"Screaming Sugar Mouse!"
Regulus Black once again arrived at Dumbledore's office. As for Harry Potter bringing Ron to look at the Mirror of Erised, he had absolutely no interest in catching them. After all, Snape and Quirrell were on duty tonight, and those two were destined to be stuck together.
"Regulus! Can't you consider that an old man needs his sleep?"
Wearing loose wizard-style pajamas, Dumbledore yawned as he walked out of his bedroom.
"Of course I should care about your health—if only you hadn't given away such a strange gift."
Regulus Black casually picked up a Chocolate Frog, broke off a leg, and popped it into his mouth.
Ever since he had eaten so "enhanced" snacks at Dumbledore's last ti, Regulus realized that he had an unusually high resistance to certain potion effects.
This was entirely due to his system attributes: effects of so potions—especially those considered unfriendly—were categorized under poison-type effects. And with his Undead trait plus a variety of small talismans that provided toxin resistance, he was well protected.
For example, one of the traits from the Red Nightmare Witch Monastery: " 777 Poison Defense."
Nowadays, Regulus could drink certain potions like water—including Veritaserum.
Dumbledore, of course, understood what Regulus was referring to. The Invisibility Cloak was a Potter family heirloom. By all accounts, it should be returned to the Potters. Besides, Harry needed to undergo trials to build courage and capital—it was necessary.
"I didn't expect that you'd already reached the level of seeing through an Invisibility Cloak. That's an artifact even Death himself can't see through!"
Dumbledore wore an exaggerated expression, clearly trying to divert the topic and deny everything.
"Thank you for the complint, Headmaster. If only you had taught Harry Potter a few precautions, maybe I wouldn't have seen the lantern in his hand, heard the sound of his footsteps, or had Filch's Mrs. Norris sniff out his scent."
The problems Regulus ntioned were all well-known among users of Invisibility Cloaks. So people simply didn't want to be seen, so they ignored these issues altogether. Even if others knew soone in an Invisibility Cloak passed by, so what?
But for those who needed complete stealth, eliminating sound and scent were basic requirents. Certain actions had to be masked with illusions—for example, preventing doors from visibly opening and closing on their own.
And Harry Potter, on his very first use of the Invisibility Cloak, had made every one of these mistakes.
Especially troubling was how he didn't treat the cloak with proper care—tossing it around casually. Did he not realize this was one of the Deathly Hallows?
But now! The Invisibility Cloak had fallen into Regulus Black's hands, and he intended to make good use of it. The idea of giving it back? Don't even think about it. Besides, Regulus had already provided a substitute—good enough for Harry to use until he no longer needed one.
After all, cloaks made from Demiguise hair weren't cheap.
"Oh, so there were issues like that?" Dumbledore seed a bit troubled. Why couldn't Regulus just pretend he hadn't seen anything? "Regulus, if you could remind the boy for …"
"I'll knock him out, use Legilincy, and implant the mory of the necessary spells. Decision made—easy and efficient!"
Regulus clapped the chocolate dust off his hands and stood up, ready to leave.
"Regulus! Couldn't you be just a bit gentler? I an in your teaching thods."
Dumbledore looked as though he was sincerely entrusting Regulus with the task of educating Harry Potter.
"You're not being serious, are you? I'm just a teaching assistant. I think that kind of responsibility should be left to the professors. Better yet, the Heads of House. I believe any one of the four Heads is far more qualified than a lowly assistant like ."
Regulus's implication was obvious—he ant Professor Snape, Head of Slytherin House, Harry Potter's mother's admirer. Who else could possibly care more about Harry's safety than Snape?
Dumbledore clutched his head again. Clearly, being woken in the middle of the night wasn't doing him any good—this was the third ti tonight.
"But you know the Heads of House are all overloaded with work. They probably can't spare ti for special tutoring."
It looked like Dumbledore was trying to rope Regulus in and continue persuading him.
"In that case, I'll recomnd another professor—Professor Quirrell, who teaches Defense Against the Dark Arts. I don't think anyone could be more suitable."
With that, Regulus turned and left, giving Dumbledore no chance to speak further.
"Daybreak is almost here. Perhaps you should catch a little more sleep."
Whether Dumbledore managed to get so more rest is unknown, but Regulus Black definitely went back to bed.
The Mirror of Erised!
Another prop from the movie has appeared, and this one hasn't shown up again since the first film.
"Well then! Since the Mirror of Erised doesn't reappear after Philosopher's Stone, collecting it at the end of the first installnt shouldn't be a problem. This might just be the easiest item to obtain in the entire first arc."
Lying on his large bed, Regulus Black reached out into the air as if grasping the Mirror of Erised itself.
The next day, everything returned to normal. Christmas had just passed, and the students who had gone ho for the holidays returned to Hogwarts.
Unsurprisingly, Regulus Black received Christmas gifts from four girls. Although they were a day late, it was clear that each gift had been thoughtfully prepared.
Hermione gave a dental care kit, which included a toothbrush, toothpaste, dental floss, and mouthwash. As the daughter of a dentist, Hermione was clearly influenced by her family background. What a good girl—always finding opportunities to promote the family business.
The accompanying card expressed her concern for Assistant Black and thanked him for all his help.
Zhang Qiu (Cho Chang) gifted a set of Chinese chess pieces, along with a sheet of paper written in elegant handwriting explaining the origin of the gift.
"This is a board ga from an Eastern country, different from European chess and Wizard's Chess. The rules are as follows…"
Marietta Edgecombe sent a Captive's Fruit. The Captive's Fruit is a rare magical plant, said to have peculiar effects when eaten. Just from its appearance—a red, heart-shaped fruit—you could tell. As the na suggests, "a captive of love," a single fruit's effect is known to rival even the strongest love potions.
That made this fruit extrely valuable. The attached card had nothing written on it—only a lipstick kiss mark.
Girls' thoughts really are simple. Regulus Black was quite pleased with how this particular thread was developing.
Penelope Clearwater gifted a large crystal bottle for potion storage.
The teardrop-shaped crystal bottle sat on a wooden base, capable of holding up to one liter of liquid. The narrow neck required a special thod to fill it. Bottles of this shape were typically used in special situations.
For instance, the bottle might be subrged entirely into a liquid, allowing it to fill slowly via air displacent. Another thod involved sealing the neck and letting the liquid flow in slowly on its own—this was more suitable for oil-based substances.
Regardless of what was stored inside, the primary goal was to avoid contact with air. Moreover, when extracting contents, the unit of asurent was always a "drop," so bottles of this kind served very specific purposes.
"Well, isn't this just perfect!"
Regulus Black picked up the Captive's Fruit, and with a Floating Charm, suspended it mid-air. With a tap of his wand, he pierced the pointed tip of the heart-shaped bottom. A thin thread of red juice trickled down, and waiting below was the crystal bottle—ready to catch every last drop.
Now the question was: what should he do with this bottled potion? Use it as an ingredient for further brewing? Or craft it into a protective charm?
Regulus Black needed to consider how to maximize its value—it had practically beco instinct. If the outco wasn't optimized to its fullest potential, he would feel unworthy of the Squirrel Faction's na.
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
/Glimr09
Reviews
All reviews (0)