| The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the seaAnd beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake \a133 "
The hairs on the back of Harry's neck stood upKreacher's croaking voice seemed to come to him from across the dark waterHe saw what had happened as clearly as though he had been present
"\a133 There was a boat \a133"
Of course there had been a boat; Harry knew the boat, ghostly green and tiny, bewitched so as to carry one wizard and one victim toward the island in the centerThis, then, was how Voldemort had tested the defenses surrounding the Horcrux, by borrowing a disposable creature, a house-elf\a133
"There was a b-basin full of potion on the islandThe D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it \a133"
The elf quaked from head to foot
"Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing \a133 Kreacher's insides burned \a133 Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed \a133 He made Kreacher drink all the potion \a133 He dropped a locket into the empty basin \a133 He filled it with more potion
"And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island \a133 "
Harry could see it happeningHe watched Voldemort's white, snakelike face vanishing into darkness, those red eyes cartier pasha fixed pitilessly on the thrashing elf whose death would occur within minutes, whenever he succumbed to the desperate thirst that the burning poison caused its victim \a133 But here, Harry's imagination could go no further, for he could not see how Kreacher had escaped
"Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake \a133 and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface \a133 "
"How did you get away?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering
Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said
"I know - but how did you escape the Inferi?"
Kreacher did not seem to understand
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated
"I know, but - "
"Well, it's obvious, isn't it, Harry?" said Ron"He Disapparated!"
"But \a133 you couldn't Apparate in and out of that cave," said Harry, "otherwise Dumbledore - "
"Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic, is it?" said Ron, "I mean, they can Apparate and Disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't
There was a silence as Harry digested thisHow could Voldemort have made such a mistake? But even as he thought this, Hermione spoke, and her voice was icy
"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of omega chronograph watches house-elves far beneath his notice \a133 It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic that he didn't
"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding," intoned Kreacher"Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home \a133 "
"Well, then, you did what you were told, didn't you?" said Hermione kindly"You didn't disobey orders at all!"
Kreacher shook his head, rocking as fast as ever
"So what happened when you got back?" Harry asked"What did Regulus say when you told him what happened?"
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher"Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the houseAnd then \a133 it was a little while later \a133 Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell \a133 and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord \a133 "
And so they had set offHarry could visualize them quite clearly, the frightened old elf and the thin, dark Seeker who had so resembled Sirius \a133 Kreacher knew how to open the concealed entrance to the underground cavern, knew how to raise the tiny boat: this time it was his beloved Regulus who sailed with him to the island with its basin of poison \a133
"And he made you drink rolex submariners the poison?" said Harry, disgusted
But Kreacher shook his head and weptHermione's hands leapt to her mouth: She seemed to have understood something
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose"And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets \a133"
Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry had to concentrate hard to understand him
"And he order - Kreacher to leave - without himAnd he told Kreacher - to go home - and never to tell my Mistress - what he had done - but to destroy - the first locketAnd he drank - all the potion - and Kreacher swapped the lockets - and watched \a133 as Master Regulus \a133 was dragged beneath the water \a133 and \a133 "
"Oh, Kreacher!" wailed Hermione, who was cryingShe dropped to her knees beside the elf and tried to hug himAt once he was on his feet, cringing away from her, quite obviously repulsed
"The Mudblood touched Kreacher, he will not allow it, what would his Mistress say?"
"I told you not to call her 'Mudblood'!" snarled Harry, but the elf was already punishing himselfHe fell to the ground and banged his forehead on the floor
"Stop him - stop him!" Hermione cried"Oh, don't you see now how sick it is, the way they've got to obey?"
"Kreacher - stop, chanel lookalike bags cheap stop!" shouted Harry
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 tearsHarry had never seen anything so pitiful
"So you brought the locket home," he said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story"And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf"Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work \a133 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 \a133 Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried againKreacher 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 \a133"
Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent wordsTears flowed down Hermione's cheeks as she watched Kreacher, but she did not dare touch him againEven Ron, who was no fan of Kreacher's, looked troubledHarry sat back on his heels and shook his head, trying to rolex sport watch clea |
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