allendalepharm Chapter 243 Sirius's Brother
Chapter 243 Sirius's Brother
Chapter 243 Sirius's Brother
House-elves occupy a very special ecological niche within the ancient pure-blooded families.
Lockhart never imagined that Kreacher, merely because of his status as a house-elf of the Black family, would be qualified to go to the Ministry of Magic to register Sirius Black's return to the Black family register.
Perhaps, just as he had previously conceived of the theory, house-elves, as magical creatures, gradually transformed into fantastical animals with animalistic traits due to their high level of involvement in wizarding life, and even went further to the level of 'humanoid creatures'.
In the process of completing this extremely unique 'ritual' and being highly involved in the wizarding life, not only are the house-elves changed, but the wizards themselves are also transformed.
Lockhart had a deep understanding of this from the Crabbe family's house-elf, Tutu, whom he had previously encountered.
In that family with an increasing number of slow-witted offspring, the house-elves took on not only the role of butlers, but also, one could say, control the vast majority of the family's resources.
This is no longer the role of the "Palm Fairy" from ancient legends, who helps with cleaning in exchange for honey and bread, nor is it the kind of "dependence," "enslavement," or "parasitism" that many people believe.
It can be said that they share weal and woe.
The most important element in this interdependent relationship between wizards and magical creatures, ensuring the continuation of their lineage, is undoubtedly loyalty.
House-elves' absolute loyalty to wizards, and wizards' absolute trust in the very nature of that loyalty.
Both are indispensable.
Such cases as the Malfoys are rare, involving disloyal house-elves and wizards who abuse them.
More often, it's like the Crouch family, where Barty the Elder is willing to trust the house-elves and entrust his son Barty Jr., who could have completely destroyed the family's secret—his son who was exchanged for his life in Azkaban—to the house-elf Sparky.
Gilgamesh's status in the Crouch family is clearly incomparable to that of Dobby in the Malfoy family. She was able to persuade Barty the Elder to allow her to take Barty Jr. to the Quidditch World Cup, and she was also able to obtain a private box from the World Cup organizers in Barty the Elder's name.
House-elves have long been an integral part of wizarding culture, or rather, the culture of ancient pure-blood families.
and so……
What if a Muggle wizard wanted to dismantle such a powerful aid to a pure-blood family?
The answer is actually quite simple: dismantle this trust and transform the master-servant relationship into an employment relationship.
such as……
House-Elf Welfare Promotion Association (SPEW)!
Lockhart shook his head, trying to clear the chaotic thoughts caused by the magical bloodline suppression brought about by the elevator from his mind. He exhaled and slowly stepped out of the elevator.
The elevator was placed in Sirius's room on the top floor of the building. Dumbledore cast a spell to permanently transform an oak-carved wardrobe into a wooden elevator, and Lockhart took out a snail shell to release the invisible dark magic creature.
Although everyone subconsciously avoided talking about certain things...
But what everyone is actually doing now is—taking advantage of the house-elf Kreacher's absence, installing the elevator in the only place in this house that Kreacher won't come into.
Given Dumbledore's personality, he would naturally not do it instinctively.
But it must be said that Grindelwald was very eloquent. With just a few light words and subtle hints, everyone began to make this choice in a very tacit manner.
"Done!"
Lockhart took a few steps back, looking at the somewhat antique-looking elevator in front of him. He gently shook his wand to sense the state of the dark magic creature, and finally cast a levitation spell to control the snail shell to fly to the top of the elevator and settle there.
"If this elevator is accidentally destroyed, the dark magic creatures inside will immediately run into snail shells!"
His expression was serious as he turned to look at the people behind him. "If necessary, this is a method for emergency elevator relocation!"
Dumbledore scrutinized the elevator with a deep gaze. "Arrange for the Longbottoms to come and try it out tomorrow."
Lockhart quickly chimed in, "It would be best if their families came along. I'm worried that this kind of bloodline suppression might cause problems like time distortion and cognitive errors. With blood relatives present, their souls will instinctively relax."
"Of course, it would be even better if more of their friends from before they were affected by the Cruciatus Curse were present."
"This isn't a necessary condition, but it might offer some additional help."
Dumbledore nodded. "I'll need your help to keep an eye on things and make sure it works."
Lockhart smiled slightly. "It's my pleasure."
And so it was settled.
Dumbledore clearly had other things to do, and he prepared to leave with Grindelwald.
Professor McGonagall also had no intention of staying here.
As for Lu Ping, with the full moon just two days away, he was already showing signs of restlessness and decided to stay here, which would also make it easier to catch up with old friends.
But soon everyone was unable to leave.
When the house-elf Kreacher returned, he handed Sirius Black a document signed by the Ministry of Magic, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.
This appearance instantly caught Grindelwald's attention.
Sirius took the document but didn't open it. He was unsure how to deal with Kreacher at this point, and impatiently pointed towards the stairs, "Go ahead, but don't do it in front of me..."
"Wait!" Grindelwald called out to them again.
Sirius's expression changed instantly. He instinctively stood up and stood in front of Kreacher, his wand already gripping tightly in his hand.
Grindelwald chuckled at his nervousness, his heterochromatic left eye gleaming as he stared intently at the tense Kreacher behind him. "How unusual. You look like your mind is blank; even Legilimency can't read anything from you. But I can clearly see you're hesitating about what to say."
"Were you trained in magic similar to Occlumency?"
Dumbledore was taken aback by Grindelwald's neuroticism, and upon hearing this, he was speechless. "Gellert, don't you know that house-elves are very difficult to read minds with Legilimency? It's their natural talent!"
Throughout the long history of magic, wizards have chosen to bring house-elves into their lives, and the house-elves' own abilities have played a significant role in this.
Grindelwald rolled his eyes. "How would I know? I didn't have any house-elves in my family when I was a kid, and I rarely had any contact with them."
Of course, I've never tried to read the thoughts of a house-elf that I look down on before, and that's the root cause of why I don't know.
This is actually a very normal thing.
Not every ancient pure-blooded family has house-elves. First, you need a castle, or a mansion with loyal house-elves who are willing to continue to reproduce and multiply.
If you won't even let them build a house, even the most loyal and devoted house-elves won't want to reproduce—it's instinct!
There's one more condition involved in the relationship between house-elves and wizards.
Otherwise, how could owning a house-pocket be considered an honor for a pureblood family?
Dumbledore's childhood family also did not have this.
It's normal not to know something you haven't had much contact with, and it's not knowledge you absolutely need to know, just like most people present don't know how centaurs mate.
Sirius breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Kreacher with some wariness. "What were you about to tell me?"
Kreacher was a little nervous, waving his hands frantically, "No, no!"
Sirius straightened up, turned around, and stared intently at it. "I command you to speak, by my master's orders!"
Kreacher's expression shifted, and finally, perhaps thinking of something painful, he burst into tears.
She was crying so hard, kneeling on the ground and kowtowing repeatedly.
"Waaaaah, Kreacher should have died! Master is dead, and Kreacher is left to live. Kreacher shouldn't be alive. Kreacher should have died in place of Master..."
Its head slammed heavily against the ground, and blood quickly seeped from its high, fleshy nose and forehead. It was hitting so hard, as if it wanted to die right there and then.
"Kreacher!" Sirius roared, "What are you talking about? Which master?!"
Kreacher didn't answer; he just continued to punish himself.
"I command you! Kreacher! Answer my question!" Sirius Black finally snapped, kicking Kreacher away. He strode forward, glaring at Kreacher. "I can't stand your behavior!"
Answer me!
Kreacher sobbed, and finally, under Sirius's persistent questioning, he recounted, in fits and starts, the deeds of the Black family scion he truly acknowledged, its true master.
—That's Sirius's younger brother, Regulus Black.
"Young Master Regulus is the real Black, not a traitor like Sirius who shirks his family responsibilities. He is great..."
Sirius Black cursed viciously, "I don't need you to tell me that!"
If Lu Ping hadn't been there to hold him back, he probably would have kicked that monster who was always either insulting or sarcastic. He hadn't had a moment's peace since returning to his ancestral home more than ten days ago.
If Dumbledore hadn't wanted a place to be the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix, he wouldn't have wanted to return here at all; every decoration here disgusted him.
Everywhere was filled with aristocratic arrogance and the ominous and evil aura of wizards.
"Young Master Regulus bears the responsibility of making his family great again. He has joined Voldemort's great cause, saying that they want wizards to no longer have to hide and can freely walk on the streets that originally belonged to Muggles..."
Kreacher spoke of the dreams that young Master Regulus had talked about years ago, his face full of pride.
Everyone around listened in silence, even Grindelwald couldn't help but sigh.
As it turns out, this society does harbor such forces and has such problems. What could Dumbledore really change by imprisoning Grindelwald in Nurmengard? These forces will always find their own source.
Unfortunately, they encountered Voldemort, a black lord who only cared about his own interests and did nothing but raise the flag. All their lofty ideals became empty talk.
It was at this moment that Grindelwald began to understand, to some extent, Dumbledore's words: "Sometimes when I look back on my life, I am forced to confront myself with past events and ask myself if I made the wrong judgments..."
No matter what, pure-blood families are ultimately the most precious and valuable force among the wizarding race.
Unfortunately, Dumbledore was unable to use this power properly, which ultimately led these people to the opposite side and to the side of the wicked Voldemort.
As a result, over the past few decades, one after another, the pure-blood families that once possessed great power disappeared into the long river of history, vanishing completely.
Dumbledore's weariness and pain were not without reason. Life is so difficult that if you want a future like that of Muggle wizards and half-blood wizards, you must inevitably sacrifice the future of another group of people.
In fact, in this room today, Sirius is probably the only one with a relatively simple nature, or rather, a relatively firm belief in good and evil.
Others, not to mention Grindelwald, Dumbledore, Lockhart and others.
Professor McGonagall and Lupin have both experienced so many years of life and war that they no longer understand things the way they did when they were young.
Justice is a banner, but a banner is not justice.
"One day, young Master Regulus approached Kreacher and said that the Dark Lord needed a house-elf, and needed Kreacher..."
"Young Master Regulus has indeed gained the Dark Lord's trust and is involved in the Dark Lord's most crucial secrets..."
"Kreacher drank the potion from the stone basin and was in so much pain he wanted to die. Many hands in the lake tried to drag him into the water..."
"Kreacher remembers that the young master said that Kreacher must return to his side, and Kreacher cannot not go back..."
"The highest law for a house-elves is the command of their master," Kreacher sang. "When the master tells Kreacher to come home, Kreacher comes home..."
"But one day, young master Regulus suddenly found me, hoping I would take him back to that cave and bring out an identical locket..."
"He ordered me to replace the locket and bring it back after he drank those potions..."
Sirius Black suddenly broke free from Lupin's grasp, lunged forward, grabbed Kreacher's shoulder, and, without anyone noticing, his face was already streaked with tears. He roared, "Why wasn't it you who drank it? Why did he drink it?!"
Kreacher was so sorrowful. "Young Master Regulus disagreed. He said I was his family and he didn't want me to be hurt again. I had to obey his orders... Waaah... Young Master Regulus... He's such a good person... Kreacher should be the one to drink..."
Sirius was trembling with pain. Of course he hated his family, hated his parents who only cared about their own interests, and hated his brother who had the typical Slytherin traits. But he didn't want them to die at all. He didn't want it to happen!
He looked at Kreacher with such anguish and tension, "Tell me, you brought him back, didn't you? You could come back by yourself before, you must have brought him back, right?"
Kreacher wept, "Kreacher completed Master Regulus's task and switched the locket, but when he turned around, the master had already been dragged into the lake by the monster!"
Bang!
Lupin suddenly appeared from somewhere, tackling Sirius Black, who was about to kill Kreacher in a fit of rage, to the side and shouting, "Sirius, calm down! You can't punish this loyal house-elf for this!"
He knew Sirius so well that he made a timely prediction.
Sirius struggled angrily, but Lupin only pressed him down, shouting mournfully, "Didn't you hear him? Your brother, Regulus, said Kreacher is his family!"
"You know how much your brother cared about him; at that time, he might have only this one family member left!"
"When he decided to betray Voldemort, his two surviving sisters were no longer family. Do you know how lonely he must have been? Calm down, brother, don't hurt your dead brother."
silence……
A silent silence...
Sirius stopped struggling and simply lay on his back on the ground, tears streaming silently down his face.
hatred!
He hates it so much!
He hates himself so much!
He looked up at the portraits of his family's past generations on the wall. Many of them were now just empty frames, and those frames seemed like eyes watching him, the last descendant of the Black family, watching him...
"Blake is bad luck!"
He seemed to hear his father's angry roar.
(End of this chapter)