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 first floor appeared to be the kitchen. It was hardly less gloomy than the room upstairs, a cavernous room with stone walls.

Most of the light came from a few short candles around a large fireplace at that end of the room, the walls around the pipes all blackened by smoke, and the heavy iron pots and pans hanging from the equally blackened ceiling looked grim and ghastly in the dark.

Near the kitchen was a small dining room with a sink in the corner and two cobwebbed wooden cupboards on either side, filled with silverware.

Beyond the moldy carpet, you could see that the green marble floor was etched with beautiful designs. In the center of the house was a table that could accommodate many people seated and many chairs. The temperature there was much lower than upstairs, and the smell of mold and decay in the air was more potent.

"Go this way!" Sirius pulled out a green tapestry with the black family crest on the north side of the dining room, revealing a black brick wall.

He knocked on the wall with his wand and opened a hidden secret door.

Like the wall that led to Diagon Alley through the Leaky Cauldron, the wall swirled around, revealing a narrow, steep staircase and continued down.

Ivan noticed that there was a silver snake in the brick, but it was so dark that he couldn't have noticed it if he hadn't looked carefully.

"In the old pureblood wizarding family, there are usually secret rooms, hiding some unknown family secrets." Sirius said as he bowed and entered. "This is the place where the Black family collects books, at least when I left this house, they were still kept here..."

He said half of his words, and immediately stopped.

Over Sirius' shoulder, Ivan saw a house elf standing in the dark path.

It wasn't a decoration hanging on the wall, but a living house elf.

He looked very old. His skin seemed to be several times too big for him and although he was bald like all house elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing from his large, bat-like ears.

His eyes were bloodshot and watery gray, and his fleshy nose was large and rather snout-like.

Aside from the dirty rag tied like a loincloth in the middle, he was completely naked.

Ivan was stunned; this guy should be Kreacher himself. He just wondered when he would see him.

Kreacher was like a statue, standing at the corner of the dark path.

He crouched down, head held high, and looked up at Sirius in awe, his face mingled with a strange expression that was unclear, and then he muttered under his breath in a voice as hoarse and deep as a bullfrog's, "Poor Kreacher saw something; the lost Master who had been missing for over ten years returned, leading a group of children to ruin my mistress's house."

Kreacher's voice was very slow, his eyes were full of disdain, and as he spoke, he bowed to Sirius, as if instinctively asking him to do so.

"Long time no see, Kreacher, I didn't expect you to be alive." Sirius said calmly.

Though he was meeting an acquaintance, his voice held no hint of happiness.

"Who is he?" Harry whispered.

"Kreacher, the current house elf serving the black family." Sirius paused and added, "A madman."

"The young master always likes to play pranks, Kreacher is not mad, Kreacher did not see the three young masters." The elf bowed again to Ivan, Harry and Hermione, then said in a very light but clear voice, "Kreacher smells the odor of the dirty bloods, oh my poor lady, if he knew, if he knew the scum they have let into his house, what would he say to old Kreacher?"

"Shut up Kreacher, don't call them dirty bloods in future." Sirius shouted angrily.

"All right! This house elf doesn't seem to know what he's talking about." Hermione looked at Kreacher warily. She stepped forward and tried to say, "Hello, Kreacher! I'm Hermione Granger. This is Ivan Mason, the one next to him is Harry Potter."

Seeing Hermione talking to him again, Kreacher's pale eyes widened and he muttered faster and more furiously than ever. "The dirty blood brought by the Master speaks to Kreacher as if she were his friend, if Kreacher's Mistress were to see him in such company, oh what would she say..."

"I'll say it again, shut up, Kreacher!" said Sirius, grinding his teeth.

Upon hearing Sirius' command, Kreacher immediately shut his mouth.

He stepped out of the dark path, his eyes sliding over Hermione, Ivan, and Harry, and then his eyes widened, and he began to mutter 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 was," Sirius said loudly.

"Kreacher only knows that the young master has just returned from Azkaban." Kreacher's gaze turned to Sirius. "My poor mistress, he swore not to acknowledge her son, and now he has returned. It is said that he is still a murderer..."

"Sirius proved himself innocent, he didn't kill, now he's a hero!" Hermione hastened to explain.

"You don't have to tell him this!" Sirius looked at Kreacher very upset. "He doesn't want to listen. He used to be like that, an obnoxious house elf."

"How can the young Master say that to Kreacher? Kreacher has never done anything out of the ordinary, Kreacher 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 pig who broke his mother's heart..."

"My mother had no heart, Kreacher," Sirius blurted out. "She was kept alive by pure hatred."

"Whatever the Master says," Kreacher muttered indignantly. "The young Master is not fit to wipe the drool off his mother's boots, oh my poor lady, what would he say if he saw the young Master back, how he would hate him?"

"Stop it, what are you doing here?" Sirius said scornfully, "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 whirled around Sirius and picked up the tapestry that had just been on the floor. "The young Master is back, and he's wreaking havoc. Mistress would never forgive Kreacher if the tapestry was thrown away. For seven centuries it has been in the family, Kreacher must save it. Kreacher will not let the young Master and these three pups destroy it."