The Fourth Horcrux

William was somewhat surprised to return to Black's old house.

In just one month, this place has undergone tremendous changes.

If it weren't for the fact that the square was still the same square, the gate was still the same dilapidated gate, and the house number was still 13... William would have thought he had gone to the wrong place.

The most obvious change is in the Entrance Hall.

The Giant umbrella stand is gone, replaced with a pear wood umbrella stand, and there's also a rug and shoe rack.

Kreacher stood in the doorway, his body looking as if he had been scrubbed a dozen times, almost white, with the hair in his ears as white and fluffy as cotton wool.

His demeanor instantly transformed from that of a scoundrel to that of a noble old butler.

Around its neck was Conan- style red bow... clearly Anne's handiwork.

"Please change your shoes, Miss Anne's silly brother, and the naughty daughter next door..."

Kreacher's voice was deep and hoarse as he brought over clean slippers.

Wait... that's a ghost's name!

Hermione raised an eyebrow, grabbed Anne's ponytail, glared at her, and said, "What do you mean by 'the neighbor's bad daughter'?"

"It wasn't me who taught you!" Anne winked.

Kreacher quickly corrected himself. "Miss Hermione, and the gentleman beside her."

William was speechless. So, he wasn't even worthy of having a name?

But this Kreacher... he's a bit strange.

Is this still the same foul-mouthed, filthy House-elf?

After taking the slippers, he carefully checked them and found no small traps such as cockroaches.

What's wrong with this House-elf?!

Anne smiled smugly.

The three walked down the corridor toward the living room, and were startled again as they passed through the long corridor.

A portrait of Sirius's mother—the ugly, squinty-eyed old woman—hummed twice and whispered, "Welcome!"

"I can't hear you!" Anne said. "Speak louder."

"Welcome!!" the old woman roared.

"Very good, very energetic!" Anne whistled.

William was stunned.

When he left, the old lady and Mrs. Weasley had been exchanging insults all day long, without repeating a single curse word.

This looks so fake!

No... this world's art style is off, something's definitely wrong!

William couldn't help but suspect that he was actually under Voldemort's spell, the Infinite Tsukuyomi.

The further William went inside, the more surprised he became.

The entire living room was spotless and brand new: the stair railings had been polished to a rose-colored shine, and the floor was gleaming.

But a commotion came from the living room, and when the group went in, they found it was Mrs. Weasley's voice.

She was waving a frying pan angrily, just like Red Wolf.

"No one can switch shifts with you, Mundungus Fletcher... It's your turn to work, you can't take leave!" she shouted.

This is the third day off you've taken this week.

Mundungus Fletcher pleaded, "My mother hasn't been feeling well lately!"

Mrs. Weasley said with displeasure, "Such a fine old lady, yet she goes to Diagon Alley to snatch vegetables every morning, her legs are more nimble than mine."

Good heavens, in your mouth, your mother's health has never been good!

The twins, Ginny and Ron, who were sitting on the sofa, both laughed.

Luna was there too, but she was dozing off, her head resting on a cat.

Mundungus Fletcher pursed his lips and continued, "If that really doesn't work, I'll take sick leave; my stomach hurts!"

"I won't allow it unless you're dead!" Mrs. Weasley said angrily.

William and Hermione went over and sat down on the sofa.

Everyone was pleasantly surprised to see William and Hermione return.

"You two are finally back!" Ginny said excitedly.

She jumped up and pulled Hermione to sit down next to her.

Along with Anne, the three girls huddled together, whispering secrets to each other.

He was clearly asking about Vienna and Switzerland.

Fred whistled and looked at William, saying, "We're on a day off today; Cedric and Cho are managing the store."

Lupin is the shopkeeper... but at this moment he needs to carry out Dumbledore's mission.

Therefore, this summer, the twins, Cedric, and Cho took turns working shifts.

"What happened?" William asked curiously.

"Mundungus wants to take a leave of absence," George replied.

Why not?

William remembered that Mundungus's mission was to protect Harry in secret.

"Every time he's on duty, he has to ask for leave, and it's for several hours at a time." Fred blinked.

"It's even more punctual than an alarm clock!"

Hearing the twins' teasing, Mundungus shouted, "This is really the last time, I promise!"

"He always promised, sometimes even swearing a solemn oath."

George's voice wasn't loud, but everyone could hear him.

"..."

"So, what's the real reason for this leave?" William asked.

Ginny peeked out and said, "It seems to be about a batch of stolen crucibles..."

"Hey, miss, it wasn't stolen, someone found it!" Mundungus said confidently.

"The key is that the quality is good and the price is cheap... Those poor Potions can't afford expensive crucibles."

I am also making a huge contribution to the Potions industry in our country.

Mundungus started boasting.

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Everyone burst out laughing.

"Speaking of which, it's all Percy's fault," Mundungus complained.

"He insisted that the imported crucibles were too thin, did not meet international standards, and were prone to bursting, causing the price of crucibles to skyrocket..."

Mundungus suddenly fell silent, and said awkwardly, "Sorry, Molly, I didn't mean to bring him up."

Percy became Fudge's assistant... The Mr. and Mrs. Weasley already knew about it.

Clearly, in their eyes, this was a terrible betrayal of Dumbledore.

And that's exactly what happened; Percy had a fight with the Mr. and Mrs. Weasley and moved out of their house.

William was the first to know about Percy's situation and even warned Dumbledore.

He hadn't expected Percy to confront his parents so directly, and for things to escalate to such a tense point.

Mundungus's apology did not appease Mrs. Weasley; instead, it made her even angrier.

"Harry needs someone to watch over him. If you dare to leave your post, I will definitely tell Dumbledore!"

"Dumbledore's still in Vienna," Mundungus muttered.

As the president of the International Confederation of Wizards, Dumbledore is indeed busy in Vienna right now.

The International Confederation of Wizards isn't completely over yet... It's uncertain whether he'll be able to return before the end of summer vacation.

There are just too many things to do.

However, according to information William gathered, Umbridge had already returned while he and Hermione were in Switzerland.

Although she was the United Kingdom representative, she couldn't stop Dumbledore, and staying there was pointless.

At this moment, Luna, who had been dozing off with her head on the cat, finally woke up.

She suddenly realized that William was sitting right next to her, and in her fright, she leaned back, the cat on her lap flying off.

William gently reached out and pulled the skinny cat named "Loony" into his arms.

Mrs. Norris and **Tea had a litter of cats, one of which was given to Luna.

However, even though they were all born in the same litter, the other orange cats were all quite fat, while Luna was very lean... and she even nicknamed her "Loony".

Luna's nickname is Loony, and she likes that name very much. She even named her cat that.

Well, all I can say is that this naming style is truly worthy of Luna.

Upon seeing William, Luna blinked her gray eyes and asked:

"Hey William, did you find the Crumple-Horned Snorkack in Switzerland?"

"This is a legendary Magical Creatures that only Luna believes in," William shrugged and chuckled.

"Didn't find it, maybe in the Netherlands. But they found Giant."

Everyone pricked up their ears.

"Is it in the Jungfrau in the Alps?" Ron stammered.

"The newspapers say that you and Hermione caused the mountain to collapse..."

"Well, more or less, I didn't mean to," William said.

Ron gasped.

"Did the North Sea Kraken chase you there?" Ginny asked curiously.

"The newspapers say you fought your way all the way to Switzerland with the North Sea Kraken."

"That's nonsense." William shrugged.

"I don't know where the North Sea Giant went... I just fought with one of the Giant."

Everyone asked eagerly.

William gave a brief description of what happened in Switzerland, but did not mention Hagrid and Maxime.

Suddenly, no one cared about Mundungus anymore, because William and Hermione's adventures sounded much more exciting.

At noon, Kreacher was cooking, and he used all his skills to make an exceptionally delicious lunch.

This made everyone feel much more favorably toward this House-elf.

However, everyone could see that Kreacher was just listening to Anne.

His attitude towards other people was still rather indifferent.

After finishing his meal, William ignored Ron's pleading look, which seemed to want more stories, and followed Kreacher upstairs.

He came to Black's old house today for Slytherin's Locket.

After the diary, the Ravenclaw's Diadem, and the Slytherin Ring... the fourth Horcrux... has finally been found!

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