Draco Malfoy And The Sorcerer's Stone

Chapter Three: The Wise And The Stupid

Draco and his mother returned to the manor that evening content with their day. Draco spent a few hours folding up his clothes, gathering his books, and neatly packing everything into his trunk even though he still had a whole month until the start of school. Of course, Draco needn't worry about packing his own trunk. His family had several house elves. However, Draco found it calming, and didn't like the idea of others going through his stuff.

Draco heard a crash from downstairs followed by screaming. "You stupid, useless, idiot!" He heard his father yelling. "Many apologies Master," he heard another voice cry, "Dobby will shut his hands in the door as punishment for his clumsiness." Draco rolled his eyes and laid down on his bed. Even though he would never admit it, he felt a little bad for Dobby, one of his family's many house elves.  Dobby was an idiot and a clutz, but Draco didn't like to see him in pain. 

When Draco was really little Dobby used to play games with him and keep him company. Lucius was always busy meeting with men who scared Draco, and he would lock himself in his room refusing to come down even for dinner. 

One day Lucius tried to force Draco to come down and meet his friends, but Draco refused and hid from his father. Dobby found Draco crying, hidden in one of the bottom cupboard doors of an old china cabinet in his room. Dobby felt sorry for Draco and snuck up some food for him. This soon became a common occurrence where Dobby would bring up food for Draco and spend time with him.

Draco saw Dobby as a friend and as a guardian. However, when his father heard of this, Dobby was punished far worse than anything Draco had ever seen. House elves are unable to disobey direct orders from their master, and Lucius had made Dobby hit himself so many times that he broke his own leg and was not allowed to mend it. Dobby had to walk on a  broken leg until it healed on its own. 

Draco on the other hand was punished for an entire week. He was forced to sleep on the kitchen floor for a week with no pillows or blanket to keep him warm. He was fed scraps from his family's table, and worst of all he was completely ignored, practically exiled by his family. Lucius had screamed at him that if he wanted to act like a house elf, and fraternize with the house elves, he could live like one too. After that his father gave him the silent treatment, and his mother followed suit although Draco could see the pain behind her eyes. 

After such events Dobby and the other house elves kept a big distance between them and Draco. They spoke to him in few words only when absolutely necessary, and only came near him to do their job. Draco could not blame the elves for being scared of him, and he couldn't blame his father for wanting the best for him, so Draco blamed himself. Draco spent nights agonizing over the pain he caused Dobby, agonizing over the shame he caused his mother and father to be seen playing with a house elf, agonizing over the uncontrollable fear and anxiety that constantly lived inside of him. Draco spent many nights crying into his pillow, shaking, clenching onto his bedsheets to ground him. He desperately wished that life was less complicated. 

Draco heard a small knock at his door snapping him out of his thoughts and memories. "Come in," he said and a small female house elf came in. Avoiding eye contact she spoke, "your father requests presence in the dining room." Draco nodded, but the house elf turned to leave without waiting for an acknowledgment from Draco.

Draco made his way down the grand stair case and to the dining room door. To his surprise, his mother and father were not the only people sitting at the dining room table. Several men dressed in dark robes and two young boys who looked to be Draco's age turned to look at Draco. "I'm sorry father," Draco started. "I should have knocked, I didn't realize you were having a meeting."

"Nonsense," Lucius replied. "come sit down with us." Draco felt his heart sink as he sat down in a large black chair lined with dark green cushions. His father's friends and business partners always made him feel a bit uneasy. "This is Severus Snape." Lucius began. "He is the potions teacher and the head of the Slytherin House at Hogwarts. You will be seeing him quite often."