Chapter 3 The Locket

Author: dEBB987 Beta: Nyx the Author

In the end, Harry couldn't find the right combination, so he was forced to buy a bunch of raw material to make it himself. He looked around at random items inside the store for a while, stalling mindlessly before he finally felt his right pocket get warm. The moment Sebas received the currency, he had instructions to place it on a special bag that was linked to himself and Aura, so they could buy the necessary items without having to interact with the butler.

Then again, Aura had informed him via [Message] that she had used the basilisk venom to acquire the potion ingredients, saying it had been necessary since there weren't enough to cover her and another client's purchases. Glad she had gotten the ingredients without hitches, he had told her to go ahead to the Potter manor, using the portkey she had tied around her wrist. He told the same to Sebas, since he had fulfilled his own mission sooner than expected, so only he and Shalltear remained in the shopping wizarding district.

Buying what he needed for a total amount of 6 galleons, he feels slightly bothered that the man attending them only focused on Shalltear, even when he was the one purchasing the objects. It could not be helped though, since the vampire was unusually pretty and the attendee was a young male. The guy probably thought the female guardian was a year younger than him, due to her looks, and had been trying to ask her out instead of taking the galleons from Harry's hand.

Getting bored, he places the payment on the counter and motions for Shalltear to follow him, before she could attempt to kill the foolish employee that had dared to be rude to her Master. He places mild notice-me-not charms on them both before leaving the store, walking on Diagon Alley once more. He and the vampire visit a few more stores, purchasing Floo Powder, two-way mirrors, parchment and quills, a magical trunk with several layers of compartments and lockets, high-quality caldrons, among other things. Shalltear still drags more attention than he would have liked, but nothing could be done about it.

At last, he pays a visit to Borgins and Burkes, purchasing the vanishing cabinet before shrinking it and placing it in his breast pocket. While he hoped to be able to convince Dumbledore he was not an enemy, he was not dumb enough to not prepare a backup plan. This way, if something went wrong he would still have access to Hogwarts grounds once the cabinet was fixed. He truly hoped it would not be necessary however.

Deeming that was all he needed for the moment, he extends an arm to Shalltear before using side-along apparition. Arriving to the manor's backyard in an instant, he blinked in surprise at the scenery that greets him. In the middle of the zone he had guarded for the dementor, there was an odd-looking pile of darkness that adorned the ground, looking akin to petroleum. He figured those were the remnants of the dark creature. Demiurge and Albedo seemed to be in the middle of testing the high tier skills and spells, pointing at nowhere in particular as they activated them.

"Oh! Welcome back, Hadrian-sama! Shalltear." Albedo is the first to greet them, with a bow and a smile towards him and a nod to the vampire. The male demon follows her example a moment after, as they both straightened from their attack pose, and explosion that fills their surroundings with dirt and smoke happening behind their backs.

"Thank you. How have your tests been so far? I assume the dementor didn't last long either?"

"I'm afraid not." Demiurge is the one that answers his query, looking at the defeated black stain for a second before focusing on him again "While the creature was able to resist up to 6th tier spells, it was defeated the moment we began to cast high-level ones."

"Is that so? How interesting, it seems I'll be the first wizard to try out dementor's remains in his potions. Thank you both." he says as he points his wand towards the dark mess, lifting it up and placing it on empty vials. He ignores the immediate response of "Your gratefulness is wasted on us!" and smiles at them warmly before asking them to report their findings.

While their skills and high-tiered spells seemed to work fine, as could be testified by the craters and overall destruction that adorned the backyard, the same could not be said regarding the summoning ability of Demiurge. Trying to use the skill that would allow him to summon mid-tier demons [Contract with the Abyss] did not provide any results, as if the ability was blocked by something in this world. The same result happened when trying to summon low-tier and high-tier demons.

Thinking it was probably due to the fact that demons didn't exist in his original world, he asked Shalltear to try to summon her familiars. The vampiric wolves, bats, and rats, all of them seemed to be out of option, as the activation of her skill [Summon Household] didn't even manage to change the magic in the immediate surroundings.

"How can it be?!" was the irritated cry of the vampire, insisting vehemently on summoning the creatures, her expression becoming more frustrated with each failed attempt. Harry places a hand on her shoulder when she didn't stop, stating that was enough.

"It seems summoning magic won't work in this world, since such species do not exist here. Please make sure to remember this restriction when fighting" he explains calmly to the three of them, waiting for them to express their understanding before guiding them towards the manor.

He doesn't reach the door's handle before it opens from the inside, Sebas receiving him in welcome with an elegant bow. Nodding at the butler, he lets his eyes wander around the manor in a satisfied manner, appreciative of the hard work Solution had invested on improving the state of the mansion.

"Where is Solution?"

"She is working diligently on the second floor, Hadrian-sama" deeming it would be better if left to work, he nodded at Sebas before asking for Mare, starting to walk towards the living room when the butler answered.

He stops right before entering the room however, seeing just how much effort Mare had invested on his mission. The male elf was sitting cross-legged in the middle of a magical circle, the dozen heavy domes were scattered around him in a symmetrical manner. One book was closed, ten were open in the very first page, while a single one had its pages turning so fast it seemed like a very strong air current was going through it. Mare had his eyes closed, but there was movement behind the closed eyelids in a manner similar to the REM cycle, with rapid and seemingly random side-to-side motions behind the closed eyes. The young brow was frowning in concentration as he focused on the data-gathering from the books, since this kind of magic allowed the user to read books at an extremely rapid pace. Even with its use however, the content of the books was too long for them to be finished in a short period of time.

He had told him to take his time, but it seemed to have fallen on deaf ears as the young guardian tried to fulfill his task as soon as possible. He decided to respect his determination, so he didn't interrupt the ritual and chose instead to go towards the potion's room.

The ingredients, cauldrons and potion-tools had been neatly cleaned and organized; the only vials out of place were the ones Aura had purchased, resting unassumingly on the cutting table. Taking out the metals he had purchased, he spent the next few days working on the amulets' creation, only taking a few breaks now and then at the insistence of Sebas.

Letting out a satisfied sigh at their completion, he finally leaves his self-imposed enclosure, calling up for a reunion in the now free-of-use living room. His careful nature forces him to inspect critically the results of the runes' work, so he makes them form a line in front of him before he takes the currently ineffective translation pendants and gives the new ones to each Nazarick member.

Sebas, Solution, Shalltear and Aura only receive translation runes, which he tests by speaking in several different languages, parseltongue, mermish and gobbledegook, before deeming they worked correctly. The symbols were carved in metallic bracelets that were enchanted to be unnoticeable and anti-thievery.

Then, when Mare's turn comes, the elf is surprised to receive a second bracelet with illusory runes, taking it insecurely from his outstretched hand.

"Hadrian-sama, w-what…?" the question remains unfinished as the young elf steals glances at Aura, clearly wondering why he was receiving one when his sister had not gotten any.

"This one is not for you, but for Shadow of Yggdrasil." he said, pointing at the divine item Mare held with both hands nervously "A wizard carrying a staff is bound to attract attention, so this is simply to alter their perception of it."

"I u-understand! T-thank you, Hadrian-sama, I-I apologize for our lack of skills, we have bothered you with this…" the elf says with a low bow, in a manner similar to the way the others had spoken when receiving their runes. Telling him not to worry about it, the elf straightens up and nods gratefully before placing the bracelet on the lowest part of the staff, the automatic adhesion on the metallic band making it stick to it without issues.

All amulets were protected so they would not fall off accidentally, so he simply finished his test by de-activating the ability that allowed him to see through illusions. Blinking a couple of times to adjust at the change, he sees an unassuming black umbrella on the elf's hands. Asking Mare to hand over the item, the staff doesn't feel like and umbrella would, but it doesn't resemble the staff's wooden surface either; if he had to describe it, he would say it was like grasping a smooth solid object, even if one could not guess what it was parting only by the sense of touch. Nodding approvingly, he returns the item before dismissing the guardian, as Albedo's turn arrived.

Giving her both wrist-bracelets, he waits for her to put them on before doing his test. Albedo's demonic features are nowhere to be seen, so he asks her to extend her wings before raising his hand to the position he imagined them to be. The tip of his fingers graze something alright, but it doesn't feel feathery as it would normally do, the wings lacking any real feeling other than expressing their presence as something solid. Instructing her to keep her wings as close to her hips as possible when going out, he raises his arm to search for her horns, ignoring the light blush that adorned her cheeks. The same feeling intercepts his fingers as he tried to reach for her smooth, black hair, being blocked by something solid he couldn't really perceive. Nodding in satisfaction at the test, he smiles at the grateful words every guardian had muttered upon receiving their runes, hers being not different before dismissing the succubus to give out the last pair of amulets.

With Demiurge, he only checks the tail and the eyes, asking him to remove briefly the glasses and open them so he could be sure. The diamond-like appearance is gone, replaced with sapphire-blue iris, so he nods approvingly and lets him go with an instruction to keep his tail around his waist when going outside.

Activating his passive skill once more, the illusory runes stop working on him as he finally crosses off one of the pending activities in his mental to-do list, the changed item and features of the guardians around him going back to normal once more.

"Since that has been handled, let us focus on the horcrux hunt for the moment, shall we?" Truth be told, the Quidditch World Cup would be starting tomorrow, but he decided to let things run their course regarding the sport event. He would rather not drag Voldemort's attention quite yet.

"These are the objects we will be searching for." using Djinn illusory magic, he creates a hologram-like image of the horcruxes to show to the attentive guardians. "The ring, I already have on my possession. The diary has been destroyed. The cup is in Gringotts inside the Lestrange Vault, please report your findings Mare." Having focused on the creation of the amulets, he had not had a chance of receiving any reports regarding that mission.

"Y-yes! There is a c-clause regarding objects that have the ability of k-killing goblins by itself. To protect their own, the bank d-doesn't accept to hold any of those."

"I see. Thank you for your hard work Mare, are you confident in your knowledge to hold your argument against the account manager, even if only in writing?" Seeing the normally shy and nervous male elf nod with determination, he smiled at him before asking what would happen to the retrieved item.

"O-on normal circumstances, it would be g-given to the owners, but t-they're currently in jail, so it would go to someone r-related to them."

"Someone related to the Lestranges… that would be the Black family. Would a house elf suffice to retrieve the cup?"

"Y-yes, house elves are allowed to make t-transactions with the bank representing their masters, so long their magic is linked to the family."

"In that case, it would be better to recover Slytherin's locket first." he could kill two birds with one stone if he made Kreacher an ally now, since he was still the official house elf of the Black family, it meant he could say it was sent by a member of the house and receive the item in their name. Deciding on that course of action, he proceeded to assign activities to the NPCs.

"Demiurge, Aura, you both are to search for a way to control the creatures known as Dementors. I will summon a few for you, let me know if [Domination Mantra] or Aura's tamer skills are enough to attain this."

"Yes, Hadrian-sama!"

"Your servant understands."

"Albedo, supervise their experiment. If the results are positive work with Demiurge to plan an attack on the prisoners of Azkaban, the only requirement is that it has to be seen as if the Ministry has lost control of the creatures, not an organized attack against Death Eaters."

"Understood, Hadrian-sama."

"Solution, please go to the shopping district and purchase food. While none of us need any substance, I'm planning on keeping a few creatures that will" Taking out a small bag with money, he levitated it towards the maid. There was a wizarding village just down the hill where the manor was located, so he trusted her not to get lost.

"Is there any specific food I should obtain?"

"It doesn't matter so long it's a vegetarian diet. Do not forget to use wizarding clothing when going out, no fights allowed." Once the slime expressed her understanding, he turned towards the three remaining guardians.

"Sebas and Shalltear will accompany me to retrieve the locket. Mare, please retrieve ingredients from the magical plants in the backyard, and fix the remnants of destruction the last testing caused once you're finished. If you have time, start redacting the letter that will be sent to the account manager" Seeing the addressed servants nod in understanding, he dissolved the illusory magic that represented the horcruxes.

Satisfied with the distribution of activities, he went outside to [Summon] a few Dementors for the guardians to test with, before bringing Sebas and Shalltear with him in side-along apparition. While Grimmauld Place was hidden and protected with pretty much every security measure known to wizardkind, he could walk through it all without issues. Striding calmly towards the building muggles didn't even know existed, he forced the lock of the main door, which emitted many loud, metallic clicks and what sounded like the clatter of a chain before it creaked open.

Harry stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. He could smell damp, dust, and a sweet, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a crypt. Lighting the candles with a flick of his wand, he walked silently towards the kitchen, where he remembered Kreacher's little nest to be.

"Hadrian-sama, is it really necessary for your high person to—" Sebas phrase is interrupted by the portrait's shouts, Walburga waken up due to the butler's voice. Ah, he had forgotten to ask them to be silent.

"Filth! Scum! By-products of dirt and vileness! Half-breeds, mutants, freaks, begone from this place! How dare you befoul the house of my fathers—" Harry silences her with a wand movement, stopping Shalltear and Sebas from destroying the portrait with a simple "Don't." since he knew the house elf would not react well to that.

"We're the intruders this time around, she has reason to be upset. Weren't we angry as well when Nazarick was invaded?" seeing the reluctant but understanding gazes on both NPCs he continued with "Don't pay her any mind… actually, ignore the ramblings of the creature I'm about to call as well" that being said, he continued to stride towards the kitchen, where he decided was far away enough from Walburga's prying eyes.

"Kreacher!"

Instead of appearing however, the utensils and every other object inside the kitchen started to float as if held by invisible threads, before lunging towards him and the guardians that flanked his sides. He vanished the lot of improvised weaponry with a wand movement, before speaking in a loud, clear voice.

"I was Regulus' friend."

The words seem to freeze the magic surrounding them, since the house-elf had been about to attack. "I have come to fulfill his last wish. To destroy the locket he entrusted you with, Voldemort's locket."

There was a loud Crack! and the house-elf appeared out of nowhere in front of him: tiny, half human-sized, with white hair sprouting copiously from his bat-like ears. He was wearing the filthy rag that mocked real clothing, dirty and with more holes than he cared to count. The creature sends him a contemptuous look, looking distrustfully at Harry and the guardians behind him.

"Kreacher doesn't understand, who is this stranger?" croaked Kreacher in his bullfrog's voice, mumbling to himself as he trembled in obvious unease "intruding in my Mistress's old house with filthy Mudblood behind him—"

"Do not insult my servants. Listen well Kreacher, for I know you cannot fulfill your mission on your own." he interrupted, making a motion to stop the murdering intent coming from behind him before the rightfully furious guardians killed the elf with nothing but their stare alone. "I'll destroy the locket in front of you, so you can see I do not lie. Would that be acceptable, Kreacher?" he spoke as softly as he could towards the frightened and distrustful house elf.

At his words, Kreacher started to gulp for air, the small chest rising and falling rapidly as his eyes moved around the kitchen, seemingly seeing something only he could perceive "The locket, Master Regulus's locket, Kreacher did wrong, Kreacher failed in his orders!"

Reacting instinctively, Harry caught Kreacher as he lunged towards the nearest wall, trying to punish himself for his failure. "Kreacher, stay still!" he shouted louder than the house elf's cries "For Master Regulus, stay still!"

He felt the elf freeze, tears gushing from the sagging eyes and falling over his sleeve, but he didn't pay any attention to the stain. Letting go of the creature with slow, controlled movements, he stayed crouched for a moment before determining the house elf would not move again to hurt himself.

The moment he straightened the house elf sat up, curled into a ball, placed his wet face between his knees, and began to rock backward and forward. When he spoke, his voice was muffled but quite distinct in the silent, echoing kitchen.

"The house-elf's highest law is his Master's bidding." intoned Kreacher, which seemed enough to halt the hostile intent coming from the guardians standing still on the kitchen's entrance. It was to be expected, how they could easily understand the loyalty house elves were used to bestow on their masters. "Kreacher was told to destroy the locket, but nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it. Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work… So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open… Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket!" with that last phrase, Kreacher began to sob so hard that there were no more coherent words.

Well, that was the reason a Master didn't give orders carelessly. A lighter version of the scene in front of him would most likely happen if he were to assign a mission to someone that didn't have the capacity to fulfill it. A much lighter version, he hoped. He always thought twice, thrice and yet again before requesting something from the NPCs for this very reason.

The house elf lay on the floor, panting and shivering, green mucus glistening around his snout, his eyes swollen and bloodshot and swimming in tears. It made for a truly pitiful sight. He felt slight annoyance towards Regulus, wondering if he really lacked any trustworthy person in his life he could leave the horcrux with, before remembering that had been most likely the case for the youngest Black.

"Kreacher," said Harry after a while, "once you have calmed down, please sit up." Several minutes passed before Kreacher hiccupped himself into silence. Then, he pushed himself into a sitting position again, rubbing his knuckles into his eyes like a small child. "Kreacher, I am here to fulfill Master Regulus' wish. Bring the locket to me and I'll destroy it right here in front of you. I'll ensure that he didn't die in vain."

Kreacher dropped his fists and looked up at Harry, seemingly having forgotten about the other two people in the room. After a last moment of hesitation, he nodded and got to his feet, hiccupping one last time before disappearing with a Crack!

"Hadrian-sama, I'm afraid to ask, but I have a doubt. Why was such a low creature allowed to misuse your precious time? Wouldn't [Charm species] have sufficed to reach this effect?"

[Charm species] was a 4th tier spell that caused the target to see the caster as a reliable friend or colleague. However, since one did not tell their friends to kill themselves or hurt themselves, the targets would not obey orders that would result in such things. In addition, the term "friend" was also a kind of bottleneck; there were secrets that people would keep hidden even from their friends, so this magic would be ineffective in extracting such information. If that was the case, one would need to use more powerful mind control spells.

"That would have been inefficient in the long term. My intent is to form a true alliance with him, since he may be able to support us on another matter." He raised a hand to stop any other questions, since he could feel Kreacher's presence magic around the room, about to come back. Soon enough, the creature returned with the locket in hand, holding it by the chain as far away from its small body as physically possible. The house elf seemed almost frightened of the dark magic that oozed from the closed object.

Instructing Kreacher to leave the locket on the floor, Harry motions for the house elf to get further away from the object before raising his hand towards it. Hissing "Open." in parseltongue, he watches attentively as the golden doors of the locket swing open with a little click.

Behind both of the glass windows of the opened locket, blinked within a living eye, but Harry didn't let it do anything before activating [Hell Flame] on it. A very small flame comes out of his outstretched hand, floating for a short moment before latching onto the locket, engulfing it instantly in an inferno of black flames. A long, drawn-out scream fills the room for a moment, before it falls silent once more.

Accioing the locket, he raises it to eye-level just to make sure the horcrux has been destroyed completely, before giving the melted, unrecognizable piece of gold to the house elf that had slowly approached him with insecure steps.

"Kreacher, I would like you to keep this." he said, pressing the object into the elf's hand "It is only appropriate, I'm sure Regulus would have wanted you to have it as a token of gratitude for what you—"

He didn't get to finish that phrase, since the house elf took one look at the locket, let out a howl of shock, and threw himself back onto the ground. Sighing resignedly, he waited patiently for Kreacher to calm down again, speaking softly to the creature for a while before his words finally seemed to reach him.

Once the house elf is finally able to totter a few steps, he brings back the objects of the kitchen that had been previously vanished, before taking a sit and stating he would like to request aid with something. Sebas stands behind him, as befitted a butler, while Shalltear stood in the entrance of the kitchen and watched the house elf with contempt.

"Other items exist, ones that hold the same purpose as the locket Master Regulus wished to destroy" the house elf turns his gaze towards the melted locket grasped strongly in his hands, before looking up at Harry again "If possible, I'd like you to help me retrieve one of them— Ah, no, this won't harm you in any way, Master Regulus would not like that, would he?" he adds at the frightened expression Kreacher makes, probably recalling just what kind of 'service' the Dark Lord had needed him for.

"N-no, Good Master Regulus would not…" Nodding encouragingly at the soft spoken words, he waits for a moment before proceeding with a calm voice.

"As it is, I only need you to pick something from Gringotts" seeing the slightly distrustful look directed at him, he adds "I have no interest in the treasures of the Black Family, those are for you to watch and care for. No, I only want a single cup that has no ties to this family, but is currently held in the wizarding vault. I will carry Master Regulus' wish, and will destroy all the objects that are embedded with that same dark magic. If the object you pick up is different, then you're free to keep it since I would not need to destroy it in that case. What do you say Kreacher? Would you help me?"

The house elf stays still for a moment, before performing a low bow "Kreacher will help, if it doesn't affect the Black family, he will. Who is the Good Lord that has helped Kreacher? Good Master Regulus' friend that speaks the noble language of the snakes?"

"I am Lord Hadrian Peverell, thank you for your help Kreacher." looking a little lost, but happy at the nice treatment, the house elf straightened and brought the melted horcrux to his chest, thanking him for the first time for his help.

Nodding at the thankful creature, he stood up and motioned for Shalltear to come close, extending an arm towards her and Sebas before addressing the house elf one last time

"I'll send you a Patronus once everything is in order with Gringotts then. See you soon, Kreacher."

And with that, he apparated away with an intentionally loud Crack!, leaving behind a house elf that smiled for the first time in the last 15 years.

AUTHOR NOTE:

Before anything else, I have to say that Hero600's review made me laugh. So thanks bud, it really lifted my spirits hahaha! Just kidding of course, while I have plenty of drafts and incomplete chapters, I publish the finished work within the week, after I've re-read it at least a couple of times searching for mistakes. Ah, the disadvantages of not having a beta~ EDIT** Now I do have a Beta reader! *Excited schoolgirl squealing* he is helping me so much in correcting grammar~

A couple of reviews also pointed out two valid questions regarding this storyline. One, why did the summoning ritual work if the magic in Harry's world is weaker? Shouldn't Harry have immunity towards it? The thing is, in my story-arc at least, the summoning ritual for the Master of Death is the same for all worlds and dimensions, so it shouldn't be considered as magic from his original world specifically. That, and Harry, as the carrier of said title, cannot avoid the summons, no matter how powerful his current position may be. For as long as he is the MOD then he can be summoned.

The second is regarding why the guardians are not surprised about Harry's first life. This is linked to my first story, so sorry for not having it clarified sooner. Basically, the Guardians know he has lived in multiple worlds, even if, at first, they had the wrong idea that he had conquered all of them. Later in the story though, Harry tells them more about his first life, more specifically, on how he started to learn about magic in general (that's the plan I have for it at least). So for effects of this story, they are aware that their Master didn't start out as powerful as they know him, even if they never realized just how weak he used to be until they get to meet the young Harry that is still studying in Hogwarts.

The AN is long as it is so I'll leave it at that. Thanks for reading and hope you liked it, see ya' around!