Chapter - 65 : Unsettled Truths part - 2

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He threw an enormous fit when a heavy golden locket no one could open was taken from him and thrown into the rubbish. Harry curious about its significance and wondering if he could use it to win the house elf's favor, stealthily pocketed it when no one was watching.

"Filthy mudbloods and blood traitors defiling the house of my mistress, no right, Kreacher says, no right to touch and to take and to destroy precious family heirlooms. Oh, what would Kreacher's mistress say?"

Harry looked up from the cup of coffee he was blearily nursing, it was early in the morning, the sun had yet to rise, so he'd assumed that he'd have at least a few hours before the house awoke and chaos reigned. Unfortunately, that was not to be. "Good morning, Kreacher," he murmured, taking a large gulp of coffee. "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Kreacher did not see the boy sitting at my mistresses table, sitting as if he belonged, as if he deserved to be there. But he does not belong, no he does not."

"My morning's been fine so far, thank you for asking."

"The halfling is speaking to Kreacher as if her were an equal," Kreacher muttered in disgust. "Oh, the shame."

Suddenly, Harry was wide awake. "Halfling?" he asked "Why do you call me that?"

"The halfling has asked Kreacher a question. What should Kreacher do?"

"You could answer."

Kreacher glared with watery eyes. "Kreacher calls halfling a halfling because he is a halfling."

"Well thanks," Harry snorted. "That really clears things up."

"Halfling is part human, half not human, not of earth."

"How do you know that?"

"The halfling still speaks to Kreacher, but Kreacher will say no more, Kreacher has had enough of talking to the abomination, the aberration. Unnatural he is."

The green eyed boy observed the elf shrewdly; he was the third to know his true identity, or at least that he was not human, the other two being Ollivander and Luna. He didn't mind the latter two being privy to his secret, but knowing that Kreacher knew made him queasy. The elf was mad and liable to blurt it out at any time to anyone; whether anyone would believe him was still up for debate, but Harry didn't want to take the chance. Harry had to ensure that Kreacher wouldn't breathe a word, and there was only one way he knew how to do that.

"It's a shame what they're doing to all of the Black family heirlooms."

Kreacher continued to mutter nonsensical insults under his breath, but Harry saw his bony shoulders tense.

"I mean many of those things were priceless, and many others were ancient, entrenched in family history."

"Kreacher does not know what the abomination is getting at."

"I could, however, save some of these heirlooms from being destroyed or worse, sold off to mudbloods and blood traitors."

"Kreacher is beginning to see what it is getting at."

"For a price of course."

"Kreacher is listening."

"Cut back on the insults," Harry said, calmly taking a sip of his coffee as he plotted out his demands, "I'm not going to even believe that you have the self-control or even the sanity to stop all together, but no more mudbloods and such, keep it PG. I also think it's high time for you to stop skulking around and really start cleaning this house and, if Sirius approves, maybe you should look into redecorating, restore the Black home, and in turn its name, to all of its former glory."

"Is that all the halfling requires?" Kreacher asked.

"There's one more thing. You are to keep my status as a halfling and all that pertains to it to yourself. No one is to know."

Kreacher's eyes narrowed. "The boy is a true Slytherin."

Harry smiled softly and inclined his head to the small elf in thanks. "So, do we have a deal?"

"We do."

"Good, swear it."

This gave the creature pause. "How does Kreacher know the halfling will keep his word?"

"I'll give you something, as a show of good faith." Harry pulled the heavy, gold locket he'd pocketed several days earlier for this exact purpose and dangled it from the tips of his fingers.

Kreacher's eyes grew so wide Harry could see the locket's reflection in the black of his pupils. "Master Regulus' locket," he whispered tremulously. "Kreacher swears as a servant of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black to keep his end of the deal with Harry Potter."

Harry nodded, the elf's word was binding, he wouldn't be able to go back on it. Harry handed Kreacher the locket with no small amount of relief there was something about the necklace that made him uneasy, there was a certain sort of magical aura that was inherently evil, but it was no more than he expected from an heirloom of such a notoriously dark family.

Kreacher placed the locket around his neck with trembling fingers, then, much to the teen's surprise, launched himself at Harry and wrapped his thin arms around his legs. "Harry Potter is a good wizard. Mistress would agree, he is no abomination."

"Thank you, Kreacher." Harry said, awkwardly patting the elf's head, he hadn't expected such a strong reaction. That locket must really be important.

"What the hell?" Harry looked up from the potions book he was reading at the kitchen table to where Mr. and Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Sirius were standing in the doorway looking around in disbelief.

"Good morning," he said mildly.

"What in the world happened to the kitchen?" Remus asked.

Harry glanced halfheartedly around the kitchen; it was the first place Kreacher had cleaned and he had to say, he'd done a marvelous job at it, the room was almost unrecognizable in its cleanliness. Every surface now shone, copper pots and pans had been burnished to a rosy glow, and the wooden tabletop had been scrubbed until it gleamed, there was no sign of the previous mold infestation and the whole room smelled of fresh air and pine.

"Did you do this, Harry dear?" Mrs. Weasley beamed.

"No, Kreacher did."

"Kreacher?" Sirius spluttered.

"Yes, Kreacher. You know, I was thinking we should redecorate the place, make it more livable for you, Moony, and the Order. I was thinking we could take down this god awful wallpaper and replace it with something lighter, maybe a cream or a nice off white, but then have the floorboards a dark mahogany, it would make a lovely contrast."

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Loving the story so far? There's a whole world of magic and mystery waiting for you with over 85+ chapters still to come! By supporting my Patreon.

You not only get early access to new chapters but also exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, and special perks just for fans like you.

Join us on this enchanted journey and help shape the future of the tale. Your support makes all the difference—discover more and become part of the adventure today!

http//patreon.com/Kun_kanshi

(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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