Chapter -26.
The next morning, Theodore woke up bright and early, ready to dive into a book about memories. He thought it would be a breeze since he considered himself a bit of a nerd. But as he got into the introduction and started reading about how memories are formed, he quickly realized it was more complicated than he expected.
"Ah, now I see why only the really eccentric folks study this stuff," he muttered to himself, rubbing his temples. Even though the book was giving him a bit of a headache, he pressed on, determined to understand as much as his nerdy brain could handle. Just then, there was a knock at the door.
"Come in!" he called out, closing the book and setting it on the bedside table as he swung his legs over the side of the bed. A moment later, the door creaked open, and in walked Bellatrix, dressed in a lovely green robe, looking like she was ready for an outing.
"Good morning, beautiful!" Theodore couldn't help but compliment her, a smile spreading across his face. "Are you heading somewhere special?" he asked, his curiosity piqued.
Bellatrix paused for a moment as she approached him, then suddenly extended her hand, revealing a locket with a long golden chain dangling from her fingers. "No, anyway can you help me with this? I think it might be connected to Regulus, but Kreacher isn't giving me any clear answers."
Theodore recognized the locket right away and reached out to take it from her without hesitation. Thankfully, Bellatrix didn't pull back. As soon as the locket was in his hand, he felt a strange presence trying to sneak into his mind. Luckily, he had been practicing Occlumency since his sixth year at Hogwarts, so he quickly shut that down. Turning back to Bellatrix, he asked, "Where did you find this? It seems like a dark magic object that could mess with your mind if you're not careful."
Bellatrix looked taken aback for a moment. She had hoped Theodore could shed some light on the locket, but she didn't expect him to figure it out so quickly. "A dark magic object? So Reg really went down the path Aunt had set for him?" she thought aloud, her mind racing.
She had a lot of questions, but finding out about her missing cousin felt like a good place to start. She never imagined she'd stumble upon something related to dark magic. "But if he was so into dark magic, why are all those posters of the Slytherins and the Dark Lord torn to shreds and barely recognizable?" She struggled to connect the dots.
"This Regulus, is he the little brother of Sirius? and why did he have this something this level of dangerous?" Theodore asked, pretending not to know, hoping to draw her back into the conversation as she seemed lost in her thoughts.
"Huh?" Bellatrix snapped back to reality, noticing Theodore's curious gaze. She didn't want to drag him into something that wasn't his concern, especially since he had enough on his plate already. So, she simply said, "Yes, he is. And i too don't know, I was just exploring the house and found this. Can you hold onto it for me? I think it's best not to keep something like this with me right now." Even though she had a bit of an idea about why little Reg might have had something like that on him before disappearing.
"Okay, I'll do that! But before anything else, you still haven't answered my first question. Are you heading somewhere?" It might have sounded a little nosy, but since he was going to Little Whinging for a while, he didn't want to end up finding Bellatrix to be out of the house and then getting slightly panicky and then have to use the system's feature again.
"Not really anywhere special," she replied with a smile. "I just thought since you're going out for work, I might take a nice stroll in the fresh air. And don't worry, I promise I won't cause any trouble while I'm out!" Instead of getting upset, Bellatrix just smiled back. Once she finished what she wanted to say, she leaned in and gave Theodore a quick kiss on his left cheek. Then, with a cheerful wave, she headed out of the room, saying, "Have a safe trip!"
Theodore sighed, wondering what was going on in her head. "I just hope she's not off trying to find her cousin who's already gone. That could end up being a bit of a mess." He touched the spot where she had kissed him, feeling a little warmth, but then his attention shifted to the locket in his hand, which still held a piece of Voldemort's soul. A big grin spread across his face.
He never expected that a master of dark magic, who could help him with the little project he had in mind, would just show up in his hand like this before he could start on his own to search for it.
"Sure, it might be a bit risky, but it's worth a shot! Anyway, I should really focus on our little Savior at the moment and see how to help him grow up a bit instead of letting him stay the 'Expelliarmus Potter.'"
With the locket around his neck and a cooking up a plan to help Harry become a mentaly strong person, Theodore stepped out of the room.
And then after grabbing a few crunchy toasts made by the ever-reliable house-elf Kreacher, he left the house.
Feeling like a nice walk and a bus ride would be perfect on such a sunny day, Theodore strolled to the small bus stop. Once he boarded the bus, he set off toward Surrey, which was quite a distance away.
Note : please give me some power stones, it will motivate me to write more. [You can also share ideas if you have some] :)