Chapter 680: Hermione and the House-Elf (Edited)

Tom and Hermione were experts at sneaking out of school and heading to other parts of Great Britain.

Soon, the two appeared outside Grimmauld Place. Cracks in the bricks on the ground and weeds growing in the cracks of the streets indicated that this place did not receive daily maintenance from the city council.

The sound of car horns nearby accentuated the desolation of the place, giving them a feeling of having been abandoned by human society.

Hermione looked at the decaying surroundings and pursed her lips. "The Black family is one of the ancient pure-blood lineages, how is it possible for them to live in such a deplorable place?"

"Perhaps before settling here, this area was prosperous," Tom reflected as he observed the community. Although it was now in decline and neglect, he could still glimpse traces of its former greatness. "Can you guarantee that your family's territory will remain prosperous two centuries from now?"

"Of course! Have you forgotten? My family is in London!" Hermione exclaimed proudly. It was clear that she had a lot of confidence in the potential for her house to appreciate in value.

Tom: ???

In Tom's eyes, the location of the Granger family would only increase in value and not decrease. Unless something extraordinary happened in the future, like building a refugee camp in the vicinity, depreciation would be unthinkable.

"Magicians are probably not suitable for living in bustling areas," Tom concluded, ending the topic.

Given wizards' strange behavior, it would be better to stay away from Muggle communities. Their actions were so anomalous that any Muggle who had contact with them would realize that something was not right.

"So, where are we going now?" Hermione looked around, searching for traces of Sirius's house.

"Grimmauld Place... Number 12," Tom said as he circled near the square and finally fixed his target. Before their eyes, a house suddenly appeared between numbers 11 and 13 Grimmauld Place.

From the outside, the house did not differ from the other Muggle residences, except that it was more run-down and neglected. However, the fact that it appeared out of nowhere without attracting the attention of nearby Muggles indicated that it was protected by powerful magic.

Hermione looked at the peeling exterior walls and dusty windows and remained silent for a long time.

The arrival of the Order of the Phoenix didn't seem to have changed the hygiene status of Number 12 Grimmauld Place much, at least from the outside.

"Ahem, though it may seem a bit run-down, the inside is habitable," a male voice behind them spoke up.

Tom: ???!!!

He recognized the owner of the voice, but that wasn't what surprised him.

Tom turned his head in astonishment and indeed saw the handsome face of Sirius Black.

"What's so strange about it? This is my house," Sirius said, extending his hands, not understanding why Tom was so surprised.

"Infiltrated!" Upon hearing this word, Hermione's eyes widened in surprise, once again, something she wasn't informed about!

This was the plan implemented by Tom and Dumbledore, where Sirius and Lupin would assume the identities of Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr., respectively, to infiltrate the ranks of the Death Eaters. They were two of the Death Eaters under Dumbledore's control, the perfect choices for infiltration.

Before beginning the infiltration mission, Sirius and Lupin received special training in Occlumency from Snape to prevent Voldemort from discovering their true identities. It wasn't until Dumbledore considered their Occlumency skill was good enough that they started executing the plan.

As for how they assumed the appearances of Peter and Barty, this was due to Professor Snape's selfless support, providing them with Polyjuice Potion and Wolfsbane Potion. It was hard work.

Sirius and Lupin did not disappoint everyone; they carried out the mission exceptionally well. Not only did they infiltrate the Death Eater ranks, but they also gained Voldemort's trust by helping him achieve his resurrection. This allowed Dumbledore's plan to proceed smoothly, and they consistently provided valuable information about Voldemort.

"I'll explain it to you in detail later," Tom reassured Hermione before looking at Sirius and asking, "What happened?"

Tom couldn't understand why Sirius would be here. Shouldn't he be carrying out his undercover mission?

"Voldemort ordered us to separate and infiltrate separately," Sirius shrugged, "And then we never heard back, so I decided to return to my home, where Lupin also lives."

"I'm not sure if I should continue with this undercover mission... I can't be an infiltrator if I can't even see Voldemort's noseless face," Sirius added, and Tom nodded, understanding that he had a point. Fortunately, Tom had already found new sources of information, so Sirius and Lupin's undercover mission could temporarily come to an end. However, the false identities of Barty and Peter might be useful again in the future.

"In any case, Dumbledore conveyed a message to me saying you wanted to know more about my stupid brother, so I came out here to wait for you," Sirius explained and then took Tom's hand, leading him towards his house.

"Come in, my house is quite large, not like the appearance outside..."

With Tom and Hermione behind him, Sirius guided them up the dirty steps to the front door.

The peculiarity of this door was that it had no lock, only a silver snake-shaped "S." Sirius pulled out his wand and lightly tapped the snake. After a few seconds, the sound of chains echoed, and the door creaked open.

"Come in... and keep quiet," Sirius said, gliding inside gracefully. Tom followed closely, and Hermione stayed behind, her eyes filled with curiosity.

Behind the door was a dark hallway. It's worth mentioning that there were no longer thick layers of dust, cobwebs, or little insects lurking everywhere in the hallway.

Sirius led the two of them into the living room. Although it was daytime outside, the living room was still dark, so Sirius lit some candles to illuminate the area.

"Have a seat," he said, pulling out chairs and inviting Tom and Hermione to sit down. His expression was filled with satisfaction.

This house had been cleaned with a lot of effort by Sirius and Lupin! He even regretted not taking a picture of how dirty and messy the house used to look.

"Although Dumbledore uses it as the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, there usually aren't many people here..." Sirius started chatting with Tom.

"Any guests?" Nearby stairs creaked, and a familiar person appeared.

"Professor Lupin!" Hermione stood up excitedly; she had great affection for the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. After a long time without seeing each other, she was filled with joy at the reunion.

"So, you're Miss Granger and Yodel..." Lupin greeted Tom and Hermione first and then realized that the Hogwarts holidays hadn't started yet, and these two shouldn't be here.

"We've asked for permission to miss class," Hermione explained concisely, describing the purpose of their visit.

"Regulus..." Lupin's eyes rested on Sirius, remembering how his old friend used to complain about his dim-witted younger brother.

"He's just a fool. I can't believe you're interested in him," Sirius said disdainfully, but Tom could detect something different in his tone.

"He's two years younger than me and has always been a pure-blood supremacist since he was a child..." Sirius began talking about his younger brother's life.

In the end, he sighed, "As for the outcome, I don't think there are many possibilities. He was killed by Voldemort. Or killed under Voldemort's orders. I lean more towards the second option because Regulus wasn't important enough for Voldemort to personally deal with. After his death, from what I know, he had sunk deep into the darkness, and then, terrified by what he was asked to do, he wanted to retire... He's always been so weak-willed... Anyway, you can't just hand in a resignation letter to Voldemort. You only have two choices: serve him for life or meet a fatal end."

After finishing the story about his brother, a long silence fell over the living room until Sirius broke it.

"Come on, I'll take you to your room; maybe you can find some clues..."

Right at that moment, a deep, raspy voice sounded by the living room door: "The foul and nauseating stench of strangers' presence has once again entered the noble and pure House of Black... They are but friends of a dissolute spendthrift... and there's an additional Mudblood..."

"Kreacher!" Sirius's expression turned fierce as he slammed the table hard and shouted towards the door, "Shut that disgusting mouth! Would you dare repeat those words?"

As he spoke, Tom noticed for the first time an old house-elf, who no longer looked anything like what he used to be, standing outside the living room, listening to the conversation.

He hadn't said a word until the story of Regulus was finished.

After being reprimanded by Sirius, Kreacher immediately hunched over and tremulously bowed, uttering some submissive words, though it was clear that his words were insincere.

Because as he lowered his head, he muttered, "My poor old mistress, if she saw the current state of the mansion, she would go mad with rage. But the useless old Kreacher couldn't help it. What more can he do?"

"Don't mind him, he's grown old and confused, always talking nonsense," Sirius paid little attention to Kreacher and apologized to Hermione. The term "Mudblood" was the most venomous insult towards Muggle-born wizards.

However, Hermione didn't seem to mind; she was carefully observing Kreacher. This was the first time she had seen a house-elf up close. Before, she had only heard of their existence and had never seen one.

Kreacher had a wrinkled face with a pair of bat-like ears covered in white hair, making him look very old. His exposed skin was saggy and full of wrinkles, which were caked with dirt, giving anyone who saw him a shiver. Like other house-elves, Kreacher wore no clothing; he only had a ragged cloth around his waist, which was the only thing that could be called "clothes."

"Don't worry, he's just been influenced by what he's heard and seen, it's not his fault. His name is Kreacher, right?" Hermione fairly kindly forgave Kreacher's impertinence. Instead of focusing on that, she was more concerned about Kreacher's condition.

Looking at Kreacher with compassion in her eyes, Hermione asked, "Has he been working in your house since he was born?"

Out of respect for Sirius, who was also a member of the Order of the Phoenix, Hermione chose neutral words like "working."

"Yes," Sirius nodded while Kreacher mumbled quietly, "Kreacher has been serving the noble and great House of Black for generations..."

"How old is he then?" Hermione looked at Kreacher's aged face, her eyes filled with compassion.

"How am I supposed to know? He was working in the house when I was born," Sirius responded with a roll of his eyes. "When I was born, he was already here."

Hearing Sirius's answer, the compassion in Hermione's eyes nearly overflowed.

"So he doesn't get days off, a salary, benefits, or any guarantees, right?" she said with a trembling voice.

Before Sirius could respond, Kreacher raised his head and glared furiously at Hermione, as if she had stained his character with her words.

"Kreacher doesn't need a salary," he said angrily, gritting his teeth. "Kreacher never neglects his duties when serving his master!"

Hermione was stunned. She hadn't expected to be confronted like that by Kreacher.

Tom sighed on the side. He knew something like this would happen. Hermione was a kind-hearted girl, and how could she not have compassion for Kreacher after meeting him? She simply lacked an understanding of the world of house-elves...

"House-elves are embarrassed by the concept of a salary and, of course, they don't get days off," Tom whispered.

Hermione turned pale; this was even worse than she had expected.

"So... there's no retirement either?" Hermione sighed.

Sirius didn't say anything, he just gestured for Hermione to follow him.

"Don't go," Tom said as he stood up, blocking Hermione's path. He had already guessed what Sirius wanted to show Hermione.

Tom felt it would be better if Hermione didn't see what was there.

"Don't stop me, Tom," Hermione said determinedly as she pushed Tom aside, following Sirius to a wall.

On the wall, several things were affixed, but the light was too dim for Hermione to see clearly.

"Lumos," Sirius illuminated the decorations on the wall.

The instant she could see the "decorations" on the wall clearly, Hermione felt like someone was squeezing her heart; the last trace of color in her face disappeared.

On the wall was a row of house-elf heads!

"When they can no longer work, my dear aunt beheads them and sticks them here," Sirius said with a complete lack of expression.