Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows

Chapter Ten:
Kreacher's Tale

'I've said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves.'

Notes by Michele L. Worley
Page editor Belinda Hobbs

U.S. hardcover edition: pages 176 - 200
U.K. hardcover edition: pages 146 - 165
Timeframe: 2 August, 1997 [Y17]

In which Harry explores more of Grimmauld Place, finding a letter from his mother in Sirius' room, then discovering that Sirius' brother Regulus was the mysterious R.A.B. Hermione remembers seeing the locket two summers before, Harry calls Kreacher, and Kreacher reveals that while he took the locket, it was then taken from him by Mundungus Fletcher, and explains how it came into Regulus' possession. Harry then asks Kreacher to find Mundungus and bring him to Grimmauld Place, and wins Kreacher's loyalty by giving him the false locket for his own.

Interesting facts and notes about the text of this chapter:

To Sirius' right stood Pettigrew

Interesting that although Pettigrew is standing at the edge of the photograph, Sirius didn't cut him out of the picture during the months he was cooped up in the house before his death.

Kreacher nicked loads of things back from us

Yes; see the Christmas scenes from OP.

and I order you to answer it truthfully

Harry is showing brains and sense here.

"Did you steal it back?"
There was a moment's silence, during which Kreacher straightened up to look Harry full in the face. Then he said, "Yes."

HA! I thought that might have been what happened.

"Mundungus Fletcher stole it all"

Well what do you know - my pet theory and Steve's pet theory were both right.

And one day, a year after he had joined

Regulus lasted much longer as a Death Eater than I had previously supposed, then.

Voldemort needed an elf?

I wouldn't have given Voldemort credit for thinking outside the box like this. And as it turns out, he didn't - he just wanted a disposable test subject.

"Of course, Voldemort would have considered the ways of house-elves far beneath his notice, just like all the purebloods who treat them like animals...It would never have occurred to him that they might have magic he didn't."

That sounds like Moldyshorts, all right.

And he drank - all the potion -

I respect Regulus for that. He could have made Kreacher drink it instead of doing it himself, but he didn't.

Kreacher failed to obey orders, Kreacher could not destroy the locket!

Poor devil.

Characters introduced in this chapter:

• none

Characters returning in this chapter:

• Granger, Hermione

• Kreacher

• Potter, Harry

• Weasley, Ronald ("Ron")

Characters mentioned in this chapter:

• Bagshot, Bathilda

• Black, Phineas Nigellus

• Black, Regulus Arcturus (R.A.B.)

• Black, Sirius ("Padfoot")

• Black, Walburga

• Doge, Elphias

• Dumbledore, Aberforth

• Dumbledore, Albus

• Dumbledore, Ariana

• Dursley, Dudley

• Dursley, Petunia

• Fletcher, Mundungus

• Lestrange, Bellatrix Black ("Miss Bella")

• Lupin, Remus

• Malfoy, Narcissa Black ("Miss Cissy")

• Mckinnons

• Pettigrew, Peter ("Wormy")

• Potter, James

• Potter, Lily Evans

• Riddle, Tom (as the Dark Lord, Voldemort)

• Skeeter, Rita

• Snape, Severus

• Weasley, Percy

• (surname unknown) Muriel

• (name unknown) the Potters' cat

Settings and locations introduced or returning in this chapter:

• London

  • number twelve, Grimmauld Place

Settings and locations mentioned in this chapter:

• Godric's Hollow

• Horcrux cave

Exceptional character moments:

• Regulus' bedroom, particularly when contrasted with Sirius'.

• Sirius' bedroom, Muggle posters of motorcycles and bikini-clad girls having been put up with Permanent Sticking Charms alongside the Gryffindor banners.

• Hermione's analysis of Kreacher.

Spells:

• Accio

• goat-charming (although I'm not sure I want to think about this)

• Lumos

• Sticking Charm, Permanent

• unnamed protective spells on the Horcrux (possibly just part of the nature of a Horcrux, possibly not)

Links and Resources:

• awards - Order of Merlin, First Class

• Bestiary

  • house-elf

  • Inferi

  • spiders

  • troll

• blood status (blood traitor, Mudblood, Muggle-born)

• books

  • History of Magic, A

  • motorcycle maintenance manual

  • Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy

• Death Eaters

• Hogwarts Quidditch teams, particularly Slytherin; Seeker)

• house-elf magic (Apparition, Disapparition)

• items and devices

  • boat, enchanted

  • Cloak, Invisibility

  • clothing (Walburga Black's gloves)

  • Dark magic items - specifically, those from Grimmauld Place

  • goblets with the Black family crest, goblin-wrought silver (may not be magical)

  • Horcruxes (Slytherin's locket)

  • pictures with moving subjects (photographs, portraits)

  • quills

  • toy broomstick

• Order of the Phoenix

• potion, Horcrux

• Wartcap Powder

Memorable lines:

• It was a pompous little sign, the sort of thing that Percy Weasley might have stuck on his bedroom door

Strictly British:

• cupboard

• git

• marquee

• nicked

Timelines/Calendar:

The day after the previous chapter, so it is 2 August.