Chapter 28: A More Thrilling Way to Seek Death

Regulus Black's personal cheat system only retained partial functionality from the game Diablo II, but he was intimately familiar with its original settings. When he instinctively created his first charm, he combined the full-map system with Slytherin's locket case and captured part of the real-world environment (the Black Lake), successfully creating the Black Lake Temple of Soul Elixirs.

This also incorporated the concept of an altar from the game—otherwise, the charm wouldn't have had "Temple" as a suffix.

Speaking of altars, one had to mention the Waypoints in the game. Due to the large size of the game map, each major area had a Waypoint, which functioned like a portal—providing direct, fast travel back to the camp.

Once a new Waypoint was activated, it would be recorded in the Waypoint List, marked by a unique embossed symbol.

When the main structure of the estate was completed, Regulus Black didn't make many changes to the surrounding gardens. The eerie, seemingly spirit-possessed trees were highly valuable for potion-making and alchemy—in other words, they were all money.

However, Regulus Black did relocate one particularly unusual tree. This tree had split down the middle and then reconnected at the top, forming the shape of an oval doorway. It was completely dried out—there wasn't a single leaf on it.

He moved this tree to the cross-shaped atrium on the second basement level, and inscribed the necessary spells and magic arrays on the ground.

Regulus Black activated this Waypoint. The four small braziers around the tree ignited on their own, and simultaneously, his personal system—which previously had no Waypoint interface—suddenly displayed a Waypoint List.

A Baroque-style embossed cross symbol appeared, labeled Beheading Valley. Since there was only one Waypoint for now, the feature remained inactive.

Originally, Regulus Black had serious doubts about creating features beyond what the system originally included. But clearly, this time it had worked. There was now potential to recreate the full functionality of the entire game system.

The successful creation of the Waypoint was largely thanks to one particular item: the Vanishing Cabinet—the same one that indirectly caused Dumbledore's death. Without studying the Vanishing Cabinet, Regulus Black would never have been able to make the Waypoint.

After finishing up, Regulus used Apparition to leave Beheading Valley, traveled back to the wizarding town of Hogsmeade via the Ministry of Magic's Floo Network, and then returned to Hogwarts through the Shrieking Shack.

It was finally time to create a Waypoint at Hogwarts—so it could be added to the list.

The constant back-and-forth was just way too much hassle.

Back at Hogwarts, Regulus Black continued with his routine as a promising teaching assistant. Occasionally, he would see Hermione pass by, face red as she trotted past—looking extremely adorable. Cho Chang, the Chinese second-year girl, would often dash away with a similarly red face, for some unknown reason.

Then Regulus began to notice that quite a few Ravenclaw girls would secretly glance at him. And when they were caught, they'd flee blushing.

"Have they figured out I'm a lolicon?" Regulus Black joked to himself sarcastically.

As for Harry Potter and his sidekick Ron, though they no longer had Hermione's help, they were gradually uncovering the truth behind the Chamber of Secrets through a string of coincidences.

Just recently, they finally couldn't resist asking Hagrid about the three-headed hellhound. They didn't get much information—just a name. Not the name of the dog, but of the Philosopher's Stone's creator: Nicolas Flamel.

Over the following days, the boys racked their brains trying to figure out who Nicolas Flamel was—until, by chance, they found the answer on a Chocolate Frog trading card. Dumbledore himself appeared on the card and explained his friendship with Flamel, as well as the origin of the Philosopher's Stone.

"That's basically cheating!" Regulus Black scoffed at such an overtly rigged move to force the savior narrative.

One night, while Regulus Black was patrolling the empty halls of Hogwarts, he turned a corner and suddenly encountered Peeves the Poltergeist.

"My lord, as you ordered—I've discovered that Quirrell has left Hogwarts and is heading toward the Forbidden Forest."

Peeves whispered with uncharacteristic deference, then pulled out the Marauder's Map from within himself. Quirrell's name was clearly visible, with his footsteps moving steadily toward the forest.

"Well done, Peeves! This is the first time Quirrell has entered the Forbidden Forest since the start of term, right?"

Without waiting for Peeves' response, Regulus Black glanced at the Marauder's Map, then also left Hogwarts in the same direction. But of course, he didn't forget to cast a Disillusionment Charm on himself to avoid being seen.

The reason he had entrusted the Marauder's Map to Peeves in the first place was because the poltergeist was arguably the most idle spirit in all of Hogwarts.

In the film, when Harry Potter first had a direct encounter with Voldemort, Voldemort was drinking unicorn blood. But Hagrid had already mentioned that a unicorn had been killed before that incident. Did Voldemort not drink the blood then? Or did he need a large amount of it?

From a causal perspective, intercepting Voldemort's prey wasn't an issue. That's why Regulus Black first tamed Peeves, then handed him the Marauder's Map with strict orders to monitor Quirrell's every movement and report immediately if he entered the Forbidden Forest.

Snatching food from Voldemort's mouth? Just imagining it was thrilling! Was there any more exhilarating way to court death than this?

The Forbidden Forest was quiet at night, yet far more dangerous than during the day. All sorts of nocturnal creatures were beginning to stir—hunting, fighting, playing.

Ah! Tch, tch! Regulus Black skirted around two foxes entangled and twitching together.

On the Marauder's Map, Quirrell was still about a hundred meters ahead, drifting aimlessly through the forest.

Suddenly! A horse-like whinny pierced the night—clearly, some kind of equine magical creature had been hurt.

There were only three types of horse-like creatures at Hogwarts: centaurs, unicorns, and Thestrals. And it seemed like the centaurs were protesting!

In any case, the sound had to have come from a unicorn—because Voldemort had no use for the blood of the other two.

Regulus Black sped up. According to the map, Quirrell's footprints were still moving, meaning Voldemort hadn't caught his prey yet.

"Petrificus Totalus! Stupefy!"

A shadowy figure, black as a phantom, was finally struck by the second spell. Like a wisp of dark fog, the figure drifted forward—clearly preparing to pounce and gorge itself on the fresh kill.

By the time Regulus Black arrived, he saw the figure forcing a unicorn to the ground.

The unicorn let out a mournful cry—it had clearly suffered a fatal blow.

"Expelliarmus!"

Regulus leapt forward and disarmed the figure on the spot, catching a wand he didn't recognize as it flew into his hand.

Next came two of his system's curse-type skills—Fear Illusion and Whispers of Madness. The two spells were cast silently and struck the black figure squarely.

Fear Illusion: Induces terrifying hallucinations based on real fears, forcing the target to flee.

Whispers of Madness: Drives the target insane with countless whispering voices, causing them to attack anything nearby.

Among all wizards, perhaps only Regulus Black had the nerve—and ability—to cast curses on someone like Voldemort.

After all, to prevent others from using his real name to curse him, the Dark Lord had not only rearranged the letters of his true name and adopted the alias "Voldemort," but had also ordered the Death Eaters to kill anyone who dared utter it. This fear campaign had grown so widespread that no one dared speak his name aloud anymore, instead referring to him with vague titles like "the Dark Lord."

But Regulus's curses didn't require a name—only line of sight. And since these were skills, the effects were temporary. At level 7, both curses lasted just 14 and 22 seconds, respectively.

After a bout of crazed rampaging, the ghostly black figure quickly regained its composure.

But by then, Regulus Black had already stored the unicorn's corpse into his inventory space.

Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon

https://patreon.com/Glimmer09