Death of a House Elf
In the Dreamlands, Dream put the Cloak with the wand and sealed it up. Matthew told Lucienne everything about the castle and Reggie had a long talk with Dream.
He took her to Fiddler’s Green, knowing she would be at ease at that place. Reggie was in her human form, and together with Dream, she sat underneath one of the bigger trees. ‘Does it please you? That you have seen your mother?’ Dream asked, a hint of his curiosity peeking through. Reggie beamed up at him. ‘Yes, so much, but…I am happier about the fact you allowed the plan my mum had.’
‘Ah yes, the plan…’ Dream had considered every angle, but it seemed the witch was right. It was better for Reggie to spend her days at Hogwarts. ‘I have a proposition for you. As I said, I will allow you to go to Hogwarts during the day, as a raven. But you must promise me that if anything goes wrong, you reach out to me, so I can see through your eyes.’
Reggie understood. Dream was very protective of her. ‘Will you teach me how to do that?’
‘Of course.’
‘Are you still angry with me?’
Dream stared in the distance, while the wind around him toyed with his hair. ‘I was…but not anymore. It was mostly…worry.’
‘Sorry…I should have stayed with Matthew. Are you…is he in trouble?’ Dream shook his head. ‘Don’t worry about it.’ Dream lifted his hand, making sure Reggie saw the movement and he gently placed his hand on her head. ‘It pleases me, that you no longer cower away from me.’ Reggie leaned into his touch. ‘You are not my uncle.’
Nothing more was said on the subject and for the remainder of the day, Dream helped her with reaching out to him. They even practiced some water magic, something that seemed to come naturally to the young witch. Dream was more than pleased. It was a Saturday, so he told her that on Sunday, they would once again visit the Tower, to talk to the ravens there.
He did not tell Reggie that his plan was that one of the ravens would keep an eye on her. He was musing over which one of them to ask. Loki was the oldest and wisest raven, and a key figure on the Tower grounds. The humans would think something was amiss if Loki was missing for large portions of the day. So it had to be one of the others. Something to think about.
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
In a dark room in the south of England, lying on a bed, was a man asleep. He was being watched by a House Elf. For the past decade, this Elf’s main task was to care for this man but do everything in her power, to keep him in this room. It pained the Elf to do so, for she was very fond of the man. But the man of the bed was not her master and she could not disobey her master. Not even for him.
Some months ago, her master had been arrested. The bond they shared would break if her master would die. Her master had placed a powerful spell on the man in the bed. The Elf knew the spell was becoming less powerful, for the man had been able to make it to the door some days prior. She had to use her own magic to prevent him from leaving. The man had struggled and screamed but she could not let him go.
Suddenly, the man’s eyes opened and he turned his head, to look at her. In his eyes was hatred and the Elf trembled. How different he was as a child. How she missed that boy.
Upstairs, in the house, the Elf suddenly heard a noise. Something fell over. She disappeared from the room and appeared in the kitchen. Since she was the only Elf of her master, she would investigate the noise. She quietly searched every room and found an open window in one of the upper rooms of the house. A book had fallen from the table. She placed the book back and went back to the man she was tasked to watch.
During her search, the Elf did not see the black smoke that was hovering in a nearby corner. She didn’t see the smoke leaving the room and she didn’t see the smoke when she came back to check on the man. Sadly, she didn’t realize the danger she was in, for the man was no longer lying in the bed, but was standing next to it, a manic gleam in his eyes. A wand was pointed at her. The last thing the poor Elf saw, was a green light coming her way.