Chapter 197 The Devotion Of The Black Family
"Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to leave... to leave him alone. Regardless of what happened, Kreacher couldn't intervene."
Kreacher's voice was sharp and twisted. He sobbed and intermittently said with a pained tone, "He ordered... Kreacher to leave... without him. And he told Kreacher... to go home... and never tell my Mistress... what he had done... but to destroy... the first locket. And he..."
All eyes were fixed on Kreacher, waiting for him to continue; even Evan was no exception.
Although he already knew that Regulus had eventually drunk the potion and died in the cave, it was entirely different to hear the house-elf recounting the scene at that moment.
Evan could almost visualize it in the dark cave; surrounded by the Inferi, Sirius's younger brother hesitatingly looking at the potion on the stone altar, his heart in constant turmoil.
He knew what he was going to do next. He also understood the consequences of his actions. If Voldemort found out, the Black family would be devastated. But he had to do it, even if it meant his own death.
For his pure-blood ideals, Regulus was one of the first to support Voldemort. The House of Black, the oldest and noblest of wizarding families, deemed it "fortunate" to become a Death Eater at the age of sixteen. Like other evil Death Eaters, he believed serving the Dark Lord was the ultimate glory.
However, this adolescent was not like the rest of the Death Eaters.
As Voldemort gradually revealed his true nature, when Regulus discovered that Voldemort was not pursuing purity of wizarding blood, but using brutal means to rule over others, when Voldemort tried to kill the innocent Kreacher, Regulus finally understood the distinction between the harsh real world and his fantasies.
The hot blood of youth eventually cooled, and his beautiful dreams crumbled.
From that moment on, although he still identified as a Death Eater, his innate sense of justice distanced him from Voldemort.
Even in the end, he chose to give his life to resist and unravel Voldemort's dirty lies.
Regulus was indeed cunning. If Evan remembered correctly, he was the first to uncover Voldemort's creation of a Horcrux, even before Dumbledore, despite receiving no help beyond Kreacher's vague description. It was entirely through his own efforts that he conducted thorough research on this matter.
At the same time, he was also brave.
Knowing Voldemort's true nature, when he was determined to prepare to fight against him, that was during the time when the Dark Lord was at the height of his power.
Faced with such a powerful and evil Voldemort, in addition to an elderly house-elf, Regulus didn't even have a decent ally. Yet, he chose to shatter the myth of the Dark Lord's immortality with his own life.
Undoubtedly, he was also kind.
As evidenced in Kreacher's words, Regulus was very kind to house-elves, unlike most wizards.
Until the last moment, he never entertained the idea of sacrificing Kreacher.
The man who once fanatically adored the Dark Lord did not take the elf's death for granted. He chose to drink the fatal potions and instructed him to go home. That was the last order he gave before his death.
He preferred to die anonymously rather than bring trouble to his family.
He was using his own means to protect Kreacher and safeguard the Black family.
At that moment, Evan suddenly realized that there seemed to be an innate sense of devotion in the blood of the Black family members.
This was likely the most distinctive quality of this oldest and noblest pure-blood wizarding family.
With this devotion, Sirius gave up everything he had, solely to pursue freedom.
His cousin Nymphadora Tonks was dedicated to following love, ignoring the world's judgments, and ultimately ended up with the werewolf, Lupin.
Voldemort's most fanatical Death Eater, Bellatrix, was dedicated to gaining power, becoming the most dangerous and cruel of Voldemort's followers.
Lucius Malfoy's wife, Narcissa, was devoted to protecting her family. In the final battle, for Draco's sake, she chose to betray Voldemort and took a significant risk by helping Harry conceal the fact that he was still alive, thus deciding the fate of the ultimate battle.
As for Regulus Black, this devotion led him to protect his entire family.
He chose to pay in quietness. Besides the house-elf, no one ever knew what he had done. No one knew that his thoughts had changed.
In Sirius's mind, his foolish brother became a Death Eater due to his worship of Voldemort and his defense of pure-blood ideals.
In his view, Regulus didn't even understand the significance of that identity.
So, due to his weakness and timidity, he died in shadows, not even leaving a corpse. It was extreme irony.
Nevertheless, the truth could not be further from that.
Like Sirius, he too was a hero, an unknown hero.
He was different from Sirius. The devotion in the depths of his heart and the buried rebellion in his bones hadn't erupted until the final moments of his life.
Regulus grew under Sirius's care and his mother's protection. When his brother fled the house in search of freedom, to not worry his elderly mother, he accepted the family arrangements and embraced the destiny he shouldn't have shouldered.
He wanted to protect the Black family, safeguarding the ancestral purity of wizards and restoring their former glory.
However, the unique features of a Black made his ultimate demise an inevitable outcome, and everything was bound to happen as it did.
Though their methods differed and events took another course, he ended up following his brother's path.
In the dim basement, observing the Black family decor surrounded by historical traces, Evan had a faint realization.
He finally understood that perhaps, that was the power that blood brought.
The experiences of the brothers Sirius and Regulus gave Evan a deeper understanding of the ancient Black name.
"So, young Master Regulus... he..." Kreacher sobbed.
"And then what happened? What did Regulus do?" Sirius asked aloud.
"Then he drank... all the potion... and Kreacher swapped the lockets... and watched... as Master Regulus... was dragged beneath the water, by the hands of the Inferi..."
"Oh, Kreacher!" cried Hermione, who was weeping.
She knelt beside the elf and tried to embrace him.
In an instant, he was standing, moving away from her, clearly disgusted.
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, it won't allow it! What would his Lady say?"
"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" growled Sirius, but his voice was weaker than ever before.
It wasn't until this moment that he knew how his brother died.
He rubbed his eyes, and as Hermione cried, his tears flowed uncontrollably, but he didn't want them to see.