Chapter Text
When Harry returned to his office the next day, he found that it shone in a way it never had before. It had always been clean, but now it positively sparkled, including the windows, which somehow let in more light despite it being a foggy November morning and them always having been clean before this.
Mr Krum walked in that afternoon and blinked as he took in the room, “What happened in here?”
“I got a new house elf, and he is a little overenthusiastic,” Harry explained before launching into an explanation on how to scry in a crystal ball without a focus. It was one of the hardest ways to scry, but Mr Krum seemed determined to learn it.
That Saturday, Bernie arrived and looked over the portrait, then took it away. It would have been easy if he had wanted it to be destroyed but keeping it intact would be difficult and time consuming. As such, Harry asked to make it a formal contract. He would be paying nearly twenty galleons for it to be cleansed.
He got it back two weeks later and when Kreature saw it, he burst into tears and hugged it tightly while the woman in the portrait stared down at him haughtily.
Kreature was wearing several necklaces with intricate beading, one of which had a massive P on it. He also was wearing the destroyed locket, several bracelets, his whole left ear had piercings all over it, and his fingers were covered in rings, not to mention he was wearing a fluffy white towel with a gold P embroidered on it. He had really taken to being Harry’s house elf quite well, now he even took pride in it.
The house elf was looking better too. He still looked old, but he looked younger than he had. Mipsy had proudly said that being his master was doing wonders for Kreature’s health, as was being in such a magic rich environment like Hogwarts. She estimated that he would be fully healed by the time Harry was ready for him to take over his house.
She also told him that Kreature proudly boasted about being Harry’s personal house elf to all the house elves and that most of them were envious of him. It was amusing to hear, and he was pleased at how well Kreature was doing.
He even felt happy enough with his improvements that he said to Kreature, “I am very proud of your improvements. How would you like for me to call you the next time I see Sirius and you can rub it in his face how much of a better house elf you are to me than you were to him?”
Kreature beamed and a few tears leaked out of his eyes as he croaked, “Kreature would love that!”
So, that was what Harry did.
“Is– is that Kreature?” Sirius asked in shock after Harry called him.
“I be Kreature,” the house elf confirmed.
Sirius stared at him in shock. He was not wearing any jewellery other than the locket, but he was doing noticeably better, including not glaring at anyone or muttering under his breath. He stood tall and proud as he said, “Master Harry is the best master there is!”
“I guess so,” Sirius agreed, sounding beyond shocked.
Kreature nodded firmly and looked to Harry for permission to leave. Harry agreed, “Go back to your regular duties.”
“Thank you, master,” Kreature said with a broad smile.
Harry smiled back and then the house elf popped away.
Sirius asked, “He really does not hurt you or curse at you or anything? He used to curse me when I was a child, you know.”
“I am sure he did that on his mistress’s orders because he always acts exactly like that around me,” Harry said.
Sirius shook his head and said, “He looks at you like he worships you. He never even looked at Regulus that way, and Regulus was his favourite.”
“Speaking of Regulus,” Harry said, then went on to tell Sirius that the locket Regulus had found was a weapon of mass destruction. He had ended up dying to get it out of Voldemort’s hands, then ordered Kreature to destroy it. Harry had destroyed the weapon component of it, then gave it back to Kreature.
Remus said in understanding, “That’s part of why he likes you so much. You helped him fulfil his favourite master’s dying order and then gave him a token of his dead master.”
“Well, that and I treat him like a bloody being worthy of respect,” Harry said, shooting Sirius an irritated look, though it faded when he got a good look at Sirius’s distressed expression.
“Regulus really fought against Voldemort?” Sirius asked.
Harry nodded and said gently, “He died to save people’s lives.”
Sirius wiped his eyes and whispered, “I thought– they never found him. I thought he was out there. That he had run away like a coward, too afraid to admit that he had chosen the wrong side.”
Remus squeezed Sirius’s shoulder and said, “Your brother is a hero.”
“Do you know where his body is?” Sirius asked shakily.
Harry called, “Kreature!” When the house elf appeared, Harry asked, “Do you know where Regulus’s body is?”
Kreature nodded warily and Harry said, “Please get a map and point it out to me.”
Kreature disappeared and reappeared with a map where he pointed out a beach at Heacham, in King’s Lyne and West Norfolk, as he croaked, “It be in a cave on the waterfront. It can only be got into by climbing down to it, rubbing blood on the wall, and then goings in. The lake be filled with Inferi. That be where Master Regulus’s body be.”
Harry frowned and glanced at a pale Remus and shaking Sirius and asked, “What are Inferi?”
“A reanimated corpse that is controlled by the owner. How many are in it?” Remus said in obvious horror.
Kreature said, “Three hundred seventy three.”
“What the fuck?” Sirius yelped.
Harry frowned and said, “We need to get that lake cleared out. I will talk with Alastor and see what we can do.”
Sirius said at once, “I will help. Even if we can’t retrieve his body, I don’t want it resting in a cave filled with Inferi.”
“I understand,” Harry said.
Remus added, “I will help as well. I have handled a few Inferi in my day, though never more than five at once.”
“We will figure this out. Can these creatures attack without his orders?” Harry asked.
Remus nodded and said, “They are implanted with orders during the reanimation. More can be added later, but they will act on those orders until destroyed.”
Harry considered that, then said, “Kreature, go tell Alastor I need to see him here at once.”
Alastor arrived fifteen minutes later and grumped, “What is so important that you needed to summon me to a pub?”
“There is a cave filled with three hundred seventy three Inferi in a lake, all with orders implanted by Voldemort,” Harry explained grimly.
Remus and Sirius flinched at the name while Alastor nearly fell over in horror as he demanded, “How do you know this? What is your source?”
Harry summoned Kreature again and asked him to tell him the whole story. By the end, Sirius was crying, Remus was rubbing Sirius’s back while pale with horror, Harry wanted to throw up, and Alastor looked as though he wished very much that he had never met Harry.
Finally, while Harry rubbed the distressed Kreature’s head reassuringly, Alastor said, “This will take careful planning and a great deal of help, and it needs to be done off the books so that no Death Eaters catch wind of it and try to secure it or move them.”
“We will help,” Remus said.
Alastor nodded and said, “Brush up on fire spells. I am sorry to say that we almost certainly cannot retrieve Regulus’s body.”
“So long as he is not surrounded by them anymore, I am okay with that,” Sirius said miserably.
The next day, it was announced that the Yule Ball would be happening and immediately, Harry was inundated with requests to go with students. Over three quarters of the school, including at least half the boys, asked him and many foreign students had asked him as well. Obviously, Harry said no to all of them. In fact, Harry was required to keep a list of students that asked him to the dance, or even date, and report it to Minerva so that he had someone to back him up if a student claimed that he was fraternizing with them.
It was a very long list.
That Saturday, Harry was summoned to Albus’s office.
“During the last war, I formed the Order of the Phoenix to help combat Voldemort. After the report you gave Alastor, I have restarted it and added a few more members to it. I would like you to come to the meeting and have your house elf tell the story. Obviously, you will not be taking part in the cleansing,” Albus said gravely.
Harry agreed, “Of course. I would be happy to and thank Merlin that I don’t have to take part in it. That sounds bloody hellish.”
Albus smiled thinly and said, “Yes, I imagine it will be. Let us leave now.”
They flooed to Number 19 Godric’s Hollow Lane where Harry was greeted by a large crowd. He recognized a few of the people there, including Sirius, Remus, Alastor, the Weasley parents, Snape, and Minerva.
Albus called the meeting to order and then said, “Harry’s house elf has a very important story to share.”
Everyone looked confused by that while Harry called Kreature and asked him to stand on the table as he told the story so everyone could see him.
It was still a beyond horrifying story, and everyone was pale and fearful by the end.
Harry and Kreature were dismissed when he was done, and Harry went to his office with incredible relief.
He found Mr Krum there waiting for him, and Harry asked, “Ready for more crystal ball attempts?”
“I have something else I want to talk about,” Mr Krum said as he nervously followed Harry into his office.
Harry was surprised when he closed the door and asked to sit on the settee. Confused, Harry agreed, though he made sure to keep an appropriate distance between them.
Mr Krum took a deep breath and asked, “Would you be willing to go to the ball with me?”
Harry froze. The word yes was on the tip of his tongue, and he swallowed it back with a force of will. After a long moment, he said, “Mr Krum—”
“Viktor,” he corrected.
“Mr Krum,” he said forcefully, “You are a student, and I am a professor. I cannot go with you.”
“You are a student too,” Mr Krum protested.
Harry grimaced and said, “Be that as it may, I have been expressly forbidden from going with any students.”
“Oh,” Mr Krum said sadly.
“Thank you for the compliment. Now, I think it would be best if you left,” Harry said, though it hurt a great deal to say.
After Mr Krum did so hurriedly, Harry slumped and ran his fingers through his hair. For some reason, that was more painful than telling anyone else no.
After a long several minutes of moping, he forced himself to stand and go to Minerva’s office. He knew she was still back at the meeting, but he also knew that she had a time turner.
She was in with a student and Harry waited patiently for her to be done, before he went in and closed the door behind him.
“You cannot join us in destroying the Inferi,” Minerva said firmly.
“What? Oh, obviously not. I did not even know what they were until Tuesday. I am obviously not able to fight them,” Harry said.
Minerva relaxed and said, “Good, I am glad that you see sense.”
Harry said nothing and she frowned as she asked, “Are you well?”
He swallowed and said, “Mr Krum asked me to the ball.”
“Oh my. Tell me you said no,” she said urgently.
“I did. Of course I did,” Harry agreed miserably.
Understanding lit in her and she said, “I am sorry, Harry, that it has to be this way. I know this cannot be easy on you.”
He ran his fingers through his hair and muttered, “Why is this so much more painful than the others?”
“It is natural to have crushes at your age,” Minerva said kindly.
Harry grimaced and said, “It’s bloody inconvenient is what it is.”
She poured them both a glass of wine, pulled out the chocolates that she reserved for staff, and they ate and drank in silence until Harry sighed and said, “I had best go. My next class is starting soon.”
“You did the right thing, even if it was hard,” she said kindly.
“Right,” he muttered before he left.
Mr Krum haunted his thoughts, which was not helped by the fact that he continued to spend as much time as possible around Harry. He attended both of his sixth year classes and came to see him daily to ask questions on Divination. He was doing much better, but now he wanted to learn more advanced material and Harry could not bring himself to say no.
That said, he kept nearly three feet between them at all times and was stiff and formal with him in a way that clearly distressed Mr Krum. It distressed Harry too, but the last thing he wanted was to lose the job he had come to love. He had never had a purpose that made him happy and now he did, while before he had just floated along in a haze of surviving. He was not going to lose that for a crush.
He distracted himself with end of term tests and assigning projects for the winter break. For the first time, his students groaned at the thought of more work to do. When he told Minerva that, she laughed so hard she nearly fell out of her chair.