Warning
I was just about to settle into my favorite sunspot by the window when I heard the voices approaching from down the hall. Ron’s laughter and Harry’s usual brooding intensity mixed in with Hermione’s calm reasoning.
"Let’s just check the Floo call again, alright?" Hermione was saying.
I knew what was coming. Another round of the endless drama about Sirius. It wasn’t that I didn’t care, but honestly, Harry’s emotional outbursts had grown rather tiring. But I perked up anyway, my ears twitching as the trio entered the common room and headed for the fireplace.
They were about to call Kreacher. The house elf had been a thorn in everyone’s side for weeks, but I had my own opinions about him. The little elf wasn’t as loyal as he pretended to be, and his behavior was always... off.
I slinked quietly closer, my paws light as a whisper on the stone floor. There, just out of sight, I crouched to listen.
"Floo powder, Kreacher!" Hermione called, and soon enough, the green flames flickered and sputtered as the elf’s old, wrinkled face appeared in the fire.
"Master is not at home," Kreacher sneered in his usual, irritating way.
"Are you sure?" Hermione pressed, though it was clear she didn’t trust Kreacher’s word.
"Oh, yes, Mistress," Kreacher said, his voice dripping with contempt. "Master has gone out."
It was then that I saw it—his eyes, those beady little things. They darted around, too quickly, and for the briefest moment, there was a flicker of something in them. A lie. Kreacher wasn’t just being rude; he was lying. He wasn’t as clueless as he pretended to be.
I froze, my fur standing on end. Something wasn’t right. Harry and Ron didn’t seem to notice, too caught up in the conversation, but I did. The elf was hiding something.
Hermione frowned, but not enough to truly question Kreacher. She trusted him, at least somewhat, even though the elf had given them nothing but trouble. "Alright, thank you, Kreacher," she said, before the call ended abruptly.
As soon as the connection was severed, I wasted no time. I darted out of the room, my paws hardly making a sound as I bolted through the hallways of Hogwarts. Kreacher had lied. Sirius wasn’t gone. Something was wrong.
I didn’t stop to think. I didn’t need to. I had to warn Sirius—whatever Kreacher was hiding, it was bad. And I knew, with every instinct in my body, that it wasn’t good news.
I made my way quickly to the nearest fireplace, sniffing around the edges as I began to gather the necessary magic to move through the Floo network. I couldn’t let anything happen to Sirius, not while that damn elf was keeping secrets.
When I finally arrived at Grimmauld Place, I slipped through the narrow door with ease, my tail flicking nervously behind me. I couldn’t shake the feeling that Kreacher had done something far worse than just hide Sirius’s location. I didn’t trust that elf at all.
And then I saw him—the one I’d come to warn. Sirius.
"Crookshanks?" he muttered in surprise as I approached, but there was a kind of relieved look in his eyes. He always had a soft spot for me. I nuzzled against his leg, giving a loud, deliberate meow.
Sirius’s brow furrowed slightly as he leaned down to scratch behind my ears. "What’s wrong, old friend?" he asked quietly.
I rubbed against him, my purring growing louder, trying to communicate the urgency of the situation. Something was wrong, but I couldn’t tell him everything. My feline instincts could only do so much.
A soft voice broke through my moment of warning.
"Crookshanks?" It was Kreacher.
I hissed, low and growling as I caught sight of the elf again. He had been following me, sneaking in from another direction.
"What is it, you horrible little creature?" I spat at him, but Kreacher just stood there, blinking at me with his cold, hateful eyes. He didn’t seem to be worried that I had noticed his deception. In fact, he appeared almost... pleased.
Sirius, looking between the two of us, straightened up. "What’s going on?"
I wanted to shout it out—Kreacher is lying, Sirius, don’t trust him!
But no words came. Instead, I meowed again, this time louder, desperate to make him understand.
Kreacher gave me a pointed look and sneered, his voice thick with malice. "Nothing, Master. Nothing at all."
Sirius turned toward the elf, his lips curling in a smile that was anything but pleasant. "Right. Just like nothing’s wrong with you. You’ve been lying to everyone, haven’t you, Kreacher?"
Kreacher bowed low but didn’t speak. Instead, his eyes flickered back to me, a quiet, knowing gleam hiding beneath the surface. He wasn’t done yet.
But before I could press him further, Sirius’s attention shifted back to me. "Thanks for warning me, Crookshanks," he said, and there was a real sense of gratitude in his voice.
I meowed again, this time in approval, before giving him one last meaningful glance. He’d need to be careful. I had no idea what Kreacher was up to, but I wasn’t about to let the elf get away with it.
After all, as much as Sirius hated the elf, I could tell that Kreacher had something much darker brewing beneath his crooked, sly smile. And I wasn’t going to let anything happen to Sirius because of a house elf’s petty little schemes.
I stayed close to Sirius for the next few hours, watching, waiting, ready to react at a moment’s notice. But Kreacher had already disappeared. Whatever game he was playing, I was going to be watching it closely. The elf was hiding something—something bad.
And I wasn’t going to let it pass unnoticed.
That was it. I had warned Sirius. The rest was out of my paws. But Kreacher would get his. I had no doubt about that. After all, there was one thing I was sure of: I never forget when someone lies to me.
And this house elf had lied to me, to Sirius, and to everyone. He wouldn’t get away with it for long.