"But thanks to your help, this attempt will not succeed," Dumbledore pointed out gently. "Would you like to witness its destruction?"
Ragnok paused and looked sadly at the pretty little cup. "Waste of good gold," he muttered to himself. "No, give me your Wizard's Oath that you'll destroy the abomination and that will do."
Dumbledore gravely swore the oath, and the wizards departed for Hogwarts, staying only long enough to bid Bill a grateful farewell.
And so the fourth horcrux was destroyed, and the faculty regrouped to celebrate the success. "You are doing so well," Pomona congratulated Dumbledore and McGonagall.
"I'd feel better if we knew how many were out there." Minerva remained grim-faced. "For all we know, there could be a dozen more. We've no idea what he might have used from Godric Gryffindor. Albus has already checked the sword, and it's not a horcrux, but the only other item of Gryffindor's that is known to have survived was a shield, and it hasn't been seen in 300 years. And let's not even talk about that dratted locket!"
"What locket?" Sirius asked, sipping his fire whiskey. He still felt a little rattled from his experiences at Gringotts.
"Oh, that's right, you weren't there," Minerva recalled. "Albus, Remus and Sirius haven't seen the locket. Perhaps they might have some ideas?" she suggested.
Albus nodded agreeably and accio'd the locket from its secure hiding place.
"Ugly little thing," Sirius said, wrinkling his nose.
"I suspect tastes were a bit different a millennium ago," Remus said, smiling.
"Show them the message," Sprout urged, and Albus obligingly opened the locket.
"We've no idea who wrote it, nor if they managed to carry out their threat to destroy the original," Pomona explained, while Remus looked at the note with interest.
No one noticed Sirius' pallor until he sat down hard in the nearest chair.
"Drunk again," Snape sniffed.
"I'm not drunk, you stupid bat," Sirius snapped, some of the color returning to his face. "It's the note. That's my brother's handwriting."
"Regulus?" Now Snape hurried over to look at the note as well. He hadn't know Regulus Black well enough to recognize his handwriting, but once Sirius pointed it out, he realized the initials matched the Slytherin's.
"But I don't understand this," Sirius shook his head in angry bewilderment. "Reg was a faithful Death Eater тАУ at least that's what we all thought. But this note makes it sound like he'd broken with You Know Who."
"That would explain his death," Snape commented quietly. "The Dark Lord does тАУ did тАУ not permit backsliding."
"How can this be?" Sirius demanded of no one in particular.
Remus squeezed his friend's shoulder. "Maybe Kreacher would know something?" he suggested.
"KREACHER!" Sirius bellowed.
A moment later, the elf popped into sight. "Yes, Master Black Sir? I is doing a very good job with the тАУ"
"Yes, yes, Kreacher," Sirius interrupted hastily. "What do you know about what happened to my brother?"
Kreacher's face became guarded. "Master Regulus? He was a very very good Master. He took good care of Kreacher."
"Yeah, great. Was he a bloody Death Eater or not?" Sirius demanded impatiently.
Kreacher bristled. "You is not to be insulting Master Regulus! He was a great wizard and pureblood!"
"Listen, you wizened little beast, answer my question before I hex you through the wall!"
"Master Regulus never hexed Kreacher! Master Regulus was a good master!" Kreacher snarled back.
"Yeah? You used to say that about my mother, and she hexed the shite out of all of you, so don't expect me to тАУ" Sirius' rant was interrupted by a tug on his arm.
"Calm down, and don't scream at him," Remus ordered sternly. "I know you're upset, but you can't take it out on Kreacher."
"Why the fuck not?" Sirius, now in a flaming temper, shouted. "He obviously knows something about my brother, and he won't tell me! For all we know, this could be something that will keep Harry safe and тАУ"
"Harry Potter?" Kreacher demanded. "Kreacher does not care about stupid Boy Who Lived. Why should he have lived when Kreacher's good master did not? Let stupid, useless, half-blooded Harry Potter die!"
Before either Sirius or Snape could punt the defiant little horror out the window, a loud pop heralded the arrival of another house elf. "WHO IS INSULTING MY MASTER HARRY POTTER SIR?" Dobby shrieked in fury.
"Harry Potter is not a Sir. Harry Potter is the weak blooded son of a mudblood and blood traitor," Kreacher sneered.
"You will not be calling my Master Harry Potter Sir bad names!" Dobby shouted, shaking a fist at Kreacher. "You is to be calling him Master Harry Potter Sir!"
"Harry Potter! Harry Potter! Harry Potter!" Kreacher jeered, employing the ultimate house elf insult by not using any honorifics with the wizard's name.
With a scream of rage, Dobby dove for the old elf's throat and soon the two were rolling on the ground, punching and biting as they screeched abuse at each other.
"Oh, my!" Sprout exclaimed. She and the other wizards looked on, rather uncertain as to what to do in the face of such naked house elf aggression.
"Now then, now then тАУ " Dumbledore tried to pry the two apart with a spell, but the battling elves were shrouded in their own magic, and the Headmaster's was unable to penetrate it.
Snape leaned back and enjoyed the show. Dear Wizard Wrestling Federation, I have a new suggestion for youтАж
Dobby finally managed to get Kreacher in a choke hold, and Sirius took advantage of the momentary lull to snatch the locket and shove it in front of Kreacher's now extremely protruberant eyes. "Look! We're trying to destroy the real version of this! We're trying to make sure Reg's dying wish has been fulfilled! Don't you want to help us?"
Kreacher abruptly quit fighting, and Dobby warily released him. "Master is not lying to Kreacher? Master is really wishing to help Good Master Regulus?"
"YES!" Sirius shouted in frustration. "If this note is telling the truth, then Reg broke with You Know Who before he died. Is that right?"
Kreacher nodded frantically. "Oh, yes, Master Black. Good Master Regulus was very, very angry with evil Dark Lord. Evil Dark Lord hurt poor Kreacher very, very much, and Good Master Regulus did not like him no more. So Good Master Regulus decided to take what Evil Dark Lord treasured, but тАУ " Kreacher began to cry " тАУ bad, bad creatures in the lake killed poor Good Master Regulus. Good Master Regulus told Kreacher to take locket and destroy it, but bad Kreacher could not find way to do it. Will Master Black destroy it for bad Kreacher and for Good Master Regulus?" he sobbed.
Overwhelmed with pity, Sirius managed to pat the disgusting little creature on the head. "There, there, Kreacher. Reg knows you did your best. If you bring it here, you can watch while we destroy it. Will that make you feel better?" he asked hopefully. He really didn't want to have a soggy house elf.
"Oh! Good Master Black!" Kreacher cried, with all the lightning changeability of his race. "Good Master Black is so kind to bad Kreacher! He is giving him Muggles to torture and he is wanting to help Kreacher carry out Good Master Regulus' last command! Yes, yes, yes! Kreacher will be getting Evil Dark Lord's locket so that Good Master Black can be destroying it!" He popped away, leaving a rather shell-shocked audience.