"Regulus?"
Jane Yu vaguely remembered Slughorn mentioning him when showing off his collection of talented individuals—Sirius Black's younger brother.
"It's him," Dumbledore said, staring blankly at the Inferius. The shimmering light illuminated the deep lines on his face. "He joined the Death Eaters very young. About thirteen or fourteen years ago, he died, but his body was never found. We suspected he was killed by the Dark Lord."
He crouched down, gently touching the neck, cheeks, and head of the body, searching for any signs of physical or magical harm, but clearly found none.
"Perhaps he drowned when the Inferi dragged him underwater during a mission for the Dark Lord."
Dumbledore's lips moved slightly as if to say more, but he simply stood up.
"Let's go," he sighed, and Jane Yu felt he had sighed more today than in the past three years combined. "Now that we have the locket, we should return Regulus's body to his family."
But Jane Yu didn't follow.
She glanced around at the dismembered Inferi and asked, "Is there a way to let these Inferi rest in peace?"
To be honest, creating so many Inferi parts during the release of the Obscurial...
Now that she had regained her composure, she couldn't help but feel uneasy.
It felt like she had somehow diminished her karma.
And besides, these people were dead, yet their bodies were still being forced to serve the one who had killed them... It was truly heartbreaking.
Dumbledore paused, turning to her with an expression that was both approving and expectant.
"To have such thoughts... Very commendable... Very commendable... Jane!"
Most of these Inferi were created by Voldemort through necromancy. They had no life, no soul, no consciousness...
Among them were men, women, and even children. Most had been homeless Muggles in life, though a few were wizards...
Perhaps they came from different backgrounds, but they all shared one tragic fate: they had been murdered by Voldemort, their bodies denied peace.
For Jane Yu to suggest freeing these Muggles' bodies after death... while also considering the safety of future visitors...
It showed that in her eyes, Muggles and wizards were equals! She respected everyone!
She was firmly opposing Voldemort's atrocities against Muggles!
Her thoughts were truly advanced and forward-thinking!
"Yes, they are just like us, and their bodies deserve to be freed," Dumbledore agreed. "Jane, watch my movements and the incantation carefully—"
He stood tall, his robes rustling in the evening breeze, his beard and hair flowing and partially obscuring his face. His wand traced an arc in the air, like a perfect circle:
"Lavae! Lavae! Accipite (Molten Fire)!"
"Partis Temporus (Path of the Fire God)!"
In the darkness, flames erupted. A bright, golden-red ring of fire encircled the small island, gradually spreading across the lake—
The motionless Inferi had nowhere to escape, and their dismembered parts began to vanish into the flames;
Some of the remaining Inferi, seeing the fire spreading, collided with each other in a panic, stumbling and falling into the deep, dark lake in an attempt to escape the encroaching flames. Dazed and disoriented, they slipped into the water.
The firelight illuminated Dumbledore's face, making it glow red. Jane Yu suddenly noticed that he seemed rejuvenated, as if the fire of excitement and anticipation was dancing in his eyes.
Amid the crackling of the flames, she heard him shouting to encourage her:
"Jane, follow me!"
Dumbledore held his wand high like a torch, flames shooting from its tip, forming lassos that ensnared the Inferi.
This time, Jane followed his movements. Her wand emitted molten, high-temperature flames, but her target was the dark, deep lake:
"Lavae! Lavae! Accipite (Molten Fire)!"
"Partis Temporus (Path of the Fire God)!"
The golden-red flames surged toward the lake like a giant dragon, clawing and roaring as if trying to ignite it.
Yet, instead of extinguishing upon contact with the water, the flames plunged straight into the lakebed, burning fiercely underwater and releasing intense heat that caused the surrounding water temperature to rise sharply, as if boiling.
Billowing steam rose into the air, blurring her vision.
The Inferi that had just slipped into the water, hoping to escape the flames above, found that the lakebed was also ablaze. With nowhere to go, they surfaced in groups, their skeletal arms clawing at the island's rocks in a desperate attempt to climb ashore—
Only to be consumed by the flames, reduced to black and white ashes.
Soon, the rocks and soil of the island began to tremble. Under Dumbledore's spell, they moved on their own, covering the ashes and burying the unfortunate victims.
Jane watched the raging flames gradually die down and instinctively closed her eyes, clasping her hands together.
May the dead rest in peace, may the dead rest in peace, may the dead rest in peace...
She bowed three times toward the island to show her respect for the deceased—
And silently began tapping an imaginary wooden fish in her mind.
Merit points +1 +1 +1 +1...
Dumbledore let out a sigh.
They had retrieved the Horcrux, trained the child, and even recovered the body of one of his former students from underwater...
What a fulfilling and educational parent-child activity this had been!
He felt he understood the child even better now!
Their bond had grown closer than ever!
Unbeknownst to him, Jane Yu, who was silently tapping her imaginary wooden fish to gain merit points, had let her thoughts wander far away—
Her guardian's fire circle... looked so perfectly round, like a gas stove!
If only she could draw circles that round!
...
Jane Yu was sent back to Spinner's End.
Upon seeing the two of them return with a corpse, farmer-mode Severus Snape's pupils shook violently. It took him a while to form a complete sentence.
"Our esteemed Headmaster... This is what you call a trip to London... a parent-child activity?"
"This corpse... is your trophy?"
In just one month, he felt like his brain had short-circuited more times than in his entire life!
What kind of proper white wizard takes a child to dig up graves and retrieve corpses?
He felt that Dumbledore's image had shattered into a million pieces.
Perhaps this was what it meant for an idol to fall from grace.
Grave-robbing... That was something only Voldemort himself would do!
His gaze toward Dumbledore gradually changed.
"No, this is Regulus," Dumbledore said, cutting off Snape's train of thought before it could spiral further. "Jane is in your care now. I need to visit Sirius... There's still a lot to deal with."
Snape fell silent. After a long pause, he gave a brief comment:
"He was a good man."
"Perhaps..." Dumbledore raised an eyebrow, glancing at the fireplace and noting with satisfaction that it had been repaired. "Well then, Jane, rest well."
With Regulus and the locket in tow, he disappeared from Jane Yu's sight.
~~~~❃❃~~~~~~~~❃❃~~~~
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