Chapter 201
Cleaning the Old House
Chapter 201 Cleaning the Old House
Vader had no idea what Sirius and Kreacher had talked about, nor did he know how much of a role Harry and Lupin played in it.
Anyway, when Dumbledore hurried over, Kreacher respectfully took out a golden locket.
It was the size of an egg, with green gemstones inlaid to form a gorgeous "S" and a long gold chain attached to the back.
Sirius looked at this thing with a look of disgust and hatred on his face. He did not reach out to take it, but motioned Kreacher to give it directly to Dumbledore.
Lupin put his hand on his shoulder and patted him gently.
Kreacher held the golden locket and asked Dumbledore in a hoarse voice: "Kreacher did not complete the task... Can you destroy it?"
"Of course, I swear."
Dumbledore, who had already heard Lupin's account of the whole thing, said seriously, looking down at the house-elf, "I will not let Regulus' sacrifice go to waste."
Kreacher sobbed and placed the locket in Dumbledore's hands.
Dumbledore looked at the Horcrux with an unfathomable expression. It lay quietly in his hand like an ordinary tool, without any reaction.
He changed his gestures and whispered a spell that no one could understand. After a long while, he said:
"Ordinary spells and attacks are indeed useless to it. Even if it is burned or hit by heavy objects, the locket will not change. Voldemort has cast a very powerful protective spell on it."
Kreacher looked a little uneasy and looked around.
But no one in the room - Dumbledore, Lupin, Sirius, Wade, Harry - had any fear of that name.
Kreacher quietly straightened his chest, trying to appear as calm as everyone else.
Before, from what Sirius and Lupin said, he finally understood that the reason Regulus died was because he changed his mind and decided to resist Voldemort.
In this way, Voldemort is Kreacher's enemy, and he told himself not to be afraid.
"So..." Lupin looked at Wade and asked Dumbledore, "We still have to use Fiendfyre?"
"At present, it seems that Fiendfyre is an effective means for the drow, but it is not necessarily the only means."
Dumbledore pondered and said, "But after the Fiendfyre, nothing will be left, and we will lose the possibility of obtaining more intelligence..."
"It seems clear that Voldemort made more than one...but the question is, how many?"
Everyone was silent.
Harry didn't understand. He looked around but didn't interrupt. He decided to ask Remus after it was over.
Compared to Wade, Harry always felt like he had walked in by mistake. He was afraid that once he opened his mouth, everyone would realize that there was someone here who shouldn't be involved, and would kick him out.
Kreacher was more used to silence than Harry, so he listened quietly beside them, his eyes occasionally glancing at the locket.
"Sirius, Kreacher," Dumbledore said, "Please allow me to study this locket for a while. I think it may tell us a lot... When it is time to destroy it, I will definitely invite you two to participate."
"Okay," Sirius said in a low, curt voice.
Kreacher also nodded vigorously.
……
Michael and the others didn't know Dumbledore had been here. They rested in the dirty kitchen for a while and wanted to make themselves a cup of tea, but they didn't know where to start. Fortunately, there was some butter beer and food that Lupin bought from outside. They ate some and filled their stomachs. They looked at each other and didn't have the courage to continue working.
Finally, Hermione stood up first.
She clapped her hands and said, "Come on, everyone! At least we have to have a place to sleep first, right?"
"Makes sense."
Theo and Ryan both rolled up their sleeves and prepared to work, while Neville stood up to find a brush.
Michael raised his hand and said, "I'm not being lazy...but there's not much detergent left in the storeroom. I want to go to Diagon Alley and buy two buckets..."
Fred said, "Two buckets won't be enough. We need at least five buckets! But you can't carry them all by yourself. Why don't I help?"
"I also……"
Several arms were raised at once, they looked at each other, and then put their hands down awkwardly.
Hermione said angrily: "We promised Harry to help! Do you want to escape at the last minute?"
At this time, the kitchen door was pushed open from the outside.
"So you're all here." Wade said as he stood at the door. "We're going to clean up the kitchen, living room, and bedroom first, so we can at least have a place to rest normally. What do you think?"
"Ahem." Michael coughed dryly, stood up and said, "It's like this, Wade. Fred and I are going to Diagon Alley to buy some cleaning agents first..."
"Oh, no thanks." Wade said with a smile, "I brought enough cleaning agents and cleaning tools, all of which are my own work. I guarantee that the quality is better than those in Diagon Alley."
"You brought it!" Michael shouted in shock, then lowered his voice and said, "Why didn't I see it when I walked in just now?"
As he spoke, he walked out of the kitchen and was stunned.
Lupin, Harry and Sirius were using a levitation charm together, and all the messy things in the living room were floating in the air, some of which were gently colliding.
Kreacher directed the old carpet to roll itself up, and a dozen cleaning crabs lined up neatly, like an army, and scrubbed the floor clean until it looked brand new in just a few passes.
There was a crab the size of a golden retriever that swallowed all the garbage into its stomach, leaving behind black balls the size of basketballs.
Another little crab followed, carrying the black balls out of the living room and piling them in the weed-covered yard.
Kreacher laid down the new carpet, and the old furniture fell to the floor one by one. Miraculously, as they fell, the dirt on them disappeared.
The tables and chairs were as clean as if they had just been painted, and the tea sets and plates were shiny, as if they had been carefully wiped...
Look carefully, it has just been cleaned!
At a glance, there are countless little dolls as big as fists working on the furniture. They are like industrious bees, washing, brushing and wiping tirelessly.
There were also a few puppets carrying marble-sized water tanks and holding up spray nozzles, spraying furniture with great concentration. The varnish in the tanks seemed to be endless, and they kept spraying without stopping.
Just as everyone opened the door and came out, the cleaning crabs and little dolls also rushed into the kitchen, holding small rags and waving small brushes, and started a new round of cleaning work.
"Who can help?" Wade made a pile of pots and pans float up, and turned around and said, "I can't handle so many things in the kitchen by myself."
(End of this chapter)