"Hmf," Dobby sniffed. "You is too nice to that bad elf," he told Sirius reprovingly. "That bad elf had better be nice to Master Harry Potter Sir or Dobby will be twisting off his head!" And with that rather unnerving threat, Dobby popped away.
"Well." Remus finally managed to break the silence. "This helps to explain why Kreacher has gotten so barmy. I mean, if he's been unable to carry out Regulus' last command to himтАж"
"Yes, I suppose that's correct," Dumbledore mused.
"Sirius, what did that elf mean about your giving him Muggles to torture?" Poppy demanded.
"Oh, for Merlin's sake, didn't we just agree the elf is insane?" Snape snapped. "Who knows what it's talking about?"
"I suppose. I'm sorry, dear," Poppy apologized, patting Sirius' shoulder.
Kreacher reappeared just then, holding what appeared to be the twin to the locket in Sirius' hand. "Here, Good Master Black," he said anxiously. "Now you is to be destroying it!"
Albus intervened. "Just a moment please, Kreacher. Hmmmm." He cast a few diagnostic spells, then nodded. "It is indeed a horcrux. No wonder you were unable to do anything to it, Kreacher," he said kindly to the elf. "If you would come with me, though, I will destroy it while you watch."
Kreacher gave him a suspicious look. "Good Master Black is coming too?"
Sirius sighed. "Oh, all right. Come on, Moony. Let's go see what it's like when fiendyre eats a horcrux."
The little procession made its way out of Albus' office, while the rest made a beeline for the drinks cupboard. Watching elf wrestling definitely called for a large glass of fire whiskey.
"One more down!" Filius toasted, lifting his glass.
"Yes, but how many still to go?" Minerva fretted.
TBCтАж
*Chapter 59*: Chapter 59
Lucius Malfoy glared out the window, oblivious to the lovely view from his manor, and moodily swirled the fire whiskey in his glass. It had been months since Snape had visited and tasked him with bringing down Fudge's government, and the hook-nosed half-blood hadn't so much as owled him since then.
He was unaccustomed to being on the fringe of things, and he bitterly resented the fact that his new allies clearly didn't trust him. Even his heritage didn't prompt any admiring glances. After all, while the Malfoys were an old family, the Blacks тАУ let alone the Dumbledores тАУ were ancient. And in addition to being mistrusted and a bit of a Johnny-come-lately in the ancestry stakes, he was also derided by the idiots on the Light side for his past.
The crowning insult had been when he had realized that Sirius Black felt morally superior to him, to the point of calling him a pervert because he had certain ...tastes. Why did no one point out that Black had an identical history? Hadn't he spent seven years tormenting Snape? James Potter's pursuit of Lily Evans hadn't been nearly as single minded as Black's focus on Snape, yet suddenly Black was professing outrage because Malfoy had tortured a few Muggles. It wasn't even as if Black's attacks on Snape had been at the behest of the Dark Lord; Malfoy at least had that dubious excuse, not that anyone was crediting it.
Why did they have to take exception to his history? Snape himself had been a Death Eater!
Lucius gritted his teeth when he thought of Snape. Talk about the heights of hypocrisy. Even ignoring the man's past allegiance to Voldemort, the greasy haired nobody was legendary among past and present Hogwarts students for his delight in reducing children to tears with his vicious tongue. His relentless persecution of all things Gryffindor was, even to other Slytherins, rather excessive. How dare he revile Malfoy? What gave him the right to lay claim to the moral high ground like some kindly and well-balanced Father Christmas?
Stupid Dark Lord. If only He hadn't allowed Himself to be vanquished by an infant, none of this would be happening. Though, to be fair, if Snape was right and He had made horcruxes, then life as one of His minions would probably have been a lot less pleasant than Lucius had anticipated.
Malfoy sighed. Joining the Dark Lord had been a very bad idea. He could admit that now, when he no longer feared His ever-ready Crucio or the incessant backbiting and shifting allegiances among the Death Eaters. Oh, he had thrived in that environment as one of the Dark Lord's richer and more aristrocratic followers, as well as being a thorough bastard, but it had also helped that he had тАУ at the time тАУ no children of his own. He had to admit that after Draco's birth, he'd begun to have his doubts as to whether Voldemort was really the best thing that could happen to his family. It had made claiming the Imperius defense that much easier, though his natural caution had prevented him from formally breaking away from the missing Dark Lord until now.
Now, though, the die was cast. Even if Voldemort did rise again, Snape would never permit him to return to the Dark Lord. He'd reveal Malfoy's promise of loyalty if Lucius showed any inclination to backsliding, and Malfoy had seen how the Dark Lord dealt with even presumed traitors, let alone confirmed ones. He shivered. No, there was no going back for him.
That meant that it was all the more critical for him to тАУ ugh тАУ ingratiate himself into this new group.
Unlike Fudge, Snape wasn't impressed with Malfoy for, well, just being a Malfoy, and to Lucius' annoyance, he hadn't been asked by Snape to bankroll anything either, which would have provided him with a hold over the man. No, for the first time in his life Lucius needed the good opinion of a motley assortment of Gryffindors, mudbloods, and blood traitors тАУ people who, for most of his life, he had considered more on a par with house elves than his equals. And worse, they regarded him with contempt. The sheer effrontery of it made him furious, and he was tempted to stay behind his manor's wards and enjoy his wine cellar while the idiots killed each other.
Yet he knew that that would never do. He had neither the personality nor the wish to slide into powerless obscurity, let alone leave Draco with no exalted position into which he could step as a matter of birthright. No, he had to do something to show his worth to this undistinguished lot.
He wasn't even sure just who was in Snape's camp; the ugly bastard played things too close to his vest. But it was good odds that the brat's godfather was an ally, along with the impecunious werewolf, and even if тАУ as Snape claimed тАУ he was no longer in Dumbledore's pocket, the Potion Master must, at the very least, consider the old man as more friend than foe.
So what could he, Lucius Malfoy, do that would prove once and for all his loyalty and value to his new side? What would cement his position among them and elevate him to a member of their inner circle, rather than leaving him to languish as a much-doubted turncoat whose loyalty shifted out of self-interest and not some stupid Gryffindorish ideals?
Lucius considered the question carefully. What skills did he have that the Light was likely to lack? Surely Snape couldn't have wooed too many other Slytherins to his side, and that meant that there was likely a distinct shortage of ruthlessness among Snape's allies. Oh, Snape was cold-blooded enough for anyone тАУ of that Lucius was certain тАУ but as someone who had personally benefited from Dumbledore's misguided belief in the goodness of others, he was willing to bet that most of the other nitwits on his new side would be too squeamish for proactive measures. Even during the last war, those morons in the Order of the Phoenix had avoided Unforgiveables, preferring disarming and stunning spells. As a result, he was still enjoying his freedom and the LeStranges were gibbering at Dementors instead of having spent the last decade as worm food or floating Beyond the Veil.