Another Hogwarts Tale

The twins managed not to shout out of suprise, 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.

As they stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley's voice from the hallway.

"May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

The creature slid off the bed and bowed so low that the tip of its long, narrow nose touched the carpet.

Lucy noticed that it was wearing some sort of old pillowcase, with holes for its arms and legs.

"Er- hello," Harry said nervously.

"Harry und Lucy 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 and miss… Such an honor it is…"

Lucy and Harry looked at each other for a moment and then back at the creature.

"Th-thank you," said Harry.

Harry edged along the wall and sank into his desk chair, right next to the sleeping Hedwig in her big cage.

Lucy stopped as Newt - who had been watching the creature suspiciously from Lucy's bed - decided to jump into its owner's arms.

Harry wanted to ask: "What are you?" but he thought that was rather rude, so he said:

"Who are you?"

"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."

Aunt Petunia's high-pitched, fake laugh came from the living room. The elf hung his head.

"Not that we're not pleased to meet you," Lucy added 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," Lucy said politely, pointing to the bed.

To their horror, the elf burst into tears - very loud tears.

"S-sit down!" he wailed, "never...never ever..."

Lucy thought she could hear the voices below falling silent.

"I'm sorry," she whispered, "I didn’t mean to offend you or anything -"

"Offend Dobby," the elf sobbed. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a witch or wizard - like an equal -"

Harry hissed, "Shhh!" and tried to give Dobby a reassuring look and an inviting gesture to the bed at the same time.

There he sat again, like a big, ugly doll with a hiccup.

Finally, he collected himself and stared at the twins with a look of admiration in his large watery eyes.

"You can’t have met many decent wizards and witches," Harry said.

Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he jumped up and began banging his head madly against the window.

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" he yelled.

"Don't - what are you doing?" Harry hissed, jumping up and dragging Dobby back onto the bed.

Hedwig woke up with a particularly loud screech and flapped her wings wildly against the cage bars.

With Harry still holding the house-elf, Newt sat down on her bed and tried to calm Hedwig down.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, now with a slight squint in his eyes, "Dobby almost spoke badly of his family, sir..."

"Your family?" Lucy asked as she stood next to Harry.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir…"

"Your family?"

"The wizard family Dobby serves, miss… Dobby is a house-elf - bound to serve one house and one family forever…”

"Do they know you're here?" Harry asked 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 -"

"But you don't have to punish yourself," Lucy said, looking worriedly at Dobby.

"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 sounds awful," Lucy murmured. The twelve-year-old sat down on her bed and started petting Newt as if that would help.

"But why don’t you leave? Escape?" Harry inquired further.

"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…"

Lucy and Harry stared at him.

Newt, who seemed less suspicious now, slowly approached Dobby and nudged the house-elf curiously.

"And I thought I had it bad staying here for another four weeks," Harry said. "This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Can't anyone help you? Can't I?"

At that very moment, Harry felt like biting his tongue. Dobby howled in gratitude.

"Please," Harry hissed tightly, "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…"

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-"

But he stopped immediately, for the thought of Hermione hurt him.

"Harry and Lucy Potter are humble and modest," said Dobby in awe, his spherical eyes glowing. "Harry Potter speaks not of their triumph over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named -"

"Voldemort?" said Harry.

Dobby slapped his hands against his bat ears, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"

"Sorry," Harry said quickly, "I know lots of people don't like it. My friend Ron -"

Again, he broke off. Thinking about Ron hurt too.

Dobby leaned towards Harry; eyes wide as headlights.

"Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Harry and Lucy Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago… that they escaped yet again."

Harry nodded and tears glistened in Dobby's eyes.

"Ah, sir," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry and Lucy Potter are valiant and bold! They have braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry and Lucy Potter, to warn them, even if they do have to shut his ears in the oven door later… Harry and Lucy Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

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?" Lucy stammered. "But we’ve got to go back - term starts on September first. It’s all that keeps us going. You don’t know what it’s like here. We don’t belong here. We belong in your world - at Hogwarts."

"No, no, no," Dobby squeaked, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped in his face.

"Harry and Lucy Potter must stay where they are safe. They are too great, too good, to lose. If Harry and Lucy Potter go back to Hogwarts, they will be in mortal danger."

"Why?" Harry asked, puzzled.

"There is a plot, Harry and Lucy 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 and miss. Harry and Lucy Potter must not put themselves in peril. They are too important, sir and miss!"

"What terrible things?" Harry promptly asked. "Who's plotting them?"

Dobby made an odd gagging sound and then, madly, banged his head against the wall.

"All right!" Harry cried, grabbing the elf's arm to calm him down. "You can’t tell us. I understand. But why are you warning us?"

A disturbing thought suddenly 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 was already worrying again excitingly close to the wall.

Dobby slowly shook his head.

"Not -not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir -"

Dobby's eyes, however, were wide and seemed to give Lucy and Harry a hint.

The twins, however, were completely at a loss.

"He hasn’t got a brother, has he?"

Dobby shook his head and widened his eyes even more.

Lucy looked at her brother.

"If he had a brother, don't you think he would have tried to kill us?"

"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…"

And before either Lucy or Harry could get a hold of him, Dobby threw himself off the bed, grabbed the desk lamp and banged it over his head, yelping deafeningly.

Downstairs there was sudden silence.

Lucy's and Harry's hearts began to race and a moment later they heard Uncle Vernon step into the hall and shout, "Dudley must have left his television on again, little rascal!"

"Quick! In the closet!" hissed Harry, shoving Dobby into the closet, closing the door and throwing himself onto the bed. The doorknob was already turning.

"What - the - devil - are - you - doing?" Uncle Vernon growled through clenched teeth.

"You’ve just ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke…"

"Sorry," Lucy mumbled. "Newt jumped on the desk."

"One more sound and you’ll wish you’d never been born!"

With stamping steps, he left the room.

Harry freed Dobby from the closet with shaking hands.

"See what it’s like here?” he said. “See why we’ve got to go back to Hogwarts? It’s the only place we’ve got — well, I think we’ve got friends."

"Friends who don’t even write to Harry and Lucy Potter?" said Dobby slyly.

"We expect they’ve just been - wait a minute," Harry said, frowning.

"How do you know my friends haven’t been writing to us?" Lucy asked.

Dobby shuffled his feet. "Harry and Lucy Potter mustn’t be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best -"

"Have you been stopping our letters?"

"Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf.

He quickly moved out of Lucy and Harry's reach and pulled a thick stack of envelopes from his pillowcase.

Lucy could make out Louisa's neat handwriting, Ophelia's messy handwriting, and even a scribble that looked like it was made by Hagrid, the Hogwarts gamekeeper.

Dobby blinked up at the twins anxiously.

"Harry and Lucy Potter mustn’t be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry and Lucy Potter thought their friends had forgotten them… Harry and Lucy Potter might not want to go back to school, sir, miss…"

Harry wasn't listening to him. He grabbed the letters, but Dobby jumped away from him.

"Harry and Lucy Potter will have them, sir and miss, if they give Dobby their word that they will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sir and miss, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won’t go back!"

"No," said Harry angrily, "Give us our friends’ letters!"

"Then Harry and Lucy Potter leave Dobby no choice," the elf said sadly.

Before Lucy and Harry could even move, Dobby had dashed to the bedroom door, opened it, and sped down the stairs.

Lucy and Harry followed him as quietly as they could.

They jumped the last six steps and Lucy landed cat-like on the hall carpet next to her brother.

They looked around for Dobby.

From the dining room, Lucy heard Uncle Vernon's voice: "… tell Petunia that very funny story about those American plumbers, Mr. Mason. She’s been dying to hear…"

Lucy rolled her eyes.

The twins ran down the hall and into the kitchen. What she saw there finished Lucy's stomach.

Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of dessert, the mountain of cream and candied violets, hovered just below the ceiling. Dobby was crouched on a cupboard in the corner.

"No," groaned Harry, "please don't... they're killing us..."

"Harry and Lucy Potter must say they're not going back to school -"

"Dobby - please…"

"Say it, sir, miss-"

Lucy and Harry looked at each other. Never go to Hogwarts again? Nope. That wasn't an option.

"We can't-"

Dobby gave them a pained look.

"Then Dobby must do it, for the Potter’s own good."

The slab fell to the floor with a deafening splinter.

Cream spattered windows and walls.

With a whopping crack, Dobby vanished.

Screams came from the dining room and Uncle Vernon came rushing into the kitchen: the twins were standing in front of him, frozen in shock, sprinkled from head to toe with Aunt Petunia's dessert.

At first it seemed as if Uncle Vernon would manage to salvage the situation ("Just our nephew and niece - very disturbed - meeting strangers upsets them, so we kept them both upstairs…").

He gently ushered the surprised Masons back into the dining room, promised Lucy and Harry, he would flay him to within an inch of his life when the Masons had left, and handed him a mop and her a rag.

Aunt Petunia dug some ice from the freezer and the twins, still trembling, began mopping the kitchen.

Maybe Uncle Vernon would have been able to get his job done - if it hadn't been for the owl.

Aunt Petunia was passing around a box of mints when a giant barn owl fluttered through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs. Mason's head, and flew out again.

Mrs. Mason shrieked like a banshee and ran out of the house, ranting loudly about 'those lunatics'.

Mr Mason took the time to explain that his wife was terrified of birds of all shapes and sizes.

Did the Dursleys find jokes like that funny?

Lucy was standing in the kitchen clutching the rag as Uncle Vernon strode towards him, a demonic smolder in his little eyes.

"Read it!" he hissed viciously, waving the letters the owl had brought in the air.

"Go ahead - read it!"

It did not contain birthday greetings.

Dear Miss 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

When Lucy finished reading the letter, she looked up.

"You didn’t tell us you weren’t allowed to use magic outside school," said Uncle Vernon. A mad gleam sparkled in his eyes.

"Forgot to mention it… Slipped your minds, I daresay"

Lucy wondered what would happen next, but at the same time wondered if Aunt Petunia shouldn't have known that.

Her mother wasn't allowed to do magic either when she was a student. That was certainly also an issue when she was at home during the holidays.

"Well, I've got news for you, 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 both!"

And laughing like a madman he dragged the twins up the stairs.

~~

Uncle Vernon was mean enough to keep his promise.

The following morning, he had bars put up over the twins' window.

He personally installed the cat flap in the door of the room so that they could push in a little food three times a day.

Morning and evening, they let Lucy and Harry into the bathroom one after the other; they locked the two in their room for the rest of the day.

Three days later, the Dursleys still showed no sign of giving up, and neither Lucy nor Harry had any idea how to get out of his predicament.

Lying on the bed, Harry watched the sun go down behind the window bars and despondently wondered what was to happen with him and his sister.

What was the use of conjuring yourself out of the room?

Then they would be kicked out of Hogwarts. But the twins here in Privet Drive had never been so miserable.

Now that the Dursleys knew they wouldn't wake up bats one day, the twins had lost their only weapon.

Dobby might have saved Lucy and Harry from terrible happenings at Hogwarts, but the way things were going, they would starve to death one day anyway.

The cat flap rattled, Aunt Petunia's hand appeared and pushed two bowls of canned soup into the room.

Harry, stomachache from hunger, jumped off the bed and picked her up.

He gave Lucy her bowl. The black-haired girl was sitting on her bed and had been staring at the ceiling until that moment.

The soup was ice cold, but Harry drank half of the bowl in one gulp.

His sister drank her soup a little slower, but of course no less hungry than her brother.

Harry walked over to Hedwig's cage and tossed the limp greens from the bottom of the bowl into her empty food bowl.

Hedwig rustled her feathers and gave him a disgusted look.

"It's no good turning your beak up at it - that’s all we’ve got," Harry said grimly.

When both had eaten, Harry put the empty bowl back in front of the cat flap and lay back on the bed, strangely even hungrier than before the soup.

If he and Lucy were still alive in four weeks, what would happen if they didn't show up at Hogwarts?

Would they send someone to find out why they hadn't come?

Could they force the Dursleys to release Harry and his sister?

Gradually it grew dark in the room.

Exhausted, with rumbling stomachs and heads full of unsolvable problems, the twins went to bed.

Harry had a bad dream and woke up in the middle of the night.

The moon shone through the window bars.

And there really was someone staring at him through the bars: a freckle-faced, red-haired someone.

Outside Lucy and Harry's window was Ron Weasley.