94 hp Diagon Alley

An elf writhing in pain.The elf would die in a few minutes, when it couldn't resist the extreme thirst caused by the potion's heartburn... But at this point, Harry's imagination couldn't go any further, because he couldn't figure out how Kreacher had escaped .

"Kreacher needed water, and he climbed to the edge of the island to drink the water from the Black Lake...Many hands, the hands of dead men, stretched out from the water and dragged Kreacher down..."

"How did you escape?" Harry asked, not surprised to hear his own voice whisper.

Kreacher lifted its ugly head and looked at Harry with large bloodshot eyes.

"Master Regulus said he wanted Kreacher to come home," it said.

"I know—but how did you get rid of the Inferi?"

Kreacher didn't seem to understand. "Master Regulus said he wanted Kreacher to go home," it repeated.

"I know, but—"

"Gee, obviously isn't it, Harry?" said Ron. "It Apparated!"

"But... you can't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore—"

"Elf magic isn't the same as wizard magic, is it?" said Ron. "I mean, they can Apparate or Apparate at Hogwarts, and we can't."

There was a moment of silence as Harry pondered the words.How could Voldemort make such a mistake?Just as he was thinking this, Hermione spoke, her voice was cold.

"Of course, Voldemort was as dismissive of the behavior of house-elves as any purebred wizard who treats them as livestock...it never occurred to him that the elves might have magic that he didn't."

"The supreme law of house-elves is the master's order," Kreacher said singing. "The master told Kreacher to go home, and Kreacher went home..."

"So, you did what you were ordered to do, didn't you?" Hermione asked gently. "No disobedience at all?"

Kreacher nodded, shaking faster.

"Then what happened when you came back?" Harry asked, "What did Regulus say when you told the master?"

"Master Regulus is very worried, very worried," Kreacher hissed. "Regulus told Kreacher to hide and not leave the house." Then...after a while...one night, Regulus Master Luth came to the cupboard and found Kreacher.Master Regulus looked weird, not like normal, Kreacher could see that he was very upset... The young master asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the same cave where Kreacher and the Dark Lord went...

So off they went, and Harry could clearly picture a terrified old elf, and that lean, dark Seeker who looked so much like Sirius... Kreacher knew how to open the secret entrance to the underground cavern , knows how to float the boat, this time with his beloved Regulus, sailing to the small island containing the potion...

"He made you drink the potion?" Harry asked in disgust.

Kreacher shook his head, crying bitterly.Hermione covered her mouth: she seemed to have guessed something.

"Master Ray—Master Regulus pulled out a locket from his pocket, the same as the Dark Lord's," Kreacher said, tears streaming down the sides of his long nose. "His name was Kreacher. Hold it, and when the stone basin is dry, replace the locket..."

Kreacher's sobs became rough and piercing, and Harry had to concentrate to understand what it was saying.

"He ordered - Kreacher leave - leave him alone. He called Kreacher - go home - not to say to the mistress - what he did - but must destroy - the first locket. Then He just drank - drank the potion - Kreacher swapped the locket - and watched... Master Regulus... being dragged underwater... and..."

"Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, weeping, kneeling beside the elf, trying to hug him.Immediately the elf stood up and ducked back in obvious disgust.

The little elf was lying on the ground, gasping for breath, trembling all over, his nose was covered with shiny green mucus, his pale forehead was already swollen with a big lump, his eyes were red, swollen, bloodshot and teary.Harry had never seen such a pitiful sight.

"You took the locket home, then," he continued grimly, determined to learn all about it. "Have you tried to destroy it?"

"Kreacher couldn't leave a trace on it," said the elf sadly. "Kreacher tried all the ways, all the ways, but none, none of them worked... There's so much magic on the box. , Kreacher believes that it can only be destroyed from the inside, but it can't be opened... Kreacher punishes himself, try again, punish himself, try again. Kreacher failed to carry out the order, Kreacher can't destroy the locket! The mistress is mad with grief, because Master Regulus is missing, Kreacher can't tell her what happened, can't, because Master Regulus forbids—forbids him to say rock—cave things in..."

Kreacher was sobbing, and Hermione looked at Kreacher, tears also streaming down her face, but she didn't dare to touch it again.Even Ron, who didn't like Kreacher, seemed a little uneasy.Harry sat up on his knees, shaking his head, trying to clear his head.

"I don't understand you, Kreacher," he began. "Voldemort wanted to kill you, and Regulus died trying to defeat Voldemort, but you were willing to betray Sirius to Voldemort? Willing to meet Narcissa and Belle?" Latrix, tip off Voldemort..."

"Harry, Kreacher didn't think that way," said Hermione, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. "He was a slave, and house-elves were used to rough, even cruel treatment. Voldemort didn't do that to Kreacher." Rare. What does a war between wizards mean to an elf like Kreacher? It is only loyal to those who are good to it, Mrs. Black presumably, and Regulus of course, so it is willing to serve them and fully accepts I know what you're going to say," Harry was about to argue, she had said, "Regulus had a change of heart...but he didn't seem to explain it to Kreacher, did he? I think I know Why. Kreacher and Regulus' families would be safer by keeping the old pure-blood idea, and Regulus wanted to protect them."

"Sirius--"

"Sirius used to treat Kreacher very badly, Harry. It's no use looking at me like that, you know it's true. Kreacher had been living alone for a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably yearning for A bit of tenderness, I'm sure 'Miss Sissy' and 'Miss Bella' were so kind to Kreacher that he offered to help and told them all they wanted to know. I've always said wizards have to be sorry for the way they treat house-elves There was a price paid, look, Voldemort paid a price...and Sirius."

"But he's changed now—"

"He's changed," cried Hermione, "because he's a pure boy now, Harry, and I'm not saying Sirius was so wrong."

"But it's enough to show how innocent and cute he was before he was educated by the Black family. If I ask you, Sirius is kind enough to Kreacher now." Ron said.

Harry was speechless, watching Kreacher lying on the ground crying, he remembered what Dumbledore said just a few hours after Sirius' accident: I don't think Sirius ever regarded Kreacher as having the same sensitive emotions as humans a creature...

"Kreacher," said Harry after a moment, "when you feel like it, uh... please sit up."

It took several minutes before Kreacher hiccupped and fell silent.It sat up propped up, rubbing its eyes with its fists like a child.

"Kreacher, I want to ask you to do something." Harry said, looking at Hermione for support.He wanted to sound the order nicely, but he couldn't pretend it wasn't an order.The change in his tone seemed to win her over, though, and she smiled encouragingly.

"Kreacher, I'm the first to tell you that the locket has been destroyed. Calm down—"

The old house-elf let out a scream and fell back to the floor.

"Now, I want you to help us open Regulus' bedroom door. We need to find out where the other Horcruxes are—that is, the other locket-like things. This is really important. We want to finish Regulus' Master Ruth's unfinished business. We want to—well—want to make sure he didn't die in vain."

Kreacher lowered his fist and looked up at Harry.

"Into my little master's room?" it said hoarsely.

"We need to see his stuff," said Harry. "Do you think you can do that for us?"

Kreacher nodded and got up.With an idea, Harry took out the leather bag Hagrid had given him, and took out the fake Horcrux, the fake locket, which contained a note from Regulus to Voldemort.

"Kreacher, I, uh, want you to take this," he shoved the locket into the elf's hand, "it's Regulus's, and I'm sure he'd be willing to give it to you as a thank you— —”

"Too much, man," said Ron, and the elf let out a howl of surprise and pain when he saw the locket, and collapsed again.

It took them nearly half an hour to calm down Kreacher, and they could get a Black family relic. The elf was so excited that his knees went weak and he couldn't stand up.When he was finally able to waddle a few steps, they walked him to the kitchen cupboard and watched him carefully hide the locket in the dirty blanket