Dumbledore's words made a lot of sense, at least Harry agreed with them.
Harry could understand Sirius's eagerness to find Regulus, but he didn't agree.
As everyone remembers, Voldemort is extremely cunning and evil to the core. Who knows what indescribable things he might have left in that rock cave, or what dangerous Dark Magic Curse.
Don't doubt it, he is completely capable of doing such a thing.
After hearing Harry voice his concerns, Sirius sighed and sat down beside Kreacher.
"Of course I know the rock cave is dangerous, but I have to do something..."
Even when he thought Regulus was wholeheartedly following the antisocial Dark Demon King, Voldemort, Sirius never gave up persuading his brother to turn back. Especially now, knowing his brother was a hero who resisted the Dark Demon King.
Knowing the last place Regulus appeared, how could Sirius, with such brotherly affection, remain indifferent?
"I still don't recommend you go there directly." Lupin sat down next to Sirius, patting his shoulder, "We all know Voldemort is extremely treacherous. Since he already knows about Regulus's betrayal, he absolutely won't ignore it. Just think — this year, he put several Dark Magic Curses on the Black Family Mansion, let alone in that cave? I think he must have set some traps, just waiting for you to walk into them."
"Are we just going to watch from outside then?" Sirius punched the bed frame, causing Kreacher to jump up.
"For now, that's all we can do." Lupin sighed.
Sirius, frustrated, rubbed his hair, knowing Lupin was right.
To be blunt, it's not like they're rescuing anyone, just retrieving a body, so there's no need to rush...
If Voldemort really set traps in the cave, that would be really unlucky.
"It seems our guesses were correct," Dumbledore said softly, "Voldemort indeed collected the relics of the four founders and used them to create Horcruxes — aside from the Slytherin Pendant he gave to Regulus, he also made Hufflepuff's Golden Cup into a Horcrux, stored in the Lestrange Clan's vault."
"Did you retrieve it?" Sirius asked, concerned.
"We did." Dumbledore replied, "But we don't plan to destroy it in a hurry, after all, it's a relic of Helga. We are looking for a way to destroy the Horcrux without damaging the vessel."
"That's really a tough problem." Snape said slyly on the side.
"So, I suspect that Voldemort obtained Ravenclaw's Crown by some means and also made it into a Horcrux." Dumbledore looked around and continued, "But we don't know where he hid this crown. Perhaps he entrusted it to a trusted Death Eater, or like that Pendant, he hid it somewhere."
Sirius pondered for a moment, then continued asking Kreacher: "Kreacher, apart from that Pendant, what else did Voldemort give to Regulus? I need you to tell me truthfully, without any concealment."
"Besides the Pendant Box, I remember he gave Master Regulus a picture." Kreacher said shrilly, "The picture was placed under Master Regulus's bed, Kreacher put it there himself — though I don't know if the Black Demon took it while controlling Kreacher."
"A picture?"
Everyone was taken aback.
What picture could Voldemort, who recognized no one, possibly possess?
"Let's take a look." Sirius said after pondering for a while, "Maybe that picture holds some secret, something hidden about Voldemort."
With Kreacher, they went upstairs and opened Regulus's room door.
Kreacher went to Regulus's bedside, lifted the silver-green bedspread, and after groping around for a while underneath, finally pulled out a box.
He placed the box on the floor.
"This is it, Kreacher remembers Master Regulus asked him to take good care of this item."
Sirius was just about to step forward to open the box when Dumbledore stopped him.
"This thing isn't that simple, Sirius, I suggest we do a check first."
Dumbledore glanced back at Snape, who understood, stepped forward, picked up his Magic Wand, and waved it at the box.
Black smoke rose from the box, and after a while, it slowly opened.
"You were right, Dumbledore," Snape muttered, "if Black had gone up like that, perhaps we'd all have a pot of dog meat soup tonight."
Sirius shot Snape a glance but said nothing.
"Let's see whose picture this is." Harry spoke, using a Magic Spell to retrieve the picture from the box.
The picture looked exquisite, protected by a luxurious frame. Harry looked closely, and saw a man with black hair, wearing a Slytherin Uniform, sleeping peacefully in the picture.
"Omnius?"
Harry glanced back in surprise at Vivi and Cassandra but did not rush to speak the name depicted in the picture.
Dumbledore noticed Harry's expression and immediately understood what was going on.