Chapter 763: Kreacher's Story (Edited)

Fish's plan was very feasible, and not only Sirius approved of it, but Dumbledore did as well.

After all, no matter how confident he was in his own speculations, and with the added advantage of Felix Felicis Potion, there had never been a precedent for Harry and Voldemort, so if that gave Fish an extra layer of security, Dumbledore wouldn't say no, but it would take another decade or so.

If Fish recovered quickly enough from the Resurrection Spell, Dumbledore and the Order of the Phoenix could even offer to revive Voldemort.

But Harry was in a strange mood...

It was great that he wasn't going to have to die yet, but didn't it make him look foolish to be willing to sacrifice himself and then have Fish come up with a very secure solution?

Harry habitually touched his scar on his forehead and shook his head in disbelief.

Well, it wasn't the first or second time something like this had happened, he was used to it.

"Before we do that, there are two other Horcruxes we need to get rid of as soon as possible, the snake named Nagini and... Sirius," Dumbledore said solemnly. "We need to locate the locket. I will need you to retrieve it."

"I'll take care of it!" Sirius vowed. "If Regulus brought the locket, then that old elf Kreacher will know where it is!"

"Fish will also go nya!"

(ΦДΦ)

Fish said as he separated from Professor McGonagall and took the Portkey before Sirius could grab it.

Fish stared at Sirius and said, wrinkling his nose, "If Fish doesn't come, Sirius is going to bully Kreacher again!"

"I don't have time to bully the old elf," Sirius said with a scowl. "I'm grateful that he doesn't give me any trouble!"

Sirius wasn't lying. Although he had a house-elf, he didn't interact with him except to call Kreacher to do tedious tasks, and Kreacher was happy not to serve Sirius, the "bastard son" of the Blacks, and rarely approached Sirius.

And thanks to Fish, they didn't hate each other as much as before.

Normally, Sirius would have been happy to have Fish as a guest, but if Fish had misunderstood and approached to speak on behalf of Kreacher, he wouldn't have been very well received.

His attitude made Fish even more uncomfortable, so Fish insisted on going with Sirius.

"You can take Fish with you," Dumbledore advised him. "He'll make it easier for Kreacher to cooperate."

Sirius reconsidered and stopped refusing, but his face still looked a little irritated.

The two of them grabbed the rusty griffin on the table together, and Fish felt as if a hook had pulled him forward from behind his navel with an irresistible force, and he rose from the ground, flying.

Their hands and Sirius's were firmly attached to the griffin, and they flew forward in a gust of wind, unable to see anything ahead of them.

A moment later, Fish felt himself hitting the ground, and in an instant, he regained his balance and stood firmly on his feet.

Sirius wasn't as composed as Fish, stumbling a few steps forward before managing to stabilize himself, and the griffin he held in his hand fell to the ground with a metallic sound.

"Master Fish! Welcome to the Black family!" Kreacher was the first to appear in front of Fish, greeting him loudly, and then he looked at Sirius with disgust. "And he has returned alive, master."

There was sorrow in his tone.

Sirius had long grown accustomed to Kreacher's attitude, being too lazy to engage in pointless banter. He went straight to the point and said, "Kreacher, I have something to ask you." He stared intensely at the old house-elf and asked, word by word, "Is there a gold locket brought by Regulus in the house?"

Then he saw Kreacher's eyes widen like tennis balls, and the bloodshot eyes in them seemed even more pronounced.

"No! No! No! Kreacher knows nothing!" the elf cried out while attempting to bash his head against a nearby metallic ornament with such ferocity that he nearly died hitting it.

"Stay still!" Sirius shouted.

Kreacher, who was about to crash into the sharp end of the metallic ornament, had to come to an abrupt stop and fell to the ground like a wooden stake.

Fish looked at Kreacher, then at Sirius, opened his mouth, but remained silent, simply observing.

"I command you, answer my questions truthfully!" Sirius gasped, his anger flaring up, not even understanding why he was so furious.

"No! Kreacher cannot tell!" the house-elf rose from the floor, shaking frantically while gripping his head and screaming at the top of his lungs, "Master Regulus... Master Regulus forbids Kreacher from telling his family! Especially the mistress."

Kreacher's dry chest rose and fell dramatically, and he seemed to summon all his strength to utter the words before sticking the fingers of both hands into his mouth and biting down hard.

"Stop it! I order you not to hurt yourself anymore!"

Sirius never thought he would have to give such an order to Kreacher, and after preventing him from causing harm, he took out the fake locket and the parchment.

"I know what Regulus has done," he said hoarsely as he gently placed the locket and parchment into Kreacher's hands. "What I want to know now is, where is the real locket? Have you destroyed it?"

Kreacher looked incredulously at Sirius, then at the familiar locket in his hand, and proceeded to open the parchment once again, confirming that its contents belonged to Regulus...

Finally, the house-elf burst into tears, tears streaming from Kreacher's sunken eyes and flowing down his long nose, reaching his open mouth.

"Master Regulus! Kreacher... Kreacher has not fulfilled his orders!" Kreacher seemed to attempt self-punishment again, but his thoughts and actions conflicted due to Sirius's previous commands, causing his legs to stumble against each other, and he fell backward onto the ground with a dull thud.

"What do you mean?" Sirius asked anxiously, "Have you lost the locket?"

"No!" Kreacher shouted, "The locket was thrown away by the young master and the Weasley scum, and Kreacher retrieved it!"

Sirius immediately felt relieved and somewhat ashamed for accidentally throwing away Voldemort's Horcrux, if it hadn't been for Kreacher.

"Master Regulus had told Kreacher to destroy the locket, but Kreacher couldn't leave a trace on it." The elf sobbed and explained, "Kreacher tried everything, everything, but nothing worked... The locket had such powerful magic that Kreacher believed the only way to destroy it was from the inside, but it wouldn't open... Kreacher punished himself, tried again, punished himself again, tried again. Kreacher couldn't fulfill the order, Kreacher couldn't destroy the locket!"

He sadly grabbed his bat-like ears and attempted to tear them off once more but failed again due to Sirius' command.

"Give me the locket, we will destroy it," Sirius said gravely. "Besides, I already know what happened, so you can tell me everything about Regulus retrieving the locket and all the in-between details. I want to give Regulus the credit he deserves!"

"Yes! Master Sirius!"

For the first time, Kreacher addressed Sirius with such respect, and after a deep bow, he vanished and reappeared in an instant, handing the real locket to Sirius.

Then, after listening to Kreacher's story in silence, Fish and Sirius learned that Kreacher had been responsible for drinking the potion when Voldemort had hidden the locket, and that's how Regulus learned about the Horcrux's existence and gave his young life to retrieve it.

"Sirius, are you okay?"

(?ω?)

Fish went to console a sobbing Kreacher before returning to nuzzle Sirius, who was saddened after hearing the whole story.

"I'm fine," Sirius told Fish, forcing a smile. "First, take the Horcrux to Dumbledore and leave me alone for a while."

"Then Fish will leave."

Fish tucked the real Slytherin locket into his pocket and picked up the griffin Portkey they had thrown on the floor.

After another swift flight, Fish was back in the Headmaster's office at Hogwarts.

And after Fish left, Sirius slowly approached the portrait of Mrs. Black, ignoring her harsh insults, and calmly said, "I have something I need to talk to you about, mother... it's about Regulus..."