Under the luminous gaze of the full moon, Black pursued Severus, striving to rescue him from the tormenting jest of her elder brother, Sirius. Yet, fate conspired against her; Remus Lupin, driven by the primal instinct of his dual nature, lunged at her, sinking his werewolf fangs deep into her shoulder. The implication of this savage bite was unmistakable—an heiress of House Black was destined to share the fate of the cursed. Damn the werewolf.

Sirius dashed after her, realization dawning painfully that his reckless humor bore grave consequences, but Black, steeped in bitterness, turned a deaf ear to his pleas. She sought refuge within the Slytherin common room, trembling as she confronted the throbbing wound marring her shoulder. There, beside the flickering firelight, lay Barty Crouch Jr., engrossed in a tome of dark sorcery pilfered from the forbidden recesses of the library. Upon hearing her anguished footsteps and muffled sobs, he lifted his gaze.

“Ah, has someone wronged little Princess Black?” Barty mused with feigned levity, only for his smile to vanish upon witnessing the mark of her torment. “What happened to you?”

Though he could delight in her misfortune endlessly, he understood the weight of her pain, knowing that she was Regulus' sister and deserving of his aid.