Harry jumped as the painting of Walburga Black began screaming.
"Shut up your trap, you old bat." Sirius yelled back. "Sorry about that. I can't seem to get the painting off the wall."
"Have you tried putting a case around it?" Harry asked. "Muggle museums use them to protect older paintings. Seal her up in glass and put some silencing charms on it."
"I'll have to try that." Sirius gave him a happy grin.
Harry looked around. Grimmauld Place looked about the same as he had last seen it. The main difference was that the thick, dark curtains had been removed from the windows. The fresh sunlight fought valiantly against the ever-present shroud of darkness. It was cleaner than he expected, but still had a long way to go.
"Why did you want to have lunch here instead of at Hogwarts?" Harry asked.
"Let me show you to the kitchen." Sirius led him to the room to find Kreacher at work at the stove. "Kreacher, lunch for my guest."
Unlike the entryway the kitchen was warm and inviting. The dining table was new, the floors were clean, and the smell of fresh baked bread drifted through the air.
"Nasty Blood Traitor Master wants lunch for half-blood." The house elf grumbled.
"He doesn't seem all that happy here." Harry nodded to the elf.
"He's just mad I took down the house elf heads." Sirius groaned.
"House elf heads?" Harry had forgotten about that.
"My mother, she would mount the former house elf heads on the wall like trophies." Sirius shuddered. "She was a right nutter."
"Place of honor." Kreacher grumbled louder this time.
"You could set him free." Harry offered.
"He knows too much about the Black family." Sirius shook his head. "Plus, my brother loved the old creep. I can't bring myself to get rid of him."
"You had a brother?" Harry asked.
"Regulus." A sad smile crossed his face.
"Master Regulus." Kreacher said at the same time.
"We got off track." Sirius cleared his throat. "You asked why I wanted to speak to you here. The answer is simple. I don't trust Dumbledore."
"Professor Dumbledore?" Harry had to fight the wave of relief that sparked within him. "Why?"
"For one, he knew I was innocent and didn't do anything about it." Sirius growled. He took a breath to calm himself. "After a stint in St. Mungos it was discovered that I showed signs of multiple manipulations. The Imperius Curse isn't the only way to control someone, but it takes a skilled hand to do it without causing lasting damage."
"And you suspect Dumbledore?" Harry pressed.
Sirius hadn't been there for the conversation with his aunt and uncle. Harry didn't think eagerly agreeing to resist Dumbledore would make sense at this point in time. That would lead to questions he didn't want to answer yet.
"I was there when you spoke with Skeeter." Sirius motioned for Harry to sit. "You mentioned that people just seem to forget the basilisk and other things that go on in the school. That takes someone with a lot of power and the knowledge on how to use it."
"Ok." Harry took the seat offered. "What about the Ministry? It could be them."
"They may have had a hand in it." Sirius nodded slowly, rolling the thought over. "My money is on Dumbledore. He has the house elves, ghosts, and paintings keeping an eye out. On top of that there are the wards for the school. You said yourself that your paper isn't arriving. A simple order from him and all the mail stops." He took a breath. "Ask yourself, pup, how did a troll get into the school? How did a possessed teacher? Why did it take a year of waiting to treat the basilisk victims? Mandrakes are a common potion ingredient. There's a shop in Hogsmeade for Merlins' sake."
Harry took a deep breath. "Then what do we do? You said it yourself, he's very powerful and has the knowledge to back it up."
Sirius tilted his head back and laughed. "Lily's brains and James' fire. You're dangerous, pup."
Kreacher set food out on the table.
"Thank you." Harry said.
"Half blood thanks Kreacher." The elf bobbled his head.
"Shut it." Sirius rolled his eyes.
"There's more that I didn't get to tell Skeeter." Harry scanned the room to make sure there weren't any new paintings on the wall.
"We're safe here." Sirius had a steady edge in his voice that Harry had never heard.
"What do you know about horcruxes?" Harry asked.
A loud crash followed quickly by broken glass echoed in the kitchen. Harry looked over to see Kreacher staring wide-eyed at him.
"Soul magic." Sirius said. "Nasty stuff. Why?"
"Riddle, Voldemort, whatever, he made seven them." Harry brushed his bangs back to show his scar. "This was one of them. The basilisk venom killed it. When I talked to the goblins about it they found another hidden in the Lestrange vault. He used Helga Hufflepuff's cup. I found the diadem of Ravenclaw, it was one too. I'm certain that if we could find an artifact from Slytherin that would be one too."
"Why do you think he made seven?" Sirius asked.
"Anymore and the soul just shatters." Harry explained. "What's the point of being almost immortal if you're less than a ghost?"
A heavy silence settled on the room. Only the tinkling of broken glass being swept broke the hold.
Harry locked his gaze onto Kreacher. "You know something, don't you?"
Kreacher disappeared with a pop only to return a moment later. The old elf held the Slytherin locket out in front of him.
"Master Regulus made me promise." The elf began to sob. "Kreacher failed. Kreacher can't destroy it."
"Put it on the table." Harry stood up.
Kreacher did. Harry summoned Excalibur. With a flick of his wrist, he sliced the locket into two pieces. A thin wisp of black smoke drifted away with a scream.
"Your promise is fulfilled." Harry banished the sword.
Kreacher collapsed. The old elf curled into a ball, weeping.
"You have a sword?" Sirius asked.
Harry laughed. "After all that and you want to know about the sword?"
"You created a sword out of thin air." Sirius said.
"I summoned it." Harry held out his hand for it to appear again. "It's the Sword of Gryffindor, or Excalibur, whatever you call it, I used it to kill the basilisk. Now it's mine."
"Excalibur?" Sirius shook his head before letting out a shaky laugh. "You are the right kind of dangerous we need. Once Voldemort is handled we can move on to the real threat."
"Dumbledore." Harry gripped the sword tightly.