Sirius fell silent.
He looked as if he had finally found the truth he'd been chasing.
"You-Know-Who… he's really coming back?"
His voice was raw.
Sean gave a single, quiet nod.
"Ah…"
Sirius let out a low, broken laugh. His hollow eyes caught the thin shafts of daylight slipping through the heavy curtains. The dark circles beneath them made him look half-mad.
"If that's the answer you wanted, then I suppose we should talk about Regulus Black."
Sean's tone stayed even.
"What do you want to know about him…"
Sirius studied the young wizard with wary eyes, running a hand through his tangled hair.
"I don't know much. I hated every last one of them."
"Everything," Sean said after a moment.
"Fine. If it's not too much trouble… follow me."
Sirius vanished with a soft pop. In his place stood a large black dog.
The dog gave a low, rough growl and glanced back.
Sean stepped forward, climbing the crumbling stone steps while studying the newly appeared door.
The black paint was flaking off in long strips, covered in scratches. The silver door knocker was shaped like a coiled serpent. There was no keyhole and no letterbox.
The dog pressed close. The door creaked open by itself.
"Come in," a voice called from inside, "but stay close and don't touch anything."
Sean crossed the threshold into an almost pitch-black entrance hall.
The air smelled damp and dusty, with an underlying sweetness of decay. The place felt like a long-abandoned tomb.
A faint rustling sound, then a row of old-fashioned gas lamps flared to life along the walls, casting a shaky, unreal glow over peeling wallpaper and a threadbare carpet that stretched the length of the grim hallway.
Overhead, a cobweb-covered chandelier flickered. Blackened portraits hung crookedly on the walls.
Beside the chandelier, on a wobbling table, stood candelabras shaped like twisting snakes.
"This is the Black family home," Sirius said, his voice echoing. "The Regulus Black you mentioned was my brother.
He was just like our parents—obsessed with pure blood. They believed being a Black made you superior by birth…
So my idiot brother, too weak to think for himself, swallowed every word they fed him… That's him."
Sirius pointed at the very bottom of the family tree.
Regulus Arcturus Black. A birth date, and right after it, a death date.
"He was younger than me," Sirius continued.
"Everyone kept reminding me what a better son he was.
Then he died.
Stupid fool… he actually joined the Death Eaters."
"You and your brother… you actually…"
Will muttered from the side.
"Puck, after seeing this house, do you still need me to explain what kind of wizards my family were?"
Sirius's voice dripped with sarcasm.
"Your parents were… Death Eaters too?"
"Not quite. But trust me, they thought Voldemort was right. They wanted pure-blood supremacy, wanted to rid the world of Muggle-borns and put pure-bloods in charge.
They weren't alone. Before Voldemort showed his true face, plenty of people agreed with his ideas…
When they realised he'd do anything for power, they got scared and backed away.
But I'm sure my parents thought Regulus was a brave little hero for joining early.
Then he died."
Sirius's smile widened, bitter and sharp.
"Voldemort killed him. Or more likely had him killed.
I doubt Regulus was important enough for Voldemort to dirty his own hands.
From what I learned after he died, he'd gone in deep, then got frightened by what they asked him to do and tried to back out.
You can't just hand in a resignation to Voldemort. It's lifelong service or death.
That's his story. It shows what happens when you side with evil. Only cowards and idiots do that."
Sirius finished with a harsh laugh.
"Maybe the story we know isn't quite the same, Mr Black?"
Sean's voice was quiet, but it made Sirius visibly uneasy.
"Do you know what you're saying? Or do I need to lie to you?"
Sirius frowned.
"I found Regulus Black in a very special place."
Sean spoke calmly and produced a long wooden box.
It looked uncomfortably like a coffin.
Sirius hesitated, then pushed the lid open.
Inside lay a body that had been gnawed on, waterlogged, and left in a terrible state.
Even though Sirius had braced himself, the sight hit him like a train. For a long moment he couldn't speak.
"I believe Mr Kreacher can tell us a very different story."
The moment Sean finished speaking, a house-elf appeared with a soft pop in the middle of the corridor.
He wore nothing but a filthy rag tied around his waist like a loincloth. His skin hung in loose folds, far more than his small body seemed to need. His bald head was dominated by two enormous bat-like ears sprouting thick white hair.
His bloodshot eyes were watery and grey. His bulbous nose looked more like a pig's snout.
The instant he appeared, he let out a piercing shriek.
"Master Black!"