Sirius sat dumbly, blankly, and utterly depressed in a chair in the corner—no one knew what he was thinking.
Kasenhis sat on the other side, glancing at Sirius across from him, then at the locket in his hand.
He also looked at Kreacher, who was banging his head on the floor, and at the silent Dumbledore and Lupin.
"What should we do now?" Lupin asked.
"Destroy this Horcrux and find Regulus Black's body," Dumbledore replied.
"Is there any way we could... restore his honor?" Sirius asked.
"I rember that boy, Regulus. To him, none of this ever mattered. He didn't like standing in the spotlight. What he really wanted—was recognition from his elder brother... which he never received."
Dumbledore's calm voice was like a sharp blade stabbing straight into Sirius's throat.
anwhile, Kasenhis had already pulled out his enchanted book. A Disappearance Curse engulfed the locket, and with a flash of violet light, it vanished completely.
On the other side, Sirius waved Kreacher over. "Do you rember the place Regulus took you to?"
Kreacher, still crying, nodded. "Kreacher has never forgotten..."
"Then let's go. Take us all there," Sirius said, yanking Kreacher up and placing his other hand on Lupin's shoulder.
Kreacher's other hand was held by Dumbledore, and Kasenhis supported Dumbledore as well.
With a loud whoosh, they all arrived inside a cave.
"This is the place?" Sirius asked.
"Not quite. It's just that the space here is more stable than other locations."
"Hmm.. House-elves can likely still Apparate, but bringing so many people along might be a bit of a stretch," Dumbledore murmured, eyes closed.
"This is the entrance. You need to feed blood to that stone wall," Kreacher said, pointing toward a square section where the outline of a door appeared, though it was still filled with solid rock.
Sirius nodded, said nothing, and pulled a delicate dagger from his pocket. He gripped the blade and abruptly yanked it, slicing open his palm. Blood flowed from his hand and dripped to the ground.
He ssily sared the blood across the stone wall, and soon, it reacted to the blood and slowly began to open.
Walking behind him, Kasenhis stayed silent as he watched Sirius practically self-harming, and casually stopped Lupin from rushing over to help bandage the wound.
"When soone believes they've done sothing wrong, or let soone down, they'll unconsciously—or consciously—punish their own body. It makes the mind feel better. Just let him be."
Hearing Kasenhis's explanation, Lupin nodded and sighed helplessly.
Soon, everyone passed through the cave—and what ca into view was a massive, pitch-black lake.
"There should be a way to cross besides Apparition," Lupin said.
"Yeah… actually, no need to find another thod. The space here is indeed stable—though not too stable. It's still workable," Kasenhis replied as he activated his field to envelop the group. Then he looked toward the center of the lake, where his monocle revealed a dense mass of dark magic aura.
With a scattering of purple light, the group appeared atop a smooth stone platform.
"That locket… Master Regulus stole it from that stone basin in the center," Kreacher stamred.
"But where's Regulus? I ca to find Regulus!" Sirius said anxiously.
"You should take a better look around, Sirius. I believe Regulus has, tragically, beco one of them," Dumbledore said calmly.
Only then did Sirius finally spare a glance toward the nearby surface of the water.
It looked calm on the outside, but through the depths, one could make out countless interwoven corpses.
"Inferi," Lupin said, glancing at the long-silent Sirius. Though it pained him, he still reminded him under Dumbledore's gaze.
"I know."
Kasenhis was good at comforting others during minor emotional outbursts. As a child in the orphanage and later at school, he'd often experienced such monts himself, and he'd learned to read children's emotions and provide just the right dicine for the mind.
But when it ca to life and death—true separation—he lost that advantage. Kasenhis had never experienced death or parting, and in tis like these, he couldn't effectively comfort anyone.
After all, if you can't even empathize, how can you offer comfort?
"Sirius is a strong person, but right now we need to clear out this basin. We need to know if Regulus left any contingency plan behind. This is for him," Dumbledore said, gently patting Kasenhis on the shoulder in comfort.
"I know. But I think the one you should really be comforting is Sirius," Kasenhis replied, pulling out the Enchanted Book of Vanishing Curse once more.
He cast the Vanishing Curse over the eerie liquid in the basin. As the curse took effect, the ominous liquid disappeared—only to surge back up a mont later, not a drop less.
"Why is this happening?" Dumbledore mused.
"Because that wasn't the real power of the Vanishing Curse. Get an Inferius," Kasenhis called over to Lupin.
Soon, one of the Inferi was dragged out of the lake.
Sirius even ca over to take a closer look. He studied the creature carefully for a long ti before finally confirming it wasn't his brother. Only then did he allow Lupin to toss it over to Kasenhis.
Kasenhis then held the Vanishing Curse in one hand and a Binding Curse in the other. He used the Binding Curse to link the Vanishing Curse with the eerie liquid in the basin.
That way, once the Inferius—now the binding dium—was destroyed, the cursed liquid would disappear as well. That was the true use of the Vanishing Curse; everything before this had been just a stripped-down version.
"Avada, soone," Kasenhis said.
anwhile, on the other side, Dumbledore looked over at Lupin, who was holding his wand and ntally preparing himself, and at Sirius, who was frantically rummaging around for his wand.
Smiling, Dumbledore calmly drew his own wand and aid it at the Inferius shambling mindlessly toward him.
"Avada Kedavra!"
With that, the half-dead Inferius was struck by the rule-breaking Death Curse and collapsed to the ground. In the sa instant, the eerie liquid in the basin vanished completely and did not rise again.
"What's that?" Sirius asked hoarsely.
"...another locket identical to the one that was destroyed."
_________
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