94 Diagon Alley

, "How did you get out of here? Harry told me you'd all be at Hogwarts this holiday - and I was sulking for three days because he wouldn't take me with him."

"Yeah—" Harry responded to his godfather before his friends could speak, "because you're… er… not yet school-age."

"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, I can go to Hogwarts until next September."

"Hopefully." Ron sighed, eyebrows drooping.

"You can't play tricks, Harry." Sirius warned the boy with glasses, "Otherwise I have another way to go to school."

Before the three of them could think about his words, Kreacher appeared in the living room on the second floor with a plate full of shortbread and digestive biscuits with tea. Ron sighed happily and contentedly.

Harry's scar was suddenly hot, and he felt Voldemort getting angry again. It was already a little late, and he persuaded Sirius to rest in spirit: "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 as soon as I wake up?"

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

When Sirius returned to the room in his nightgown, Harry said to Ron and Hermione, "Listen, I might try to find clues about the other Horcruxes in R.A.B's room. ."

"We all know the locket has been destroyed, right?" Ron pointed his finger around the three people, not quite understanding.

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

"What if we can find clues about the location?" Harry said, draining his cup of tea. "It's better than running around like headless flies now."

Several people crept up to Regulus's room on the fifth floor, there was a small sign on the door, and the paint underneath was deeply scratched. It was an imposing little sign, the handwritten letters of the fortification, "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 found out?"

"I'll tell him one day." Harry pursed his lips, "and of course buried his brother's body."

He was on the doorknob and couldn't move it. Hermione pulled out her wand, "Araho hole open—", still unresponsive.

"Locked?" Ron bent over and looked at the keyhole, "I wish I could pick Fred and George's Muggle lock-picking skills at this time."

"It looks like 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 it was dead. Loyal to its little master?"

"Yeah..." Before Harry could finish his sentence, the attic above them suddenly made a creaking sound of chairs rubbing against the floor.

The alert Ron and Hermione immediately raised their wands above their heads, and Harry reassured 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 were Death Eaters upstairs?"

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

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

"Actually not, but just a little bit. She was brought in with a big hole in her throat. Anyway, don't talk about it. Burns almost got shot. Soul Curse, Dumbledore... Dumbledore knew from that point on that the Ministry of Magic was no longer safe and decided to keep her under wraps. She and Sirius used to know each other, and I depended on her when I wasn't home..."

"—and Kreacher," Hermione added.

"—Okay, take care of Sirius with Kreacher." Harry's scar twitched again, and quickly returned to the topic, "Do you really think it can open R.A.B's door? "

"We can try, let's go, 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 have a cup of hot tea in a clean house. I thought I would 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, becoming The silver weasel, speaking in Ron's father's voice.

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

The Patronus disappeared without a trace. Ron whimpered and groaned as he slumped down on the sofa, and Hermione leaned over and grabbed his arm.

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

"Harry," he said from 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 about. I'd worry about it, too," he thought of Ginny, "I'm really worried too."

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

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

"Yes," Kreacher said, bowing low again.

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

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

Harry reacted instinctively: as Kreacher charged for the poker standing by the fire, he jumped on the elf and pinned it down. Hermione's screams were mixed with Kreacher's cries.

Harry said, "Why? Where did it come from? Kreacher, sit up and tell me all you know about that locket and Regulus and it relation!"

The elf sat up, curled up, tucked her wet face between her knees, and began to rock back and forth. When he spoke, his voice was low and muffled, but he could hear it quite clearly in the quiet, echoing living room.

"Master Sirius fled, it was good to go, because he was a bad boy, and his unruly behavior broke my mistress' heart. But Master Regulus has Self-respect, he knew what the last name Black meant and what his pure blood meant. For many years he talked a lot about the Dark Lord, the Dark Lord who wanted wizards to stop hiding and come out to rule over Muggles and Muggle offspring... Ray Master Gurus joined the Dark Lord's organization when he was sixteen, and he was so proud, so proud, so happy, to be able to serve..."

"A year later, one day, Master Regulus came to visit 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's an honor, Master Regulus said, for himself and Kreacher Glory to Che. Kreacher has to do everything the Dark Lord wants him to do...and go back—home."

Kreacher swayed faster, 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 black hole in it. Great Lakes…”

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

“…there is a boat…”

There was a boat, of course, and Harry knew that boat, the ghostly green boat, had been enchanted to bring only one wizard and one victim to the island in the middle of the lake. Well, that's how Voldemort tested the protection of Horcruxes: with the help of an insignificant life, a house-elf...

"There is a stone-stone basin on the island, full of potions. The black-dark lord asked Kreacher to drink..."

The elf was shaking.

"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 and called the 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 went aboard, leaving Kreacher on the island..."

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