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Chapter 494: master and slave
Chapter 494: master and slave
"Surely it was you who killed him, wasn't it?" Sirius Black said through gritted teeth, kicking Kreacher to the ground and waving his wand, shouting loudly.
"Crucio!"
The Spell's beam struck Kreacher in an instant, and the old House-Elf let out a shrill scream, trembling as he rolled on the ground.
The others present were completely taken aback by Sirius's outburst.
"Have you gone mad, Sirius?" Lupin didn't hesitate to rush forward and block Sirius, who was still trying to torture Kreacher.
"Let me go, I have to teach it a lesson today!" Sirius's eyes were red with anger, and he struggled to break free from Lupin's grip.
Lupin didn't dare to hurt Sirius, but he could only hold him back forcefully. In the moment of distraction, he was punched hard in the stomach by Sirius.
After breaking free from Lupin, Sirius took a few steps forward, his eyes bloodshot, and waved his wand again, shouting.
"Reducio"
"Expelliarmus!"
As Sirius was halfway through his Spell, another voice rang out.
A crimson beam of Magic flashed, and Sirius's body was hit as if by a heavy blow, causing him to fall back and crash into the wall. His wand flew out of his hand, spinning and landing in Ivan's grasp.
Ivan caught the wand but didn't dare to let his guard down, as Sirius's state was clearly abnormal.
Before long, Ivan guessed that Sirius had been influenced by the Horcrux. He immediately shouted to Lupin and the others.
"Quick! Take the Locket from him while you can!"
Lupin, now recovered, lunged at Sirius to seize the Horcrux.
But Sirius, seemingly in a fit of madness, fought desperately to protect the Locket. The two struggled and wrestled, and the Locket fell to the ground with a faint sound.
Harry seized the opportunity to pick up Slytherin's Locket, intending to throw it to Ivan.
Just as he was about to let go, Harry suddenly paused, feeling a faint pain in his scar. The Locket in his hand seemed to possess a certain Magic, making him reluctant to let go.
Fortunately, Ivan quickly stepped forward and took the Horcrux, and Harry snapped out of his strange state.
"Snap out of it, Harry, are you alright?" Ivan looked at him with concern.
Harry shook his head, indicating that he was fine except for the pain in his scar. Then he suddenly remembered Sirius and ran over in worry.
The Horcrux in Ivan's hand trembled restlessly, and Ivan vaguely sensed an intrusion into his mind. He instinctively activated his Occlumency, and the feeling soon vanished.
Clearly, his sixth-level Occlumency was effective, and the Horcrux couldn't affect him.
Sirius, who had been restrained by Lupin, also returned to normal. He clearly remembered all his actions but felt a sense of strangeness about them.
"I'm sorry, Lupin. I don't know what came over me. Did I hurt you?" Sirius looked at Harry and Ivan awkwardly, apologizing to Lupin.
"That punch was pretty heavy! But I'm not that fragile!" Lupin smiled, jokingly, not taking the incident to heart.
Then, Lupin's gaze turned to the Horcrux in Ivan's hand, and he continued firmly. "It looks like this Locket influenced your emotions."
Sirius Black and Harry also looked over.
"Right! Professor Lupin was correct. This thing can affect a person's mind. Last year, Professor Lockhart was severely harmed by a similar object!" Ivan explained while playing with the Horcrux in his hand.
According to his knowledge, every Horcrux created by Voldemort had the ability to bewitch the mind.
Slytherin's Locket, based on the time of Regulus's death, was likely created during Voldemort's prime. Its power far exceeded that of the Diary and the Crown, which was why it could subtly influence someone as capable as Sirius Black.
Of course, this was also related to Sirius's emotional state after learning of Regulus's fate. The Horcrux merely fanned the flames, intensifying his emotions and driving him to madness.
"This thing is too dangerous. We should destroy it right now!" Sirius said solemnly, still feeling a lingering fear from the malevolent thoughts that had overwhelmed him.
Ivan nodded. Destroying a Horcrux was not a difficult task for him, and it wasn't the first time he had done so.
"However, I think you've forgotten to apologize to someone else!" Ivan did not act immediately but instead looked at Kreacher, who was trembling on the ground.
"Kreacher is a bad elf. master Regulus should not have died. It should have been Kreacher who died", the elderly House-Elf whispered, huddled in the corner, tears and snot streaming down his face, looking pitiful.
"You mean I should apologize to Kreacher?" Sirius frowned, somewhat unwilling.
"Sirius, I also think you should apologize. You almost killed it just now!" Harry chimed in, looking at the pitiful House-Elf on the ground with some sympathy.
"Kreacher didn't do anything wrong, did it? It followed Regulus's orders as best it could. It's a good House-Elf!"
"Forget it, you must have forgotten how it was calling you earlier!" Sirius sneered, his gaze still showing some dissatisfaction as he looked at Kreacher.
Sirius couldn't understand why Regulus had chosen to drink that potion himself when he could have easily had Kreacher do it, as long as they were careful not to wake the Inferi.
Thus, Sirius still harbored some resentment towards the House-Elf, believing it had failed to protect his brother.
Ivan shook his head inwardly. He could guess some of Sirius's thoughts, but more importantly, he saw the low status of House-Elves in Sirius's reaction.
Sirius was willing to apologize to Lupin, who had been punched, but was unwilling to do the same for Kreacher, whom he had nearly killed.
This wasn't a matter of character, but rather the result of years of indoctrination that had shaped most Wizards' views. House-Elves were seen as slaves, to be treated as one saw fit.
Why would a master apologize to a slave?
(End of Chapter)
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