Dobby was feeling much happier than he had in his whole life for as far back as he could remember he had been a slave to the Malfoy family and had never lived without fearing them especially during the time of Lord Voldemort, and now thanks to Harry Potter he was a free elf. He knew someday he would repay Harry properly, though he had promised Harry he would never try to save his life again he knew he would if he ever had to for he owed his life to Harry.

He now stood beside Albus Dumbledore in the Hogwarts kitchen as he introduced him to the other elves he'd be working with and his happiness became shadowed by nervousness as the elves stared at him with uneasiness and some with his distaste as he was the only one of them dressed in colorful clothes instead of a usual house elf garment.

"My elves," began Dumbledore. "This is Dobby, the former house elf of the Malfoy family. I'm sure some of you may have heard of how he was freed by Harry Potter.

Most of the elves now began to look on him with curiosity and warmth. "Hello, Dobby!" some of them said in unison. Dobby now felt better and his shy smile became a grin.

"Dobby is now in the employment of Hogwarts," continued Dumbledore. "All I ask is that you treat with the respect you treat each other with." Dumbledore then left Dobby alone with his new co-workers.

"Welcome to Hogwarts, Dobby!" said one chubby elf wearing a pale pink pillowcase. "My name is Nifty, and I is very pleased to meet you, I is. Read all about you in the Daily Prophet, I did."

"Dobby, you look so thin and frail," said another elf. "Didn't the Malfoys feed you?"

"Well... Dobby mostly ate whatever was discarded after meals," he admitted slightly embarrassed.

"It's alright, Dobby," Nifty said kindly. "You don't have to talk about your old masters."

"Dobby thanks you, nifty," he said gratefully.

"With your new wages, you'll be fattened as much as nifty, you will!"exclaimed another elf with a harsh laugh.

Nifty shot the elf a look of disapproval and then turned back to Dobby. "Nifty is sure she will like working with you, she is."

"Come on, you all! It's time to start making breakfast, it is!" exclaimed one of the taller elves. So they all at once set off cooking up every kind of breakfast food imaginable.

As Dobby was making cinnamon oatmeal with Nifty they got to know each other more. "Dobby is so glad to finally have found a place to live after looking for so long," he said while mixing in the cinnamon.

"Dobby has no fear of going through underpants around here,"said Nifty taking hold of a wooden spoon.. "Only rules are to try your best at everything, to not get caught around the school after midnight, and to always wash hands before cooking."

"Dobby will try his best, he will," Dobby promised.

Early in the afternoon at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry the students were taking their study break in the comfort of their common rooms while in the kitchens the house elves had just finished baking cookies for them.

Dobby took hold of a large plate full of delicious, freshly made, soft baked, sweet smelling chocolate chip cookies along with a tall glass of fresh cold milk and began to carefully carry them from the kitchens.

Then he wasn't sure exactly what happened a moment later, whether he simply stumbled or had slipped on the newly waxed floor, but whatever the cause he tripped over his own feet and dropped the plate and the glass he was carrying. With a loud yelp he fell on his backside as the sound of shattering glass filled his ears.

He gasped in horror as he sat sprawled out on the kitchen floor and found himself surrounded by broken glass and milk splattered everywhere.

"Dobby is the clumsiest house elf in all of the world, he is!" he exclaimed as tears streamed down his face and he instantly began sobbing, creating a puddle of tears within the puddle of milk.

Dobby was sobbing so loud and hard he quickly caught the attention of the only elf remaining in the kitchen, which was Nifty. She set down her own plate and appeared in front of him.

"Nifty thinks you need Nifty's help," she said. Pointing all her fingers to the mess Dobby had made and uttered "Unmes-assemblo!" and instantly the broken glass reassembled itself and was full of fresh milk again and the broken plate pieced itself together and the cookies were in it unharmed.

Dobby at once calmed down and wiped away his tears and smiled at his friend. "Dobby thanks you so much, he does!" He stood up and took the plate and glass again.

"Nifty has learned this bit of magic from watching the students," she said. "I's be grateful if you won't tell anyone I did."

"Of course," he said "and Dobby will be grateful if Nifty doesn't tell anyone about Dobby's little accident."

"Of course," said Nifty "and Nifty will always be here when you need Nifty."

The elves then went in line and and entered into their respective common rooms of their houses. Dobby entered the Gryffindor Common room and began setting the plates of cookies onto the students tables.

Dobby was skipping merrily through the Hogwarts corridors carrying a big basket full of laundry, humming wordlessly to himself. The basket was so far above him he couldn't really watch where he was headed and he consequently bumped into Professor Severus Snape as he was walking out of a classroom and dropped the basket.

"Oh excuse Dobby! Very sorry Professor Snape!" he exclaimed apologetically as he turned the basket upright again and picked up a few garments that had fallen out.

Snape, who was known for his unforgiving nature, only scowled and said, "I should warn you to watch where you step next time because the Headmaster does not like foolish, clumsy elves!"

Then as Snape stormed off Dobby stood still feeling a chill run through him at Snape's cold words. He always did his best, but he wasn't perfect, and just because he made a few mistakes now and then didn't Dumbledore would discharge him... did it?

After a moment he picked up the basket and went solemnly on his way again.

It was later in the afternoon when he was on his way back to the kitchens when he suddenly heard a strange noise from somewhere around him. He looked in every direction but could see nothing, and as he was looking over his shoulder he suddenly felt himself bump into someone very tall and looking up he saw that it looked like Professor Dumbledore, but the eyes were not at all the kind and gentle ones he remembered, they were very hard and cold.

"Dobby, you are the clumsiest elf I have ever seen! I hate clumsy elves!" Dumbledore yelled so loud and angry Dobby was very frightened.

"Dobby is sorry, master Dumbledore!" he exclaimed falling to his knees with tears welling in his eyes. "Forgive Dobby!"

"You've been a bad, bad elf, Dobby!" Dumbledore yelled, his eyes ablaze with fire. "I am going to punish you most severely and banish you from Hogwarts, and then I'm going to punish you again!"

Dobby felt scared, terrified, hurt, and betrayed all at once which was more than a house-elf could bear. "Oh no! Oh no! Dobby has nowhere to go! No! No! No!" he wailed helplessly in torrents of tears.

"Ridi-cu-lous!" He heard a girl's voice cry out from seemingly nowhere. He uncovered his face and to his amazement watched as the figure that looked like Dumbledore's beard twisted around itself and then vanished in a puff of smoke.

"It's alright, Dobby," said the girl, who was Ginny Weasley. "It was only a bogart pretending to be Dumbledore. I've just repelled it the way Professor Lupin taught me last year. Dobby?"

Dobby still sat crouched and trembling on the floor and sobbing pitifully with his hands against his face for he had just had what felt like the scare of his life even if it was only a deception.

"Aw, you poor darling," said Ginny as she knelt beside him and pulled him into a comforting hug. "You have had a bad scare, haven't you?"

Dobby nodded, sniveling in her arms as tears continued to flow down his face. "It just looked like Dumbledore... and... and Professor Snape had said to watch out because Dumbledore doesn't like clumsy elves like me."

"Dumbledore is not like Snape, and he would never discharge you for anything," Ginny assured him, taking a handkerchief from her pocket and wiping the tears from his eyes and face. "A bogart always takes the shape of what you fear the most as it lives on fear," she explained.

"Dobby should have known it couldn't have been Dumbledore," he said, sniffling. "Stupid Dobby!" he rapped himself on the head once.

Ginny shook her head gently and said, "Just remember whenever you see something strange and, or, frightening, just say ridi-cu-lous."

She gave him the handkerchief and he blew his nose which had started to run into it and found it was better than using the pillowcase he used to wear. "Dobby will remember. Ridi-cu-lous! Miss Weasley is a very, very good witch!"

He started to give her back the handkerchief but she shook her head gently again and said, "Keep it, you seem to need it more than I do."

He looked up at her with his big green puppy-dog eyes and smiled. "Dobby thanks you, Miss Weasley. Very generous of you, it is."

"You're welcome," she said. "Now if you'll excuse me, I don't want to be late for Potions."

She hurried off and Dobby tucked the handkerchief into his shirt pocket and went on his way.

Later in the evening as Dobby entered the Griffyndor common room he found Ginny sitting alone in a chair with a very unhappy look on her face as she looked forlornly at an open book, though she seemed to be barely reading it.

Dobby felt very concerned for the young witch who had shown him so much kindness today and approached her. "Why are you so unhappy, Miss Weasley?" he asked softly. "Is something wrong?"

Ginny slowly closed the book and turned towards him. Sighing, she said, "Professor Snape was very mean to me today. We were making the inflating potion today and I mixed it incorrectly, I confused the gillyweed with the smellyweed, they do look so much alike. He said I make for a lousy, incompetent witch and he took five points from Griffyndor. I was never so embarrassed!"

"Dobby is very sorry for you," he said sympathetically. "Snape is very rude to Miss and to Dobby because everyone makes mistakes, like you said."

"I just wish a better teacher than him, like Dumbledore, would tell him and get him to shut up!" she said irritably.

Dobby's big round eyes brightened as an idea came to him just then. "Why don't we get him to shut up ourselves?" he suggested.

"We? What do you mean?" asked Ginny curiously.

"Well, there is bound to be some kind of potion in this book that will make him forget how to speak or something!" He said, looking toward her potions book with a mischievous smile.

"A brilliant idea, Dobby!" she said. "Let's teach him a lesson and see how he likes being embarrassed!"

They looked through the book of potions and decided on a fairly simple one which would cause Snape to have "multi-false voice" and it was as clear as fresh water so the next day during Potions, Dobby sneaked in unnoticed and switched Snape's glass of water with the potion.

Then Dobby quickly apparated into a supply closet as Snape came up to his desk and took a long drink of the potion. Dobby stood still and gleefully waited for Snape to begin speaking.

Soon he heard, "What in serpent's name are you making Mr. Longbottom! This doesn't look anything like – ribbet, ribbet, ribbet!" Snape began croaking like a frog.

Instantly all the students burst into laughter, and in his hiding place Dobby couldn't keep from holding back a chuckle himself.

"What is thi-" Snape's voice changed again and he began to sing in a really bad Italian accent. "Figaro! Figaro! Oh sole mio!"

Once again the students burst into howls of laughter and Dobby's easily blended in with theirs.

"Snape had now become angry. "Who is responsi- His voice changed again and he began singing in a high shrilly feminine voice. "I'm a little teapot, short and stout! Here is my handle, here is my spout! When I get all steamed up hear me shout, tip me over and pour me out!"

Now the students laughter could be heard clear down the hall, and Dobby was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes.

Snape let out a tormented scream and then exclaimed with a terrible Irish brogue, "Bediah me tinn! I'm gonna be sick! Help!" and clutching at his throat he rushed out of the classroom.

Ginny sat laughing with absolute merriment and she momentarily saw Dobby poke his head out of the closet and wink with a smile at her just before vanishing from sight.