Barty watched the cat with interest, realising that it was no ordinary animal if Regulus was trusting it to act as a guard.
"That is acceptable," Barty responded.
He paused. Now that he was committed to telling the story he wasn't going to pull any punches. It may appear cold of him, but he needed to tell it as it had been, not a censored version.
"I'm not sure how much you know," he began. "But after you appeared to have died, the Dark Lord fell and I was imprisoned in Azkaban with Bella and the others for torturing the Longbottoms. My family managed to smuggle me out of the prison, and when the opportunity arose I helped the Dark Lord return by leading Harry Potter to him. I was caught and subjected to the Dementor's kiss."
Swallowing to wet his throat, he continued: "Somehow, about a year ago, Bella revived me. She used somebody else's soul so I had no memory of my previous life. She brainwashed me into following her, and I helped her kill Muggleborns. As time passed I began to realise that what I was doing was wrong and I ran away from Bella to start again. Then my own soul returned to me."
He struggled with his emotions over what had happened at that time. Whereas the past was distant and he was detached from it, no matter how much he regretted it, what he had done while torn between two souls was a raw wound.
"I suffered from a split personality as the two souls inside me battled against one another. I - I hurt a- a dear friend. I killed people. In the end I was drawn to help the Dark Lord return again, but during the fight that happened at the Department of Mysteries I was hit by a spell which fused to the two souls inside me. I woke up with all my memories and bitter regret at what I had done. That was where the newspapers got hold of the story. I was released from prison because of a magical technicality. With two souls fused within me, I am legally a different man from those who murdered all those people."
He fell silent, his eyes downturned as he was unable to meet Regulus' gaze and the judgement that would be there.