"Can anyone tell me how that house-elf has such a respectful attitude towards Maca?"

Harry looked blankly at the others, only to find that everyone had a "I want to know too" expressions, and scratched his scalp in confusion.

At this moment, a sound of footsteps came from the corner of the corridor on the first floor, followed by a familiar voice.

“…… I think there's always a reason for that. ”

"Sirius?" Harry hurriedly turned his head to look over there.

"Ignore Kreacher, he's been alone for too long," Sirius said absentmindedly as he walked briskly, "...... From my mother's portraits, he took some crazy orders and spoke to himself, but he used to be a nasty little -"

"What if you set him free?" Hermione said hopefully, "Maybe—"

"We can't set him free, he knows too much about the Order of the Phoenix." Sirius said roughly, passing by the children, "And, aren't you angry that he calls you Mudbloods?" ”

"It's okay," Hermione whispered, "he's not in his right mind, he doesn't know he's saying—"

"Don't kid yourself, Hermione, he knows exactly what he's talking about." Fred said angrily.

By this time, Sirius had reached the corner of the stairs, and he suddenly turned back and dropped his last words.

"Anyway, the fright alone will kill him - if you don't believe me, you can try asking him to leave the house and see how he reacts."

Hermione, who was well versed in the history of magic, knew what it would be like, and for the house-elves, it would be depriving them of the meaning of existence.

Compared with the elves in ancient times, there may not be a difference in appearance between them, but in their hearts, they are already two completely different creatures.

From the moment sensibility and reason began to fight, Hermione was no longer the naïve little girl who only had "black" and "white" in her eyes.

"I'm so stupid!" Hermione took a deep breath and stomped her foot hard.

Harry and the others looked at her in surprise, but she just shook her head and headed to the kitchen.

"What's wrong with her?" Harry said strangely.

Ron shrugged his shoulders blankly, pondering for a moment before guessing, "Is Hermione really going to find a way to give Kreacher freedom?" ”

"Oh-" Harry nodded immediately, "with her character, it's really possible." ”

……

By the time Harry had gone to the kitchen for breakfast, Sirius had already knocked on the study door.

"Please come in."

The door opened, and Sirius strode in, staring directly at Maca, as if to read something in his face.

"What's wrong?" Maca looked up from behind the pile of books on her desk, confused.

Sirius was silent for a moment before frowning, "Are you hiding something from me?" ”

The atmosphere became a little serious, and Lennie, who was lying on the sofa on the other side of the book copying, glanced curiously and secretly glanced this way, and then quickly lowered her head.

"There's a lot to hide from you," Maca thought for a moment, then stood up again, "Let's go!" Let's have a good chat in a different place...... Kreacher! ”

Before the words fell, the space in the middle of the study was slightly distorted, and the elderly house-elf appeared with his back hunched.

"Honorable Mr. McLean, may I ask you what is the matter with your name Old Kreacher?"

This loyal house-elf of the Black family, with his back to Sirius, is very respectful to Maca.

"Kreacher! What's going on? Why are you-"

"I'm sorry, young master......" Kreacher heard the voice, and immediately turned his head and bowed deeply, "Old Kreacher didn't see the young master here just now......"

Although he said this, his expression was one of disgust, as if he had seen something dirty.

"The young master is a nasty, ungrateful, and obscene billet who has broken his mother's heart—" Kreacher muttered in a low voice again, as if he really thought no one else could hear him.

"My mother has no heart, Kreacher," Sirius said coldly, "she's kept alive by resentment. ”

Kreacher bowed again, following the unique rules of the Black family that house-elves must bow when talking to their masters.

"Whatever the young master says," Kreacher muttered indignantly again, "the young master is not even worthy to give his mother a heel suck, oh, my poor mistress, if—"

"Alright, Kreacher." Maca interrupted him and gestured towards the door, "Sirius, let's go to the living room on the second floor and talk......"

In this old house, only the living room and one other room have not been touched.

Although Maca felt that it was not necessarily necessary for Sirius to know certain facts, it was not interesting to cover up this kind of thing, and saying it would make Sirius feel less guilty about himself......

It was a long, high-ceilinged room on the second floor, with filthy tapestries hanging from the olive-green walls.

When they put their feet on the carpet, a small cloud of dust is raised, and the long, yellow-green velvet curtains buzz as if there were many invisible bees flying inside.

"That curtain is full of foxes, and you can collect them as potion materials when you turn around." As she passed the curtain, Maca smiled.

Sirius, however, didn't bother with such a little joke.

Maca didn't care, he walked straight to the other end of the room, and carefully examined the huge tapestry that covered the entire wall.

The tapestry looked very old, and its color had faded, as if the fox had chewed it in several places.

However, the gold thread embroidered on it still shines, and it is embroidered with a map of a flourishing family tree, and the branches and leaves are extremely detailed.

On the top of the tapestry are several large letters: The noble and oldest Black family is forever pure.

Without further ado, Maca reached out and pointed to a name at the bottom: Regulus Black.

After his date of birth, there is a definite date of death, which was about fifteen years ago.

"This is your brother." Maca stated this fact in a flat tone.

"yes, so what?" Sirius said, "What do you want to say?" ”

"He joined the Death Eaters." Maca said again.

"yes...... Oh, yes! 'They' believed that Voldemort's claims were correct, and 'they' were all in favor of maintaining the purity of the wizarding bloodline, getting rid of Muggle-borns and leaving pure-bloods in power. ”

"Hmph—I suppose 'they' must have thought that Regulus was a brave little hero when he joined them in the first place, right?"

Sirius said irritably, and by "they" he meant not only the rest of the Black family, but also his parents!

“…… So? He looked at the genealogy and said, "What happened to Regulus?" ”

"Remember what state he ended up in?" "I mean, after Voldemort showed that he would do anything to gain power. ”

Under Maca's question, Sirius gradually showed a look of remembrance.

“…… He was already deep at the time, and then ...... He was terrified of what others were asking him to do, and he wanted to quit...... Hmph, my stupid brother has a good talent for magic, but nowhere near as ...... as you."

He paused, shook his head again, and said, "He can't hand over a resignation report to Voldemort and finish the matter, if he doesn't have the strength to break free, he will either die for life, or he will have to die!" ”

"Yes! He had only one way to die," Maca nodded, but her voice changed halfway through, "...... But he didn't choose to wait for death honestly. ”

"What do you mean?" Sirius turned her head sharply, her eyes fixed on the side of Maca's face.

"Your brother Regulus, he-"

"Can't tell!"

Kreacher, the house-elf who had always only whispered, shouted for the first time, and that hoarse shouting was only to stop Maca from telling the truth that should have been buried.

"Obey Young Master Regulus's orders, and you can't say to anyone in the Venerable Black family, this is Young Master Regulus's last order!"

Kreacher's sharp, rough voice seemed to rub against Sirius's nerves.

"Kreacher, I command—" Sirius. ”

Maca waved her hand at Sirius, and then continued, "Kreacher, it's your business to keep your master's secrets, you don't need to say it—but it's obviously okay for me to say it. ”

Kreacher swallowed hard, his bony chest rising and falling rapidly, and then he closed his eyes suddenly, and said no more.

"Sirius, there's a secret about Voldemort about this," Maca said calmly, "so far, only Dumbledore and I know about it, so it's not appropriate to reveal it for now...... So I can only tell you a part of it about your brother. ”

Sirius took a deep breath and regrouped before nodding.

In fact, since Maca has already said this, he actually has some premonitions. I'm afraid that my brother has also done something that no one expected.

But whether it's a good thing or a bad thing makes people hesitate.

"Say it!" Sirius said.

Maca reached out and touched the name on the tapestry, and the uneven embroidery marks seemed to tell everything back then.

"At that time...... About a year after your brother joined the ranks of the Death Eaters, Voldemort told his Death Eaters that he needed a house-elf. So, your brother took the initiative to recommend Kreacher to Voldemort......"

"At that time, it should have been at a time when Voldemort had not revealed his ambitions."

"Really?" Sirius narrowed his eyes and said, "That's really enthusiastic...... My stupid brother ......"