Throughout the entire ride on the Hogwarts Express, Regulus Black realized he had encountered a worthy opponent.
In most fanfictions, Gilderoy Lockhart is portrayed as a clown, and even the original books show him in a rather contemptuous light.
Only in one fanfiction does Gilderoy Lockhart hold a unique status as the head of the Departnt of Magical Intelligence at the Ministry of Magic.
Originally, Regulus Black had only approached Lockhart out of boredom, just to see if, by the slimst chance, he might really be that one-in-a-million-the head of the Magical Intelligence Departnt.
But the more they talked, the more he found Lockhart unreadable. That subtle aura of soone who had long held a high-ranking position, soone who had constant access to a vast pool of classified intelligence, gradually began to show itself through Regulus Black's endless probing.
Regulus was sure—it was intentional. Throughout their conversation, Gilderoy Lockhart hadn't revealed a single piece of useful information. And yet, his deanor seed to deliberately hint at his true identity.
Since Regulus had allowed Ginny to join them in the compartnt, the two n spoke mostly in subtle implications, their conversation layered and shifting-like two intelligence brokers trying to extract information from each other while saving every Knut.
This left Ginny completely bewildered. She sat there in a fog, totally unable to understand what these two professor-level figures were talking about. It all sounded like so profound philosophical discourse on
life.
"I think you'll be disappointed. Hogwarts isn't so grand adventure haven. You won't find the epic journey you're looking for."
But who said that was true? The key artifact of Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets-Tom Riddle's diary—was already in Regulus Black's possession. And once a Horcrux was in his ands, he would never let it go. He intended to transform it, harness the power of the Horcrux for himself. That was his true goal.
Using the diary to threaten Lucius Malfoy into handing over the Black family assets? That was just a side objective.
And without the Horcrux diary, what kind of dull and uneventful school year would Harry Potter's second year beco?
"You don't need to worry about that," Lockhart said flamboyantly. "Wherever I go, accidents always seem to happen I'm quite used to it."
It was as if all those "accidents" existed just to highlight his presence as the protagonist. Like a main character in a novel, always surrounded by obnoxious background characters to show off in front of— leveling up by defeating them, rising to power in no ti, becoming the ultimate master, marrying a rich beauty, and reaching the pinnacle of life. The thought alone was a little exciting.
But what you don't know is that in many fanfictions, you are the very definition of incompetence, Gilderoy Lockhart.
Regulus Black cursed him silently in his heart, while Lockhart continued regaling Ginny with stories of his many daring adventures.
If Regulus truly wanted to confirm Lockhart's identity, all he had to do was find a few people at the Ministry of Magic and ask.
Outside the Hogwarts Express, Harry Potter and Ron were in the middle of a reckless journey involving unlicensed driving.
As they tried to control the car, the car itself fought back with its own set of problems.
They were almost crushed by the Hogwarts Express. Harry nearly fell out of the sky. But that was nothing.
When the flying car finally reached Hogwarts, it broke down-crashing straight into the Whomping Willow, which responded with a violent beatdown. Had they not escaped in ti, the two boys might have beco the first (and second) students to be killed by the Whomping Willow. At that point, even Dumbledore would've had to step down-and the Chamber of Secrets wouldn't have needed to be opened at all.
After delivering the battered boys to Hogwarts, the flying car launched them out with its ejection seats, threw out all the luggage, and then drove itself away into the Forbidden Forest.
"Dad's going to kill ."
Ron had fully accepted his fate. Still, since they had made it to Hogwarts, they might as well attend school.
"A house-elf appeared in my room, then we couldn't get onto Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and now the car crashes into a tree that almost kills us-it's pretty clear soone doesn't want back at school."
Having missed the welco feast and wandered in past curfew, the two boys were caught red-handed by Filch.
"Oh! Just look at what you've done. This might be your last day here you two are in big trouble."
Filch was ecstatic. Catching two students on the very first day—and seeing them damage school property like the Whomping Willow-was a rare joy.
What a glorious day! Maybe Dumbledore would finally expel these little disasters!
Filch dragged them off to see the professor on night patrol-and of course, that was none other than Snape!
By the ti Harry and Ron were brought to the dungeons, Snape was already reading the special edition of The Daily Prophet.
"At least seven Muggles saw you. Do you have any idea how serious that is? You almost exposed our entire world to the public. And that's not even ntioning the damage you caused to the Whomping Willow-that tree is older than either of you."
The front-page photo on the newspaper showed a flying car streaking across the sky, with the faint faces of Harry Potter and Ron just visible inside.
But the Ministry of Magic was very experienced in handling such incidents. The Aurors had already modified the mories of the seven Muggles who saw them. Just like the countless news stories about UFOs, the witnesses' testimonies beca jumbled and full of contradictions.
So what Snape was more concerned about was the damage to the Whomping Willow-that whole tree was potion material!
Without the proper thod of harvesting, how much would be wasted? Not to ntion the cost of maintaining the Whomping Willow itself—it was another financial burden.
"Honestly, Professor Snape, the Whomping Willow did more damage to us," Ron couldn't help but complain. He and Harry had taken quite a beating inside the car.
"Silence! I assure you, if you were Slytherin students and I had the authority to decide your fate, the two
of you... would be on the train ho tonight."
The two boys were terrified, completely missing the fact that everything Snape said was hypothetical.
"They don't have to go ho."
Dumbledore had arrived with Professor McGonagall to receive Harry and Ron.
"Headmaster, these two boys have openly violated the Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery. According to our school rules.."
Snape, determined to give them one final scare, brought up the regulations.
"I'm well aware of all the school rules-many of which I wrote myself," Dumbledore interrupted him.
Although he agreed that students causing trouble should face consequences, it was obvious that Harry Potter was an exception. Heh. The Chosen One always got different treatnt.
"Since Professor McGonagall is the head of Gryffindor House, it is up to her to decide on the
punishnt."
The two boys couldn't understand Snape's hypothetical threats, nor did they pick up on Dumbledore's subtle protection. At this point, they had resigned themselves to the idea of being expelled.
"There may co a day when you are expelled from school-but not tonight. However, you must understand how serious your actions were. I will be sending letters to your families tonight, and both of
you will serve detention."
Professor McGonagall's punishnt was essentially raising the hamr high, only to let it fall gently.
Even Snape let out a quiet sigh of relief. If it had been left to him, he would've handled it with absolute fairness. Just as he had said—if they were Slytherins, they'd be on that train tonight. Regulus Black had no interest whatsoever in Harry Potter's drama. As soon as the welcoming feast ended, he returned to the Room of Requirent to continue modifying the Horcrux.
Item: Tom Riddle's Diary [Horcrux] (Shoes)Required Level: 7 7 Noble Bloodline 7 Charm Enhancent 7 Soul-Stealing Curse Effect (3-piece set bonus) 7 Cruciatus Curse Effect (5-piece set bonus) 7 Monster Resurrection Effect (7-piece set bonus) 77% Extra Gold Loot from Monsters 77% Increased Chance of
Magical Equipnt Drops
Additional Bonuses:- Gain the favor and secrets of noble families- Gain the loyalty and recognition of
Death Eaters
With the four previously acquired Horcruxes and Harry Potter's Invisibility Cloak (Hallow], Regulus Black continued to chase after full set bonuses. As more pieces were gathered, the stacking attributes would prove extrely useful.
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