Regulus Arcturus Black

"Kreacher's working all the time, sir…" The elderly house-elf swept a broom gently across the floor twice, but kept his eyes fixed on Ivan, his mouth flat and his voice just loud enough for Ivan to hear.

"The wicked whelp must be trying to distract Kreacher so he can steal something… and he won't get away with it!"

Ivan's mouth twitched as he realised how Sirius must have felt. If he had had a house-elf like this, he would have gagged him!

Ivan's change of expression was noted by the elderly house-elf, who looked at him with dark disdain and muttered under his breath.

"Sir must have been thinking about how to get rid of Kreacher … Kreacher had already seen that he was evil …

However, it doesn't matter. Kreacher has lived long enough to keep his mistress company. I wonder how the house will be ruined by the whelps… Oh, poor thing…"

"Shut up! Can you stop getting conspiracy theories into your head! Nobody's going to try to kill you!" Ivan interrupted Kreacher, rolling his eyes.

"And I need to remind you that there are some things you shouldn't say out loud if you don't want to be overheard! Keep them to yourself, understand?"

Ivan had a strong suspicion that Kreacher's sarcastic whispers were meant to be overheard.

Kreacher's mouth curled and his long, pointed ears drooped. He did not speak again, but he did not leave.

Ivan shook his head, unable to do anything about it.

In fact, the fastest way to find out the exact location of Slytherin's Locket was to ask Kreacher directly.

However, this house-elf clearly did not trust him enough to reveal the whereabouts of the locket. She might even think that he was after it and try to hide it.

Ivan's head was beginning to hurt when a wild, blood-curdling noise came from outside.

"Get out of here, you filthy pest, you damned lowlife, and get out of this house! How dare you defile the noble Black compound!"

The high-pitched voice of a woman broke the silence of the house. Kreacher, who was guarding the door, turned pale. He snapped his fingers and disappeared.

Ivan frowned and left the room, heading in the direction of the voice. He spotted Lupin in the corridor.

Lupin stood awkwardly in front of the half-opened velvet draperies, not knowing what to do.

Behind the draperies was a life-size portrait of an elderly woman in a black hat, screaming and cursing.

At the sight of Ivan, the old lady's face twisted into a scowl. "Oh! My God, another one, who gave you permission to come in! This is the Black family home, get out! Get out!"

The high-pitched shriek was so loud that Ivan could hear it even with his hands over his ears.

Kreacher, a grubby house-elf, was watching them from around the corner, murmuring to himself.

The scream didn't last long as Sirius, having heard the commotion, charged towards them.

'Shut up, you old hag, you're the one who needs to get out of here! Any more noise and I'll throw you in the forge and burn you!' Sirius cursed, taking a few steps towards the curtain.

But it was as if the thing had been bewitched. No matter how hard he tried, it would not move. The cursing of the old lady in the portrait grew louder and louder…

"You despicable wastrel, the disgrace of the family, the spawn of my blood! How dare you return…"

"Lupin, Harry, Ivan, come and help!" Sirius couldn't pull the curtain alone, so he had no choice but to ask Ivan and the others for help.

When the piercing screams died away, everyone in the room breathed a sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry, Sirius, I didn't know it was here. I just wanted to clean the draperies…" Lupin apologized.

'No, none of your business! I neglected to remind you of that.' Sirius shook his head.

"Sirius, who was in that portrait?" Harry asked curiously.

"That was my mother! A thoroughly stubborn, staunch pure-blood who discriminated against all non-pure-blood wizards and forbade them to set foot in the house! Except, of course, for my uncle and my opinionless brother, everyone else in the Black family had a similar problem!"

Sirius said angrily, then looked at the draperies. "Anyway, I'll get rid of the portrait sometime. The end of this thing should be the furnace!"

Kreacher muttered to himself, "Innocent wastrel. Poor mistress is dead and he plans to destroy her portrait… but they won't succeed. No one will be able to remove it…"

'One more word and I'll rip your mouth off!' Sirius threatened, turning to look at the elderly house-elf.

Kreacher, however, didn't care. As a house-elf, punishment was a common occurrence, and tearing lips didn't seem like such a big deal, so he didn't stop talking.

"The mistress is very severe, Miss Bellatrix is very clever, young Master Regulus is very brave… and so are all the others! Not at all like someone…"

Sirius heard Kreacher's words and laughed disdainfully.

"You say that my mother is harsh and I admit it, and that my cousin is cunning, but you say that Regulus is brave?"

Sirius then added sarcastically, as if he had just thought of something.

"Ah… yes! You're right, he was brave, brave enough to join You-Know-Who as a Death Eater, and I didn't think he had the guts!

I expect the old witch was overjoyed, for all her teaching had finally pushed her youngest son into the fire!"

Sirius's voice was sharp, but he did not notice Kreacher staring at him angrily…

Harry, who was standing at the side, was so surprised that he quickly asked,

"Who is Regulus? Did you say he sided with Lord Voldemort?"

Sirius smiled wryly, sighing as he spoke. "Regulus was my brother, a cowardly fool!"