Chapter 50 - Foulness at Home
Sirius took the three of us to Lord Black's study again.
Lord Black was still there, though now sitting on the side couch with a cup of tea. He looked up, surprised to see us so soon.
"Well? Is the tour already over?" he asked. "I thought Sirius would take longer."
Sirius shook his head. "No, Grandfather. Arthur has something to talk about. He said it should be in front of you."
Lord Black sat up straighter, suddenly alert. "Very well then. What is it, young Mr. Arthur?"
I took a breath. "Lord Black… I have a talent or you can call it intuition. The goblins call it a blessing of Mother Magic. They say wizards call it a talent or instinct."
Lord Black nodded. "Yes. What we call talent, they call a blessing. Go on."
"As we were touring the house, and when Sirius opened his brother's room… I sensed something foul in there."
Lord Black's eyes sharpened. Sirius, however, waved his hand lightly.
"Oh, nothing serious," Sirius said. "The house is full of dark artifacts. Maybe he felt that. After all, Regulus was once a follower of him. He probably had things like that around, but I did not think he'd keep something dangerous in his room."
But Lord Black did not accept that so easily. He looked at me again.
"Arthur has not complained about any other room or artifact," Lord Black said quietly. "If he says this one feels wrong, then it is not the usual darkness. Arthur, can you describe it a bit more?"
"Yes," I said. "It is not the malice of dark artifacts. Dark artifacts are still part of magic, but in a twisted direction. What I felt was different. It was like a stain. A stain of magic or life, something that should not exist."
Both Lord Black and Sirius grew serious. Harry and Dudley looked at each other. Dudley tugged my sleeve and whispered, "Arthur… is this the same as last time?"
His whisper was soft, but everyone heard it.
Lord Black leaned forward. "What do you mean by 'same as last time'? Explain, Mr. Arthur."
"Yes, Lord Black," I said. "But please do not speak of this to anyone—even Madam Tonks."
Lord Black nodded. "Agreed. Go on."
"A few years back," I said, "when we visited Diagon Alley for the first time, I asked the goblins to examine Harry."
Sirius interrupted with a frown. "Why would you do that? Goblins are greedy. They aren't good people."
Lord Black said sharply, "Sirius."
Sirius stopped.
Lord Black continued calmly, "Goblins may be greedy and means, but they are not a mindless race. They are equally shrewd. And they do not harm magical children, of any race. Go on, Arthur."
"Yes," I said. "I asked for the Potter account manager and confirmed if they covered their underage client's well being. As Harry is an heir, the manager told me that it was his oath bound duty to see Harry was fine. That was why I trusted them. I was concerned about Harry's health too, so an examination was done."
Sirius asked, "Was Harry unwell?"
Lord Black interrupted. "I don't think it was just an illness. Was it something more than that?"
"Yes, Lord Black. It was something more." I pointed at Harry's scar. "I always felt something bad in his scar from the moment he came to our house years back. Something that was foul. It was similar to the one that I sensed just now in Regulus's room. But as it was held back by another magic, it did not affect us much at the beginning."
Lord Black, "What magic?"
"The goblins said it was probably from my aunt, his mother, Lily's magic."
Lord Black whispered pondering, "Lily's magic, still active after her death on her child. Sacrificial protection."
I nodded. Sirius fell silent, his whole body shook, as he understood the weight of it and the nature of such magic.
Lord Black then asked, "What did the goblins find?"
I spoke slowly. "They found what the foulness was."
Lord Black stood up at once. Sirius stiffened. Harry's eyes widened.
"And what did they tell you it was?" Lord Black asked.
I answered quietly.
"A Horcrux."
The room went silent. The fire crackled in the corner, the only sound.
Lord Black's hand trembled once on the arm of his chair and his teacup fell and shattered on the floor as he leaned back.
"O Merlin… mercy upon us," he breathed. "A Horcrux. In a child."
Sirius ran a hand through his hair in frustration as he did not understand what it was. "What does it mean grandfather?"
He leaned forward, voice low but firm. "It is a curse, of the vilest form ever made. Sirius, you may not understand how deep this curse goes. A Horcrux is an insult to magic itself. Life and death are meant to move in a circle, a balance. So Soul magic is sacred. But this is a tearing apart of one's own soul to cheat death and linger among the living. But the soul is not living the moment a Horcrux is made, and neither is it dead. That is why it is against Life and Death both. It leaves a stain on everything near it."
Sirius was shocked to his core. He asked in a shivering voice, "Who would do such a mad thing as tearing their own soul?"
Lord Black was not as clueless as Sirius. After all he was the head of the family for decades and had even participated in the first wizarding war. He had already deduced it. He told Sirius like he was grooming his heir.
"Think Sirius. Madness of tearing of one's soul, in Heir Potter's body, protected by Lily Potter's sacrificial magic, and now similar thing in Regulus's room. What is common amongst these incidents?"
Sirius also understood quickly now that his grandfather had put it in this way, his face becoming pale, "The Dark Lord."
Sirius turned in a rush towards Harry as he checked him up and down frantically, "Are you okay Harry? Do you feel wrong anywhere?"
Harry hurriedly shook his head, "No Sirius, I am fine now."
Arthur reassured him, "Gringotts had healers and curse breakers examie him. Except for the strain on eye, he was fine. Even his eyes are recovering well."
Sirius was relieved when he heard that, but he decided that he will get Harry examined by his healers again.
Lord Black finally said, "If the same foulness is in this housw then we must find it. At once."
Sirius nodded slowly. "Regulus," he murmured. "He must have brought something from the Dark Lord back."
I looked at them both. "Yes. And I think I can point out where it is."
Lord Black stood up as he announced, "Then let us go and find where that abomination is hidden."
He lead us out of the study as we all followed him up the stairs. We reached Regulus's room.
Here Lord Black asked Harry and Dudley to remain behind as they were children.
Lord Black, "You two children stay behind. Kreacher, stay with the children. Arthur, you also have to just point out the object holding the abomination. We will take care of it."
As Kreacher appeared, he followed his master's order and stayed with children.
As we all entered, I found the source of Foulness at once. It was the locket held in a glass cupboard. I pointed, "That locket. That's the source."
Lord Black and Sirius both pointed their wands at that direction. As they leviated it out of the cupboard, Kreacher saw what the item was and let out a shriek.
"Master Regulus. Poor Master Regulus.." he screamed and started crying.
End of Chapter 50 - Foulness at Home