“Kreacher, look at me,” I command and his eyes slowly come to meet mine. “I order you to take the locket after I am done drinking out of the basin, replace it with this one, and leave this place without me,” I say, placing the duplicate locket in his hand and curling his gnarled fingers around it.

But the day for him to leave finally did come and, although I would never admit it then or anytime after, I was not only bitter about him being able to attend Hogwarts two years before me, but I also felt somewhat abandoned. My whole life I had been safely living in the shadow of funny, handsome, outgoing Sirius Black and then suddenly, the shadow was gone and I was exposed to the harsh sun. I yearned to be in his shadow once more.

I would like to recall Sirius handing it over and apologizing, promising never to do it again, but, of course, that’s not how it went. Sirius was never thought to be the smart one out of the two of us, but there are moments, like this one, where I should’ve known that my eleven-year-old brother knew more about life, than any other person standing in that room.