240 Library, Regulus, Hope
The murder of Mrs. Norris did not cause too much concern among the students, because Professor Sprout soon announced that it could be rescued with mandrake, and it only needed to wait until the seedlings in the greenhouse grew to adulthood. .
And there are very few students who sympathize with Filch, because he always likes to go against the students and make trouble for them everywhere. Even Peeves will appear from time to time to taunt him and even make up a new song about it. , which made the castle noisy for a while.
However, many students still noticed something that seemed to be an extremely coincidence.
"Did Principal Dumbledore anticipate that something like this would happen in the castle?"
"Is that why he deliberately strengthened the school's protection this semester?"
Until now, Dumbledore has not come forward to explain why the protection needs to be strengthened.
Prior to this, many students speculated that this was due to the increasing number of Muggle murders during the holidays, which led Principal Dumbledore to foresee the strong threat to Hogwarts from mysterious people and Death Eaters.
But when the "secret room" incident suddenly occurred, those students no longer thought so simply.
"Tch." A Slytherin freshman sneered disdainfully: "So what if he had foreseen it in advance? It's not like he couldn't stop the heir of Slytherin."
"If you ask me, we should find the heir in advance, then secretly assist him, and help him get rid of all the guys in the school who are not worthy of learning magic!"
"I've long since disliked them."
This immediately attracted the glares of students from the other three houses, but also won him a lot of applause from Slytherin House.
Regulus was one of these Slytherins, with a somewhat arrogant expression on his face, and he looked quite arrogant when walking in the corridor.
He didn't resent what the freshman just said.
In the mind of the "eternally pure" Black family, there are many wizards who are not worthy of coming to Hogwarts, and should at least be separated from noble purebloods like them.
Of course, he also believes that this method of elimination must have certain limits. The current injuries that can be cured are good, and it is enough to make those guys suffer some pain.
He also didn't expect that the idea of an heir would be so consistent with his own.
At the entrance of the stairs, he separated from the other students, preparing to go to the library to do homework instead of doing those "fun" things.
He has never had any ideas about this kind of thing, preferring to spend his time studying.
Although Sirius often made his parents unhappy, he never failed in his test scores.
Regulus didn't want to lose to him in this kind of thing, at least not to fall too far behind.
And he was ready to become the Seeker of the Slytherin team in his second year - just like his mother, Madam Walburga, had hoped to be in Diagon Alley.
He is willing to obey his parents' demands.
It was just to complete Sirius's share.
Also for himself.
Many days have passed since the murder of Mrs. Norris. Except for Filch who often patrolled outside the prize display room, there have been many fewer students who came to borrow "Hogwarts: A School History", and the library seemed a little... Empty.
Regulus chose a seat by the window and sat down. He skillfully took out a roll of parchment and "Standard Spells, Level [-]".
Just as he reached out to find the quill, a voice suddenly came from behind him.
"How are you and Kreacher getting along?"
Regulus paused in his movements.
He quietly glanced back and saw someone sitting near the table next to him, with his back to him.
Regulus recognized the other person at a glance.
This is Karan Sangster.
Karan did not look back at him, and after thinking about it, Regulus did not choose to take the initiative to sit over.
This is in a library, not some dark and silent secret passage.
As a Black from Slytherin House, it was impossible for him to have a deep friendship with any Muggle-born person.
This is a well-known fact.
Regulus tried hard to keep the expression on his face unchanged. While carefully observing his surroundings, he whispered without looking back: "I wrote a letter to home and asked about Kreacher's condition."
"In his reply, my father said Kreacher was thrilled about it."
"Not a bad start." Karan opened a page of the book in his hand and commented in a low voice.
He also never looked back, and maintained this inexplicable "tacit understanding" with Regulus.
Regulus had already spread out the parchment in front of him. After writing his homework quietly for a while, he suddenly asked in a low voice with some curiosity: "Do you know who opened the secret room?"
"Why are you asking me?" Karan chuckled softly: "I am just a Hufflepuff, and I am the target of being eliminated."
"That depends on the monster being able to find you." Regulus said: "Since you can suddenly appear in the Shrieking Shack, I think you should also be able to appear in many other places."
"I thought you might know some secret."
He couldn't help but quietly glanced back at Karan, but he only vaguely saw Karan turning the pages again, and he was a little curious about what book he was reading.
"I don't know many secrets."
At this time, Karan's words suddenly interrupted Regulus's thoughts.
"And in order to know more secrets, I even need your help."
Regulus was stunned.
He forcibly suppressed the urge to look back again, otherwise it would make him even more suspicious.
"My help?"
He lowered his head slightly to hide the surprised expression on his face.
"What do you need me to do...isn't right."
He quickly dropped the question.
"What secret do you want to know? About the Heir of Slytherin? Or the Chamber of Secrets?"
"Do you really have a clue?"
"Calm down, Regulus." Karan said calmly: "Do you think I would be such a stupid person? To take the initiative to find a murderer who wants to drive wizards like me out of school?"
"It's not like you haven't done similar things before." Regulus retorted in a low voice: "Why else would you show up in the Shrieking Shack that day?"
"When werewolves choose their targets, they don't care about blood."
"I don't see how the monster in the secret room is any more dangerous than the werewolf."
There was a brief silence.
Regulus waited patiently for Karan's answer.
"There are more important things to me than the Chamber of Secrets."
Karan's answer was beyond Regulus' expectations. After hesitating deeply for a while, he finally turned around again.
He saw that Karan had closed the book at some point and was tossing a spinning gold galleon up and down in his hand.
"What happened?" Regulus asked.
Karan grabbed the gold coin.
"An unwritten agreement."
"I need to be fully prepared before I can formally respond."
"Learn more about this person."
Regulus did not ask what the agreement was.
He looked over Karan's shoulder and stared at the gold Galleons with interest.
"who's that person?"
On the contrary, this was his most curious question, and he couldn't wait to know.
"Someone you may never see again."
"She and I have the same tacit understanding as you. After the agreement, she never took the initiative to contact me, even though she may have been in terrible danger."
"Not once."
As soon as he finished speaking, Karan suddenly slapped the gold coin on the book in front of him, and then handed it to Regulus behind him.
"Remember not to spend this gold coin accidentally."
"Also, you can try reading this book."
Regulus placed the magic coin in his hand and looked at it carefully.
But when he saw the name of the book at the bottom, he frowned in confusion.
""Advanced Healing Potion"? Why do you want me to read this kind of book?"
"And it's not time for me to learn this kind of thing. The potions in it are too advanced."
He said after flipping through the book.
"It's just a suggestion." Karan did not explain the specific reason.
"A tip to prepare yourself well in advance."
Although Regulus didn't understand this sentence, when he heard "adequate preparation", he couldn't help but ask: "But if the person you made the agreement with is really in danger, why did she Why don’t you take the initiative to contact you?”
At this time, Karan suddenly turned his head.
Regulus wanted to avoid looking at him, but stopped abruptly.
He vaguely felt that Karan's next words would be very important.
"Because I gave her hope."
"But it was so little hope and she knew she didn't have much of a chance to try."
"So she had no choice but to wait for my answer."
There was a brief silence.
"But why don't you contact her?" Regulus asked sensitively: "If you want to understand the other person, wouldn't it be faster to contact her directly?"
What he didn't expect was that Karan actually smiled.
"Because this is something that has nothing to do with the agreement."
he said softly.
"The only thing that maintains this tacit understanding is the little hope I give."
"If this hope is to be broken by me personally because of such an insignificant thing..."
"That would seem too cruel."