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Chapter 364: Pendant Box
Chapter 364: Pendant Box
Liam and the others tidied up the living room for a while before Lupin joined them upstairs. With the help of the former Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the cleaning progressed much faster.
During this process, Liam found a few good items, such as a silver tool with multiple legs that could crawl like a Spider. Since Liam thought he could modify this tool to be useful, he used a rune to calm it down and asked Sirius Black for it. (Sirius Black: I said you could take anything you like.)
"What's inside this thing?" Lupin pulled out a keepsake box and tried to open it, but it wouldn't budge. "Why can't I open it?"
Sirius Black also tried the box and said curiously, "I don't remember this being in the cabinet before. Could it have been put there after I was kicked out?"
"You actually remember the origin of every item in the cabinet? How do you do that? I can't even remember where some of the things in my display cabinet came from", Hermione said, surprised by Sirius Black's words.
"I hate these things", Sirius Black said with a bitter smile. "But ever since I was five, my parents would often bring me here to tell me the stories behind each item. Sometimes, I would only get dry bread and Clear Water for a meal if I couldn't recite the glory associated with a particular item. In such circumstances, even after many years away, I still remember every single thing."
"Can I take a look?" Liam asked after Sirius Black finished speaking. He had suddenly become alert when they mentioned the box couldn't be opened, as he had an important thought.
Taking the keepsake box, Liam discovered that it was an octagonal gold pendant box, about the size of an egg. The lid was adorned with a lavish letter 'S' made of emeralds. More importantly, when Liam used his Magic to sense the box, he found that the complexity of the Magic runes on it far exceeded that of any other item.
"Black", Liam turned to Sirius Black with a serious look. "If I'm not mistaken, this item should be a relic of one of the Hogwarts Founders, Salazar Slytherin. It's extremely valuable, perhaps even more so than everything else in this glass cabinet. According to your family's customs, it couldn't have been placed here without any record."
"Then it must have been put here after I was kicked out of the house", Sirius Black's face grew serious after hearing this. "In that case, only Kreacher would know the origin of this item."
He then shouted into the air, "Kreacher!" With a pop, the House-Elf appeared in the living room.
"Oh, that hateful master is bossing poor old Kreacher around again, as if everything here really belongs to him", Kreacher said, looking up at the display cabinet. "He even takes out items that carry the family Honor Points, like a thief who has broken into this house—"
"Shut up!" Sirius Black interrupted Kreacher's rambling and then held up the pendant box. "Tell me where this came from. I order you to answer truthfully, with no lies or omissions."
Kreacher had been staring at his feet, but under Sirius Black's command, he looked up at the pendant box in Sirius Black's hand. His expression froze the moment he saw it. He started gasping for breath, his emaciated chest heaving, and then he opened his eyes and let out a blood-curdling scream.
"——and the pendant box, Regulus's pendant box, Kreacher has failed, Kreacher couldn't follow the master's orders!" He grabbed a heavy silver box and prepared to smash it against his head. Liam and Hermione quickly caught him from either side and shouted at Sirius Black, "Quick, make him stop!"
"I order you to stop", Sirius Black, slightly dazed by what the House-Elf had said, quickly regained his composure and commanded Kreacher.
As soon as the order was given, Kreacher stiffened. The moment Liam and the others released him, Kreacher lay flat on the cold stone floor, tears streaming from his sunken eyes. At this point, even the most obtuse person could tell that the Pendant Box must be involved in something important.
"You said that Pendant Box belongs to 'Regulus,'" Sirius Black said. "Why would my brother have such a thing? What command did he give you that you haven't completed yet, Kreacher? Sit up and tell me everything you know about that Pendant Box and my brother's connection to it!"
Kreacher sat up, curling into a ball, and clamped his tear-streaked face between his knees, rocking back and forth. When he spoke, his voice was low and muffled, but it was clear in the spacious and quiet living room.
"Master Sirius Black ran away, and it was for the best because he was a bad boy. His unruly behavior broke my mistress's heart. But Regulus had pride; he knew what the Black name and his pure blood meant. At sixteen, he joined the Dark Lord's ranks. He was so proud, so proud, so happy to serve..."
"Ah, my brother was too weak and lacked a backbone. He was swayed by our parents to follow that Dark Lord. But being a Death Eater really wasn't suited for him", Sirius Black said in a very low tone. "If he had left home like I did, he might have become a Chaser for the Tornados. I always heard him talking about it before I left."
Hearing Sirius Black's recollection, Kreacher's tears flowed even more, streaming down his long nose and into his open mouth, revealing his gray teeth. "A year later, one day, Regulus came to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Regulus always liked Kreacher. Regulus said... he said..."
The elderly house-elf sobbed harder, his body shaking more violently.
"...he said the Dark Lord needed a house-elf. Regulus offered Kreacher. It was an honor, Regulus said, an honor for both him and Kreacher. Kreacher had to do whatever the Dark Lord commanded... and then return... return home."
At this point, the painful memories made Kreacher's words falter, but the four wizards sitting there listened intently.
"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord didn't tell Kreacher what to do, but he took Kreacher to a cave by the sea. It was a large rock cave with a big black lake... There was a boat... The boat took me to a small island in the lake, where there was a stone basin filled with potion. The Dark Lord made Kreacher drink..."
Kreacher drank, and as he did, he saw many terrifying visions... Kreacher's insides were on fire... Kreacher called for Regulus to save him, for his mistress, but the Dark Lord just laughed... He forced Kreacher to drink the entire potion... He dropped a Pendant Box into the empty basin... and refilled it with potion."
"Then the Dark Lord got back on the boat and left, leaving Kreacher on the island... Kreacher needed water, so he crawled to the edge of the island to drink from the Black Lake... Many hands, dead hands, reached out from the water and dragged Kreacher down..."
Kreacher's hoarse voice sent a chill down everyone's spine. Hermione instinctively grabbed Liam's hand, and Liam gently patted her hand to calm her.
"Then what happened? What happened next?" Sirius Black pressed.
"Regulus told Kreacher to come home", Kreacher said, a strange smile appearing on his face. "The highest law for a house-elf is the master's command. Master told Kreacher to come home, so Kreacher came home..."
(End of Chapter)
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