The Brightest Start in the ConstellationĀ of Leo
There is none such story as tragic and sad as that of Regulus Black.
He was a small boy born into the house of hateful, supremacist, parents. His house was filled with cursed objects, scarily dark books, weapons, and in one case, vials of blood. His parents were most likely abusive or at least snide, cold, angry, hateful, and distant. I mean look at Walburgaās portrait.
(based off of the Malfoys, does anyone remember how Lucius would swing his cane at Draco? Mostly his hand, but still!!! That thing had sharp teeth!!! And Draco tended to avoid it with a little too much practice and easeā¦So whoās to say the Blacks werenāt similar or worse?)
He had a singular person in that house who really cared about him, and that was taken from him when Sirius was sorted into Gryffindor and they started a hateful feud.
He was then pressured into becoming the perfect pureblood heir because their first choice was a Gryffindor, a disgrace, and a blood traitor to boot.Ā
They swayed him to the Dark Arts and Voldemort, he was made a Death Eater. Being a Black means you are technically pureblooded royalty and in direct eye of Lord Voldemort himself. Weāre not sure when he became a Death Eater but it can be hazarded a guess around 16/17. By 18 years old, barely a year put of Hogwarts he had probably tortured, killed and been robbed completely of his innocence (if he ever had any in that wretched house).Ā
At this point he is estranged from his brother, said brother is fighting on the other side and theyāve probably fought against each other, has one cousin who has been disowned because she loved aĀ āmudbloodā, another cousin who is married to a death eater, yet another cousin who is an insane maniac who gets off on torture, is being pressured by his parents who then die, entrenched in a war while being barely an adult himself, is most likely fighting and killing former classmates and teachers, and second guessing everything hes ever been told by his family.
So the Dark Lord asks for an elf.
He, as the Black heir, is expected to step up. So he does, no matter how much it pains him. Even though Kreacher is currently the only family he has that cares about him and vice versa, he gives him up. So in secret he orders him to come back as he does not want him to die. Kreacher goes and carries out the task of drinking the potion for the Dark Lord and returns home, obviously having been tortured and on the brink of death. Once Regulus has fixed him up he reports everything to him, who then figures out the locket is a Horcrux.
He knows it must be destroyed, he knows he will most likely die.
Can you imagine? 18 years old, not even a year after heās graduated, and he willingly walks to his death. Can you imagine him sitting down and writing that letter for the locket with shaky hands and tears streaming down his face? Heās scared. Of course heās scared! Heās a child! Just eighteen! He is eighteen years old and he marches out of that dark house with his loyal elf and gets Kreacher to take him. He appears on a rock out in a stormy, wild sea. Cold, salty spray rips into his skin and he dives into the chilling water. He shakily sails out to the little island and peers into the basin.
Its a glowing green potion that gives off a malevolent energy. He knows what it is. He saw what it did to Kreacher, he heard the description. He found it in the back of the Black Family Library: The Drink of despair.Ā
It was a torture potion. He knew this. He knew it was like being crucioed from the inside out, that it made you unbearably thirsty, that it made you see the most terrible thingsā¦.
He knew Kreacher could survive it and get home safely where he could fix him up. He knew this. But he couldnāt bear to put poor Kreacher through that again.Ā
So he drank it himself and condemned himself to Death instead.
He died so his House Elf wouldnāt be in pain.
So 18 year old Regulus Black drinks a torture potion. Willingly. To protect his House Elf. In the middle of a lake filled with zombie Inferi. Miles from any living being. To steal an object belonging to the Darkest Wizard in history.Ā
He wasnāt even sure if it could be destroyed but he drank it. And got so thirsty he drank from the lake. The Inferi swarm him, clawing at his skin, pulling at his hair, ripping his clothesā¦ He desperately orders Kreacher to switch the lockets, destroy the real one, and leave as he gets dragged under.
Regulus Arcturus Black dies at the age of eighteen, all alone, at the bottom of a lake of inferi, with no one but an old, bitter House Elf to remember what he had done. He didnāt do it for the glory or the recognition of the masses, nor for the forgiveness of his brother. He tells no one and dies disgraced. Disgraced by his brother for being a Death eater. Disgraced by his Family for turning his back on the Dark. Disgraced by the Death eaters and Voldemort forĀ āfleeingā orĀ āleaving the causeā or whatever excuse they cooked up.
Regulus Black didnāt want to die. He couldāve saved himself and lived. But he didnāt to spare his friend the pain. He died so his House Elf didnāt have to hurt.
