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The Shadow of Death

Chapter 27: The Locket Lies

"Kreacher."

A loud crack rent the air and the hunched form of a house elf robed in a stained pillowcase glared up at Harry. Growls vibrated deep in its throat before it bowed over, coughs wracking its frame.

Kreacher spat a glob of phlegm onto the floor. "Filthy half-blood calls for Kreacher? What does it want, Kreacher wonders?"

Albus stood from his chair and strode to stand beside Harry. The old wizard's eyes lost their glimmer as they looked down at the pitiful creature. Rotten, yellow phlegm vanished with a flick of Harry's hand.

"During the summer there was a locket that was thrown into the rubbish. Where is it?"

"Kreacher doesn't know." The elf's eyes narrowed. "Filthy mudbloods tainting the proud legacy of the Blacks, but they'll be dead soon, yes."

"I know you have been hoarding the items we tried to toss," Harry hissed. "Where is it, elf? Do not lie to me."

"Nasty half-blood isn't Kreacher's master." Kreacher raised his hand, finger and thumb poised to snap. "Mistress calls and Kreacher must leave."

Harry froze the elf with a thought; he knelt to meet its wide eyes, sneering.

"You will find me that locket elf," Harry whispered, "so I can destroy the wretched abomination. I will not suffer your foolishness."

Protuberant eyes grew as large as dinner plates. "D-destroy it? Kreacher tried…"

Harry nodded. "You know who it belongs to?"

"Him," the elf rasped. "How does the half-blood know of it?"

"I felt it." A twitch of Harry's finger lifted the spell.

Large, clouded eyes narrowed at him again. "How does Kreacher know half-blood can destroys it?"

"Because we have destroyed three already." Albus knelt next to Harry. "You can rest assured that we will destroy it, but, tell me, Kreacher, how did you come by this locket?"

Shrieked sobs rocked the elf and it collapsed to the ground in a heap. Brown snot flowed to the floor from its large, hooked nose. Harry inched back with a sneer.

"M-Master R-Regulus found the locket," it croaked. "Master ordered Kreacher to bring the locket home and l-left p-poor Master behind. They c-came from the lake and killed Master."

"Regulus…" Albus shook his head with a frown, his dark eyes gazing into nothing.

Harry stood and stepped back from the expanding pool of filth. "And you tried to destroy it."

"Kreacher failed," it spat, fat tears clearing paths on its filthy face. "No matter what Kreacher tried."

"Get us the locket, Kreacher," Harry whispered. "And we will destroy it for you."

Moments later the elf returned with the locket clutched between its spindly fingers. It eyed the two of them warily. "Kreacher will watch… Master Regulus would want Kreacher to."

Nodding, Harry reached a shaking hand toward the locket. Static shocks coursed up his arm.

"I will call for you at Hogwarts." Harry withdrew his reaching limb. "Bring the locket."

Elf and locket disappeared with a resounding crack. Shifting fabric hissed beside Harry. Turning, he sidestepped Albus's outreached hand.

"Is something wrong, Harry?" The old wizard's arm fell back to his side.

A venomous glare shot from Harry's eyes to the spot Kreacher had stood. "Something felt…wrong about that horcrux. I am not sure I know how to explain it."

"Is the locket not a horcrux?" Albus's eyes travelled up Harry's form, stopping at the fading scar on his forehead. "Do you believe Kreacher is deceiving us?"

"I am not sure." The buzz in Harry's forehead dulled to a tickle. "The locket is a horcrux, but it does not feel the same as the diadem or what was left of the journal."

Albus cleared his throat. "I should think they would not."

Crackling flame whirled about in the grate from an unseen breeze.

"What do you mean, Albus?"

"I have studied the creation of horcruxes," the headmaster replied, "and those of Tom's. Each horcrux, even from the same creator, has different magics ingrained into them due to the soul's magic intertwining with the container's. It is only logical that each horcrux would be distinct from the other."

Harry rubbed his chin. "That is the logical answer," he said with a shake of his head, "but… Apologies, Albus, I cannot explain what I'm feeling. I do not believe the elf."

"Prejudice, perhaps? You associate Kreacher with Sirius." Sorrow shot through the old wizard's eyes. "What would Kreacher have to gain by lying to us? He adored Regulus and it is obvious his inability to destroy the locket torments him. Such grief is difficult for a human to fake, much less a house elf."

'Perhaps I was mistaken?'

Albus held out his elbow. "Shall we go?"

Nodding, Harry grabbed the older wizard's proffered limb. They disappeared in a whirl, his stomach threatening to leap through his mouth the entire journey.

Harry's feet struck stone with a splash. Bile stung his throat. "I should have apparated myself… Kreacher."

The elf appeared in the bathroom with the locket in hand. "Half-blood will destroy the locket in a girl's lavatory?"

"Not here." The Headmaster pulled a crystal from his robes. "But in the Chamber of Secrets."

Sibilant hisses spat from the shuddering crystal and the sinks ground across the tile floor. Harry raised a hand to his scar, rubbing the accursed patch of skin. Inky black greeted him as he jumped into the entrance.

'Something is wrong, but what is it?'

"Leave, you are not meant to be here, to do this." Whispers bombarded him from the surrounding darkness.

Tension coiled in his gut like a mass of writhing snakes.

Crunching bone echoed around the dim chamber as they landed in a pile of skeletons. Kreacher stumbled, the locket clattering to a splashing stop a few metres away.

"Let us be done with this," the headmaster whispered.

It shuddered as Albus approached, the Sword of Gryffindor held in loose fingers at his side. Skeletons rattled and flew through the air as Kreacher scrabbled toward the locket with glazed eyes.

"Master," the elf croaked. Shadowy wisps darted from the chamber's corners.

Albus held the blade aloft. Dim light glinted off polished metal. A cacophony of shrieks bounced about; the locket fell into mad seizures. Harry's scar burned, consumed by fire.

Warnings died on the tip of his tongue. White hot daggers pierced his skull. Harry fell to his knees with a hiss.

He watched the locket, blurred by stinging tears, leap through the air.

Glinting gold links snaked around Kreacher's neck. The elf struggled to pull himself free, but the locket snaked around its neck like a python.

"Master, why?" Kreacher's bloodshot eyes bulged. Putrid purple stained its cheeks.

Glittering gold flashed; acrid, burning flesh stung Harry's nose. He struggled to his feet, swaying, but was stopped by Albus's raised hand.

The headmaster's sorrow-filled eyes watched Kreacher's struggles against the abomination. "We cannot help him, Harry."

Mouth in a silent scream, the elf thrashed. Spindly fingers snapped beneath the tightening chain. The locket burned through skin and bone. Smoke curled from Kreacher's chest. Tattered cloth seared away, unveiling bubbling skin and scorched flesh.

"Use the sword," Harry hissed. "Destroy the locket while it's distracted!"

Albus shook his head. "It will not work… Not now. Not until—"

Wrenching the sword from the Headmaster, Harry ran toward the writhing elf.

'Then I'll do it!'

He plunged the sword into the smouldering crevice in Kreacher's chest. A metallic clang rang through the chamber. The body fell still, ripples of water disappearing into an all-consuming void.

Kreacher's unseeing eyes stared up at him. Harry glared back, waiting, listening.

Smoke stung his heaving lungs. Kreacher's boiling flesh died to a simmer. Droplets of water struck pools about the chamber.

With a slow motion, Harry pulled the sword up. Black ooze dripped from its tip and tainted the water below.

He turned to Albus. "I believe it is—"

Snapping bone pierced his ears. Harry whipped around. Kreacher writhed on the ground, its face turned toward him. Black wisps flowed from the corners of its mouth.

"You won't destroy me. I've yet to fulfil my purpose." It jerked a hand toward him. "You. Are. Mine!"

The voice echoed around them, rattling Harry's bones. 'That's not Voldemort's voice.'

Kreacher's jaw wrenched open with a snap. Gold chains squeezed its neck, tinkling in the dark. Black smoke billowed from the elf's mouth and swirled around them.

It smelt of blood, of death.

"And what is your purpose?" Albus choked.

Harry looked to the Headmaster. Surprise coursed through his veins at seeing tears streaming down his face.

"Revenge," it hissed. "And you won't stand in my way."

Foetid smoke shot up Harry's nostrils. Rot seeped into his lungs. Sickening, unnatural magic. Foul ichor oozed over his skin.

Harry pushed against the sensations, but the cancer spread. It devoured him, consuming everything.

Red painted Harry's vision. His heart hammered against his ribs. Corrupted fire tore through his veins.

Smoke and ash cleared. Albus stood across the chamber, wand held in hesitant hands. Kreacher and the locket lay in front of him.

Harry grit his teeth until they chipped.

"Kill him," the voice whispered in his mind. "Kill the one who bought you like a slave, tore you from your world and caused you to suffer."

Water splashed over Harry's stumbling feet. Agony devoured him. Blood trickled from his palm and over the sword's hilt.

Fury consumed him.

"Harry." Dumbledore fell to his knees, hands clutching his hair. "It is weak. Fight it!"

Weak.

Thief.

Murderer.

Monster.

The voice shrieked, splitting his head. "KILL HIM!"

Stumbling steps echoed through the chamber. His world was flooded in flame. Harry brought another shaking hand to the sword's hilt.

"Kill him and you'll be free!"

Harry stumbled, falling to his knees. Golden light flickered amongst the fire. His arms trembled, muscles burning to ash, as he raised the sword.

Molten anger seared his bulging veins. Smoke and cinders billowed from his yelling mouth.

"You…are…weak!"

Albus's eyes widened as the sword crashed down.

Blade bit flesh.

Tormented screams cut the air.

"And I will not be controlled by the likes of you." Harry coughed. Rancid, stinging smoke burst from his mouth.

The sword slipped from his numb fingers.

A pulse of magic barreled him over. Dark water stormed over him.

The horcux's agonised screams pierced his ears through the din.

"Who was that?" he coughed.

"Regulus Black." Albus rose on popping joints. "Sirius's younger brother. A Death Eater. He disappeared without a trace during the last war."

The older wizard offered Harry his hand. He took it and was dragged to his feet.

Sneering, Harry spat on Kreacher's smouldering body. "The elf lied. And now we are no closer to finding the real horcrux."

"What is concerning is that Regulus felt the need to create a Horcrux." Albus knelt down to pluck the locket from Kreacher's smoking corpse. "Kreacher mentioned a cave…"

"A trap for Voldemort."

Fire washed over the corpse with a flick of Harry's fingers. Crackling flame danced in the Headmaster's tired eyes.

"How can you be sure?" he whispered. "Regulus was a faithful Death Eater."

Harry shrugged. "I am not sure, but a loyal Death Eater would not steal Voldemort's horcrux and replace it with a trap." He pointed at the burning body. "It was meant to kill his former master. I doubt it would have worked."

"Indeed." Albus sighed and ran a hand down his face. "If I were to hazard a guess, Regulus was slain by Voldemort and cursed to wander the Earth as a spirit. Kreacher deceived us in order to free his master."

Smouldering skin flaked from the elf to float atop the water.

"That blasted creature!" Calm flames grew to an inferno beneath Harry's fury. "Only he knew where the real locket was. He likely hid it, and now we are left with nothing!"

Harry snatched the glittering sword from the water. Robes smacked against his calves as he stormed from the chamber.

"We will find it, Harry," the headmaster mumbled.

"How?" He levelled a glare at the old wizard over his shoulder.

"I do not know."