At Hogwarts, the tail end of May meant two things: the Quidditch House Cup finals and the looming final exams.
"Black, Potter! What are you doing in the library?"
Madam Pince, the librarian, singled out Gryffindor's two most notorious point-losers from the crowd, making no attempt to hide her academic bias.
"Good day, Madam Pince," Sirius replied with unusual politeness. "It's nearly the end of term—we're here to study."
Since Regulus couldn't go to the Gryffindor common room, they had arranged to meet him in the library to discuss something important—absolutely nothing could go wrong.
Seeing that Madam Pince still looked suspicious, Sirius simply ...smiled.
What a handsome boy, Madam Pince thought, and her stern expression softened.
She even managed a faint smile as she said, "Very well. No eating or drinking in the library, and keep your voices down."
"Are we really allowed to meet a Slytherin in the library?" After a while, James asked.
"There's no school rule that says students from different houses can't meet in the library," Remus pointed out.
…
In a quiet corner of the library—
"It was Headmaster Dumbledore who came to my house himself, to convince my parents to let me attend Hogwarts. He also made me swear—not to tell anyone my true identity on my own."
Still pale, Remus retold the shortened version of what had happened.
"As for why I… became like this—Greyback attacked me before my fifth birthday, to get revenge on my father. After that, I… became what I am now."
Just as Sirius and James clenched their fists, hearts breaking once again over Remus's story, filled with rage and hatred, they heard Regulus speak in a calm but powerful voice: "We must bring about his destruction—"
Regulus's gaze swept over Remus, Sirius, and James. In his eyes burned a cold, fierce fire:
"Scum like that—he must pay. For Remus's sake, and so he'll never be able to hurt anyone else again."
For a moment, all the young wizards were stunned. Then Sirius narrowed his eyes, and James's fists clenched even tighter.
"Greyback… he's extremely strong, and he has a lot of werewolf followers," Remus said quietly. "A number of Aurors have tried to take him down, but none succeeded. I heard he's even joined some kind of organization…"
"We'll grow up. We'll become stronger," Regulus said calmly, his determined gaze shining brightly. "We're younger than our enemies. We still have time to find allies who believe in the same cause—time is on our side. We will make it happen."
"A Muggle once said: the opposite of success isn't failure—it's doing nothing."
[Today's Muggle quote of the day: +1.]
And in the death note he kept in his heart, Regulus solemnly wrote his very first name—
Fenrir Greyback.
(Regulus: I seriously need a real Death Note.)
"Yes!"
"Exactly!"
The righteous cause radiated a contagious energy. The sudden surge of purpose had all the young wizards fired up and full of passion.
"But for now, we need to figure out how to help Remus," Sirius said in a low voice. "I think we can use spells, potions, maybe even ask the professors—"
"Better not ask the professors," Remus shook his head. "I don't want Professor Dumbledore to find out the secret's gotten out."
"I'll write to my parents!" James said. "I'll just say… it's for a school paper or something."
The group leaned in, whispering urgently, everyone pitching in ideas.
"We have to act with extreme caution—no one else can find out."
"We need to look up some powerful offensive spells and start practicing!"
"And we'll need a discreet way to communicate—and a meeting place."
"We should all go back, think it through on our own, do some research, research, research, and next time we meet, we'll make a plan together."
"Summer break's coming up—we could even meet outside school!"
"I can ask our Uncle Alphard to come with us. That way we'd be allowed to use magic off-campus."
"You guys..." Remus blinked quickly, his eyes misty.
…
The discussion came to a pause.
"So… what should we do now?" James asked, still buzzing with excitement.
"Well, since we're already here, let's get some homework done, review for exams or something," Regulus said with a shrug. "I've still got that Transfiguration essay to make up."
"Speaking of revision—"
Remus shyly pulled out a few notebooks from his bag. "These are my notes from last year. I think they could help you. And if you want, I can also share last year's final exam questions."
!?
"Thanks, mate." Regulus bumped fists with Remus, thinking to himself—Seriously, who doesn't love Lupin?
"Remus's notes—they're amazing. He's one of Gryffindor's top students, just behind Lily…" James said with feeling. "If only I'd had these last year…"
…
Gentle, brilliant sunlight bathed Hogwarts Castle, nestled in the embrace of the mountains. The stained glass windows gleamed like gemstones, casting shimmering colors across the stone walls.
In the days of mounting pressure before final exams, the last Quidditch match for the House Cup was held right on schedule. With stress running high, the match became the perfect emotional outlet, igniting the passion of everyone at Hogwarts.
On the day of the match, both the sky outside and the enchanted ceiling of the Great Hall were a cheerful shade of blue.
Regulus, along with a few classmates heading the same way, sat down at the Slytherin table for breakfast and immediately noticed the energetic atmosphere in the hall.
The Gryffindor table was decked out in gold and scarlet streamers, and the Gryffindors themselves, whether walking around or eating, wore matching-colored clothes or accessories.
Their opponents this year, Ravenclaw, had decorated their table in blue and bronze—elegant and tasteful.
James Potter, dressed in his Quidditch uniform, had just reached the table when a wave of cheers erupted from the Gryffindors surrounding him.
He was their most promising young Seeker this year, with stellar performance and a brilliant future ahead.
James grinned from ear to ear, but his eyes were immediately drawn to someone who had just walked into the hall—
It was Lily Evans, along with her friend Mary Macdonald.
Both wore their school robes, but had taken time to decorate their hair and pinned delicate rose-shaped ribbons to their chests.
Lily's red hair shimmered like fire, tied back with an enchanted golden ribbon that glowed softly with magic. Her green eyes sparkled with vitality, and she greeted every passing student warmly. Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs alike were clearly friendly with her. Her smile was radiant, her white teeth gleaming.
Following Severus's gaze, Regulus was momentarily stunned—What the..
Beautiful, truly beautiful!
Gorgeous, unbelievably gorgeous!
What would she look like when she grew up?!
Regulus found himself at a complete loss for words.
At the same time, he noticed quite a few girls were sneaking glances over—not at Lily, but at his older brother…
Sirius was just sitting there amid the noise, eating his breakfast, radiating three parts laziness, three parts elegance, and four parts effortless charm…
Were they really born of the same parents?
Don't ask. If you ask, the answer is tears.
James gave Lily an awkward little wave, and got a polite, equal-treatment kind of response in return. It was obvious, just like every other boy, he was thrilled by even that much.
".." Severus sulked quietly, stabbing at his egg custard with his fork.
For Slytherin, this year's situation was a bit unusual—their house points were close to Ravenclaw's. If Ravenclaw won the Quidditch match, they would likely lose the House Cup.
But expecting Slytherin to actually hope for a Gryffindor victory? That was pure fantasy. So, most Slytherins adopted a detached, indifferent attitude… still, it was a Quidditch match!
They had to at least pay attention!
Amid the chatter, laughter, clinking of cutlery, and the soft chime of goblets, all wrapped in the Great Hall's energetic atmosphere and tangled emotions, Regulus suddenly felt an unprecedented sense of reality!
He had to protect all of this!
He patted Severus on the shoulder. "Come on, Sev, let's go watch the match."