Hogwarts Bloodline Chapter 506: Retrieving Bodies from the Lake Bottom - Novel Cool

Chapter 506: Retrieving Bodies from the Lake Bottom

Chapter 506: Retrieving Bodies from the Lake Bottom (Combined 4000 Words)

Lupin was utterly confused. He, of course, recognized that Ivan had given him the Wolfsbane Potion, but it wasn't a Full Moon, so how was he supposed to transform into a wolf?

However, he didn't have time to ask because a light mist had begun to rise from the Lake Surface, and Sirius Black and Ivan, who were in the Boat, had already disappeared from his sight.

At the same time, the Boat moved silently and steadily across the Lake Surface, as if being pulled by an invisible rope. It drifted toward the center of the lake without anyone needing to row.

No one dared to speak, fearing they might disturb the Inferi lurking in the lake. The surroundings were dark and eerie, with only a faint green light occasionally flickering in the distance.

Sirius Black stood on the boat, holding his wand high to illuminate their path.

Ivan, on the other hand, was fascinated by the Boat. He sat at the bow, gently touching the hull, which felt wet and slippery.

Even with his current alchemy skills, he couldn't figure out how the boat operated. Perhaps Voldemort hadn't used alchemy to create it but had enchanted it with powerful Magic.

As Ivan was studying, the Boat's speed suddenly slowed down.

"We're here!" Sirius Black whispered, lowering his voice.

Ivan looked ahead and saw through the mist that a smooth, rocky island stood in the center of the lake. It was about the size of a classroom, and the only prominent feature was a base about a meter high. On the base sat a stone basin, from which the green light was emanating.

Ivan's figure flickered as the Boat slowly came to a stop.

Sirius Black stepped onto the island first, heading toward the central stone basin. After a moment's thought, Ivan followed quickly.

"Regulus drank this, didn't he?" Sirius Black murmured, looking at the stone basin and the phosphorescent, emerald-green liquid inside.

Just by looking at it, one could tell it was poisonous and would be excruciating to drink!

"Yes, Regulus ordered Kreacher to supervise him as he drank all of this potion", the old House-Elf sobbed, memories of the past flooding his mind.

Sirius Black fell silent, his gaze fixed on another Locket at the bottom of the basin. "If Regulus took out the Horcrux, why did he replace it with something similar?"

"Perhaps he wanted to confuse Voldemort, making him believe the Horcrux was still there. That way, Voldemort wouldn't create more Horcruxes and might die in battle", Ivan explained, recalling the note Regulus had left in the fake Locket in the original timeline.

Unfortunately, Regulus's plan failed. Kreacher had no means to destroy Voldemort's Horcrux. Without Ivan's intervention, the fake Horcrux would have tricked Dumbledore.

Thinking about this, Ivan shook his head. Regulus had risked his life to set up this trap, but inadvertently misled his allies. The old professor had suffered so much, only to find out it was all for a fake.

Sirius Black glanced deeply at the stone basin but didn't touch it. He turned to the sobbing House-Elf and said, "Kreacher, take me to where Regulus was dragged into the lake."

Kreacher nodded vigorously and led Sirius Black to the left side of the island.

Ivan didn't rush to follow. He hesitated for a moment, then lightly waved his wand. A faint glow appeared on the ground at the base of the stone basin, forming a line of text before fading away.

He had cast a Triggered Spell. If anyone approached, the text would appear, warning them.

This way, if Dumbledore found this place after they left, he would be alerted.

Of course, Voldemort might see it too, which would be quite amusing.

Ivan smiled and turned to leave.

At that moment, Sirius Black was crouched on the ground, his expression serious. He had cut his left wrist, and a large amount of blood dripped to the ground, forming a strange pattern.

Ivan stood quietly, watching this scene without surprise.

Sirius Black had told him earlier that there was a bloodline connection between brothers. He could use a Magic to temporarily strengthen this connection, allowing him to locate Regulus's position.

However, this was clearly a form of Dark Magic. Sirius Black must have read about it in some book, but it seemed to have significant limitations; otherwise, he wouldn't have had to come to this small island to complete the ritual.

It took Sirius Black about two minutes to draw the pattern. He then placed his right hand on it and muttered an arcane spell.

The blood on the ground immediately reacted, as if it were alive, crawling up his arm and converging on his hand to form the same pattern, glowing red like a blood-colored tattoo.

"Excellent, he's still here!" Sirius Black's body trembled with excitement.

The success of the Magic proved that Regulus's body was still intact and had not been torn apart by the Inferi and submerged in the lake; otherwise, he wouldn't have been able to sense it.

Unable to contain his excitement, Sirius Black cast a Bubble-Head Charm on himself and then plunged into the dark, murky lake.

Ivan didn't even have time to stop him, and he helplessly slapped his forehead.

In Ivan's view, they should have at least discussed strategies for dealing with various crises and checked the lake water for any issues before diving in. But Kreacher had already jumped into the lake, and to avoid being pulled too far away and losing them, Ivan had no choice but to follow.

"Too cold!"

As soon as Ivan's body submerged into the lake, he immediately felt something was wrong. It was the middle of summer, yet the water in the Black Lake was as cold as if it were the dead of winter.

Moreover, it was pitch black around him, and he could only vaguely see something lying in front of him.

"Lumos Maxima!" Ivan gently waved his wand, and a light shone from its tip, spreading out in all directions.

Seeing what was in front of him, Ivan was startled. It was a corpse, more accurately, a male corpse with its eyes open.

Ivan could clearly see the swollen face and the bulging eyes, which were staring at him.

He almost attacked, but he remembered in time that after drinking the potion, his physical characteristics were similar to those of an Inferi. They shouldn't attack him, or they would have already pounced.

With this thought, Ivan felt more at ease. He tried to get closer, but the Inferi didn't move, as if it were truly dead.

Only when he got very close did the Inferi react, trembling slightly before sinking down.

Ivan pondered, confirming what Lupin had said: Inferi not only fear heat but also light.

With this confirmed, Ivan ignored the Inferi and swam toward another faint light in the Black Lake. The Inferi couldn't use Magic, so this light must have been created by Sirius Black.

The closer he got, the more Inferi surrounded him.

Men, women, elderly, and children—various corpses were everywhere. It was clear that Voldemort had massacred a Muggle town; otherwise, the British Wizarding World wouldn't have had enough bodies to create so many Inferi.

These Inferi floated in the lake, either scattered or clustered, motionless.

As Ivan swam forward, he carefully watched the surrounding Inferi, sometimes having to push them out of the way or swim between them.

After an unknown amount of time, with his hands and feet numb from the cold, Ivan finally saw Sirius Black.

He was not far ahead, with the mark on his right hand glowing a blood-red color, indicating that Regulus's body was nearby.

However, this Magic clearly couldn't pinpoint the exact location, so Sirius Black was forced to swim up to each Inferi, checking their faces.

Ivan helped search, holding his wand and using the faint light to examine every face within sight.

As he looked at them, Ivan noticed that all the Inferi seemed to be staring at him and Sirius Black. Their swollen faces and sunken eyes were quite unsettling.

He understood that the Lumos Maxima had attracted their attention, but their low intelligence prevented them from recognizing him as a living person, so they remained in a state of paralysis.

Ivan couldn't determine when the Inferi would realize something was wrong and attack, nor could he stop casting the lighting spell, so he had to speed up.

Before they left, Sirius Black had shown him a portrait of Regulus. If the water hadn't damaged his face, Ivan should be able to recognize him.

"Regulus!"

As Ivan carefully examined the faces, a weak, indistinct voice reached his ears. He turned his head sharply to see that it was Kreacher who had spoken.

This old House-Elf must have used some Magic to stay underwater for so long without the Bubble-Head Charm, even able to speak with an open mouth.

However, Ivan wasn't focused on that at the moment because Kreacher had clearly discovered something and was now swimming excitedly ahead.

Without hesitation, Ivan followed, and from a distance, he saw Kreacher grab onto a corpse at the Lake Bottom.

It was the body of a young man, lying still on the Lake Bottom, motionless, dressed in a dark green robe with a prominent black badge on his chest.

As Ivan got closer, he could see that it was the Black Family crest, consisting of a shield with a pentagram and a short sword, flanked by two leaping gray dogs.

With just this, Ivan could confirm that it was Regulus!

Although they had found him, Ivan felt no joy, and neither did Sirius Black, who was also unable to feel any happiness. Regulus, like the Inferi, had his eyes open, staring at them, staring at the light!

Ivan immediately understood that the worst had happened—Regulus had been turned into an Inferi!

Sirius Black's body trembled, whether from anger or disbelief, but he didn't lose his mind. He opened his mouth to order Kreacher to let go.

However, they were too late. Regulus, who had been motionless like a corpse, suddenly moved after being embraced by Kreacher. His swollen, pale hands clamped down on the House-Elf's neck like iron clamps.

Kreacher, caught up in his excitement, had no defense against Regulus. Even after being choked, he didn't resist, instead feeling that this was Regulus punishing him.

But Regulus, fully transformed into an Inferi over the decades, had no concept of mercy.

Kreacher quickly turned cross-eyed, and the Magic sustaining him began to disintegrate, allowing a large amount of lake water to flood into his mouth and nose.

"Petrificus Totalus!" Seeing the situation turn critical, Sirius Black immediately stopped his Lumos Maxima and quickly waved his wand.

A white beam of light penetrated the water and struck Regulus.

Regulus's originally pale, swollen skin turned gray, and he froze in place, his hands ceasing their movement.

Seizing the opportunity, Ivan grabbed Kreacher and pulled him out of Regulus's grasp, promptly casting a Bubble-Head Charm to prevent him from drowning.

However, the situation did not improve. Sirius Black's attack on Regulus, as if triggering a taboo, caused the surrounding Inferi to suddenly become agitated.

Several Inferi close to Sirius Black reached out and grabbed his clothes and arms, while more Inferi with twisted faces swam toward Ivan.

Ivan was very anxious. He understood that Sirius Black's use of Magic to attack the Inferi had triggered some kind of restriction, and now the Inferi no longer considered them as one of their own.

"Sectumsempra!" Ivan raised his wand to help Sirius Black, but the latter shook his head, his mouth moving under the Bubble-Head Charm, trying to say something.

Close your eyes! Ivan read this from Sirius Black's lip movements and immediately complied, closing his eyes.

In the next moment, an incredibly bright light erupted from the tip of Sirius Black's wand, like a supernova in a dark universe. Even with his eyes closed, Ivan could feel the intensity of the light.

The Inferi restraining Sirius Black released him, and the hundreds of Inferi that had been surging toward them retreated in fear.

As the light gradually faded, Ivan opened his eyes and saw that, apart from the petrified Regulus, there were no other Inferi around.

Ivan couldn't help but admire Sirius Black's quick thinking. Although he acted rashly, he had the presence of mind to realize that while he couldn't use a Fire Spell underwater, a significantly enhanced Lumos could still drive away the Inferi.

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Thank you, Professor Lupin, for the encouragement, and to those who have left comments and blessings, and to Nili's generous donation of 100 Qidian coins.

(End of Chapter)

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