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Harry managed not to shout out, but he did it mentally. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.
As Harry and the creature stared at each other, they heard a noise like someone tripping, and suddenly the door slammed open and Duncan appeared, very worried.
"Harry! I heard you scream! What happened?! What happened?! What…are you?" asked Duncan to the creature, having just realized it was there. "Sorry, I meant, who are you?"
The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm- and leg-holes.
"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," said the creature.
"Oh — really?" said Harry and Duncan together.
"Did I mention that a certain Snow White has entered the house now?" asked Duncan
"WHAT?! Barnes is here?!"
"Apparently he wants to check my firebreath. Shouldn't have scared him with it…" Duncan trailed off
"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."
The elf hung his head.
"Sorry for being so rude, but we are in a hurry. Is there any particular reason you're here?" asked Duncan
"Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir… it is difficult, sir… Dobby wonders where to begin…"
"Maybe from the beginning?" said Harry idly, listening to any noise from the ground floor.
"Dobby heard tell," he said hoarsely, "that Harry Potter and Duncan Rosenblatt met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago… that they escaped yet again." Duncan nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears.
"Ah, sir," he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. "Harry Potter is valiant and bold, and Duncan Rosenblatt too! They have braved so many dangers already!
"My surname it's Rosenblatt, Dobby." Harry corrected.
"But Dobby has come to protect Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt, to warn them, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later… Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt must not go back to Hogwarts."
"W-what?" Harry stammered. "But we've got to go back — term starts on September first. Downstairs there's a guy who wants to take us to MEGTAF. You don't know what it's like there. They don't treat me as normal; they treat Duncan like a living, breathing experiment. We don't belong here. We belong in your world — at Hogwarts."
"No, no, no," squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. "Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt must stay where they are safe. They are too great, too good, to lose. If Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt goes back to Hogwarts, they will be in mortal danger."
"Why?" said Duncan in surprise.
"There is a plot. 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. Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt must not put themselves in peril. They is too important, sir!"
"What terrible things?" said Harry at once.
"Who's plotting them?" asked Duncan immediately
Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall.
"All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell us. I understand. But why are you warning us?" A sudden, unpleasant thought 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 tilted worryingly close to the wall again. Slowly, Dobby shook his head.
"Not — not He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sir —" But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give the twins a hint. They, however, were completely lost.
"He hasn't got a brother, has he?" asked Duncan
Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever.
"Harry, Duncan, can you come here?!" their mother's voice echoed
"Just a minute Mom!" Harry yelled back
"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 the Evans could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head. Duncan quickly grabbed him.
"You don't understand, we've got to go back to Hogwarts." Said Duncan as he let go of him. "It's the only place I've got — well, I think I've got friends."
"Friends who don't even write to Harry and Duncan?" said Dobby slyly.
"How do you know my friends haven't been writing to me?" asked Duncan dangerously.
Dobby shuffled his feet.
"Duncan Rosenblatt mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby did it for the best —"
"Have you been stopping my letters?" growled Duncan quietly, looking ready to pounce
"Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf. Stepping nimbly out of the brothers' reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. Duncan could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl, Neville's hurried letter, and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid. Dobby blinked anxiously up at the twins.
"Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt mustn't be angry… Dobby hoped… if Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt thought their friends had forgotten them… they might not want to go back to school, sir…" Harry wasn't listening. He made a grab for the letters, but Dobby jumped out of reach.
"Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt will have them, sirs, if they gives Dobby their word that they will not return to Hogwarts. Ah, sirs, this is a danger you must not face! Say you won't go back, sir!"
Duncan and Harry looked at each other and nodded. Harry moved in front of Dobby and his brother behind him. Duncan pounced at the elf and Harry tried to reach him in the front. Dobby evaded them two and moved out of the way.
Duncan glared at him, growling.
"Give us our friends' letters…" his voice was now more like resembling growls and hisses."Or you will know why I am named Belloc Junior." He threatened, his eyes shining a sinister shade of green.
"Duncan and Harry Rosenblatt leaves Dobby no choice," said the elf sadly. Before they could move, Dobby had darted to the bedroom door, pulled it open, and sprinted down the stairs.
"No no no no no!" they silently said as they ran after him.
"Up there!" pointed Harry
On top of a cupboard in the corner crouched Dobby.
"Harry and Duncan must say they's not going back to school —"
"Dobby… please…" begged Harry
"Say it, sir —"
. "Look, we won't go back to Hogwarts, okay? I swear, for my humanity." Duncan said. Harry stopped in his tracks. "Clever, Duncan."
"Thank you."
"Harry and Duncan Rosenblatt won't go back to Hogwarts?" asked Dobby for confirmation. Duncan and Harry nodded. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished.
"Well that was really weird." Mumbled Duncan.
"Mjm." Harry agreed. "Good thinking about the humanity thing."
"Well thank you. I crossed my fingers just in case." Chuckled Duncan, then sniffed the air.
"Guess we'll have to go with Barnes then." Sighed Duncan.
"Yipee." Moaned Harry
"Well, this doesn't look too bad." Said Doctor Patel, checking Duncan's skin.
"Are you kidding me? My face looks like the Australian outback." Duncan retorted.
"You are a song about life, about joy…" Harry chuckled at Duncan's pessimism
"More like the surface of Mars." Opined Barnes
"Mars? No, it's not Mar- I mean, a little bit Mars, but no." chuckled Patel. Duncan raised his eyebrows. "It's that supposed to make me feel better?" the eleven-year-old thought
"Is this it, doc? Or should we expect other surprises?" asked Barnes impatiently
"Considering that we are talking about a half-human, half-dragon boy who in addition it's a wizard…yeah, I would say yes." Harry snapped, irritated about the man. Patel nodded at him before turning to Barnes
"Well, obviously, Duncan's innate strength and resilience have been growing steadily since birth, but his natural fight-or-flight response created a hyper-stimulated state, which manifested itself as incendia respiro."
Barnes looked baffled, while Duncan and Harry looked at each other in confusion. "What the hell?"
"It's fire breath." Explained Patel
"Actually, in Spanish the literal term would be 'Fuego respiro" or also "aliento de fuego"." Harry grinned cheekily.
"Yeah, you're right, Harry, and you have it, Duncan." Patel said as Duncan touched his throat, impressed.
"You'll learn to control it in time, but until then, you're just going to have to stay out of situations with, uh, potential conflict."
"Like Hogwarts?" asked Harry, remembering Dobby's words. "Or high school in general?"
"High school. I remember high school. That place didn't work out well for me. " Patel chuckled in remembrance, before being dragged away by Barnes. Duncan was too occupied playing with his firebreath, but Harry tried to listen.
"What I'm asking is when will Duncan constitute a threat?" asked Barnes, making Harry frown
"To humanity? Duncan? No, no. He's a sweet boy." said Patel. Harry looked at his brother, wanting to agree with Patel, but instead he remembered the trapdoor's night, his eyes when he looked at him after killing Quirrel. When Harry had looked at Duncan, he wasn't there. There was a monster in his place. "No, I'll help Duncan to control it, I swear." Harry thought fiercely.
"He's not a pandemic." Patel was saying. Those words rang a bell in Harry's head. Pandemic, powers, Kaiju, bond, his eyes. His mother had told him his eyes had changed from green to grey.
"It's only a matter of time before-"
"Can you check me as well? More specifically, my eyes?" asked Harry. Barnes, Duncan and Patel looked at him puzzled. Patel sighed and moved the lantern close to Harry's eyes. "I thought you wore glasses, Harry?" she asked.
"I used to, but one day I awoke and I didn't need them. It's odd." Harry said, before noticing his vision shifting. Suddenly the bright light didn't was as hurtful as before. Patel gasped. "Oh my! Barnes can you call Margaret please?"
"What happens? What's wrong?!" asked Duncan in a panic. Harry looked at him and Duncan froze.
Harry's eyes, instead of being emerald green (as they always had and always should be) were now of a pale grey, with pupils like slits.
"Your eyes," Duncan choked out. "Your eyes…are like mine!"
"What?!" Harry asked, grabbing the mirror Patel gave to him and realizing the truth. "I have Kaiju eyes." He said slowly, as to confirm it. The others nodded.
"Maybe…maybe this has something to do with our bond?" asked Duncan.
"Bond? What bond?" asked Barnes.
And Harry told them. All that had happened in relation to it. When he was finished, they had to suppose it was because of the bond, as they didn't have any other explanation.
"Duncan, Harry." Said a voice behind them. The twins turned and gulped. "Oh dear, Mom seems pissed."
"Hi, mom." They greeted nervously. She went past them to stop in front of Barnes.
"Whose brilliant idea was it to bring Duncan and Harry here? " she snapped. The brothers were silently cheering for their mom.
Uh... how have you been, Margaret? It's been a while. Look – I-I don't like this either, but now Duncan has firebreath and Harry has-"
"That's what we call a "your problem."" Margaret cut him off
"WOHOO! GO MOM!" cheered Harry. Duncan tried to hide a smile.
"I have a legal contract with MEGTAF, stipulating my sons have as normal a life as humanly possible. " argued Margaret
"And that's exactly what I'm doing, Margaret. Your sons are fine kids, especially for two boys without a father. I'd be happy to give you my two cents about them over dinner sometime…"
Meanwhile, Duncan and Harry were fuming.
"He's hitting on our Mom? He's hitting on OUR MOM?!" snarled Duncan viciously
"She's married already, idiot! Duncan, can you do the honors?" asked Harry
"Will be my pleasure." Smirked him, and made a ring of fire go floating until it stopped above Barnes head.
"A son of a buck!" shouted Barnes when he noticed it. Margaret gasped, Duncan looked smug and Harry snickered.
"Not bad, huh?" asked Duncan with his voice trembling with laughter.
"Very interesting." Chipped in Patel. Margaret looked at Harry and saw him giving her a grey-eyes wink.
"Oh, babies." She said softly.
The twins weren't bothered at all for this new revelation. At least, not yet. The only thought that occupied their heads was "This is going to be an interesting year."
When they arrived home, Duncan was still sighing just to see how far he could make the fire go.
"Duncan, please, I know you are excited about this, but please, don't light that curtain on fire. My friend Anne gave it to me."
"ANE!" said Harry out of the blue. Duncan and Margaret looked at him puzzled.
"The answer of the riddle! It was Ane!"
Quite a twist from cannon, huh?
Well, review, pm, and spread the word
Your favorite dark-eyed,
H. E. B.