Chapter 43: Dark Days Ahead
As it happened, they ended up seeing Wolfgang first, but though the elegant half giant knew a great deal of lost rare magic, he was clueless on the matter of elf enslavement. He explained that though a few wizarding families in Germany used elves, those were originally from Britain, and old true German families used Kobolds instead.
"Do you have a kobold," Regulus asked curiously.
Wolfgang nodded. "Indeed I do. I acquired him several years back. I had to go on a search. Kobolds live under ground and are not easy to locate! He was living in an under ground cavern at the time with a band of fellow kobolds. They were all rather unfriendly, but I managed to bribe him with a sandwich to hear me out. Legend says they will look after a house if you give them the land on which it stands. As I only want the manor itself, I have no problem with him owning the land on which it stands," Wolfgang said with a chuckle. "If he burrows into it while I sleep to obtain some sort of rare treasure, I say more power to him as long as it doesn't ruin the foundations. He has promised that my house will always stand steady, so everyone is pleased. Things are amicable and he looks after my household needs."
Regulus nodded thoughtfully. "Your agreement seems nothing like the elf bond," he said.
"Kreacher recalls reading of Kobolds in a book of rare magical creatures in the family library," the elf murmured. "They are small blue creatures, yes?"
Wolfgang nodded. "Indeed. I would invite him in to meet you, but he is not much of one for talking. He is either unsociable or shy, I have yet to tell which for certain."
"That is alright," Regulus said, giving an understanding smile. "We would not wish to make him feel uncomfortable." That was quite true, and it didn't appear the kobold's magic was anything like Kreacher's anyway, so he would likely shed no enlightenment on their new project.
Later in the week, they went to Hogwarts to speak with Albus on the matter. It was a bit of a surprise when he had little to offer, as he seemed to be knowledgeable about nearly everything. "Elf enslavement is a bit of a mystery, I am afraid," the old headmaster admitted. "As a youth, having only seen the Hogwarts elves, I believed that it was a choice of the elves to serve wizards, and the how of it a private secret they kept closely guarded," he said. "Only after graduating, did I discover how some of them are mistreated by the old wizarding families that they serve. This shed more of an unpleasant light on the situation if a perplexing one. After a little research, I discovered that elves can be freed when their master gives them a piece of clothing as you know. There went my theory that serving wizards was their choice. I have a vague guess the magic that binds them to wizarding families may have to do with the ancestral home...to the land."
Regulus nodded thoughtfully. "That makes sense. Recently I considered that the bond could be made with blood magic between wizarding and elf families, but as Kreacher is forced to serve Potter that doesn't seem likely unless the Potters are related to the Blacks."
"Which they are distantly," Albus said. "So your idea is another possibility. I considered it as well, but my hunch is that the tie between the elf and the land of the ancestral home could be more binding. I have no proof, though, so I could be entirely wrong." Albus turned to glance at Kreacher. "I assume you have no clue?"
Kreacher shook his head. "None at all, Kreacher is afraid. He has gone on vacation with the family, and the bond is fully operational away from the family home, though."
"If it was set in place there, though, that should not matter," Albus said. He gave a regretful sigh, his thoughtful gaze suddenly sad. "For all we know, the bond between elves and wizarding families may have once been willing. Perhaps the elves even initiated it. The magic behind it is certainly rare and difficult to understand, and elves have very powerful magic. Unfortunately we have no way of knowing what truly happened." His expression brightened as he gave Regulus and Kreacher a smile. "But who knows? The two of you are very bright. You just might figure it all out! If you do, I shall not be in the least surprised."
"Thank you, Headmaster!" Regulus couldn't help it. He was flattered. Even Kreacher seemed a bit flustered by the old headmaster's compliments. "Kind words from such a great wizard, Kreacher thinks," he murmured, glancing down briefly, suddenly shy.
"I only speak the truth," Albus assured with a small amused smile. "If you do make any headway on this matter, don't forget to clue me in. It is indeed a most fascinating subject."
"Of course," Regulus agreed readily. "Thanks to your input, we will research land bindings as well as various blood oaths."
"Well I am pleased if I could be of any help at all, considering I had so little to offer on this," Albus said. "I'm glad the two of you are here, though," he added. As he spoke, Dumbledore's expression grew grave as his focus obviously changed. Regulus felt himself leaning forward in interest. He and Kreacher sat together in a large chair across the desk from Albus's own in the old headmaster's office. "The next school term will be starting soon and as I am supposed to be dead, I won't be here. Severus has just gotten the news that he shall now be headmaster. He does not relish the job especially on top of everything else and he is having a hard time with the fact that I won't be here. I was hoping you would check in on him just to make sure everything is alright from time to time."
Regulus nodded. "Of course. I am glad to do anything I can for Severus."
Albus gave him a relieved smile. "I'm so pleased to hear it. Thank you so much! It may be better if you could check in most of the time without anyone being aware...Even Severus. With your vampiric abilities, I thought you'd be the best person to ask for that. And with Kreacher you can apparate in around the wards where others cannot."
Regulus gave Kreacher a proud grin. "What can I say. Everything is better with elf magic." Kreacher choked as a lascivious thought obviously came to mind. Albus gave them an odd look, so Regulus rushed on, rather desperate to change the subject. "The board of education set Severus in place as Headmaster? That's interesting. I honestly never even saw Severus as the sort to teach." He chuckled. "He really doesn't like most people."
"Actually, Voldemort did that," Albus said carefully. Regulus felt the color drain from his face as Kreacher gasped. "Voldemort has infiltrated the Ministry and he will be putting that into actual play very soon. He will use this to infiltrate Hogwarts. He is placing two of his Death Eaters in as professors and making Severus headmaster."
"Shit," Regulus breathed, then flashed an embarrassed look at Albus because he wasn't the sort of man one felt comfortable swearing around. Somehow he seemed too wholesome for such language. It was Kreacher's fault he knew how to swear at all. The elf knew some very fascinating and descriptive swear words! He even topped Bellatrix and Rodolphus, but to be fair, those two just had around six swear words they tended to recycle in different phrases.
"Indeed," Albus agreed dryly.
Regulus gave his head a baffled shake. "I suppose I never believed it would get this far, though I'm not precisely sure why. I suppose I thought he'd utilize non government related methods rather than being so openly in institutions. Having him so firmly and suddenly in power is...disconcerting." Not to mention making him feel more at personal risk, logical or not. It was quite a shock and he was having difficulty processing. From the look of stunned horror on Kreacher's face, it was clear that the elf shared his sentiment.
"This too shall pass, you two," Albus said gently. "I'm certain of it. Many of his followers aren't even content, so his house of cards shall topple. With Harry or without him. We can do this."
"Where will you be," Regulus asked.
"Teaching Transfiguration at Durmstrang," Albus said. "I will transfigure myself enough to look different, and I shall, of course, use a fake name. I will be there to aid Miss Karkaroff if Voldemort or his make a play for that school as well," he added grimly.
"Ah," Regulus said, thinking that this was rather far away. He recalled then that Albus may have mentioned this earlier. It was only that he was so shocked and upset over Voldemort's nearly overnight rise to power, that he wasn't thinking. Of course the rise to power truly wasn't over night. Regulus knew this. It had likely happened under and behind the scenes for some time, but to many who were unaware, including himself and Kreacher, it felt sudden.
"If you need to reach me in a hurry for any reason, there is a portkey set up for that in the wardrobe of the headmaster's bed chamber. It goes into Miss Karkaroff's bed chamber at Durmstrang," he said and Regulus felt his eyes widen as the implications of that hit him. The young woman had seemed quite interested in Albus when she was clinging to his arm at dinner that night in the Great Hall a few weeks back during Regulus and Kreacher's first meeting with Wolfgang. Unwilling to picture Dumbledore shagging anyone, Regulus firmly turned his mind back to the topic at hand. "If Severus appears to be having any trouble, I shall either help him to handle it myself or come to notify you if it is too great for that," he said and Albus smiled.
"That is exactly what I wanted. You understand perfectly. Thank you so much, Regulus."
"Of course," Regulus said. "I returned to help, and I shall do that in any way I can." He stood to go. "I suppose we should be on our way. The hour grows late especially for those who must rise in the morning." A slight amused smile curved his lips.
"I am so glad you have returned to us," Albus said, giving him another warm smile as he and Kreacher headed for the door. That was always nice to hear, and the words of kindness from his fellow witches and wizards after everything never failed to warm Regulus's heart.