Harry Potter's Pen Pal

Chapter 5

"What?" Harry demanded. "He left you on the island? Surrounded by Inferi?" He made a noise of extreme irritation, and the elf let out a short blast of hysterical laughter. Harry, surprising himself and the elf, pulled the little creature into a hug.

Kreacher froze for a moment, then relaxed, shivering.

"Do you think you can finish the story?" Harry asked. "Or do you need a Calming Draught?"

"Kreacher is fine," the elf whispered.

"Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home. A few weeks later, Master Regulus came home, and he was different. He asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord...."

Harry frowned. Sirius' brother had clearly cared for Kreacher, so he wouldn't have made the elf drink the potion....

"He drank the potion," Harry breathed. "And... he was the one to replace Slytherin's locket with fake...."

"Kreacher replaced the locket," Kreacher choked. "He ordered Kreacher to leave without him. And he told Kreacher ⎯ to go home ⎯ and never to tell my Mistress ⎯ what he had done ⎯ but to destroy ⎯ the first locket. And he drank ⎯ all the potion ⎯ and Kreacher swapped the lockets ⎯ and watched... as Master Regulus..." Kreacher suddenly burst into sobs, shaking violently.

Harry pulled him closer, realizing what had happened: Regulus had become an Inferi.

"Kreacher," Harry asked absentmindedly after a few minutes, once the elf's cries had died down to sniffles, "do you know if a Necromancer can turn an Inferi back into a human?"

Kreacher gasped and was silent for a moment. Then he rasped, "Only very powerful Necromancers can do so, Master Harry.... Is Master Harry a Necromancer?"

"Yes," Harry said slowly. He began rubbing circles into the elf's back. Finally he said, "Great-Aunt Scarlett."

A ghost of a red-headed girl floated out from the shelves. "What?" she asked snarkily.

"Do we have any books on Necromancy?"

Scarlett Potter stared at him. "Do you have a brain?" she asked incredulously. "The Potters are descended from the most powerful of Necromancers! Of course we have books on Necromancy!"

Harry stood, Kreacher still frozen in his arms, and placed the little elf on the couch. "Where are they?"

The girl spun around and floated back into the shelves. Harry quickly followed.

She led him through the maze of books until they reached a shelf near the back, which was covered in black books. Unfortunately, they were chained onto the shelf. Harry scowled. These books were off-limits.

To his surprise, the chain in front of him glowed and disappeared. Harry blinked.

His great-times-ten aunt gasped. "They are only supposed to do that for a powerful Necromancer!"

Harry rolled his eyes, then scanned the shelf. Finally he pulled a small volume labelled The Forgotten Arts of Necromancy and opened it. "Kreacher!"

The elf popped into existence right beside him. Harry noticed that Kreacher had an expression of faint hope on his face. "Yes, Master Harry?"

"One second, Kreacher..." Harry glanced down the table of contents.

An introduction to necromancy...I

Dementors and how to control them...5

Runes in the art of Necromancy...9