Pansy could not understand how anyone could still wear such a satisfied smile after being beheaded.
The expression on the House-elf's face was almost one of pride, as though having his severed head displayed alongside those of his ancestors were some kind of supreme honor.
"After I become too old to work, I hope Young Master Malfoy will also cut off my head and place it on this plaque," Kreacher said, clasping all ten fingers together in front of his chest. His eerie eyes were filled with longing. "That way, my head can remain with my ancestors forever. I would be most grateful, my noble new master."
Pansy shuddered.
She had heard many strange things since entering the ancient Black family home, but Kreacher's twisted understanding of loyalty was easily one of the most disturbing.
"Go back to work, Kreacher."
Malfoy simply waved his hand, dismissing the House-elf.
He had no intention of wasting time trying to correct Kreacher's values. Apart from an unusual case like Dobby, who still possessed enough independence to perhaps be saved, most House-elves had been conditioned into servility so deeply that it was practically engraved into their bones.
"As you command, my respected master!"
Kreacher bowed deeply once again.
He then hurried down the corridor and toward the rooms that had been abandoned for years. Without another word, he began cleaning them with the enthusiasm of someone who had finally been given an important task.
Malfoy watched him disappear before turning his attention back to the corridor.
"I think it would be better if I handled the scouting from here onward, don't you think, Pansy?"
He had already developed a headache from Pansy's constant jumping at every little sound.
If they continued like this, they would probably spend the entire day exploring only a few rooms.
More importantly, Malfoy was beginning to realize that Pansy was not suited to leading the way through a place like this.
Pansy immediately moved behind him.
She grabbed the sleeve of Malfoy's robes with both hands and timidly followed him.
After everything she had experienced that day, she had probably received more shocks in a single afternoon than she had during the entire previous year.
Just as the two began moving forward, an eerie gust of wind suddenly swept through the corridor.
No one knew where it had come from.
The cold wind lifted a white curtain hanging against one of the walls. The curtain was riddled with tiny holes, as though insects had eaten through it over the years.
It slowly parted to both sides.
Behind it was a portrait.
A portrait of an old woman.
For a brief moment, Pansy thought the woman looked rather kind.
That impression lasted less than a second.
The old woman's eyes suddenly opened.
Pansy immediately covered both ears.
The woman appeared to have been asleep for years, but now that she had been awakened, she seemed determined to make sure everyone in the house knew about it.
"Was it my good-for-nothing son who brought you here?"
Her shrill voice exploded through the corridor.
"Where is he? Where is that useless creature himself?"
Her expression twisted with fury.
"You dirty swine! How dare you break into the ancestral home of the noble House of Black! How dare you!"
The old woman continued screaming at the top of her lungs.
The sound was so piercing that Malfoy suspected people in the neighboring houses might be able to hear her clearly.
Pansy winced and pressed her hands even more tightly against her ears.
Malfoy, however, remained remarkably calm.
He casually raised his wand.
With a simple movement, he closed the curtain over the portrait and cast a temporary Silencing Charm upon it.
The corridor immediately fell silent.
Pansy slowly lowered her hands.
She stared suspiciously at the curtain, as though expecting the old woman to suddenly burst through it.
"Why don't we just take it off the wall and throw it away?" she whispered.
Her voice was unusually quiet.
She seemed genuinely afraid that speaking too loudly might wake the madwoman again.
"She probably cast a Permanent Sticking Charm behind the portrait," Malfoy explained.
He did not stop walking.
Pansy hurried after him.
"How would you know that?" she asked.
Then she narrowed her eyes and stared at Malfoy's back.
"This is your first time here, Draco."
There was suspicion in her voice.
The more Pansy observed him, the stranger his behavior seemed.
Malfoy moved through the ancient house with an ease that was completely inconsistent with someone seeing the place for the first time.
He knew where things were.
He understood the house's strange features.
And he seemed to have a fairly good idea of what they would encounter next.
"My uncle warned me," Malfoy replied without turning around.
Pansy blinked.
"Your uncle warned you?"
She hurried a few steps closer.
"But you took someone else's house. Would he really be kind enough to warn you about all this?"
Malfoy did not answer immediately.
Pansy was just about to question him further when she realized that she had fallen several steps behind.
"Wait!"
She quickly trotted after him.
"Slow down, Draco!"
By the time she caught up, Malfoy had already reached the end of the corridor.
A large door stood before them.
It was unlocked, although the hinges looked loose and the entire door appeared to have suffered years of neglect.
Malfoy placed one hand against it and pushed.
Creak—
The heavy door opened.
At once, a pungent, rotten smell rushed out.
It was a disgusting combination of rotting wood, spoiled meat, and something that reminded Pansy of putrid pork.
She immediately covered her nose and mouth.
"Ugh!"
Malfoy barely reacted.
"Lumos."
He raised his wand.
A soft light appeared at its tip, illuminating the room ahead.
The room had clearly once been a kitchen.
Yet calling it a kitchen seemed almost insulting to kitchens everywhere.
Before the two entered, it had been nearly impossible to see anything inside. Unlike the entrance hall above, where several lamps provided at least some illumination, this room was almost completely swallowed by darkness.
The only other source of light came from a large fireplace at the far end.
Smoke drifted through the air from several pipes, spreading throughout the room like gunpowder smoke over a battlefield.
Heavy iron pots and pans hung from the blackened ceiling.
Their silhouettes swayed slightly in the dim air, making the entire room look even more sinister.
In the center stood a low table covered in layers of grease.
Several pieces of rusted metal had been nailed to its corners, apparently serving as some crude form of reinforcement.
A cupboard stood against one wall.
On top of it were two long-spouted teapots, one large and one small.
Both were covered in rust.
Pansy looked around in disbelief.
"Can anything made in a kitchen like this even be eaten?"
Her voice contained open disgust.
She could not imagine anyone willingly preparing food here.
Malfoy ignored the complaint.
He walked down the few short steps into the kitchen and began examining the room.
His eyes moved from one corner to another.
He was searching for something specific.
After a moment, he approached the cupboard.
He opened it.
Then he immediately closed it again.
There was almost nothing inside.
A few dead cockroaches.
Some broken bowls.
Nothing remotely useful.
Malfoy frowned slightly.
He stroked his chin and stared at the cupboard.
"It seems the locket must still be upstairs."
Pansy looked at him.
"The locket?"
Malfoy did not explain further.
He already had a rough idea of where it should be.
According to his deduction, the location of the locket had probably not changed.
It should still be inside the glass cabinet on the second floor.
"Let's go, Pansy."
He turned around.
"Unless you want to stay here and prepare today's lunch."
Pansy stared at him.
That joke was not funny.
Not even slightly.
But she still hurried after him.
There was no way she was staying alone in that disgusting kitchen.
The two of them retraced their steps.
This time, however, Pansy moved much more carefully.
She walked on tiptoe, taking small, cautious steps.
Every time the floor creaked beneath her feet, she froze.
She was terrified that the sound would somehow awaken Mrs. Black again.
When they passed the wall covered with the severed heads of House-elves, Pansy instinctively looked away.
She did not want to imagine what Kreacher had been talking about earlier.
Malfoy, on the other hand, barely reacted.
He simply continued forward.
Soon, the two reached the dark staircase leading to the second floor.
They climbed quietly.
The higher they went, the colder the atmosphere seemed to become.
At last, they reached the second floor.
Two black iron doors stood directly in front of them.
One was firmly locked.
The other was slightly ajar.
Malfoy approached the unlocked door.
He placed his hand against it and gently pushed.
The door opened without resistance.
Unlike the gloomy kitchen below, the room beyond was surprisingly bright.
It was a spacious living room.
A large window occupied most of the wall directly opposite them.
Midday sunlight streamed through the glass, filling the room with brilliant light and casting dazzling patterns of shadows across the polished marble floor.
After spending so long in the dark corridors, the sudden brightness was almost blinding.
Pansy instinctively raised a hand to shield her eyes.
Then she noticed the window.
She immediately walked toward it.
"Finally, some fresh air."
With a quick motion, she pushed the window wide open.
Whoosh!
Fresh air rushed into the room.
The stale, moldy smell that had lingered inside was quickly swept away.
Pansy took a deep breath.
For the first time since entering the Black family's ancient home, she felt as though she could breathe normally again.
Malfoy, however, was already looking around the room.
His attention was focused on the glass cabinet.
Somewhere inside this house was the object they had come to find.
And if his deduction was correct, their search was finally about to reach its end.
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