As dinner began, Milla Jovovich remained silent, quietly picking at the food on her plate while carefully analyzing what ingredients the dishes were made of.
Then, under Naomi Watts' expectant gaze, Milla took small bites to sample each dish. They were indeed delicious.
First came the soup, followed by the main course and sides, and finally dessert.
Milla tasted only a little of each. As an actress, dieting was both a painful and necessary principle. For her, tonight's meal was already more than enough.
Regulus Black, however, had no such concerns. For a wizard, food was life force, and life force was the source of magic. Without a healthy body, one couldn't maintain good mental focus, and unstable magic followed. A wizard with weak and unstable magic wasn't much better than a Squib.
Since Naomi had prepared dinner, Regulus didn't get his usual rack of lamb or fish soup with mashed potatoes.
None of that was on the table tonight. However, Naomi did consider that he was the only man present and would have a bigger appetite than the dieting actresses, so she made onion steak, rice, and meatball soup for him.
For reasons unknown, Naomi Watts gave Regulus dishes that were heavily seasoned, while the three women were served extremely light meals: vegetable soup with a few floating leaves, a fruit salad with barely visible dressing, and the only meat—a plainly boiled chicken leg without even a sprinkle of salt.
Regulus Black couldn't help but shake his head at the stark difference but decided to let it go and finish his meal first.
"Milla! I formally invite you to become a member of the Black family. We may not be vampires, but I myself am a wizard."
Seeing Milla unwilling to speak, Regulus had no choice but to initiate the conversation.
"Wizard?"
Milla Jovovich looked confused. What happened to the vampires she was promised? Why was there suddenly a wizard in the mix?
"That's right, a wizard. There are wizards in this world, and quite a number of them. I'm just one among many."
Regulus Black decided to give Milla a little crash course about wizards, and let Naomi listen in as well.
"In the United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, and France, there are Ministries of Magic formed by wizards. Other places have smaller, scattered wizarding groups. Generally speaking, wizards resemble old aristocrats, holding on to some very ancient and rigid traditions. One of those is distinguishing between wizards and non-wizards—we call non-wizards 'Muggles' to differentiate."
Knowing that this kind of talk could be offensive, Regulus made a small apologetic gesture.
"However, wizards still live within Muggle society and aren't forbidden from marrying outside the magical community. But due to those old-fashioned beliefs, marriages tend to be unequal. In mixed marriages, only when the Muggle side bears a child with wizarding blood does the child gain recognition from the magical family. Usually, male wizards marry Muggle women. Female wizards rarely have trouble finding spouses within the wizarding world."
There was a mix of truth and fiction in Regulus Black's words, but it was enough to fool Naomi—and even Milla seemed to believe him. Only Sarah showed a look of sudden understanding.
"Sarah's father is a wizard, and her mother is a Muggle. Even so, Sarah never exhibited any signs of magical inheritance until she was ten. In the end, even her father gave up on her. Cases like Sarah's are called Squibs."
Regulus Black's explanation gave Sarah a new perspective on her background.
"Joining the Black family—well, that's just how I handle things. I have a bottom line when it comes to letting my women and children fend for themselves. I'd rather treat the women I care about better. But officially becoming part of the wizarding world still depends on whether the child inherits magical blood. It's a rule we can't change—status comes through the child."
Apologetically holding Naomi's hand, Regulus shamelessly showed affection in front of Milla, all to spark her jealousy so he could better persuade her.
"I accept. What do I need to do to become a member of the Black family?"
Milla Jovovich accepted immediately, leaving Regulus Black—who had prepared a long speech—momentarily speechless.
"You're agreeing just like that? You don't even fully understand what being a wizard entails!"
Regulus looked like he had so much more to say—so much more to explain. Couldn't she hesitate a little?
"There's no need to think it over. As long as I can be with you, I'll agree to anything."
Milla Jovovich didn't care about the excuse he'd made. So what if it meant becoming his woman? She was in.
After confirming again and again, Regulus Black, both thrilled and somewhat reluctant, took out the crimson ruby jewelry box he had prepared for Milla.
This impulsive decision only made Milla Jovovich feel even more certain she'd made the right choice.
"For the next phase of filming, please be sure to get into the proper mindset. We're already halfway done with this movie."
After being thoroughly worn out by Mila and Naomi the entire night, Regulus Black, now energized, made a request of the two women still unwilling to get out of bed as he left the room.
The one-week vacation passed quickly, and with a full month of non-stop filming starting the next day, Regulus Black decided to gather his women for one last get-together—because he had a mysterious gift prepared for them.
Regulus Black certainly had his own ways of enabling women to use magic spells.
The three women of the Headless Valley lineage carried the legacy of the Headless Horseman.
Lucy Piddle had undergone a class transformation at the Red Nightmare Witch Monastery, becoming a Nightmare Demonkin.
Sarah Maidani gained access to the twelve enchanted brooches.
Lauren Faust's unicorn, which had willingly followed her, had assumed the Druid class in the Golden Memory Dragon Egg Secret Realm.
These accomplishments were undoubtedly considered remarkable contributions in the wizarding world.
However, turning a Muggle into a wizard—Regulus Black admitted he still hadn't found a reliable method.
Thus, for Charlize Theron, Jennifer Connelly, Milla Jovovich, and Naomi Watts, the path to becoming witches or wielding magical spells would still require a long wait.
Nevertheless, Regulus Black's potion Fountain of Youth was something they could enjoy in the meantime.
Some of the ingredients used were scarcely acknowledged even in the wizarding world due to their dangerous nature. Dubbed "products of the demon realm," they were in truth just rare plants growing in special regions.
Fruit of Captivity: If consumed by someone, they would become the captive of the first person or thing they saw upon waking.
Fruit of Matrimony: When given to two separate beings, it could produce scenes of absolutely impossible cross-species unions.
Fruit of Intoxication: Those who consumed it would be rendered speechless—because they would fall into eternal bliss.
Fruit of Corruption: The self-righteous would never try it, and those who did were never good people to begin with.
Sacred Vegetables: Bland and flavorless—drinking water left more of an impression. Eating them felt as if you hadn't eaten anything at all.
Dissolving Grass: Constantly growing yet continuously melting—unless uprooted entirely.
Anwyn's Nectar: Could only be harvested from palm-sized flower sprites by committing evil acts.
Milk of the Mythonos: Female Mythonoses were exceedingly rare, and obtaining their milk meant risking one's life.
Pure Water of the Undine: To acquire it, one had to find a water sprite (Undine) in a body of water and separate it from ordinary water.
Ah! Just looking at this troublesome list of ingredients, Regulus Black immediately delegated the task of gathering them to his enslaved wizard servants.
After many bold hypotheses and careful experiments, the potion Fountain of Youth was finally completed.
To celebrate, Regulus Black gathered several actresses together and had them drink the potion.
And during this opportunity, he welcomed Kate Beckinsale into the Black family, making her one of his women.
After consumption, the women's appearances became visibly younger. Blemishes on their skin vanished completely, their eyes sparkled, their hair turned soft and healthy, and even their teeth gleamed noticeably whiter. Seeing such dramatic transformations, the women lost their minds.
They stripped off all their clothes and thoroughly examined their bodies in the room, then collectively pushed Regulus Black down and had their way with him.
The next day during filming, director Guillermo del Toro even showed concern and asked how everyone was doing.
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