In a quiet corner of the library, candlelight cast a warm glow across thick, timeworn pages.
Lily Evans finally gave in. She set aside the heavy potions book in her hands and looked up at Regulus across the table, her green eyes intent.
"I heard about the duel in the Slytherin common room," she said softly. "Against a fifth-year."
Her tone carried pure curiosity, free of bias or accusation.
"They said you only used basic spells, but the results were completely different. Like we weren't even studying from the same textbooks. How is that possible?"
Regulus lifted an eyebrow, mildly surprised she had brought it up. On second thought, it made sense.
Details of internal Slytherin affairs rarely leaked. That was an unspoken rule, especially when it came to things like dark magic appearing at welcome gatherings.
But Travers picking a fight and losing badly was excellent gossip, and no one felt any urge to shield him.
Regulus met her gaze. He could tell that Lily's curiosity held no probing or hostility, only a genuine fascination with magic itself. That made him willing to explain a little more.
"The spells themselves are straight from the books," he said calmly. "The difference lies in how you use them."
"So there's a trick to it?"
"Understanding, proficiency, the body, and awareness." Regulus raised his wand and cast a silencing charm around them.
Then he continued.
"Understanding means grasping the essence of a spell. What kind of magical force it draws on, what substance or energy it acts upon, and what change it is meant to produce.
"Proficiency comes from countless repetitions, until the spell becomes almost instinctive. Incantation, wand movement, and magical output all synchronized, without waste or hesitation.
The body matters too. Duels are not fought standing still and reciting spells. You need to move to evade attacks, adjust angles to gain better casting positions, and keep your balance so you can respond at any moment.
A strong physique and quick reflexes are part of combat power."
He paused, then added, "That's something many wizards overlook."
"And finally, awareness." Candlelight reflected in Regulus's gray eyes, giving them unusual depth. "Anticipating your opponent's intent. Calculating spell trajectories and points of intersection. Making the best possible choice in an instant.
"In many duels, the clash of minds happens before the clash of spells."
He added silently that this applied only to conventional dueling, not to higher-tier magic.
It certainly did not apply to everyone. Like Voldemort, Dumbledore, Grindelwald and someday, himself.
Lily sat frozen, absorbing every word. She had never heard a wizard's duel analyzed so clearly, so systematically.
At Hogwarts, professors taught incantations and wand movements, emphasized practice, but rarely connected spellcasting so deeply to the caster's overall qualities.
For the first time, she felt the outline of a deep divide between Muggle-born students and their peers from ancient wizarding families.
She parted her lips, almost asking whether this was not inherently unfair.
Children from pure-blood families grew up exposed to these deeper concepts, while people like her…
As if reading her thoughts, Regulus shook his head slightly.
"This has no necessary connection to being pure-blood.
Family inheritance does offer earlier exposure to these ideas, but that is only knowing. Turning knowing into doing requires personal study, practice, and reflection.
Many pure-blood wizards stop at knowing. Some even neglect practice out of arrogance.
My level comes largely from my own investment."
His words were like cold water, dousing the vague resentment stirring in Lily's chest.
She suddenly remembered that Professor Slughorn had praised both her and Severus for their talent. They had achieved their results through effort as well.
Resources might be unequal, but diligence and intelligence were available to anyone.
Regulus was not defending pure-blood monopoly. He was emphasizing the decisive role of individual effort, which made his stance easier to accept.
Lily nodded slowly, thoughtful.
Still, she could not help wondering how many other pure-bloods would ever say something like this to her.
The conversation drifted deeper.
After a moment's hesitation, Lily voiced a question that had been circling her mind for some time.
"Lately, the atmosphere at school feels strange. Especially in Slytherin, and… some upper-year pure-blood students in other houses.
"They whisper about 'that person,' or 'that great wizard,' with this kind of fervor. Is something happening outside?"
Regulus fell silent for a moment.
He knew Lily had grown up in the Muggle world and had limited insight into wizarding affairs, yet her sharpness had picked up on the undercurrent.
The most critical information would never be shared with someone of her background.
Still, Regulus did not mind saying a little.
"The wizarding world is on the eve of change," he said carefully, avoiding the name.
She would hear it elsewhere, but not from him.
"A powerful wizard who advocates pure-blood supremacy is rising. He has drawn the support of many old families.
He believes pure-blood wizards should reestablish absolute dominance over the wizarding world and purge impure elements."
Lily's eyes widened. "That's absurd. Just because of birth?"
"Whether it is absurd depends on one's stance," Regulus replied evenly. "For many ancient families, they control most of the wizarding world's wealth, knowledge, and power. That position has lasted for centuries, even millennia.
They see it as a natural right granted by bloodline. The growth of half-bloods and Muggle-borns threatens to dilute and undermine that purity and those privileges.
That wizard's ideology speaks directly to their anxiety and ambition."
He looked at Lily seriously. "The pure-bloods you know from other houses, like the Potters, Longbottoms, Prewetts, and Weasleys, may be more open-minded, or more content with the status quo.
"But Slytherin, and many families closely tied to it, are different."
Lily bit her lip and looked at him, her voice barely above a whisper.
"And you? You must support that view too, right? You're a Black. That's practically synonymous with pure-blood."
Regulus did not answer immediately. He turned to the window, gazing into the deepening night beyond the castle walls, as if seeing the turmoil Hogwarts shut out.
"Bloodline," he said slowly, "is like an old key. It can open certain sealed doors, grant access to resources and perspectives others cannot reach.
It represents tradition and vested interests. I will not deny that I benefit from it and make use of what it offers."
He turned back to Lily, his gaze frank.
"But bloodline does not represent wisdom. It does not represent character. It cannot determine a person's entire worth.
Throughout history, many wizards who pushed magical progress forward were not pure-blood. Reducing everything to blood is lazy and narrow-minded.
The stance of many pure-blood families is less about belief and more about preserving existing interests and dominance.
They monopolize knowledge and resources, reinforce their position through marriage, and form a closed, powerful class."
At that point, he could not help adding a private aside in his mind. In his previous life, he had owned a purebred dog. It was pretty and delicate, but not noticeably smarter than the mixed breeds on the street.
Listening to this almost ruthless analysis, Lily felt shaken.
She had not expected someone from the most illustrious pure-blood family to view pure-blood status this way.
There was no fanaticism, no defense. Only a calm examination rooted in history and interests.
It made her reconsider whether Regulus Black truly fit the mold of a typical pure-blood boy.
If she asked, he would tell her that he could be, or he could not be.
For a while after that, they returned to their books.
Regulus searched through texts on dermal potion carriers, magical slow-release matrices, and the stability of runic engraving media.
The material he was reading went beyond ordinary O.W.L. level and even touched on N.E.W.T. topics.
At first, Lily was merely curious about what he was looking for. But when Regulus occasionally murmured questions about dense passages or offered incisive commentary, she was once again stunned by the depth of knowledge of someone her own age.
She suspected that Regulus was researching a niche and highly advanced subject.
"What are you studying?" she asked again, unable to resist. "This material is… very specialized."
Regulus looked up and thought for a few seconds.
Lily's talent in potions was acknowledged by both Professor Slughorn and history itself, and her sharp mind and curiosity could make her a valuable helper.
But his true objective could not be revealed.