Chapter 615: Chapter 615: What? You want to go back and look for the corpse?
"The highest command for a house elf is the master's command!"
Kreacher said in a drawn-out voice, "Master Regulus asked Kreacher to come back home, so Kreacher came back!"
Harry anxiously asked, "What happened after you came back? What did Regulus say after you told him what happened?"
Everyone's eyes were fixed on Kreacher, especially Sirius. His eyes were red, and he obviously already guessed what happened next.
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried!"
Kreacher continued, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house."
"And then... it was a while later... Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night... Kreacher could tell that Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, and his mind seemed disturbed."
"...and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord ..."
Kreacher burst into tears at this point and could not say another word.
"And then what?" Sirius asked impatiently.
"Master...M-Master Regulus took out a locket like the one Dark Lord had from his pocket. And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets..."
Kreacher's sobbing became more and more distressing, and the others had to concentrate hard to hear what he was going to say next.
"And he ordered — Kreacher to leave — without him. And he told Kreacher—to go home—and never to tell the Mistress—what he had done—but to destroy— the first locket."
"Master Regulus drank all the potion — and Kreacher swapped the lockets — and watched... as Master Regulus...was dragged beneath the water... and..."
Thud!
Sirius kicked Kreacher away, his eyes red from rage, and he snarled, "You! You just stood there and watched!?"
Kreacher let out a scream and fell to the ground, banging his forehead against it over and over again.
"Leave him alone, Sirius."
Dumbledore said quickly, "A house elf must obey its master's commands. It can't disobey. Don't let it hurt itself. It's on the verge of a breakdown."
Sirius took a deep breath. "Stop it, Kreacher!"
Kreacher lay on the floor, trembling, gasping for breath, green snot stuck to its nose, its eyes swollen and bloodshot, full of tears.
"You brought the locket home?"
Sirius asked anxiously, 'Where is the locket? Have you destroyed it?'
"Kreacher… Kreacher can't leave a trace of anything, no matter what."
Kreacher groaned, "Kreacher tried everything, everything Kreacher knows. But… none of it worked. There were too many spells on the locket."
"Kreacher could not carry out the command. Kreacher could not destroy the locket!"
"And the mistress went mad with grief because Master Regulus was gone."
"Kreacher could not tell the mistress what happened in the cave. Kreacher... Kreacher was forbidden by Master Regulus to tell anyone... anyone in the family what happened in the cave..."
At the end of the sentence, Kreacher was already sobbing.
Sirius's eyes were red, and his whole body seemed to be on the verge of a rage. Lupin patted his shoulder comfortingly, and Harry was also looking at him worriedly.
Bang!
Sirius suddenly clenched his fist and smashed it against the wall; his voice was hoarse as he said, "I'm so stupid; I've always thought..."
"It's not your fault, Sirius!"
Lupin said in a calm voice, "Your brother is a hero. We must bring back his remains and destroy the Dark Lord's Horcrux. Cheer up, Sirius."
"Yes! I will bring back his remains!"
Sirius hurriedly turned to Dumbledore and asked, "Professor, where is that cave?"
Dumbledore: "…"
Harry: "…"
Andy's body also stiffened slightly.
What did you say?
Remains?
Yes, Regulus's remains were under that pool of water...
Andy instantly became dumbfounded. "Sirius, you must calm down. After we entered the cave, we found that there was danger under the lake."
"...and I cast a Fiendfyre curse to burn everything under-"
Sirius: "..."
"Hoo——"
After taking a deep breath, Sirius fell silent for a moment, then let out a heavy sigh and said, "It's destroyed... but that's fine! I'll collect some of Regulus's remains and help him build a new tombstone."
Lupin asked curiously, "What about the potion?"
Harry hurriedly explained, "The potion in the basin could only be replenished if it was dumped inside the cave. Andy discovered this and told Kreacher to dump it outside the cave."
Lupin: "..."
Sirius: "..."
Hearing this, they suddenly felt that Regulus might have died foolishly.
"This is not the time to discuss this."
Harry looked at Kreacher and hurriedly said, "Kreacher, where is the locket? Give it to me, and we will help you destroy it. And this was your Master Regulus's order, wasn't it?"
Kreacher wept and did not budge.
"Go find and bring that locket, Kreacher!" Sirius ordered loudly.
Kreacher got to his feet with difficulty, staggering to the kitchen and opening one of the cupboards where he usually rested.
"Kreacher has kept it safe, young master."
Kreacher said as he searched the cupboard for something. In a moment, he pulled out a pale green locket.
Sirius took it and handed it to Dumbledore.
"Professor, are we going to destroy it now?" Harry asked eagerly.
"I'm afraid we have to wait a little longer, Harry."
Dumbledore mused for a moment, then said firmly, "If we destroy the Horcrux now, Voldemort will sense it immediately. That way, he will guard the remaining Horcruxes more carefully."
"Before that, we must find out how many Horcruxes he has created."
Harry counted, "The diary, the diadem, the ring that Andy destroyed, and this locket... we have now found four Horcruxes."
Harry was also visibly excited when he said this.
They were one step closer to victory.
"And that snake!" Andy reminded him.
"Yes! There's that snake...that's five!" Harry beamed with glee.
If they count Harry, that's six.
Andy thought.
"Seven is a magical number..."
Andy pondered, "If it were me, I would probably choose this number."
"Andy, you think it's seven?" Harry asked curiously.
"Uh-huh!" Andy shrugged.
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