The Snake and the Emerald Apple

The Voynich Manuscript

Harry didn't know what caused him to wake up at 5:30, but he was glad it happened. The boys' dormitory was still quiet. When Harry sat up in his bed, he saw Ron, in the bed next to his, drooling and snoring softly. Seamus lay there like total wreckage, his legs spread over the edges of his bed. Harry laughed softly as he looked at Neville lying in his bed like some overgrown baby; his legs tucked under him, and his ass in the air.

Very gently he slipped out of his own four-poster bed and walked down barefoot. When he had gone down the long spiral staircase and entered the common room, he was greeted by a house-elf who paced nervously through the room. The elf tugged at his bat ears with his long, bony fingers and pulled them down. The little creature let out a kind of anxious whimper and put his ears around his eyes as if making reality more bearable.

Harry gently placed a hand on the frightened elf and felt the creature freeze. His huge green eyes emerge from under the flapping ears. The eyes seemed- impossibly wise- to widen even more at the sight of Harry.

"Harry Potter, sir?" the little elf asked in a squeaky voice.

A dazzling smile broke on Harry's face. "Dobby!" He fell on the little elf's little shoulders and looked amused at the clothes the little elf was wearing.

Dobby wore colorful socks on his feet that didn't match. One sock was bright red and wore the Gryffindor House mascot, the other was dark blue and had golden Snitches flying over it. He still wore a pillowcase for clothing, but it was clean and Dobby had pinned all sorts of found objects to it to cheer it up. For example, Harry saw at least four Chocolate Frog Cards with Dumbledore on his pillowcase, several colorful candy wrappers, and something that looked suspiciously like a photo of Harry.

Harry's heart swelled at the sight of the faithful- okay, gifted, somewhat crazy elf. "Dobby! How very good to see you! Why are you so-"

Harry stopped talking when he saw the long piece of paper in Dobby's small hand. At that moment he knew immediately why the little elf was so upset.

"I see you found Hermione's letter," Harry said hesitantly. He looked at the little house-elf in despair, his discomfort growing when he saw big tears trickling from the green eyes.

"This is the most beautiful letter Dobby has ever read!" the little house-elf whimpered as he blew his nose into Harry's pajama bottoms. His eyes widened at the sight of the green blob of snot dangling from Harry's green pants before he shrieked even louder.

"Dobby!" Harry shouted, putting a hand on his little friend's mouth. "Dobby," he said more softly.

"Let's go-" His eyes darted over the objects in the student room. "Let's sit down over there," he said as he led the elf to an armchair in front of the warm hearth.

When he had set the house-elf down on the big red chair, he crouched in front of Dobby. "Well, that's better."

Dobby sniffed and whimpered softly, but he was well on his way to calming down. "Dobby might need to get used to Harry Potter's goodness, but Dobby continues to be surprised when Harry Potter talks to him as an equal."

Harry smiled tenderly. "You're my friend, aren't you, Dobby? Friends take care of each other, especially when that friend is upset."

Dobby nodded so hard that his ears quickly flapped back and forth. "Dobby likes to be Harry Potter's friend!"

"Great, can you tell me what made you so upset? If you like that letter so much, why were you just so nervous running up and down?"

Dobby looked startled at Harry. "The letter is beautiful, it is even more beautiful than what the other house-elves had said! Dobby feels strengthened by the letter and is thinking about asking the Headmaster for an extra half-day of vacation."