Instinctively, Kael reached out to take the pendant box.
"Be careful." Sirius reminded, "This thing could very well be some bizarre Dark Arts item."
"Yeah, you're right."
Despite saying this, Kael still took out the pendant box and gently wiped off the dust on it.
The pendant box was about the size of an egg, heavy, with a luxurious 'S' made of numerous small emeralds on the front, glimmering faintly in the dim light.
"This isn't something from the Black family, I've never seen it before." Sirius leaned in and, somewhat thoughtfully, said, "It's probably rubbish they bought somewhere, just throw it away, lest it carries a curse or Dark Magic."
"This isn't rubbish!" A shrill voice came from behind.
It was Kreacher, panting heavily, looking extremely upset as he glared at Sirius and let out a blood-curdling scream.
"…This is Master Regulus's pendant box, he told Kreacher to bring it back!"
"Regulus?" Lupin said, "I remember he's your brother, you two didn't quite see eye to eye at school and often quarrelled."
"Yes." Sirius bowed his head, speaking softly, "My foolish brother, too weak-willed, easily convinced by my parents' pure-blood ideology, believed the Black family was inherently noble, we argued about it every time and ended up parting unhappily."
"Master Regulus wasn't a fool!" Kreacher screeched, "He was the mistress's favorite son, much better than Master Sirius."
"I don't need you to remind me!" Sirius shouted irritably, "Everyone says that but look what happened, he's dead, that stupid fool... he joined the Death Eaters!"
He panted heavily, his eyes red, and said:
"Throw it away, this thing is likely a piece of Dark Magic used by Death Eaters to harm people."
"No way!" Kreacher screamed, leaping up to snatch the pendant box from Kael's hand.
This was also the first time he attempted to snatch something in front of Sirius.
But Kael merely raised his hand slightly, easily evading him.
"I can't give this to you." Kael said.
Kreacher tried to snatch it again but was sternly stopped.
"Stand there, don't move!" Sirius said.
Kreacher dared not disobey a direct command, yet when he raised his head, his gaze towards Sirius was filled with deep-rooted hatred.
At this moment, Lupin, who had been silent, suddenly asked, "Do you know what this is?"
"I do." Kael didn't hide it this time, directly saying, "You should have heard of it too… Slytherin's pendant box."
"What?"
The room fell into a brief silence.
Having realized it, Lupin took a sharp breath, his face full of disbelief.
"Wait, you mean the Slytherin from school…"
"Yes, it's Salazar Slytherin." Kael caressed the emeralds on the pendant box, "Just like the legendary Gryffindor's sword."
"Wait…" Sirius remained a bit dazed, "Let me think, Slytherin's pendant box… in Regulus's hands… and ended up in the Black family house."
"Kael, you must be joking, or this must be a fake… although I left this family at sixteen, I know clearly, Black and Slytherin have no connection whatsoever."
Lupin's reaction was similar, thinking it was something Regulus might have crafted out of admiration for Slytherin.
"I'm not sure if the pendant box is real, but I do know its other name."
"Another name? What do you mean?"
"Professor Lupin," Kael asked, "I assume you've heard of it, the Secret Chamber at Hogwarts."
"Of course, I've heard about it, but not in great detail, the professors are reluctant to discuss it."
Lupin said, "It's said to be related to You-Know-Who."
"Indeed, because of a diary, left behind by him during his school days, it caused chaos in the castle and nearly led to the shutdown of Hogwarts."
Kael raised the pendant box, "This thing feels exactly like that diary back then."
…
The room fell silent again, this time the silence lasted longer.
Lupin and Sirius both tried to digest this answer, their first reaction surprisingly unanimous, thinking Kael must be mistaken.
But through such a long period of interaction, they knew Kael wasn't someone who spoke without basis.
"But why." Sirius's voice was dry, "How could You-Know-Who's things end up in Regulus's hands, as far as I know, he wasn't trusted like Malfoy and Lestrange."
"You'd have to ask him this." Kael didn't explain, but instead looked towards Kreacher who was trembling beside him.
"Tell me, why is this thing here." Sirius asked in a deep voice, "What's Regulus's connection to it."
The little elf seemed to have recalled something terrifying, his body shuddered again, curling up. When he spoke, his voice was low and muffled.
"Master Sirius ran away, it was good because he was a bad boy, but Master Regulus had pride, he knew what the name Black meant, and what his pure lineage signified... To ensure wizards wouldn't keep hiding, at sixteen, he joined the Dark Lord's organization, he was so proud back then…"
"A year later, one day, Master Regulus visited Kreacher in the kitchen, he said, the Dark Lord needed a little elf… he offered Kreacher, it was an honor, both his and Kreacher's honor…"
Kreacher's voice choked, recounting how he was taken by Voldemort into a cave, then forced to drink up the potion within the stone basin…
"He tossed a pendant box into the empty basin, refilled it with potion… then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island…"
"Kreacher felt awful, wanting to drink water from the lake… many hands reached out from the water trying to drag Kreacher down…"
"Then how did you escape." Sirius asked.
The little elf lifted his ugly head, "Master Regulus said Kreacher was to come home."
"What happened after." Sirius's voice softened a lot, "Why did that thing end up here."
"Kreacher told Master Regulus everything… hoping for praise… but received none.
"Master Regulus was worried, he told Kreacher to hide… after some time, Master Regulus asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the very cave Kreacher had visited with the Dark Lord."
"Did he make you drink the potion too?" Sirius said with disgust.
Kreacher shook his head, tears were streaming uncontrollably down his long nose, he was already in tears.
Sirius felt a tightness in his heart, as if he had guessed something.
"Master Regulus took a pendant box from his pocket, exactly like the Dark Lord's… he told Kreacher to hold it… once the basin was dry… swap the pendant boxes…"
Kreacher's sobs grew heavier and heavier.
"He ordered Kreacher to return home… not to tell anyone about this… but to find a way to destroy the first pendant box… then he drank… drank the potion dry… Kreacher watched helplessly… as Master Regulus… was dragged underwater… then…"
"Bang!"
Sirius smashed a nearby glass cabinet with his fist, then he grabbed Kreacher's neck, like an enraged beast, and roared:
"You just watched? Why didn't you save him, you clearly could've brought him back!"
Lupin hurried forward, trying to pull him apart, "Calm down, Padfoot, let him finish."
But Sirius's hand was like a branding iron, Lupin couldn't budge him.
"Kreacher couldn't… Master Regulus ordered Kreacher not to move… he ordered Kreacher not to move…"
The little elf was sobbing uncontrollably, even with Sirius gripping his neck, he continued to pound his own head with his fist.
"Kreacher was useless, Kreacher couldn't destroy the box, failed to carry out the master's command!"
…