HP solves the mystery

Since the last time he saw his roommate practicing spells alone in the Room of Requirement, Regulus would bring little Barty and the others together for spar in addition to Quidditch training.

At least recently, his 'Expelliarmus' and 'Quick Confinement' have become much easier to use.

He was not a loudmouthed person either. Although he was surprised that Severus had learned the Patronus Charm, he was more curious than jealous and did not spread it around.

"Severus, what is your...um...patronus? Is it a white cat? It looks a bit like a little raccoon...but the tail of the little raccoon is not that short..." He threw the book on the bed and took advantage of Severus While taking a break from brewing the potion, I leaned closer and asked.

Severus looked at the intelligence-enhancing agent in the pot, picked up a soft towel and wiped the water on his hands, and then spoke slowly.

"That's a panda, Regulus, a panda from China..." He expressed his understanding that Regulus didn't know pandas. After all, the arrival of pandas came only after the famous 'panda diplomacy' broke the ice in relations with the United Kingdom. .

This matter has long been spread in the Muggle world, and people in the magical world will not pay too much attention to it. After all, magical animals are enough to worry them.

"Panda? The pandas in China are very cute..." Regulus silently noted it down and praised it directly. It's such a unique creature that you can't forget after just one look.

Severus hummed, but he didn't plan to say more. He was just a patron saint. If he could really pick up a panda, he would probably talk about it for three days and three nights.

"I'll show you a photo of it when I get the chance. Pandas are furry. If you can go to the zoo and see it with your own eyes, you will be more impressed." After finishing his sentence, he began to fill the bottle with the potion in the crucible. .

Regulus went over to help and soon filled three palm-sized bottles.

"Are you going to send this potion to Diagon Alley for consignment? Is it still the same as before?" He shook the dark green liquid in the bottle. His owl Charles was happy to help, as long as he fed it some high-quality feed from time to time.

Severus shook his head. He had already sent a batch last week. Because the exam was coming soon, all the auxiliary potions were sold out. Although Galleons made a lot of money, others were also very depressed. They planned to finish the owl exam. Then, continue to make extra money.

"This is for you and Barty Jr.... After Easter, isn't there going to be a Quidditch final? There is no 'elixir', but this one is not bad..." He knew in his heart that Barty Jr. and the others would be waiting for this period. Accompanying him to practice in the Room of Requirement was not for himself, but for Regulus's sake. He could see all the hard work he had put in during this period.

It was hard for them to find time to play with him between high-intensity Quidditch training and more and more homework.

Regulus heard this and picked through the three bottles, finally choosing the one on the left.

In fact, the three bottles are almost the same, so you won’t get anything extra if you choose between them.

Severus looked amused, turned around and walked to his desk, fumbled out a bottle the size of an egg from the drawer, and carefully brought it to Regulus.

"This is your special prize, Regulus."

"What is this?" Regulus blinked in surprise. He didn't even know when his roommate brewed this medicine.

"Palliative, I can feel that you are very anxious...The most important thing is that you almost followed me into the fifth grade classroom once..." Severus sighed helplessly. The young master now also has to worry about his family, and By entering the Room of Requirement, he was trying to escape from the competition among the noble wizards in the academy.

"Thank you, Severus..." Regulus's eyes were so moved that his eyes were filled with tears. What Barty and the others didn't notice was discovered by their busy roommates, and they even brewed such a complicated potion for themselves.

Severus looked at the appearance of the big dog and wanted to touch his head, but found that the other person was much taller than him, so he could only pat his shoulder instead.

"Okay, okay, cheer up, Regulus, you have to get used to it..." He said comfortingly, sincerely hoping that Regulus could manage his connections well. After all, this kid will always stay in Magic. boundary.

Although the Black family did not explicitly mention the change of heir, the attitude of bringing their second son to the banquet at Christmas time said it all. Moreover, the news that the two Black sons are not getting along has long been imagined as a family ethics drama in "The Quibbler" , I have been journaling on it for a long time.

They have also paid attention to other pure-blood families, and they have made headlines and written about them. The profits are actually quite good. Entertainment in the magical world is so simple and unpretentious.

"Well, I know, I have expected these things before..." Regulus slumped his shoulders in frustration. It is not easy to be the 'heir' who became a monk halfway, not to mention having a heartless brother.

"Then, will you... join that person's camp? I don't want you to..." Severus realized that he had asked a stupid question and changed the subject, "You have to work hard to become stronger, Regulus. Protect yourself no matter what..."

The child was no longer the timid person he was before, and became cheerful and confident. Gradually, he was similar to those noble little wizards in Slytherin. Only in front of Severus would he show confusion.

Regulus lowered his head and stared at the trembling eyelashes. He felt a cat-like itch in his heart. His throat moved, "Severus, I am a Black. My family needs me. I You can't be like Sirius...my parents can't bear it...I'm sorry..."

"And that gentleman is so powerful and charming, and can fly without a wand. My parents said they have never seen any wizard who can do this. The most important thing is... he is also a Parseltongue! Severus, you know Does Parseltongue mean something?”

"It means that he - that Lord - is the heir of Slytherin! If I can follow the descendants of Slytherin, what an honor it is!" Regulus said excitedly, with a look of loss in his eyes. Replaced by fanaticism.

He understands his parents' obsession with developing the family. He also longs for a broader world, but he can only be bound by the family. But without the Black family, where would he come from? And that adult is the only descendant of Slytherin! only!

Severus heard the meaning of his words and stared at him with an incomprehensible expression for a while, his mind racing with thoughts.

All this is not accidental, it is inevitable. Just like the Industrial Revolution and World War, the magic world has long been decayed, and the rules that have been custom-made for hundreds of years are no longer applicable to the current era.

Without the sword that cuts through the darkness and rushes toward the dawn, class conflicts in the wizarding world and conflicts between old and new ideas will break out sooner or later, but Voldemort is not the wizard who breaks the old shackles.

As a half-way wizard, Severus' understanding of the wizarding world was not as deep as Regulus's. This child was an interesting friend to him. There are not too many interests involved between them, so they can maintain a simple friendship.

However, the family values ​​interests more. His current weight is not enough to win the attention of the Black family, but he does not want to develop in the magical world, so the power of the Black family is dispensable to him, and only Severus has it. Be patient and make friends with this kid.

"But, Regulus, what that gentleman said may not be right... I read in the Daily Prophet that his followers used the Unforgivable Curses to kill without restraint and create panic... many Muggles I died for this..." Severus recounted what he had seen recently published in the newspapers, and his words of advice turned into a long sigh.

"..." Regulus was caught in a tangle. The status of wizards and Muggles is inherently unequal. There are many wizards who have died at the hands of Muggles in the past. It is difficult to evaluate such wizards who actively provoke and kill Muggles. These are all He knew it, and maybe his cousin Bella's contribution was in it, but could he escape?

In the next few days, the two of them fell into a cold war for no apparent reason, without even making eye contact.

Little Barty had goosebumps because of the atmosphere between the two of them. During Quidditch training, he was dragged along by his friend for a long time, and his hands cramped after getting off the broom.

"Regulus, have you...had a conflict with your roommate recently?" Little Barty grinned and rubbed his wrists with ointment. Can you go and hurt Andre instead of pinching him all the time?

Andre, who was doing homework in the library, suddenly felt a chill running down his spine. He looked around blankly, and finally dipped in ink and continued writing.

Regulus pursed his lips and said nothing. He went to the bathroom dedicated to Quidditch players, snuck in and swam a few times quickly before the anger he was holding in his heart dissipated.

"Little Barty, have you paid attention to the recent "Daily Prophet"? What do you think of the murder of Muggles by that adult's men above?" He leaned on the edge of the bath, his face clearly dimmed in the mist. destroy.

Little Barty wiped the water on his face and rubbed the shower powder on his arm. Hearing this, he was stunned and looked at him inexplicably.

"Look with your eyes, how else can you see?" Little Barty muttered. Seeing that he didn't criticize her as usual, he corrected his attitude. "If my father, a high-ranking official, was here, Muggles would be tortured and killed in such a miserable way. He must be eager to imprison all the Death Eaters in Azkaban! As long as he gets enough political achievements!"

"He would even abandon me and my mother for the official position! He didn't go home for Christmas, and he even wrote a letter thinking that I could become an Auror. Haha, he didn't know that his son would become a Death Eater in the future. The reason for all this is Because of the lack of discipline from him! How ironic!" Little Barty laughed at himself. His father regarded the Ministry of Magic as his home, and all the Galleons he earned were invested in other places. If it weren't for the family's industry, he would have been very poor now. , there may not be a Hogwarts young wizard subsidy.

He didn't know how complicated the expression on his face was at this time, mixed with desire and jealousy, but he still yearned for his father's love in his heart.

Regulus had heard about his family's affairs, but did Barty Crouch Sr. neglect his family so much that he didn't even go home at Christmas?

"Sorry, Barty Jr., I didn't expect..." He didn't know what to say, and was afraid of poking Barty's sadness again.

"It's okay, Regulus, I'm used to my father's way of doing things..." Little Barty smiled bitterly and cheered up again to talk about the previous topic, "I don't think it was that adult's idea to torture Muggles. Disobedient wizards may be dealt with, but this kind of thing is not good for reputation and undermines credibility, and the Lord will not think of it..."

"Moreover, he has even recruited talented hemps and mixed-blood wizards from other colleges before. Have you forgotten?" Little Barty tried hard to remember, and finally dug out such a piece of information.

"But, most of them refused..." Regulus's face became strange, as if he was recalling that time when the little wizard in Slytherin scolded the little lion of Gryffindor for being ungrateful, and then he said it from time to time. To play tricks on them, "After this, the incident of Muggles being tortured and killed was in the newspapers..."

The bathroom was silent for a while, and the news media moved very quickly.

"What's going on with you and Severus recently? You can't be angry with you because that adult didn't recruit him, right?" Little Barty swam to the water outlet to wash away the bath powder on his body, took a bath towel to wipe it, and then My skin wrinkled after soaking.

Regulus shook his head in denial. Their ideas were very different. He grew up in the magical world and was very indifferent to the life and death of Muggles; while Severus grew up in the Muggle world and had more or less feelings for Muggles.

The conflict between them is irreconcilable. If he dares to say that Muggle life is not life and wizards are supreme, this friend will definitely break up with him.

Little Barty picked his ears. He had never thought that it was because of this topic. He thought of the silly Andre again, and his mouth opened. This question was too difficult and he couldn't do it!

What was originally one person's trouble has now become two people's sorrow. (bushi)

After finishing his astronomy class, Severus mingled among the crowd with a telescope and a sketch pad under his arm. During this class, they reviewed the positions of Jupiter's satellites and other stars, and were assigned a lot of homework to prepare for the upcoming resurrection. holidays.

Ever since he talked with Regulus, he had been overwhelmed by the heavy homework and had not noticed the awkwardness of a certain child.

What made him nervous was that it was already April 4th, and it was getting closer and closer to the owl exam. After submitting the application form for the eight courses, Slughorn also called him to talk about it.

Severus was a little amused. Professor Slughorn actually tutored students one-on-one? And the advice given is pretty good.

It's a pity that my ambition is not in the magic world, but I still have to get good grades, so I deleted one subject and only applied for seven.