Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures

The next second, unprecedented anger occupied Sirius’s mind.

“Kreacher!” he growled. “You actually watched Regulus die, and did nothing. He, he was still a child…”

Although he already had a hunch, but now, Sirius couldn’t believe it, that this was actually the truth behind Regulus’s death.

He hadn’t finished his rebuke yet, and the house-elf was already punishing himself.

When everyone did not respond, Kreacher fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor, exhausting all his strength.

“Stop him! Stop him!” Hermione cried. “Oh, don’t you see now how sick it is, the way he’s obliged to obey the Regulus’ orders? He didn’t move, so he could only stand there and watch the things happen…”

Hearing Hermione’s words, Sirius was silent, and looked at the house-elf who was seeking for death, with hatred and anger in his eyes.

Seeing Sirius not moving, Harry hurriedly tried to stop Kreacher.

But it didn’t work. The old house-elf was so powerful as he desperately slammed his head to the ground.

If no one stopped him, he’d beat himself until inevitable death.

In the end, Evan had to cast a spell on him, forcing him to stop.

The elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snot, a bruise already blooming on his pallid forehead where he had struck himself, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. Evan had never seen anything so pitiful.

“Sirius, we should be nice to him…” Hermione whispered, wiping her tears with the back of her hand.

“You ask me to be nice to him?!” Sirius’s low voice had cruelty within it, “He killed my brother! He watched Regulus die, and he didn’t do anything!”

It actually looked like Sirius wanted to kill Kreacher himself.

“No, he doesn’t think like that.” Hermione hurriedly argued, “Kreacher is a slave. He can only obey orders. Regulus ordered him to do so. He had no way to resist. It’s unfair to push all responsibilities on him. Look at him now, the death of Regulus is, to him, crueller than it is to any of us, and it is extremely hard for him to accept.”

Sirius opened his mouth and seemed to want to argue, but Hermione did not give him a chance.

“Sirius, I know the truth about the death of Regulus is difficult for you to accept, but from the information we currently got, Regulus’s thoughts changed, and that is the most important thing.” Hermione looked at Sirius. “Just below, you told us what you think of him. But he is totally different from what you’ve had in mind. He is not weak at all. In order to protect Kreacher and the Black family, Regulus went against Voldemort. He is a hero, and even more courageous than any Gryffindor I know…”

Sirius had no retort, his brother made him proud.

He suddenly thought of Regulus when he was a child. At the time, he often followed him like a shadow and looked at him with adoring eyes. Their relationship was very good. They planned to go to Hogwarts and enter Slytherin together.

But everything changed when Sirius arrived first at Hogwarts, and ended up entering the Gryffindor House.

He remembered that day when he returned home on his first summer vacation, and Regulus had a fight with him.

After that, they never talked.

He always thought that Regulus was such a fool, becoming a Death Eater, and then dying out of weakness. But his thoughts could not be further from the truth

He was like him, standing against Voldemort.

Although he did not publicly resist him and join the Order of the Phoenix, he did more bravely and perseveringly than any of the Order’s members.

Looking at Kreacher, who was lying on the floor, for the first time in Sirius’s eyes, was a little feeling towards the house-elf. After all, he accompanied Regulus and took the pain of having to watch him die all by himself.

It also needed a lot of courage. Sirius looked at Kreacher with confused eyes, and seemed to finally see the house-elf as a creature emotionally equal to human beings…

In the basement, the mood was terrible.

After Hermione said those words, Sirius remained silent.

Kreacher was sobbing silently, and by his side, Harry gasped and his face was as heavy as ever.

Evan sighed and he said slowly, “Kreacher, after Regulus was dragged into the lake by the Inferi… you brought the Locket home and tried to destroy it, didn’t you?”

“Yes, but Kreacher could not inflict a single scratch upon it.” the house-elf moaned and wanted to punish himself, but could not move, “Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work … So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open … Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave …”

Kreacher began to sob so hard; he was totally devastated.

Tears flowed down Hermione’s cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him again.

“I just destroyed the Locket and helped you complete Regulus’s last wish. You won’t have to blame yourself anymore.” Evan opened the broken locket to Kreacher.

The elf’s eyes were goggled, and he made a howl of surprise and pain. His eyes were as large as ever, looking at Evan incredulously, and looking at the locket in his hand.

After nearly half an hour, he gradually calmed down.

Kreacher was twitching weakly and seemed to have no more strength to cry.

Sirius, who had not spoken until that point, calmed down as well. He whispered to the house-elf, “Sit up, Kreacher, I have something to ask you.”

“Now I will relieve you of your curse, and stop hurting yourself.” “Evan waved his wand and whispered, “Finite Incantatem.”

Kreacher sat up and rubbed his eyes with his fists like a child.

Then, he staggered to the front of Evan, reached out and touched the Locket in his hands, and immediately retreated.

“You, you helped Kreacher complete the command of Master Regulus! You destroyed this Locket!” Kreacher couldn’t believe it, his face showed an expression of relief for the first time.

He looked at Evan and Hermione’s eyes, not the previous look of disgust and disdain. He seemed to have forgotten their Muggle-born origin and bowed to Evan, Harry, and Hermione.

Although the action looked a bit awkward, it wasn’t perfunctory by any mean.

Evan knew that because he destroyed the Slytherin’s Locket and helped Kreacher complete the order of Regulus, he finally gained this house-elf’s friendship.

Like Dobby, Kreacher now respected him from the heart.

This was indeed a happy thing. It might have been the most positive and optimistic change brought by destroying this Horcrux.

Although Evan did not know what use he could have from the friendship of this house-elf, maybe at a critical moment, it would come in handy.