#and having his wikipedia page memorized since the third time I reread the hp series

[biquinntile]

Regulus Black's Patronus

if you hc, something different I totally respect it. I know I've seen a lot of folks pick a lion, with him being named after the brightest star in Leo, but I'd like to give my arguments for why I think that isn't the case. I will be using wizard in a gender neutral sense since the Old Hag didn't want us to have a gender neutral term for magic-user smdh

Firstly, it's very hard to not associate the lion with Gryffindor, and I think that an important part of Regulus as a character is the fact that he is a Slytherin. Our leading Slytherins have this running theme of redemption and forgiveness. Regulus's story was really brought up during Draco's time as a Death Eater apprentice or whatever, when Draco was battling with his morals and his duty and his fear. It was supposed to be this parallel because Regulus was the same age when he was recruited into the Genocide Gang. Like, I cannot stress enough how important it is to his character that he was a Slytherin, he was a Death Eater, he was from an elite pureblooded family who were no strangers to dark arts let me tell you that. He had no reason to question his beliefs, to rock the boat, to step to the Baddest Baddie of the time, especially when I'm sure Regulus knew better than anyone what he was capable. Let's remember that not every Death Eater had a dark mark...but Regulus did. And he did it anyway, knowing he could and would day. He did it like a Slytherin too, using trickery and telling no one. Working in darkness. Kreacher was the only being for over a decade that even knew how he'd really died. Tell me that's not a Slytherin at work smdh. And thank Merlin for his Slytherin work ethic. All this to say I loathe any implication that Regulus should have been in Gryffindor or he would have been in another world. He was a Slytherin AND a good person. That's who Regulus was.

Secondly, I think a very important detail about Regulus is the contrast between him and Sirius. The House of Black is a well-known, established family of pureblooded wizards, predominantly Slytherin to boot. They're the elite, the wealthy, and their family's reputation holds a weight in wizard society. People know who the Blacks are, and Walburga and Orion aren't exactly great parents, if how they deal with Sirius shows us anything. I might be drawing too much from my own experience with a judgmental and strict household of dickhead parents, but while some's reaction to a toxic and strict household was to rebel and fight back and go toe to toe with their parents, like Sirius, I felt I related more to Regulus. Being as perfect as you can, never disagree, figure out how to do what they want before they even ask so they can never get upset and mistreat you. Regulus is obeying where Sirius would break the rules, despite them both being able to acknowledge that the rules are broken and/or wrong. They were too different to be able to understand each other, both attributing the other's reaction to a gluttony for misery. Regulus, to me, represents a person that had their entire life laid out in front of them by his family, and yet his final moment is about choice, his ability to decide for himself what he believes is right and wrong. For me, I feel like him being in Slytherin is important because he would have believed that the Sorting Hat decided for him because he was from the Black family, but we all know that the Sorting Hat gives suggestions more than anything. He chose to be a Slytherin the same way that Sirius chose Gryffindor, but they couldn't understand each other's choices. Are you seeing what I'm seeing? Brothers turned strangers by the hands of Fate, molded by their experiences without any understanding of what the other person was making. It's devastating.

Thirdly, I'm sure you're thinking, "Okay, tough guy. So his patronus isn't a lion! So what is it then?" Honestly, I'll sign on to anyone who has evidence for why. Patronuses actually tell you a decent amount of information about what kind of wizard you're dealing with. I think his would be a fox because the fox embodies a lot of the more positive qualities of a Slytherin: cunning, quick wit, mysterious. There's a playful mischief there, which is what I imagine Regulus has when he starts getting comfortable, smoking weed in Barty Crouch Jr.'s basement, you know what I mean? I also have this really strong headcanon that Regulus and Sirius were very close before Sirius went to Hogwarts, but with Sirius gone and absorbed in his new Gryffindor friends, Regulus spends those two years hanging out with Kreacher and getting deeper in the pureblood propaganda his parents spit out, driving a huge wedge between them...but before all that, I like to imagine that Sirius used to try to comfort and protect Regulus from the shittier parts of their family, and I imagine that he'd open up the big windows and tell Regulus stories using the constellations, something they both grew up connected to by their family's tradition. I think that Sirius would not have paid attention to all the stories though, and I could see him grabbing from whatever stories he could remember. I like to imagine him telling the story of the Fox and the Hound, unlikely friends, that go up against Narcissus, the flower that was obsessed with its own reflection or The Banshee, the angry mother that would scream until your ears bled. Silly stories told slightly different by Sirius's embellishments and stitching in things he'd forgotten. I don't know it's a soft headcanon but apparently strong enough that I am here making this post, advocating for his patronus to be a fox. So. there's that.

All this to say, don't listen to me if you don't want to! Believe whatever you like, none of this is real. I just kinda wanted to organize my thoughts about it because I've been thinking about him for a long time, and I feel very strongly about this...clearly...lmao