"I'm fine."
Harry rubbed the scar on his forehead, frowning as he said, "Did any of you just notice anything strange?"
"No," Veratia replied to Harry. "After you said the old Black house would be turned into a trap by Kreacher, you suddenly passed out."
"Suddenly passed out?" Harry asked, stunned. "But I clearly remember the sky turning dark all of a sudden, and Sirius and Professor Lupin drawing their wands, ready to fight…"
"Maybe it was an illusion," Sirius said with concern. "Dark magic can do that, and Voldemort, who excels at manipulating minds, is a master at it… Perhaps he invaded your consciousness?"
Invaded his consciousness?
Harry nodded hesitantly. Sirius's theory might hold some weight.
"Haven't you learned Occlumency?" Sirius asked again. "Given how brilliantly you perform on the Quidditch pitch, I'd have thought you'd have mastered Occlumency by now…"
At Sirius's words, Veratia and Cassandra exchanged a glance, their faces flushing slightly. They simultaneously turned their gazes to the window, avoiding Harry's eyes as he lay in bed.
Why hadn't he learned Occlumency?
Cassandra, in truth, had forgotten. She had intended to teach Harry Occlumency in his fifth year, but after a falling-out with him, the matter had been dropped.
As for Veratia…
She simply didn't want to teach him.
Tch. If she taught Harry Occlumency, whose mind would she read?
Hermione and Ron, however, missed the point entirely. They asked in confusion, "The Quidditch pitch? What does being good at Quidditch have to do with Occlumency?"
"My phrasing was off," Sirius said, choosing his words carefully. "What I meant was… Harry can cast a spell to fend off a swarm of Dementors on the Quidditch pitch, yet he hasn't learned a simple Occlumency spell. That doesn't quite add up."
At that moment, Sirius, with his keen "dog nose," had a sudden epiphany.
Could it be…?
Were these two wicked Slytherin women deliberately refusing to teach him?
Glancing at the two girls, their guilty expressions confirmed his suspicions.
Hah!
Deceitful! Wicked Slytherins! I should've made Harry see through their true colors sooner!
Ugh, Miss Sweeting is so much better…
Sirius glanced at the concerned yet innocent-looking girl, thinking to himself, A Hufflepuff would make the perfect daughter-in-law!
But…
Sirius also muttered to himself.
If he were the one to bring this up, it might backfire.
Harry was clearly smitten with those two Slytherin girls, and it was obvious no godfather's words could sway him.
It seemed this matter required someone with real influence.
Wasn't Dumbledore searching for the Resurrection Stone?
Once Dumbledore found it, he could summon Lily, and let Harry's mother talk some sense into him about staying away from these Slytherin women!
It was a fine plan, but it overlooked one critical detail—one Sirius would never know in his lifetime.
"I see…" Ron said, dawning realization in his voice.
Cassandra crossed her arms, looking down at Harry with an authoritative tone. "If that's the case, then the next task in the Room of Duels will be to practice Occlumency. I'll personally train you—intensely."
Hm?
Veratia suddenly caught the implication. Cassandra training Harry?
Her eyes gleamed with a mischievous idea.
Unaware of Veratia's thoughts, Harry glanced at her, saw her nod, and agreed, "Alright, then let's practice Occlumency together."
He didn't mind training with Cassandra—in fact, he was looking forward to it.
"By the way," Harry added, "I also saw Voldemort. He said he wanted to work with me, told me the location of the diary Horcrux, and asked me to help him destroy it…"
He recounted everything he'd experienced in detail, and after hearing his story, the group fell into thoughtful silence.
"This is definitely one of Voldemort's schemes!" Sirius declared firmly. "That Dark Lord is cunning by nature. He never misses a chance to deceive someone—you all know that."
"Not necessarily," Veratia interjected. "We all know a Horcrux is created through an extremely vile act that splits a wizard's soul, with a fragment placed into an object outside the body—that's the Horcrux. But Voldemort's first Horcrux, the diary, was made in 1943, when he was sixteen."
"As it was his first attempt, he likely wasn't very skilled. Perhaps that soul fragment was the largest one he ever split. We can see this from how the diary caused chaos in Slytherin. You all know Cassandra's great-nephew was once bewitched by that Horcrux…"
Cassandra's eyes narrowed slightly.
What was this Grindelwald getting at?
Why not just say Draco's name? Why call him "Cassandra's great-nephew"?
"Cassandra's great-nephew?"
Everyone except Harry and Poppy fell into confusion.
Cassandra was clearly a seventeen-year-old girl. How could she have a great-nephew?
Where did that come from?
As the know-it-all, Hermione was the first to voice the critical question.
"You mean—" Hermione frowned, "Miss Malfoy's great-nephew? You must've misspoken. Surely you meant her brother… She's only seventeen…"
"It's a matter of complicated lineage," Veratia said with a casual wave of her hand. "Historical families with long legacies often have some peculiar generational quirks."
Ron accepted this explanation, Hermione remained skeptical, and Lupin and Sirius looked utterly unconvinced.
I believe you, my foot, you scheming old hag! they thought.
But the priority now wasn't untangling Cassandra's true lineage or identity. Poppy seized the key point: "I think Veratia makes a good case. Someone as proud as Voldemort would create soul fragments that are equally unwilling to remain mere Horcruxes. We don't know why the other Horcruxes haven't caused trouble, but we can be certain that at least the diary isn't content to just be a Horcrux…"
"Wait a second," Ron interrupted. "Didn't you destroy that Voldemort last Christmas—the one from the diary? Why are we saying the Horcrux is still causing trouble?"
"You're right, I almost forgot," Harry said, slapping his forehead. "That was Voldemort's main soul. I'm not sure of the details, but it seems he and the diary's soul fragment swapped places. The fragment escaped the Horcrux, and the main soul ended up in the diary."
"If that's true, then Miss Grindelwald's theory is about eighty percent likely," Lupin said with a nod. "Given Voldemort's pride, how could his main soul willingly reside in a diary while letting a fragment run rampant? That's unthinkable…"
"Exactly, like Death itself said," Harry concluded. "Right now, that diary Horcrux is causing havoc in America, though we don't know the exact location yet… So maybe we should try to play along with Voldemort's words?"
"I should warn you, Harry," Sirius sighed. "Even if Voldemort wants to team up to destroy this fragment, he's definitely setting a trap for us to fall into. You believe that, don't you?"
"Yeah, Harry," Ron added worriedly. "Why don't we… tell Dumbledore about this? He'll know what to do, right?"
"Alright," Harry nodded. He turned to Veratia. "Veratia, have Fiona send a message to Professor Dumbledore."
Veratia reached into her delicate handbag, opened it with both hands, and let Fiona fly out.
Fiona let out a clear cry, and with a flash of fire, she vanished.
"And you, Harry," Sirius asked. "How are you feeling now? Does your scar still hurt?"
"I'm feeling much better…" Harry rubbed his forehead but suddenly recalled something Voldemort had said. He turned to Sirius. "By the way, Sirius—do you remember Regulus? Regulus Black."
At the mention of that name, Sirius's expression grew complex.
After a long pause, his eyes dimmed, and he let out a soft hum through his nose.
"Yes, Regulus was my younger brother—a year below me at Hogwarts. But our beliefs were completely at odds…"
He paused, tugging at his sleeve before continuing. "Regulus agreed with Voldemort's ideology. He foolishly followed in Voldemort's footsteps, determined to walk that extreme path. My mother was always supportive of him—you could tell, even until today, she was proud of Regulus."
"I tried talking to him a few times, but he wouldn't listen. He was set on following Voldemort and became one of his Death Eaters."
At this, Sirius rubbed his face and let out a long sigh.
"Alas… it seems he's probably dead. Death Eaters don't tend to meet good ends. At least I know he didn't end up in Azkaban, so he must be gone…"
"I think you've misunderstood Regulus," Harry said, placing a hand on Sirius's shoulder. "During my conversation with Voldemort, he cursed Regulus, saying he thought Regulus was a loyal servant, but Regulus betrayed him and broke his trust…"
At Harry's words, Sirius, whose eyes had been dim, suddenly looked up.
"What did you say?! Regulus betrayed Voldemort? He broke his trust?"
"At least that's what Voldemort said," Harry shrugged. "I don't think he'd lie about something like this, do you, Sirius?"
It was a fair point. After all, Voldemort had no reason to lie about this.
From a motive perspective, it didn't add up.
Sirius stood up excitedly, pacing back and forth, muttering to himself, "He betrayed the Dark Lord, he betrayed Voldemort…"
No one interrupted him. After a while, Sirius finally snapped out of it and said to Harry, "Thank you, Harry. This news means a lot to me… I think we should ask Kreacher what happened to Regulus—what happened in that house to make things turn out this way…"
"Like I said before, maybe we should ask Professor Snape for some Veritaserum, yeah?" Harry asked with a grin.
"I don't think Professor Snape would give you any Veritaserum," Ron said from the side. "You know how petty he is. I bet he'd hold a grudge for seven years if my hair fell into a potion in first year…"
Sirius gave Ron a thumbs-up, then shot Harry a strange look, dismissing his suggestion. "Ha, ask that greasy git for something? I'd rather jump off this building!"
"Then jump, you foolish dog, dumber than Wormtail."
A slick, drawling voice came from behind Sirius and Ron.
Ron turned around in horror, meeting Snape's dark, piercing eyes.
Snape gave him a smile that didn't reach his eyes and said slowly, "Well, Mr. Weasley thinks his Potions professor is petty. For your judgment, when term starts, I'll be thoroughly reviewing your holiday assignments—hope you've done them properly."
Before Ron could respond, Snape continued, "You should be thankful this isn't school, Mr. Weasley."
The implication was clear: If this were Hogwarts, I'd have docked points already!
Ron didn't dare breathe, terrified Snape might test him on the spot.
"Your sense of smell is as sharp as ever, Snivellus," Sirius shot back.
Unlike Ron, Sirius wasn't a Hogwarts student and had no fear of Snape giving him a hard time.
Come on, let's have at it!
"It seems quite lively here. Did I miss something?"
Dumbledore's voice sounded from the side. At some point, he had appeared in the room.
Fiona must have led him here.
"I received Miss Grindelwald's message and learned about what happened here," Dumbledore said calmly. "I thought you might need Severus, so I took the liberty of bringing him along. You don't mind, do you?"
"Of course I mind," Sirius huffed.
"I mind as well," Snape sneered coldly.
"Now, now…" Cassandra said with a hint of exasperation. "Can you two stop bickering like an old married couple the moment you see each other? We have more important things to do."
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