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High up against the clear, freezing Scottish night sky, brilliant, highly colorful magical flames continuously burst at a dizzying angle, forcing everyone in the yard to tilt their heads very far back just to watch. The heavily enchanted fireworks exploded, instantly creating massive, complex multiple color changes and long-lasting, highly detailed graphical displays that mundane, Muggle fireworks simply couldn't physically achieve, leaving thick, shining traces of glowing smoke lingering on the dark curtain of the night.
(The Black Family's aggressive, highly lucrative corporate "money-burning" marketing plan is officially proceeding in a highly orderly manner...) Regulus thought, checking his mental budget.
Late autumn air, blinding fireworks, tailored wizard robes mixing with flowing Greek dresses, rustic wooden cabins, crackling, fragrant bonfires, the heavy, mouth-watering smell of the feast, and dozens of cute, wildly smiling little wizards running around...
This, Regulus thought, inhaling deeply, this is exactly the unburdened, magical feel of the wizarding world that I desperately want to protect!
Regulus stood alone on a large, flat granite rock near the edge of the pumpkin patch. He passively activated his highly advanced Eagle Vision, looking down at the massive, chaotic fireworks display, Hagrid's cabin, and the dark, looming tree line of the Forbidden Forest from a slightly elevated tactical vantage point. A small, genuinely content smile played on his lips as he fully immersed himself in the warmth and fragrance of the party he had built.
Huh? Wait a minute.
Regulus's hyper-aware gamer instincts suddenly flared. Something's not right.
He narrowed his dark eyes, intensely scanning the perimeter of the yard—
Through the glowing, blue-tinted tactical overlay of his Eagle Vision, he clearly saw a tall, incredibly powerful magical signature. The figure, wearing a long, sweeping cloak and a pointed hat, had just walked silently out of the heavy oak doors of the Castle and was currently heading directly, purposefully towards Hagrid's side of the grounds. But as the figure walked down the sloping lawn, the massive magical signature suddenly, violently flickered and disappeared entirely from the visual spectrum, seamlessly, flawlessly blending into the dark night as if it had simply ceased to exist.
Heh. What exactly is going on here? Regulus smirked coldly in the dark. Invisible gatecrashers?
How incredibly interesting.
"Mr. Black! Thank you so incredibly much again for the exclusive invitation, it was absolutely great fun!"
Regulus turned. It was Jacob Frye, the nervous, first-year Muggle-born student from Slytherin House whom Regulus had recently saved from Rabastan Lestrange's bullying. Standing directly beside him was a little witch Regulus didn't immediately recognize. She was exactly the same height as Jacob, possessing an incredibly sharp, intelligent face and sparkling, massive blue eyes. The blue and bronze trim on her robes indicated she was his twin sister, Ivy Frye, currently sorted into Ravenclaw.
The 'Senior Black' had been incredibly, aggressively busy acting as the host all night, and little Jacob had finally managed to find this brief, free moment to approach him alone.
"It is entirely my pleasure, Jacob. Please, just call me Regulus," Regulus said smoothly, stepping down from the rock. He had actively, deliberately paid very close attention to this specific Muggle-born Slytherin little wizard. Jacob possessed a highly unique, deeply strong sense of Gryffindor-esque bluntness and physical courage, which was incredibly rare in the snake pit, and Regulus had specifically ensured he was sent a VIP invitation.
"Regulus, I also desperately needed to formally thank you for violently stepping in when that brute Lestrange was aggressively bullying us in the common room," Jacob said, his young eyes incredibly firm and entirely devoid of fear. He executed a deeply serious, highly respectful bow.
"It was absolutely nothing, Jacob," Regulus smiled warmly, speaking kindly to the little wizards. "I sincerely hope that in the future, when you inevitably encounter similar, highly unjust situations of prejudice in this world, you will also possess the absolute courage to physically stand up and fight back."
"Of course we will!" Ivy, standing proudly beside her twin brother, suddenly interjected solemnly, her voice ringing with absolute certainty. "'Guardians absolutely must protect the innocent.' That is our strict family motto."
Huh? Wait a minute... What kind of incredibly specific, highly iconic 'Assassin's Creed'-style dialogue line is that?! Regulus violently snapped his head around in sheer surprise, his dark gaze intensely fixed directly on little Ivy Frye—
(Are they... are they descendants of the legendary Frye twins from AC Syndicate?! In this universe?!)
The little Ravenclaw witch simply tilted her head slightly, completely unfazed by his intense stare. The blinding, colorful fireworks exploding in the sky beautifully reflected in her massive, clear blue eyes. Paired with her highly serious, overly grown-up tone of voice, the sheer dramatic effect was actually incredibly cute.
"But Regulus, since you are the president, I have a highly logical administrative question: exactly why can't first-years legally join the combat brackets of the Dueling Club?" Ivy instantly threw out the next, highly demanding academic question, completely ignoring the tension.
Jacob nodded his head frantically on the side, clearly also desperate to legally hex people.
"My dear, highly ambitious young lady, please have just a little bit more patience," Regulus smiled, recovering from his shock. He seamlessly slipped back into his PR persona. "Consider this enforced waiting period as vital, theoretical preparation for officially joining the club next year. The more foundational Charms you successfully learn in class now, the vastly more fun and highly destructive your duels will be later."
"But—I've already successfully finished entirely self-studying absolutely everything in the mandated first-year Charms Class textbook!" Ivy grumbled loudly, crossing her arms in deep frustration.
As completely expected of a highly competitive, terrifying Ravenclaw top student, Regulus chuckled internally.
"Every single Charm, even the absolute simplest, most basic Cutting Charm that can be learned in the first week of your first year, can be continuously, aggressively refined and mathematically upgraded—and, honestly, Ivy, at Hogwarts, there is vastly more to learn about magic than just what is safely printed in the Ministry textbooks," Regulus explained thoughtfully, his voice dropping into a serious, mentor-like tone. "Actively making more diverse friends, building political alliances, and listening to the practical combat experiences of older students at Hogwarts is also incredibly, vitally important for your survival."
"I have a highly specific philosophical thought—what truly, fundamentally binds us together as powerful wizards is absolutely not our raw magic cores, but our limitless imagination and our absolute willpower. You can actively try to experience building this specific willpower at school this year."
"I completely, entirely agree with Regulus on that," Sirius's loud, highly charismatic voice suddenly boomed from the dark.
Sirius, James, and Remus walked over together, their arms casually, heavily thrown around each other's shoulders. They were all holding massive, dripping slices of sweet, red-fleshed watermelon, their faces flushed with absolute joy and massive, unburdened smiles. "When we illegally, secretly practiced the highly advanced Patronus Charm together over the summer, we repeatedly, violently had to experience and physically manifest our absolute deepest inner desires and our raw willpower just to produce a spark."
"Yes, you absolutely have to aggressively concentrate," Severus Snape, who was deeply, obsessively fixated on the raw mechanics of magic, also stepped out of the shadows to join the academic discussion. "When flawlessly brewing complex potions—I mean—when heavily practicing volatile Charms, you absolutely must violently focus your entire mental attention onto one single, microscopic thing."
"You can only focus your mind entirely on that one specific thing until absolutely everything else in the physical world completely disappears—" Regulus added smoothly, nodding at Severus.
"Just look closely at Regulus, you two. You know it's true," Sirius grinned, spreading his free hand and gesturing dramatically to his impeccably dressed younger brother. "Absolutely do not let his terrifying, natural talent for throwing massive, highly funded parties completely fool you into thinking he's soft; in absolute reality, his daily life has absolutely nothing to do with comfort, ease, or aristocratic leisure. He truly, aggressively dedicates his entire physical time and soul to obsessively studying highly lethal magic."
"You win some, you lose some," Regulus shrugged casually, completely downplaying his grueling, sleep-deprived training schedule. True, unadulterated magic is so incredibly, breathtakingly precious that these minor physical sacrifices are not even considered a real cost to me.
"But Regulus, exactly why do you actually like studying grueling, highly theoretical magic so much?" Ivy frowned deeply, staring up at him in pure, unadulterated disbelief. "Are you absolutely, entirely sure you really aren't secretly a Ravenclaw?"
"Yeah, mate, don't you inherently, actively hate sitting through boring classes like the rest of us?" James Potter grumbled loudly from the side, spitting out a watermelon seed.
Or are you simply, violently pursuing absolute, raw power?
Just exactly like I was back then.
The completely invisible Albus Dumbledore stood perfectly, utterly still not even thirty feet away from the group. He honestly didn't fully know exactly why he had suddenly, overwhelmingly felt the intense, paranoid urge to physically come down and see the young wizards at Hagrid's cabin party with his own two eyes—or perhaps he did intimately know exactly why, but simply didn't want to admit his own terrifying, suffocating fear of the Black heir to himself.
"Maybe that's just Regulus's terrifying, innate biological talent," Sirius chuckled, affectionately, heavily patting his younger brother's shoulder cheekily.
To Sirius's massive surprise, Regulus—who usually fiercely, violently rejected any public boasting about himself—actually nodded in agreement.
"Yes. It is talent," Regulus said softly. He looked directly down into little Ivy's wide eyes and spoke incredibly seriously, his voice carrying clearly in the cool night air. "But true, raw talent absolutely isn't just about exactly how quickly or how flawlessly I can mathematically learn to cast complex Charms. True talent is entirely about exactly how I feel deep in my soul when I am actively studying and manipulating the fundamental laws of magic—"
"I am genuinely, completely happy!"
Regulus elegantly drew his hawthorn wand from his sleeve. He casually, blindly aimed the tip directly at a massive, unopened box of highly volatile fireworks sitting on the grass exactly thirty feet away—
It was at this exact, microscopic moment that his Eagle Vision detected a highly unnatural physical anomaly on the ground. He noticed a patch of flattened, crushed grass violently rising back up. And directly next to this recovering grass, fresh, dew-covered grass had just been heavily, invisibly stepped on, physically forming the exact, unmistakable shape of a pair of heavy, pointed wizard's boot soles.
Ah. So the highly paranoid, incredibly manipulative old goat Dumbledore really did actually come down here to secretly spy on us, Regulus thought, completely suppressing a terrifying smirk. And the old bastard genuinely, arrogantly thought he hadn't been noticed at all.
(◐‿◑)
A blindingly fast, highly compressed beam of localized orange flame shot violently, perfectly straight from the tip of Regulus's wand directly to the tiny, microscopic string of the firework's fuse. Bright, violent sparks flew instantly from the burning fuse, and a massive, deafening firework subsequently shot screaming into the sky.
"I am happy—because mastering magic allows me to deeply understand my own physical limits better, and because raw power ultimately gives me vast, undeniable choices in this world."
Regulus gently reached out and affectionately, lightly touched Ivy's soft hair. The fierce little witch, who previously seemed entirely fearless, suddenly blushed brilliantly and shyly lowered her head.
"Compared to those deeply unfortunate people born without magic, we all inherently possess massively more political and physical choices in this universe—and every single choice we make is a brutal, defining test of our own morality."
"Some highly arrogant people who possess immense magic think vastly, violently highly of themselves. They actively choose to do profound evil, violently bullying, torturing, and controlling others simply by relying on their overwhelming, unearned raw power," Regulus said, his voice dropping into a cold, terrifyingly firm register that echoed Dumbledore's own worst fears.
Regulus seamlessly, smoothly reached out. He firmly put one arm heavily around Severus Snape's tense shoulder, and he aggressively threw the other arm heavily around Sirius Black's shoulder, pulling his two historically bitter enemies tightly together into a unified front.
"And I choose to use my magic for me—to absolutely, violently protect everything and everyone I cherish with it!"
The invisible Headmaster—who absolutely hadn't yet realized he had completely, flawlessly exposed his physical whereabouts to the twelve-year-old boy—stood frozen in the dark grass. Suddenly, Dumbledore only physically felt that the early autumn night wind whipping across the grounds was incredibly, terrifyingly cold, and deeply, profoundly lonely.
The two highly volatile little wizards, whom Regulus had just forcibly, physically brought together under his arms, unusually didn't violently sneer or immediately turn their heads away from each other in pure disgust.
"Heh heh. Well said, little brother. Tonight—we just absolutely have to have fun!" Sirius yelled happily, raising his Butterbeer.
As soon as he finished speaking, the massive, glowing, highly explosive words "HOG PARTY" formed flawlessly by the magical fireworks violently appeared and burned brightly in the dark sky.
Everyone in the yard looked up, watching the massive letters shimmer brilliantly in violently different, shifting neon colors, lingering beautifully in the smoke-filled sky. High up on the towering stone balcony of the Hogwarts Astronomy Tower, the distant, tiny silhouettes of a massive group of older little wizards could be seen jumping wildly and aggressively waving their arms at the display.
"We are officially the very first Hog Party!" James Potter, who absolutely, undeniably belonged to the highly energetic, chaotic atmosphere team, stood proudly beside Hagrid. With his messy hair and glasses, he looked exactly, heartbreakingly like his future son, Harry. He waved his wand excitedly and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Remus, come on! Let's light the big ones!"
More highly enthusiastic little wizards instantly joined James's chaotic ranks, turning toward the massive, dark silhouette of the Castle and shouting at the top of their lungs—
"FIRST HOG PARTY!" "WE ARE THE ABSOLUTE BEST!" "BLACK IS OUR KING!"
Haha, Regulus laughed genuinely.
"Go ahead, you two," Regulus mouthed silently, stepping back and gesturing elegantly to Severus Snape and Remus Lupin, who had both nervously drawn their wands and were looking highly eager to illegally light the massive boxes of explosives.
A thousand pieces of pure gold absolutely cannot buy a genuinely good, unburdened night of youth, Regulus thought happily. So burn the bloody money to your heart's content!
The devastatingly handsome Sirius Black; James Potter ridiculously wearing a carved-out watermelon rind on his head like a helmet; the happily laughing, unburdened Remus Lupin; Severus Snape proudly holding his wand high and actually smiling... and Regulus Arcturus Black, standing confidently, flawlessly in the absolute, undisputed center of them all.
This specific, blinding fireworks display, burning on the very last day of October 1973, remained forever perfectly, flawlessly captured in the flashing, magical photographs.