Everyone except Marvolio stared in shock as Tver calmly plunged his hand into the pitch-black lake.
"Professor—"
"Tver—"
"Y-young master—"
Before their alarm could fully register, Tver pulled his hand back out.
What emerged with it was a soaking-wet, pure white rope.
Smiling, Tver walked back toward the stone basin. As he tugged on the rope, the figure at the other end was dragged into view.
Splash.
A male corpse, bloated and pale from soaking, thrashing weakly as it was hauled out.
"This is…?" Harry asked nervously, watching as Tver calmly examined the body.
"This is an Inferius," Tver said, suddenly sounding as though he were back in the classroom. "They're created from the corpses of Muggles or wizards. Magical creatures can be used as well, but that's rare. Dark magic is then used to control them."
"They have no life, no soul, and no independent thought. They prefer dark, damp environments, which is why they're extremely vulnerable to fire and light."
"A spell like the high-intensity light charm I taught you can harm them to some extent."
Harry nodded in understanding.
The familiar question-and-answer rhythm eased his nerves considerably.
"So this was made by Voldemort?"
"That's right. The bodies at the bottom of this lake were most likely gathered from Muggle villages Voldemort slaughtered," Tver said, shaking his head lightly.
Such unrestrained killing was something even his teacher, who sought dominion over Muggles, would never have done.
That was precisely why people felt wary of Grindelwald, yet feared Voldemort far more.
For the first time, Harry truly grasped the brutality of Voldemort's methods and finally understood why Ron and the others reacted with fear whenever his name was mentioned.
That name represented death itself.
"But how do we control it?" Sirius asked, unfazed by the corpse's presence. "With Dark Magic as well?"
Having already seen the cruelty of war, Sirius didn't dwell on the moral implications. He watched the flailing Inferius with curiosity instead.
Tver did know the Dark Magic used to control Inferi, but he had an even simpler solution.
He released the white rope.
At once, it moved as if alive, whipping through the air and wrapping tightly around the Inferius's neck and limbs.
The corpse immediately stopped struggling. Under Tver's control, it lurched forward stiffly, like a marionette, and marched straight to the stone basin.
Without hesitation, it picked up the spoon Tver had transfigured and began drinking the potion, head tilting back as it swallowed mouthful after mouthful.
Well, an Inferius didn't hesitate, either.
The others stared, dumbfounded.
Even Marvolio could only rub his forehead and shake his head in helpless disbelief.
Though he had no memory of arranging this place himself, what he'd seen so far was enough to make him admire his original self's creativity and mastery of magic.
And yet Tver's solution was even more flexible, to the point where Marvolio was left completely speechless.
They remained stunned until the Inferius finished the last of the potion and was casually flung back into the depths of the lake.
Only then did they snap out of it and turn their attention back to the stone basin.
With the potion gone, they could clearly see the fake locket resting at the bottom and immediately tell how it differed from the real one.
It was smaller, lacked the intricate detailing, and most notably, did not bear Slytherin's distinctive ornate "S".
Tver reached in, retrieved the locket, and opened it.
Inside was a folded piece of parchment.
He took out the parchment, tossed the locket toward Kreacher, whose eyes were shining with anticipation, and quietly began reading the contents aloud.
"To the Dark Lord:
By the time you read this, I will already be dead. But I want you to know this. I was the one who discovered your secret.
I have stolen the real Horcrux and intend to destroy it as soon as possible. I willingly risk my life in the hope that, when you finally meet your match, you will be killed.
—R.A.B."
"This is a Horcrux…" Sirius took the parchment in a daze. "Regulus wanted to destroy the secret that's kept Voldemort alive all this time… and I misunderstood him…"
Tver wasn't surprised that Sirius knew about Horcruxes. In the long-standing traditions of some pure-blood families, there were scattered records of such things. It was just that very few people ever bothered to read them.
In truth, Tver had wanted to keep this hidden for now. If Dumbledore were to connect the dots and realize there was a Horcrux inside Harry's head, he would almost certainly tighten Harry's protection even further.
"All right," Tver said gently, patting the still-dazed Sirius on the shoulder. "Let's find Regulus now."
"Yes," Sirius said at once, his eyes sharpening. "Let's bring him home!"
He strode straight toward the lake, as if ready to wade in himself and drag Regulus out.
With his back to the others, he stared into the pitch-black water for a long moment before slowly turning around.
"Um… how am I supposed to find Regulus among all these bodies?"
...
Under everyone's gaze, Sirius gave an awkward chuckle.
"It's not that I'm scared. I just don't want to throw myself in before I even find Regulus, that's all."
Tver laughed softly and led everyone over to his side, then once again plunged his hand into the Black Lake.
"It's actually very simple," he said, in a way that made everyone instinctively feel he was about to do something outrageous again. "We just invite all the bodies out, don't we?"
Unlike before, he made no effort to suppress the lake's magic. Instead, he even splashed water across the surface, looking almost delighted, like a child playing with water for the first time.
Then, to everyone's growing horror, the lake began to boil.
With a loud splash, Tver pulled his hand back, gripping his wand as he calmly watched the churning water, utterly at odds with the chaos beneath the surface.
Suddenly, his wand moved.
"Men to the left, women to the right. Please follow the rules."
Every corpse that surged up was neatly sorted by Tver's magic, lining up obediently on either side.
Some, however, were clearly part of Voldemort's arrangements and far stronger than the rest. One of them actually broke free of the spell and lunged straight at him.
"That shouldn't be Regulus, right?" Tver asked, turning back to the stunned group.
Seeing no response, he added, "Help me identify him. Regulus should still look about eighteen. These middle-aged ones definitely aren't."
Sirius finally snapped out of it and hurried over with Kreacher to the line of male corpses to search.
Voldemort truly had been insane. Tver's wand arm was starting to ache, yet bodies kept crawling out of the lake without end.
"If there are too many, I'll have to think of a way to haul them all up first—"
"Found him!" Kreacher suddenly shrieked.
"Kreacher found Master Regulus!"
"Oh?" Tver immediately turned around.
Kreacher was clinging tightly to the leg of a young corpse, stiff as a statue. The Inferius magic had preserved it from rotting in the water, but its pallor was unnaturally white.
Sirius ran over without the slightest hesitation. The moment he saw the face, he wrapped him in a fierce embrace.
"But, Professor, what about the Inferi here?" Harry cried out in panic, staring at the masses of Inferi surging toward them like an ant swarm as the spell faltered.
Tver chuckled softly and raised his wand.
"That's simple."
He slowly traced a circle in the air.
In an instant, a ring of blue-violet flames exploded outward around them with terrifying force.
Before Harry could even close his mouth, the ring of fire spread across the lake at incredible speed.
The Inferi climbing up were like paper figures, swallowed by the flames and reduced to wisps of black smoke before their eyes.
"All right," Tver said calmly, the firelight casting shifting shadows across his face. "Let's go back."
"O… okay…"
Harry murmured, still staring wide-eyed in shock.
...
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