Jennifer Hydra felt an overwhelming sense of holiness at this moment and instinctively clasped her hands to her chest. "Yes! I am willing! I
Jennifer Hydra felt an overwhelming sense of holiness at this moment and instinctively clasped her hands to her chest.
"Yes! I am willing! It is my wish to become a vassal of the Black family. I, Jennifer Hydra, offer everything here and now."
Regulus Black, who had just witnessed Jennifer's hungry, almost lustful expression only to see her now appear so pure and sacred, felt very satisfied.
"In that case, I grant you a new contract—The Oath Ring!"
As soon as Regulus Black finished speaking, a surge of magic was infused above Jennifer Hydra's head. It swept through her entire body from head to toe before gathering again at her crown. A ring, floating like a crown, appeared above her head.
The blueprint for this contract drew inspiration from both the Angel's Halo and the Binding Curse. It carried the restrictive effect of the Binding Curse, the empowering blessing of the Angel's Halo, and also ensured that every Oath Ring was unique to its wearer.
Jennifer Hydra's Oath Ring was formed from nine interlocking dragon-serpent heads, endlessly coiled together with no clear beginning or end.
The Oath Ring remained invisible most of the time, faintly hidden at the crown of her head. It only manifested whenever Jennifer cast magic, at which point it would reveal itself and grant her various empowering effects.
"I feel closer to my master now."
Jennifer Hydra looked at Regulus Black with a joyful expression.
"Closer? Just now you nearly devoured me. Weren't you closer then than now?"
Regulus Black lightly patted her cheek. At twenty years old, her skin was perfect—both delicate with youthful smoothness and tinged with the maturity of a grown woman.
Regulus entrusted the affairs of the Sabbath Mental Asylum to Jennifer Hydra. The other wizards saw her transformation clearly, but none dared to casually make requests to Regulus Black. They could only envy her fortune in secret.
"Do not envy me. Although there are 2,018 sacrifices here, they are not nearly enough when put to use. And remember, these are all registered patients. We need to find more sacrifices elsewhere. These matters must be handled with careful planning. We cannot trouble our master with complications. I hope you will all keep to your duties and obey orders."
After Jennifer Hydra finished her lecture, Regulus Black returned to Hogwarts. There, an unstable factor still remained.
Through relentless effort, Dolores Umbridge finally managed to capture all the students spreading rumors. Nearly half the Great Hall was filled with them.
After classes ended for the day, Umbridge ordered the students to gather in the Great Hall for disciplinary labor.
Rows of desks and chairs had already been prepared, awaiting the punished students.
Umbridge greatly enjoyed the waiting process, imagining the trembling students outside, too terrified to enter. But eventually, time would run out, and any student late beyond the limit would face doubled punishment.
The students trickled into the hall. Before they could eat dinner, they were forced to sit and endlessly copy the line: "I will not spread rumors again."
"I believe Hogwarts will run smoothly from now on. As long as you do not make mistakes again, there will be no need for further punishment."
Speaking lightly, Umbridge smugly closed her eyes, savoring the muffled cries of pain from the students as they wrote. To her, it was exquisite—second only to the joy of being surrounded by her beloved cats.
Each student had to fill an entire parchment sheet with the phrase "I will not spread rumors again." If the writing was too large, it would not count. If it was too small, the student suffered more.
After sharing experiences, the punished students quickly reached a silent consensus on the proper font size. This was unusual for many who usually scrawled massive letters to stretch their homework lengths.
Time crept on, but the students kept praying for it to pass faster. To worsen things, Umbridge had placed a massive swinging pendulum in the hall. Each swing counted off just one second, deliberately intensifying the psychological torment of those punished.
Indeed, when someone is focused on work, time flies quickly. But for those enduring punishment, every second feels dragged out. Students found themselves constantly glancing upward at the swinging pendulum—an unavoidable distraction that deepened their suffering.
They were made to do meaningless, painful work while the pendulum loomed in front of them. It was punishment layered upon punishment.
"Good thing Regulus told us not to interact with Peeves. Look—all the students who did ended up getting caught."
Hermione looked at the hall, remembering the words etched painfully into her own arm—her own handwriting carved into her flesh.
Just thinking about it made her wince. It hurt, terribly.
Had this been the original Hermione, she would have righteously denounced Dolores Umbridge on the spot. But doing so would only have landed her among the punished scribes. For the sake of his beloved girls, Regulus had warned her to be cautious, not to become the target of the pink toad.
If Hermione or any of his harem members were punished, Regulus would be deeply upset. Yet it was not worth clashing with the Ministry over something so minor. The pain was just pain. Even if healed, the experience would remain.
Not worth it. Absolutely not worth it.
"What are you all standing at the hall entrance for?"
Regulus Black appeared outside the Great Hall. Of course, he knew what was happening inside. As a teaching assistant, he could have entered through the teachers' passage for his meal, but he had come this way to check on his girls.
"Before dinner, they've been punished to copy lines, so we can only wait until mealtime to go in."
Cho Chang, holding a book in her arms, shyly explained to Regulus. Even after knowing him for years, she had never shaken off her timid nature. Though rumor had it she was quite wild when among her Ravenclaw sisters.
"But it's only a few more minutes. I'm sure they'll be done soon."
Regulus glanced into the hall. Every single punished student was male. Surprising—Umbridge's grand sweep had caught only boys. Was there not a single gossiping girl among them?
Umbridge hardly seemed the type to spare girls.
"Go ask around for me. Besides the boys, were any girls ever caught?"
Regulus instructed his harem members. Since they were only standing idle, the girls quickly dispersed to gather information.
Soon they returned, one by one reporting back to him.
"There were indeed girls caught. But Umbridge completely ignored them, punishing only the boys. It seems intentional. Could it be the rumor is true—that the great ugly toad actually likes boys?"
After exchanging what they had learned, the girls all reached this same conclusion. They turned to Regulus with mischievous smiles, though what they were truly thinking remained unclear.
"We always thought Regulus Black was a lecher, but it turns out there's also a female version of him. She's ugly, and she loves little boys. That's the perfect opposite background."
Luna Lovegood, who usually drifted in her own world, suddenly blurted out this observation. Her voice was not quiet, and many nearby students heard it.
A new rumor was about to spread: a female counterpart to Regulus Black, one who was his complete opposite—ugly and infatuated with young boys.
Regulus himself had no objection. Such gossip did him no harm. But that big toad… she was bound to be furious.
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