Death at Hogwarts - A Harry Potter fanfiction

Chapter Fifteen

The elf nodded, then explained that the foul thief, Mundungus Fletcher had stolen it, and Kreacher had not seen it since.

Kreacher then told the tale of what had really happened to Regulus, how Voldemort had used Kreacher to test out the enchantment in the cave, and how Regulus had told Kreacher to take the fake locket, and once the basin was empty, to swap the two lockets. Kreacher was then ordered to leave without Regulus; to go home and say not a word to anyone, but to destroy the first locket any way he could. Regulus then drank all the potion and was dragged beneath the waters by the Inferi. Kreacher then turned his glistening eyes to me

"And you were there, too. Kreacher remembers you, oh yes." he said. I said nothing, simply looked at him and waited for him to continue his sorry tale.

"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," he wailed. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing would work. . .so many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the only way to destroy it was to get inside, but it would not open. . .Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished hismelf, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus has disappeared, and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any one of the f-family what happened in the c-cave. . ."

The elf broke down into huge, wracking sobs, unable to speak. Hermione made no attempt to stop the tears flowing down her cheeks as she imagined what he had gone through.

Harry confessed he didn't understand why Kreacher had sold Sirius to Bellatrix. Hermione helpfully explained that that wasn't how house-elves thought. Kreacher was loyal to those who were kind to him, and Regulus and his mistress certainly had been.

Harry asked Kreacher as nicely as he could to go find Mundungus Fletcher and bring him to Grimmauld Place. He then presented Kreacher with the fake locket, whereupon the elf burst into tears, and finally calmed down enough after an hour to take it to his cupboard, before bowing to the boys and I, and saluting Hermione, then Disapparating with a loud crack.

The days passed, and there was no sign of Kreacher.

Ron had taken to flicking the Deluminator on and off again when he was bored, which was quite often.

Hermione, who was busying translating The Tales of Beedle the Bard, found this extremely annoying, and finally snapped.

"Will you stop that?! I'm trying to translate these runes in case there's something Dumbledore was trying to tell me!"

"He left me the Deluminator, too," Ron argued. "I'm supposed to use it!"

"Cease your bickering, you two." I told them. "It solves nothing and will only cause trouble."

"Yeah, you," Ron said, turning on me suddenly. "Why didn't you tell us that it was Regulus who had the real locket sooner?! We could have avoided this whole stupid mess!"

"I did not realise I had to tell you everything, Ronald Weasley." I said icily.

The room went quiet, and Harry quietly left, unseen by the others. The front door rattled, and a figure stepped inside. Instantly, the trio were on their feet, wands drawn and pointing at the figure, who held up his hands.

"Calm yourselves, it's me, Remus!"

"Oh, thank goodness." Hermione said, putting her wand away. Ron followed suit. Harry, however, kept his wand trained on Remus, until Remus gave proof that he was who he said he was. He sat down in the kitchen with us, and told us that everything was fine back home.

Talk turned to Nymphadora, and it was revealed that she was expecting, something that I already knew. Remus revealed that he was regretting marrying her, let alone making her pregnant. He greatly feared that the child would be a werewolf, as his kind were not meant to breed. Harry called him a coward, and, after sending Harry flying with a spell, Remus fled, furious at himself.

Ron and Hermione looked at Harry, who said that in his opinion, fathers should stay with their children. I understood how he felt - he had never known his parents.

Harry took the newspaper that Remus had left and sat reading it, turning the pages noisily, as Hermione and Ron silently communicated with their eyes how they felt about this matter. Sensing that Kreacher was coming, I stepped aside smartly as the crack echoed in the kitchen, and Kreacher appeared, wrestling with Mundungus.

Kreacher disentangled himself from Mundungus and bowed low to Harry, explaining that he had returned. Mundungus put up a fight, and I vanished, reappearing in front of him and dropped my disguise. Instantly, all colour left his face and he staggered backwards and opened his mouth to scream.

"Scream and it will be your last." I threatened. It was, of course, an empty threat - I could not harm anyone, could not take their soul unless it was their time. I could, however, yank a person's soul temporarily from their body should I choose to do so. The only exception was Tom Riddle, and the reason for that was his Horcruxes. The soul had to be whole.

Mundungus made a funny noise, like a 'meep' and shut his mouth as I resumed my disguise.

"You can question him now." I said calmly, smiling at Kreacher, who bowed to me.

"Er. . .thanks." Harry said, before launching into questioning Mundungus. Immediately, he called Sirius' things 'junk' and Kreacher began smashing him over the head with a saucepan. I chuckled as Mundungus howled.

"Kreacher, stop!" Harry ordered.

"Perhaps just one more, Master Harry, for luck?" Kreacher asked. I laughed openly. I was starting to like this elf.

Mundungus revealed he had given the locket to Dolores Umbridge, much to the trio's horror.

Once he had left, Hermione turned a horrified face to Harry.

"How on earth are we going to get it off her?"

"We break into the Ministry." Harry replied.