#832 - Recover Regulus

"Don't be so quick to judge. Such a common code name could represent someone else," Anduin said, feeling the intense sadness emanating from the other man, quickly trying to comfort him.

"No…"

Sirius was beyond controlling his emotions; tears streamed down his face.

"Besides the code name, even the handwriting on the note is familiar to me. It's Regulus's handwriting! The one who left the note was him! It was Regulus!"

"I'm sorry… Please accept my condolences."

Anduin's feelings were complicated. He was glad to have found the person who left the note so quickly, but also saddened by Sirius's loss.

"No, actually, I've known he was gone for a long time."

Sirius shook his head slightly, his voice trembling.

"But back then, apart from a little regret, I wasn't particularly sad."

"Because from a young age, Regulus began to admire Voldemort and dreamed of becoming a Death Eater one day."

"And at the time, I hated all of them."

"My parents were fanatically obsessed with pure blood. They believed that as members of the Black family, we were born noble…"

"My foolish brother was too weak-willed and actually believed them… That was him. He was younger than me, and I was constantly reminded that he was the stronger son."

"Later, Regulus got his wish and joined the Death Eaters, but years later, we received news of his death, an unexplained death."

"At the time, I suspected he was killed by Voldemort."

"Or, more likely, killed at Voldemort's direction. I doubt Regulus was important enough for Voldemort to deal with personally."

"From what I learned after his death, he had become deeply involved and then became frightened by what he was being asked to do, so he wanted to quit."

"Alas, you can't just hand in a resignation letter to Voldemort. It's a lifetime commitment or death."

"For a long time, I only felt a little regret over his death, and sometimes I even found it quite absurd, but I never expected…"

Sirius looked up painfully at the note in Anduin's hand.

"I never imagined that Regulus not only turned back before it was too late, betraying Voldemort, but was even willing to sacrifice his life to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux."

"I misjudged him! Compared to Regulus, I'm a useless brother!"

As he said this, Sirius's eyes were red with emotion, and his whole body seemed to lose all strength, collapsing to the ground in pain.

Anduin, having heard Regulus's story, was speechless for a moment. From today's perspective, Regulus, being among the Death Eaters, was able to awaken on his own and take action, which required great courage.

Indeed, in every era, there are heroes who dedicate themselves to justice…

After Anduin sighed, a question suddenly arose in his mind: if Regulus stole the Horcrux from the cave, where is the real Horcrux now?…

Because according to Sirius, Regulus should have died before Voldemort disappeared, so he most likely died in the cave.

After all, with the traps set up inside the cave, unless someone had Anduin's strength, it would be impossible for anyone else to escape unscathed alone.

Moreover, Apparition was prohibited inside the cave, and with the limitations of that boat, someone else must have taken the Horcrux away. The only person who could have acted with Regulus was probably…

After thinking about it, Anduin's eyes suddenly lit up.

"Sirius, don't be so sad. Let's go find Regulus!" Anduin came to Black's side and forcefully lifted him from the ground.

"Bring him back?" Sirius asked, his eyes red and slightly stunned, before realizing what he meant. "Are you talking about the Inferi at the bottom of the lake?"

Anduin nodded. "As you thought, Regulus's cause of death was unknown. If he had really escaped from the cave, you, as his closest relative, wouldn't be completely unaware. So, I think that cave is probably where Regulus died."

"He died in the cave?" Sirius was hesitant. "If that's the case, where is the real Horcrux? Is it also submerged in the water?"

"No, I guess… someone helped Regulus take the Horcrux away." Anduin narrowed his eyes. "I remember you told me before that Kreacher was very loyal to your brother, right?"

Sirius was enlightened by Anduin's reminder. "You mean, Regulus stole the Horcrux with Kreacher back then?"

"Otherwise, it's hard to explain how Regulus managed to get the real Horcrux. Could he really have done it back then?"

Although Anduin wouldn't underestimate anyone, it was too difficult for Regulus, who was probably not even twenty years old at the time.

"Although I don't want to admit it, you're right…" Sirius nodded, then his expression turned ugly again. "Why did that useless Kreacher leave my brother alone back then? And how could he escape unscathed?"

"House-elf magic is different from wizard magic. The cave can prevent wizards from Apparating, but it doesn't affect house-elves."

Anduin explained, "As for why Regulus was left there, we can only ask the person involved back then."

"But the most important thing now is to confirm whether Regulus is really at the bottom of the lake." Anduin pointed to the Room of Requirement behind him. "Let's go, let's bring your brother back."

Sirius nodded solemnly, then resolutely stepped into the door.

After returning to the cave, Anduin didn't waste any time. He stomped heavily on the ground, immediately creating ripples on the lake surface.

"Black…" Anduin looked at Sirius. "I will control all the Inferi, and you will be responsible for finding Regulus."

Before Anduin could finish speaking, the lake surface around them suddenly boiled, and then they saw countless corpses crawling out of the water, lunging at them like a wave, baring their teeth and claws.…

Sirius couldn't care about being sad at this point. He was obviously taken aback by the scene in front of him. "You mean you're going to control all the Inferi? Are you sure?"

"Don't worry, just remember your task." Anduin smiled slightly.

Then he took out a verdant scepter taller than himself, slammed it heavily on the ground, and shouted while activating the scepter.

"Dominate the Undead!"

As Anduin shouted, the scepter immediately bloomed with dazzling dark green spiritual light, and a faint ripple spread around with the scepter as the center.

Dealing with black magic creations like Inferi, if it were someone else, might be a bit difficult, but for Anduin, it was as easy as drinking soup.

After all, he had been in contact with Inferi a lot of years ago, and he had also seen a lot of methods of controlling Inferi from the Silver Spear.

So, he specially created this [Scepter of Undead Domination], which was originally for the convenience of conducting Inferi research, but he didn't expect it to come in handy here.

As expected, after Anduin activated the scepter, the Inferi that emerged from the water immediately stood obediently in place as if they had been cast with a Binding Spell.

They could even slowly walk out of the water under Anduin's control and line up in an orderly manner, passing in front of Sirius one by one.

Sirius was stunned by this scene. Who would have thought that the Inferi army that had just seemed like a undead tidal wave would now become as docile as obedient babies and be commanded at will.

"Hurry up, it takes a lot of magic power to control so many Inferi, even I can't maintain it for too long." Anduin urged when he saw Sirius standing there dumbfounded.

"Oh!" Sirius nodded quickly, then began to check the corpses one by one.

In fact, identifying these corpses was relatively simple for him, because the bodies other than Regulus had the same time of death, and the overall state was maintained very consistently.

And those corpses that died after them seemed a little out of place with the other Inferi.

Sure enough, after a while, Sirius found that familiar figure in the corpse crowd.

Although Regulus was in the form of an Inferius, he could still see his former delicate face from his eyebrows and eyes.

After discovering the other party, Sirius hugged him excitedly, regardless of Regulus's Inferi status.

Seeing that Black had finally found Regulus, Anduin controlled the remaining Inferi to return to the water. To be honest, he really didn't lack these Inferi, and even had a lot of Netherworld Guardians that were more advanced than them.

"Regulus, we're going home!" Sirius carefully picked up his brother's body and slowly walked into the Room of Requirement.

And Anduin also followed Sirius's footsteps after dispelling those Inferi.

After taking Regulus's body back, Anduin made a coffin on the spot to place him, and then gently patted Sirius, who had been guarding his brother's side.

"Accept my condolences, at least we didn't let Regulus be stranded outside."

Sirius sighed, then struggled to stand up. "Thank you, Anduin. If it weren't for you, I probably wouldn't have known the truth until I died. Regulus is my hero!"…

"You don't have to be so polite with me." Anduin shook his head. "Regulus's spirit is indeed admirable. The truly hateful one is Voldemort. If it weren't for him, your brother wouldn't have died young."

"Let's go!" Sirius's expression suddenly turned stern. "Let's go back and ask Kreacher to clarify. I won't rest in peace until I understand what happened back then."

"Okay…" Anduin nodded, then led Sirius back to 12 Grimmauld Place.

At this time, only half a day had passed since they left. Harry was staying in his room for sense training.

In the Black family's living room, Dobby and Kreacher were confronting each other.

"You filthy scum, who allowed you to move things here? This house belongs to the noble Black family, and everything is a valuable family heritage!"

Kreacher stood in front of Dobby, who was preparing to clean the house. He didn't allow anyone to touch any of the objects here.

"But the furniture seems to be moldy and covered with hair! Can't I even clean them?" Dobby also looked at Kreacher with an unkind expression. "Staying in this ghostly place for a long time will make you sick!"

"Bastard, how dare you insult the great Black family!" Kreacher seemed to be angered by Dobby's words. He roared and prepared to pounce on him.

At this moment, Anduin and Sirius suddenly Apparated in the center of the living room.

As soon as he appeared, Sirius grabbed Kreacher and looked at him fiercely. "Speak! How did my brother Regulus die?"

Kreacher was frightened by Sirius's actions, and after hearing Regulus's name, it was as if he had touched some sore spot, and the whole person struggled excitedly.

"Master Sirius is a bad boy in the Black family, you are not worthy to mention Master Regulus." Kreacher was like a mad dog at this time, constantly tumbling in Sirius's hands, crying loudly like a child.

Sirius was obviously familiar with how to deal with Kreacher. He gently threw him down, and then said coldly, "Shut up! Calm down, that's an order!"

After hearing Sirius's instructions, Kreacher immediately stopped crying, but his trembling body proved that his emotions were still very agitated.

"Now, I want you to tell me everything about Regulus back then, especially the cause of his death!" Sirius stared straight at Kreacher, with fierce anger brewing deep in his eyes.

"Mas… Master Regulus told me not to tell his secrets to others casually!" Kreacher stubbornly retorted.

"I am your master, you cannot disobey my orders, and…" Sirius closed his eyes painfully, and when he reopened them, he slowly said, "I have already found Regulus's body, you don't need to keep it a secret anymore."

"What? Master Sirius found Master Regulus's body, that's impossible! Master Regulus was clearly dragged into the bottom of the lake by those Inferi, right in front of Kreacher!" Kreacher stared blankly at Sirius, his eyes full of doubt and pain.

"You really know!" Sirius's expression turned stern. "You also entered that cave with Regulus back then, didn't you? Why didn't you bring him back with you?"

Hearing Sirius mention the cave, Kreacher finally believed the other party's words, and then he told them everything that happened back then.