The sound of Kreacher's muttering stopped.
His pale eyes bulged like a bullfrog's as he stared at Vid and asked in a very soft voice, "The funeral of Master Regulus?"
It was as if he doubted what he had heard.
"Hey, this guy's always listening in!" Ron said angrily.
They had been struggling to clean while enduring Kreacher's insults. Ron had exchanged insults with him, but the latter simply ignored him.
Hermione said that the house-elf's mind was muddled and he didn't know what he was saying, which barely stopped Ron from going over to beat him up.
The two people in the center of attention didn't seem to care about his words.
Vid had done so much, not to be an unsung hero at this moment. He said simply:
"Not long ago, we found the body of Mr. Regulus Black in a cave, as well as a locket and a note he left for someone."
"We know that he made a great sacrifice to resist Voldemort, so Sirius has decided to hold a decent funeral for him. It's why he returned here to tidy up the house; it's also why we are here to help."
Kreacher's mouth fell open in shock, but the mention of the locket and note immediately made Kreacher believe him.
He trembled and swayed, asking hoarsely, "Then… Master Regulus… where is he now?"
"Sirius just took him to the bedroom," Vid said. "If you'd come out a little earlier, you would've seen them…"
Before he finished speaking, there was a loud "pop" in the room, and Kreacher disappeared from Vid's sight.
Everyone knew he must have gone upstairs to greet his long-missed master.
Vid stood up, and everyone was staring at him in amazement.
"House-elves have a magical connection with the house, and as long as he understands the purpose and no longer hates or resists us, the cleaning work will become very easy."
Vid explained, "And although he looks old, the things he can do are extraordinary. Don't think of him as just an ordinary old man."
"Uh…" Theo looked at the others and asked, "Vid, how did you know he would definitely cooperate afterward?"
Vid raised an eyebrow. "Didn't Harry say so? Regulus liked him very much while he was alive... A house-elf's feelings are very pure; he must have liked Regulus a lot too, even willing to do anything for him."
The room fell into silence.
For example, Percy, who was standing on the stairs of the second floor, suddenly felt that he needed to look up to the second-year student at the doorway.
"Well… I was going to ask…" Vid looked at everyone weirdly and said, "Why didn't you tell Kreacher our purpose here?"
Everyone looked at each other.
"He was cursing as soon as he appeared, so..."
"I was busy arguing with him!"
"I thought he was hard of hearing and couldn't hear clearly..."
"Everyone knows it; there's no need to keep repeating it, right?"
"Talking about funerals is so depressing…"
"We're already busy with so much work…"
They all explained at once, trying to prove they weren't that stupid, just busy at the moment.
They then looked at Lupin.
— If it were just us, that would be fine. But you and Sirius have been here for so long, haven't you said anything?
Lupin smiled wryly, an inexplicable force prompted him to explain as well:
"I thought... mentioning these would increase Sirius's pain, so I didn't..."
Suddenly, a heart-wrenching cry echoed from upstairs, piercing through the twisting stairway and still making one's heart break.
Lupin paused and said, "I'll go have a look..."
"I'll come too!" Harry said quickly.
Lupin hesitated for a moment: "Alright... Vid, you too, okay?"
"Of course," Vid said without hesitation.
Lupin looked at the others.
"Don't worry about seeing us off," Fred said proactively. "You go ahead... we'll take a break."
"Yes, there's Butter Beer in the kitchen; feel free to have some."
After Lupin finished speaking hastily, the three of them went upstairs.
As they quickly ascended the creaking stairs, Vid had no time to take note of the dark portraits on the walls, but the heads of the house-elves hanging beside them were hard to ignore.
Soon, they reached the fifth floor. From a distance, they could hear Kreacher's head banging against the floor.
"Kreacher couldn't fulfill Master Regulus's orders… Kreacher couldn't destroy the locket..."
He was banging his head while wailing and apologizing in a muffled voice to his deceased young master.
"Stop, Kreacher," Sirius said in an unusually calm voice, "Tell me everything! How did Regulus die, what orders did he give you! What about the locket!"
The door was ajar. Vid and the others walked to the door and saw the dimly lit bedroom, where a black coffin was placed.
Sirius was sitting on the floor, leaning against the coffin, his expression obscured by darkness, but his eyes seemed to glow with an eerie light.
Kreacher lay crying on the floor, driven by orders as he took deep, gasping breaths to painfully recount the events—
Regulus, proud of his pure-blood status, joined the Death Eaters at the age of sixteen. A year later, because the Dark Lord needed a house-elf, he offered Kreacher.
He might have thought the Dark Lord merely needed a servant to command, thinking it a kind of honor.
But the Dark Lord took Kreacher to a cave, ordered him to drink the potion, and watched him get dragged into the water by the Inferi, to test the protection of the Soul Artifact.
But he hadn't expected Kreacher to return. Because before leaving home, Regulus had instructed him to come back after completing the task, so he Disapparated back home.
Voldemort overlooked the difference between house-elf magic and wizard magic; his Anti-Disapparition Charm had no effect on Kreacher.
When Regulus learned what had happened, he anxiously told Kreacher to hide and not to leave the house. Some time later, he asked Kreacher to take him to that cave.
But this time, he drank the poison himself.
He ordered Kreacher not to mind him and not to tell his mother what he had done, but Kreacher had to destroy the locket. However, the locket bore powerful magic that Kreacher couldn't fulfill his master's last command.
After finishing, the house-elf lay on the floor, his face full of tears and snot, impossible to control. Sirius sat in front of him, saying nothing for a long time.
Vid gently pushed Harry.
The story shocked Harry into silence, making him stumble. He took several steps before he steadied himself.
Once his eyes adjusted to the darkness, he saw that Sirius's face was already covered in tears.
The boy's nose tingled, only feeling clumsy and inarticulate, unsure of how to comfort him. He hesitated, then opened his arms and hugged his godfather.
With his vision blocked, Sirius's face was terrifyingly pale. His hands were tightly clenched, his body trembling. It was a long time before he let out a hoarse sob.
Lupin sighed softly, feeling both shocked and relieved.
Relieved that Sirius could finally have a good cry instead of pretending to act normal.
But he had only ever seen wizards having house-elves serve them, sacrifice for them, but never had he seen a wizard sacrifice his life to protect a house-elf.
Vid stood at the doorway, not stepping into the room filled entirely with sorrow. Hearing a sound beside him, he softly said, "Remus, comfort Kreacher... I'll go notify Dumbledore."
After the last trip to the cave, Vid had sent a Friendship Book to Dumbledore, allowing them to contact each other directly at last.
A true Soul Artifact being such an important matter, of course, it should be reported to Dumbledore immediately. Kreacher surely knew the whereabouts of the missing locket.
Lupin didn't dwell on it, nodded, and walked into the room. Vid cast a deep look at them, then turned and left.