Chapter 111: My Soul Is Pure and Warm
At nine-fifty on Saturday morning, Regulus stood before the stone gargoyle on the eighth floor.
Regulus knew a password was required, but Dumbledore hadn't given him one.
He waited a few seconds. The gargoyle stirred on its own, stone joints grinding with a low, heavy scrape. It hopped aside, and the wall behind it rotated open to reveal a spiraling staircase.
The stairs turned upward of their own accord. Regulus stepped on and let them carry him up until they stopped before a heavy oak door.
A brass knocker shaped like a griffin hung at its center.
He knocked three times. The door swung open by itself.
The Headmaster's office was a spacious, circular room.
Portraits lined the walls, former Headmasters of Hogwarts sitting or standing in their frames. Some read books, some dozed, and some watched Regulus enter with open curiosity.
Below the frames ran dark wooden shelves packed with heavy tomes and instruments.