Harry’s Private Army

Oops, I spelled Kreacher’s name wrong in chapter 3. My bad. I corrected it. I have no clue how this happened. I’ve used that elf in a lot of my stories, and this is the first time I’ve misspelled his name. I plead brain atrophy. I haven’t had an intelligent conversation in years. Lol, kidding.

The fight scene was brought on by a review. It sparked my muse so fast that I typed the scene before the rest of the chapter even started. Lol. I love reviews like that.

Also, it looks like my short story isn’t going to be so short. We’re still on the first day after all. Damn my muse.

Hphphp

“I’ll just leave you to your planning,” Bill said as he left the room. He had much to do, and little time to do it in. He was hopeful that the goblins would help for not too much cost. They did pride themselves on being neutral. He might have to get the Order to pay them, or at least pay them to teach him the spells. He was a good worker, after all.

“Bye, Bill,” was the response from all the men in the kitchen. They waited until he was gone to answer Remus’s question. Harry nodded to Sirius to take up the explanation.

“Well, you see, Harry, here, found some sentient doxies. He wants to keep them with him, so they are not killed,” Sirius said, getting up and leaving the room. He didn’t say where he was going, he just left.

“Where is he going?” Harry asked, confused by his godfather’s behavior. He didn’t want to be alone with Moony. Not that he didn’t trust the guy, he was still miffed at the werewolf. He took a deep breath and controlled his emotions. He had promised to give the guy a second chance.

“I don’t know,” Remus said, watching his retreating friend’s back. He then turned to Harry and said, “Doxies?” he had no clue what they were talking about. He had never heard of smart doxies.

“Yeah, they are smart. Not like the ones down here, these guys are actually military smart. I saw them flying formations,” Harry said, getting excited again.

“Do you know how it happened? The other man asked, putting his folded hands on the table in an inquiring way.

“The queen said it was the horcrux. Well, she didn’t know what it was, but we figured it out. I hope she’s not to upset that we can’t put it with her swarm,” Harry said, tapping his finger on the table in a thoughtful manner.

“I’m sure she will be fine,” the werewolf said, though he wasn’t completely sure that was true. “What did you have planned for them?” he asked instead, hoping that it wasn’t something nefarious.

“I thought I could keep them on me, and use them for… I don’t know, spies, or fighters. Something that might give me an edge,” the teen explained, not sure if he wanted to tell the werewolf the whole plan. “I can use them for pranks, and such,” he added in a lighthearted manner. He wanted the man to think his motives were benevolent. His real thoughts on the matter were not quite benign.

He could think of two people right off the top of his head, that he wanted the doxies to attack. If they could do it on the sly, that would be all the better. He already had some drills in mind to teach them, so they didn’t get caught. Everyone would think it was just wild doxies. But he’d have to be careful, using them too much might bring attention to the fact that someone had control over a swarm.

“I see,” Remus said, rubbing his chin in thought. “And what do they want in return?” he knew that dark creatures would want equivalent exchange.

“Well, the queen said, she just needed dark magic. I figured there is plenty here, I could just put some stuff that Mrs. Weasley is throwing out in the bag Sirius said he’d make,” the teen said, looking around the room for anything that might be dark that he could use as an example. Not that Moony needed one. He was a master at DADA, after all.

“Just dark magic?” the werewolf asked, thinking on how that might help the critters. He knew that doxies were considered dark pest. They did bite humans and were venomous. He did know that too much venom was deadly, hence their placement in the dark category.

“Yeah, I’m not sure why, but she seemed pretty certain that that was what she needed,” Harry said with a nod of his head.

Just then Sirius came back in carrying a piece of cloth. “This is that dementor’s cloak I told you about,” he said to Harry, putting it on the table between the two sitting. He then grabbed back his chair and motioned for Remus to pick it up. “I thought you might be able to make a bag or sack out of it,” he explained. “You’re better at mending charms than I am,” he said with a smirk.

“I can make both. Will you be putting an undetectable extension charm on it?” Remus asked, turning the cloth over in his hands. It was cool to the touch, but it didn’t give off that oppressive aura that dementors did. So, it must be the beings and not the clothes, which just made sense. It wasn’t like Death Eaters’ masks gave off the feeling of doom. Sure, seeing one sparked fear, but the mask itself didn’t have an aura.

“Yeah, we’re going to be putting a whole bed in there,” Sirius said, watching Moony look at the cloak. “It’ll be tricky, but I think between the three of us, we can get it done.” He leaned back and waited for the other man to figure out how to make a portable home for the pests.

“What’s the difference between a bag and sack?” Harry wanted to know. He thought he knew but wanted it confirmed.

“A bag has a flap and a strap, a sack is sinched at the top,” Remus answered, absentmindedly.

“Oh, that’s what I thought,” Harry said, and then added, “I prefer a bag, if it’s all the same to you.” This way the doxies could get out easier and do the dirty work without being seen. If he just dropped the bag on the ground, behind something, they could do sneak attacks. It was part of the drills that he had in his head.

“Why?” Sirius wanted to know. “I mean, I can see the benefits of both, so why a bag?”

“I can carry it easier. If I put a notice-me-not charm on it, they can come and go as they please. That and I can talk to the queen easier,” the teen stated, looking at his godfather, who was still watching Moony. “A sack I’d have to attach to my belt, it would get annoying to make sure it stays there,” he added, thinking about the benefits and downfalls of each.

“I can make a bag. Not a problem,” Remus said, putting the cloth down and starting to weave the spell to do just that. the other two watched as the cloth cut itself into a large rectangle, and a long strip. The rectangle, then divided itself into two sections, one being longer than the other. Remus waved his wand again, and two sides sewed themselves evenly together with the left over making the flap, and the strap affixed itself to the finished bag.

“A few charms, and this will be all ready to go,” Sirius said, getting out the wand he was using, and waving it over the bag. “One undetectable expansion charm, an oxygen replenishing charm, so they don’t die, a notice-me-not, and featherweight, and a few durability charms, and Bob’s your uncle,” he said, finishing with a flourish.

“How do you know so many charms?” Harry asked, amazed at all the ones that were put on the bag. He would have never thought of an oxygen charm. He just figured the space would have oxygen.

“We got up to a lot of mischief in school,” was all the answer he got.

Suddenly Harry had a bad feeling. He jumped up and ran from the room. He didn’t worry that he was making noise, he felt the need to get to Dobby as soon as possible. The portrait of Mrs. Black woke and started screaming. Harry ignored her, like he always did.

He tore down the third floor, and the twins popped out their heads, to see what was making the ruckus. They saw Harry and followed. Anything that had Harry in a twist was worth exploring.

Harry reached the entrance to the fourth floor, which is where the twins were stopped. He made his way to the room with the doxies. He stopped in complete shock at what was happening in that room.

There was a fight going on. A one-sided fight.

The doxies were protecting themselves from the house elves. Dobby huddled under a barrage of items that the doxies were hurdling at him from above. Small things that can be found in most rooms, like brushes, combs, small handheld mirrors, and other such sundry. Harry reckoned they cleared out most of the rooms to have this many on hand weapons.

Dobby would snap his fingers, and the ones attacking him would fall, though not for long, then another squad would take their place.

Winky was hiding behind a dresser, trying to stop them from throwing things her way.

Sirius had finally made his way to the room, having stopped to let Remus in. he took one look at the ‘battle’, and fell down laughing. It was the funniest thing he’d seen in ages.

“Stop!” Harry bellowed, making the whole room freeze. “Dobby, come here. You too, Winky,” he commanded, not trying to sound demanding, but he wanted them to come out of the room.

The two elves, still hunkered down, made their way to Harry’s side.

“Dobby, I’m sorry. I forgot to tell you not to bother these doxies. The ones downstairs are fair game, but I have an agreement with these guys,” Harry said, kneeling down to Dobby’s height. He put his hand on the elf’s shoulder in a commiserative manner. He knew what it was like to get into a fight because someone didn’t share all the information. Dumbledore.

“Harry Potter is apologizing to Dobby,” the elf said with tears in his eyes. “May Dobby ask what Harry Potter is being needing with doxies?”

“Pranks mostly,” Harry said, not wanting to tell a free elf his plans. Sure, Dobby was his friend, and he was working for him, but he also answered to the headmaster. Perhaps he should change that. “Dobby, are you happy being free?” the boy asked, his hand still on Dobby’s shoulder.

“Dobby is more happy than he was with bad masters,” the elf hedged, not wanting Harry Potter to think that he had done a bad thing.

“Do you want to be part of my family?” Harry asked, trying a different tact.

“Dobby would be the happiest elf in the world,” Dobby said, bouncing as much as he could, since Harry Potter was still holding his shoulder.

“Great, do I do what Sirius did to Winky?” the teen asked, moving his hand to the elf’s head.

“Yes, Harry Potter, sir,” the tiny being said, vibrating so much he was moving sideways.

“I take Dobby to be my elf,” Harry intoned, watching his hand glow a bit.

“Dobby accepts,” the elf beamed, still vibrating. He looked like he was about to explode with repressed joy.

“Get it out of your system,” Harry said with a chuckle.

Sirius who finally got off the floor, moved out of the way. He didn’t know how the little bugger was going to react, but he wasn’t going to be nearby when it happened. He moved himself and Remus down the hall a bit. Winky, seeing them do so, did the same.

Harry just stood there. He knew he wasn’t in any danger, but he also knew that Dobby was going to be exorbitant. And he was right, not a minute later, his little friend exploded into action.

“Harry Potter is being the greatest wizard alive!!!” Dobby said, bouncing from wall to wall, shouting it over and over. He did this for about five minutes, when Harry indicated that that was enough.

“Now that that’s done, let’s get these doxies to their new home,” Sirius said, a chuckle on his lips. Dobby was an experience, that was for sure.

“Can Dobby be helping?” the little guy asked, wanting to be the most helpful house elf ever.

“No, we got this. You can continue your cleaning,” Harry said, hoping not to disappoint his tiny friend.

“Dobby can be doing that,” the elf said, and started snapping his fingers.

“Can one of you get the queen?” Harry asked the doxies that had sat and watched the whole proceedings.

One nodded and flew to the bed. The queen came out right away, like she was just waiting in the shadows of the bed. “That is your elf?” she demanded, pointing at the cleaning Dobby.

“Yes, but it was my fault he was here,” Harry said, holding up his hands in supplication. He would take the blame, however he hoped it didn’t interfere with their agreement.

“I would like to prevent this from happening again. Did you find us accommodations?” the tiny queen asked, her lower hands in fists on her hips, while her upper hands were making hand signs to her troop leaders.

Harry just hoped she was telling them it was all clear. “We just finished it,” he said, motioning for Remus to come and show her the bag. “I’m going to use this. You won’t feel a thing while I’m carrying it.” He took the bag from Remus and showed her the inside. “We’ll put the bed in there, and I’ll make sure to throw a rat in every now and then.

“Where is the evil object?” she asked, not feeling anything else in the bag.

“We had to give it up. Turns out it had a piece of an evil wizard’s soul in it. Wait, I have an idea,” he said, shoving the bag back into Remus’s arms and taking off down to the kitchen. He heard the werewolf start to ask the queen questions, but he ignored that and kept running.

He made it to the kitchen, where Mrs. Weasley was cleaning. He brushed past her and went to the garbage bin. He then took out the rag that they had used to clean his face. Maybe there was some residual magic left in the gunk. He ignored Mrs. Weasley’s inquiries and ran up the stairs.

“Will this work,” he asked, gasping for air, holding the rag to the queen.

She sniffed it and said, “It’ll do, but we’ll need more than this.” She took the rag and threw it on the bed.

“We have plenty of things in this house,” Sirius said, patting his godson on the back, like he was trying to help him breathe. Harry just glared at him for his efforts since they weren’t helping.

“Okay, then as agreed, we will do as you bid, for a safe place to live,” the queen said, waving her troops to the bed. They all flew there and settled in the curtains.

Remus took the bag, opened the flap, and moved it towards the bed. Something about the undetectable expansion charm was that whatever you wanted in the bag would shrink down as soon as you came near it. Soon enough, the bed was inside the bag.

Harry took the bag from Remus when the man offered it up. He looked inside and saw the bed in miniature. He wondered if it expanded to full size but looked small from the outside.

“Are you okay in there?” he asked through the opening. It was getting late, and he wanted to make sure they were fine before he went to bed.