Regulus

What kind of wizard was Regulus Black?

Sirius's cowardly but kind-hearted younger brother?

But Harry thought he looked a bit like Percy.

While browsing through Black House one day, I noticed a small sign on a door at the bottom of the stairs.

It was a rather impressive little sign, with neatly handwritten letters:

Without my express permission

No entry

Regulus Arcturus Black Family

This is very similar to what Percy would nail to his bedroom door.

But as Death Eaters, he had hidden an item connected to Voldemort and demanded that Kreacher destroy it.

This is strange.

As for why Harry thought it was related to Voldemort, it was all based on intuition.

His feelings when facing Slytherin's Locket were no different from when he was face-to-face with Voldemort.

Does this mean that Sirius brother, whom he claims followed Voldemort to the death because of his parents' and his own cowardice, might actually be a hero who dared to rebel against Voldemort?

This is important, very important to Sirius.

That's what Harry thinks.

"Kreacher, what's with the Locket from earlier?"

"You said that Locket belonged to 'Young Master Regulus,' but it was clearly related to Voldemort. Why would Regulus destroy it?" Harry asked tentatively.

He didn't have high hopes; Kreacher had never been one to listen to reason.

He just wanted to find out in advance, and then tell Sirius his guesses so that Sirius could ask him.

Sirius was, after all, Kreacher's master, and faced with a command whose logic could not be distorted, Kreacher could only respond.

But to Harry's utter surprise, Kreacher actually answered.

Kreacher remained curled up, which made his voice sound muffled as he spoke, "Kreacher is willing to obey Harry Potter's orders."

"Harry Potter is also connected to the Black House; he's the spendthrift who orders me to obey."

"Young Master Regulus was a good boy. He joined the Dark Lord's organization when he was sixteen. Later, Young Master Regulus said that the Dark Lord needed the House-elf Kreacher, and he had to do everything the Dark Lord wanted him to do... and then go—go home." Kreacher's voice suddenly became pained and fearful as he said this.

Harry couldn't help but feel a little confused. Given Kreacher's behavior, shouldn't he be as proud as Regulus?

Do they consider this an honor for the Black House and Kreacher?

Unless it's extremely painful, an unbearable Dark Magic experiment.

This didn't surprise Harry; Voldemort was capable of anything.

"What does this have to do with the Locket?"

"If you ask me, Regulus just handed you over like that? How did you get back? Did Regulus save you?" Ron couldn't help but ask curiously.

It seems likely that Regulus regretted his decision, rescued Kreacher, and was eventually discovered and killed by Voldemort.

As for why the Black House is fine, well, there's Bella, isn't there?

She was also Death Eaters, and a rather favored one at that.

However, Kreacher did not answer; he even nearly muttered something unpleasant to Ron.

It seems that Ron's earlier attempt to stop Harry from destroying the Locket had angered him.

If he hadn't been mindful that Ron was Harry's friend, he probably would have cursed him out directly.

"Damn it— Kreacher can't— Kreacher was then taken to a cave. Inside was a large black lake and a bright green boat. In the middle was an island with a stone basin filled with Potions. The Dark Lord made Kreacher drink them..." The House-elf trembled.

He seemed to have forgotten that he was still there, as if he had returned to that time.

"Kreacher drank it, and while he was drinking it, he saw many horrific sights... Kreacher's internal organs were on fire... Kreacher cried out to Master Regulus to save him, and to the mistress, but the Dark Lord just laughed... He forced Kreacher to drink the Potions... He threw a Locket into an empty basin... and then filled the basin with the Potions."

"Then the Dark Lord boarded the ship and left, leaving Kreacher on the island..." Kreacher trembled even more violently, and even collapsed into a nearby nest.

"And then you went back, taking the Locket with you? Regulus died to destroy it?" Harry asked.

He thought it was quite possible, but it was ironic that Voldemort lost a precious magical item because of the life of a House-elf he didn't care about.

As for why it was so precious, Voldemort took Kreacher there alone and let him die slowly.

"I think it's unlikely. It should be more like what I guessed."

"How could a House-elf leave the place where Voldemort kept his valuables?"

"It must be Regulus, and then he—uh-huh," Ron said to Harry.

He figured it out: Kreacher definitely wouldn't answer his question, but he could get through Harry!

"You foolish Pure-blood traitor's brat, Young Master Harry was right all along!"

"But not this time. Kreacher only wanted to drink water at that time and even forgot that he had to go back immediately. He slowly crawled to the lake. But there were many dead hands in the water. They dragged Kreacher down and Kreacher went home," Kreacher said.

"Was there Portkey or something in the water? Did Regulus hide it in through those corpses?" Harry guessed.

"Young Master Regulus told Kreacher to go home, so Kreacher went home." Kreacher stared at him with puzzled eyes.

"I see!"

"Those corpses must be Inferi, used to guard that Locket."

"I estimate that you'll have to drink those Potions to get that Locket, but if you do, you'll almost lose your magical abilities and still want to drink water."

"Ultimately becoming part of the Inferi."

"And Kreacher was able to Apparition back not because of the Portkey, but because of the magic unique to their House-elf."

"Just like Dobby used to Apparition to Hogwarts and send me things that were inconvenient to send by letter."

"But Hogwarts does not Apparition."

"As for why the You-Know-Who made a mistake, it's easy to understand. He looks down on Muggle and doesn't know how powerful Muggle."

"Not to mention the magic of the House-elf, who are considered servants, which is different from that of wizards," Draco suddenly shouted, reciting a long string of his conjectures.

Kreacher's eyes widened. "Although the young master is very annoying (Draco was also trying to stop Harry at the time), he is indeed worthy of being the Pure-blood grand-nephew of the former master."

"Kreacher went home later. Young Master Regulus asked me to take him to the island. Young Master Regulus took out the same Locket as the Dark Lord." Kreacher suddenly sobbed.

"He drank the Potions —ordered Kreacher to leave and ignore him—switched the Locket —had Kreacher destroy the first one—and watched helplessly as... Master Regulus... was dragged underwater... and then..."

"Then the mistress went mad because Kreacher was ordered not to tell the family anything about what happened in the cave. Kreacher couldn't destroy the Locket either; Kreacher knew it could only be done from the inside, but Kreacher couldn't open it." Kreacher sobbed uncontrollably.