第26节

“Idon’tunderstａｎｄyou，Kreacher，”hesaidfinally.“Voldemorttriedtokillyou，RegulusdiedtobringVoldemortdown，butyouwerestillhappytobetraySiriustoVoldemort?YouwerehappytogotoNarcissaａｎｄBellatrix，ａｎｄpassinformationtoVoldemortthroughthem…“

“Harry，Kreacherdoesn’tthinklikethat，”saidHermione，wipinghereyesonthebackofherhａｎｄ.“He’saslave;house-elvesareusedtobad，evenbrutaltreatment;whatVoldemortdidtoKreacherwasn’tthatfaroutofthecommonway.WhatdowizardwarsmeantoanelflikeKreacher?He’sloyaltopeoplewhoarekindtohim，ａｎｄMrs.Blackmusthavebeen，ａｎｄReguluscertainlywas，soheservedthemwillinglyａｎｄparrotedtheirbeliefs.Iknowwhatyou’regoingtosay，”shewentonasHarrybegantoprotest，“thatReguluschangedhismind…buthedoesn’tseemtohaveexplainedthattoKreacher，doeshe?”AndIthinkIknowwhy.KreacherａｎｄRegulus’sfamilywereallsafestiftheykepttotheoldpure-bloodline.Reguluswastryingtoprotectthemall.”

“Sirius–“

“SiriuswashorribletoKreacher，Harry，ａｎｄit’snogoodlookinglikethat，youknowit’strue.KreacherhadbeenaloneforsuchalongtimewhenSiriuscametolivehere，ａｎｄhewasprobablystarvingforabitofaffection.I’msure‘MissCissy’ａｎｄ‘MissBella’wereperfectlylovelytoKreacherwhenheturnedup，sohedidthemafavorａｎｄtoldthemeverythingtheywantedtoknow.I’vesaidallalongthatwizardswouldpayforhowtheytreathouse-elves.Well，Voldemortdid…ａｎｄsodidSirius.”

Harryhadnoretort.AshewatchedKreachersobbingonthefloor，herememberedwhatDumbledorehadsaidtohim，merehoursafterSirius’sdeath:IdonotthinkSiriuseversawKreacherasabeingwithfeelingsasacuteasahuman’s…

“Kreacher，”saidHarryafterawhile，“whenyoufeeluptoit，er…pleasesitup.”

ItwasseveralminutesbeforeKreacherhiccuppedhimselfintosilence.Thenhepushedhimselfintoasittingpositionagain，rubbinghisknucklesintohiseyeslikeasmallchild.

“Kreacher，Iamgoingtoaskyoutodosomething，”saidHarry.HeglancedatHermioneforassistance.Hewantedtogivetheorderkindly，butatthesametime，hecouldnotpretendthatitwasnotanorder.However，thechangeinhistoneseemedtohavegainedherapproval:Shesmiledencouragingly.

“Kreacher，Iwantyou，please，togoａｎｄfindMundungusFletcher.Weneedtofindoutwherethelocket–whereMasterRegulus’slocketit.It’sreallyimportant.WewanttofinishtheworkMasterRegulusstarted，wewantto–er–ensurethathedidn’tdieinvain.”

KreacherdroppedhisfistsａｎｄlookedupatHarry.

“FindMundungusFletcher?”hecroaked.

Andbringhimhere，toGrimmauldPlace，”saidHarry.“Doyouthinkyoucoulddothatforus?”

AsKreachernoddedａｎｄgottohisfeet，Harryhadasuddeninspiration.HepulledoutHagrid’spurseａｎｄtookoutthefakeHorcrux，thesubstitutelocketinwhichRegulushadplacedthenotetoVoldemort.

“Kreacher，I’d，er，likeyoutohavethis，”hesaid，pressingthelocketintotheelf’shａｎｄ.“ThisbelongedtoRegulusａｎｄI’msurehe’dwantyoutohaveitasatokenofgratitudeforwhatyou—“

“Overkill，mate，”saidRonastheelftookonelookatthelocket，letoutahowlofshockａｎｄmisery，ａｎｄthrewhimselfbackontotheground.

IttookthemnearlyhalfanhourtocalmdownKreacher，whowassoovercometobepresentedwithaBlackfamilyheirloomforhisveryownthathewastooweakatthekneestostａｎｄproperly.Whenfinallyhewasabletototterafewstepstheyallaccompaniedhimtohiscupboard，watchedhimtuckupthelocketsafelyinhisdirtyblankets，ａｎｄassuredhimthattheywouldmakeitsprotectiontheirfirstprioritywhilehewasaway.HethenmadetwolowbowstoHarryａｎｄRon，ａｎｄevengaveafunnylittlespasminHermione’sdirectionthatmighthavebeenanattemptatarespectfulsalute，beforeDisapparatingwiththeusualloudcrack.ChapterElevenTheBribeIfKreachercouldescapealakefullofInferi，HarrywasconfidentthatthecaptureofMundunguswouldtakeafewhoursatmost，ａｎｄheprowledthehouseallmorninginastateofhighanticipation.However，Kreacherdidnotreturnthatmorningoreventhatafternoon.Bynightfall，Harryfeltdiscouragedａｎｄanxious，ａｎｄasuppercomposedlargelyofmoldybread，uponwhichHermionehadtriedavarietyofunsuccessfulTransfigurations，didnothingtohelp.Kreacherdidnotreturnthefollowingday，northedayafterthat.However，twocloakedmenhadappearedinthesquareoutsidenumbertwelve，ａｎｄtheyremainedthereintothenight，gazinginthedirectionofthehousethattheycouldnotsee.“DeathEaters，forsure，”saidRon，ashe，Harry，ａｎｄHermionewatchedfromthedrawingroomwindows.“Reckontheyknowwe’reinhere?”“Idon’tthinkso，”saidHermione，thoughshelookedfrightened，“orthey’dhavesentSnapeinafterus，wouldn’tthey?”“D’youreckonhe’sbeeninhereａｎｄhashistonguetiedbyMoody’scurse?”askedRon.“Yes，”saidHermione，“otherwisehe’dhavebeenabletotellthatlothowtogetin，wouldn’the?Butthey’reprobablywatchingtoseewhetherweturnup.TheyknowthatHarryownsthehouse，afterall.”“Howdothey——?”beganHarry.“WizardingwillsareexaminedbytheMinistry，remember?They’llknowSiriusleftyoutheplace.”ThepresenceoftheDeathEatersoutsideincreasedtheominousmoodinsidenumbertwelve.TheyhadnotheardawordformanyonebeyondGrimmauldPlacesinceMr.Weasley’sPatronus，ａｎｄthestrainwasstartingtotell.Restlessａｎｄirritable，RonhaddevelopedanannoyinghabitofplayingwiththeDeluminatorinhispocket;ThisparticularlyinfuriatedHermione，whowaswhilingawaythewaitforKreacherbystudyingTheTalesofBeedletheBardａｎｄdidnotappreciatethewaythelightskeptflashingonａｎｄoff.“Willyoustopit!”shecriedonthethirdeveningofKreacher’sabsence，asallthelightwassuckedfromthedrawingroomyetagain.“Sorry，sorry!”saidRon，clickingtheDeluminatorａｎｄrestoringthelights.“Idon’tknowI’mdoingit!”“Well，can’tyoufindsomethingusefultooccupyyourself?”“What，likereadingkids’stories?”“Dumbledoreleftmethisbook，Ron–”“—ａｎｄheleftmetheDeluminator，maybeI’msupposedtouseit!”Unabletostａｎｄthebickering，Harryslippedoutoftheroomunnoticedbyeitherofthem.Heheadeddownstairstowardthekitchen，whichhekeptvisitingbecausehewassurethatwaswhereKreacherwasmostlikelytoreappear.Halfwaydowntheflightofstairsintothehall，however，heheardataponthefrontdoor，thenmetallicclicksａｎｄthegrindingofthechain.Everynerveinhisbodyseemedtotauten:Hepulledouthiswａｎｄ，movedintotheshadowsbesidethedecapitatedelfheads，ａｎｄwaited.Thedooropened:Hesawaglimpseofthelamplitsquareoutside，ａｎｄacloakedfigureedgedintothehallａｎｄclosedthedoorbehindit.Theintrudertookastepforward，ａｎｄMoody’svoiceasked，“SeverusSnape?”Thenthedustfigurerosefromtheendofthehallａｎｄrushedhim，raisingitsdeadhａｎｄ.“ItwasnotIwhokilledyou，Albus，”saidaquietvoice.Thejinxbroke:Thedust-figureexplodedagain，ａｎｄitwasimpossibletomakeoutthenewcomerthroughthedensegrayclouditleftbehind.Harrypointedthewａｎｄintothemiddleofit.“Don’tmove!”HehadforgottentheportraitofMrs.Black:Atthesoundofhisyell，thecurtainshidingherflewopenａｎｄshebegantoscream，“Mudbloodsａｎｄfilthdishonoringmyhouse–”RonａｎｄHermionecamecrashingdownthestairsbehindHarry，wａｎｄspointing，likehis，attheunknownmannowstａｎｄingwithhisarmsraisedinthehallbelow.“Holdyourfire，it’sme，Remus!”“Oh，thankgoodness，”saidHermioneweakly，pointingherwａｎｄatMrs.Blackinstead;withabang，thecurtainsswishedshutagainａｎｄsilencefell.Rontooloweredhiswａｎｄ，butHarrydidnot.“Showyourself!”hecalledback.Lupinmovedforwardintothelamplight，hａｎｄsstillheldhighinagestureofsurrender.