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Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K. Rowling.
I own nothing but the original characters I make.
"Dialogue"
'Thoughts'
-Author notes-
Chapter 52: Kreacher
"What the…" Harry turned around and found the source of the unpleasant voice.
It was, of course, the painting of Walburga Black, the former Lady of the House of Black and also Sirius's mother.
The woman pointed at him. "Who are y—"
"Ahhh!" This time, it was V who yelled.
"Why are you yelling?!" Harry exclaimed.
"The old hag startled me," V said after composing himself.
"Hag?! How dare you?" She huffed. "Intruders! We have intruders!"
"Hey, there is no need for that. We just… hold on, do I have all my limbs?" Harry quickly checked himself.
He didn't originally plan on appearing in this hallway, but instead, he had been aiming for the dining hall that was located further ahead, as it was a much more spacious area.
"All there?" asked V.
"Yes, there is just…" Harry noted that a part of the wall had been damaged by his portal, taking a large chunk out of it. "I'll fix that later."
As if the situation wasn't chaotic enough, Kreacher apparated next to him.
"Intruders?!" He quickly pointed his finger at Harry and shot a spell at him.
V opened its mouth in response and ate away the house-elf magic. "Urg… I don't think I like this one. It tastes rancid."
"Kreacher, stop." Harry glared at the house-elf. "We are not intruders, it's me!"
"Master Harry?" Kreacher seemed to finally recognize him.
"What are you doing? Kick this miscreant out of my house!" Walburga screeched.
"But Mistress… Master Sirius said that Kreacher must treat Master Harry as a guest." Kreacher looked very conflicted.
"I don't care what my traitor of a son told you. Now, would y—"
"Would you shut up already?" V exclaimed. "Harry, silence this hag before I have to do something about it."
Harry passed his hand before the painting. "Silencio."
The woman continued to scream, but at least no one could hear her now.
"One less problem. Now… is this the house-elf in question?" V asked.
Harry nodded. "Yes, this is Kreach—"
"What is all this ruckus?!" Sirius rushed from around the corner and suddenly stopped when he saw his godson and the house-elf standing in the hallway. "Harry?… what… what are you doing here?"
Harry made a complicated expression. "Oh well… I wanted to visit you. Because… ehm…"
"You are going to have to explain it to him. I don't see any way around it. Also, we are probably going to need his help," V explained.
"What help?... with that? Did something happen?" Sirius said with a concerned expression before realizing he had overlooked something. "Wait a minute… how did you enter the house by yourself? Only a few members of the Order have been tied to the wards."
"I bypassed the wards with a 'Gate'. Just like the one I used to send you to that cave," Harry told him.
"You got lucky for having kept all your fingers after landing in that small cave," V added.
"What?! I could have lost my fingers?" Sirius sounded alarmed.
"Not at all. I had it under control. Don't listen to the talking hat," Harry said.
"Yes, as you had it under control a moment ago, when you made a gash on the wall," V pointed out.
Sirius's eyes went quickly to the wall and immediately found the five-foot-long vertical cut on it. "Oh… did my mother see that? No wonder she was screaming so much." He came to stand next to the gash.
"No, I don't think she got to that part yet." Harry saw the expression on Walburga change when she saw what Sirius was pointing at. "And… there she is."
"Good thing we can't hear her," V commented.
"Don't worry about it, Harry. I'll get it fixed later," Sirius said. "Now, please, tell me what happened. It must be urgent for you to come like this."
"Yes, it is urgent, and very important, but…" Harry stopped mid-sentence and wondered how much he should tell his godfather.
'If you trust him, tell him everything,' V said inside his mind. 'You need more allies, Harry. Stop trying to do everything yourself.'
"Why don't we go talk in the dining room? We would be more comfortable there," Sirius suggested. "Kreacher, bring us some tea."
"Yes, Master Sirius." The elf bowed.
"Actually, the reason for the visit also involves Kreacher, so he should stay with us. I need to ask him a few things," Harry said.
"It involves Kreacher?" Sirius glanced at the old house-elf with suspicion. "What could it possibly b—"
"You should all sit down," V said. "Harry has much to tell you. Don't you, Harry?"
"Sigh… okay. Let's sit down," Harry finally relented.
<><><><><><><><><>
The conversation lasted almost an hour, as Sirius had many questions that involved Voldemort and the creation of the Horcruxes.
"What an awful piece of magic…" Sirius muttered. "He truly is a monster."
"Or someone desperately afraid of death," V said softly. "But yeah, the other one too."
"And you say you already found most of them?" Sirius frowned. "Did Dumbledore put you up to this? And sent you alone? He could have told the Order th—"
"Let me stop you there." Harry raised his hand. "This is not Dumbledore's doing. I was working alone… well, with V, of course."
"You… why would you try to do this by yourself?" Sirius asked, sounding confused.
"I did more than try. I have already collected them all, except for one." Harry glanced at Kreacher.
Sirius saw it in Harry's eyes and understood it then. "You think it's here." He looked at the old house-elf. "And you think Kreacher knows where it is?"
"Why don't we try?" Harry said. "Kreacher, I'm going to ask you something, and I want you to answer me truthfully, understand?"
"Yes, Master Harry," said Kreacher, and Harry saw his hands trembling. "Whatever Master Harry wants… Kreacher has been a bad elf, Kreacher deserves whatever Master Harry wants to do to him…"
"I don't want to punish you," said Harry. "I want to know whether you remember a locket… Slytherin's locket. You had it for years. Your Master Regulus stole it. Did he give it to you?"
Kreacher stopped, swaying slightly. Harry thought for a moment he might faint. Then he burst into tears.
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