31st July, 1992
Out in the garden that afternoon Harry gathered some prize flowers for a floral arrangement for the dinner table, to do his part to help impress the Masons. Aunt Petunia seemed to like it, which was a good start. He then washed up and reported to the kitchen to start work on dinner – he wanted everything to be perfect. He dressed in a white shirt and black trousers, and when Mr. and Mrs. Mason had arrived to be greeted by a simpering Aunt Petunia, he took off the stained apron to serve everyone drinks and appetisers on trays.
He overheard them praising his manners to his aunt and uncle, and wonder of wonders, Aunt Petunia spoke well of him in turn saying, "My nephew is growing up to be a charming young man, and he simply loves cooking and playing waiter to our special guests."
Everything seemed to going so well. Perhaps it was no surprise then that it wouldn't last. Harry had just delivered the main meal to the dining table - roast leg of lamb with rosemary and garlic, a platter of vegetables, and home-made mint sauce and gravy. But when he returned to the kitchen, there was someone, or something, waiting there for him. An odd little creature was standing next to the stove, eyeing the appliance curiously.
Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. He kept it to a quiet strangled cry of "Ghhrk!", and grabbed one of the sharp kitchen knives which he waved threateningly in the direction of the little creature with bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.
"What are you? Who are you?"
"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature. "Such an honour it is to meet you, sir!" It did a grovelling bow, and wrung its hands.
"Shhhh!" hissed Harry frantically. "Not too loud, they'll hear you!" He glanced worriedly at the kitchen door, but from the sounds of laughter and the clatter of knives and forks from the dining room, no-one had been disturbed yet.
He'd pictured house-elves being a lot more… mystical and stately. Not grubby little creatures in old rags. "What are you doing here, Dobby? Are you one of the Potter family elves? Do you need me to err… do something for you? It's nice to meet you, but not here, you see…"
"Oh, Dobby would be honoured to be a Potter elf, but no, Dobby is bound to serve one House and one family forever, and it is not the Potters."
"Then what are you doing here, Dobby? Did your family send you with a message? Are you a Parkinson elf?"
"Oh no, sir, no… Dobby's family doesn't know he's here. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir-"
"You'll what?!" said Harry a little more loudly, looking worriedly at the oven, which was still cooling down from cooking the roast. "I'm sure they wouldn't want you to hurt yourself, Dobby. I certainly wouldn't."
Dobby started looking teary. "Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they remind Dobby to do extra punishments."
"That's dreadful. Can't you leave? Find another family?"
"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. "Can't anyone help you? Can I? I can pack you some food to take with you - do they feed you? Do you need new clothes? What you're wearing looks-"
Dobby dissolved into wails and sobs of gratitude, which made Harry wish he'd been a bit more circumspect with the timing of his offer.
"Please," Harry whispered frantically, "please be quiet. You'll ruin the dinner party, shhh! I'll give you some tinned food, a new teatowel to wear as a little toga, just hush, please!"
"Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby… Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew…"
"I'm nothing specially, really, and my grades are dead average…"
Harry heard the thumping tread of Vernon's heavy feet approaching the kitchen, and he frantically turned to Dobby.
"You mustn't let him see you! Quick, hide behind the bin!"
Dobby looked hesitant, and a little sly. "If Harry Potter promises…"
Harry straightened his back and assumed his best arrogant pure-blood air. "I order you to hide behind that bin now, you recalcitrant excuse for an elf!"
Dobby scurried and hid, just as Vernon entered the room, and seized Harry by the collar and yanked him about to face him. "What is going on boy? What is all this noise about?" he said through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Harry's. Harry got spittle on his face as Vernon hissed at him.
Harry thought fast. Oddly enough, something close to the truth might work best, he thought.
"There's a… creature here, Uncle Vernon," whispered Harry quietly and intently. "You know, one of their type of things. Someone's sent it, but it's not saying who. I'm trying to stop it ruining your dinner party." Harry gestured with the knife in the direction of the rubbish bin. "Don't go near it, Uncle. It might be dangerous. Let me deal with it – I'll get rid of it as quick as I can, no magic. I'm trying to talk it around first, so it leaves quietly, without any fuss that upsets the Masons or ruins your evening."
Vernon looked around, and saw a foot sticking out from behind the kitchen bin, and the tip of a large pointed ear above it. He let go of Harry, and took a wary step backwards.
"Get rid of it, boy. Get rid of it now!" he snarled.
"I will, Uncle Vernon. I won't let them ruin your special evening," promised Harry. "Tell the Masons it's a neighbour's kid, if they hear anything. Or a cat. Or a kid with a cat."
"Make sure you keep it quiet, and deal with it, boy."
Uncle Vernon lumbered swiftly out of the room, leaving his nephew to face the potentially dangerous creature on his own. He had important business to deal with elsewhere, and this was one of their creatures, so one of their kind should handle it.
"So sorry, one of the neighbour's kids has stopped by, he's a bit special you know, causing a bit of a fuss in the kitchen, Harry's dealing with it, they're good chums…" boomed Uncle Vernon in the next room as he rejoined the Masons.
"May Dobby come out now, sir?"
"I didn't mean to snap at you like that, sorry if I offended you. I just… I didn't want Uncle Vernon getting upset. It's important. So come out and have a seat, but please stay quiet this time? And please, tell me what you're doing here?" pleaded Harry.
"Offend Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard – like an equal-"
"Shhh!" said Harry, gingerly patting it on the back in an attempt to comfort it. He gave it the best advice he knew, from his own experience. "Take some deep breaths. Push the tears down, you can't let anyone hear you cry. Put on your brave face, you have work to do, right? That's it. Don't let the Dursleys hear you, or we'll both be punished. Hush now, hush. Things could be worse, it's not so bad. Focus on your job – you have a message, perhaps?"
"Dobby has a warning. Dobby will protect Harry Potter, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later… Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
Harry stared at him, in the silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks in the distance and the rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice.
"They make me go, Dobby. I don't have a choice. I have to go back, or my family will be in danger. They made that very clear."
"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby. "Harry Potter is brave to worry about his family, but worse danger awaits him at Hogwarts, mortal danger. Harry Potter must stay where he is safe."
"What danger awaits me?"
"There is a plot, to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts this year," said a trembling Dobby. "Harry Potter must not put himself into peril."
Harry tried to question him about what terrible things, and the specifics of the plot, but Dobby seemed unable to answer except that it wasn't to do with He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. When questioned too much, Dobby started banging his head against the wall, before Harry grabbed him and pulled him away.
"You are not to punish yourself while you are here, Dobby," said Harry firmly and loudly so there would be no mistake. "Preferably not at all, but you must stop hurting yourself. No banging on walls, no oven door."
"Poor child," Harry overheard one of the Masons saying sympathetically from the next room. He winced. He really needed to keep this quieter.
"I appreciate the warning, Dobby," Harry said softly. "Unfortunately, while I would like to stay here and only study enough magic to get control of my powers and maybe some of the really interesting stuff, I just don't have a choice, so I need to make the best of things. Perchance you could uncover more evidence you can share about this plot later - I really would appreciate it. But without firm evidence to give to the Ministry or Professor McGonagall about a real risk, I don't have grounds to stay home. So I'll be rejoining my friends at Hogwarts in September," he concluded.
"Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter?" said Dobby slyly. Some arguing later, Dobby was holding Harry's mail hostage to his acquiescence in quitting Hogwarts, and getting less co-operative and louder by the minute. He was even eying the beautiful masterpiece of cream and sugared violets that was the planned dessert, like he might ruin it.
"Alright Dobby, you win," said Harry, with a repentant defeated air. "I will make an effort to stay here and not return to Hogwarts. In return for which, I want my letters, and your promise to tell me as much as you can about this plot, when you are more able."
"Harry Potter promises?"
"I promise I won't go back if I can help it. And please tell me more when you can about this plot, but not at this house or when there's Muggles around."
"Dobby is so glad, Harry Potter! Harry Potter will be safe here at home." He smiled in a teary fashion, and handed over the letters and a couple of packages, and disappeared with a sound like the snap of a whip.
Well, that had gotten rid of that crazy little creature. It wasn't at all like he'd pictured a house-elf being – what a disappointment. He'd expected something a bit cuter. Or more regally graceful.
Harry would love to know exactly what this dire plot was, but the warning was so vague as to be entirely useless. He'd just have to keep working on his Shield Charm, and hope for the best.
He took the dessert out to the dining table, with smiling apologies for the neighbour's child who'd made a bit of noise, but was gone now. Uncle Vernon seemed especially pleased at that news; Aunt Petunia just looked puzzled, not having heard what was going on, but followed her husband's lead and just smiled politely. Back in the kitchen Harry made himself a plate of dinner with the leftovers from the main meal (there were plenty, as planned), and read through his reclaimed mail.
Ron had tried to send him an unbelievable six letters inviting him to visit, which was impressive given school had only broken up a couple of weeks ago. There was also a lot of chatter about Quidditch, and complaints about his siblings. The most recent two letters had Muggle stamps plastered all over the envelope so that there was only a tiny bit of space left for his name and address.
There was one letter from Neville chatting about his greenhouse plants, and mentioning that his Uncle Algie liked the new pipe he'd bought him and was impressed with his school results, especially Potions (even though it was only an Acceptable). So it sounded like that was going well. He asked how Harry's summer was going, and that his owl would wait for a response (obviously something had gone wrong with that plan, thanks to Dobby). There was also a wrapped birthday gift – a ladle for potions, with a note saying it was made from holly. How thoughtful!
Hermione had sent a letter through the normal method, judging by the stamp and postmark, which talked all about their exam results again, and the summer homework. She also mentioned she'd be visiting Diagon Alley on Wednesday 12th of August, if he wanted to meet up. Hermione had sent him a birthday card, a study planner, and a pad of multi-coloured sticky notes as a gift (which he thought was a great present).
Their presents made him feel very guilty that he hadn't gotten them anything – he knew Neville's birthday was the day before his, but he didn't even know when Hermione's was. He should find out. And get Neville something as soon as he could – at least he had the very reasonable excuse of not having an owl to deliver any gifts to him.
There were no letters from Pansy or Daphne. He figured they probably just hadn't gotten around to it yet.
Harry decided to follow through on his promise to Dobby, and asked his uncle and aunt if he could possibly avoid going back to Hogwarts if he could sort out some kind of home correspondence course with them.
They were sceptical it would be allowed, and Uncle Vernon said, "I don't want any magical rubbish in my house!"
Aunt Petunia seemed more sympathetic and suggested that if he could practise his magic tricks elsewhere and just did his essays at home, perhaps that would be acceptable. Then he could go to a normal school during the day.
He spent the first of August (until sunset) gardening and giving the house a good clean. It was part apology for upsetting the Dursleys during the dinner party (chores always put them in a better mood), and part quiet celebration of Lughnasadh. It didn't feel the same as celebrating the other festivals at Hogwarts – there was no magic to it.
The next day when Ron's asthmatic old owl arrived on his windowsill with a letter, Harry gave it a snack of raw bacon, a few knuts in a tiny bag, and a few letters to deliver.
"You can drop those off at the nearest wizarding post office, if they're too much for you," he said, feeling a bit silly for talking to an owl, even though people swore they were really smart. "Not the one for Ron, of course."
Errol took a couple of hours to recover, but eventually flew off gamely into the night with Harry's letters.
Harry didn't get a response from Pansy, but the responses from Neville and Ron came swiftly. They both wrote back that they'd be happy to meet up with him in Diagon Alley with Hermione, and Neville confirmed that Dobby wasn't his house-elf. Ron's letter arrived borne by Percy's owl Hermes – Ron said they didn't have any house-elves at all, and that Percy sent a reminder to get his summer homework done early ("the git"). Harry hoped he hadn't tired Errol out with too many letters.
And Professor McGonagall had sent a response to Harry's letter to her. Apparently "a mysterious evil wizard is plotting against me" was insufficient grounds to withdraw from Hogwarts to be tutored at home. She tried to reassure him that Quirrell was gone, and that Snape was eminently trustworthy. He believed the first, but the second remained very doubtful in his mind. He'd trust Neville's opinion over hers any day. He guessed he should've been specific about this being a completely new wizard plotting against him. Probably new. It could be Snape. Harry wondered if Snape had house-elves. He'd have to add finding that out to his "to do" list for September.
He reported his lack of success to his aunt and uncle, but they didn't seem surprised. "It's better this way anyway, boy. I don't want magic in my house. And make sure you find out who sent that creature to ruin my dinner party and give them what for," said Uncle Vernon. "I don't want it coming back, you hear? No funny business of any kind in my house." Harry said he'd do his best to discover the culprit.
"My friends from Hogwarts wanted to visit here, Uncle Vernon, but I've managed to convince them to meet up with me in London instead," lied Harry. "I know you don't want their kind here. Could I have some money for a train ticket to London, Wednesday after next? I don't want them to show up here looking for me, you see."
Uncle Vernon was pleased to have so easily avoided the dire prospect of a group of untrained young magical hooligans descending upon his house. He was even pleased enough to cough up a little of his money to avoid the situation. He comforted himself that it wasn't more than he gave to Dudley multiple times a week.
A/N: A reviewer (PaC) mentioned that the "I swear on my magic" thing (I mentioned it briefly in the last fic) isn't canon, but fanon. I must admit I thought it was a canonical element, which was why I used it! Can anyone else comment on this? And please, if you have strong feelings on the matter let me know if it bugs you or you love it, because I can easily go back and edit it out.
Updates of new chapters are now coming out twice a week, as the fic is complete. :) Please post a review if you're enjoying the series.