Hogwarts: Legacy of the Necromancer

At the age of thirteen, people mature differently—especially among Westerners.

Some are mature, some are childish, while others can switch between both—an ever-changing temperament that can be quite alluring.

However, for Regulus Black, now in his third lifetime, thirteen represented a moral bottom line. While he didn't mind raising a young girl, he had never taken that final step. Still, he didn't object to doing other things.

After being attentively "served" by the golden-eyed young girl using both her hands and feet, Regulus spent the night at her home and only left the next morning.

He returned to Hogwarts refreshed and energized, as tonight would be a full moon, the moment all previous plans were set to unfold.

At breakfast, Regulus Black appeared on time at the professors' table. He had two Potions classes to teach in the morning and four more in the afternoon.

This was because today's usual Potions professor, Severus Snape, was substituting for the absent Professor Remus Lupin, covering the equally important Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Severus Snape remarked that although he couldn't officially become the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, even substituting was satisfying enough.

Back during the first full moon night, when Professor Snape first took over the Defense class, some sharp students had already sensed something was off.

Since then, this pattern had continued—once a month. Every time the full moon approached, Professor Lupin would conveniently take leave for several days. Add to that the fact that Snape had begun his first substitute class by teaching about werewolves, and it became obvious to the observant what was really going on.

It had practically become an open secret at the school. Even upper-year students were forced by Snape to write three-foot-long essays on werewolves, and lower-year students were introduced to the topic in advance.

Faced with such circumstances, Professor Lupin had no good solution. After all, his Wolfsbane Potion still had to be brewed by his old rival, Severus Snape—who seemed one step away from publicly announcing Lupin's werewolf identity to the entire school.

Nevertheless, this also demonstrated the unity at Hogwarts. All the teachers kept the secret, and even the students who had figured it out chose not to expose it. The more carefree students didn't even notice anything strange, so naturally, they knew nothing about it.

Everything was under control! Dumbledore was quite pleased with the current state of affairs.

After a day of lessons, there was still some time before dinner. Students roamed in groups—some rushing homework, some practicing for Quidditch, some trading contraband items, and others caught up in romance. With Regulus Black having turned down most of the girls, the number of student couples around campus had noticeably rebounded.

Meanwhile, the trio of Harry Potter, Hermione Granger, and Ron Weasley headed toward the back of Hogwarts after hearing the news Hermione had brought.

The rear entrance of Hogwarts led to Hagrid's hut, the Forbidden Forest, and of course, the direction of Hogsmeade Village.

Today, the Ministry of Magic had issued an official order approving the execution of the Hippogriff, Buckbeak.

Despite Hagrid's long resistance and deep sorrow, nothing could change Buckbeak's fate.

The Minister of Magic would arrive in person, carrying the execution order.

Of course! Given the regular school curriculum, it was inconvenient for Dumbledore to accompany the Minister during classes. So the execution was scheduled just before dinner, allowing the Minister and the executioner to stay and enjoy the evening meal afterward.

Naturally, that was just a made-up excuse. If the execution were to take place during class, wouldn't that leave Harry Potter with no chance to intervene? By the time he got out of class, it would all be over, and Buckbeak's head would be off his shoulders.

As Harry, Hermione, and Ron walked through the familiar rear courtyard of Hogwarts, they saw a hooded, masked executioner sharpening a massive axe with a whetstone.

The executioner grinned at the three children as they passed, revealing a mouth full of rotten teeth.

The position of executioner at the Ministry of Magic was actually quite lucrative—according to Ministry regulations, everything owned by the executed would belong to the executioner.

In the wizarding world, where the "Avada Kedavra" curse is one of the Unforgivable Curses, the executioner's role—requiring physical execution—was also seen as an evil one. That's why few people were willing to take the job. Still, the wizarding government had to maintain the role, because while human criminals could be sent to Azkaban, magical creatures and other species were not treated the same. If the crime was severe, execution was the default.

In theory, executioners could inherit the property of executed wizards. But in practice, that rarely happened, as most executions involved magical creatures or non-human criminals.

Regardless of whether the condemned was a deserving felon or an innocent creature like Buckbeak, a life was a life—and the executioner's job was to take it.

Thus, it was a job that greatly harmed one's karma, and not everyone was willing to do it despite the generous compensation.

The executioner, Walden Macnair, was actually a Death Eater. He worked for the Ministry handling executions of magical creatures (such as Buckbeak at the time). His identity as a Death Eater would only be exposed in the events of the Goblet of Fire the following year.

He would later participate in the Department of Mysteries battle, where he'd be defeated by Dumbledore's Army and imprisoned in Azkaban. After Voldemort's rise to power, he was freed and took part in the final battle at Hogwarts, where Rubeus Hagrid hurled him across the Great Hall, slamming him into a wall and knocking him out. After the battle, like many surviving Death Eaters, he was once again imprisoned in Azkaban—an incorrigible repeat offender.

Still, in Regulus Black's view, this man had his uses—at least before his identity was exposed.

Years of executing magical creatures meant he had a huge stash of their corpses—valuable magical ingredients.

But business could wait until after the job was done.

On the way to Hagrid's hut, the trio encountered Draco Malfoy and his two usual cronies, who had come to gloat. After a brief scuffle, Hermione chased the three of them off.

Inside Hagrid's hut, the grieving Hagrid was waiting for the Minister's arrival, while Buckbeak lay outside in the pumpkin patch, resigned to his fate.

The hut was as messy as ever, and now there was an unfamiliar creature flailing its tentacles while trying to crawl out of an eggshell—only to be shoved back in and covered with a dirty rag by Hagrid. Clearly, even with Buckbeak's death, Hagrid wouldn't be short of new pets.

The three children discussed options with Hagrid but found no solution. Even the clever Miss Granger couldn't come up with a plan, so they all just paced anxiously in frustration.

The only good news was that Ron had found his pet rat—he'd thought "Scabbers" had been eaten by Hermione's cat!

Suddenly, a small stone flew in through the window and hit Harry Potter square on the head.

A moment later, Ron Weasley also took a hit to the head, and both boys let out cries of pain.

Hermione picked up the stone and realized it was actually a snail shell from Hagrid's pumpkin patch—small but extremely hard.

Looking out the window, they saw Dumbledore walking toward them, accompanied by Cornelius Fudge and the executioner.

"The Headmaster is coming… what should we do?"

The three still hadn't found a way to save Buckbeak, and it now seemed his fate was sealed.

"You kids can't stay here. Quick, go out the other door," Hagrid urged. He didn't want Dumbledore or the Minister to see the children—an execution scene wasn't something children should witness.

So, in a hurried escape, the trio slipped out the back of the hut and avoided Dumbledore's group.

Harry Potter and Ron Weasley, both holding the swelling lumps on their heads, ran past the pumpkin patch and out into the distance.

From afar, they watched as Hagrid led the three officials into the pumpkin patch. The executioner glanced around, then raised the massive axe—and brought it down in a single heavy swing.

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