The elf quaked from head to foot.

“Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing … Kreacher’s insides

burned … Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black,

but the Dark Lord only laughed … He made Kreacher drink all the potion … He dropped

a locket into the empty basin … He filled it with more potion.”

“And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island … “

Harry could see it happening. He watched Voldemort’s white, snakelike face

Vanishing into darkness, those red eyes fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf whose death

Would occur within minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate thirst that the

burning poison caused its victim … But here, Harry’s imagination could go no further,

For he could not see how Kreacher had escaped.

“Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island’s edge and he drank from the

black lake … and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under

the surface … “

“How did you get away?” Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself

Whispering.

Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes.

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” he said.

“I know – but how did you escape the Inferi?”

Kreacher did not seem to understand.

“Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back,” he repeated.

“I know, but – “

“Well, it’s obvious, isn’t it, Harry?” said Ron. “He Disapparated!”

“But … you couldn’t Apparate in and out of that cave,” said Harry, “otherwise

Dumbledore – “

“Elf magic isn’t like wizard’s magic, is it?” said Ron, “I mean, they can Apparate

and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can’t.”

There was a silence as Harry digested this. How could Voldemort have made such

a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy.

“Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far

beneath his notice … It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic

that he didn’t.”

“The house-elf’s highest law is his Master’s bidding,” intoned Kreacher.

“Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home … “

“Well, then, you did what you were told, didn’t you?” said Hermione kindly.

“You didn’t disobey orders at all!”

Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever.

“So what happened when you got back?” Harry asked. “What did Regulus say

when you told him what happened?”

“Master Regulus was very worried, very worried,” croaked Kreacher. “Master

Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then … it was a

little while later … Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and

Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could

tell … and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone

with the Dark Lord … “

And so they had set off. Harry could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened

old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius … Kreacher knew how to

open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat:

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 779