Chapter 216: Let's go home

A few seconds before Kreacher discovered Regulus, Dumbledore's four giant Trolls had pushed countless Inferi into the dark waters of the lake, causing waves.

Dumbledore triumphed, and the monsters he made defeated the Inferi.

But there was no time for delight. Ivan noticed black smoke rising from the body of the Troll submerged in the lake. There was an expression of fear on his face.

It was the first time he had seen the deformed creatures having something like fear. He didn't know what they had found, but it must have been the dark magic that Voldemort had left in the lake.

In the blink of an eye, they all went up in smoke and disappeared.

As if nothing had happened, the dense, endless herd of Inferi floated up from the bottom of the lake and crawled out.

Dumbledore looked calmly at the approaching Inferi, not too surprised, as if he had expected this to happen. He continued to wave his wand in his hand.

But before he managed to cast spells, Kreacher's cries suddenly rang out. "Young Master Regulus! Kreacher has found Young Master Regulus!"

At the sound of his shouts, everyone shivered and looked in the direction he pointed.

Only Sirius, without hesitation, ran out the moment Kreacher shouted, and ran towards Regulus.

"Careful, Sirius, there are so many Inferi in there, don't go!" Harry shouted, trying to stop Sirius.

But it didn't work, Sirius was faster than expected.

"Regulus," he shouted hoarsely as he ran forward. "Regulus, I've finally found you. I'll take you home.... Let's go home..."

Sirius repeated his sad cries, as tears welled up in his red eyes.

He didn't mind entering the Inferi group, completely ignoring his own safety. The end of his wand emitted a reddish beam at unimaginable speed, pushing away the Inferi that were blocking his progress.

Behind him, it was the same for mad Kreacher, "Fight for my Master, for young Master Sirius, for young Master Regulus, Kreacher wants to fight."

Even in such a hubbub, his bullfrog voice was clearly audible.

This old house elf squeezed all the vitality out of his body. He shook the stones he had just picked up from the ground and followed Sirius to the Inferi.

Harry followed close behind, then Dumbledore, Ivan and Hermione. Their defensive lines were completely broken, and the Inferi rushed almost instantly.

Ivan's heart was pounding. He simply stood on the high ground where the pile of stone stood in the center of the island. Looking at these grim looking Inferi from afar was enough to make people feel frightened.

Close contact now made him feel terror.

He could not help but shudder. All around him were the Inferi still sending out cold air. They had just emerged from the lake. Their loose, pale skin was covered with droplets of cold water. They were very uncomfortable and disgusting.

There were so many Inferi, and Ivan could not see clearly which way to go.

In addition to the nightmarish Inferi, Ivan couldn't see Dumbledore, Sirius, Harry and Kreacher, who were also caught in the same crowd.

The only thing he was thankful for was that Hermione was always by his side. As she was about to be swallowed by the Inferi, Ivan grabbed her right hand at the last moment and didn't let go.

Hermione gasped and stayed by his side.

Her small, pale face was almost as banked as the Inferi around her because she was afraid. Her beautiful, inspiring brown eyes were wide open at that moment, filled with panic and unease.

Tears were swirling in Hermione's eyes, but she refused to let them come out.

Besides the scream she made when she first saw an Inferi, she had forced herself not to make any other sound. She knew she was fighting. The crying, screaming, and weakness served no purpose other than to distract her or Ivan.

Even though she was scared, Hermione forced herself not to show it.

She didn't know why, but seeing Ivan at her side, she had a familiar sense of security. No matter how many Inferi there were, no matter what they were facing, no matter if they were going to die, as long as Ivan was by her side, she could face it calmly and persevere to the end.

They both bowed together and sent several spells at the nearby Inferi.

"Use fire, Hermione, use fire magic," Ivan shouted, "Dumbledore just said that the Inferi fear light and heat. We can attack them with fire."

Hearing Ivan's reminder, Hermione remembered what Dumbledore said.

"Fire," she shouted hastily.

A faint red flame appeared before her, not far away, and a few Inferi ready to pounce on it obviously hesitated.

When they saw the fire, they instinctively wanted to escape.

But Hermione's flames were too weak. The Inferi hesitated. The sense of threat they felt was not strong. It was as if they were looking for a window to attack.

Hermione gasped for breath. After using this spell, all the magic in her body had been used up. She looked at all the Inferi that were about to run at her. She knew she couldn't dodge them.

She closed her eyes resigned to her fate, and her right hand held Ivan's tightly.

But Hermione opened her eyes again. She was pleasantly surprised to see that Ivan also successfully cast the "Incendio" spell. A red flame of half human height spun in circles on the ground and surrounded them with its fiery heat.

The Inferi retreated and moved further and further away from them.

"Ivan" Hermione turned and clung tightly to Ivan. Her tears couldn't help but well up.

Ivan gently caressed Hermione's shoulder and whispered words of comfort.

At that moment, although surrounded by countless Inferi in the eerie cave, the atmosphere became extremely warm inside the ring of fire.

Outside the ring of fire, near the shore, Harry was not so comfortable, a few seconds ago he followed Sirius and Kreacher among the Inferi.

Seeing Regulus, these two went absolutely berserk.

They were like the giant monsters Dumbledore had created, crashing into the crowd of Inferi. Sirius exploded with incredible and powerful fighting strength. Harry couldn't remember how many of them he killed, as the Inferi tried to stop them.

Under heavy encirclement, they marched miraculously at an alarming speed, and in less than three seconds ran to Regulus' side, who had just landed.

"Come home, let's go home, Regulus" Sirius hugged him and burst into tears, letting out a heartbreaking cry.

It was so sad that Harry couldn't help but cry too. He never thought Sirius would turn out like this. He told him earlier that he was tired of Regulus, just like he was bored of the rest of the Blacks.

It was only when he saw the scene that Harry knew Sirius had a lot of concerns for his brother; he finally understood their brotherhood.

"Back home, let's go home, I want to take you home, Regulus..." murmured Sirius.

He used all his strength to hug Regulus' body, afraid of losing him again.