Regulus Black the Potions Master

Capítulo 43

The months between the end of the school year and the start of the next one were much more productive for Regulus than the last few years.

Finally, the Horcruxes were destroyed, yes there was a new one, one that was still intact but it was also inside a child. As much as he had offered to kill Potter when he found out the kid had a Horcrux inside him, part of him was glad to have an option.

He'd already killed people, you couldn't become a Death Eater without getting blood on his hands, it didn't get any easier to take someone's life. It was part of the reason for his defection so many years before.

Even though killing Harry would make it easier to solve the other problems linked to Voldemort, just the thought of killing a child was frightening enough. But they had a plan, Dumbledore may have hesitated to accept the idea of taking the horcrux out of Harry and giving it back to Voldemort, but he agreed in the end.

Regulus' summer was full of work, which gave him less time to try and figure out how to get a Horcrux out of a living creature without killing it. Most of his time was spent transforming the century-old serpent of Slytherin that lived in a secret chamber inside the castle, created by Salazar during the construction of Hogwarts.

Children were petrified, many were traumatized but in the end, no one died, and Regulus was sticking to the positive this time. The destruction of the Horcruxes with the tusk of a basilisk only served to ease the weight and worries on his shoulders.

Harry Potter had been invited to stay at the castle during the vacations to help Regulus, actually to destroy the Horcruxes himself, but that would be an explanation for someone older than twelve.

Taking the boy to Grimmauld Place hadn't been in June's plans, but the boy seemed so unhappy at the thought of returning to his aunt and uncle's house. An unhappiness that Regulus knew all too well, no matter how often he returned home at every opportunity, being close to his own family was not a pleasant thing. And even though the boy's aunt and uncle don't have the magic to throw something like a crucius at a child-like Walburga did to him and his older brother, Regulus knows that adults can be creative when it comes to punishment.

The fact that not for the first time, Madam Pomfrey had commented that Potter was undernourished and short for his age on the two occasions he had spent time in the infirmary, Regulus began to suspect that something very wrong might be going on in the house.

He had already noticed how different Harry's personality was compared to James'. He had more than just Lily's eyes, his personality was also very similar to that of his mother.

The boy didn't have much knowledge of the wizarding world, which Regulus discovered was because of the muggle uncles he lived with.

During their work in the chamber turning basilisk into potion ingredients, Regulus and Harry talked a lot, and the boy, who clearly has problems asking adults for help, commented on how he only discovered he was a wizard when Hagrid came to fetch him before his first year.

Why the boy's aunt and uncle never commented on the magical world or the truth about the boy was beyond their knowledge, but Regulus had his theories. Considering the boy's reaction to the possibility of not having to return home, Regulus began to believe that the theories about trying to protect the child and his childhood might be wrong.

In addition to Harry and his worries about how to remove the Horcrux without killing the boy, Regulus also had to worry about keeping up with the lunar calendar now that Dumbledore had hired Lupin as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and Regulus would have to make the wolfbane potion for the man.

Regulus might be a little put off by the whole werewolf-as-teacher situation, whether or not he was aware of the calming effects of the wolfbane potion, but meeting the older man again and talking to him, Regulus had to admit that Lupin would be a good teacher, or at least better than the last two. Perhaps it was an unfair comparison and competition, but it was Black who had put up with a man possessed by Voldemort and another who was so stupid that he had accidentally erased his mind.