The semester was drawing to a close. Aside from Gilderoy Lockhart's daily comedic classes, only the Dueling Club remained the most popular among students, followed closely by Regulus Black's Potions classes.
As for the events surrounding the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, even with the professors on high alert, students were still being petrified from time to time. It was clear the culprit was the creature within the Chamber, meaning the students themselves were innocent. Therefore, finding the Chamber and defeating the monster was the only way to stop these incidents. Things had escalated to the point where, as long as someone could prove their innocence, students from different houses would publicly attack each other.
"Regulus, this situation must be resolved quickly. The exams are about to begin,"
Ten days before the end-of-term exams, Dumbledore personally came to find Regulus Black.
"Headmaster, you've already been removed from your position."
Regulus Black feigned surprise, his reaction catching Dumbledore off guard, while Professor McGonagall, who had accompanied him, rolled her eyes.
"All right, just joking. I hope you don't mind. Like Hagrid said, Hogwarts can't do without you."
Regulus Black composed himself and began to explain his plan.
"My plan is this: first, I need to learn Parseltongue. As you can see, I've been reading this book lately. Then, I'll locate the Chamber ahead of time and eliminate the basilisk inside. After that, I'll set everything up in the Chamber so Harry Potter can relive my experience. I want him to feel like he killed the basilisk himself and became the hero who saved Hogwarts. That way, I get what I want."
After hearing this, Dumbledore fell silent, deep in thought.
"Headmaster, you don't really intend for Harry to experience all this on his own, do you?"
Clearly, Regulus Black had seen through Dumbledore's intentions. The headmaster wanted Harry Potter to experience these trials for himself—to temper his will and shape his mindset, so that he would be prepared when the time came to face Voldemort.
"Life is a journey, after all. Whether that journey is real or not, it changes us. If a well-intentioned lie can achieve the same outcome, why force someone to endure brutal truths?"
Seeing that Dumbledore still remained silent, Regulus offered his perspective. Anyone could go through this process—it didn't have to be Harry. But letting Harry face such danger carried too high a risk. There was no guarantee he would come out unscathed. If you wanted him to experience danger while ensuring his safety, it was simply too much to ask.
And frankly, no professor would be better suited to handle this task than Regulus Black. He could give Harry a sense of adventure and growth while ensuring he was never truly at risk.
"Then I leave it to you, Regulus. I believe you can handle it well."
Dumbledore finally chose to place his trust in Regulus Black. For him, this was a gamble too.
"Dumbledore!"
Professor McGonagall had always trusted Dumbledore's decisions, but she couldn't help feeling uneasy about entrusting this matter to Regulus Black.
"Minerva, don't you realize? Everything that has happened this semester has been orchestrated from the shadows by Regulus."
At this, Dumbledore couldn't help but smile proudly. What more was there to worry about? No other professor had ever managed to manipulate all of Hogwarts behind the scenes so smoothly. Only Regulus Black had done it—and no one had even suspected him. Everything had unfolded so naturally. Every incident had a logical explanation. To suggest that it had all been Regulus's doing would seem absurd.
But upon hearing Dumbledore say this, Professor McGonagall couldn't help but feel a creeping sense of dread. It was terrifying!
After Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall left, Regulus Black began his preparations.
The Book of Experience—a type of item in the Diablo Immortal mobile game—was originally used to quickly boost character experience, compensating for lack of time to level up. It was just as important a utility tool as the Book of Identify and Book of Town Portal in the single-player version of Diablo.
Over the past year, Regulus Black had been trying to replicate various systems from the Diablo game. This was one of the minor results.
The day before, while Harry Potter and Ron were hiding in the library researching, Regulus Black approached them with the Book of Experience he had created and obtained knowledge of Parseltongue from Harry.
Now, it was time to use it.
He first took out another blank book, placed both books on the table, then tapped them with his wand and cast a duplication spell.
It looked as if a ghost were flipping through the pages—both books turned at the same speed. For every page that flipped in the Book of Experience, the blank book mirrored it exactly. On each newly revealed page of the blank book, the content from the Book of Experience was flawlessly copied.
Like this, the pages turned steadily, almost as if reading ten lines at a glance. When the Book of Experience had finished flipping through its entire content, the previously blank book had recorded it all.
"Hmm! I'll call you Slytherin Talent: Parseltongue!"
Holding the book, Regulus Black spoke as if to himself. On the cover of the once-blank book, a stylized title appeared automatically, along with the image of a silver snake. It was certain this book would become a treasured relic of Slytherin.
He picked up the Book of Experience and silently mouthed, "Use!"
In an instant, the Book of Experience shattered into a flurry of glowing particles, which flew straight into Regulus Black's mind.
So this is Parseltongue! A sensation both unfamiliar and familiar swirled in his head. That was the benefit of the Book of Experience—as long as there was a book, all its knowledge could be poured directly into one's mind, without any fear of forgetting. The only remaining challenge was understanding—transforming that knowledge into a part of oneself, rather than leaving it as vague and unfamiliar information.
"Wyrm leaves its den!"
Regulus Black summoned a black snake and tried speaking to it. The sound of hissing Parseltongue echoed through the room.
"Excellent! Seems the result is even better than expected."
Regulus Black was quite satisfied. Just like a true Parselmouth, he could communicate with the summoned black snake effortlessly.
After dismissing the snake, Regulus Black prepared to begin his operation at midnight.
Tonight, it was Regulus Black's turn for night duty. After scaring a few mischievous students back to their dorms, the school had returned to an eerie quiet. A figure carrying a lantern walked toward him.
"Good evening, Mr. Black!"
Filch, accompanied by his cat Mrs. Norris, stepped into view.
"Thank you for your hard work, Filch. Every night you have to chase down these troublesome kids."
Regulus Black genuinely respected Filch. After all, working at Hogwarts with such dedication for decades—despite being a Squib—was admirable. That kind of commitment was more worthy of respect than the reckless adventures of those students.
"You flatter me, Mr. Black. I'm just doing my job."
Filch was deeply moved. Not everyone appreciated his efforts. Most students disliked him, thinking he spoiled their nighttime escapades—never once reflecting on the trouble they caused.
"Thinking back more than ten years ago, I was one of those adventure-loving kids too. I often schemed to sneak past you."
Back when Regulus Black was still a student, Filch was already working at Hogwarts. The man was quite advanced in age now, though clearly still capable of working another twenty years.
"Hahaha! You're too kind. If I wasn't worried the kids might get into trouble during their nightly adventures, I wouldn't be out losing sleep looking for them!"
Filch recalled that he'd been at Hogwarts since over a decade ago. Regulus Black had indeed once been just another student.
After confirming no more students were sneaking around, Filch went off to take a short nap. Regulus Black, on the other hand, made his way to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
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