Before Brian and the others could go upstairs, Professor Moody came thumping down the stairs with a gloomy expression and said darkly,
"Sirius, your House-elf was hiding a Dark Magic object on him. I told him to hand it over, but he refused and Disapparated.
"There's special magic in this house that interferes with my Magical Eye. Finding him will take quite a bit of effort, so please just summon him."
"Ah... Moody, sorry." Sirius silently cursed Kreacher, then turned and shouted up the stairs, "Kreacher! Come here right now with whatever you're hiding on you! I'm giving you three seconds! Three! Two! One!
"Kreacher!"
Sirius counted down extremely quickly, certainly in less than three seconds. Yet even after three actual seconds had passed, Kreacher was still nowhere to be seen-something Brian, who frequently visited the kitchens and dealt with the House-elves, found unbelievable.
House-elves had always found it difficult to disobey their masters' orders. When a wizarding household had only one direct family member left, that member's orders were virtually absolute-and that was precisely the Black family's current situation.
Everyone exchanged looks, the atmosphere somewhat awkward. Tonks was a girl who could not stand an awkward silence spreading, so she raised her hand and suggested, "Sirius, why don't you try shouting louder? Maybe Kreacher just didn't hear you."
"Well, my dear niece, Kreacher might be old, but his hearing has always been perfectly good. Back when I lived here, he certainly reported plenty about me to my parents-every last little detail."
Sirius narrowed his eyes as he explained, but still followed Tonks's suggestion. He raised his wand to his throat and shouted again, his voice roughly forty decibels louder,
"Kreacher, come here now with whatever you're hiding on you!"
This time, apart from falling dust, ornaments tap-dancing on cabinets,