"The Dark Lord's secret?" Sirius asked, surprised that Regulus's death might have something to do with it.
"What secret, did Regulus tell you?"
"Master Regulus did not tell Kreacher." The elderly house-elf shook his head. "All Kreacher knew was that the Dark Lord asked Master Regulus for a house-elf after that."
"It seems to have something to do with the locket," Lupin said confidently. Regulus's willingness to sacrifice his life to destroy the locket suggested that it was important.
Ivan, however, understood that Regulus was referring to the secret of Voldemort's immortality — the Horcrux!
From this, it could be deduced that the Black family's library contained records of Horcruxes.
Regulus must have had some impression of it from some of the books he had read about it in his earlier years, either because he was present when Voldemort murdered people to make Horcruxes, or because Voldemort was seen elsewhere.
In short, Regulus had his suspicions, which was why he went back to the library to look for more information.
Ivan turned to Kreacher and asked, "Kreacher, do you remember Regulus reading all those books?"
The house-elf shook his head again. Master Regulus had been reading more books than he had in the past few days, and it had been over a decade since then.
"Why don't we just look in the library?" Lupin suggested. All they had to do was repeat what Regulus had done.
"True! But be prepared for the possibility that there will be too many books!" Sirius exclaimed.
'How many? How many?'
Ivan had no idea what to expect. He had already looked through several bookcases, and there was no way any of them could be better than Hogwarts.
However, when Sirius led them into the underground library, everyone was shocked.
"There are too many books here, aren't there?" Yvonne asked, looking around the room.
The entire library was like a square, with rows and rows of bookshelves arranged neatly.
However, because it had not been tended to for a long time, it was covered in dust, and some of the bookshelves that were close together were even covered in cobwebs.
'It's all the books that Black has accumulated for thousands of years!' Sirius explained with a smile, sounding somewhat proud that there was not a family in Britain that had more books than the Black family.
"But if we go through them one by one, how long will it take us to find it?" Harry asked a difficult question.
Sirius's smile froze on his face.
Fortunately, Kreacher did not remember every book Regulus had ever read, but he did remember some of the areas Regulus had visited, thus narrowing the search.
After determining the approximate range, everyone split up to search.
Ivan found a shelf and scanned the names of every book. Knowing that Horcruxes were involved, he only needed to find books about the soul and advanced dark magic.
Ivan was frustrated. He knew everything, but he had to act as if he didn't. If he hadn't been such a good actor, he would have been exposed.
It was good to take the opportunity to bring the matter of the Horcrux to the table, lest he have to lie every time he faced this problem.
Ivan scanned the shelves, occasionally pulling out a few books and placing them back when he found no Horcruxes.
As they walked to the end of the corridor, Ivan was surprised to see a book that had not been properly placed back in its shelf, but was propped up against one corner.
The writing was covered in dust, and only a few words and drawings were visible.
Ivan couldn't help but find the book familiar, as evidenced by the feel of the book. The cover felt distinctly different from the other books, almost like touching skin.
"Whew~" Ivan gently blew away the dust, and the cover of the book gradually appeared. On it was written: "Secrets of the Supreme Dark Arts"!
Ivan's pupils contracted as he read the title of the book.
He did not forget that he had found a copy of this book in the Restricted Section of Hogwarts during his first year.
At that time, he was not strong enough to break the spell, and he was too busy looking for The Bloodline Origin to check it.
In his second year, when Ivan thought he would be able to break through and read Secrets of the Dark Arts, the book disappeared, and he searched the Restricted Section for it.
It made sense. The Black family was the oldest wizarding family in Britain, and its members tended to be Dark Wizards, so it was not unusual for them to have a collection of such high-end Dark Arts.
Regulus presumably learned about the mysteries of Horcruxes through this book.
Ivan thought back to the protective mechanism he had encountered when he first opened the book. He gently touched the cover of the book to sense the movement of the magic, and within a few seconds found the node.
"Curse Stop!" Ivan placed his wand against the node and infused it with magic. The title text on the cover slowly lit up, then faded.
Ivan felt the book in his hand tremble as if it had a life of its own and open automatically.
However, this time, there was no black mist or human faces, nor were there any screams that seemed to strike the soul.
Ivan's lips curved as he began to open the book.
After a few pages, however, Ivan's face became very serious and he felt a chill.
Malicious curses, inhuman sacrifices, self-mutilating dark magic… the contents of the book are gruesome.
To sum it up, you're harming yourself and others…
This was the only thought that came to Ivan's mind after he had flipped through half of the book, and he understood why Peter Pettigrew, a mediocre player, was able to blow up an entire street with a thunderbolt.
Peter Pettigrew used a dark magic that enhanced the power of the charm by injuring himself. The more painful the injury, the more powerful the charm would be!
And that was only at the cost of a finger. What about an entire arm or leg?
Ivan could not imagine how much the power of magic would increase
Of course, it is not always a good thing for a spell to be too powerful. Once the caster loses control, the spell will backfire on the caster.
As a result, countless wizards have died, and almost every few years you will hear someone being killed or injured by your own magic…