Author's Note: Sorry about the wait. Real life got a bit crazy. BTW, I still don't own Harry Potter. JK Rowling does.

xxxx

The Locket

After Inus got back to the Hogwarts, he went over to Remus and Sirius's room to see if there were any horcruxes in the Black House. Sirius had all sorts of eerie things lying about, and it couldn't hurt to ask.

Sirius opened the door on the second knock. "Harry, how are your classes going?"

"I enjoy teaching," said Inus. "I have a bit of a problem. The wife of the wizard You-Know-Who is possessing thought she had a normal reluctant spirit on her hands and thought she could handle it on her own."

"That doesn't sound good," said Sirius.

Inus shrugged his shoulders. "And I was wondering if you had any artefacts that might have belonged to one of the Hogwarts Founders."

"Hogwarts has Godric Gryffindor's sword and sorting hat," said Sirius.

"I'll look into that." Inus looked at his wrists and arms, imaging the scars hidden by his sleeves. "Harry was the Gryffindor relic. Voldemort would favour Slytherin."

"Slytherin," repeated Sirius. "My brother gave my mother a locket for her birthday that he claimed was originally Salazar Slytherin's, but my brother died soon after that followed by me going to prison. Antiques were the least of my worries, but you can ask Kreacher to locate it."

"He's your elf," Inus looked at his lap, not as much looking at his lap than not looking at Sirius.

Sirius put floo powder in the fireplace and called forth Kreacher. The elf in the dishrag didn't look any less creepy with flames surrounding him.

"Master, how may I serves you?" asked the elf.

"I need the locket my brother gave my mother just before he died," said Sirius.

"Right away, master." The elf vanished from the fireplace then a few minutes later a locket appeared in the fire.

Sirius used tongs to take it out. "It's a bit warm, but undamaged."

"I'll show it to Dumbledore when I relieve him of house parent duties," said Inus. "Thanks."

xxxx

Inus handed the locket to Dumbledore. "I couldn't remove the cup from the school, so I exorcised it there. I could live very happily without seeing another inanimate object scream. Sirius says his brother gave the locket to their mum shortly before he died."

Dumbledore looked at the locket. "It's the right one. You can give it back to Sirius. It isn't a horcrux."

"Regulus must have removed Voldemort's soul from the locket," said Inus. "He was a good boy according to Sirius, not the type to give his mother a horcrux. Three down, two to go."

"You found two horcruxes in one Sunday afternoon." Dumbledore's eyes twinkled. "A good day's work, my boy."

"If it was so easy, why didn't anyone do it before?" asked Inus.

"We thought he died with Harry, then before that, everyone thought he was gone for good when the killing curse backfired." Dumbledore handed Inus back the locket. "We could have destroyed five of Voldemort's horcruxes, but what about Harry? Exorcising a child isn't like exorcising a locket or a cup. That little boy screaming would have been you."

Putting most of his weight on his good leg, Inus stared at the locket in his hand. "I suppose you're right."

"If we had known, we wouldn't have killed a little boy to prevent a murderer's return," said Dumbledore. "We could hope the exorcism wouldn't have killed you, but it would have been a risk I don't think I would have been willing to make."

"You would have said things like I got Lord Voldemort's magic through his scar and shit. You wouldn't have told a little boy that his life was connected to Lord Voldemort's life."

"Inus, I'm sorry."

Inus continued to look at the heavy gold locket. "It's a pretty thing." Inus returned the crutch to under his arm. "I'm going to the common room to try to restore order to this mayhem."

Inus told the portrait the password, went into the common room and sat down on the nearest chair. "Don't think because I can't get out of my chair that my wand arm is useless."

"Of course not, Professor Quirrell," said Malcolm Badcock, a second year student.

"We wouldn't think of it," agreed Harper.