Regulus died to bring Voldemort down, but you were still happy to betray Sirius to

Voldemort? You were happy to go to Narcissa and Bellatrix, and pass information to

Voldemort through them … “

“Harry, Kreacher doesn’t think like that,” said Hermione, wiping her eyes on the

back of her hand. “He’s a slave; house-elves are used to bad, even brutal treatment; what

Voldemort did to Kreacher wasn’t that far out of the common way. What do wizard wars

mean to an elf like Kreacher? He’s loyal to people who are kind to him, and Mrs. Black

Must have been, and Regulus certainly was, so he served them willingly and parroted

their beliefs. I know what you’re going to say,” she went on as Harry began to protest,

“that Regulus changed his mind … but he doesn’t seem to have explained that to

Kreacher, does he?” And I think I know why. Kreacher and Regulus’s family were all

safest if they kept to the old pure-blood line. Regulus was trying to protect them all.”

“Sirius – “

“Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it’s no good looking like that, you

know it’s true. Kreacher had been alone for such a long time when Sirius came to live

here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I’m sure ‘Miss Cissy’ and ‘Miss

Bella’ were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and

told them everything they wanted to know. I’ve said all along that wizards would pay for

how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did … and so did Sirius.”

Harry had no retort. As he watched Kreacher sobbing on the floor, he

remembered what Dumbledore had said to him, mere hours after Sirius’s death: I do not

think Sirius ever saw Kreacher as a being with feelings as acute as a human’s …

“Kreacher,” said Harry after a while, “when you feel up to it, er … please sit up.”

It was several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silence. Then he

Pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a

Small child.

“Kreacher, I am going to ask you to do something,” said Harry. He glanced at

Hermione for assistance. He wanted to give the order kindly, but at the same time, he

Could not pretend that it was not an order. However, the change in his tone seemed to

have gained her approval: She smiled encouragingly.

“Kreacher, I want you, please, to go and find Mundungus Fletcher. We need to

find out where the locket – where Master Regulus’s locket it. It’s really important. We

want to finish the work Master Regulus started, we want to – er – ensure that he didn’t

die in vain.”

Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry.

“Find Mundungus Fletcher?” he croaked.

And bring him here, to Grimmauld Place,” said Harry. “Do you think you could

do that for us?”

As Kreacher nodded and got to his feet, Harry had a sudden inspiration. He pulled

out Hagrid’s purse and took out the fake Horcrux, the substitute locket in which Regulus

Had placed the note to Voldemort.

“Kreacher, I’d, er, like you to have this,” he said, pressing the locket into the elf’s

hand. “This belonged to Regulus and I’m sure he’d want you to have it as a token of

gratitude for what you—“

“Overkill, mate,” said Ron as the elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of

Date: 2015-12-11; view: 802