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In Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Kreacher passes information about Sirius to Narcissa and Bellatrix, that leads to the events in the Department of Mysteries.

The reason for this, from Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows,

“Sirius was horrible to Kreacher, Harry, and it’s no good looking like that, you know it’s true. Kreacher had been alone for a long time when Sirius came to live here, and he was probably starving for a bit of affection. I’m sure ‘Miss Cissy’ and ‘Miss Bella’ were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up, so he did them a favor and told them everything they wanted to know. I’ve said all along that wizards would pay for how they treat house-elves. Well, Voldemort did . . . and so did Sirius.”

This would mean that they had been kind to him in the past, before Kreacher came to know of secrets of the Order.

The Malfoy family, of which Narcissa was a part, treated their own house-elf, Dobby, very badly, and in general, house elves are treated beneath the level of wizards.

So, why were Narcissa and Bellatrix kind to Kreacher, to an extent that he wanted to go to them?

If, for some reason, they were not kind to him before he became a source of valuable information, why would they try to get it out of him kindly? Doesn't it seem against their nature of treating house elves in general?

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    I'm not sure it means he went to them prior to the Order being at Grimmaud Place... I think it means he was so unhappy with Sirius he went to another master he could obey (i.e. still in the Black family). When he did, Narcissa and Bellatrix realized the opportunity they had and capitalized on it.
    – Skooba
    Mar 25, 2017 at 11:58
  • I didn't say that it meant that, I said he thought of going to them at the first possible chance (when Sirius asks him to get out) and was loyal to them. It seems that this has been attributed to the fact that the other members of the Black family were already kind to him.
    – XYZ
    Mar 25, 2017 at 12:01
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    I think the key phrasing is "were perfectly lovely to Kreacher when he turned up," -- There was no "in the past", they were kind, when he showed up after leaving Sirius.
    – Skooba
    Mar 25, 2017 at 12:03
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    House elves also have a skewed idea of the proper way they should be treated. For an especially twisted house elf like Kreacher being ordered around, ignored and occasionally beaten is his understanding of "kindness".
    – Joe L.
    Mar 25, 2017 at 16:35
  • What chapter is that from?
    – Mithical
    Mar 25, 2017 at 17:46

3 Answers 3

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Sirius was particularly against Kreacher because he was another harsh reminder of his mother's (and other family members') cruel and judgemental views which were overbearing throughout his childhood and teenage years. He was unkind and short-tempered to him which was rather unlike him (I don't hold the view that Sirius's treatment of Snape means he is naturally cruel).

Kreacher absolutely doted on Sirius's mother and it makes sense that she might not have been particularly cruel. Why be cruel to a servant that has been carefully and successfully brainwashed to spout your views? As others have said, even if she was somewhat unkind the expectations of house elves are low.

Kreacher went to Bellatrix and Narcissa because they were an extension of his mistress. They may have treated him in varied ways, but especially if they recognised his value then they would certainly have been far kinder than Sirius - and even more pleasant than he was used to.

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Kreacher was a house-elf for a LONG TIME in "The House of Black" and was "nanny" to all of them, but in the cruel way of his nature. Narcissa and Bellatrix were in part raised by Kreacher, so harbored a kind of caring that Kreacher recognized. Sirius and Regulus were different, male, and had somewhere learned "empathy" which Kreacher could not understand. No, they did not physically mistreat the house-elf, but made him do "kind things for others" that were outside of Kreacher's concept base. To him, this was a kind of cruelty, to do things against his nature.

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    I can refute these points because house-elves are not allowed to speak their minds or hold their own opinions, as Dobby says in COS, so I think that Sirius must have been abusive at some point, which would qualify as cruel, so thats why he went to bella and cissy.
    – ava
    Mar 11, 2021 at 16:02
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Kreacher was a house elf. The only reason why they were being kind to him was because he was a good source of information. Valuable.

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    You could improve this answer by editing it to cite one or more examples of Kreacher proving to be a good source of information, or otherwise valuable.
    – LogicDictates
    May 10 at 0:56

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