Hogwarts: Don't call me the Staff Maker

Chapter 643 The Bravest Slytherin

Chapter 643 The Bravest Slytherin

That night, Celen stayed in the room he had chosen during his holiday.

The next day, Harry arrived as well. Sirius Black made a special request to Professor McGonagall to ask for a day off and bring him back from Hogwarts to Number Twelve Grimmauld Place.

Sirius Black had been hesitant to tell Harry that, as his godson, Harry should attend Regulus's memorial service, but the matter was related to Voldemort's Horcruxes and would be very dangerous.

To be honest, Sirius didn't understand why he would have such thoughts. Was there any possibility that Harry and Voldemort could coexist peacefully?

Sirius Black obviously realized this later, and went to Hogwarts the next morning to ask Harry for leave.

Now there are two people in the Blake family.

Harry had no idea what had happened. When he came in, he thought that one of the Order of the Phoenix members had been killed by Voldemort.

Later, it was Xilun who told him the truth.

"Regulus Black—you mean Sirius's brother, a former Death Eater, stole Voldemort's Horcrux at the cost of his own life?" Harry asked incredulously.

"That's right," Siron said.

"Incredible," Harry murmured, finding it hard to believe that Death Eaters could do such a thing.

"You can argue with that," Celen shrugged. "By the way, how's the Quidditch team going? Have the players been selected yet?"

"It was decided yesterday," Harry said. "Ron is the goalkeeper, and there's a fifth-year student named Demirza Robbins who will replace Angelina Jensen as the Chaser."

Silen wasn't surprised at all that Ron was on the new player roster.

Mrs. Weasley prepared breakfast for everyone: salted meat and fried eggs sandwiches, but no one had much of an appetite and only ate one piece symbolically.

Finally, around nine o'clock, Dumbledore arrived and, just like the night before, Apparated into the living room.

At the same time, Sirius, who had disappeared for a long time, also reappeared.

"How is it?" Mrs. Weasley asked with concern.

"I'm all ready, come with me." Sirius's voice was hoarse and deeper than usual.

Sirius thought he would go outside, but to his surprise, Sirius turned around and went to the basement.

Led by Sirius, Sirius and the others arrived at the deepest part of the mansion's basement, where there was only a short, narrow door, making it look like the broomstick room at Hogwarts.

The house-elf Kreacher stepped forward and put his finger into what looked like a lock.

The door opened, but inside there was no broom or cleaning tools, only a vast expanse of land—a cemetery?

It was as if they had arrived in another place. The dim ceiling above them was gone, and warm sunlight fell evenly on everyone. In the distance were rolling hills and tombstones scattered everywhere.

"These are all Black people," Sirius said, his tone calm as if he were talking about something insignificant.

Although everyone was surprised that such a mysterious place was hidden in number 12 Grimmauld Place, they quickly accepted it.

After all, they are a pure-blood wizarding family that has lasted for hundreds of years, so there's nothing to be surprised about.

The group continued walking with Sirius, and as they passed a tombstone, Sirius noticed a photograph on it. It was none other than Mrs. Black, the ill-tempered woman from the living room, Sirius's mother.

He suddenly remembered something strange: when Tonks came in last night, he accidentally kicked over the umbrella stand by the door, but Sirius's mother's portrait didn't scream like before.

"Hurry up, Siron, they're all gone!" Harry urged from ahead. "What are you looking at?"

"No, it's nothing." Xilun shook his head and quickly chased after him.

Harry walked quickly, glancing up at the front every now and then.

Ever since he learned the truth, he had been very curious about what Regulus looked like. He had heard that Regulus was Sirius's brother, and wondered if they looked alike.

However, he has been dead for more than ten years. Even if he were found by now, he would probably be nothing but a skeleton.

Soon, Sirius led them to a new grave, which was what he had been doing since he disappeared.

Although Regulus did not turn into a skeleton, his current appearance was not suitable for others to see.

Beside the grave lay a few items. A small, old roll of parchment, its edges worn, bore neat but slightly hurried handwriting, likely written by Regulus, and had been kept by Kreacher.

There's also an old photo cut out from a group photo of the Slytherin Quidditch team, showing a pale, quiet young man standing at the edge of the Quidditch team with a somewhat unfocused gaze.

Clearly, he is Regulus.

Then Xilun looked around.

Very few people showed up.

-

Molly and Arthur Weasley both came. Mr. Weasley even took a day off, his face bearing a complex sense of guilt—he had always believed that, apart from Sirius Black, everyone else in the Black family was just like Malfoy, a true Death Eater.

Mrs. Weasley, her eyes red-rimmed, leaned on her husband's shoulder.

Kingsley Shackler was also there; he had taken over as head of the Auror's office since Rufus Scrimgeour became Minister for Magic.

His presence was more symbolic, representing the Aurors and the Ministry of Magic at the funeral.

Lupin, Sirius's close friend, also attended the funeral. Tonks sobbed softly to Sirius's left, while Mad-Eye Moody stood solemnly beside her.

Finally, there were Siren and Harry, standing on the very edge of the crowd.

As if to tell everyone what had happened, Kreacher walked to the grave, his voice choked with sobs, soft but gradually becoming clearer.

"The great master Regulus Black—he ordered Kreacher to go home and not tell the mistress—he drank that terrible potion—he gave Kreacher the real locket and told him to destroy it—he said, destroy it," the elderly house-elf narrated haltingly, interspersed with sobs and regret for his "failure."

Mrs. Weasley's eyes reddened even more.

Before this, she didn't really know what had happened, only a general idea. Now, after hearing Kreacher's words, she felt a pang of sadness.

Mr. Weasley's body was also trembling slightly.

Then Dumbledore stepped forward, his blue eyes looking at everyone.

"This is not a grand commemoration held by the Ministry of Magic, nor a hero's ceremony that the Daily Prophet would report on. This is a memorial that is nearly twenty years overdue and known to only a handful of people. It is for the boy who turned in the darkness and walked alone into the abyss."

He said in a deep and firm voice, "Some heroes' names don't need to resound through the heavens, but we must know that they existed."

"He was Regulus Arcturus Black, who discovered Voldemort's greatest secret and gave his life to fight it. He was the bravest Slytherin I have ever seen."

There was complete silence around them, except for Kreacher's suppressed sobs and whimpers.

Mrs. Weasley's face was streaked with tears as she gripped her husband's hand tightly. Kingsley nodded slowly and heavily, seemingly acknowledging Dumbledore's words.