Chapter 265: Heading to the Cave
"We'll get Regulus back," Harry said suddenly.
The cave where Voldemort hid the locket might be extremely difficult to enter — even dangerous — but they were different now. With Kreacher, who had been there before, they didn't have to face the traps blindly.
The only real threat was the Inferi.
The Inferi feared fire, and they wouldn't need to drink the potion in the stone basin. Their magical power hadn't been weakened, so there was little to worry about.
Kreacher's crying suddenly stopped. He raised his head sharply.
"Find Master Regulus?"
"Yes," Harry nodded. "We must find Master Regulus."
"Kreacher will do anything — anything — if it means helping Master Regulus!" the old elf cried, his large eyes shining.
Then, in a tone that was half-pleading, half-serious, he added, "Do we need to chop off Kreacher's head?"
"No need to do that," Harry frowned. "You just need to take us to the cave."
"That's right," Draco said, folding his arms. "We don't even need your help to break in."
"You know," Ron added proudly, "just last month, the three of us broke through the magic traps set by all the professors at Hogwarts — even Dumbledore's!"
Something unexpected happened: Kreacher actually nodded in agreement.
Harry and Draco both groaned, rubbing their foreheads in exasperation.
They immediately regretted not telling Ron the truth — that the so-called "traps" had been simple illusions meant for students' safety.
"We might not have the chance to go yet," Draco said, cooling the mood. "Once we tell Sirius, there's a good chance he'll forbid it."
"You can't tell Master Sirius!" Kreacher snapped suddenly. His small fists trembled. "He's a bad boy! Kreacher promised Master Regulus never to tell the family what happened in the cave!"
"Regulus only forbade you from telling your family," Harry said gently, trying to calm him. "We'll tell Sirius ourselves — that doesn't break Regulus's orders."
"Besides," Harry added, "Sirius ran away from home back then. He wasn't even on the family tree anymore."
Kreacher's ears twitched uncertainly.
"He's not family… so why didn't you tell Sirius?" Harry asked softly.
"He was in the Order of the Phoenix," Harry continued, his tone more to himself than to the elf. "He was fighting against Voldemort. You could've trusted him."
He didn't say the rest — that if Kreacher had simply misinterpreted Regulus's command back then, things might have turned out very differently.
If Regulus had survived and brought the locket to Dumbledore, then maybe the Black family wouldn't have fallen apart.
Sirius might have returned home.
Voldemort's forces might have collapsed earlier.
His parents might still be alive.
Harry sighed, shaking his head to clear the thought. The past couldn't be rewritten.
Maybe one day, when his knowledge was strong enough, he'd ask Alexander Smith to help him find the Resurrection Stone. Then perhaps his parents — and even Regulus — could return.
After about ten minutes, Kreacher finally calmed down again. He curled up in his now spotless little nest, hiccupping softly.
"Shall we go to the cave ourselves?" Draco asked.
"I just thought of that," Ron said eagerly. "We can take Kreacher there without telling Sirius."
"Yeah," Harry nodded. "There's nothing to fear except the Inferi. Light and warmth are their weakness."
"But if Regulus's body is still there, we can't use something too destructive like Fiendfyre. Lumos alone might not be strong enough," Alexander said thoughtfully.
"But Lumos Maxima should work!" Ron said suddenly, his eyes bright. Clearly, he'd been waiting for his chance to say that.
"Good idea," Harry grinned.
"Those Inferi were meant to stop people who'd been weakened by the potion. We'll still have our full strength."
"Voldemort probably assumed only one person would come at a time," Draco added. "But we have Kreacher — he can take us straight across the water to the island."
"And we can even use Lumos Solem to mimic sunlight," Alexander said calmly. "Inferi can't stand sunlight. That should keep them away."
Ron nodded, looking pleased. "Exactly! Why be afraid of a bunch of corpses?"
Kreacher's eyes gleamed. "Kreacher remembers that place! Kreacher can take Master Potter and his friends there! Master Regulus has been waiting so long — he needs Kreacher!"
The three of them turned toward Harry, excitement in their eyes.
"If it's really that simple," Harry said, sighing, "I suppose I wouldn't mind going. Kreacher, if there's any danger, can you bring us back safely?"
"No problem, Master Potter!" Kreacher said, puffing out his chest. "Kreacher went there later to find Master Regulus but failed. This time, Kreacher will protect you all!"
"Good," Harry said. "Let's each grab the things we need and meet back here soon."
"We should bring anything that burns easily — wood, rags, anything like that," Draco suggested.
"Right," Harry agreed. "Put it all in the bag Lucius gave you."
But when he looked around, no one was moving — not Ron, not Draco, not even Kreacher.
They were all staring at Kreacher's "nest" — a pile of rags.
Harry blinked. "Right… I guess we already found our tinder."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If you like the story please give it some power stones and reviews. And if you want to read 40+ advance chapters or just want to support me please join my patreon at [email protected]/Translatingfanfics