Chapter 191 Kreacher, The House-elf
Leaving Mrs. Black's portrait, they passed through the door at the end of the hallway and entered the basement.
The ground floor appeared to be the kitchen. It was scarcely less gloomy than the foyer above, a cavernous room with rough stone walls.
Most of the light emanated from a large hearth at the back of the room. A haze of pipe smoke lingered in the air like battlefield smoke, through which loomed the menacing shapes of heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the dark ceiling.
Near the kitchen was a small dining area with a sink in the corner and two wooden cupboards with cobwebs on either side, filled with silver cutlery.
Beyond the musty carpet, the green marble floor could be seen engraved with beautiful patterns. In the center of the room was a table that could accommodate many seated individuals and numerous chairs. The temperature there was much lower than upstairs, and the scent of dampness and decay in the air was more pronounced.
"Come this way!" Sirius pulled back a green tapestry with the Black family emblem on the north side of the dining room, revealing a wall of black brick.
He tapped the wall with his wand and opened a hidden secret door.
Similar to the wall leading to Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron, the wall pivoted, revealing a narrow, steep staircase continuing downward.
Evan noticed a silver snake on the brickwork, but it was so dark that he wouldn't have seen it if he hadn't looked closely.
"In ancient pure-blood wizarding families, there are usually secret rooms like this, hiding some unknown family secrets," Sirius said, stooping down and entering. "This is where the Black family kept their books, at least when I left this house, they were still preserved in it..."
He spoke half of his words and stopped abruptly.
Over Sirius's shoulder, Evan saw a house-elf standing in the dark hallway.
It wasn't a decoration hanging on the wall, but a living house-elf.
He appeared very old. His skin seemed several sizes too big for him, and though bald like all house-elves, he had a quantity of white hair sprouting from his large bat-like ears.
His eyes were a reddish-gray, watery, and his fleshy nose was large and quite snout-like.
Aside from the dirty rag tied around his waist like a loincloth, he was completely naked.
Evan was stunned; this must be the house-elf Kreacher. Just as he was thinking when he would see him.
Kreacher stood like a statue, unmoving in the corner of the dark hallway.
He hunched, head held high, and gazed at Sirius Black with astonishment, his face a mix of strange and expressionless, then muttered under his breath the whole time with a hoarse, deep voice, akin to that of a toad.
"Poor old Kreacher saw something; the lost Master who had disappeared for more than ten years returned, bringing a group of young people to ruin my Mistress's house." Kreacher's voice was very slow, his eyes filled with disdain, and as he spoke, he leaned towards Sirius, as if instinctively asking him to do the same.
"It's been a long time, Kreacher, I didn't expect you to be alive." Sirius said calmly.
Though looking at a familiar face, his voice lacked a hint of joy.
"Who is he?" Harry whispered.
"Kreacher, the house-elf who serves the Black family." Sirius paused, then added, "Quite the character."
"The young master always enjoys playing some pranks, Kreacher is not crazy, Kreacher simply did not see the three young Masters." The elf bowed again to Evan, Harry, and Hermione, and then said in a very soft but clear voice, "Kreacher smells the stench of dirty blood, oh, my poor Lady, if she knew, if she knew the scum they have let into her house, what would she say to this old Kreacher, oh, the shame of it!"
"Silence, Kreacher. Never again call them dirty blood." Sirius shouted angrily.
"Calm down! This house-elf seems not to know what he's talking about." Hermione looked at Kreacher fearfully. She approached and tried to say, "Hello, Kreacher. I'm Hermione Granger. This is Evan Mason, and the one beside him is Harry Potter."
Seeing Hermione speaking to him again, Kreacher's pale eyes widened, and he muttered faster and more furiously than ever.
"The dirty blood brought by the Master is talking to Kreacher as if she were my friend. If Kreacher's Lady saw him in such company, oh, what would she say...?"
"I'll say it again, be quiet, Kreacher!" Sirius gritted through his teeth.
Upon hearing Sirius' command, Kreacher immediately shut his mouth.
He shuffled out of the dark hallway, his eyes scanning Hermione, Evan, and Harry, then widened and he started muttering again.
"Is it true? Is it Harry Potter? Kreacher can see the scar; it must be true, that's the boy who stopped the Dark Lord, Kreacher wonders how he did it..."
"We all know how it happened," Sirius stated loudly.
"Kreacher only knows that the young master has just returned from Azkaban." Kreacher's gaze returned to Sirius. "My poor lady, he swore not to acknowledge her son, and now he's back. They say he's still a killer..."
"Sirius has been proven innocent, he didn't kill anyone, he's a hero now!" Hermione explained hastily.
"You don't need to tell him that," Sirius looked at Kreacher disdainfully. "He won't listen. He used to be like this, a loathsome house-elf."
"How can the young Master say that to Kreacher? Kreacher has never done anything out of the ordinary, only obeys the Master's orders and works for the noble Black family for the rest of his life," said Kreacher, bowing again, and continuing in a low tone, "Even if the young Master didn't kill, he was an ungrateful oaf who broke his mother's heart..."
"My mother had no heart, Kreacher," Sirius snapped. "She survived purely out of spite."
"Whatever the Master says," Kreacher muttered furiously. "The young Master is not worthy to clean the mud off his mother's boots, oh, my poor Lady, what would she say if she saw the young Master back, how she despised him!"
"Enough, what are you doing here?" Sirius said with contempt, "Don't think I don't know. As soon as we entered the house, you appeared."
"Kreacher is guarding the last legacy of the Black family." Kreacher turned around Sirius and picked up the tapestry that had just been on the floor. "The young Master has returned, sowing chaos. The Lady would never forgive Kreacher if the tapestry were discarded. For seven centuries, it has been in the family; Kreacher must save it. He will not let the young Master and these three pups destroy it."