Chapter 683: Chapter 683: We Will Definitely Pay the Price (Edited)
At noon, Tom and Hermione cooked together. They entered the kitchen and prepared a modest yet entirely safe lunch.
Tom was genuinely concerned about Kreacher's mental state and the hygiene of the Black family's kitchen. With these two unstable factors, this meal would probably be cleaner and healthier than Indian street food.
Sirius instantly realized what Tom was thinking.
He felt a bit uncomfortable; initially, he had intended to invite them for a meal, but the guests ended up cooking themselves!
So, while muttering about how clean the kitchen was, he tried to help a bit. But as the young heir of the Black family, Sirius had never cooked before: as a child, they had Kreacher for that; while at Hogwarts, he ate in the Great Hall; after graduation, the Ministry of Magic took care of his food and lodging. How would he have had the chance to learn to cook?
The result was that his assistance only caused more chaos than help.
Fortunately, both Tom and Hermione were competent, so lunch was prepared without any hiccups.
What reassured Tom was that, at the very least, the kitchen was clean, free of unwanted insects or magical creatures, and all the cooking utensils gleamed.
This was somewhat unusual, given the surrounding environment.
Lupin offered an explanation: on the day they moved in, they focused on cleaning two particular places - their bedroom and the dining room - and only moved in after these places were spotless.
Tom suddenly realized. It made sense; Sirius and Lupin had been living there for a while, so they could ensure the key places were clean.
Finally, Tom brought a pot of curry to the table.
A delicious, steaming curry dish was ideal for a shared meal. And the remarkable feature of curry as a seasoning was that, by simply changing the meat added, you could create a completely new dish: chicken curry, beef curry, seafood curry, vegetarian curry.
Tom suddenly presented four different dishes.
As for side dishes, they had rice, pancakes, and bread.
"It's quite abundant," Sirius said with satisfaction as he looked at the delicious food on the table and smiled.
While everyone enjoyed the meal, Tom suddenly said, "Regulus was a Gryffindor."
Sirius: ?
A question mark appeared over his head.
"Tom, haven't we had any alcohol? How can you say such nonsense?" Sirius took the silver teapot in front of Tom and examined it to ensure it only contained black tea.
"He really was a Gryffindor," Hermione agreed with Tom, then offered her own explanation. "If I'm not mistaken, the name Regulus, just like the name Sirius, comes from a star... Regulus is the brightest star in Leo and is also located in the 'heart' of Leo. In that sense, he was a Gryffindor indeed."
Sirius smiled and shook his head. "I never imagined they would have that interpretation. It sounds reasonable, but I still think he was a true Slytherin."
The Slytherin tradition wasn't about pure-blood status, but about ambition, cunning, valuing honor, knowing how to read the moment and protect oneself, and putting victory above all else. After Voldemort's appearance, the true spirit of Slytherin was on the brink of extinction.
The good traditions disappeared, leaving only the infamous pure-blood ideology.
It's a case of the bad ones driving out the good.
After lunch, everyone reclined in their chairs, savoring the delicious meal they had just enjoyed.
"Yodel, you have an incredible culinary talent!" Sirius exclaimed contentedly. "By the way, do you have any idea how to destroy this?"
Tom took the silver locket that was on the table. He didn't carry it with him because he could feel how the locket affected his emotions, magnifying certain negative feelings, making him more irritable and prone to depression.
Even without being "activated," it already had such power, which showed it was an authentic Horcrux created by Voldemort at his peak. If a Horcrux like the diary could absorb a wizard's soul strength, imagine the chaos this one could cause.
Upon closer examination, Tom noticed something special about the locket: there were a series of tiny runic symbols on its surface, forming a powerful protective spell, making the Horcrux extremely resistant to destruction.
"Kreacher said he tried every possible way, like throwing it into the fire, hitting it with a hammer, and even using destructive elfin spells, but it didn't even scratch it. What do you plan to do?" Sirius looked at the Horcrux with concern.
Tom, of course, planned to hand it over to Dumbledore and let him use Gryffindor's sword to destroy it.
"The sword? Will it work?" Sirius frowned. He remembered that Kreacher had mentioned the locket's surface was invulnerable.
"Just opening the locket should do it; the inner part shouldn't be as resistant."
"But it seems like it won't open." Sirius tried, but the locket didn't open.
"It should open once it's activated; it surely needs Parseltongue for that; that's its standard operation," Tom sighed, considering the precautions Voldemort had taken to protect his Horcruxes.
He did everything he could.
Slytherin's locket was hidden in the cave, protected by numerous spells, and was almost indestructible. Only someone who could speak Parseltongue could open it. With so many layers of protection, theoretically, the Horcrux should be unbreakable. But unfortunately, things don't always go as planned.
The Ravenclaw diadem was hidden in the Room of Requirement. The Room of Requirement was already quite hard to find, and with all the objects accumulated over the centuries, finding the diadem there would be like looking for a needle in a haystack. And, as a result, he encountered his arch-nemesis, Harry Potter...
Probably because he carried a fragment of Voldemort's soul, Harry always stumbled upon Horcruxes in incredibly unlikely situations.
In the original timeline, Harry saw Hufflepuff's cup on his first look; he saw Ravenclaw's diadem by accident in his sixth year when he hid Snape's textbook next to it; he found Slytherin's locket when cleaning the Black house...
It couldn't be explained away as mere coincidence anymore.
It can only be said that Horcruxes attract each other.
Sirius had no idea about all these complications, and he was already starting to feel anxious.
"Who could use Parseltongue nowadays? The descendants of Slytherin have died out!"
"Trust Dumbledore; he's sure to figure it out," Tom reassured Sirius.
"I hope so," Sirius frowned, somewhat incredulous.
After chatting for a while, Tom and Hermione left Sirius Black's house and headed back to Hogwarts.
After leaving Sirius's house, Tom and Hermione chose to take the subway back to the Leaky Cauldron.
In the subway, Hermione couldn't stop frowning.
"What's wrong, dear?" Tom wrapped his arm around Hermione's shoulder and whispered in her ear, "Frowning all the time will give you forehead wrinkles."
Hermione simply rested her head on Tom's shoulder and said wistfully, "What do you think Kreacher is to Sirius?"
Tom thought for a moment and considered that, until today, Sirius definitely hadn't regarded Kreacher as a "person." After today, he wasn't so sure.
But he couldn't blame Sirius either, as his attitude toward house-elves was determined by his upbringing and the widespread belief in the wizarding world. Almost no wizard regarded house-elves as beings with emotions; in the collective consciousness, they were simply useful, loyal tools that reflected a family's nobility.
Perhaps only Dumbledore and Hermione would consider house-elves as people.
"I hope the story Kreacher told today can touch Sirius. He really wasn't kind to Kreacher," Tom thought, remembering how Sirius had snatched the locket from Kreacher a while ago. He felt that hope was scarce.
In Sirius's eyes, everything in Grimmauld Place 12, including Kreacher, was a source of disgust, and Kreacher was no exception. It was already an achievement that Sirius hadn't kicked him out of the house, considering how many secrets he knew.
"Sirius will pay the price, and not just him, but all the wizards who enslaved house-elves. They never regarded house-elves as beings with emotions similar to humans," Hermione said with concern. "They will have to pay the price for how they treated house-elves. Voldemort has already paid that price; who will be next? Sirius? Or perhaps us?"
"You're overthinking it," Tom teased while tapping Hermione's upturned nose. He was trying to cheer her up a bit.
To him, the countermeasures left behind by ancient wizards were almost perfect, theories that could rival the caste system of "misery in this life will make you a superior man in the next."
The best shackles were not physical chains but emotional restraints.
House-elves were extremely skilled in combat; could wizards suppress a house-elf rebellion right now? With the level of wizards today, they probably couldn't.
The fact that Lucius Malfoy could be overpowered by the house-elf from his own house in a single move said a lot. If you considered that the hundreds of house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen were equivalent to hundreds of adult wizards...
It could only be said that ancient wizards were experts.
The rule in the Wand Use and Control Law that said "magical beings other than wizards are prohibited from owning a wand" must have triggered a bloodbath in its time. Those coercive measures left by ancient wizards had terrified all non-magical magical creatures, preventing them from daring to touch a wand.
Imagine this, if house-elves were so skilled even without a wand, but if they had a magical wand... Wizards better pray that house-elves can't use wands made by wizards.
If ancient wizards had chosen to violently chain house-elves, it's likely that house-elves would have already obtained their freedom through ongoing struggle.
The wisdom of the ancients really surpassed imagination; they managed to tame these powerful magical creatures by distorting house-elves' values.
Many wizards found certain behaviors unacceptable, but for house-elves, things like "no holidays, no salary, absolute obedience to the orders of wizards" were as natural in their minds as "paid holidays, health insurance, punctual salary" was for others.
It was astonishing.
Similar things have also been done by Muggles. Both were colonial empires, but the influence left by Britain in its colonies did not compare to that left by France in theirs. Why?
One used military conquest and oppression, while the other chose cultural assimilation. The difference lies in breaking the chains in the hands and the chains in the mind; this is the tricky part.
"What do you think?" Hermione asked seriously, looking at Tom intently until he looked away. "The United States had racial segregation until the sixties, but now there is equality, right? I feel like in the future, those people will pay the price; can wizards be the exception?"
The girl's voice was clear and melodious, captivating the hearts of those who heard her. Hermione was like that; she radiated charm all around.
Tom looked at her serious face and heard her sweet voice, and his heart skipped a beat.
"So, what do you plan to do?" he asked gently.
"Free the house-elves, give them their freedom. Tom, can you help me, can't you? If we work together..."
"I'm sorry, but in this matter, I can't agree."
"That's, I... What? What did you say?" Hermione looked at Tom in astonishment, her eyes filled with surprise. She would never have imagined that Tom didn't share her same stance on this matter.
"So, you're comfortable just enjoying slave labor?" Her voice grew cold.
Tom: ...
Did I just put my foot in it?
"That's not what I mean..."
"Then what do you mean?"
Tom felt a cold sweat on his forehead. This was the first time they had argued since they got together, and he felt like everything was getting complicated.
He had tasted the sweetness of love, and now he was tasting the bitterness.
Dumbledore, I need your help!
Tom's mind worked quickly, and a name came to his mind.
"Do you think Professor Dumbledore doesn't know about the living conditions of house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen?" Tom stroked Hermione's hair, trying to calm her down. "Of course, I support you, I've always supported you, but we must understand in advance why Professor Dumbledore hasn't made the same decision as you."
Hearing that Tom supported her made Hermione feel a little better, and then she became intrigued by the question Tom had raised.
Yes, why hadn't Professor Dumbledore taken any action?
Surely he was aware of their existence, which made his attitude questionable.
In Hermione's mind, Dumbledore hadn't taken any measures.
Was he less kind? Hermione shook her head, denying that possibility.
So why?
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