"Stop it, Kreacher." Harry ordered him. Kreacher stopped hitting his head but continued to whine as Harry began to think about what he knew of the locket. From Voldemort's memories he knew where it was hidden and what protected it in addition to how it was created. He wasn't, however, aware of the Horcrux ever being moved. Harry was about to give up when a new memory came to mind. Voldemort had used a house elf to test the protections around the Horcrux. Voldemort did not consider the identity of the house elf to be important and so Harry didn't have access to that information, but could it be possible that Voldemort had used Kreacher? "Kreacher, I want to ask you something very important. You must tell me the truth. Did Voldemort ever make you drink poison so that he could see how well protected this necklace was?"
"Yes!" the crazy elf screamed. "Bad man thought Kreacher was dead, but master Regulus callled me and I went. Master was very angry when he heard what bad man had done! I showed master where bad man had taken me and then… then… MASTER!" Kreacher began to cry and attempt to hurt himself again. Harry was forced to reissue his command to stop before Kreacher would continue. "Master Regulus took the locket and ordered me to destroy it. He ordered me to leave him there to die. I did not want to, but he forced me!"
"It's ok, Kreacher. I think I understand." Harry assured him. "Regulus turned on Voldemort at the end, I'd bet Sirius will be happy to hear that. Kreacher, we want to help you. I know how to destroy this, you just have to let me do it."
"Can you?" Kreacher asked hopefully. Harry nodded his head and the elf began bouncing up and down despite the ropes that constrained him. This time, however, he seemed to be happy and not trying to hurt himself.
"Diffindo." Harry said, cutting the ropes that held Kreacher. "Now, bring me the wooden box that is hidden under my bed." Kreacher nodded and vanished. A moment later the elf had returned holding the box that Harry had spoken of which contained his basilisk fang. Harry smiled gratefully as he took the box and placed it on a table that had been left in the room. He set the locket down next to it and was preparing to open the locket so he could destroy it when an idea came to him.
"Hermione, why don't you do this?" Harry said, holding the basilisk fang out to her.
"Me? But why?" Hermione asked.
"Dumbledore thinks I'm the only one that can get rid of the Horcruxes" Harry explained. "It would prove him wrong if you could do it. It'll be ok Hermione, and I'll be right here to take over if anything goes wrong."
"Ok." Hermione replied uncertainly. "What do I do?"
"I'm going to open the locket and when I do I want you to stab it with the basilisk fang." Harry told her. "The Horcrux will try and save itself by any making you feel like your worst dreams have come true, but it isn't real. Just ignore whatever it is telling you and kill it. Do you think you can do that?"
"Open it, Harry." Hermione answered with a nod as she held the fang up ready to strike. Harry leaned in towards the locket and hissed ' Open ' in parseltongue which caused the locket to spring open. Inside each side of the locket looked like eyes that were staring at them angrily. It immediately began to taunt and insult Hermione, and she hesitated as she seemed captivated by its words.
"They don't like you, mudblood!" the Horcrux proclaimed. "They never did. They all make fun of you. You aren't smart enough! You'll never be good enough! You don't deserve to be a witch!" Hermione finally slammed the fang down into the locket and it broke apart with an angry scream. When it was over Hermione let the fang drop out of her hand to the floor as tears began to run down her face. Harry, sensing she needed to be reassured, rushed to his friend and pulled her into a hug.
"You did great, Hermione." Harry said. "And don't listen to what the Horcrux said, you know it isn't true. None of it is."
"I know, but it still made me feel so awful Harry." Hermione explained. "For a moment I almost believed that you all thought I was just a stupid, worthless little girl."
"Not true." Harry said. "You feel better now that it's dead, don't you?"
"Yes." Hermione answered. "Whatever it did to me is already wearing off."
"Kreacher will bring master's mudblood pepper up potion!" Kreacher announced before vanishing.
"Well that was odd." Harry commented as he looked at where the elf had stood just moments before.
"I think you just found another elf hopelessly devoted to you." Hermione said with a laugh. "I wonder what Dobby is going to think of that." Kreacher suddenly reappeared and offered Hermione a vial containing a potion which after closer inspection she confirmed to be pepper up potion. Although she no longer felt like she needed it, Hermione drank the potion anyway in an effort to be nice to Kreacher.
"Can I do anything else for you, Ms Mudblood?" Kreacher asked hopefully.
"Just stop calling me that name, ok?" Hermione answered. "It's Hermione."
"Yes! Anything you wish." Kreacher said as he eagerly nodded his head.
"You were wrong, Hermione." Harry said with a laugh. "It looks like it's you he is devoted to, not me." Kreacher did nothing to contradict this point of view, causing Harry to laugh even more and Hermione to feel a little uncomfortable. For the rest of the day Kreacher hardly left her alone, insisting that he be allowed to bring her anything she needed. Hermione tried to convince Kreacher that she appreciated his offer but did not require his help but he was not convinced in the least. Her explanation of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare and its goals likewise fell on deaf ears. In the end she was forced to accept that there was nothing she could do to change Kreacher's attitude, even though that was difficult for her to do.
Harry, although he was happy with the outcome of the day, was worried about the one of the other Horcruxes: Hufflepuff's Cup. He knew Nagini could always be found near Voldemort but the Cup could easily have been moved. And if Voldemort ever figured out what was happening he would move it without delay. That reminded him that there was nothing at all more important than destroying the last two Horcruxes.
...
A few hours later Harry and Hermione were sitting in the kitchen talking when they heard Sirius come in. Once he found them he took a seat next to them and it was clear to both Harry and Hermione that he had had a long and stressful day.
"Are you ok, Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Fine, Harry." Sirius answered with a forced smile. "Did Tonks fill you in on what I was doing?"
"Giants." Harry replied.
"That's right." Sirius said. "Dumbledore had hoped that he and Hagrid could convince them to stay out of the fight, but apparently Voldemort got to them first. There weren't any giants left in England after the first war with Voldemort, so the only explanation for what happened last night is that he has started bringing them over already."
"How many giants are there?" Hermione asked.
"Around eighty in all, but that counts the females and children as well." Sirius said. "It's impossible to say how many are here."
"Is the ministry doing anything about it?" Harry asked, although not really expecting the government to do much.
"Last time around they had squads of specially trained Aurors out hunting the giants. I expect they'll do the same now." Sirius explained. "But there's more going on than that. Take a look at this." Sirius pulled a copy of the Daily Prophet out of his coat and placed it on the table. The headline read "Attack on the Ministry!" and below it showed the picture of a man who had stripped of his clothes and nailed to the wall of the Ministry of Magic building. A group of Aurors were working to take the man down and from the movement it was clear that the man was still alive but it horrible pain. Hanging above his head was a sign that looked like it had been written in blood that said "MUDBLOOD".
"Who is this?" Harry asked, knowing that Voldemort would not go to so much trouble for just anybody.