"Kreacher, come here. I have something to ask you," Alaric said sternly.
Kreacher shuffled forward, his long nose swaying in front of his chest.
"I want to know if Regulus Black ever brought back a golden locket?"
At these words, Kreacher, who had been cowering, suddenly became agitated.
He trembled, swayed, and shut his eyes tightly, refusing to speak.
Seeing his reaction, the three of them quickly realized that Kreacher seemed to know something.
"Kreacher, do you remember what your master just said?"
Hermione sternly reminded him, her eyes showing her displeasure at the house-elf's derogatory remarks about her blood status—something she still resented.
"Are you going to disobey your master's command?"
To a house-elf, "master's command" was paramount.
Kreacher took deep breaths, his withered chest heaving rapidly, then opened his eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream.
"The locket! Master Regulus's locket, Master Regulus indeed brought back a locket…
Kreacher made a mistake, Kreacher didn't follow Master's orders!"
The next moment, Kreacher dashed to a nearby wall, repeatedly banging his head against it.
Hermione, shocked by his actions, quickly drew her wand and cast a spell, wrapping Kreacher in a tight pink ribbon to prevent him from harming himself.
"Kreacher, I order you to stop moving!" she said loudly.
"You must answer our questions before you do anything else!"
The house-elf immediately froze, lying still on the cold stone floor, tears streaming from his sunken eyes.
"Hermione, let him up!" Fleur whispered.
Hermione gently lifted the ribbon, allowing Kreacher to stand.
"Tell us about Regulus's locket," Alaric said.
"Where did it come from? What was Regulus's connection to it?
Kreacher, tell us everything you know about the locket and Regulus's connection to it!"
Hermione released the ribbon, and Kreacher immediately sat down, curling up and hiding his wet face between his knees, beginning to rock back and forth.
When he spoke, his voice was muffled, but in the quiet, echoing room, it was clear enough.
"Master Sirius ran away, and it was good he did because he was a bad child, and his misbehavior broke my mistress's heart.
But Master Regulus had pride; he knew what the Black name and his pure blood meant.
For many years, he spoke often of the Dark Lord, the Dark Lord who would make wizards no longer have to hide and would come out to rule over Muggles and their descendants…
Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord's ranks when he was sixteen, he was so proud, so proud, so happy to serve…"
"A year later, one day, Master Regulus came to the kitchen to visit Kreacher. He said…"
The aged elf swayed even more.
"…he said the Dark Lord wanted a house-elf."
"The Dark Lord wanted a house-elf?" Hermione asked, glancing back at Fleur, who also looked puzzled.
"Oh, yes," Kreacher said in agony, "Master Regulus offered Kreacher.
It was an honor, Master Regulus said, an honor for both him and Kreacher.
Kreacher had to do everything the Dark Lord wanted… then return—return home."
Kreacher swayed faster, his breathing turning into sobs.
"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord.
The Dark Lord didn't tell Kreacher what to do but took Kreacher to a cave by the sea. It was a large cavern with a black lake…"
Hermione and Fleur immediately thought of the cave they had been to before; everything was falling into place.
"…There was a boat…"
Of course, there was a boat. They recognized it as the ghostly green boat.
So, Voldemort was testing the Horcrux's protective measures this way, using a trivial life, a house-elf…
"On the island was a stone basin filled with potion. The Dark Lord made Kreacher drink…"
The elf trembled all over.
"Kreacher drank, and saw many terrifying visions… Kreacher's insides felt like they were on fire…
Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, cried for my mistress, but the Dark Lord just laughed…
He made Kreacher drink all the potion… He threw a locket into the empty basin… then filled the basin with more potion."
"And then the Dark Lord left on the boat, leaving Kreacher on the island…"
The three exchanged glances.
The two girls finally understood the effects of the potion; fortunately, they had transformed the Inferi.
"Kreacher needed water, so he crawled to the edge of the island to drink from the Black Lake…
Many hands, dead hands, reached out from the water and dragged Kreacher down…"
"How did you escape?" Hermione asked.
After that experience, she found that mundane weapons worked well against Inferi, but Kreacher was just a house-elf.
Kreacher lifted his ugly head, his bloodshot eyes looking at the three of them.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to return home," he said.
"I know—but how did you escape the Inferi?" Fleur asked again.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to return home," Kreacher repeated.
"I know, but—" Fleur was about to ask again when Hermione spoke.
"Ah, clearly he Apparated! House-elf magic is different from wizard magic, just like they can Apparate at Hogwarts while we cannot."
A silence followed, and Fleur pondered this statement. How could Voldemort make such a mistake?
Just as she was thinking this, Hermione spoke again, her voice cold.
"Of course, the Dark Lord would dismiss house-elf magic as beneath him, just as all pure-blood wizards who see house-elves as beasts do…
He would never think that house-elves might possess magic he doesn't."
"The highest law of house-elves is their master's command," Kreacher sang mournfully.
"Master told Kreacher to return home, so Kreacher returned home…"
"So you did as commanded, didn't you?" Hermione asked gently.
"Didn't break any rules?"
Kreacher nodded, shaking even more.
"Then what happened when you got back?" Fleur asked.
"After you told Master Regulus, what did he say?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," Kreacher cried.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to hide, not to leave the house."
Then… after a while… one night, Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in the cupboard.
Master Regulus looked strange, not like his usual self; Kreacher could tell he was disturbed…
Master told Kreacher to take him to the cave, the one Kreacher had been to with the Dark Lord…"
"He made you drink the potion?" Fleur asked, disgusted.
Kreacher shook his head, sobbing uncontrollably.
Hermione covered her mouth; she seemed to have guessed something.
"Master Regulus pulled out a locket from his pocket, the same as the Dark Lord's," Kreacher said, tears streaming down his long nose.
"He told Kreacher to hold it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the locket…"
Kreacher's sobs grew heavy and piercing, and the three had to concentrate fully to understand his words.
"He ordered—Kreacher to leave—don't mind him.
He told Kreacher—to go home—never to tell my mistress—what he did—but to destroy—the first locket.
And then he drank—drank the potion—Kreacher switched the locket—watched… Master Regulus… dragged underwater… then…"
"Oh, Kreacher!" Hermione cried out, tears streaming down her face.
She knelt beside the elf, trying to comfort him.
The elf immediately stood up, backing away with obvious disgust.
"Filthy Mudblood touched Kreacher, Kreacher won't allow it. What would my mistress say?"
Before anyone could retort, Kreacher faced retribution.
His nose grew even longer, now reaching his waist, and he immediately fell silent, shrinking away from them.
"So, you brought the locket home," Alaric continued, determined to understand the full story.
"Did you try to destroy it?"
"Kreacher couldn't leave a mark on it," the elf said sorrowfully.
"Kreacher tried every way, every way, but none succeeded…
The locket was protected by so many powerful spells, Kreacher believed only from inside could it be destroyed, but it wouldn't open…
Kreacher punished himself, tried again, punished himself again.
Kreacher couldn't follow the orders, couldn't destroy the locket!
Mistress was driven mad with grief over Master Regulus's disappearance; Kreacher couldn't tell her what happened, couldn't, because Master Regulus forbade him from telling anyone—anything about the cave…"
Kreacher was sobbing uncontrollably, Hermione looked at him, tears streaming down her face but afraid to touch him.
Even Fleur, who had no sympathy for Kreacher, seemed somewhat moved.
Alaric went over and hugged Hermione, comforting her until she finally stopped crying.
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