94 hp Diagon Alley

, "How did you get out? Harry told me you'd all be at Hogwarts this holiday - I sulked for three days because he wouldn't take me."

"Yeah—" Harry responded to his godfather before his friends could speak, "because you're... uh... not old enough to go to school."

"Merlin's scepter, you can't fool me." Sirius smiled slyly, as if he was only a little younger than Harry, "Last year you said I was nine years old, this year I am ten years old, and I can go there next September Hogwarts."

"I hope so." Ron sighed, his eyebrows drooping.

"You can't play tricks, Harry," Sirius warned the boy with glasses, "or else I'd have another way, and I'd still be able to get to school."

Before the three of them had time to think about his words, Kreacher appeared in the living room on the second floor with tea, a plate full of shortbread and digestive biscuits.Ron let out a sigh of joy and contentment.

Harry's scar suddenly felt hot, and he felt Voldemort angry again.It was already late at this time, he tried his best to persuade Sirius to go to rest: "It's time for you to go to bed, let's talk tomorrow morning, okay?"

"You promise?" Sirius looked at him dubiously. "I can see you when I wake up?"

"I promise, we'll stay here until... we go back to Hogwarts." Harry twitched his forehead and smiled at the dark-haired wizard.

After Sirius returned to the room wrapped in his nightgown, Harry said to Ron and Hermione, "Listen, I might try to find clues to other Horcruxes in RAB's room."

"We all know that the locket has been destroyed, right?" Ron pointed around the three of them, not quite understanding.

"But he knew about You-Know-Who and his Horcruxes before anyone else," Hermione explained. "Maybe he investigated other Horcruxes too?"

"What if we can find a clue about the location?" Harry said as he finished his cup of tea. "It's better than running around like headless chickens now."

A few people crept to Regulus' room on the fifth floor. There was a small sign on the door, and the paint underneath had deep scratches.It was a small, imposing sign, with handwritten letters on the fortifications, "No entry without my express permission. Regulus Arcturus Black".

"I still can't believe that the youngest son of the Black Death Eaters is on our side." Ron sighed. "What if Sirius finds out?"

"I'll tell him someday." Harry pursed his lips tightly. "And bury his brother's body, of course."

He held the doorknob with his hand, and couldn't move it no matter what.Hermione drew out her wand, "Alahoo hole--" Still no response.

"Locked?" Ron bent over the keyhole. "I wish I knew Fred and George's Muggle lockpicking skills at this point."

"It seems we can't open this door." Hermione was a little frustrated, and seemed to remember something, "Maybe it was locked by Kreacher, Harry, you said before that it is loyal to its little master?"

"Yes..." Before Harry could finish his sentence, there was a sudden creaking sound of chairs rubbing against the floor in the attic above them.

The alert Ron and Hermione immediately raised their wands to the top of their heads, and Harry comforted them: "Hey, don't worry, I know who's upstairs, she's a member of the Order of the Phoenix."

"What do you mean?" Hermione frowned and looked at the ceiling. "Are you sure, Harry? What if there are Death Eaters upstairs?"

"I'm sure because Amelia Bones lives upstairs," Harry said to his friends in a very low voice.

"Bones?" Ron covered his mouth. "The missing Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement? God, I thought she was dead."

"Actually no, but just a little bit. She had a big hole in her throat when she was sent. Anyway, don't tell me about it. Burns almost got the Imperius Curse, D... Dumbledore Since then it has been known that the Ministry of Magic is no longer safe, so it has been decided to keep her in secret. She and Sirius used to know each other, and I depend on her when I am not at home..."

"—and Kreacher," Hermione added.

"—Okay, take care of Sirius with Kreacher." Harry's scar twitched again, and hurried back to the topic just now, "You really think it can open RAB's door?"

"We can try, let's go back to the living room on the second floor, don't wake up Sirius." Hermione pushed the two boys down the stairs, "Thanks to Sirius and it, we can still be in the clean room." Hot tea in the house. I thought I'd have to eat dry bread with you..."

Suddenly Hermione screamed, Harry drew his wand again, and turned sharply, only to see a silver Patronus pass through the living room window and onto the floor in front of them, transforming into a silver weasel, using Ron The father's voice spoke.

"My family is safe, no need to reply, we are under surveillance."

The Patronus disappeared without a trace.Ron made a sound that was part whimper and part groan, and sank down on the couch, while Hermione leaned over and grabbed his arm.

"They're all right, they're all right!" Hermione whispered, and Ron gave a half-smile and hugged her tightly.

"Harry," he said over Hermione's shoulder, "I—"

"It's all right," said Harry, nauseated by the pain in his head. "It's your family, of course you have to worry. I'd be worried too," he thought of Ginny. "I'm really worried, too."

A few minutes later, Kreacher stood reluctantly opposite the sofa in the living room on the second floor.

"I have something to ask you, and I need your help," Harry said, looking down at the elf, his heart beating faster, "I want you to answer truthfully, understand?"

"Yes." Kreacher said, bowing low again.

Hermione was very cautious, and put several earplugs on the surroundings to ensure that the sound would not be transmitted upstairs and downstairs, and then signaled Harry to continue.

"About your little master," said Harry, heart pounding against his ribs, "there's a pretty big gold locket upstairs in the drawing room. Is it his?"

Kreacher gasped, his shriveled chest heaving violently, and then he opened his eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream. "Master Regulus' locket, Kreacher made a mistake, Kreacher failed to carry out the master's order!"

Harry reacted instinctively: as Kreacher rushed for the poker standing by the fire, he threw himself on top of the elf, pinning it down.Hermione's screams mingled with Kreacher's cries.

Harry said, "Why? Where did it come from? Kreacher, sit up and tell me everything you know about the locket and Regulus' connection to it!"

The elf sat up, curled up in a ball, clamped his wet face between his knees, and began to rock back and forth.When it spoke it was low and muffled, but it was quite audible in the quiet, echoing living room.

"Master Sirius has escaped, and it is good to be gone, for he was once a bad boy, and his unruly conduct has broken my mistress' heart. But Master Regulus has pride, and he knows the name Black and What does his pure blood mean. For many years he has often talked about the Dark Lord, who wants wizards to stop hiding and come out to rule Muggles and their descendants... When Master Regulus was 16 years old , joined the Dark Lord's organization, he is so proud, so proud, so happy, to be able to serve in..."

"A year later, one day, Master Regulus came to see Kreacher in the kitchen. Master Regulus has always liked Kreacher. Master Regulus said...he said..."

The old elf shook faster.

"...he said the Dark Lord wanted a elf."

"Voldemort wants an elf?" Harry asked, looking back at Ron and Hermione, who were just as confused as he was.

"Oh yes," said Kreacher bitterly, "Master Regulus contributed to Kreacher. It was an honor, Master Regulus said, for himself and Kreacher. Kreacher must go Do everything the Dark Lord wants him to do...and go back—go home."

Kreacher swayed faster, and his breathing turned to sobbing.

"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord didn't tell Kreacher what to do, but took Kreacher to a cave by the sea. It was a big cave with a big black lake..."

The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood on end, and Kreacher's hoarse voice seemed to come from the black water.He saw the scene as if he had experienced it himself.

"...there is a boat..."

Of course there was a boat, and Harry knew that boat, the ghostly green boat, bewitched to take only one wizard and one victim to the isle in the middle of the lake.This, then, is how Voldemort tested the protection of a Horcrux: with the help of an insignificant being, a house-elf...

"There is a stone-stone basin on the island, full of potions. Black-the Dark Lord let Kreacher drink..."

The elf trembled.

"Kreacher drank, and saw a lot of terrifying sights while drinking... Kreacher's internal organs were on fire... Kreacher called Master Regulus to save him, called Mistress, but the Dark Lord just laughed... ...he forced Kreacher to run out of potions...he threw a locket into the empty basin...and filled the basin with potions."

"Then the Dark Lord got on board and left, leaving Kreacher on the island..."

Harry could see that.He saw Voldemort's pale, snakelike face disappear into the darkness, his red eyes staring grimly at the