"Harry once wrote to me about the dream, so You-Know-Who knew that Harry could get information through the serpent's eyes…" Sirius said bitterly, which Voldemort took advantage of by passing on false information and successfully transferring Dumbledore today.
Ivan felt a chill run down his spine. So Voldemort knew every move they made at Hogwarts.
Even more disturbing to Ivan was the fact that Harry was able to possess Nagini because he was one of the Horcruxes, although Ivan wondered if Voldemort had noticed.
'Wait a minute, Sirius, you said Voldemort had been controlling you with the Imperius Curse, so how did you get away with it?' Ivan asked, suddenly intrigued.
"Thanks to your murder of Barty Crouch Junior… You-Know-Who had no one else to turn to and was worried that I would lose control again, so he had to risk Peter using Polyjuice Potion to disguise himself as me and go to Hogwarts to get Harry!" Sirius gasped.
After Peter's departure, only the house-elf, Lord Voldemort, was left at Riddle House, along with the snake Nagini.
"Fearing that Harry might see inside the house through Nagini, You-Know-Who ordered Winky to watch over me, and then… Kreacher sneaked in."
Sirius's voice grew hoarse as he explained, "It disobeyed my orders to it and left the house, stunning Winky with magic and rescuing me…"
'Kreacher?' said Ivan, looking at Sirius in surprise. He remembered Kreacher being quite critical of Sirius during the summer holidays, talking about him all the time.
To his surprise, the house-elf was willing to take the risk of breaking into Voldemort's mansion to rescue Sirius.
By the time they retrieved Regulus's body from the lake, Kreacher had thoroughly approved of Sirius as his new master.
"Where's the Kreacher, by the way? Didn't it come with you?" Yvonne couldn't help wondering.
Sirius's face was a mask of pain and malevolence, and it was some time before he could speak again.
"It's dead! I… killed it myself!"
"What?"
Ivan stared at Sirius in astonishment, almost believing him to be joking, but then a possibility occurred to him and he felt a chill run down his spine.
"Yes! The Imperius Curse!" Sirius hissed.
"Although Kreacher managed to get me out of the Riddle House, he was unable to undo the Imperius Curse, and the You-Know-Who continued to use it to influence me, forcing me to return to him immediately…"
'Kreacher… Kreacher grabbed my leg and tried to stop me from going back, and then… and then I used the Cruciatus Curse on it…' Sirius's voice shook as he recalled what had happened.
Voldemort did not have complete control over him, so Sirius knew that Kreacher was trying to save him, except that Kreacher could not control his movements, and it was as if his body were being controlled by someone else, torturing the loyal house-elf with the cruelest of magic.
Kreacher's screams seemed to echo in his ears…
What pained Sirius the most was that Kreacher had every chance to resist him, but was unwilling to harm him even when tortured…
This torment eventually forced him to break free from Voldemort's Imperius Curse, but by the time he had done so, Kreacher was dead.
This was because when Voldemort sensed his resistance, he gave him one last order — to kill the house-elf in front of him!
"Kreacher saved me, but I killed it…" Sirius's face was terrifying as he muttered to himself in a deranged manner. His fists clenched tighter and tighter, his sharp nails digging into his flesh, but he felt no pain…
Sirius could no longer remember how he had buried Kreacher, as his mind had gone blank, and if he had not remembered Harry's safety, he would have been lying in the hole he had dug himself.
Ivan, who had been listening the entire time, was shocked speechless. The complexity of the situation far exceeded his expectations.
Kreacher is dead? By Sirius's hand…
Seeing Sirius on the verge of collapse, Ivan opened his mouth to offer words of comfort.
After all, it was not Sirius's fault. The real killer of Kreacher was Lord Voldemort!
However, Sirius intervened and interrupted Ivan.
"It will not be long before I avenge it! Soon!"
Sirius spoke coldly, his eyes burning with hatred, and a faint light shone from the front of the tunnel — they were reaching Hogsmeade!
"Get ready, we're leaving now!" Sirius said hoarsely as he grabbed Ivan's wrist the moment they stepped out of the tunnel.
Ivan nodded and felt himself being pulled into a vortex, Sirius's voice reaching his ears.
"Apparate! (Phantom Apparate)"
… .
In front of a particularly desolate graveyard outside Riddle House, Harry, who had nowhere to go, was forced into a duel with a resurrected Lord Voldemort, surrounded by Death Eaters.
Or perhaps it was a one-sided abuse…
"Come, bow to me, Harry!" Voldemort said in a mocking tone, bowing slightly. "At least the etiquette of duelling must be observed … Dumbledore will expect you to be gracious in the face of death … bow to Death …"
The Death Eaters gathered around laughed and looked at Harry as if he were a pig waiting to be slaughtered. They knew that the Dark Lord would not kill the brat in front of him so easily. He would die tortured and humiliated!
Harry did not move, pursing his lips. He knew that his chances of survival were slim, but he would not allow Voldemort to toy with him before he killed him…
"I said, bow!" Lord Voldemort's voice was heavy, and his cruel red eyes bored into Harry.
He gently lifted his wand, and without chanting the incantation, Harry felt as if something heavy were pressing down on his spine, forcing him to perform a perfect bow.
"Good!" Voldemort's snake-like face broke into a smile as he relinquished his hold on Harry. "Now let us begin the duel!"
Harry's hand shook as he held the wand, wondering why Voldemort would go to the trouble of duelling him instead of simply killing him, but finding the courage to ask.
"I'll take you on in a duel, but only if you tell me where Sirius is…"
(PS: One Update)