Chapter 112: Proving the Path [bonus]
After Dumbledore asked his question, the office fell silent.
The portraits on the wall held their breath. Some pretended to read, others feigned sleep, but every pair of eyes drifted toward the desk.
Phineas Black still hid behind his Daily Prophet, the edge pulled low enough to expose only the tops of his eyes.
Regulus didn't answer right away. He was deciding how much truth to share.
This wasn't about political allegiance or picking sides. It was about the fundamental nature of magic.
The man asking was Dumbledore. If Professor Flitwick could sense the changes in him, the Headmaster certainly had. Deflecting or giving vague answers would be pointless, a waste of opportunity, even.
But he wouldn't say everything.
What he could share was direction. His understanding of what magic was at its core. The rough shape of his own path.
Saying it aloud to Dumbledore was also saying it to himself. A chance to test his own thinking.