AN:
Oni: Writing five stories at the same time whilst juggling college is not fun, but alas! I have finished another chapter!
Eridan: Congratulations on that.
Oni: Thank you! Thank you!
Oni: I didn't win the competition, but your support made me smile so hard my mouth hurt for a few days, so that's something! Also, I HAVE SURPASSED 100 FOLLOWERS ON THIS FIC I'M SO HAPPY EEEEEEEEEEEEEEE
Isaac: Also for a bit of shameless self promotion, Oni is writing an original story on Wattpad called The Adventures of Brave Heriocs, which is supposed to kinda mock medieval Chosen Ones stories. If you like bloodthirsty twelve and thirteen year olds, memes, subtly breaking the fourth wall, and general insanity, go check it out!
Oni: Isaac, how did you get here?!
Isaac: I have my waaaays~
Oni: *shrugs* Oh well. But seriously guys, if you're interested, please go check it out! I already have seven chapters on it and I'm writing the eighth!
Eridan: Noww for this fic:
"English"
"Alternian"
Oni: Hey Isaac, since you're already here...
Isaac: Sure thing! Oni does not own Harry Potter or Homestuck, but the plot bunny and general insanity belongs to her. Figures, hahahahaha!
Oni: AAAAAAND ONWARDS!
With the addition of a genocidal alien that could now preform magic, life became exciting for one Harry James Potter. For one thing, the troll had a knack for getting rid of things that he didn't like. Anything annoying, particularly loud or disturbing got blasted with his rifle-turned-wand (Angel's Wrath was surprisingly powerful, and Harry was ready to dump the responsibility of killing Lord Moldyshorts over to the Dementor killing thirteen year old). This included a large swarm of doxies, a cursed music box, three boggarts and some tacky charmed fish heads that Sirius had in his room.
None of these compared to the wrath that the grey-skinned mermaid extraterrestrial incurred on the portrait of one Walburga Black. Every time Eridan had walked passed, the woman would screech about letting creatures that were beneath the might of House Black in her home. She screamed even harder when the troll presented her with the Black House ring on his finger, as well as the Ravenclaw House ring. From then on, no two people despised the other quite like those two, and Harry eagerly awaited the day that Eridan let all hell loose.
This came three days after the troll had returned from Diagon Alley, already proficient in all subjects in first year.
Walburga Black was cursing him for walking around with a book from the Black library.
"YOU FOUL, DESPICABLE CREATURE! GET OUT OF THIS NOBLE AND PURE HOUSE! I DEMAND YOU AS LADY BLACK TO TAKE YOUR FILTHY PAWS OFF OF THE BLACK FAMILY BOOKS! YOU ARE NOT WORTHY ENOUGH TO EVEN LOOK AT THEM YOU BEAST BLOODED CRETIN!"
Harry had seen Eridan's eye twitch, and bounced on his heels. Please just blast her, he thought, please just turn her into a small pile of ash. Instead, Eridan whirled around and grabbed Harry by the wrist, storming out of the hallway with a blank look on his face. When he walked into the kitchen, everyone present stopped what they were doing and stared at the stormy faced troll.
"Nevv, do you havve those earmuffs used for plantin those screamin baby plants?"
"You mean the Mandrakes? Yeah, I have several." Neville replied, confused, "Why?"
"Do you havve enough for evveryone in this hivve, excludin me."
Harry looked around. There was only him, Eridan, Neville, Ginny, Ron, Luna, Fred, George, Hermione, Mrs. Weasley, Remus, and Sirius in Grimmauld Place. Everyone else was out at work, or on some sort of secret Order Mission.
"Yeah… I think I do… why?" Neville answered.
"He wants to out-scream the Banshee Lady." Luna replied serenely.
"He wants to what now?" Sirius asked, perplexed.
"The Lady screams loud, but he can scream louder." Luna answered as if it were the simplest concept in the world.
Everyone turned to stare at Eridan.
"Is she right, Eridan?" Sirius asked the troll.
"More or less." he replied with a small shrug, "I'll be givven her a taste of her owwn medicine wwith my owwn brand of sadism."
"And this is going to be so bad that we have to use Mandrake Earmuffs?" Remus questioned with both of his eyebrows raised.
"I don't wwant you to hear the thins I wwill be sayin." Eridan replied, refusing to meet anyone's eyes.
That got Harry intrigued. When Eridan avoided someone's gaze, it usually meant that he was about to do something bad, bad by even his own twisted standards.
"Eridan, no offense, but while your curse words can get colorful, it's nothing we can't handle." Ginny remarked with her arms crossed.
"Yeah," added Fred, "and let me tell you…"
"You can get pretty colorful with your vocabulary." finished George.
"Mate, I have to carry around a dictionary to understand half the words you yell out," Ron pointed out, "And besides, learning curse words is really fun- ow! Mum!"
Eridan still had his head lowered when Ron recovered from the hit upside the head he received from his mother, much to the amusement of everyone else in the room.
"They're curse wwords to a different degree, and they really shouldn't be uttered wwhere mortal ears can hear. The earmuffs are a precaution. A seadwweller has a powwer unlike any landdewwller, and I don't wwant you all hurt as collateral damage."
"Where mortal ears can hear?" Hermione repeated perplexedly, "Eridan, it sounds like you're going to be preforming some sort of Dark Ritual."
"The wwords uttered by the Horrorterrors are far wworse than some Dark Ritual." Eridan replied solemnly, "So you better get those earmuffs Nevv, and don't forget to give one to Kreacher too."
With that and a swish of his cape, Eridan prowled back into the hallway where Walburga was still screeching.
Neville got up from his seat and practically ran to where his trunk laid, taking out the earmuffs and passing them around to everyone. Harry called for Kreacher who, after hearing that it was an order from the fellow non-human, had graciously obliged to putting on the noise cancelling implements.
A few seconds later, and a shrieking voice not unlike the mermaid's song above water during the Second Task rang out, only this time Harry could barely hear it, could barely understand the strange gurgling language Eridan was speaking. He only knew the foreboding sense of doom that was crushing down on his psyche, a feeling that was similar, but not like that of a Dementor's aura. A Dementor was actually preferred to what was happening to his mind at that moment, and Harry glanced around the room to see ashen faces clearly displaying their horror. Their hands were clamped over their muffs, as if making sure they didn't fall of was a matter of life or death. The feeling of fear and foreboding wouldn't leave his mind as Harry felt something out of the corner of his very conscious start whispering. The whispering voices started to get louder and louder, and even though Harry couldn't understand the words, he knew that they spoke of horrible things that have been done, and worse things yet to come.
There was a part of him in the back of his mind that he didn't know, which cowered in fright and the emerald eyed teen could sense it shivering. Something told Harry that the part that was shivering was actually the Parasite, and lashed out at it with his magic. The parasite shuddered, but didn't move from where it was. Harry lashed out again, and something gave way. The parasite gave what Harry could have sworn was a low moan, before trying to shimmy its way further into Harry's mind, away from the whispers. He internally glared at the infernal thing, and imagined a steel cage to trap the parasite in. Lo and behold, a steel box enclosed over the shard of his worst enemy, and Harry felt a sense of triumph. Even though this wasn't expected, he would have to thank Eridan for speaking in that weird 'Horrorterror' language of his.
After a moment, the feeling of fear and doom ceased, and the oppressive air in the room (when had that gotten there?) dissipated. Looking around the room, he saw everyone take off their muffs with relieved looks on their faces.
"Bloody hell," Ron muttered lowly, "he wasn't kidding when he said it was going to be bad…"
"I don't even want to know what would have happened if we hadn't put on those earmuffs…" murmured Ginny.
At that point, Eridan had entered the room and surveyed its occupants. When everyone gave him small smiles, the alien troll sighed visibly in relief.
"I'vve finished wwhat I needed to do, she wwon't be botherin us. Evver." stated Eridan with his 'genocide grin' as the teens had taken to calling the creepy Voldemort grin that the troll sported.
"What happened to her?" Sirius asked curiously.
"Wwhy don't you go and see?" replied Eridan with a smirk before leaving to study his textbooks once more.
Slowly, one by one, each occupant of the kitchen gingerly entered the hallway. For once, it was completely silent, with not even the tell-tale snores that signaled that the blasted painting was sleeping. When they got to her portrait, they all had to stifle a gasp.
There was Walburga Black, sitting quietly in her frame, looking at someplace far away with wide eyes. Her face only had one emotion portrayed, absolute horror. Not the horror when you are scared by a ghost, or even the horror of having your close family tortured in front of you. This was the type of horror that was seen on people who had just escaped the brink of horrid nightmares that weren't nightmares, but realms of darkness and void that called to all in the end, whispering, waiting…
"Bloody hell," Sirius whispered at the same time as the Weasley males.
"Mistress?" Kreacher called out tentatively.
Walburga turned her head ever so slowly, as if the movement tired her, and looked down at the House Elf. Harry watched as tears welled in her grey eyes, genuine tears that a child would shed after a particularly horrible nightmare, and the woman began to sob softly.
"What have I done?" Harry thought he heard her whisper.
When Kreature called out to her again, she did not respond, she merely continued to sob softly.
"I wonder what she heard." Ginny thought aloud.
"Me too, but in all honesty do you really want to know?" Harry asked in reply.
Everybody shook their heads in a resolute 'no'.
"I know it's probably not nice to say, but I think I like her better like this." Rom mumbled.
Sirius nodded silently in agreement.
"And we have yet another reason, plus an example, of why getting on that guy's bad side is a horrible idea." Neville muttered.
It was suffice to say that Eridan surpassed the expectations of those who did not know him in regards to his ability to learn. A week had passed since his visit to Diagon Alley, and the small troll had learned everything up to the third year, which is the grade the humans told him he would be attending.
Minerva McGonagall (the shade of green and her slight mothering tendencies reminded him of a certain jadeblood) was now going over the electives that he would be able to choose from, and was for some strange reason exasperated when Eridan had told her that he wanted to attend all of them.
"Miss Granger had done that in her own third year, and she became exhausted halfway through the year!" she argued, rubbing her temples furiously as she repeated her argument for the tenth time.
"Herm is a human. I'm a troll. I can handle this." Eridan retorted with a sniff.
"Some classes are at the same time, Mr. Ampora. You would have to use a Time Turner at least twice a day, and while you have covered the subjects of the previous two years the classes you will attend will have large amounts of homework." McGonagall warned.
"I am used to large amounts of paperwwork. Besides, wwhat kind of a person wwould I be if I refused evven a single subject?"
"A sane one." he heard her grumble under her breath, "Alright, I will let you take all the available electives, but don't say that I didn't warn you, Mr. Ampora."
"Thank you." Eridan replied with a smirk.
When he exited the room, he was greeted by an ensemble of curious teens.
"So," Ron said in a casual tone that wasn't fooling anyone, "What did you choose?"
"All of them." Eridan answered with a shrug.
"I knew it!" Ron exclaimed with a shout, pumping his fist into the air and holding out his arm excitedly to a pouting Nymphadora Tonks, "Pay up!"
To Tonks' credit, she did not whine as she handed over five Galleons to the red-haired teen, who raised the coins above his head as the group of Weasleys began to sing Eridan praises. Eridan, already used to their antics, simply rolled his eyes and began to converse with an excited Hermione.
"Oh, I'm sure you'll do just fine in all the subjects but I do have to warn you that Divination is not as useful as the pamphlet described…"
Eridan learned quite a bit from the girl's rambles, who explained her plights with the amount of work that turned out to be too much for the studious human to handle. Hermione assured her that he could easily finish the workload as he had studied diligently all that week on the two years.
"…we will be completing our OWLs this year, obviously I'm hoping to get all Os but I was wondering if you could help me in motivating the others…"
The troll didn't have the heart to tell Hermione (or any of the humans for that matter) that he had spent most of his waking moments not actually studying his courses, which he used to do early in the mornings, but was researching for the impending War.
"…S.P.E.W. isn't going as well as I hoped, and now that you're here I've been re-evaluating my campaign and I've got a couple of ideas that I want to run past you later…"
More importantly, on the peculiar Parasite that Harry told him resided in a steel box in the green-eyed teen's head. The Purifier, unlike the Orphaner, was incredibly detailed and concise with his explanations, and Eridan was getting used to reading the straightforward leave-no-gory-detail-behind method of writing. He wasn't uncomfortable with the writing because of this aspect, but simply because the only troll he knew with that type of frankness was Eridan himself. As he read the tomes his great ancestor had written, Eridan's image of the Purifier (aided by the descriptions of both Ollivander and Gringrit) became an older version of himself.
It was starting to scare him a little.
"…do you have time later today to go over your notes on Alternian-English translation? I'm trying to get the phonics right and I'm having some trouble on some of the more complex sounds…"
He was close to finding the so-called 'Power of the Angels', including references to 'Hope' in a way that made it seem like a tangible energy and an apparent being called the 'Prince of Hope'. Sometimes it appeared that the Purifier was referring to himself as the Prince, and in other parts it was clear he was speaking of someone else. This was the part that confused him greatly, as the Purifier also spoke of himself as having a past and a future self.
"…I've been hearing rumors about the new Defense Professor and I wonder if she's going to actually be that good of a teacher, so I've been studying on my own what we should be learning for the OWLs so that I can offer tutoring for the others just in case she turns out to be horrible…"
Sometimes it felt like the Purifier was talking about Eridan himself as the separate part.
"…it would be awful if she was another terrible professor… Eridan? Eridan are you listening to me?"
"Yes Herm, I am." Eridan replied, "Don't mind me, I can mentally multitask. I'm sure I wwill be fine wwith my owwn subjects, your human learnin speed is rather sluggish.
I wwill help you in motivvatin the others but you can only lead a hoovvebeast to wwater, you can't make it drink. Likewwise, if they don't wwant to study, you can't force them. The same goes for your campaign, I wwould suggest talkin to the other elvves at Hogwwarts before doin something drastic. For all wwe knoww they might be happy wwith their current situation.
As for the translation, human vvocal chords are not the same as a troll's so I don't expect the sounds to be exact. If wwe can get them to be close enough, then it should still be understandable.
The Defense Professor wwill most likely be a wwaste of space from wwhat I'vve heard, so your caution wwould not be unfounded."
Hermione blinked rapidly.
"I'm…actually impressed. Usually people get lost in my ramblings by now…" she said with a slight frown.
"I havve a Moirail that is fond of shootin questions a mile a minute. It comes from experience. Don't wworry Herm, it's not an ovverall bad thin to share wwith someone wwhat you knoww, you just need to be patient wwith them, just as they wwill learn to be patient wwith you." Eridan replied with a smile.
Hermione smiled brilliantly back.
Harry was currently incredulously sitting down across from Dumbledore, who was still avoiding his gaze, in the kitchen during the final week of the summer holidays. He had just gotten the shock of his life (well, not really, but it was really surprising) when the Hogwarts owls came in with a Gryffindor Prefect Badge for both Hermione and …Ron. At first Harry was surprised, and apparently, so was Ron. Nevertheless, everyone congratulated the red-haired teen on getting the position, even though Harry felt like he was cheated out of something important as he walked down to dinner. Then Dumbledore wanted to have a private chat with him, just the two of them, which made Harry's guard go up.
And now? Well…
"Sorry Professor, but you want me to do what now?"
"Keep an eye on our strange new friend, Harry. I don't trust him very much. While Sirius is a kindhearted soul just like your father, I couldn't help but notice our little alien friend gravitating towards some of the Darker books in the Black Library. The reason you were not picked as a prefect was because this is to be your duty instead."
"You want me to be Eridan's babysitter?"
"I think both of us know that Mr. Ampora has a maturity beyond his age, and I fear it might lead him astray. Guide him in Hogwarts, teach him the ways of our planet, the Light ways."
"I will, Sir."
"I commend you on taking on this task, my boy. Oh well, off you trot! I shall see you at Hogwarts!"
With that, Dumbledore excused the emerald eyed teen from the room. As he walked back to his shared room in a much better mood, he couldn't help but wonder if the leader of the Light knew what he was getting into. In the situation the teen wizard found himself in, he was being treated as the capable adult and Eridan was being treated as the naïve child who just needs help finding the right path through the woods.
Harry wondered if the man knew just how dangerous Eridan was, Dark or Light magic aside. Dumbledore was judging the troll by human means, something that Harry learned rather quickly was a bad idea. If he had to pin Eridan as something, looking simply at his personality and magical ability, then they were currently housing another Dark Lord within the bowels of the Order. Eridan singlehandedly killed twenty Dementors and dozens of cursed objects, permanently traumatized the Black matriarch, had no problem with killing his own race or sentient beings (even if they were children or parents), had a genocidal streak miles wide, and could probably march up to Voldemort and the poor noseless sod would soil his trousers where he stood.
The Boy-Who-Lived understood that Eridan Ampora was an incredibly dangerous thirteen-year-old, and nothing he could do could curb any of the homicidal thoughts that the alien may or may not have. In fact, if Harry was the one in charge of keeping an eye on the insane yet somehow loveable seadwelling troll, then he would simply sit back and watch as the finned sadist went about destroying every obstacle in his path.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend, after all.
Besides, unlike Dumbledore, Eridan was actively and openly trying to help him. No secrets, no bullshit, just cold, hard facts on what he was doing and why. Harry liked this approach, it was refreshing compared to the secret Order meetings that decided his fate without him.
"Hey Harry."
Harry had just opened the door to his shared room to find Eridan sitting on the emerald eyed teen's bed holding the now familiar large tome with a serious expression.
"Oh, hey Eridan. What's going on? Did you find out how to get rid of the Parasite without killing me yet?"
At this, the troll shook his head.
"No, not yet, but I havve come across somethin interestin that I wwant to try." Harry blinked.
"What do you want to try?" In response Eridan flipped to a particular page in the tome, showing the teen what appeared to be a diagram of a soul, a parasite, and a link between them.
"Here it says that a Parasite can sense its Maker better than the Maker sensin the Parasite. I wwonder if someone wwith a Parasite could sense other Parasite if they so choose to. Wwant to test the hypothesis? It might hurt, but I really don't know." Eridan explained in a matter-of-fact tone.
See? Blunt, to the point, no skirting around the subject.
"Uh, yeah… But how?" Harry asked the seadweller, confused.
"I'm goin to havve to need you to focus on the presence in the box. Sense its energy, its makeup, then expand your search to your surroundins. Can you try that?" At this, Harry tilted his head to the side.
"This is like the meditation you wanted me to do, right?" Eridan smiled at the teen with his narrow, sharp teeth.
Surprisingly, the teeth didn't bother him anymore, nor did the fins or the exoskeleton. He simply got used to the dangerous alien who had for some reason chose to help and not harm.
"That is correct."
Harry climbed onto his bed next to Eridan, crossed his legs, and closed his eyes. Concentrating, the young wizard found his mindspace once more, and carefully inspected the creepy Parasite inside the box. It was a dark mass of…stuff… that vaguely reminded Harry of the wraith Voldemort he dealt with in his first year. Then he heard Voldemort's thoughts whispering in his mind.
KILLMAIMDESTORYTORTUREDEATH
Wow, this guy wasn't sane anymore, was he? Not surprising at all, Harry thought darkly as he glared at the writhing Parasite. Well, enough looking at the one he know about, let's see what else he could do. Harry focused on his awareness and coaxed it to spread outside his own mind, trying to find something similar. A few seconds later, he felt the presence of another Parasite.
And it was in the house, right now.
Eridan followed the sprinting Harry Potter with an almost feral look in his eyes. Apparently there was a Parasite residing in the hivehold, and it wasn't the running teen in front of him. Harry led the small troll down the stairs, past some confused Order members in the living room, to an area that Eridan had only visited a couple of times.
Kreacher's Room.
He knocked on the door stiffly, and the old house elf opened it slowly.
"What can Kreacher do for…oh Master Eridan! How can Kreacher help you and…Master Potter?" Kreacher sneered out Harry's name.
"Wwe are here because there is a Parasite of a maniacal Dark Lord inside your room. Do you, perchance, knoww wwhere it is?" Eridan asked the elf with his violet eyes glowing menacingly.
The elf's large eyes widened even more.
"Could it be…could it be that Master Eridan be talking about Master Regulus's locket?"
"Who's Master Regulus?" Harry asked, perplexed.
Kreacher looked as if he were about to die of horror.
"That Blood-Traitor Sirius never told Masters Potter and Eridan who Master Regulus was? But Master Regulus was…how DARE Master Sirius…!"
So Sirius knew who this Regulus person was? Were they related? Bad history? Did the man die?
"Kreacher, just tell us wwho he is and be done wwith it." Eridan said, taking off his glasses and pinching the bridge of his nose.
Kreacher breathed in deeply, as if trying to hold back tears.
"Master Regulus was Master Sirius's younger brother..."
"Yeah, he joined the Death Eaters and died when he was only eighteen. That's what happens when you decide to listen to mummy dearest." growled a voice behind them.
"Sirius? What are you doing here?" Harry asked in shock at the fact that the man seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.
"I heard you two were talking to Kreacher about Regulus and couldn't help but throw in my own two Knuts on the subject." Sirius replies with a careless shrug, but Eridan's horns did not detect any carelessness coming off the man.
Instead, there were large amounts anger, sorrow, and guilt.
"He lovingly talked about our evil maniacal snake like he was a god. And then one day he was just offed. Figures, the coward had it coming for all his choices." Sirius grumbled out.
"MASTER REGULUS WAS BRAVER THAN BLOOD TRAITOR SIRIUS COULD EVER BE!" Kreacher screeched out almost hysterically, "MASTER SIRIUS HAS NO IDEA WHAT MASTER REGULUS HAD DONE IN HIS FINAL MOMENTS!"
Sirius, usually quick to retort, was cowed into silence.
"What did he do?" was what he whispered after a few seconds of silence.
Kreacher huffed, folded his arms, and looked away.
"Kreacher," Eridan started, "If this has anythin to do wwith the locket, wwhich I assume has a Parasite in it, then you are goin to need to tell us this. Wwhat is this locket and wwhat does it have to do wwith Regulus?"
The elf was quiet for a moment, drained from when he shouted at Sirius, before he curled up into a ball on the floor and started rocking back and forth. Soon, tears started to run down Kreacher's face.
"Master Sirius ran away, good riddance, for he was a bad boy and broke my Mistress's heart with his lawless ways." both elf and human glared at each other for a moment before Kreacher continued, "But Master Regulus had proper order. He knew what was due to the name of Black and the dignity of his pure blood. For years he talked of the Dark Lord, who was going to bring the wizards out of hiding to rule the Muggles and the Muggleborns… and when he was sixteen years old, Master Regulus joined the Dark Lord. So proud, so proud, so happy to serve… And one day, a year after he joined, Master Regulus came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said… he said… "
Kreacher started to rock harder.
"… he said that the Dark Lord required an elf."
"Lord Evil Git of all people was reduced to using an elf?" Sirius asked with a sneer, but Kreacher paid the man no heed.
Eridan, however, raised an eyebrow at the man.
"Oh yes, and Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do… and then to c-come home."
At this point, the poor elf broke into sobs.
"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do, but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave was a cavern, and in the cavern was a great black lake…"
"A black lake in a cave near the sea. Isn't that foreboding?" Sirius grumbled from beneath his breath, but Eridan could tell that the older human was becoming afraid.
"…There was a boat…" the elf's eyes looked haunted, ""There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drink it… "
The elf quaked from head to foot.
"Kreacher drank, and as he drank he saw terrible thing … Kreacher's insides burned … Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed… He made Kreacher drink all the potion… He dropped a locket into the empty basin… He filled it with more potion."
That sounded rather…painful. Eridan looked at his two companions, both were paler than usual and waves of guilt and pity flowed from them.
"And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island… "Kreacher needed water, he crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake . . . and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface…"
"Howw did you escape?" Eridan asked, intrigued with his hands steepled under his chin.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back. Kreacher was told to come home, so Kreacher came home…" the elf said simply.
"And wwhat happened after?" Eridan asked silkily, coaxing the elf to continue.
"Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher, "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then… it was a little while later… Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell… and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord…"
"No…" Sirius whispered breathlessly.
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," mumbled Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snoutlike nose, "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets…"
"No…" Sirius whispered again, a little louder this time.
Kreacher wasn't doing much better, the house elf was sobbing as he spoke his next words.
"And he ordered…Kreacher to leave…without him. And he told Kreacher…to go home…and never to tell my Mistress…what he had done…but to destroy… the first locket. And he drank…all the potion…and Kreacher swapped the lockets…and watched… as Master Regulus…was dragged beneath the water…and…"
"NO!" Sirius practically roared out, "My brother…oh…Reggie…" he slumped to the floor in a heap, "I've failed you…"
Eridan almost backpedaled at the sudden surge of emotions. Harry immediately went to go and embrace his Godfather, and Eridan awkwardly wrapped his arms around both the sobbing elf and the wailing human. After a few minutes passed, the crying stopped, and Eridan resumed his interrogation.
"So you receivved the locket from Regulus and attempted to destroy it, I presume." Kreacher nodded.
"Nothing Kreacher did made any mark upon it," moaned the elf, "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! And his Mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave…"
"So noww you havve it stored in your room until you find a wway to destroy it, am I correct?" Once more, the elf nodded weakly.
"B-But Kreacher still has not found a way to destroy it… Kreacher tried!" he was about to break into sobs again when Eridan put a hand on the elf's shoulders.
"But you see, Kreacher, that is wwhy I am here right noww. To destroy it."
"Master Eridan knows how to destroy the locket?" Kreacher asked with a glint of hope in his eyes.
"Yes, noww if wwe could hurry up, I wwould like to terminate it before they call us for dinner."
Eridan was sure he had never seen the elf run that fast in the duration of his stay. While waiting patiently (or as patient as he could be at that moment) outside the door for Kreacher, the troll turned to Sirius. The human was a mess, silent tears streaming from his eyes. Eridan uncapchalogged a box of tissues and handed it to the first human he had ever come into contact with. Sirius took the box with a grateful nod of his head.
"Think of this as your apology, and a partial avvengin." Eridan said calmly just as Kreacher came out from his room holding out a small locket.
That was definitely a Parasite. Eridan could see the same foul energy ooze from the small object, whispering its words of malice. The troll sneered at the locket and pulled out Angel's Wrath.
"Put it on the ground and stand back." Kreacher did as Eridan ordered, stepping as far away from the locket as he could with wide eyes that were brimming with hope.
Eridan pointed his wand at the locket and concentrated, feeling the familiar energy gather at the wand's tip. This need not any wand movement or incantation. It was just like firing his rifle. His pupils became slits and he smiled maniacally. Behind him, he felt his friends (both human and elf) tremble in fear (what were they afraid of? The locket will be destroyed soon).
"Die."
As soon as he spoke those words, the energy gathered at the tip blasted into the locket, just like the white beam of Ahab's Crosshairs. The locket opened, and a black, oozing mass started to float out. Started. As soon as it left the confines of the locket, it was incinerated in the beam of pure energy unlike any magic seen on the Earth. The mass gave out a primal howl, writhing as it was reduced to nothing, its corrupted red eyes purified by the beam of white. When Eridan stopped the beam of energy, it was if there never was a locket in the first place, with only the charred floor as a reminder of what had been done. Eridan lowered his wand and placed back in the holster in his sleeve (Alastor Moody had gifted it to him a week before, with a reminder to be on CONSTANT VIGILANCE).
"The locket's gone…Kreacher has carried out Master Regulus's final order to Kreacher…" the house elf whispered, staring at the smoking floor before breaking into tears of joy and relief.
This time, Sirius joined his elf, and both previously hated enemies hugged each other as they rejoiced in this one small act of vengeance for the life of Regulus Black.
They were all gathered together in their room. Eridan's recupracoon had been moved in with the other boys, and all of them were chattering animatedly.
"This is it, tomorrow's the big day." Ron said with a grin.
"We're going back to Hogwarts." Harry breathed out, joy evident in his voice.
"Or going for the first time." Neville pointed out before turning and smiling at Eridan, "Excited?"
"You havve no idea." Eridan replied, hanging from inside his recupracoon, the soothing sopor already making his eyes droop.
This made the boys laugh a little, before Harry's mood became serious.
"Oh yeah, I'll tell you guys tonight and then fill the girls in tomorrow. We found another Parasite before dinner."
A round of muttering passed through the room.
"Another Parasite? Here?" Ron asked with wide eyes, "What happened to it?"
"I killed it." Eridan replied bluntly.
A few snickers of 'of course Eridan would kill it' resounded in the quiet room.
"And that's not all." Harry stated, earning the attention of everyone in the room, "But it was stolen from Lord Noseless by Regulus Black, Sirius's younger brother. He died to make sure that the thing could be destroyed. So, we've decided that in honor of him, we are going to form an official group to kill these Parasites to rid the world of that git forever, and call it Regulus's Legacy. All in favor?"
It took a little while for Harry's short speech to sink in, but when it did, all the room's inhabitants slowly raised their hands.
And on that last night of August, the new members of Regulus's Legacy all descended into a determined slumber.
AN:
Oni: That's all for now!
Eridan: Don't forget to Followw, Favvorite, and Revvieww.
Isaac: And check out The Adventures of Brave Heroics on Wattpad dot com!
Eridan: And wwe shall see you next time...
Isaac: My pretties! Ahahahahahahaha!
Oni: ISAAC!