"Last year?" Harry thought for a moment and said to Kreacher, "Was it before Christmas?"
"Yes, honorable Young Master Potter," Kreacher replied politely.
Despite always being snarky with Little Sirius, Kreacher maintained absolute respect towards Harry.
After all, he was a wizard respected by both the old master and mistress, so Kreacher needed to show proper regard.
"That matches up!" Harry clapped his hands together and said to everyone, "Before last Christmas, Pansy was controlled by that diary and tried to awaken the Snake Monster in Slytherin's Chamber... but I stopped her."
"Is that what you call stopping?" Dumbledore's half-moon spectacles glinted.
"Oh, just a little disagreement," Harry said nonchalantly. "In any case, that diary was destroyed, and perhaps Voldemort's consciousness moved to Slytherin's Pendant Box, who knows..."
"But Soul Artifacts have a will of their own, right?" Hermione asked, frowning. The scholar in her was always sensitive to these matters.
"We don't know much about Soul Artifacts either," Cassandra said suddenly. "But it's not impossible; otherwise, nothing makes sense—in any case, we can be sure that the Regulus Black you're looking for is in that cave. If we hurry, we might still find his body."
"Then let's go now!" Harry quickly stood up and said.
"No!" Cassandra suddenly said, "If reckless Potter runs in, I'm afraid you'll set fire and burn all the Yin Corpses in the cave—how then will we tell which one is Regulus Black?"
Cassandra referred to the fire Harry set on the Quidditch Pitch back then—if that fire really burned in the cave, it would indeed, as Cassandra said, leave nothing but ashes of the Yin Corpses.
"Moreover, as Kreacher mentioned," Dumbledore also spoke, "if we want to enter that cave, we must bring a sacrifice; otherwise, without drinking the poison there, it's impossible to retrieve that false pendant box..."
"Why do we need to take out that fake pendant box?" Vivi asked curiously, "Since we already know it's fake, there's no need to retrieve it—and Voldemort certainly wouldn't leave the real pendant box there again, after all, he's not a fool."
"Our task is to find Regulus Black." She added finally.
"Vivi is right." Pabi, who never had much of an opinion, just blindly agreed with Vivi.
"Unless unforeseen circumstances occur, Regulus should be mixed in with those Yin Corpses," Lupin said regretfully, "He was truly a brave person."
"I have to go," Sirius said, sitting up. "I want to bring him back with my own hands; he can't stay in that cave... Merlin, just thinking about my brother becoming a mindless Yin Corpse in that cold cave makes me feel..."
As he spoke, he beat his chest, appearing heartbroken.
Snape twisted his lips but didn't say anything.
He was truly afraid of Cassandra. The mouth of the Malfoy young lady was... really too sharp.
Even Snape, who always thought he had an edge with his sarcastic tongue, felt a bit intimidated.
"Even if we don't need to drink the poison, we must still be fully prepared," Dumbledore said softly, "You should know, that's a cave Voldemort used to store a Soul Artifact; how could it not be protected with other Dark Magic Curses? I suspect, beyond those Yin Corpses and poison, there are many unknown curses guarding that pendant box."
(Please vote for this month)
(The last 4000 words are the wish-granting 28000/50000 bonus update at the end of December)
(After midnight, it's my birthday—wish me a happy birthday! So, please vote a bit)