HOL Ravenclaw

Regulus. Owner of a certain locket. Master of a certain House Elf. And of questionable actions.

Regulus Black was said to take pride in his pure blood, which suggests that he has a prejudice against muggleborns, muggles, and maybe even halfbloods. He followed his family's footsteps by joining Lord Voldemort, during which he probably did some bad things.

But he also, eventually, came to reject the beliefs of Lord Voldemort and those that followed him. We learn, in fact, that he died sacrificing himself in a desparate attempt to help stop Lord Voldemort - by getting his locket.

Does the right outweigh the wrong? Does the good outdo the bad? That's for you to debate!

I absolutely do think that Regulus redeemed himself.

First, I don't think pride in his pure-blood is necessarily a bad thing in itself. It's not inherently a bad thing to be proud of your heritage or to hold fast to tradition. Of course, since Regulus did join the Death Eaters, we have evidence to believe that he did also for a time have the extremist views of that group.

But we also have to think of the environment in which Regulus was raised. He was born a Black, a pure-blood elite. His family, and likely anyone his family would have him associate with, had very strong beliefs about blood purity and it's understandable that he would grow up believing the same things; where in his sheltered, privileged life would he have been exposed to any other ideas? He was raised to accept a lot of things that others would find deplorable. Were the beliefs wrong? Yes. But given time, he could have changed his mind - and unfortunately, that was time he didn't have.

We don't know what crimes Regulus may or may not have committed in his short time as a Death Eater. What we do know is that after he learned just how far Voldemort was willing to go - in the name of pure-blood supremacy, which Regulus was raised to hold dear - he knew it was wrong, couldn't stand by it, and acted against it. (And honestly, if Regulus was so bothered by Voldemort's actions against Kreacher, a house elf, and by his horcruxes, I can't imagine Regulus was an eager participant in a great many unforgivable crimes.)

From the note he left Voldemort: "I face death in the hope that when you meet your match you will be mortal once more."

Regulus didn't just leave Voldemort, he didn't run and hide - he was brave and was willing to give up everything to fight against him.

Regulus may have redeemed himself in some measure in the end. That is hard to dispute: When a man gives his life for a cause it is hard not to afford him some credit.

But he changed his mind much too late.
Yes, he was raised in a household which valued purity of blood very highly, but to say he had no chance to view the world differently is a gross misunderstanding. Regulus' brother, Sirius Black, broke out of his family's mindset, and while you may argue that he was aided by having been sorted into Gryffindor and thus getting other influences that helped him make choices that were different from what his family would have wanted, Regulus had a brother whose opinion was different. An older brother no less. So he had someone to look up to that showed that not only was it a valid opinion to not believe in pure blood supremacy, but also showed that it was possible for even someone born into such a prestigious pure blood family to break loose from those ties, and how it could be done. And Sirius would have been able to provide a network for Regulus had he chosen to leave as well. That was a benefit Sirius didn't have, and still he chose to leave.

And although Regulus didn't have the benefit of Gryffindor associates, he did have the opportunity for other influences than his family. Being at Hogwarts for seven years with very little day-to-day contact with his family would have allowed him a different view of the world, even with him being in Slytherin and therefore surrounded by a lot of people who likely thought the same things his own family did. But there were both teachers and students from other houses, that he could not help but see, and he should have recognized much sooner that his thoughts on purity of blood were in error.

What he may or may not have done as a death eater is surely interesting, but sadly not something we know a whole lot about. But what I find rather damning is that he joined at all. Even believing in the supremacy of pure blood, he did not have to join Voldemort's cause. He could have held those beliefs and kept his head low and not done much either way.
That he changed his mind in the 11th hour does not excuse his choices in the past. At best if offers him some redemption in hindsight, but one good turn does not weigh up a lifetime of bad ones.

(Gail's real opinion: Awww, I just want to hug Regulus. Poor soul. I think he definitely redeemed himself.)

To be honest, I think both brothers in that family got an absolutely raw deal and deserve an amazingly comfortable afterlife full of love, and especially where each brother gets to fully understand the decisions made by the other.

But for Regulus in particular? Let's see: he learned the hard way, through his older brother, not to publicly defy his family and especially the wrath of his mother, so of course he had to 'lay low' and appear like his mom's image of what a 'perfect pureblood' should be. And when he had a chance to make something of himself, in a 'socially acceptable' way, while trying to become his OWN person rather than someone else's? Can you really blame him for that, especially when no one was there to tell him the actual costs of his actions?

And the MOMENT he learned what his side *really* was (through the Dark Lord wanting to sacrifice a being - Kreacher - that Regulus really loved and cared for) - he sacrificed himself, in a painful way, in hope of finally moving things in the right direction! I'm glad that he FINALLY got remembered as a hero, but the poor man still died way too young and didn't have nearly enough pleasure and joy in his life (unless, of course, the Slytherin Common Room treated him as well as he deserved for all the Golden Snitches I hope he caught)!

If someone does something as important as giving up their life and openly challenging Voldemort through a note, just to save a house-elf and because Voldemort had made Horcruxes, it speaks volumes to me about who he truly was as a person. He may have been proud of his heritage and joining the Death Eaters may have arisen from wanting to uphold his heritage, but his later actions revealed that he had not been fully aware of Voldemort's cruelty and what exactly being a Death Eater meant. He was probably either misguided or the wool was pulled over his eyes, making him join as a Death Eater. He wasn't one at heart. He simply didn't know what he was getting himself into, and perhaps didn't understand why Sirius Black chose to rebel, until he saw why and decided to break free. His death was an act of rebellion after he realised what the truth was.