Snape, DD, and Book 7 - Kreacher in the cave!

[appellj]

No: HPFGUIDX 137552

> Rachel now:
> 
> I don't think it's at all out of left field that she introduces 
> Regulus as a more important character.  JK loves to tell us one 
> little thing and then bring it back in a huge way.  
<SNIP>
> 
> Anyway, it would be cool if Kreacher was the one to drink the 
> poison.  But, wouldn't his mistress still have been in charge of 
> him?  Are we assuming that Mrs. Black died before Regulus joined 
the 
> DE?  Sirius says, "My parents thought he was a right little hero 
for 
> joining up at first."  Or something similar...I'm paraphrasing.  
It 
> cannot be that Mrs. Black would have been trying to defeat LV, can 
> it???

appellj:
I think this all makes sense now. Regalus did take Kreacher to the 
cave and used Kreacher to get the locket, which is how Kreacher's 
mind got so permanently addled. They returned home with it, as 
others have quoted from OOTP pg. 116 US edition:

"There was a musical box that emitted a faintly sinister, tinkling 
tune when wound...also a heavey locket that none of them could 
open..."

My guess is that Kreacher betrayed Regulus to Mrs. Black, and she 
turned him over to LV. Now, even more interesting is the fact that 
Kreacher keeps sneaking items out of the sack in which they're 
trying to dispose of Black family items, and then on pg. 504, when 
Harry and Hermione and Ron go to Kreacher's "bedroom", it says this:

"In a far corner glinted small objects and coins that Harry guessed 
Kreacher had saved, magpielike, from Sirius's purge of the house..."

Remember that DD said that LV was magpielike in his approach to 
collecting things? I can't believe this is a coincidence.

So my full hypothesis is that when Mrs. Black turned in Regulus, she 
ordered Kreacher to protect the locket, and possbily one more 
Horcrux: the silver goblet that Mundungus steals from the Black 
house that Ron picks up when they run into him in Hogsmeade. Could 
it be that Kreacher was protecting both of these Horcruxes, and now 
Mundungus has stolen one of them (the goblet) and is either trying 
to get it back to LV (because he's now working for LV or is just 
being opportunistic) or is just trying to sell it, unaware of what 
he has?

So in book 7, Harry will have to visit 12 Grimmauld place to get the 
locket but maybe find out that that's been stolen too, visit 
Mundungus in Azkaban to get information about where the goblet and 
locket are (we'll finally get to see Azkaban through Harry's eyes), 
we're going to get to see Godric's Hollow at last, Harry goes to the 
Dursleys again, Harry goes to the burrow again, Harry will probably 
go to Spinner's End/Riddle House/Marvolo's house/Hogwarts/the 
ministery and every other place he's ever been. I just hope that 
along the way, we finally get to hear about Hagrid's story and how 
his dad died. 

Anyway, I've been wrong in just about every single one of my 
hypotheses throughout the series, but I think the 
Kreacher/Regulus/Mundungus horcrux connection is the soundest one so 
far.

Appellj.