There was a soft "pop" sound, startling both Ron and Harry who were opening gifts.

"Merry Christmas boys."

They were twin brothers who had just passed the Apparition exam. They were looking at the three people in front of them happily, as if nothing could bother them.

"Listen to my advice and don't go downstairs just yet."

"Why?"

"Mum was yelling downstairs and she was crying again." Fred shook his head. "Percy sent the Christmas jumper shirt back."

"Didn't even write a note." George spat, "Who does he think he is??"

"We tried to comfort her and make her think that Percy was just a piece of mouse shit." Fred walked over to Harry and picked up a painting, which was the gift Dobby gave him.

"But it's useless. Dad is trying to persuade her now." George said, "So until her mood stabilizes, it's best for us to stay here."

This is the first time Louis has heard about the contradictions within the Weasley family head-on. But Percy is not bad at heart. He just yearns for the power of the Ministry of Magic. It is probably only when Voldemort takes control of the entire Ministry of Magic that this idiot can wake up.

Bar.

"Hey, who is this painting?" Fred stared at the painting in front of him with interest, "Does it look like a miniature version of the Four-Eyed Troll?"

"That's Harry." George pointed to the back of the painting, "At least that's what it says on the back."

"Then this is quite similar." Fred said pretending to be serious, and then several people laughed. In the laughter, Harry smashed the homework book Hermione gave him, and Fred dodged.

, the book mounted on the wall made a violent groaning sound.

After a few minutes, the noise downstairs subsided a little, and a few boys came out of the room, and happened to meet the girls who had finished opening their gifts.

"Thank you for the gift, Harry." Hermione said, "And Ron and Louis, you are really good at choosing things."

"No problem." Ron waved his hand, looked at the large and small boxes held by Hermione and other girls and asked:

"what is that?"

"It's for Kreacher," Hermione explained. "I forgot to take it out when I came downstairs this morning. House elves need gifts too, don't they?"

"It can't be clothes, right?" Ron immediately warned, "You know what Sirius said, we can't let Kreacher go free, he knows too much."

"Of course not." Hermione shook her head, "Those are some quilts patched with old socks and some gadgets. We are about to send them to his bedroom."

Except for Louis, no one present understood Hermione's intentions at all. Giving gifts to house elves was simply ridiculous.

"Bedroom? What bedroom?"

"That's where he lives." Hermione said, "I asked Sirius a few days ago. Well, it's not a bedroom. It can only be regarded as a nest, under the boiler in the kitchen cabinet."

Hermione's words aroused everyone's strong curiosity. Anyway, it was still early. Mrs. Weasley had just recovered from Percy's stimulation. Dinner might take some time. The few of them discussed it with Hermione.

Let's go under the kitchen to look for Kreacher.

"Thank you for the gift, Astoria. I like it very much."

On the way to the boiler room, Louis deliberately walked with Astoria. The girl nodded shyly, and then caught a glimpse of the pendant on his chest. For a moment, she didn't know whether she was happy or shy.

Going all the way down from the basement stairs, there is a dark room.

Except for Louis and Harry, no one else had been here before, and the Weasley family, who had lived in the Burrow for a long time, had never seen such a difficult place.

"This is its room?"

"Yes." Hermione was a little nervous, "Do you think we should knock on the door or something, um, be polite."

She knocked on the door, but there was no sound from inside.

"Maybe it slipped upstairs," Ron said, and he opened the door without hesitation.

There seemed to be the sound of pots and pans clattering, and the children saw that the small closet was full of things.

Kreacher made a small open space for himself in this place so that he could sleep. They even saw some food scraps, which were the unwanted things they had eaten before, and some Sirius asked for

Blake's old things thrown away.

If Louis hadn't accidentally discovered the locket in Regulus' room last summer, the Horcrux would probably be here now.

"Let's leave the gift," Astoria suggested, "let him know we were here..."

"You little guys, are you looking for Kreacher??"

There was a sound of an adult man coming from behind. Hermione had just put the gift on the ground when she turned around and found a scary face staring at them.

It was Cyril, who appeared behind everyone at some point.

"I'm giving him gifts and helping to do what Sirius should do." Hermione explained, with some dissatisfaction in her tone, "Do you know where Kreacher is?"

"You should help Mrs. Weasley prepare dinner in the kitchen. Many people will be here tonight." Cyril said while waving his wand, as if he was looking for something in the cupboard.

"Ha, yes." Cyril's expression was very happy, as if he had discovered something in his memories.

It was an old pot that was all red. The color looked like it had been there for many years, and it was more like a Muggle product that appeared in the last half century.

"Sirius always talked about the Christmas turkey that his mother used to cook in this magic pot for him when he was a child, although the two of them had a very unhappy time later." Cyril spread his hands, not knowing who he was telling.

However, just as he was using magic to get the pot, he brought out a photo from Kreacher's cupboard. It was a family portrait of the Black family. The young faces of Sirius and the missing but still alive Regulus were vividly visible.

superior.

The most eye-catching thing is the woman with long curly hair who has already shown the characteristics of a "madman" at the age of fifteen or sixteen, the eldest daughter of the Black family, Bellatrix.

This was the first time Louis saw Bella. Although he was young, this guy had escaped from Azkaban, so it would be a matter of time before he encountered her in the future.

The people in the photo also include Andromeda and Malfoy's mother Narcissa, who is also a sister. The family seems to be traveling abroad and seems to be very happy. However, no one expected that in a few years, this family would gradually become...

Fragmented.

The eldest daughter and the second daughter believed in their parents' theory of pure blood and followed the arrogant Dark Lord at that time. The third daughter and the eldest son broke with the family because of this. Although the younger son finally abandoned the dark side and turned to the bright side, he was still greatly influenced by the family.

It can be seen that this should be Kreacher's favorite photo, but it also aroused Louis' vigilance.

Although Kreacher was quite obedient because of the Regulus incident, Bellatrix and Narcissa were also one of the people he cherished most, at least a little more than Sirius.
Chapter completed!