Bang!
"You Filthy—!"
"What the hell!!"
"Motherf—!!!"
"Ah, sh*t!!!!"
"Fu*k you!!!!!!!"
Hearing this bizarre series of shouts, the expressions of the three all stiffened a little...
"They're not in trouble, are they?" Lupin asked quietly.
"....Pretty sure they are!" Kasenhis cast his domain around them and Ender Shifted over.
When they arrived, they found the four kids and Kreacher standing off on opposite sides of a hallway, at each other's throats.
"What are you doing?! Kreacher, were you being rude to my guests again?!" Sirius immediately shouted at Kreacher.
"Kreacher was not! Kreacher was trying to stop the bad brats from stealing Master Regulus's belongings!" Kreacher screeched back.
"Oh… what kind of relic did he leave behind?" Sirius nonchalantly picked at his ear. After all, Regulus's "relics" were practically all over this house—half the stuff here technically counted.
"Kreacher can't show you!"
"C'mon." Sirius still looked completely indifferent and said helplessly, "Let me have a look!"
Kasenhis ignored the whole game of 'eagle trying to snatch chick' going on between Sirius and Kreacher. He simply circled around to Kreacher's side and looked at the little item clutched in the elf's palm.
[Soul]
The label on that tiny trinket was clearly reflected in his eyes.
"Oh… this is…" Kasenhis murmured as he reached out. With a powerful and precise pull, the small pendant-like box was yanked straight from Kreacher's grip into his hand.
"Give it back to Kreacher!" Kreacher shouted and immediately hurled a spell toward Kasenhis.
"Kreacher!" Sirius roared in fury and whipped out his wand, "Cruciatus!"
The Cruciatus Curse struck Kreacher dead-on, sending him crashing to the ground, wailing in agony. As for the spell Kreacher cast at Kasenhis—it landed too, but the result? Like a droplet falling into the ocean—it didn't even cause a ripple.
"Professor, are you alright?" The little wizards all hurried to Kasenhis's side, asking with concern.
"I'm fine. Sirius, stop—there's something important I need to ask him, and this probably has its reasons," Kasenhis said.
"Hmph, remember your place!" Sirius growled fiercely at Kreacher.
Kasenhis waved his hand to signal Sirius to calm down, then crouched down and showed the pendant box in his hand to Kreacher. "Did your former master ever tell you who this pendant belonged to?"
"Kreacher doesn't wan..." Kreacher hadn't finished speaking when Sirius pulled a small vial out of his pocket and rudely shoved it into Kreacher's mouth, then gave his head a rough shake.
He then looked up at the others. "It's just Veritaserum."
Kasenhis was silent for a long moment. "I just... he did take care of you, after all. I think you ought to treat him a little better."
"Humph! You're too soft-hearted. That kind of guy doesn't deserve it," Sirius shook his head.
"Alright then—who does this pendant belong to?"
"Master Regulus..." Kreacher replied in a daze.
"Where did it come from?"
"Master Regulus stole it from the Dark Lord..."
As soon as those words were spoken, most people present wore strange expressions. They all knew who the Dark Lord was—Voldemort.
But now, there was a new curiosity about Regulus. By all logic, an ordinary Death Eater wouldn't have the guts to steal from Voldemort.
Sirius, meanwhile, was thinking more deeply than the others.
He knew clearly just how fanatical his brother Regulus had been about Voldemort. So why would such a devoted Death Eater steal something from the man he practically worshipped?
"Tell me everything you know about this pendant," Kasenhis asked calmly.
"Master Regulus brought Kreacher to a place. The Dark Lord had put the pendant in a stone basin filled with cursed liquid. The next time, Master Regulus went to that place again with Kreacher. Master Regulus drank the cursed liquid and gave the pendant to Kreacher, asking Kreacher to destroy it," Kreacher explained with eerie calm.
"W-What about Regulus?!" Sirius demanded.
"He was dragged underwater by Inferi."
"You just let your master get dragged underwater by Inferi?!" Sirius now truly lost his composure, nearly roaring the question.
"Stun him," Kasenhis said quietly to Lupin.
Lupin nodded, and in the next moment, Kreacher collapsed in a daze. Mid-roar, Sirius suddenly lost his target and looked blankly at Kasenhis and Lupin.
"Now's not the time to investigate household discipline—it's about this thing." Kasenhis held up the locket between two fingers. "This is a Horcrux."
"A Horcrux?" Sirius looked puzzled.
"A Horcrux!" Lupin immediately tensed.
"Uh... professor.. professor... What does that mean?"
"Nothing. You all keep playing around. We're going to find Dumbledore real quick, just keep having fun." Kasenhis and Lupin exchanged a knowing glance, then hurriedly shooed the young wizards upstairs. In the next instant, Kasenhis activated Ender Teleportation and, just a few seconds later, dragged Dumbledore back with them.
"You said it was something important. How impor—" Dumbledore was adjusting his glasses when Kasenhis pulled out the locket. "Take a look. Voldemort's Horcrux."
"...Well, this is definitely important," Dumbledore exhaled deeply, taking the locket into his hand. "Where did you get this?"
Sirius repeated everything Kreacher had said earlier.
"...He was a hero too," Dumbledore said with a sigh of admiration.
"...Well.. Reg was.." Sirius couldn't quite process it for a moment—or maybe he just hadn't dared to understand from the beginning. He feared that he had wronged Regulus.
The brother he'd looked down on for so many years... was a hero.
"He sacrificed his life for what he believed was right and stole Voldemort's Horcrux. Doesn't that count as heroic?" Dumbledore asked in return.
"...Oh... Reg... you..." For a moment, Sirius didn't know what to say. It was like he couldn't feel his throat anymore.
"Wake Kreacher up. We still have some very important things to ask him," Dumbledore said, not addressing Sirius, but looking toward Kasenhis and Lupin.
Lupin nodded. Soon, Kreacher slowly came to, and the truth serum's effects clearly hadn't worn off yet—he still looked hollow, like an empty shell.
"Kreacher, I need to ask you..." Dumbledore began.
_________
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