CHAPDISC: DH10, Kreacher's Tale

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 180099

Mike wrote:
<snip>
> Kreacher is bound to the Black family, he does not have allegiences 
> outside of the family. Kreacher is mostly beholden to Walburga, who 
> we learn was heartbroken when Sirius leaves. In OotP, Sirius has 
> moved back into the house. If Kreacher is so loyal to the Black 
> family, why does he hold Sirius in such contempt to the point of 
> betraying him? <snip>

Carol responds:

I don't understand the bit about Kreacher's "betraying" Sirius Black.
After all, there was no plot to kidnap and torture Sirius, or to get
him killed. The kidnap and torture part was a false vision implanted
in Harry's head to get *him*, not Black, to the MoM, and neither
Kreacher nor the DEs nor Voldemort wanted the Order to show up to
rescue Harry. Black was not supposed to be killed; he was just tricked
into staying out of the way when Harry checked on his whereabouts. So
Kreacher went to Narcissa, the only Black he felt any loyalty to who
was both alive and out of Azkaban. He gave her and her DE husband
information about Harry's affection for Sirius, and he took part in
their plot to get *Harry* to the MoM by injuring Buckbeak. (Not nice,
I admit, but he paid for it by ironing his hands, if I interpret the
bandages correctly. Either that, or Buckbeak fought back.) And he
tricked Harry by saying that "master" would never come from the MoM
when, in fact, "master" was safely upstairs with Buckbeak. That Black
*chose* to go to the MoM was no part of Kreacher's/Narcissa's/LV's
plan. Nor was his death at the hands of Bellatrix (which would not
have happened had he not been recklessly fighting on the dais with his
back to the Veil, undersestimating and taunting his opponent) any part
of that plan. Kreacher can't *betray* the Order or Harry since he had
no loyalty to either, and while he does trick his master into staying
upstairs and reveal small tidbits of information that the Malfoys can
use, they have no direct connection with Black's death.

Carol, who uses "Black" to parallel Snape and Lupin, Black's
contemporaries, rather than "Sirius," which makes Black sound like
he's Harry's age