The Shrieking Shack, in all of Britain, was regarded as a haunted house. The entire shack would sway with the wind, and from the outside
The Shrieking Shack, in all of Britain, was regarded as a haunted house. The entire shack would sway with the wind, and from the outside no entrance could be seen, as all the doors and windows were nailed shut. No spell, no matter how powerful, could affect it.
This was because the Shrieking Shack had been built by Dumbledore for Remus Lupin, so that he could hide inside during his werewolf transformations.
Cornelius Fudge naturally agreed with Dolores Umbridge's words. Hogwarts was filled with secret passages and chambers—even the successive headmasters could not claim to know them all. That one of the lesser-used assistant offices contained a passage to the famous Shrieking Shack was not strange at all. He firmly believed this was not something Regulus Black had created.
"So how are we supposed to flush them out now?"
Fudge's face was grim. The fact that Dumbledore's Army was hiding inside Hogwarts was already infuriating. Wasn't one Order of the Phoenix enough for Dumbledore? Did he also have to train up supporters from among the children? This was simply outrageous.
"If the Minister is willing to wait, we can lie in ambush inside that office and catch them when they return."
Dolores Umbridge's tone carried a hint of embarrassment. After all, they already had proof, yet when it came to making arrests, they had no choice but to wait for the culprits to walk into their hands. It sounded terribly incompetent.
"Why should we wait for them to come out? Can't we just go straight through—or simply tear the Shrieking Shack down?"
The more Cornelius Fudge spoke, the more agitated he became. He waved his staff so violently that it nearly struck Dolores Umbridge in the face.
"Forgive me, Minister, but the Shrieking Shack has never been damaged by anyone. The fact that we even found the secret passage is already very fortunate."
Seeing that Fudge had calmed down somewhat, Umbridge continued to explain.
"What's more, the passage itself has a mechanism. Once they've gone through, as long as the door on the other side remains closed, this end is nothing but a wardrobe. If we open the wardrobe door here, the wardrobe on the other side immediately becomes unusable. Who knows where they'll slip away to once they realize."
It was easy enough to imagine. The Shrieking Shack was such a famous location—how could there possibly be only one secret passage leading to it?
"Very well. We'll wait for them in that office. If they all appear together, that will count as catching them."
Fudge had no choice but to compromise. As long as he could capture them, he could suppress Dumbledore. And then the Order of the Phoenix would no longer dare oppose him.
So the group, dragging along the three informants, headed toward Regulus Black's assistant office.
The dust here had been occasionally cleared away by students passing through, but the desks, chairs, and furniture were still piled up in complete disarray, more like a storage room than an office.
"Has Regulus Black never used this office? He's been teaching at Hogwarts for five years now."
Though it wasn't dusty, the room carried the musty smell of long abandonment—one that could easily be mistaken for… well, not deliciousness, but damp rot.
Fudge, unwilling to sit in such a place while waiting who knew how many hours for Dumbledore's Army, pulled out a handkerchief to cover his nose.
"I've heard that ever since Regulus Black came to Hogwarts, he claimed a large room near the headmaster's office as his private quarters—using it both as a bedroom and an office. Normally, only girls can enter. It's like his palace."
Dolores Umbridge was genuinely impressed with her colleague's audacity. To enjoy himself so openly, right under Dumbledore's nose, while she herself had been stuck in this miserable little room—it wasn't that she disliked her office for being small. It truly was small.
The two carefully maneuvered around the furniture until they reached the back of the office. Surrounded by piles of tables and chairs stood a large black wardrobe. Without being told it was the entrance to a secret passage, one would never have guessed—it looked completely ordinary.
"This should be the wardrobe. But if we open it from here, the one on the other side instantly becomes just a normal wardrobe. The children will realize they've been discovered. So waiting is the only way to catch them, unless we can find another passage."
Umbridge waved her wand to inspect the vanishing cabinet. Sure enough, she detected magical mechanisms and an Extension Charm worked into it.
Fudge tested it as well and had no choice but to acknowledge her words.
It truly was a cleverly designed secret passage, built specifically to prevent pursuit.
"Regulus! A bunch of fools are squatting in your office. They don't even realize you never go there."
Peeves suddenly leapt out in front of Regulus Black. Because there were other girls present, he delivered the news in a mocking, exaggerated fashion.
"That's all?"
Regulus asked, his face expressionless.
"Uh… that's all."
Peeves looked astonished, as if such a funny piece of news should have earned more of a reaction.
"Then thank you for informing me, Peeves."
Regulus replied calmly, which only made Peeves more displeased.
"Boring. I won't play with you again."
With that, Peeves vanished into the wall, having completed the errand Regulus had given him.
"Regulus, you actually have an office?"
Daphne looked surprised. Everyone knew Regulus Black had claimed the large chamber on the eighth floor, using it as both an office and living quarters—and also as his harem. But few realized he had another office.
"I didn't even know I had one. If I hadn't once returned from the Ministry and set up a temporary fireplace, I'd never have discovered it. Do you have any idea how much dust piles up in a room that hasn't been used in five years?"
Regulus's expression made his words feel vivid, almost as though the girls could see that dust-choked room for themselves. For those who loved cleanliness, it was a nightmare. Even though a single Scourgify could solve the problem, in their eyes that room was still nothing less than hell.
As for Cornelius Fudge's plans, Regulus paid them no mind. Let them wait like hunters by a tree stump for rabbits that would never come.
He had more important matters to attend to.
Professor Sybill Trelawney, of Divination, had been dismissed by the Ministry after, in her usual eccentric fashion, she cursed that pink toad during her evaluation. She had nearly been expelled from Hogwarts altogether, and would have been, had Dumbledore not intervened in time.
Entering Sybill Trelawney's current chambers, Regulus found her the same as ever: wild hair, enormous thick spectacles, and no concept of hygiene, grooming, or appearance. To live like this as a woman was… remarkable in its own way.
"Assistant Black, are you here to tell me I must leave?"
The moment she saw Regulus Black at her door, Sybill immediately assumed she was being driven out. His cold, severe expression left little room for comfort.
"Oh, certainly not. I came to visit you—and to ask you some questions."
Regulus had no expectation that this socially oblivious woman would invite him to sit.
Seating himself across from her, he revealed the true purpose of his visit.
"Sybill Trelawney, are you married?"
Regulus tried to make his expression as kind as possible.
"Regulus! Are you… are you proposing to me?"
Her face suddenly turned shy. To be proposed to by someone as handsome as Regulus—such happiness was overwhelming, far too sudden! Why had none of her prophecies ever hinted at this? Even the slightest omen would have helped. How was she supposed to answer now, caught so completely unprepared?
Watching the self-delighted Sybill Trelawney, Regulus had no choice but to harden his expression.
For heaven's sake! Don't misunderstand. He wasn't here to marry Sybill Trelawney.
"Then do you want a child? A child of the Black family?"
Regulus solemnly produced a contract, filled with detailed clauses.
Clause One: I, Sybill Trelawney, willingly join the House of Black, and am obligated to bear offspring to continue the Black family line.
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