Harry Potter and the Hidden Treasure (Volume 3)

Chapter 460 The Change Of Kreacher

"Revolting creatures," Ron muttered.

Harry nodded in agreement, and Evan gently tugged on Sirius' sleeve.

The presence of Malfoy somewhat tainted the atmosphere, but fortunately Lucius Malfoy was not around; otherwise, the situation would have been worse.

Not far from Malfoy's camp, a dark green tent had been erected, covering a large area.

The tent was quite elegant, adorned with plenty of silk stripes, resembling a small palace.

Conical towers reached skyward, embellished with dark Black family emblems; a symbol of mountains, two pentagrams, and a dagger, with two hounds leaping on either side.

Below, in golden letters, read: THE NOBLE AND ANCIENT HOUSE OF BLACK "TOUJOURS PUR."

The tent stood out among all others surrounding it, exuding the luxurious past style of the Black family.

However, given the current state of the Black family, this tent and the aforementioned phrase were undoubtedly filled with irony.

In reality, no one remained in the noble and ancient House of Black besides Sirius, Sirius who had also been blasted off the family tree by his mother and was now a 'traitor' to the pure-blood family, just like the Weasleys.

"This is my parents' tent. I didn't expect to have to use it..." said Sirius, gazing at the tent, displaying a mix of emotions on his face.

He bent down and entered. Evan, Harry, and Ron followed suit.

Evan and Harry peered inside the tent, struck by the illusion that they had returned to 12 Grimmauld Place.

The space was a bit smaller, but the general patterns were the same.

Nevertheless, everything here had taken on a new appearance and was not as unkempt as at 12 Grimmauld Place.

In the hallway leading from the vestibule, the copper pans and dishes gleamed with a rosy hue, and the wooden table's top glistened.

Silver cups and saucers were arranged on it, gleaming in the warm light of the fire.

In one corner stood the dining room and bathroom, without the ghastly portrait of Mrs. Black but a landscape painting instead.

Everything exuded an extraordinary warmth.

The staircase, dark brown and covered with thick treads, extended upwards about three stories high.

Upstairs lay the bedrooms. Similar to the exterior, the space narrowed as one ascended, but the decoration was exceedingly elegant.

It was hard to imagine this was truly a tent, not a vacation villa for a noble family.

Even with everyone inside, there was ample space here, even more accommodating than the Burrow's environment.

"Young Master, you have returned!" a low, hoarse voice suddenly sounded, resembling a frog's croak.

The House-elf Kreacher appeared, scurrying in. He was garbed in clean attire, his ears as white and fluffy as cotton.

After Regulus's gloomy funeral, Evan never saw the old Kreacher again.

At one point, Sirius allowed him to dwell in the Hogwarts kitchen for a while, and Evan also instructed Dobby to look after him.

Nonetheless, evidently, he couldn't forget the vacant and somewhat eerie old Black house. Soon, Kreacher returned there. Without Sirius's summons, he wouldn't venture out or have contact with external folks.

Now, Evan noticed Kreacher had noticeably changed.

From his recollection, Kreacher was always distressed, impossible to expect him to work and serve.

Throughout the day, he guarded the legacy of the ancient House of Black and followed the disorderly commands of Mrs. Black's portrait.

This House-elf's greatest desire was to sever his head and mount it on the wall.

"Master Sirius, Master Harry, Master Evan, Young Master, please remove your shoes," Kreacher said. "Knowing that the Young Masters would come, Kreacher is preparing breakfast. Do the masters prefer a delicious stew or a treacle tart?"

He bowed deeply, fixing his gaze, filled with eagerness, on Evan with his large yellow eyes.

After assisting in finding Regulus's body for burial, Kreacher's attitude towards Evan had considerably improved.

Previously, he never initiated conversations but always cursed Muggles and Muggle-born wizards.

"Oh my goodness," exclaimed Ron, astonished, looking around constantly. "I have never seen a shop like this. And this house-elf..."

"His name is Kreacher, he has served the Black family for generations," said Harry, also feeling somewhat uncomfortable.

He remembered how awful Kreacher had been before, and now he was like an entirely different house-elf.

"Sir, do you need coffee and warm rolls?" Kreacher continued. "Kreacher has prepared all the rooms upstairs. My lord can go up and rest first."

"No, Kreacher!" Sirius said. "Pack up, we are going somewhere else."

"Somewhere else!?" exclaimed Kreacher incredulously. "Young sir, we are fine here! Miss Narcissa is right next door. She just came to see Kreacher with Mr. Malfoy. Just like before, she remains so kind, so warm, and treats..."

"Be quiet! You have a minute to finish everything!" shouted Sirius. His face was especially grim upon hearing that Narcissa had been there.

About twenty minutes later, Evan and the others laboriously moved the tent back to Mr. Weasley's designated camping spot.

Kreacher followed, muttering something under his breath and looking particularly aggrieved.

It seemed impossible for the master and servant to truly get along.

Next to the camp, Mr. Weasley and his family had already set up a crooked tent.

"They're back, let me see, this tent is really big, luckily we have enough space here," said Mr. Weasley. "Let's set it up quickly, and then we'll need time to cook."

Although using magic or letting Kreacher do it could take just a minute to set up the tent, Mr. Weasley insisted on doing it themselves in the muggle way.

Evan was certain that if muggles could use magic, they would never choose to work so hard.

Sirius' tent was very large and its structure more intricate. By the time they finished, it was almost noon.

During this time, they saw more familiar faces, other Hogwarts students with their families.

Because it was the only way to reach the Quidditch World Cup final stadium, they had to pass by them.

Among them, Evan saw Oliver Wood, the former captain of Gryffindor Quidditch team, who had just graduated from Hogwarts.

Excitedly, he announced that he had just been signed to the reserve team of Puddlemere United.

For Wood, this was a success. With Harry's outstanding performance, Gryffindor house won the Quidditch Academy Cup last semester.

It was the first time in over a decade. Slytherin had won the championship before.

This achievement earned Wood many points, enabling him to successfully join Puddlemere United.