Chapter 271: The Living Corpse
"Then there's no need to talk about the third and fourth parts — the island and the stone basin. Harry and the others already explained everything in their conversation," Kate suddenly interrupted when Alexander mocked Voldemort again.
"Okay, then the second question," Alexander said with a sly smile. "Is Regulus dead or alive?"
"Ah? Isn't he an Inferius? He's stopped breathing!" Kate said with a troubled expression. She already had a bad feeling she wouldn't be able to answer this question.
"Then I'll make it simpler. Why is Regulus different from other Inferi?" Alexander asked, grinning.
"He's a wizard."
"And maybe he was infected by the magical power of all those accumulated corpses?" Kate guessed. "This question is really difficult for me! Even with your magical vision, this knowledge is completely outside my scope!"
"I'd even say that no wizard would know this!" she protested, blushing. She felt Alexander was deliberately making things hard for her.
"You guessed it!" Alexander said with a mischievous smirk.
"Then that question doesn't count! I got it right anyway. Penelope's busy again this summer — I'm going traveling!" Kate said, baring her "claws."
"This question is very simple," Alexander replied casually. "Didn't you notice? What was Regulus's first reaction when Kreacher pulled him?"
"Hold Kreacher!" Kate suddenly recalled. "He's still alive?"
"How could that be?" she gasped and pinched Alexander's thigh to make sure she wasn't dreaming.
"These are my legs," Alexander said, frowning, and Kate just whistled innocently.
"He's indeed alive," Alexander continued. "To be precise, he's… changed races. He's a living Inferius."
As for why no one discovered this in the original timeline — well, it was probably because Dumbledore burned the body.
"Inferi are mostly created by torturing and transforming living Muggles using black magic," Alexander explained.
"They're filled with pain and fear before death. Their souls are trapped inside bodies refined by dark spells — bodies that will never decay or reincarnate. It's one of the cruelest, most evil forms of magic, even worse than Horcruxes."
"Then why is Regulus different?" Kate asked, confused.
"Because Regulus was a wizard. A wizard cannot turn another wizard into an Inferius," Alexander said. "No matter how powerful one is, the difference between wizards isn't about raw power — it's about the quality of their magic."
"And wizards are miracles in themselves. Their emotions — anger, joy, fear, hope — all bring power in different forms."
"If a wizard were refined into an Inferius, that pain and fear would transform into a curse," he continued. "That curse would strike back at the caster, disrupting their magic and even the ritual itself."
"For cowardly victims, the curse would turn inward — they'd die before the process was complete."
This was knowledge known only to the oldest families of dark wizards. The progress of black magic had always depended on such grim experiments.
"As for Regulus," Alexander went on, "he became an Inferius after drowning in — and being infected by — the largest Inferi lake in history."
"From the magic of his death — mixed with traces of life — you can tell he didn't die in fear or pain. On the contrary, he carried the pride of a martyr and the longing for his family. Kreacher also took away the joy of defeating Voldemort's Horcrux."
"Plus, he carried his wand. A wizard's wand allows instinctive control over magic, and it has its own will. His identity as a wizard, his final emotions, and the wand's presence combined to turn him into a magical being somewhat like a vampire."
"He lost his memory, but still has impressions of Kreacher and his brother," Alexander concluded. "It's a miracle — one that can never be replicated."
"How long can Regulus live?" Kate asked curiously. "Even vampires don't really live forever — they just stop aging. Muggles only think they're immortal."
"An Inferius is a soul forcibly bound to its body, sustained by magic," Alexander explained. "That's the core principle behind Inferius magic."
"You mean this is the same type of magic as a Horcrux — a pursuit of immortality?" Kate asked.
"The Taiyin Refining of the East, Egyptian mummification, African corpse resurrection — they're all forms of magic seeking immortality," Alexander said.
"Those so-called zombies that dark wizards treat as slaves are merely byproducts of those methods."
"The creation of Inferi was originally meant to chase eternal life."
"And Regulus — who accidentally became a living Inferius — has already obtained the immortality Voldemort sought."
"But this immortality is fragile. Keeping him in the sunlight, away from all darkness, or simply burning him would destroy his body and release his soul," Alexander added with irony.
"Ah, then we should take over that cave!" Kate exclaimed suddenly. "All those wizards afraid of dying from old age could be our customers! We just need to cast a Happiness Charm on them, give them their wands, and let them drown in the Inferi Lake."
"If they don't believe us, we can say we'll collect the rest of the payment after they're resurrected!"
"Even if they forget, their children will remember — collecting the balance will be easy!" Kate's eyes practically gleamed with Galleon symbols.
"Come on," Alexander said helplessly, "even if your plan could work with my abilities and the Smith family's resources, the state of mind before death is everything. No Happiness Charm can keep someone joyful while they're drowning."
"If things went as you say, we'd be lucky if we didn't have to pay compensation ourselves."
"Oh, I see…" Kate muttered, clearly disappointed.
"We could still charge a one-time fee," she said after a moment, "get some experts to act as guarantors, and use Regulus as a symbol. Then let dying wizards take their chances. We'd just have to teach them the importance of keeping calm."
"If they fail, it's their own fault."
Alexander was speechless.
But he could understand why Kate was like this.
Kate's family had plenty of Galleons — this wasn't about greed. It was because of Alexander.
Three years ago, when Alexander rebuilt the Smith Castle, he'd constantly been thinking of how to make money again after losing most of his fortune.
During that time, he tried everything — writing books, running scams in Atlantis, anything to rebuild his wealth.
Kate and Penelope had both witnessed that struggle.
But instead of abandoning him during his "bankruptcy," they'd joined him, brainstorming ways to earn gold every single day.
"Alright, Kate," Alexander said softly, hugging her as she pouted. "I don't lack Galleons anymore."
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(End of Chapter 271)
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