After dinner, Regulus quietly slipped into the Slytherin common room.
"Regulus Black!" a voice combining gentleness and severity called out to him.
With soft, lustrous golden hair, light blue pupils, a light and graceful figure, coupled with an elegant temperament that looked down on others, it was his cousin, Andromeda, the seventh-year Narcissa Black.
The 1960s and 70s were the "rich years" for the Black at Hogwarts, with several members enrolling one after another. And from Bellatrix, to Andromeda, and then to Narcissa, the title of Slytherin House Flower had always been passed down among the daughters of the Black Family.
Reincarnation is a technical skill.
Don't ask, just say it's excellent.
On the contrary, a setting like Regulus, who seems to lack presence at first glance, is the rare breed of the Black Family.
Hearing his cousin, Andromeda, call him by his full name, Regulus thought it was bad news—Cissy cousin, Andromeda, seemed gentle, not as fiery and straightforward as Andromeda cousin, Andromeda, nor as crazy and arrogant as Bellatrix cousin, Andromeda, but when it came to being a woman of few words and being ruthless enough, Narcissa was the one at the top of the list.
Cissy cousin, Andromeda, was the type who would say anything off the cuff and deceive you to death without paying for it. The key point was—there were too many men who loved being deceived by her!
Perhaps even her boyfriend, Lucius, didn't fully know the true face of his goddess.
Regulus quickly bowed to his cousin, Andromeda, who had tricked the Dark Lord to death, and obediently stepped forward, admitting defeat and accepting the lecture.
"Regulus, the family has already heard about what you did."
Regulus remained silent, appropriately displaying a certain expression of guilt and unease.
"Jumping off the Astronomical Tower, how could you even think of that?"
Regulus continued his guilty expression, not saying a word.
The more you say, the more mistakes you make; silence is golden.
"Could it be that you've also been influenced by those idiots in Gryffindor?" Narcissa's tone of reproach lessened, and gentleness took over, "You don't know how worried we were—in the future, don't do such stupid things again."
"I'm graduating soon, and you'll be the last Black in the school. Remember, you cannot bring shame to the family!" Narcissa couldn't help but think of another cousin and sighed almost imperceptibly, "Don't worry, Lucius and I have already instructed our friends in the school to take good care of you."
Hearing this, Regulus felt a pang of discomfort—surely they hadn't instructed the teenage Death Eaters squad at Hogwarts to look after him, had they?
It seemed being a Death Eaters was his destiny.
Dumbledore, look, they're secretly recruiting on your turf!
A fellow seventh-year Slytherin student waved to Narcissa and walked over.
"Cissy, I have something to tell you—" The Slytherin looked at Regulus.
Narcissa glanced over, Regulus nodded obediently, and immediately turned to walk towards the boys' dormitory—
He didn't know if it was because he had unlocked the assassin's creed, but he felt his hearing had improved significantly.
"It's about Lucius, Lord—"
Regulus quickened his pace.
...
Taking the beautifully decorated suitcase given by his family, Regulus arrived at Professor Slughorn's office on time.
Since his assassin's creed cheat code unlocked, things had been happening one after another, and he hadn't found time to try out his new skills yet.
He had only managed to silently appear and disappear behind classmates in the classrooms and corridors of Hogwarts, gaining some "Stealth" proficiency.
And he didn't understand why a few very low tables in the classroom could block him, while others seemed to ignore him as if they were under a Confundus Charm.
He politely knocked on the door of Slaghorn's office. A snake-shaped ornament on the door stuck its tongue out at him, and the door opened automatically.
The office was tastefully decorated, with a huge chandelier, display cabinets and shelves covering the walls, a large desk and Potion preparation station, and a faint sweet wine aroma emanating from Professor Slughorn behind the desk.
There was also an unexpected person—
Greasy Black hair, a thin figure, a hooked nose, and a boyish face that couldn't save his gloomy temperament.
His senior, the Half-Blood Prince, the little bat, Severus Snape.
In this era, not only was he unfamiliar with the plot, but he also kept encountering formidable people. Regulus felt pressured and quickly greeted them:
"Good evening, Professor! Good evening, Severus!"
Snape nodded, as if he hadn't expected Regulus to greet him.
"Oh, you know Severus. That's great. Severus is a very talented Wizard in Potions. You're only in your second year, right?"
Snape nodded proudly.
"Severus volunteered to help me process some Potion ingredients." Slaghorn smiled, pointed to the Potion preparation station, and continued.
"Professor, this is a small token of my appreciation." Regulus opened the suitcase, and a bottle of golden liquid swayed in a luxurious crystal bottle.
Slaghorn showed a delighted expression and took it exaggeratedly: "How can you be so kind, what is this."
"A bottle of Tokaji sweet wine, a Hungarian specialty, Professor. I didn't have time to give it to you for your birthday last month. I remember you said you liked sweet wine, Professor, so I brought it from home during the winter break. I wanted to give it to you in person."
"Thank you, that's very thoughtful of you, Regulus." Slaghorn smiled widely, "How are your father Orion and mother Walburga?"
"Thank you for your concern, my parents are in good health, Professor."
"Very good, very good. Give them my regards. Your Levitation Charm was excellent, you know, it wasn't strictly necessary to give you detention, but Hogwarts doesn't encourage students to, uh—take risks. Those little lions in Gryffindor are already enough of a headache for Filch."
"Tonight, Severus, Regulus, you two will help me process some Potion ingredients, just these. The tools are here, uh, it seems you came prepared."
At this moment, Regulus had already opened his supply box. Inside were portable Potion tools of various sizes and materials. The exquisite instruments were also engraved with the Black's crest, which made Snape's eyes light up, then quickly dim again.
This Regulus's Potion talent was average, but he had a good family background! He even gave gifts to the Professor! Snape, who was quite resentful in his heart at this time, didn't know that his future fate was to be "promoted."
Regulus wasn't aware of all this. He first cast "Scourgify" on his hands before taking out a silver dagger and squeezing the sleeping bean from the side.
The sleeping bean immediately oozed a large amount of juice, making it hard to imagine such a shriveled bean could contain so much moisture.
But according to *Advanced Potion-Making*, shouldn't sleeping beans be sliced? Snape, who wanted to see Regulus's technique, was slightly taken aback.
He usually got along the worst with Regulus's brother. He had better grades and higher talent (in his own opinion), and only considered Sirius a simpleton who only caused trouble. And this junior, Regulus, was just a quiet person who was completely unremarkable except for the impressive name "Black".
Their Black Family—perhaps—had something going on.
Regulus saw Snape calmly pick up the silver knife and start squeezing the beans as well. He breathed a sigh of relief, thinking he hadn't made a fool of himself. Little did he know that Snape had the same thought at that moment.
Afterwards, he followed Snape in processing the Potion ingredients, step by step, and finally managed not to make any mistakes.
Speaking of this office, the person beside him will inherit it later, right—while Regulus was distracted, he happened to meet Snape's direct gaze—
The meaning of that look was: What are you looking at?
"I was thinking about how you, Severus, would decorate this office—"
Snape just found it inexplicable and rolled his eyes at him.
"With your level of Potions, you could totally be a teacher and teach us," Regulus said seriously.
Snape continued to roll his eyes while suppressing a smile at the corner of his mouth.
...
As the detention was nearing its end, Professor Slughorn had already left early. Regulus was packing his things when he saw Snape's furtive gaze glancing over, as if waiting for him to leave.
He simply asked, "Want to go back to the common room together?"
"You go back first, I still have some ingredients to process," Severus said in a clearly exaggerated tone—it was obvious something was up.
"Alright then, see you." Regulus was perfectly polite, gently closed the office door, and deliberately left a gap.
The corridor was very quiet, and Regulus's footsteps were obvious. He walked outside the corridor, and using his "Stealth" skill, he quietly walked back without making a sound.
"Successfully evaded target attention, Stealth proficiency +1"
He took out a small mirror from under his robe, shone it through the gap in the door, and saw Snape opening a jar on the wall and taking something out.
Ha, as expected, there wasn't a single well-behaved child!
Interesting!