Lockets, Announcements and Interrogations

Sirius Black is at his family home at Number Twelve, Grimmauld Place ordering his house-elf around. "Kreacher, work faster! I want this house turned into a place that can be shown to a light child."

"Yes, Master. Poor Kreacher obeys his blood traitor Master because Kreacher has no choice. Kreacher is a good elf."

Sirius is suddenly floo-called by Albus Dumbledore. "May I enter, Sirius?"

"Sure, Albus." Sirius answers and Albus Dumbledore enters through the fireplace. "May I offer you something to drink?"

"No, I intend to be quick." Dumbledore calmly replies. "First of all, I'm here to inform you I've fired Severus Snape and hired his predecessor back from retirement."

"Slughorn?" Sirius happily asks. "Okay, he's nice for a slimy Slytherin. Then again, few Slytherins aren't nice when compared to Snivellus."

"Sirius, there's something else I'd like to talk." Dumbledore says. "It's about Voldemort."

"What's with him?" Sirius arrogantly asks. "Hasn't he already been kissed?"

"Unfortunately, it didn't work." Dumbledore replies. "I'm afraid the dementor's kiss won't affect Voldemort until all his Horcruxes are destroyed." Dumbledore then gives Sirius some time to absorb the disgust at somebody creating more than one Horcrux. "I'd like your help."

"You can count on me, Headmaster."

POP

"Has Kreacher heard it right?" Kreacher eagerly asks. "Does Kreacher's blood traitor master want to destroy the Dark Lord's Horcruxes?"

"This is none of your business, Kreacher!" Sirius yells.

"Not so fast, Sirius." Dumbledore calmly replies. "I'm interested in knowing the reason of Kreacher's sudden eagerness on this topic of conversation."

"Fine." Sirius shrugs. "Kreacher, tell him!"

"Years ago, the Dark Lord approached Master Regulus asking for an elf." Kreacher explains. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to help the Dark Lord with whatever the Dark Lord wanted and to get back home after the Dark Lord no longer wanted Kreacher's help. The Dark Lord took Kreacher to a cave and told Kreacher to drink horrible potion from a basin at the middle of a lake inside the cave. The Dark Lord then put this locket inside the basin and filled it with more of that potion. Then the Dark Lord left Kreacher behind and told Kreacher to drink water from the lake. It attracted inferi who tried to harm poor Kreacher." Sirius is horrified. Sure, he and the elf hate each other but he'd never let something like this happen to him. "How did you escape, Kreacher?" Sirius asks, out of unusually genuine concern.

"Master Regulus told Kreacher to get back home after helping the Dark Lord and Kreacher got back home as ordered because Kreacher is a good elf." Kreacher replies.

"Kreacher, if you don't mind, I'd like to know the location of this cave so I could retrieve the locket." Dumbledore asks.

"If the locket is the only reason the blood traitor Master's guest wants to go to the cave, the blood traitor Master's guest doesn't need to go to the cave?" Kreacher replies.

"Why not, Kreacher?" Dumbledore kindly asks.

"When Kreacher told Master Regulus about what the Dark Lord had done, Master Regulus was so enraged he made another locket and told Kreacher to take Master Regulus to the cave so Master Regulus would replace the lockets." Kreacher explains.

"He made you drink MORE of that potion?" A scandalized Sirius asks.

"No, Master Regulus told Kreacher to make sure Master Regulus would drink the potion." Kreacher answers. "Master Regulus then told Kreacher to destroy the locket and never tell this to anyone in the family. The only reason Kreacher told this to blood traitor Master Sirius despite being a good elf is that blood traitor Master Sirius' order overrode Master Regulus'."

"Did you destroy the locket, Kreacher?" Dumbledore asks.

"No." Kreacher starts sobbing. "Kreacher tried all Kreacher could but Kreacher couldn't even open it. Kreacher is a bad elf."

"Kreacher, may I see the locket?" Dumbledore asks. "Maybe I could help."

POP

POP

"Here it is." Kreacher says.

"Looks like Salazar Slytherin's legendary locket." Dumbledore comments.

"Then it's no wonder Kreacher couldn't open it." Sirius replies. "Salazar Slytherin charmed it so it wouldn't open unless ordered in Parseltongue to do so."

"Then there's no reason to worry." Dumbledore replies with a smile. "I'm on speaking terms with a parselmouth who'd be more than glad to help."

"Be careful, Headmaster." Sirius warns. "People who speak Parseltongue cannot be trusted."

Later on, when all students and faculty members are at the Great Hall, Albus Dumbledore makes an announcement. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's with sadness I inform you that our esteemed Potions Master, Severus Snape, decided to leave our beloved school to become an apothecary." Several applauses from the non-Slytherins are heard through the hall. "Silencio!" Dumbledore yells. "Then, please welcome back Professor Horace Slughorn, who agreed to resume his former duties as both the Potions Master and the Head of Slytherin dormitories." This time the loudest applauses come from Slytherin House as most (if not all) of its students have already heard about Slughorn from their parents and are now dreaming about joining the Slug Club.

While the Slytherins and all other students who have already heard about Slughorn dream about joining the Slug Club, the Wizengamot is interrogating the Lestranges. "Bellatrix Lestrange, has He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named ever asked you to guard any specific item?" Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, asks.

Bellatrix is unable to lie because of the Veritaserum. "The Dark Lord trusted me to keep a cup safe." She answers.

"Which cup? Where is it?"

"It has a badger image on it. And it's inside the Lestrange Family vault in Gringotts."

"Dolores Umbridge, tell the Head of the Department of Wizard/Goblin liaison to ask the Gringotts goblins to check all cups within the Lestrange Family vault for the presence of soul fragments." Fudge orders.

"Immediately, Cor… Minister." The Senior Undersecretary replies.

"Oh, and tell them the cursed one might be the one with the curse might be the cup stolen long ago from Hepzibah Smith." Fudge adds, glad he remembers the conversation he and Dumbledore had about which objects he believes to have been used as Horcruxes.

"Sure, Minister."

"But first, let's make one more question to the Death Eater." Fudge says. "Mrs. Lestrange, do you know the names of other Death Eaters who haven't been sent to Azkaban?"

Please review. Which DE names (other than Bellatrix's evil brother-in-law) should she know?