The Hogwarts Headmaster seemed to have been dragged here by Fawkes in his sleep, so when he first landed, his expression was a bit bewildered.
A cold wind carrying the scent of the sea blew over, making the centenarian shiver involuntarily, but it also brought him to full alertness.
"Oh, Kael, and Sirius... What's happened? Why did you suddenly summon Fawkes?"
"A Soul Artifact, Professor," Kael said directly, "We discovered Voldemort's Soul Artifact."
Dumbledore visibly appeared momentarily lost, his expression just as incredulous as if he had seen Snape dancing with a Troll in a formal suit.
He had also searched for clues about the Soul Artifacts but had always come up empty-handed. And after just one nap, Kael found one again?
Dumbledore had a sense of disbelief.
"Time is of the essence now, I'll explain to you later..." Kael looked at Kreacher, "Take us there first."
The Little Elf hurried toward the cave, with Sirius following closely behind.
Kael walked last, narrating the incident to Dumbledore while calming Fawkes, who kept pecking at his hair.
It wasn't too complicated and was mostly explained by the time they reached the center of the cavern.
Dumbledore's expression grew increasingly serious.
A brave and kind-hearted man, recognizing his mistakes, chose to sacrifice himself to fight Voldemort and protect more people... Even Dumbledore was moved by the courage Regulus had shown.
"I think he deserves to use a precious Phoenix Tail Feather, even if it only hastens his return home by a few hours... it's worth it," Kael concluded.
Dumbledore said nothing, only nodded slightly.
Meanwhile, Fawkes stopped pecking his hair, and they quietly joined Kreacher at a part of the cave wall.
"It's here," Kreacher said excitedly, pulling out a dining knife.
"What are you going to do?" asked Sirius.
"I think it probably needs blood to open," Dumbledore said.
Kreacher nodded, as that's what he had done before.
"How primitive," Dumbledore remarked, his tone dripping with contempt, even disappointment. "He wants his opponent to weaken themselves to get inside, yet again Voldemort fails to grasp that many things are far more frightening than physical harm."
Kreacher didn't understand him; he only knew he was about to see Master Regulus, so he happily prepared to cut his arm with the dagger.
But the next second, the dining knife was snatched away.
"Let me," Sirius said, rolling up his sleeve with the hand holding the dining knife, believing that Regulus wouldn't want the Little Elf to bleed to open the door, so he wouldn't do it either.
Just as he was about to act, the dining knife was snatched away again.
Kael casually put the heavy pure silver cutlery in his pocket and took out a deep red bottle, saying to Sirius.
"Remember, you owe me three hundred Galleons."
Kael opened the bottle, and a strong scent of blood instantly filled the small cavern.
Dumbledore's lips twitched slightly, feeling a bit amused.
Voldemort likely never imagined someone would come here carrying a large quantity of Dragon Blood.
This blood, containing magic power, was indeed quite suitable...
Kael casually tossed the bottle over.
A bright white outline of an archway appeared on the cave wall, where the blood-drenched rock suddenly vanished, revealing a doorway leading to what seemed like endless darkness.
Kreacher excitedly ran through the doorway, and the others followed him in, lighting up their wands.
A bizarre scene lay before them; they stood on the edge of a vast black lake, the water stretching endlessly. The cave was also very high, with no ceiling in sight.
Far away, seemingly in the middle of the lake, flickered a faint, eerie, greenish glow.
Kreacher swiftly ran around the lakeshore, his footsteps echoing off the narrow lakefront rocks.
Kreacher quickly stopped, identified the surrounding scenery, and began moving his hand slowly through the air, as if trying to find and grab hold of something invisible.
But perhaps because he was too short, he found nothing after a long effort.
Instead, it was Dumbledore who, with his hand suspended in the air, actually found something.
He took out his wand and tapped his fist with the tip.
Immediately, a thick green chain of copper emerged from the lake, shooting toward Dumbledore's clenched fist,
The chain pulled something from the dark lake bottom, and Sirius, stunned, watched as the bow of a small boat emerged ghost-like from the water, drifting toward them without causing even a ripple.
"This is..."
"I think Voldemort needed a way to smoothly cross the lake should he ever want to visit or retrieve his Soul Artifact without angering the creatures he installed in the lake."
The boat docked.
Kreacher and Sirius jumped onto the boat almost simultaneously, then Dumbledore followed.
The boat was very small indeed, with only a palm-sized space left after accommodating two adults and a House-elf.
"Kael, you stay here; Fawkes will keep you company," Dumbledore said, "Also, Voldemort likely cast magic on the boat to have it sink if its magic power capacity is exceeded."
"Indeed." Sirius nodded repeatedly, "And the boat is so small, even a normal boat couldn't take the weight of three people."
Kael suspected they did this intentionally, just to keep him from going, but he had no proof.
Because they were right, the small boat had sunk significantly when Dumbledore got on, and now the edge was barely an inch away from the lake's surface. Adding another person, or even a cat, would be difficult.
But...
"Gentlemen," Kael asked with an odd expression, "Do you remember what the main purpose of this trip is?"
"Of course, to find Regulus!" Sirius blurted out.
"If that's the case, why are you taking the boat?" Kael looked at the darkened lake water, "I suspect this water has been turned into another form of Magic Potion by Voldemort. Any creature dragged into it would slowly become part of the Inferi over time, so wouldn't it make more sense to act here instead of going to the middle of the lake?
Although Regulus was dragged there, no one can guarantee that he would definitely be kept there."
…