"I did this," Lydia's face turned white, "I caused this horror to my most precious possession."

"It's not your fault," Sirius insists, "it's the person who did the deed's fault."

"I should have stayed neutral," Lydia moans, "why did I fight in a war when I had a child to think of? What was future me thinking?"

"You did the right thing," Benjy said soothingly, "and I'm sure it will all work out."

"HOW?!" Lydia shouted, "my only child just got put into a death tournament!"

"I don't know," Benjy admitted, "but I'm sure we'll find out."

"So you're getting married," Sirius's feet are in Lydia's lap, "are you pregnant?"

"No," Lydia rolls her eyes, "I'm not pregnant."

"That's your first assumption Sirius," Lydia laughs, "what a brother I have."

"Then why are you getting married so quickly?" Sirius asks, "you and Benjy have only been dating for 3 years. You're only 19."

Lydia chews on her fingernail, engagement ring clear on her hand.

"It's pretty," Lyetta fawned over the ring, "mine better be just as good."

"That's an old family ring," Fleamont stroked his beard, "I must have given it to the lad."

"Perhaps," Euphemia agreed, "or maybe Sirius took him to the vault to choose. I wouldn't be very surprised."

"I don't want to miss out," she whispered, "Mum and Daddy are gone. They'll never see me marry. What if you don't get to see? What if I never get a chance to marry? Benjy's a big target after all. An extremely powerful, good looking, and successful muggleborn, who's also dating, now engaged to, one of Wizarding Britain's most elite witches. Why would they not want to make an example of him? I don't want to lose him!"

"We never see our girl marry?" Euphemia gasps, "oh Monty!"

"I know Cara Mia," Fleamont's face darkens, "I too am frazzled."

"You're going to die soon?" Lydia's face is pale as marble, "but you're not that old. Dumbledore's way older."

"Death is nothing to be afraid of my little heart," Fleamont soothed, "it is the next big thing."

"Indeed," Professor Dumbledore offers his condolences, "I like to say that death is but the next great adventure."

"Well put," Fleamont agrees, "and we'll be in the spirit world my love. You will be able to summon us as you please."

"I still think it's a little early," Sirius shrugs, "but if you're happy the-" A loud knock is heard on the door.

"I'll get it," Sirius motions to Lydia, "how many souls do you sense?"

"Only three," she replies, "us and the person knocking."

"On guard," Sirius warns, before going to open the door. Lo and behold Regulus Black is standing there, with twenty pounds of papers. Sirius takes one look, and slams the door.

"So we're going to get to witness the meeting Sirius described at the wedding," Andromeda pointed out, "good. I want answers."

"Who was it?" Lydia asks, still in her nightgown.

"Regulus," Sirius snarls, "I wonder what he wants from me. He's made his love for you-know-who very clear."

"I say let him in," Lydia makes her opinion known, "He's too much of a pushover to come talk to you, so the world must literally be burning down. Or death eaters are trying to trap and eat us. Take your pick."

"It seems Sirius actually quoted Lydia there," Ted hummed, "interesting."

"Fine," Sirius opens the door, "come in. But don't expect me to be happy about this."

"Thank you," Regulus takes a seat, " I'll get straight to the point. The Dark Lord tried to kill my house elf, so here's all the evidence you need to take him down."

"That's a lot of papers," Bellatrix noted to her husband, "I wonder what little Regulus found."

"We must ensure the boy's plans never come to fruition," Antonin Dolohov smirks, "anyone up for a little fun?"

"You will do no such thing," Bellatrix snarls, "I will take care of the boy myself. It's a family matter."

"You're telling me," Sirius says slowly, "that you, my cowardly literal brother, the brother who's admired Voldemort since he was 8, and has a literal Voldemort scrapbook, is trying to take him down. Because of KREACHER!"

"It's more complicated than that," Regulus rolls his eyes, "it's also because he's disgusting, a hypocrite, and broke the most fundamental law of magic that even the darkest of dark wizards don't dare to break."

"He always was," Lydia enters the fray, "what I want to know is, what happened for you to come to that conclusion?"

"She's asking the right question," Moody is impressed, "she needs to figure out if it's a trap or not. She can always interrogate the information out of him later."

"I've been disillusioned with him for a while now," Regulus confesses, "many aspects of his movement began to bother me. Previously, I was only told and shown that he was good. I was shown that he'd put those who were inferior in their places. That all the violence was a necessary wrong to reach the ends. We were raised together Sirius, and despite your new blood and identity, you can remember that I never was one for violence. That was always you and Bella. You two were far too much alike."

"You're comparing me to that madwoman?" Sirius asks, snarling the word madwoman out, "we couldn't be more different."

"It pains me to agree with a blood traitor," Bellatrix spits, "but in this matter, he is perfectly correct. We are nothing alike."

Regulus, calm and collected, simply answers, "When angered, the two of you immediately become violent. Both of you are horrible at accepting criticism. You both are extremely passionate. You both look down on those you deem beneath you. The thing that distinguishes the two of you from each other is motivation. Sirius believes in justice, equality, and protection. Bella believes in superiority, classism, and power."

The hall mulled over the young Black's surprisingly intelligent words. It seems that Sirius wasn't the only genius to come out of the House of Black.

"I'll agree on that," Sirius snarks, "but that's because you always were a coward."

"A coward I may have been," Regulus responds, "but I was sorted into Slytherin for a reason. The hat argued between Slytherin and Ravenclaw. On the one hand, I am an intelligent person who loves to learn and discover. However, more dominantly, was my self-preservation. I cared far too much for my life to risk it. I've matured past that, though. My curiosity and growing distaste for the Dark Lord culminated in a startling discovery."

"What is that information?" Lydia asks, "and how did you come across it?"

"It's all in these papers," Regulus motioned to the pile, "I compiled it all. I'm gifting it to you, Sirius, as an apology. I only came here to say goodbye."

"Is he thinking what I'm thinking?" Andromeda whispers to Ted worriedly.

"I hope not," Ted answers, "the kid's only 16 at that point. Too young to be so done with the world."

"Goodbye?" Sirius's eyes widen, "you don't mean to tell me that-"

"Yes," Regulus answers cooly, "there is only one way to defeat the Dark Lord. And it will result in my death. A well deserved retribution for my actions. I simply came to apologize to you. I can't die in peace without doing it."

"Regulus," Sirius's hand is on his mouth, "you can't possibly mean that."

"It's the future Sirius," Regulus himself is shocked, "I can't answer that."

"Absolutely not," Lydia's hands are on her hips, "if you thought that we wouldn't stop you, then you don't know us at all. Actually, you don't, but that's irrelevant. We aren't going to allow a 16 year old to sacrifice himself!"

"That's my girl!" Fleamont claps his daughter on the back, "always the kind one!"

"And I'm not going to allow two people who have their whole lives ahead of them to drown in a cave of inferi!" Regulus shouts.

"Inferi," Lydia's eyes light up, "oh! That's amazing!"

"Yeah!" Sirius shouts, "we'll be fine. Tell us why we need to go to a cave of inferi, and we'll do it."

"You two really are as mad as they say," Regulus looks horrified.

"Inferi!" Fleamont shouts, "oh how wonderful! You'll simply command them to step aside."

"I know Daddy," Lydia beams, "easy as pie."

"Tell us everything," Sirius motions to the couch, "we're all ears."

"Fine," Regulus pulls a few papers out of his pile, "it all began when the Dark Lord made this weird comment. He said he didn't fear death, and there was no way for death to take him."

"So what," Lydia shrugs, "he's an evil egomaniac. I wouldn't be surprised if he thought that. It's impossible to escape death."

"That's what most of the death eaters thought," Regulus agrees, "but I was always rather observant. The Dark Lord boasts a lot, but that's not how he does it. He doesn't make statements. He displays. Also, he would make other statements similar to that, like how he'd taken precautions against death, or how no man could kill him. The other death eaters ignored it, but something about the whole situation irked me."

"Don't tell me a 16 year old figured it out?" Slughorn whispered to himself, "if that's the case, then I'm doomed."

"What are you getting at?" Lydia's voice turned cold. A certain forbidden art tingling in the back of her neck.

Regulus pulled a thick book out of his pile, and flicked to a page. "According to Magic Moste Evil, "Of the Horcrux, wickedest of magical inventions, we shall not speak nor give direction." After searching through the Black Family Library, I came across an old book called Secrets of the Darkest Arts. In it, many horrific pieces of dark magic are discussed. The most vile is a piece created by Herpo the Foul. Even the darkest of dark wizards refuse to discuss or make one. The only book in which instructions are given, a horcrux is a piece of a soul, broken off through an act of cold-blooded murder, that is enclosed in a container. Upon the destruction of the host body, the horcrux binds the spirit to the Earth as a wandering spirit. There are rituals, however, to reclaim a new body."

Disgust could be heard throughout the room. The few death eaters aware of the concept, Augustus Rookwood included, were disgusted by their lord. It was so horrifying, that people were simply refusing to discuss the matter. Horace Slughorn had turned pasty white, and Albus Dumbledore finally understood why future him was adamant Tom was still alive.

"He didn't," Lydia whimpers to Sirius, "he just couldn't have. No wonder Daddy got so ill after he fought him. The ripping of a soul is a detriment to the Master."

"I thought your parents died of Dragon Pox," Regulus asked.

Fleamont and Euphemia were too horrified to react to the news of their death.

"They did," Sirius said sadly, "but they, especially Monty, were extremely weak. It's why they died, unlike most people. Dragon Pox normally isn't fatal."

"Are you sure about this?" Lydia questions Regulus seriously, "because if you are, we have a few issues."

"I wasn't completely sure," Regulus admits, "at least not until last week. The Dark Lord had asked for a house elf, and with no other choice, I gave him Kreacher. I instructed Kreacher to return immediately after completing the mission. I can't describe the horror that was Kreacher's state of being upon his return. After asking him what happened, he said the Dark Lord had taken him to a cafe of inferi, and had forced him to drink an emerald potion. I later discovered it was called the Potion of Despair. After forcing Kreacher to drink it, he dropped a locket into the basin. Salazar Slytherin's locket. At that moment, I had gotten confirmation."

"How is that confirmation?" Sirius asks bluntly.

"The Dark Lord's biggest claim to honor," Regulus elaborated, "at least in his eyes, is his lineage. He's a parselmouth, and claims to be a descendant of Slytherin himself. One of the other things that disillusioned me to the Dark Lord, before I had understood his great crime, was his hypocrisy."

"He's hypocritical about a lot of things," Lydia cooly remarked, "what did you discover specifically?"

"He's a half-blood," Regulus answers, and hastily adds, "not that matters. At least anymore."

"He's a what?!" Bellatrix screeches, "how dare you make such an accusation Regulus!"

"He wouldn't be lying," Albus Dumbledore interceded, "Voldemort is a half-blood. I'm curious to see how young Mr. Black comes across that information."

The entirety of the slytherin table was now paying rapt attention to the film. They had to know. Were they truly fighting a false cause? Was the Dark Lord a fake?

"How do you know that?" Sirius was strangely impressed by his former brother.

"It's all in my research," Regulus pulls a family tree out, "the first thing I did was trace Slytherin's family tree."

"Why?" Lydia asked.

"Probably so he could figure out who you-know-who is," Sirius answers, and Regulus nods.

"All my research," Regulus pointed to a name, "ended with the Gaunt family."

"Gaunt," Lydia spat, "seems they've always been troublemakers."

"Huh?" Regulus asks, but is ignored. "Anyways, the last generation of Gaunts were Morfin and Mereope, children of Marvolo Gaunt. If there were any descendants of Salazar left, they'd have to come from these two individuals."

"So who is it?" Sirius asks, "which child sired Voldemort?"

Regulus pulls a news article out, "According to this article, Marvolo and Morfin were arrested for assaulting a ministry worker in their Little Hangleton home. The Gaunts frowned upon children of wedlock, and since Morfin was in Azkaban, I directed my attention onto Merope. There are no legal records of her, and she never attended Hogwarts. I realized quickly that my search would be fruitless without visiting Little Hangelton myself. So I did. I told my parents I was going to visit Barty Crouch Jr, and took the Knight Bus to Little Hangleton."

"What did you find out?" Sirius asks, fascinated by his brother's story.

"This notebook details the interviews I made," Regulus hands the notebook to Sirius, "and I took a lot of pictures. An elderly woman told me that a man named Tom Riddle had eloped with the crazy Gaunt daughter Mereope. Came back a year later claiming to have been hoodwinked, tricked, etc. Years later, The Riddles had been found in their home strangely lifeless, and no cause of death was found. I went back home, and relooked at some of the articles on Morfin Gaunt. As it turns out, he was incarcerated a second time, for murdering three muggles. At this point, I was pretty sure I had hit the mark. The Dark Lord had to be the product of Tom Riddle and Mereope Gaunt's marriage."

"Tom Riddle," Orion whispered to Walburga, "isn't he that boy who got the filthy half giant expelled?"

"You're right," Walburga said, "I can't believe the Dark Lord is a half-blood! How dare he trick us!"

"Hush," Orion shushed harshly, "We don't need the hall's attention on us."

"Okay," Lydia said, "but that's not helpful. We don't know who the kid is. Only that one has to exist. And for all it's worth, He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named could have been Morfin's son."

"I had the same thought process," Regulus continues, "but after digging through more old articles, I found a suspicious one. About thirty years ago, just around the same time the child of Merreope and Tom could be attending Hogwarts, the Chamber of Secrets was opened."

"The Chamber of Secrets?!" Lydia and Sirius gasp.

"Yes," Regulus said, pulling yet another article out, "however, the story was recalled, and Rubeus Hagrid, yes that Hagrid, was given the blame. Apparently he had a pet monster that killed a girl called Myrtle, yes Moaning Myrtle. Funnily enough, a student named Tom Marvolo Riddle happened to be the one to "catch" him."

"So you found out who You-Know-Who is," Lydia breathed, "that's incredible."

"Why thank you," Regulus grinned, "after I knew that the Dark Lord really was Slytherin's heir, I knew the locket had to be his horcrux. So I commissioned a duplicate to be made, and I planned on retrieving the horcrux tonight with Kreacher's help. I was going to just give you all this information, apologize, and die in peace."

"Oh Regulus," Andy sobbed, "why does he feel like he needs to die? Why doesn't he think he can ask us for help?"

"I think we need to speak to a certain friend of ours," Lydia's face turned serious, "he's not going to like this horcrux business. He hates them with a passion. I'll ask if he'll let you into the fold Regulus. We're going to need all the help we can get."

"Agreed," Sirius nodded, "you go ask him. I'll sit here with Regulus in the meantime."

Regulus turned to Sirius after Lydia left, "Who's this friend? Why would you tell them this type of sensitive information?"

"Wait patiently," Sirius rebukes, "Lydia went to find out if you're allowed to know." Sirius looks at the boy who used to be his brother. "For all it's worth, I'm glad you made your way to the right side Reggie."

"I was mad at first," Regulus sighs, "mad that you chose Potter over me. Mad that you hated us enough to change your entire biology to get away. But then I understood. After I learnt all this information, I finally understood where you were coming from. Muggles, Muggleborns, half-bloods, pure-bloods, it's all irrelevant. Power comes from all sorts of places. After that, I couldn't hate you for wanting to do something about it. Once I figured it out, I wanted to do something too."

Before Sirius could respond, Lydia rushed. "He said yes," she said solemnly, "we need to head to Potter Manor."

The scene shifts to Iola with the other champions by the first task.