A faint glow flickered, and with a direct impact from Ammosta's magic, Kriche was propelled back to the ground. However, before anyone could stop it, Kriche leaped up again. This time, instead of attacking Ammosta, he dashed straight to the fiery furnace, pulled out the poker, and began to strike himself with it.
The scorching hot poker hit Kriche's weeping and streaming tears, causing his pale skin to immediately appear with shocking black burns in a row. At the same time, an unpleasant burnt smell emerged.
Ammostat did not move, but he immediately understood that Kriche probably knew something about the pendant.
"What are you doing!"
Remus quickly pulled out his wand and swung it violently, snatching away Kriche's poker. Little Sirius, recovering from the shock, also loudly growled and rushed forward. He picked up Kriche and held him down on the table."
"Stop! I command you to stop! Do not harm yourself anymore!"
Kriche immediately froze, lying stiffly on the tableboard, staring at the pendant box in Ammosta's hand, tears streaming out of his sunken eyes.
Little Sirius was not the first to see Kriche go crazy, but he had never seen this tiny gnome who was so loyal to the Black family go mad in this way. He glared at Kriche, his rough hands still not moving away from Kriche's neck, not because of their offending, but because of what Kriche had just shrieked out.
"My brother's pendant, do you know anything about it, Kriche? I command you to tell me everything!"
"Let it go, Little Sirius -"
Remus grabbed Sirius' wrist, and then addressed Kriche, who sat up.
"Don't misunderstand, Kriche, we are not out to take away Regulus'... relic. We only want to know how he came by this pendant. Don't you think you might know something about it?"
Kriche retreated backwards on the table, instinctively avoiding Remus' hand reaching out to help him. Ignoring Little Sirius' angry gaze, he stared fixedly at the pendant box in Ammosta's hand. He had nothing to say, but Little Sirius' direct command left him with no choice. So, he curled up into a ball, placing his damp face on his knees and began to shake back and forth.
When it began to speak, its voice was deep and muffled, but it was audible in the quiet, echoing kitchen
"Little Sirius, the young master who was not to blame, has escaped..."
Kriche's first words made Little Sirius' face turn black, but both Amostta and Remus simultaneously stopped him from getting angry with a look.
"--His actions broke the mistress's heart, but Sir Regulus had self-respect. He knew what the surname Black and his pureblood heritage meant."
For many years, he often talked about Lord Voldemort, how he wanted wizards to no longer have to hide and could come out to rule over Muggles and their descendants. At the age of sixteen, Sir Regulus joined Voldemort's organization with pride and joy--to serve Lord Voldemort.
Hmph!
Little Sirius sneered coldly, but his eyes were filled with endless sorrow.
"Get to the point."
Amostta interrupted Kriche's praise for Regulus and the Black Lord,
"Please tell us the whole story in the simplest way possible, Kriche."
Kriche trembled in fear, and as a magical creature, its 'sensory perception' was more acute than that of an average wizard. It could faintly sense the uniqueness of Ammosta, not to mention that this young man also had the authority to command it.
"After that year, one day, Sir Regulus came to the kitchen to see me, Kriche. Sir Regulus liked me."
As if reminded by Ammosta's command, Kriche shook his head, wiped his tears and suddenly changed the subject,
"Lord Voldemort needed a house-elf, and Sir Regulus offered up Kriche."
"What does Voldemort want with a house-elf?"
Remus couldn't help but ask, "Werewolves, giants, vampires, Death Eaters. Many dark creatures are Voldemort's supporters. Does he not have enough hands?"
Remus's curiosity was quickly answered as the story progressed, and it seemed as if they were following Kriche back to a large rock cave by the seaside, which Muggles could not land on, many years ago.
Little Sirius' breathing grew heavier, his face turning dark purple as he stared fiercely at Kriche. His clenched fists showed blue veins on his back, as if he were eager to pummel Kriche at any moment. Remus's expression was also the most serious it had ever been. By accident, they had learned about a strange past of Lord Voldemort, which might be connected to his deepest secrets.
The story of the young man named Regulus was indeed commendable, and even Ammosta felt a sense of admiration. But by the end of the story, he had already begun to ponder other questions.
Dumbledore was looking for Voldemort's Horcruxes, and his method was to trace Voldemort's life in the wizarding world in hopes of finding clues.
Hmm. Voldemort gave the diary to Lucius Malfoy and had Regulus Black involved in hiding the pendant. Could he be treating this as a form of employee benefit, making each of his loyal Death Eaters partake in such matters?
As he spoke, Amostta seemed to have some difficulty understanding this behavior.
He has never made a Horcrux, but if he wants to create one, he will not expose his soul location everywhere. Perhaps, he may hide his soul fragments in an unremarkable stone and secretly sink it to the Mariana Trench.
Perhaps, the splitting of his soul too many times has led to his mind going haywire?
"--Sir Regulus took out a pendant box from his pocket, which was the same as Lord Voldemort's."
Kriche stared at the pendant box in Ammosta's hand, tears streaming down his long snout.
"He ordered Kriche to hold it, and to exchange the pendant box once the stone basin dried."
Kriche's sobs became rough and piercing, requiring the full attention of Remus and Little Sirius to understand what he was saying.
"He commanded - Kriche to leave - not to interfere with him. He didn't want Kriche to tell the mistress about what he had done. But he wanted Kriche to destroy Lord Voldemort's pendant box. Kriche exchanged the pendant boxes -- watching in horror as the young master was dragged underwater. Then, uh!"
Kriche fell face down on the table, bellowing at the top of his lungs like a frog, and began to wail loudly.
As Kriche recounted the past, the candles on the candlestand one by one went out. Now there was only one flickering candle left, unsteady.
Little Sirius's face turned pale, and his eyes were blank, as if he had been hit by a Patronus.
"Did you ever try to destroy the pendant box, Kriche?"
Remus reached out his hand, but as he touched it, Kriche ducked away as if he had been electrocuted. Tears were streaming down his face as he muttered something unintelligible.
"Disgraceful wolf brat touched Kriche, Kriche does not allow it. What would the mistress say?"
Remus couldn't help but smile bitterly, and there was no other expression on his face.
"Answer the question--"
Amostta stared at the runic symbols encircling the pendant box, his expression thoughtful.
Hogwarts is the cutting edge of the wizarding world, and certainly the best place to learn about the ancient Runes. However, even the most knowledgeable wizard cannot claim to fully understand these magic writings from a time before recorded history, which may hold secrets beyond our imagining.
Amostta didn't know the meaning of this mysterious symbol, but he did feel familiar with these characters. Because previously, he had held Ravenclaw's diadem for a while, and he had seen similar characters on it.
Little Sirius's expression was rigid, and he commanded Kriche to answer Remus's question in a murmur. So, Kriche howled with unimaginable pain while also struggling to hold back his sobs.
"Kriche couldn't leave a trace on it. He tried many methods, but none of them worked. Kriche punished himself, trying again and again, but it still didn't work. The box had so much powerful magic on it that Kriche believed he could only destroy it from the inside. Kriche failed to carry out the command, Kriche couldn't destroy the pendant box, Kriche betrayed Sir Regulus."
"You still dare to talk about Regulus!"
Little Sirius erupted suddenly; had it not been for Remus' timely intervention, he would have strangled Kriche to death.
"Why didn't you tell me all this at the time, Kriche, why!?"
He was only seventeen years old, just coming of age, and you just watched him being dragged down to his death!”
(Chapter ends)
