonks, so he greeted her with the others.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Children, I have a brilliant idea,” Lupin announced. “How about we hold an Easter egg hunt on Easter Day? You’ll help me paint the eggs, then use your imagination to hide them all around Gilneus.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Technically, Lupin said “Gilneus town,” but in reality, it was a small village, perfect for four children to scatter and hide things.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Perfect! Why didn’t Dumbledore ever think of something like this?” Tonks praised. “Come with me—this room has paint and plenty of chocolate eggs.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, you all go ahead. I want to speak to Sirius for a moment,” Harry smiled.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>No sooner had Harry stepped inside than his bright smile faded. Before he could speak, Sirius said: “You’re right, Harry. That woman is almost certainly the Wolf.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I found her later—she’s a Muggle clerk at a department store in London, nothing remarkable at first glance,” Sirius said. “But she’s been hit by the Imperius Curse—not once, but multiple times. Clearly, the Wolf used her to communicate with Barty.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As a result, neither she nor Barty knows what the Wolf looks like,” Sirius’s tone carried caution. “But under pressure and persuasion, she managed to recall every instruction the Wolf gave Barty—and those instructions struck me as very odd.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What were they?” Harry asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Barty’s mission was to do everything possible to help you, advance that plan, and convince the doctors to support you in the final battle,” Sirius’s lips twitched. “There’s no sign of any conspiracy here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Maybe… this is just the first step?” Harry was puzzled too. “They want to gain your trust first?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Possibly,” Sirius nodded. “I’ll stay alert. But you can relax for now.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh right—why is Tonks here?” Harry asked. “Did Dumbledore assign her a new task?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Not exactly,” Sirius said. “I found something while cleaning out the old house.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“My brother, Regulus—he never joined any organization. He made the decision to oppose the Dark Lord on his own,” Sirius said slowly. “During the Dark Lord’s peak, he needed a house-elf for experiments, and Regulus, as a fervent follower, recommended Kreacher from our family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He ordered Kreacher to fulfill every demand of the Dark Lord, then return home as soon as possible. The Dark Lord took him to that cave—having just finished all his defenses, he planned to test them on an insignificant creature. I don’t know why he didn’t choose an innocent Muggle, but Kreacher became the test subject.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can imagine what happened next: Kreacher was forced to drink the potion in the cave, near death, parched. He crawled to the lake to drink—but was dragged under by the hands of the Inferi.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Here, Sirius sighed. “No wonder he looks older than other house-elves. I had no idea how he escaped.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Didn’t he say?” Harry asked.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“He said… he said Regulus ordered him to return home quickly, so he returned,” Sirius looked confused. “Perhaps extreme loyalty created a miracle.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then, Regulus naturally noticed Kreacher’s strange condition. He asked what happened, then warned Kreacher never to leave again,” Sirius said. “Clearly, if the Dark Lord learned Kreacher was still alive, the entire Black family would be implicated.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then, Kreacher told me, when Regulus found him again, his mental state was unstable. He ordered Kreacher to take him to the cave and produced a fake locket. He instructed Kreacher to swap the locket, then find a way to destroy the one he took out—and never tell anyone in the family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can imagine what happened next. Kreacher told me crying: Regulus drank the potion, forced himself to stay conscious so Kreacher could fulfill his orders, then was pulled under by the Inferi. When Kreacher returned, he couldn’t destroy the locket—it had powerful protective magic. My mother was heartbroken, driven mad, and Kreacher lived in grief and regret ever since.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But I don’t understand,” Harry said. “If Kreacher could escape from the cave once, why couldn’t he escape again? Why did Regulus choose to sacrifice himself? And he told Kreacher not to tell anyone in the family—how did you find out?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Ah, about the second question,” Sirius looked embarrassed. “When I was rebellious, Mother declared I was expelled from the Black family, so I told Kreacher I wasn’t ‘anyone in the family.’”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Harry blinked. He hadn’t expected such a loophole.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“As for the first question, I have a theory,” Sirius said in a heavier tone. “Perhaps Regulus never truly believed in the Dark Lord. He only clung desperately to preserving the family.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When I and James—or rather, when I joined the Order—he chose to join the Death Eaters, so at least one Black would survive. But the Dark Lord was cruel to his followers. Even if you don’t consider Kreacher a living being, even if you treat him as Black family property, the Dark Lord’s actions were wrong.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“When he grew afraid of what he was doing and realized he couldn’t simply withdraw, he placed all his hope in the Order, hoping Dumbledore would defeat the Dark Lord and leave me to carry on the Black name. That’s why he took the risk to destroy the Horcrux.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Serving the Dark Lord doesn’t allow withdrawal. If he didn’t die, he’d eventually be punished for a leak or failure—and the entire Black family would be held accountable. Regulus couldn’t bear that. So he chose suicide. If the Dark Lord learns one of his followers died accidentally, he won’t bother hunting down a corpse.” Sirius paused, gritting his teeth. “Because there are Bellatrix and Narcissa—they’ve married into other families, but they still know Black family secrets. Regulus couldn’t guarantee he’d always fool them.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“But now, how do you explain it?” Harry agreed with Sirius’s reasoning, but suddenly realized: the man before him had once been called Regulus among the Death Eaters.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I told the Death Eaters I was carrying out the Dark Lord’s secret missions. To the Dark Lord himself, I claimed I was evading Aurors,” Sirius said. “Perhaps the Dark Lord didn’t have the energy to investigate what some insignificant person was doing—he may have forgotten Kreacher entirely.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Most importantly, when he came to my office in Northern Ireland, he witnessed those people torturing Muggles—it directly confirmed my loyalty and stance in his eyes,” Sirius shrugged. “No matter what ‘Regulus’ had been doing before, what mattered was he still stood with the Death Eaters.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Phew… so you got the Horcrux from Kreacher?” Harry snapped out of the story and tried to shift to a brighter topic.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes, I sealed it safely in the old house’s vault and told Kreacher not to approach it. I told him I needed more time to find a way to destroy it,” Sirius said. “Unless we gather all the Horcruxes and are ready to kill the Dark Lord, destroying it prematurely is meaningless—it might alert him.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Yes…” Harry calculated. “The diary, the crown, the locket—we already have three Horcruxes, and the Dark Lord knows nothing. That’s encouraging news.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then why is Tonks still here?” Harry asked next.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Oh, her? I asked her to help find and bury Regulus’s body,” Sirius’s tone lightened. “But there are too many Inferi in the lake—it’s not easy. She said she’ll stay to think of a way.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Are you planning to ask the werewolf wizards for help?” Harry asked instinctively.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“No, precisely because of her sluggishness,” Sirius glanced around mysteriously. “I suspect she’s fallen for Lupin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“That’s good news too,” Harry nodded. “But what about you? I don’t see you with any female companion.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You should care about something else, you little rascal,” Sirius laughed and scolded. “Go paint those eggs—now!”\u003C\u002Fp>",1560,"2026-06-21T04:54:29.094Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","7327a08ef895eb750a576c79e303c38f6d7bb581b0f3d8590fff38b76f517826","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-236","wizard-war-at-hogwarts-chapter-234",528,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fwizard-war-at-hogwarts-cover.jpg"]