Chapter 365: Another Horcrux
Chapter 365: Another Horcrux
"Then what? After you told my brother these things, what did he do next?" Sirius Black became agitated after hearing the story. If not for Lupin holding him back, he might have lunged forward to grab Kreacher by the neck and demand answers.
"Regulus was very worried, very worried", Kreacher hissed. "Regulus told Kreacher to hide and not leave the house." Then, after a while... one night, Regulus came to the cupboard and found Kreacher. Regulus seemed strange, not like his usual self. Kreacher could tell he was deeply troubled... Sir Regulus ordered Kreacher to take him to the cave, the same cave Kreacher had visited with the Dark Lord...
"Did he make you drink the potion?" Hermione asked, somewhat repulsed. Although she did not intend to free house-elves, her modern upbringing made her naturally averse to the slave system.
Kreacher shook his head and burst into tears. Hermione covered her mouth; she seemed to have guessed what was coming.
"Regulus took a pendant box from his pocket, just like the Dark Lord's", Kreacher said, tears streaming down his long nose. "He told Kreacher to hold it and, once the basin was empty, to switch the pendant boxes..."
By this point, Kreacher was so overwhelmed with grief that he could barely continue. He forced himself to go on:
"He commanded—Kreacher to leave—without him. He told Kreacher—to go home—and not to tell Mistress—what he did—but to destroy—the first pendant box. Then he drank—drank the potion—Kreacher switched the pendant boxes—and watched... Regulus... being dragged underwater... and then..."
"Stop, stop—no more", Sirius Black clutched his hair, his face contorted with pain. "Regulus was always too weak. If only I had convinced him to leave this family back then."
"This isn't your fault. You didn't do anything wrong", Lupin consoled him. "If anyone is to blame, it's Voldemort's ambition and evil." Hermione nodded in agreement.
"So, you brought the pendant box home", Liam observed, seeing that Lupin was comforting Sirius and deciding to take over the questioning. "Did you try to destroy it?"
"Kreacher couldn't even leave a mark on it", the elderly house-elf said sadly. "Kreacher tried everything, but nothing worked... There was so much powerful magic on the box. Kreacher believed it could only be destroyed from the inside, but it wouldn't open... Kreacher punished himself repeatedly, trying again and again. Kreacher couldn't complete the task, couldn't destroy the pendant box! Mistress was driven mad with grief when Regulus disappeared. Kreacher couldn't tell her what happened, couldn't, because Regulus forbade—him from telling the family about the cave..."
"Oh, God..." Hermione turned away, hugging Liam's neck and resting her head on his shoulder.
"The Flame of Justice and Courage burns in people's hearts even in the darkest times. Noble qualities, education, and bloodlines are irrelevant. All that matters is a heart filled with hope. I believe Sirius Black's brother died with the hope of defeating that man", Liam said, holding Hermione's shoulders and comforting her.
Liam felt a lump in his throat; reading about it in a book was one thing, but experiencing it firsthand was another. Anyone who sacrifices their life for a noble ideal is a true hero by any measure.
The living room fell silent, with only Kreacher's sniffles breaking the stillness. Once everyone had calmed down a bit, Liam turned to Lupin, who had almost recovered, and said, "Professor, I think you should inform Headmaster Dumbledore. House-elves' magic is not much weaker than that of ordinary wizards. An object so heavily guarded and hidden by such complex means must be of great importance to that person. This is beyond our capabilities to handle."
"I'll go to Dumbledore right away", Lupin said, standing up and patting Sirius Black's shoulder before quickly heading downstairs.
"I think Dumbledore should be able to destroy this thing." Liam said, looking at Lupin as he descended the stairs.
"You must destroy it!" Kreacher suddenly jumped up, hugging Sirius Black and wailing. Sirius Black was about to scold him but thought better of it and instead sternly told Kreacher to sit quietly and wait.
After waiting in silence for over twenty minutes, footsteps echoed from the stairs. Dumbledore appeared at the top, dressed in a purple robe. After greeting Sirius Black and the others, he got straight to the point.
"You said you found a Pendant Box from Slytherin that Voldemort hid using various traps, and you believe it cannot be damaged? Could I see the box?"
"Here it is." Liam handed the Pendant Box to Dumbledore and added, "I feel this Pendant Box is somewhat similar to the rings we encountered with Mad-Eye Moody last time."
"Understood." Dumbledore nodded solemnly, drew his wand, and levitated the Pendant Box in the air. He then pointed his wand at the box and began to cast a spell. Streams of golden-red flames shot from the tip of his wand, forming a phoenix-like shadow that circled the Pendant Box.
After a dozen seconds, the Pendant Box was completely enveloped by the golden-red flames, creating an artificial sun in the air. Dumbledore began to utter unfamiliar words, but Liam, who had studied Ancient Runes, recognized them as Anglo-Futhark runes, a well-known Runic script used for transfiguration in Britain.
As the spell was cast, wisps of black smoke began to emerge from the Pendant Box. Seeing this, Dumbledore dispelled the flames surrounding the box and then took the Pendant Box in his hand.
"Liam, your intuition was correct. This is indeed another Horcrux of Voldemort's." Dumbledore's face showed a hint of resignation. "Unlike the rings we encountered last time, the core of this Horcrux is hidden inside Slytherin's Pendant Box. This means its defenses are stronger, making it a combination of both Slytherin's and Voldemort's protections. Such defenses are difficult to break with brute force."
Seeing the unease on the faces of the four people gathered around, Dumbledore added, "However, from another perspective, this Horcrux might be easier to destroy. Because of the nature of the Pendant Box, Voldemort would have found it difficult to fuse his soul with this object. It seems his magic only reinforced the box itself, so the fragment of soul inside is merely contained within it, not fused with the object."
"Which means that if we can open the box, the soul fragment inside should be relatively easy to destroy", Dumbledore concluded. Liam then spoke up, "I have a theory. Since this is Slytherin's Pendant Box, perhaps it requires a specific method to open it, something unique to Slytherin."
"Like Parseltongue?" Dumbledore immediately understood.
"Exactly. And the Dark Lord also knows this language. He might have chosen this object as a Horcrux after realizing this", Liam said, speculating based on the information he had.
"Your analysis is likely correct", Dumbledore nodded. "However, finding a wizard who speaks Parseltongue is not easy."
"I remember Harry mentioned he could speak to a python before he started school", Liam said.
"Ah, that's a possibility. However, due to the spell that failed to kill Harry, Voldemort's mind can sometimes connect with Harry's. Asking Harry could risk exposing our plans to Voldemort, so we should only consider this as a backup option. By the way, you must keep this confidential, especially from Harry himself", Dumbledore said seriously, and the other four nodded earnestly.
Seeing this option ruled out by Dumbledore, Liam thought for a moment and then said, "I think I might know Parseltongue. Could I try?"
(End of Chapter)
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