Chapter 2
Regulus sat on the floor in a shadowed corner of the Black family library, surrounded by piles of books on dark magic. Some open to pertinent pages. He sat cross legged with an open book in his lap and stared at the words, face pale and fingers numb as they gripped the binding hard.
He couldn't be sure of course. Not until he examined it certainly. Maybe not even then. But it made sense. An insane sense.
From what the Dark Lord had claimed of his protections against death, and all Regulus had read in the past week that he could find on the subject, it looked like he had the answer.
The Black family library was ancient and extensive. One of the largest and best preserved of the pureblood family libraries, with many since banned books on the Dark Arts.
The subject of immortality was ever a popular pursuit of dark and so called light wizards alike, but few effective methods had been found. Mostly cures, spells or rituals to prolong life. Such as the philosophers Stone, or vitality siphoning spells. Or shields and wards to protect against attacks.
But the Dark Lord had spoken of some magic that ensured he could not die. Never any details, but Regulus had the impression it was no mere shield and more protection than prolonged life.
And then the Dark Lord had asked to borrow Kreacher. Regulus had told the elf to come back to him, and he had, half dead.
Regulus had nursed the elf back to health and gotten every detail of what the Dark Lord had done. He did not initially have any intention of using the information against his Lord, but knowledge was power, and you never knew when you would need it. Regulus had a great memory and was meticulous in collecting every scrap of information since he joined the Death Eaters.
The text in front of him did not go into great detail, but was rather a historical recounting. Herpo the foul of ancient Greece had been believed to be immortal, having invented a way to split the soul and trap it in an object.
And the protections on the cave Kreacher had been taken to were powerful and elaborate enough that it must be protecting something very important to the Dark Lord.
Something darker than a mere heirloom of Slytherin.