bioinnovel Chapter 233 Reconciliation
Chapter 233 Reconciliation
Chapter 233 Reconciliation
The noble and oldest Black family, forever pure. Sirius Black aims at the words embroidered in gold thread at the top of the tapestry, raises his hand, and makes an unseemly shooting gesture.
He had no reverence for the ancient pure-blood family, nor the slightest sense of identification with it, which was the difference between the brother and sister.
Sirius desperately wants to escape, while Belvina wants change.
"Have you always thought that you were the only one in this house who was fighting against Voldemort?" Belvina said softly, her slender fingers brushing over the small, charred holes in the tapestry.
"Now there's another you, isn't there?" Sirius said. "Before, you used to follow Mom around all day, repeating her pure-blood supremacist rhetoric."
Belvina's fingers left the tapestry covered with names, and Sirius's name appeared prominently, the charred little hole restored to its original state.
"People change," Belvina said. "A single word, an experience, or a story can change a person's destiny."
"Perhaps, but I don't think Black's ancestors would change," Sirius said. "Almost every generation had at least one person removed from the list, yet they never considered changing it."
Sirius Black pointed to one of the small, charred holes in the tapestry and said, "Isla was expelled from the family for marrying a Muggle." He then pointed to another burned hole, "Phineas was expelled for supporting Muggle rights."
The tapestry that covers the entire wall, each small burn hole in it represents a Blake who was expelled from the family.
"Cedera, she was expelled for marrying the Weasleys," Sirius continued. "And Andromeda, she married Tonks. I quite like my cousin."
"What about Regulus?" Belvina asked, looking at the name at the very bottom of the family tree.
Sirius sighed and said, "I told you before, the Regulus I know is a weak-willed guy who believes whatever people say."
"In your opinion, the reason Regulus disappeared without a trace, whether alive or dead, is because he feared Voldemort's cause and wanted to leave the Death Eaters, which is why he was murdered."
"Otherwise what? Death Eaters are not a place where you can come and go as you please. Joining or leaving will only lead to death."
Belvina nodded and said softly, "Regrus disappeared not because he wanted to leave the Death Eaters, but because of this locket."
As she spoke, Belvina handed the locket to Sirius.
Sirius took the locket and examined it closely. He said, "To be honest, aside from the solid materials, I really can't see anything special about this locket. Are you sure Regulus died because of this locket?"
“I’m pretty sure,” Belvina said, walking over to sit on the sofa. “The reason you can’t see anything is because the locket in your hand is a Regulus creation.”
"Goods?" Sirius was getting more and more confused. Surely Regulus's death couldn't have been caused by selling goods?
If Regulus sold counterfeit goods to Voldemort to swindle money from the Dark Lord, wouldn't that be considered a roundabout way of resisting Voldemort?
"The real locket belonged to Voldemort." Belvina's tone turned somber. "Regulus accidentally discovered Voldemort's secret of invincibility and secretly switched the locket containing the secret."
"A secret? What secret? Regulus was discovered by Voldemort?" Sirius pressed. "Could you be more specific? Stop being so vague!"
After a moment of thought, Belvina slowly recounted the events leading up to Regulus's disappearance (death).
However, Belvina still omitted the part related to Horcruxes, only saying that the locket was Voldemort's greatest secret and his greatest asset.
"This...this is how it is." Sirius was speechless for a moment, clutching the pendant box tightly in his hand, his gray eyes filled with sadness, regret, and sorrow.
Sirius loosened his grip and examined the golden locket from all angles. He said, "I don't know—I never knew this fool—why he didn't come to me—at least—at least there was someone to talk to." It sounded like Sirius was blaming Regulus, but in reality, he was blaming himself.
If Sirius hadn't run away in a huff, if he had cared about Regulus, if he had noticed Regulus's abnormality, Regulus might not have died.
But there are no "what ifs" in life. Sirius severed all ties with Black, Regulus discovered Voldemort's secret, one brother died young, and the other went to prison.
"Regulus! I told you that guy was a complete idiot!" Sirius exclaimed, his emotions spiraling out of control. "He's so arrogant! Does he think he can handle everything? Bastard! Fool! Moron!"
Belvina sat there silently, fiddling with her fingers, while Sirius shouted and made a scene.
Sirius Black abruptly stood up, pointed a finger at the sprawling family tapestry that covered the entire wall, and began to hurl insults.
"You bunch of idiots!" Sirius roared. "You bunch of troll-like fools, insisting on this pure-blood superiority thing, trying to instill your ideas into Regulus!"
Deafening shouts and curses filled the entire Grimmauld Place 12. Sirius Black was jumping up and down and putting his hands on his hips, cursing in a manner very similar to Mrs. Black.
"If it weren't for that damned pure-blood, Regulus would never have become a Death Eater! If he hadn't joined the Death Eaters, he wouldn't have discovered Voldemort's outrageous secret! If it weren't for you—if it weren't for you, Regulus—my brother—wouldn't be dead!"
There was no elegance whatsoever, no dignity whatsoever; Sirius was like the biggest shrew in the world, venting his dissatisfaction with Black and with himself.
After an unknown amount of time, Sirius, exhausted from scolding, plopped down on the ground, laughing and crying at the same time, tears and snot streaming down his face.
He still held the pure gold locket tightly in his hand, just as he had when he was a child, holding Regulus's hand.
Belvina slowly got up. She didn't say anything to comfort Sirius, nor did she scold or hit him anymore. Instead, she stood quietly by the window.
Now, Sirius only knows the true cause of Regulus's death, and self-blame and guilt have already overwhelmed him.
If Sirius were to learn of Belvina's past, he might impulsively grab his wand and storm out of the house to fight the unpunished Death Eaters to the death.
After an unknown amount of time, the afterglow of the setting sun gradually appeared on the horizon. Sirius had cried enough, laughed enough, and cursed enough.
He said in a hoarse, low voice, "Do you remember? Once, the three of us were playing on the grass outside, and Regulus accidentally fell and scraped his leg."
"I remember," Belvina said softly. "You scared Regulus by telling him not to tell Mom about his scraped leg. You were afraid Mom would scold you for not taking good care of your brother."
"Yeah, and sure enough, silly Regulus didn't tell his mother a single word," Sirius said nostalgically. "If his mother hadn't accidentally seen bloodstains on his pants, this might have been kept a secret."
As he spoke, Sirius turned to look at Belvina by the window and said with a smile, "Mom interrogated Regulus and me like criminals, and neither of us said a word. Then, Mom took you into her room alone."
Belvina laughed too, because she had just been dragged into the bedroom by Mrs. Black and had sold Sirius Black out in less than a minute.
"You little traitor, Belvina," Sirius laughed and scolded. "If Regulus hadn't stopped me, my backside would have been ripped off. And you, all you did was whine and cry on the sidelines."
As Sirius spoke, he looked at Regulus's name at the bottom of the tapestry, and Regulus's smile seemed to appear before his eyes.
"When did we get separated?" Sirius muttered. "We were so close, and now we're separated by death—say something, Regulus, you bastard!"
When they were young, the three siblings were each other's best playmates.
The older brother always took his younger siblings running around the big house.
As they grew up, the three siblings gradually forgot what each other looked like.
Sirius faces the darkness, Regulus falls into the flames, and Belvina walks alone.
Later, the three siblings went their separate ways.
Those who face the darkness are trapped in the Tutu, those who fall into the fire of karma are forever submerged at the bottom of the lake, and the lone traveler floats and sinks in the world.
"I don't know when we got separated, and I don't need to know," Belvina said, gazing out the window. "The important thing is that we're standing together again now."
"You're right, we're standing together again now," Sirius said firmly. "The road Regulus didn't finish..."
We'll walk the final path for him. I believe he'll always be with us.
Sirius, sitting on the ground, struggled to get up, but his weak legs were too sore to support his movements.
"Come here, help me up, my legs are numb," Sirius said embarrassedly. "Hurry up, I really can't get up."
Belvina strolled over slowly, her gloomy expression vanishing. She clicked her tongue in disdain and said, "Pfft, with legs like yours—you're not trying to scam me, are you?"
"What kind of talk is that? If I wanted to extort you, I would have done it already. Why would I have waited until today!"
Despite her obvious disdain, Belvina still helped Sirius, whose legs were numb, up from the floor and led him to the tapestry covered with names.
Sirius raised his hand, his right hand hovering in mid-air for a moment before slowly touching the tapestry with the words "Regulus Black." He said softly, "I never realized your courage. Forgive me, Regulus."