Regulus Black Could Have Survived in Harry Potter
It seems that Sirius's brother's tragic death was far from being inevitable.
J.K. Rowling's intricate universe of wizards and monsters has been a resounding success, not only because of its best-selling books, but also through a series of films and spinoffs. But being a popular franchise is not the only thing the series is good at. Equally important are coherence and excellent narration.
Although Rowling's books about teenagers are still loved to this day, some fans consider the author's techniques of heightened tragedy to be rather questionable.
While discussing some plot holes in the Harry Potter universe on Reddit, fans came across one unexplained death – that of Regulus Black.
Although Sirius' brother never appeared as a character in the books, he was mentioned frequently, allowing readers to get to know him quite well. A member of an ancient family, Regulus was a talented wizard and a prominent member of the Slytherin Quidditch team. From a young age he considered Lord Voldemort his personal hero and joined the Death Eaters at the age of 16.
However, he quickly realized how cruel and unfair Voldemort was, and began making plans to escape from the dangerous cult. At one point, Voldemort asked Regulus for a favor by borrowing his house-elf Kreacher to test the protection of the Horcrux locket kept in the Crystal Cave. After being subjected to inhuman suffering Kreacher broke free from Voldemort and told Regulus all about it, the young wizard decided to steal the locket, ruining Voldemort's chances of becoming immortal.
And this is where all the trouble for the fans begins – Regulus and Kreacher find the locket in the basin of Emerald Potion, which can be drained away only by drinking.
Regulus decides to drink this extremely dangerous potion and asks Kreacher to swap the original locket for a fake one afterwards and escape without him. Yes, you read it right! Regulus asks his elf to leave him to die in the cave, despite the fact that elves can apparate with other people.
After drinking all the potion, Regulus tries to quench his thirst by getting water from the lake, but he is dragged away into its depths by the Inferi. A rather bizarre death, when you think about it, for Kreacher could have easily saved his master by taking him back.
Fans can only explain it with one theory – Regulus was ashamed of being a Death Eater and decided to die trying to stop his former master. It would have been a noble death, but thanks to Rowling's poor explanation it looks rather foolish and unnecessary.