The Story of Regulus

That day, the Dark Lord took it to a cave by the sea, and they sailed across a dark lake to the island in the middle of it.

"There was a stone … stone basin on the island, and it was filled with potions. The Dark Lord ordered Kreacher to drink them all …" Kreacher shuddered at the memory, his words faltering.

"Kreacher did as he was told and drank it, seeing horrible sights…his insides seemed to be on fire…Kreacher shouted for Master Regulus to save him, for his mistress, but the Dark Lord only laughed…He forced Kreacher to drink the potion…He threw a locket into an empty basin…and refilled the basin."

Kreacher's words caused a chill to run down everyone's spine, and the house-elf began to weep, describing how much pain she must have been in after taking the potion.

"Kreacher needed water, and it crawled to the edge of the island to drink from the Black Lake … many hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher down …" Kreacher recalled his experience in fits and starts.

"It should be an Inferius under the water! This is a trap laid by Lord Voldemort to protect the locket." As a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Lupin soon realised what was happening.

"But why would Lord Voldemort go to all this trouble to hide it?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"It only means that the locket is very important to Voldemort!" Ivan could not bring himself to say that it was a Horcrux, so he tried to remind him indirectly.

Lupin, Harry, and Sirius nodded in agreement. The more Voldemort tried to protect something, the more they would destroy it!

"No! You said you drank the potion and triggered the trap. How did you get out?" Lupin asked, acutely aware that something was amiss.

"Master Regulus said he wanted Kreacher to go home, so Kreacher went home…" Kreacher seemed to be replaying the scene in his mind, and no matter how many times Lupin and the others questioned him, he still looked stunned.

Ivan spoke up. "Kreacher must have used Apparition to escape!"

"Voldemort wouldn't have left such an obvious opening! There must be anti-Phantom Displacement magic in there." Lupin frowned, unable to believe the man was so stupid.

"No! Pixie magic is different from wizard magic. It can break through many restrictions, like at Hogwarts, where wizards can't perform Apparition, but Pixies can do it easily," Ivan explained.

It could only be said that Lord Voldemort was too arrogant, or that wizards were too arrogant and looked down on low-class house-elves, and never studied the difference between their magic and that of wizards.

As a result, many places seemed heavily guarded, but to house-elves, they were like sieves.

"That's a possibility!" Lupin agreed with Sirius, who was hiding in the shadows. They were the first to know that house-elves could break through the Anti-Phantom Disapparation barrier, and Lord Voldemort, who thought highly of himself, was even less likely to know.

Kreacher, the house-elf, ignored the comments and continued after a pause.

"When we got back, Kreacher told Master Regulus what had happened… and the Master was very worried and told Kreacher to go into hiding and not to leave the house."

"A little while later… Master Regulus came to Kreacher. He was acting very strangely that day, and Kreacher could see that he was troubled… The Master asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the one Kreacher had been to with the Dark Lord…"

Kreacher slowly described the journey, how it opened the secret entrance to the underground cave, and how he and Regulus sailed to the island in a small boat…

"And he made you drink the potion and take the locket out?" Lupin asked, frowning, but thinking there was more to the story.

Kreacher's next words took everyone by surprise.

"No, Master Regulus did not do that!" Kreacher cried, tears streaming down his long nose as he sobbed.

"When we got there, the young master took a locket out of his pocket, just like the Dark Lord's. He told Kreacher to hold on to it until the basin was dry, then he switched the locket and… and…"

"And Regulus drank the potion?" It was a question, but Ivan sounded certain.

Lupin and Harry looked at Kreacher in disbelief.

The house-elf's face was covered in tears and his sobs were so broken that it took a lot of concentration to understand what he was saying…

"Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to take what he wanted and leave him alone. He told Kreacher to go home … but to destroy the Dark Lord's locket …

He then… drained the potion, and Cleary cut off the locket and replaced it, watching as… Master Regulus… was dragged underwater… and…"

Sirius, who had been hiding in the shadows using the Disillusionment Charm, could not hold back any longer and charged towards Kreacher. He grabbed Kreacher by the head and pointed his wand at him, interrogating him.

"So you just watched? You didn't drink the potion, so why didn't you save him?! Why didn't you save him?!"

Sirius screamed at the top of his lungs, his eyes bloodshot.

Kreacher's eyes went wide, as he had not expected Sirius to be there, and he screamed as he realised that he had broken Regulus's order not to tell his family about the cave…

'Shut up! I command you, as the head of the House of Black, to speak up! Why don't you save him!' Sirius roared, speaking directly over Kreacher's screams!

"There were too many of them… too many of them dead! Kreacher did his best… he really did! Master Regulus told Kreacher to leave… he could not disobey! He had to… go home…" The elderly house-elf broke down in sobs.

"Excuses! If you knew about the Inferius, why didn't you just take Regulus and leave?"

Sirius cut Kreacher off angrily, his eyes growing red, the locket clinking in his right hand, and his wand glinting dangerously as he glared at Kreacher.

"I don't believe he'd drink that potion in place of a dirty, cheap house-elf like you!"