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Beatrice played with her fingers as she watched the screen, chewing on her bottom lip as she did so. Her soft lips had now been thoroughly chewed on and were dry. She could feel the suspense building up.
Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. Harry knew instantly that this was what had been watching him out of the garden hedge that morning.
"Eek!"
"What the-"
"Why is there a house elf?!"
Lucius narrows his eyes at the house elf, why did it look so familiar?
Harry stares at the screen longingly, his heart aching as he stared at the house elf.
Hermione and Ron share sorrowful looks while Aranya breathes out, staring at the house elf.
"Whose house elf is that?" Dorcus asks with narrowed eyes.
"And why is it in Harry's bedroom?" Marlene frowns.
As they stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley's voice from the hall.
"May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"
"Oh, how do you feel, Mr. Potter?" Sirius says in a mocking tone, giving him a funny expression.
James grins. "Oh, I do believe I feel like shit."
The two then burst out laughing while Euphemia shakes her head with a amused smile on her lips.
The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm- and leg-holes.
"Er - hello," said Harry nervously.
"Harry Potter!" said the creature in a high-pitched voice Harry was sure would carry down the stairs. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir... Such an honor it is..."
Lucius frowns as he tries to remember the name, why was it so familiar? Where had he heard that name before?
Narcissa tilts her head, staring at the screen. She still couldn't believe she had married Lucius and had a son. Sure she knew they were arranged to marry but she thought he would have given up on her.
"Th-thank you," said Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. He wanted to ask, "What are you?" but thought it would sound too rude, so instead he said, "Who are you?"
Lily smiles. "Even when he has no parents, he still has some manners." She grins looking at everyone with a proud look in her eyes.
James also smiled widely.
Barty snorts quietly, causing Lexi to snicker.
"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature.
"Oh - really?" said Harry. "Er - I don't want to be rude or anything, but - this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom."
Lei-Lei Chang and Vista Parkinson snicker.
Sirius chuckles quietly.
Aunt Petunias high, false laugh sounded from the living room. The elf hung his head.
"Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," said Harry quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?"
"Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir... it is difficult, sir... Dobby wonders where to begin..."
"Sit down," said Harry politely, pointing at the bed.
Evan scoffs. "He shouldn't have said that, he really shouldn't have."
"Filthy creatures." Lucius snorts.
Regulus frowns at that, remembering Kreature.
To his horror, the elf burst into tears - very noisy tears.
"Oh," James facepalms.
"Why is he crying?" Mary asks, confusion growing on her face.
"Oh, that poor house elf." Lexi frowns. "He must have been so badly mistreated." She shakes her head sadly.
Regulus feels his heart crack. He would hate it if Kreature was mistreated, he was the only person in that house who cared about him.
His mother didn't care.
His father was to scared of his mother to care.
And Sirius had left.
He was all alone with only Kreature by his side.
"S-sit down!" he wailed. " Never ... never ever..."
Harry thought he heard the voices downstairs falter.
"I'm sorry," he whispered, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything--"
"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard - like an equal--"
"Oh, that poor elf." Marlene clutches hee chest.
"That's so heartbreaking." Mary shakes her head.
Hermione nods, muttering stuff about S.P.E.W and how it will actually help them.
Ron, Harry and Aranya share annoyed looks.
Harry, trying to say "Shh!" and look comforting at the same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration.
"That's kind of cute." Lexi smiles. "He's kind of adorable."
Beatrice slowly nods, agreeing with her silently.
"You can't have met many decent wizards," said Harry, trying to cheer him up.
Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Many people jump at that.
Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore share looks.
"Oh, dear." Lei Lei mutters, eyeing the elf.
"Don't - what are you doing?" Harry hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed - Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage.
"Poor Hedwig." Beatrice says quietly, staring at the screen. No one heard her, her parents didn't even turn to her.
"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir..."
"Punish himself?" Mary asks in horror. "That's sick! Who would do that?!"
"Exactly! House elfs shouldn't be mistreated!" Hermione snaps.
"Here we go again," Ron mutters to Harry and Aranya.
"Ronald!" Hermione hissed.
"Your family?"
"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir... Dobby is a house-elf - bound to serve one house and one family forever..."
"Do they know you're here?" asked Harry curiously.
Dobby shuddered.
"Oh, no, sir, no... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir--"
"Shut his ears in the oven doors-!"
"Hermione! Shut up!"
A few laughs and giggles go around at the annoyed look on Aranya's face.
"But won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?"
"Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments..."
"That's horrible!" Lily says in horror.
"Extra punishments?" Marlene frowns shaking her head.
Regulus scowls, glaring hard at the screen. He wonders who the family was, he would have punched the hell out of them.
"But why don't you leave? Escape?"
"A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free... Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir..."
Harry stared.
"And I thought I had it bad staying here for another four weeks," he said. "This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Can't anyone help you? Can't I?"
"Oh, how thoughtful you are, Harry." Euphemia smiles at her grandson.
"Poor Dobby," Marlene says sadly.
Lily smiles at how sweet her son is.
Almost at once, Harry wished he hadn't spoken. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude.
"Please," Harry whispered frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here--"
"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby... Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew..."
James smirks. "Yeah, my son's famous!" He pumps his fist up.
"Hell yah!" Sirius exclaims.
Remus chuckles. "We already knew that." He shakes his head as Peter also cheers.
Harry, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I'm not even top of my year at Hogwarts; that's Hermione, she--"
Hermione smiles. "That's so sweet of you Harry, thank you."
Harry nods, giving her a small smile.
But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful.
"Harry Potter is humble and modest," said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. "Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named--"
"Voldemort?" said Harry.
Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"
Ron huffs. "Always the name." He states.
"Always," Hermione sighs.
Aranya smiles, looking down.
"Sorry," said Harry quickly. "I know lots of people don't like it. My friend Ron--"
"Thanks, Harry." Ron chuckles.
He stopped again. Thinking about Ron was painful, too.
Dobby leaned toward Harry, his eyes wide as headlights.
Harry sighs. "Plus, it's my cousin Aranya..." He pauses, thinking about her was painfully too.
Aranya grins at him. "Aww shucks. Atleast I know you think about me." She chuckles.
Harry only rolls his eyes.
"Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago... that Harry Potter escaped yet again ."
Harry nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears.
"Ah, sir," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later... Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts ."
"What?" Mary frowns.
"Why not?" Marlene asks with a confused tone.
Sirius narrowed his eyes.
There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice.
"W-what?" Harry stammered. "But I've got to go back - term starts on September first. It's all that's keeping me going. You don't know what it's like here. I don't belong here. I belong in your world - at Hogwarts."
"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry Potter must stay where he is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger."
"Why?" said Harry in surprise.
"There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!"
"What!"
"Who?"
"Again?"
"Seriously?"
"What does he mean?" Marlene questions.
"Who could it be?" Remus asks.
Lily feels her her heart beat faster, her poor baby, her future son would be in trouble. Yet again.
Sirius stares at the screen, thinking about all the possibilities.
James runs his hands through his hair nervously, messing it up.
Euphemia chews on her lips thoughtfully, she shares a look with Fleamont.
"What terrible things?" said Harry at once. "Who's plotting them?"
Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall.
"All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell me. I understand. But why are you warning me?" A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. "Hang on - this hasn't got anything to do with Vol- - sorry - with You-Know-Who, has it? You could just shake or nod," he added hastily as Dobby's head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.
Slowly, Dobby shook his head.
"Not - not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named , sir--"
But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a hint. Harry, however, was completely lost.
"A reason why he's not a Ravenclaw." Aranya whispers to Hermione. The smart girl nods.
Ron snickers as Harry shoots them a glare.
"He hasn't got a brother, has he?"
Everyone bursts put laughing at that.
Bellatrix frowns.
Lucius frowns as Barty scrunched his nose up.
Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.
"Well then, I can't think who else would have a chance of making horrible things happen at Hogwarts," said Harry. "I mean, there's Dumbledore, for one thing - you know who Dumbledore is, don't you?"
Dobby bowed his head.
"Albus Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. Dobby knows it, sir. Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his strength. But, sir" - Dobby's voice dropped to an urgent whisper - "there are powers Dumbledore doesn't... powers no decent wizard..."
Dumbledore and McGonagall share worried looks.
James, Remus, Peter and Sirius all look at each other. Who was more powerful than Dumbledore? You-Know-Who has only ever feared one person, Albus Dumbledore.
Aberforth scowls, letting out a scoff as he looks away.
And before Harry could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with earsplitting yelps.
"Oh my!" Lily yelps as many people jump and gasp at the elf.
"Oh, no." Regulus stares wide eyed.
James and Sirius jump in surprise.
Lexi frowns.
Beatrice stares at the house elf with pity, feeling hee heart crack for the elf.
A sudden silence fell downstairs. Two seconds later Harry, heart thudding madly, heard Uncle Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left his television on again, the little tyke!"
"Quick! In the closet!" hissed Harry, stuffing Dobby in, shutting the door, and flinging himself onto the bed just as the door handle turned.
"What - the - devil - are - you - doing?" said Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Harry's. "You've just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke... One more sound and you'll wish you'd never been born, boy!"
He stomped flat-footed from the room.
James clenched his jaw.
Lily glares hard at Vernon.
Harry just sighs as he glances at his aunt, remembering the award winning moment when she had burst through that time in the end of 2nd year.
Beatrice doesn't notice his staring and stares at the screen.
Shaking, Harry let Dobby out of the closet.
"See what it's like here?" he said. "See why I've got to go back to Hogwarts? It's the only place I've got - well, I think I've got friends."
"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" said Dobby slyly.
James narrows his eyes.
Lily raised and eyebrow, sharing a look with Remus.
Mary and Marlene glance at each other.
"I expect they've just been - wait a minute," said Harry, frowning. "How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me?"
Dobby shuffled his feet.
"Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best--"
"Have you been stopping my letters? "
"Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Harry could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl, and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid. And he even saw half of them consisted from Ararnya.
Those envelopes were a pretty brown color.
"Oh."
"He stole the letters!"
"He hid the letters." Mary points out.
"Pretty obvious." Regulus grumbles.
"But why would he do that?" Mary frowns.
"Woah. Look at how many many letters Aranya sent," Lei Lei mutters.
Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry.
"Harry Potter mustn't be angry... Dobby hoped... if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him... Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir..."
Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.
"Harry Potter will have them, sir, if he gives Dobby his word that he will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"
"No," said Harry angrily. "Give me my friends'letters!"
"Then Harry Potter leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly.
Before Harry could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs.
"Oh no!"
"Oh, shit!"
Mouth dry, stomach lurching, Harry sprang after him, trying not to make a sound. He jumped the last six steps, landing catlike on the hall carpet, looking around for Dobby. From the dining room he heard Uncle Vernon saying, "... tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She's been dying to hear..."
Harry ran up the hall into the kitchen and felt his stomach disappear.
Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating up near the ceiling. On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby.
"Oh, shit." Barty nutters.
"No, no, no, no, no." Lily whimpers.
Marlene covers her face. "I can't watch." She mutters.
"No one told you too." Lexi says under her breath.
James stares at the screen nervously.
"No," croaked Harry. "Please... they'll kill me..."
"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school--"
"Dobby... please..."
"Say it, sir--"
"I can't--"
Dobby gave him a tragic look.
"Then Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter's own good."
The pudding fell to the floor with a heart-stopping crash. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished.
There were screams from the dining room and Uncle Vernon burst into the kitchen to find Harry, rigid with shock, covered from head to foot in Aunt Petunia's pudding.
At first, it looked as though Uncle Vernon would manage to gloss the whole thing over. ("Just our nephew -very disturbed - meeting strangers upsets him, so we kept him upstairs...") He shooed the shocked Masons back into the dining room, promised Harry he would flay him to within an inch of his life when the Masons had left, and handed him a mop. Aunt Petunia dug some ice cream out of the freezer and Harry, still shaking, started scrubbing the kitchen clean.
Uncle Vernon might still have been able to make his deal - if it hadn't been for the owl.
Aunt Petunia was just passing around a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and swooped out again. Mrs. Mason screamed like a banshee and ran from the house shouting about lunatics. Mr. Mason stayed just long enough to tell the Dursleys that his wife was mortally afraid of birds of all shapes and sizes, and to ask whether this was their idea of a joke.
Harry stood in the kitchen, clutching the mop for support, as Uncle Vernon advanced on him, a demonic glint in his tiny eyes.
"Read it!" he hissed evilly, brandishing the letter the owl had delivered. "Go on - read it!"
Harry took it. It did not contain birthday greetings.
Dear Mr. Potter,
We have received intelligence that a Hover Charm was used at your place of residence this evening at twelve minutes past nine.
As you know, underage wizards are not permitted to perform spells outside school, and further spellwork on your part may lead to expulsion from said school. (Decree for the Reasonable Restriction of Underage Sorcery, 1875, Paragraph C).
We would also ask you to remember that any magical activity that risks notice by members of the non magical community (Muggles) is a serious offense under section 13 of the International Confederation of Warlocks'Statute of Secrecy.
Enjoy your holidays!
Yours sincerely,
Mafalda Hopkirk
IMPROPER USE OF MAGIC OFFICE
Ministry of Magic
James facepalms.
Lily sighs. "Oh dear."
Dorcus shakes her head.
"It wasn't his fault!" Mary snaps.
Beatrice fiddles with her fingers anxiously.
Harry looked up from the letter and gulped.
"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon, a mad gleam dancing in his eyes. "Forgot to mention it... Slipped your mind, I daresay..."
He was bearing down on Harry like a great bulldog, all his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, boy... I'm locking you up... You're never going back to that school... never... and if you try and magic yourself out - they'll expel you!"
"Hey!"
"He can't do that!"
"That's illegal!"
"This little-" James grits his teeth as his father grabs him and holds him down.
"Oh, Harry." Lily swallows hard.
"He needs to go to Hogwarts!" Sandra Wood snaps.
"That's illegal! He can't do that!" Sirius growls.
And laughing like a maniac, he dragged Harry back upstairs.
Uncle Vernon was as bad as his word. The following morning, he paid a man to fit bars on Harry's window. He himself fitted a cat-flap in the bedroom door, so that small amounts of food could be pushed inside three times a day. They let Harry out to use the bathroom morning and evening. Otherwise, he was locked in his room around the clock.
Three days later, the Dursleys were showing no sign of relenting, and Harry couldn't see any way out of his situation. He lay on his bed watching the sun sinking behind the bars on the window and wondered miserably what was going to happen to him.
What was the good of magicking himself out of his room if Hogwarts would expel him for doing it? Yet life at Privet Drive had reached an all-time low. Now that the Dursleys knew they weren't going to wake up as fruit bats, he had lost his only weapon. Dobby might have saved Harry from horrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, he'd probably starve to death anyway.
The cat-flap rattled and Aunt Petunias hand appeared, pushing a bowl of canned soup into the room. Harry, whose insides were aching with hunger, jumped off his bed and seized it. The soup was stone-cold, but he drank half of it in one gulp. Then he crossed the room to Hedwig's cage and tipped the soggy vegetables at the bottom of the bowl into her empty food tray. She ruffled her feathers and gave him a look of deep disgust.
"It's no good turning your beak up at it - that's all we've got," said Harry grimly.
He put the empty bowl back on the floor next to the cat-flap and lay back down on the bed, somehow even hungrier than he had been before the soup.
Supposing he was still alive in another four weeks, hat would happen if he didn't turn up at Hogwarts? Would someone be sent to see why he hadn't come back? Would they be able to make the Dursleys let him go?
The room was growing dark. Exhausted, stomach rumbling, mind spinning over the same unanswerable questions, Harry fell into an uneasy sleep.
He dreamed that he was on show in a zoo, with a card reading UNDERAGE WIZARD attached to his cage. People goggled through the bars at him as he lay, starving and weak, on a bed of straw. He saw Dobby's face in the crowd and shouted out, asking for help, but Dobby called, "Harry Potter is safe there, sir!" and vanished. Then the Dursleys appeared and Dudley rattled the bars of the cage, laughing at him.
"Stop it," Harry muttered as the rattling pounded in his sore head. "Leave me alone... cut it out... I'm trying to sleep..."
He opened his eyes. Moonlight was shining through the bars on the window. And someone was goggling through the bars at him: a freckle-faced, red-haired, long-nosed someone.
Ron Weasley was outside Harry's window.
Everyone immediately starts cheering.
"Yes!" Mary cheers.
"He saved him!" Marlene grins.
"He'll be fine." Lily sighs in relief.
****
Athena ⚜️