Hermione's translation opened up the clogged thoughts of all the adult Wizards present.
The fury on Sirius's face froze; he looked at that shriveled, thin figure in the shadows, his gaze becoming incredibly complex.
Lupin adjusted his glasses, the gaze behind the lenses sharpening.
"Hermione, you mean..." Lupin's voice was a bit dry.
"Lia can'smell' the scent of souls," Hermione explained calmly, her hand still resting on Lia's head. "She says Kreacher's soul is split. One half is a twisted loyalty to the House of Black, and the other half is some kind of intense deception and concealment that doesn't belong to him."
Deception.
This word was like a needle, piercing the tense atmosphere in the kitchen.
"Kreacher!" Sirius turned abruptly, a roar that almost made the cups and plates in the entire kitchen tremble. "You filthy half-blood, what are you hiding?!"
Kreacher in the shadows let out a sharp sob, his thin body trembling violently, those bulb-like eyes filled with fear and malice.
"Kreacher didn't! Kreacher is loyal! It's the bad master who is unworthy! He doesn't deserve the glory of the House of Black!"
"You still dare to argue!" Sirius drew his wand, approaching step by step.
"Wait!" Hermione called out to stop him.
She stood up, pulling Lia with her, and walked to that patch of shadow.
She didn't look at Sirius, her gaze locked straight onto the House-elf.
"Kreacher," Hermione's voice was cold, devoid of any emotion, "Lia also smelled another scent. A sorrowful scent belonging to 'protection.' This scent is different from all the portraits hanging in this house. It is younger, and more resolute."
She paused, every word hitting Kreacher's heart like a stone.
"Who made you guard a secret?"
Kreacher's body froze.
It looked up, its huge eyes staring at Hermione in disbelief, then darting fearfully toward the expressionless silver-haired girl beside her.
"No... Kreacher cannot say... Kreacher swore an oath to the Young Master..." It began to frantically slam its head against the wall, making dull thudding sounds, while letting out incoherent wails.
"Young Master?" Sirius was stunned; in his memory, only his brother would be called that.
"Regulus?"
Hearing this name, Kreacher's movements stopped abruptly.
It turned around, tears mixed with snot crawling across its wrinkled face.
"Regulus Arcturus Black!" it screamed in a tone full of endless sorrow and pride. "He is Kreacher's only master! The last glory of the House of Black!"
Amidst everyone's shocked gazes, Kreacher began to tell the story in fragments.
A long-buried truth about betrayal and redemption slowly unfolded.
Regulus, the young Black who once followed Lord Voldemort, had a change of heart after witnessing the Dark Lord's cruelty and madness.
He accidentally discovered the secret of Lord Voldemort's immortality—Horcruxes.
To destroy it, he took Kreacher to that gloomy Island in the lake.
"The Young Master drank all the Potion in the basin..." Kreacher's voice was trembling, as if he had returned to that night full of despair. "Kreacher saw the most terrible things... but the Young Master ordered Kreacher that after getting the thing in the basin, he must replace it with a fake one, then immediately leave with the real one, and destroy it without looking back!"
Kreacher's withered hands twisted and rubbed at the dirty rags.
"The Young Master drank the rest of the Potion... he was dragged down by the things in the water..." Kreacher wailed loudly. "Kreacher couldn't save the Young Master! The Young Master ordered Kreacher only to run away! Kreacher failed the Young Master's order! Kreacher tried every way, but couldn't destroy this filthy thing!"
A deathly silence filled the kitchen.
Sirius's lips were trembling.
He had always thought his brother was a cowardly traitor who followed the darkness.
He never expected that he would complete his betrayal of Lord Voldemort in a way more heroic than anyone else.
In this heavy, almost suffocating atmosphere—
Boom!!!
A deafening explosion came from the hall! All of 12 Grimmauld Place shook violently, and dust fell from the walls!
The defensive magic passed down for centuries in Black Manor was instantly torn apart by a brutal force!
"Enemy attack!" Lupin was the first to react, his wand instantly appearing in his hand.
Sirius's grief instantly turned into fury; he kicked aside his chair and charged toward the hall like an enraged lion.
Through the kitchen door, they could see over a dozen figures in Black robes wearing bone masks swarming in like a tide.
Leading them was a crazed woman, waving her wand and letting out a neurotic laugh.
Bellatrix Lestrange.
"My dear cousin, I'm back to 'clean' house!" she screamed, firing a green light at Sirius.
The battle broke out instantly!
In the kitchen, Mrs. Molly immediately shielded Harry and Ron behind her, while Mr. Arthur raised his wand and engaged in combat with the swarming Death Eaters.
The light of spells flashed wildly in the narrow space.
Tables and chairs were blown to pieces, leaving scorched craters on the walls.
"Hermione! Hide!" Harry shouted.
But Hermione didn't move.
She just stepped aside, completely shielding Lia behind her.
Lia peeked out from behind Hermione's shoulder, her sky-blue eyes showing no sign of panic.
She looked at the swarming Death Eaters as if looking at a pack of wild dogs intruding into her territory.
Her gaze locked onto a Death Eater who was preparing to ambush Mr. Arthur from behind.
Whoosh—
"Sectumsempra!"
Lia pointed her finger.
The Death Eater only felt a blur before his eyes, and his body split in two, falling to the ground separately.
He didn't even have time to scream.
"Sectumsempra!"
"Sectumsempra!"
"Sectumsempra!"
The crisp sound of bones snapping was barely audible amidst the roar of spells.
Thud!
Thud!
Thud!
Three more bodies fell to the ground.
To her, this wasn't even a battle, but an efficient "cleanup."
It had to be said, the spell Snape created was truly useful.
A Death Eater looked at the young girl in horror, roaring as he cast the "Cruciatus Curse" at her.
Lia didn't even bother to dodge.
The spell hit her body, only making her sway slightly before it was like a drop of water in the ocean, disappearing without a trace. She even felt it was a bit of an "appetizer."
She looked up and gave the Death Eater an innocent yet cruel smile.
The Death Eater's pupils shrank, and he turned to flee.
But it was too late.
The next second, dark magic surged from Lia's palm, and the Death Eater's body shriveled and withered at a visible rate, finally turning into a pile of ash.
Obliteration Curse.
Sirius was frantically trading blows with Bellatrix, and when he caught a glimpse of this scene from the corner of his eye, his hand even shook.
In less than a minute.
More than half of the dozen or so Death Eaters who had swarmed into the manor, including those taken down by the others, had already fallen.
The remaining few, less than a handful, were in full retreat.
Bellatrix let out an unwilling scream, glaring fiercely at the unharmed Sirius.
"Let's go!"
She let out a roar, grabbed two companions beside her, and vanished from the spot in a twist of space.
The noisy battlefield suddenly became quiet.
The hall and kitchen were a mess, with more than a dozen Death Eater corpses lying on the ground, and the air was thick with the smell of blood and the scorched scent of spells.
The members of the Order of the Phoenix panted, looking at the corpses strewn across the floor.
Lia tilted her head, walked to Hermione's side, and raised her hand to show her cuff.
"Hermione, it's dirty."
Hermione took out a handkerchief and wiped it gently.
Looking at Hermione's fingers, Lia swallowed hard with difficulty; Hermione pretended not to see Lia's abnormality and silently quickened her wiping movements.
After cleaning it with a Scouring Charm, Hermione tucked it back into Lia's pocket.
"There's still work to do today. Once we're done, I'll give you a big reward~"
[Help! The flu has me using a whole pack of tissues a day!]
[My roommate is going to suspect what I'm doing in bed!]
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