Harry Potter: I started checking in from Diagon Alley

He severed ties with his family while studying at Hogwarts.

Therefore, it was difficult for him to find out exactly what Regulus had done.

Kreacher led Eric upstairs to the second floor, where the living room and lounge were located.

The living room occupies a fairly large area.

Like the lobby on the first floor, the second floor has not been properly cleaned for many years.

The once exquisite and luxurious living room now appears somewhat cluttered and disorganized.

After Sirius left, Kreacher was the only one living in the house.

For such a long time, the only thing he could talk to and communicate with was the portrait on the first floor.

Kreacher is a house-elf, and for him, survival is simple; all he needs is a closet in the kitchen, which is his bed.

So the whole house has remained in a state of near abandonment.

After Kreacher led Eric to the second floor, he left in a sarcastic tone to collect what Eric needed.

Eric waited quite a while before Kreacher reappeared.

He brought one package after another.

The package contained all the items Eric had requested, items related to Regulus.

Photos, diaries, clothes...

All sorts of things were piled up on the coffee table in front of Eric.

Eric glanced at it briefly and said with a smile, "You're just giving me the runaround, Kreacher. You didn't do what I asked."

“K... Kreacher doesn’t know what you’re talking about.” Kreacher’s head was lowered, and his voice trembled.

Eric said, "I'll say it again: find all items that are related to Regulus Black, including magical items and things he gave you, not just these clothes and insignificant records of his life."

“That mudblood Eric just said he needed something from young master Regulus…” Kreacher argued.

Eric walked up to him with a smile and interrupted him: "Don't try to misinterpret my demands again, Kreacher. If there's a next time, I'll have Sirius Black expel you from the Black family. You won't be able to take anything with you, and you won't be able to serve the Black family anymore."

Kreacher looked at Eric with fear.

According to the tradition of house-elves, if a house-elf performs exceptionally well, its owner will cut off its head and hang it on the wall.

Kreacher's mother was like that.

Traditionally, house-elves consider this an honor, and countless house-elves, including Kreacher, take pride in it and regard it as their life goal.

House-elves are magical creatures that have been completely domesticated.

Eric doesn't comment on the choices made by Kreacher and the other house-elves, but he's not a psychologist, nor is he there to change Kreacher.

Eric was not Kreacher's master, so this was the only way he could communicate with Kreacher for the time being.

After hesitating for a second or two, Kreacher finally gave in.

His expression was ashen with despair. He dared not defy Eric's demands and turned away shakily.

Half an hour later, Kreacher returned to the living room.

This time, he brought back more items. Compared to his usual personal clothing, these items were significantly more valuable, and many of them were even items of dark magic.

“Thank you, Kreacher,” Eric said softly, then took out his wand and began to examine it piece by piece.

It would be foolish to touch unfamiliar magical items with your bare hands due to unknown risks.

Kreacher brought a wide variety of things.

A rusty silver longsword, a snuffbox that bites, and common jewelry and ornaments...

These are all Regulus Black's things.

Eric quickly found what he wanted among a large number of items.

It was an unremarkable locket, covered in dust.

On the front of the locket box is a snake-shaped S mark.

Eric certainly knew what it was.

One of Voldemort's Horcruxes, originally a locket belonging to Slytherin.

With his mental stance activated, Eric focused his attention on the locket.

From a spiritual perspective, the surface of the locket unsurprisingly exudes a thick black aura.

Eric could also vaguely sense a power from the soul.

Slytherin's Locket—

[This item originally belonged to Salazar Slytherin. The locket is imbued with a detection spell; the Parseltongue technique can remove the locket's restriction.]

[Originally a direct descendant of Slytherin, Merop Gaunt was later sold by her.]

This locket possesses a magical power that curses its holder, causing them to continuously experience negative and pessimistic emotions.

[Now, this influence has greatly diminished, and it has become Tom Riddle's Horcrux.]

Tom Riddle is Voldemort's real name.

He found the real target; that was the purpose of his trip.

Not daring to be careless, Eric activated his soul barrier to eliminate the influence of various spells as much as possible before picking up the locket.

Who knows if Voldemort put a curse or something on the locket?

When Kreacher saw Eric actually pick up the locket, he was startled and said, "This...it's just a simple locket, nothing important..."

"Did you try to destroy it? Did Regulus give you such an order?" Eric asked, completely ignoring what he was saying.

Eric's simple words made Kreacher lose his composure, causing him to swallow back what he was about to say.

Kreacher stared at Eric in shock, as if struck by lightning.

Before Regulus died, he gave Kreacher an order: to try to destroy the locket.

With his intelligence, he simply couldn't comprehend how Eric knew that Regulus had once ordered him to try to destroy the locket.

The origin of this locket is quite complicated.

After Voldemort created this Horcrux, he gave Regulus a task, asking him to provide a house-elf.

At the time, Regulus was a Death Eater, and he recommended Kreacher to Voldemort.

Voldemort took Kreacher to a remote island overseas, where he set up a series of magical traps and used Kreacher to test poisons, hiding the locket there.

Regulus was a very clever wizard; he discovered all of this and realized that Voldemort was making Horcruxes.

When Regulus followed Voldemort, he was just a naive boy. Influenced by his family and traditional education, he inevitably accepted the whole set of theories and regarded Voldemort, who advocated the pure-blood theory, as his savior.

But this illusion shattered after Voldemort took Kreacher away.

Regulus realized that Voldemort was creating Horcruxes, an act of greed that had nothing to do with the adoration he deserved.

That was the first time he had the idea of ​​rebelling against Voldemort.

Regulus had Kreacher take him back to that remote island overseas, where he stole Voldemort's Horcruxes, but ultimately paid for it with his life.

In his final moments, his last order to Kreacher was for him to escape and to attempt to destroy the Horcruxes.

Kreacher, who had narrowly escaped death, did just that; he ran back to the Black family and remained silent about Regulus's whereabouts.

Unfortunately, he was just a house-elf, and destroying Voldemort's Horcruxes was an impossible task for him.

Regulus was undoubtedly someone who truly understood and cared about Kreacher.

The saying "A scholar will die for one who understands him" applies equally to house-elves.

Kreacher has always regarded Regulus's instructions as his most important task and has done everything in his power to hide them and keep the secret until now.

Due to his nature as a house-elf, he could not disobey his master's orders, but he kept trying to misinterpret Eric's intentions and interpret Eric's commands in a different way.

Essentially, he still didn't want to hand over the locket.

He viewed the locket as a way of following Regulus.

As it turns out, Eric has now revealed this secret in a single sentence.

Chapter 158 Voldemort's Horcruxes!

Kreacher looked at Eric, his face pale: "You...you know..."

“I know,” Eric nodded. “Regulus is a true hero. Give me this locket, and I’ll take care of destroying it.”

Upon hearing this, Kreacher could no longer hold back. He opened his mouth wide, tears streaming down his face, and collapsed to the ground, bowing his head to Eric.

His hands were sometimes clasped together, sometimes separated, as if he were praying, or perhaps making some kind of unconscious movement.

Kreacher cried his heart out, but tried his best to keep himself from making a sound.

It's like performing a silent film.

Sirius walked in, still half asleep, and saw the scene. He asked in surprise, "What happened?"

“Maybe you should be nicer to Kreacher from now on, Sirius,” Eric chuckled. “Are there any spare rooms here? I just found what we’ve been looking for.”

"You mean..." Sirius's eyes widened in surprise, "How did you find it?"

"It's a long story."

Sirius pointed upstairs: "There are plenty of empty rooms here, feel free to use them, just don't go up to the top floor, that's Regulus and my room, no one has been in there for years. No, never mind, I'll stay with you."

Despite his curiosity about Kreacher's condition, Sirius felt that the Horcruxes were more important, so he pulled Eric around to leave, but Eric stopped him.

“You are currently Kreacher’s master. Before we leave, order him not to reveal what happened today.”

"Isn't that necessary? He's been staying in this house the whole time; he won't go anywhere else," Sirius said, surprised.

Eric said seriously, "Your neglect of house-elves will cost you dearly sooner or later. They are also part of the magical world. Believe me, if you don't do this, the next day, everyone will know we're back."

Sirius said, "How could that be?"

Eric pointed to the entrance hall on the first floor.

Sirius suddenly realized: "You mean, Kreacher takes my mother's words as orders?"