Collapse Therapy

Chapter 87 Collapse Therapy

Sirius firmly and stubbornly believes that he is responsible for all misfortune and suffering.

It was his pride and arrogance, his self-righteousness, that caused the deaths of James and Lily, brought endless harm to Remus, and also to Harry, his godson Harry.

Now he is imprisoned in Azkaban, suffering torment day and night from Dementors, which he deserves; he is atoning for his sins.

This was a terrible and horrible idea. Sirius drew a circle around himself, trapping himself inside it, unwilling to leave, or even to look up at the outside world.

Who would have thought that the rebel who was expelled from the family, the one who always wanted to escape the family's shadow, would be none other than Blake?

Sirius's arrogance led him to take all the blame upon himself, his extremism made his decisions unshakable by others, and his madness ultimately led to self-destructive tendencies.

This eldest son of Blake, Blake's first heir, and Blake's last paternal descendant, perfectly embodied Blake's characteristics.

Sirius Black's decisions and actions are remarkably similar to those of another Black.

The brothers' arrogance and extremism revealed their madness, leading them to make the same choice in the final moments—to destroy themselves.

At this moment, a Black, Belvina Black, was standing in the dark and long corridor of Azkaban.

Perhaps because 1+1>2, Belvina's Black traits are the least pronounced. Only those who know her well can sense her calm madness. It can be said that the noble and oldest Black family is entirely insane; madness is the essence of the Black family.

Inside and outside the prison, though there are differences in severity, the madness is the same.

Sirius Black stubbornly refused to leave Azkaban, spending the best years of his life atoneing for his sins.

Belvina Black is determined to overturn the verdict in order to repay the family's kindness, escape the family's shadow, and complete a transformation in some sense.

After a long silence, Belvina readjusted her thoughts. She originally thought that the heavy hammer named "Lupin" would be enough to break through Sirius's defenses. If not to the point of tears, he should at least reveal a few words.

But in the end, Lupin's name did break Sirius's defenses, but it didn't get him to talk. He remained as pathetic as ever.

If Belvina had set aside her pride and self-restraint and chosen to use Legilimency to peer into Sirius's mind, she would have realized how terribly wrong she had been.

Belvina's approach to solving the problem about "Sirius Black" was completely the opposite of what she intended. Not only did she fail to win Sirius's heart, she ended up driving another nail into his coffin.

"It seems Remus Lupin isn't all that important to you," Belvina said with a light laugh, venting her dissatisfaction and releasing her emotions through sarcasm.

Perhaps this is a unique way of expressing emotions in the Black family?

Belvina continued, "If I told Lupin about your current reaction, what do you think he'd think? More pain, or relief? Great, I'm not that bastard Sirius Black's friend, I don't have to be sad anymore!"

She began to imitate Lupin's tone of voice, though she couldn't quite capture his composure and gentleness, but it was enough for Sirius.

Sirius Black, inside the cell, suddenly looked up and glared fiercely at his sister outside the cell, who looked incredibly irritating. His eyes seemed to pop out of their deep sockets.

"Oh, you're angry now, you're furious! Come out and hit me, you bastard!" Belvina's taunts were at their peak. "Aren't you Sirius Black, the one who killed twelve people with a single spell?!"

Inside the cell, Sirius tried his best to suppress his emotions, refusing to let them influence his judgment and change the self-judgment he had already made.

"Oh, right, and Potter, Harry Potter." Belvina said sarcastically, "You've been living in darkness here, you probably don't know that Mr. Potter has already entered Hogwarts, right? How about I tell you about his unhappy childhood to cheer you up?"

After those three decisive moves, Sirius's resolute resolve began to waver.

"How can an eleven-year-old boy be so skinny? I heard that the Muggle couple who adopted him always abused him, making him work and not feeding him properly. His life was—ugh—worse than that of a house-elves."

Sirius Black suddenly stood up, the iron chains binding him rattling loudly and jarringly.

Anger constantly assaulted Sirius's reason. This anger was caused by Belvina's three-pronged attack, and the reason for his anger was Dumbledore, Albus Dumbledore.

Although James and Lily died and Harry became an orphan, Voldemort failed, and the dark clouds hanging over Britain dissipated.

Sirius Black naively believed that Dumbledore would take good care of Lupin after the war, preventing Lupin from being affected by trivial problems again; he thought Dumbledore would take good care of Harry, giving him a wonderful childhood and allowing him to grow up healthy.

Contrary to expectations, Sirius locked himself in the dark and desolate Azkaban to atone for his sins, Lupin was not properly settled, and Harry was not able to have a happy childhood.

The beautiful fantasy that Xiao Tianhunxing had imagined was ruthlessly shattered by reality, cruelly destroyed by Belvina who grabbed the axe.

"Do you think Remus is doing well? Have you been brainwashed by Dementors?! His best friend is dead, betrayed by someone close to him, and Remus is living a comfortable and peaceful life?"

The medication couldn't be stopped, so Belvina decided to intensify the effort: either cure Sirius or kill him.

"Do you think Potter is doing well? You've got your brain sucked dry by a Dementor! Potter's an orphan, forced to live with strangers. The Dursleys who adopted him are the dumbest Muggles I've ever met!"

Sirius Black, inside his cell, seemed to have been stepped on. He angrily charged toward the old cell door, the chains blocking his way taut and his pale skin bulging with veins. At this moment, Sirius Black finally looked like a murderous monster, matching the rumors of a curse that destroyed half a street and killed twelve people.

Ignoring everything else, Belvina pointed at Sirius's nose and yelled, "You're a coward, a proud and arrogant coward! You think that just because you're in Azkaban, everything from back then is over and forgotten?"

Sirius Black in the cell became even more frenzied, uttering meaningless roars and waving his arms in vain, as if trying to shut Belvina up or grabbing at something.

Instead of advancing, Belvina retreated, pressing herself almost against the sealed cell door, and continued to hurl insults in the most vicious tone: "You're a fool, a self-righteous fool! Instead of trying to make amends for your mistakes, you've hidden yourself away, letting your errors grow ever larger!"

Sirius Black, inside the cell, let out a rough sigh, his sunken eyes brimming with tears like reservoirs.

Then, Sirius clutched his head in agony, crying out in despair. His voice was utterly piercing, a heartfelt lament from someone on the verge of collapse.

"Do you think you're so great?" Belvina's voice suddenly became very soft. She stopped her angry shouts and her tone was no longer so vicious.

She continued, "No, not at all. Shifting responsibility is never noble. You have failed in all your duties and obligations. You foolish coward, Sirius."

The fierce rants that followed were an outpouring of personal grievances from Belvina; half of it was meant to wake Sirius up, and the other half was for her own satisfaction.

All those years of being looked down upon and talked about behind my back, today I'm just getting a little interest back.

The real killer move was that whispered sentence that followed, completely negating Sirius's choice, shattering his arrogance, reversing his extremism, and preventing him from continuing to self-destruct.

"You don't understand at all, you understand nothing—" Sirius's voice trembled, "I deserve it, I deserve to die. It's all my fault—if it weren't for that damn decision of mine—"

At the most crucial moment, just as the truth was about to surface, Sirius Black fell silent, his extremism and madness returning with self-destructive tendencies.

Sirius's tears had dried up, and his skeletal face was no longer ferocious; his pale skin made him look lifeless.

"You don't understand anything, so you can't understand my choice. It's not your fault." Sirius's expression was lifeless. "Let's go. Don't do anything, and don't come back."

As he spoke, Sirius slowly walked back, his body swaying, each step a struggle.

Sirius sat back down in his original spot, tilting his head back to look at the palm-sized vent, but the sunlight had already shifted.

"Since you were sixteen, you've been trying to escape Black's influence, but Sirius, look at you now, you're exactly like your mother."

Belvina continued, "A carbon copy of Blake, utterly hopeless."

Equally incomprehensible.

Having said that, Belvina took a step back. She knew she wouldn't get anything more from Sirius today, but the breakdown therapy had worked; at least it had gotten Sirius to talk.

"I won't come back," Belvina said. "When someone refuses to listen to reason no matter what, that person deserves to die."

"And you'd better stay in Azkaban for the rest of your life and never go outside," Belvina concluded. "If I ever see you outside, I'll break your legs!"

As soon as she finished speaking, Belvina turned and left. This was no longer just about repaying her family's kindness; it was a duel between races. Belvina's competitive spirit had been ignited.

Who isn't a stubborn mule?

Belvina Black, the stubborn mule, is definitely not coming back to Azkaban, a promise made in stone.

However, when other people come to Azkaban and ask Sirius about what happened back then, it has nothing to do with Belvina!