Barty Jr. had been working all night.
During that time, he encountered Kreacher a few times. Each time, the house-elf would mutter unpleasant things under his breath, but as soon as Barty Jr. attempted to approach and talk to him, Kreacher would vanish instantly.
After a night of hard work, Barty Jr. and Sirius took a break in the kitchen. The kitchen was noticeably cleaner, but compared to the entire house, it was just a small part of the job.
"Damn Kreacher. If he were willing to help, it would make things a lot easier," Sirius said in frustration.
"What's wrong with him? I've never seen a house-elf so unwilling to obey orders," Barty Jr. asked curiously.
"This all started with my brother, Regulus," Sirius began, then recounted the story Cyrus had told him in Azkaban, word for word, to his friend Lupin - Barty Jr.
Barty Jr. initially listened to the story as a mere distraction, but the more he heard, the more serious he became. He straightened up, and as the warm expression faded from his face, the scars on his skin seemed to stand out even more, making him look particularly menacing.
"Is everything you said true? Regulus really stole something vital to the Dark Lord?!" Barty Jr.'s breathing grew heavy.
He hadn't expected that Sirius would invite him over for some menial work, only for him to stumble upon such crucial information.
"According to Cyrus, that thing is possibly the Dark Lord's greatest weakness!" Sirius corrected. "I meant to tell Dumbledore, but with everything that's been happening, I completely forgot."
Sirius also grew serious, shouting into the kitchen, "Kreacher!"
"Kreacher!"
A house-elf suddenly appeared in the kitchen, nearly naked except for a dirty, tattered cloth around his waist.
He looked very old, with skin that seemed to have more folds than his frail body required.
Although his head was bald like most house-elves, his large, bat-like ears were filled with tufts of white hair.
His eyes were bloodshot, watery, and clouded, while his plump nose resembled that of a pig.
"...Smells like the stench of sewers and criminals," Kreacher muttered, his bulging eyes glancing briefly at Barty Jr. before his voice, reminiscent of a croaking bullfrog, resumed its grumbling. "Filthy werewolf... If the mistress knew that worthless son brought someone like that into the house, what would she say to Kreacher?"
"Shut up, Kreacher!"
"Ah, Kreacher didn't see Master just now..." Kreacher said, feigning terror, though he couldn't help but immediately turn his head and continue to curse loudly enough for everyone to hear, "Shameful, disgraceful scoundrel!"
"Enough, Kreacher! I'm asking you, where's the locket?!" Sirius ignored Kreacher's insolent words, getting straight to the crucial point.
Kreacher suddenly snapped out of his deranged state, his large eyes staring at Sirius in disbelief.
"How do you know about that?"
"I just know! Hand it over!" Sirius barked impatiently. "I command you!"
To his surprise, Kreacher defied his command.
"No! You wretched scum, don't you dare! That belonged to Master Regulus!"
"I said, give it to me!" Sirius, desperate, was about to force Kreacher's mouth open, but Barty Jr. stopped him.
"Let me handle this." Barty Jr. pushed Sirius aside and approached Kreacher.
"Kreacher has nothing to say to a filthy werewolf."
Barty Jr. wasn't offended by the insult to Lupin.
Instead, he mimicked Lupin's gentle demeanor, offering a warm smile. "I know that locket was given to you by Regulus. He wanted you to destroy it, didn't he?"
Having already heard the story from Sirius, Barty Jr. felt a surge of anxiety.
He feared that Kreacher might have already destroyed the locket.
"We are aware of Regulus's bravery, Kreacher. We know he was a courageous man. So, did you destroy it?"
Kreacher seemed to be moved; he was breathing heavily, his shriveled chest rising and falling rapidly.
When Barty asked if the locket had been destroyed, Kreacher could no longer hold back. He opened his eyes wide and let out a blood-curdling scream!
"Ahh! That Locket! Kreacker is a bad house-elf!—The locket, Master Regulus's locket, Kreacher failed, Kreacher couldn't carry out Master's orders!"
"You couldn't destroy it?!"
Barty's joy was unmistakable, a thrill coursing through his veins as if his blood were boiling! But he quickly composed himself, clenching his fists tightly, digging his nails into his palms to prevent Sirius from noticing any signs of his elation.
Kreacher lay stiff on the cold stone floor, tears streaming from his sunken eyes as he confessed, recounting the events of the past in detail.
"Master Sirius ran away. Good riddance, for he was a bad boy. His unruly behavior broke my mistress's heart. But Master Regulus had pride; he knew what the name Black and his pure bloodline stood for. For many years, he often spoke of the Dark Lord, of how the Dark Lord would allow wizards to come out of hiding and rule over Muggles and Muggle-borns... When Master Regulus was sixteen, he joined the Dark Lord's ranks. He was so proud, so proud, so happy to serve...
"A year later, one day, Master Regulus came to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. Master Regulus said… he said…
"…he said the Dark Lord needed a house-elf."
"..." Then he told rest of the story.
Kreacher's story differed little from what Cyrus had told him before, yet hearing it again left Sirius's heart still unsettled.
Barty reached out and patted Sirius on the shoulder. No one knew what Barty felt while listening to the tale of a traitor, but his expression showed no anger. Instead, he offered comfort to Sirius.
"At least now we know, Regulus Black was a 'hero'!" he said with bitter irony.
"Yeah," Sirius replied absentmindedly, like a body numb to feeling.
"Kreacher tried everything, everything, but none, none worked... The locket had so many powerful spells on it, Kreacher believes it can only be destroyed from within, but it won't open... Kreacher punished himself, tried again, punished himself again, and tried once more. Kreacher couldn't carry out the order, Kreacher couldn't destroy the locket! Mistress was driven mad with grief because Master Regulus disappeared. Kreacher couldn't tell her what happened, couldn't, because Master Regulus forbade him from speaking about what happened in the cave..."
"Bring the locket here, Kreacher," Barty said, taking a deep breath and fixing Kreacher with a commanding gaze, his tone almost as strong as an order.
But he quickly realized this wasn't the best approach. Softening his tone, he spoke gently, "Give it to us, Kreacher. We'll help you destroy it. That way, you can finally fulfill Regulus's command!"
The only thought remaining in Kreacher's mind was "fulfill Regulus's command."
Will he be really able to fulfill that..?!
He vanished from the spot, and the next moment, reappeared in front of Barty, holding the ornate Slytherin locket in his hands.
Is this the Dark Lord's weakness? Barty was stunned for a second, but before he could react, Sirius had already grabbed the locket and slammed it onto the ground. Without hesitation, he drew his wand and shouted:
"Reducto!"
"Bang!"
The force of the spell made Barty involuntarily flinch, and the explosive sound of the spell nearly pierced his eardrums.
He watched as the locket shot out like a bullet, smashing through the kitchen cupboard.
"It's unscathed!"
Barty's heart raced.
"This kind of magic won't destroy the locket!" Kreacher said sorrowfully.
Sirius, who was unwilling to believe it, cast several more destructive spells, but as Kreacher had said, none of them had any effect.
"Maybe Dumbledore will have a solution?" Sirius suggested helplessly.
Hand it over to Dumbledore? Barty's eyes flickered darkly.
"I think that might not be the best idea."
"What?" Sirius looked at him in confusion.
He hadn't expected Lupin to say something like that. Based on what he knew of Lupin, the man trusted Dumbledore implicitly.
Little Barty could only bite the bullet and make a far-fetched assumption: "I think we can study it before handing it over to Dumbledore. I'm worried that if we destroy it directly, it will have some impact on Cyrus."
"Cyrus?"
"After all, Cyrus is also a part of the Dark Lord—"
"Hmm.. What you said makes sense."
Sirius nodded, agreeing with this statement.
With that, Barty, breathing heavily, slipped the Slytherin locket into his pocket.
_____
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