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

[M.Clifford]

No: HPFGUIDX 137561


> Rachel:

> 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???

Valky:
I think you answer your own question here. Regulus was dearly loved by
his Ol' Mum it seems, and seemingly, by the way Sirius speaks about
him, a good deal better treated than Sirius was. 

I see what your getting at when you say that Mrs Black probably
wouldn't give direct orders to Kreacher to drink the potion and betray
Voldemort. But she most certainly could have given direct orders to
Kreacher to do *anything and everything* to serve Regulus in his work
as a DE. Kreacher could well have been all kinds of help to Reggie
while he was out doing evil, providing him alibis, helping him
overpower opponents by smashing pudding over their heads (hehe). 
The sorts of things that Winky and Dobby were inclined to do for the
ones that they served. 

It could very well be, that this was just *one more* mission for
Kreacher to help with, no extraordinary deal from the outset "come
along and help me with this Kreacher" sort of thing, and nobody asks
questions because this is the normal conducting of business in the
Black Household.

Down thread somewhere someone also pointed out Kreachers determination
to save the objects in the Black Household from being tossed. In my
curiousity I reread this chapter of OOtP, and the passage about
Kreachers Bedroom. Heres what I noticed.

Early on in the cleaning Sirius calls Kreacher out on his lingering
around to rescue the Blacks Possessions. Now here, Sirius seems to
*know* that Kreacher is very concerned about something specific. With
a little pressing Kreacher confesses that he is there to protect the
Tapestry. But the Tapestry couldn't be removed. By the time they'd
completed the room with the Locket in it only the Tapestry and the
writing desk with the Boggart in it remained. Now doesn't *that* smell
very fishy! 

Earlier, there is another thing that interested me. Hermione pleads
with Sirius about Kreacher, saying "He's not right in the head..." and
"I don't think he realises we can hear him." 
To which Sirius responds that Kreacher has been alone too long taking
mad orders from the portrait. Or IOW he doesn't really know why
Kreacher is barmy, he's just guessing. He does add that Kreacher was
always "a foul little...". Clearly Kreacher *wasn't always* barmy and
Sirius seems to think it's happened *since* he went to Azkaban, *some
fifteen years previously*. hmmmm... ;D 

Now what's interesting about this is the fact that Kreachers problem
is talking on and on to himself as though something in his own mind is
torturing him. And we've seen *that* somewhere else I think. Agreed?

Finally there was one more thing that I noticed, later in the scene in
Kreachers bedroom. Hary makes the decided point that House Elves can
*leave* the house if they really want to, and later Dumbledore also
says that Kreacher took Sirius order to get out quite literally, and
of course Winky was able to escort Barty JR under Bart SR's orders.
Together it's a fit, under the right orders and with enough will, a
House Elf can go out from the house he is tied to. If Mrs Black
instilled enough allegiance in Kreacher to the Dark Lord, and then
ordered him to *help* Regulus in his DE activities *whatever they
are*, then the will and the orders are covered completely, Kreacher
could do it, all Regulus had to say was that he was doing it *for*
Voldemort, rather than against.

So in summation there is some neat canon supporting the notion that
Kreacher was given custody of the Locket by Regulus, after they both
went to the cave and retreived it, and that Kreacher did try to
protect and keep the Locket (Regulus' secret) during OOtP. He quite
possibly, still does.

Valky