Sagres reached out, his fingertips almost touching the name on the tapestry, but he stopped, as if wary of the ancient magic that might be attached to it.
"This 'never-fading' gold thread embroidery technique, and the magic applied to it, is very worth studying. It can resist the erosion of time, and even to a certain extent, some spells."
He paused, his gaze returning to the scorched hole.
"Of course, it can't withstand the most resolute cutting. Is this the Fiendfyre Curse? Or some unique cursed flame?"
"Probably the most vicious thing Mother could use in her fury," Sirius said dryly.
"Effective, and with clear symbolic meaning," Sagres commented.
His gaze swept over the dense names and golden vines again.
"However, I believe it might also maintain some faint connection at the bloodline level. If you don't mind, perhaps I could perform a non-destructive magic detection on it?"
Sirius waved his hand, looking a bit tired. "Go ahead, Professor. The names on this old rag only mean disgust to me. If you can find anything in it besides 'pure' arrogance, that would be a surprise."
Sagres nodded slightly, saying no more.
Harry and Sirius continued cleaning.
On the bottom shelf of a display cabinet against the wall, Harry found a pile of strange things.
A silver snuffbox, a particularly ugly multi-legged pair of tweezers, a pile of antique seals, a heavy gold locket, a First Class Order of Merlin…
"Awarded to that most unpopular Headmaster, for his 'contributions to the Ministry of Magic,'" Sirius explained to Harry.
"What contributions?"
"It means he gave them a lot of gold," Sirius said disdainfully, then casually tossed the medal into the rubbish bag.
He then reached for the snuffbox, only to be bitten by it.
In just a few seconds, Sirius's bitten hand developed an ugly hard crust, looking like he was wearing a swollen glove.
Harry gasped.
"It's nothing," Sirius said, examining his hand with interest. He lightly tapped it with his wand, and the skin on his hand returned to normal. "It must have been Wartcap Powder inside."
Saying that, he also threw it into the rubbish bag, then picked up the locket.
The locket was exquisitely crafted, inlaid with a magnificent emerald serpent forming an "S," and felt cold to the touch.
As soon as Sirius held it, Kreacher, as if stung, suddenly rushed out from the corner. The house-elf's usually lifeless eyes were now filled with unprecedented terror.
"No! No!"
He growled hoarsely, his voice trembling with urgency. "That… that cannot be touched! That is Young Master Regulus's… it is Kreacher's… the prodigal cannot take it!"
He stretched out his bony hand, seemingly wanting to snatch it, but dared not truly snatch it due to the house-elf rules.
Harry stepped back, startled by his violent reaction, and even Sagres, who was studying the tapestry, had his attention drawn.
"Wait, Black."
Sagres's tone was calm, stopping Sirius's motion to forcibly throw it into the rubbish bag.
He slowly stepped forward, his eyes never leaving the locket inlaid with the emerald serpent.
"Let me see it!"
Sirius frowned. Though he didn't understand, he still handed it over.
"It's just an old locket; the house is full of these things."
Sagres didn't reply. He lightly touched the surface of the locket with the tip of his wand, then instantly frowned.
He had seen this locket before; it belonged to Salazar Slytherin.
Sagres's gaze fell on the trembling Kreacher, whose eyes were almost bulging out.
"You know what this is, don't you? You know what's hidden inside."
His voice deepened, full of oppressive power.
Kreacher let out a whimper, his huge ears trembling wildly. He shook his head vigorously, his teeth chattering. "Kreacher doesn't know… Kreacher cannot say… Bad Kreacher… Kreacher promised to keep the secret!"
"Secret?"
Sirius snapped. "Secret from whom? Regulus?"
His tone was complex when he mentioned his brother's name, containing both disgust and pain.
When Kreacher heard the name "Regulus," his huge eyes instantly filled with tears.
He collapsed to the ground, broken, and began to bang his bony forehead against the floor. "Kreacher failed! Kreacher failed to destroy it! Bad Kreacher! Cowardly Kreacher! Young Master Regulus ordered Kreacher to return home, ordered Kreacher to destroy it, but Kreacher tried everything—everything! It's too powerful! Kreacher cannot destroy the locket Young Master exchanged his life for!"
Exchanged his life for?
This phrase struck Sirius and Harry like a bolt of lightning. The air in the room instantly solidified.
Sagres reached out, stopping Kreacher's self-harming behavior.
"Tell us everything, house-elf. What did Regulus do? Where did this locket come from? Tell us everything you know."
"Tell us the truth, Kreacher!" Sirius also commanded gravely.
Thus, under the "command" that a house-elf could not disobey, Kreacher haltingly told the long-buried story.
He recounted how the Dark Lord needed a house-elf to complete an "experiment"; he recounted the cold, dark cave, the lake hiding Inferi, and the basin of potion that had to be drunk, making one wish for death; he recounted how Regulus transformed from initial fanatical worship to later fear and awakening; he recounted how he was ordered to leave with the real locket, while Regulus drank the poison and was dragged to the bottom of the lake by the cold Inferi… Finally, he recounted how the locket was brought back to Number 12, Grimmauld Place, and how he tried year after year, but could not fulfill his master's last command—to destroy it!
"This is it… Young Master Regulus gave it to Kreacher and ordered Kreacher to destroy it…"
The house-elf sobbed, his tiny body trembling. "But Kreacher tried everything, and couldn't even leave a scratch on it…"
His rough fingers futilely brushed against the locket's smooth surface, large tears rolling from his bulbous eyes.
"Kreacher wants to obey Young Master Regulus's command, but Kreacher cannot…"
"But what exactly is this thing? Why did Voldemort put it in that cave?" Sirius said, perplexed. "And Regulus… why did he want you to destroy it?"
Kreacher shook his head, silently weeping.
Sagres, meanwhile, lightly tapped the locket's surface with his wand.
"Revelio!"
Instantly, layers upon layers of intertwining protective magic shone with dazzling brilliance.
And in the deepest part of all the protective spells, an extremely evil dark power wriggled like a living thing, emitting a chilling aura.
"My goodness, what is that thing!" Sirius and Harry both widened their eyes.
After a while, Sagres replied:
"A Horcrux!"
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