Coupled with the fact that he had finally relented and stopped flatly refusing her as he had before, Dorcas did not complain even when she eventually realized Victor was merely acting. Instead, she felt that Victor cared deeply for her, and she felt a small sense of joy in her heart.
As this incident concluded, Victor had averted the possibility of Dorcas's descent into darkness, and Dorcas had found a sense of hope to cling to.
Therefore... the only one who ended up hurt was Sirius Black.
"You're not being fair! Do you have any idea how hard she hits?" Sirius slumped onto a long bench, looking completely drained.
If Victor hadn't intervened in time, Sirius would have been turned into a pot of dog stew by now.
Dorcas stood in front of Victor and said, "Fine, I'll consider this a favor I owe you. I won't hold your brother's actions against him anymore."
Sirius immediately perked up; his back no longer ached, and his legs were no longer weak. "You should have said that earlier!"
As long as Dorcas no longer held a grudge against Regulus, his ancestral home and his brother would be safe.
Sirius let out a sigh, wondering if that brat knew how much of a sacrifice he was making to protect his little brother.
"However, that fellow has been hiding in the safe house, and there's nothing we can do about it. We can't just wait here forever," Dorcas said, frowning at the row of houses before them.
Victor stroked his chin, musing, "How do you think Regulus learns about what's happening outside?"
Sirius and Dorcas looked at each other, both realizing the critical nature of this question.
If Regulus was staying in the safe house, he must have a way to obtain information. Otherwise, how would he know if the coast was clear or if they had already left?
"I think I know how he's doing it." Sirius mirrored Victor's posture, rubbing his own chin.
Lucky sat to one side, tilting his head and looking at him curiously, as if wondering how the black dog from a moment ago had suddenly turned into a person.
"Go on," Victor prompted.
"My family has a house-elf named Kreacher. If that fellow isn't dead yet, Regulus must be using him to scout for news," Sirius answered.
"Kreacher... a house-elf..." Victor nodded. "Given the nature of house-elves, they are indeed perfect for acting as Regulus's eyes. If that's the case, we'll use Kreacher to break this stalemate."
Dorcas and Sirius both nodded in agreement.
"We'll find a way to have Kreacher deliver a message inside. We'll tell Regulus that we mean no harm and that we need to have a proper talk," Victor said.
"Fine, that's the only way. I'll get right on it. The kid can't possibly refuse to see his own brother!" Sirius said with determination.
"A master can summon their house-elf," Dorcas noted, looking at Sirius. "You're a member of the Black family, too. Theoretically, you should be able to summon Kreacher."
Sirius gave a bitter smile and shook his head. "I can't do it. My relationship with Kreacher is far too strained. Now that Regulus is around, he will only listen to him."
If Regulus were dead, Sirius would be Kreacher's only legitimate master, aside from the daughters who had married out, and he could have summoned the elf.
But now, Regulus was alive, and Sirius—the family traitor—had already been blasted off the family tree by his mother.
Therefore, Kreacher had every reason to ignore his summons.
"Hah... Since that's the case, we'll just have to grease the wheels with gold," Victor laughed. "Aside from Kreacher's reports, Regulus probably gets his information from newspapers and the like. In that case, we'll leave a message for him in the paper. Tell him I want to have a proper chat with him."
Placing a message for Regulus in the Daily Prophet was indeed a method of using money to clear a path.
Sirius looked at Victor with a hint of suspicion. "I say, you want to find Regulus for more than just clearing up a misunderstanding, don't you? It seems like you want to get some information from him?"
Victor's eagerness to find Regulus was a bit too urgent, and Sirius was keen enough to notice that something wasn't quite right.
If it were just a minor misunderstanding or a piece of trivial information, they could have just waited outside. There would be no need to go through the trouble and expense of using the Daily Prophet just to convey a small message.
Dorcas hadn't thought that far ahead; she simply wanted to help Victor with his tasks. Besides, she had her own personal grudge with Regulus, so she had been happy to corner him.
She only knew that Victor wanted a piece of information from Regulus, but she didn't know what that information actually was.
Now, hearing Sirius's words, she also realized how much Victor valued this intel.
Facing their inquisitive gazes, Victor said softly, "You guessed correctly. That information is extremely important..."
"Can we... know what that information is?" Sirius asked hesitantly.
He was worried that his brother had stumbled into another dangerous vortex. Even though he knew it might be improper to ask, he did so anyway.
Victor fell silent for a long moment before letting out a soft sigh. "Very well. Since things have come to this, I won't hide it from you. Regulus holds the secret to the Dark Lord's immortality."
Times had changed. Victor now possessed enough strength to protect himself, and based on what he knew, the two people before him were trustworthy.
Furthermore, informing trusted allies about Voldemort's situation earlier would allow more people to coordinate and prepare.
Relying solely on himself, Dumbledore, and Snape limited what they could accomplish.
So, he finally decided to reveal the truth to the two of them.
As soon as Victor's answer left his mouth, both Dorcas and Sirius stood frozen.
"The secret to immortality? You mean..." Sirius frowned at Victor, hoping in his heart that Victor was joking.
Victor nodded. "Yes, exactly that. The Dark Lord isn't dead. He possesses a method of avoiding death. Even if his physical body is destroyed, he can be resurrected using a lingering fragment of his soul. Dumbledore and I have been tracking this method, and Regulus... when he kidnapped Dorcas before, he mentioned that he had destroyed one of the Dark Lord's anchors for resurrection."
"Now, Dumbledore and I have found traces of Voldemort. He is currently plotting to steal the Philosopher's Stone hidden at Hogwarts to complete his resurrection. We must find his secret and destroy those objects to kill him once and for all before that happens! Otherwise, even if he fails to get the Stone, he will vanish from our sight again, and it will be difficult to find him."
Sirius finally realized the gravity of the situation.
"So that means... the reason Regulus suddenly disappeared back then was because he destroyed one of the Dark Lord's items for resurrection, and there's more than one of them? And the Dark Lord is currently preparing for his return..."
Voldemort could not be killed directly. To finish him for good, they had to uncover his secret and then find and destroy every one of those anchors.
If Voldemort resurrected during their search, he would certainly protect those items more fiercely, making things nearly impossible.
And now, the key to breaking the deadlock was Regulus's information.
Sirius had never imagined that the information Regulus held was so vital! No wonder Victor was so anxious.
"That stupid brat! At a critical time like this, he's actually hiding in a safe house and refusing to talk!" Knowing the danger, Sirius was nearly driven mad with anxiety.
If Voldemort returned and gathered all his anchors, Regulus would turn from a hero into a sinner for all time!
Victor waved his hand dismissively. "Don't be too hard on him, Sirius. He destroyed the Dark Lord's most important possession; it's natural for him to be more alert and cautious than most. Not to mention that in the eyes of many Death Eaters, I am the Dark Lord's most capable assistant. How could he possibly trust me easily?"
"I never thought You-Know-Who was still alive." Dorcas frowned, drawing her wand and stroking it slowly. "Fine, it's no big deal. If it comes to it, we'll just fight them again!"
"Leave this to me. I'll go to the newspaper to send him a message. You shouldn't show your face. Given your identity, he won't agree to talk to you," Sirius said seriously.
"Very well," Victor agreed to Sirius's request.
If he were the one to approach, Regulus definitely wouldn't appear. But with Sirius... Regulus would surely be willing to say a few words to his own brother.
This way, they didn't need to force Regulus to clear up his misunderstanding with Victor; as long as Sirius could extract the information from him, that would be enough.
In this world, there were plenty of people who misunderstood Victor Wick; one more wouldn't make a difference! The information was what mattered most!
After the arrangements were made, Victor returned to Hogwarts.
The dazzling chain was given to Lucky as a gift.
Lucky seemed to really like the shiny chain, often bringing it over in his mouth and trying to get Victor to put it on him so they could go out for a stroll.
Unfortunately, Victor had no leisure time for the moment.
The first thing he did upon his return was to report everything to Dumbledore.
Then, he turned his focus back to Quirrell and Harry.
If no progress could be made on Regulus's side, they would have to rely on the fake Philosopher's Stone.
For Voldemort to resurrect, he would inevitably need to use his own soul fragment. As long as his soul came into contact with the fake Stone, Victor would be able to extract a great deal of useful information from it!
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