Chapter Four -----------------------------------------------------
Rita, Rebecca, and Alan were still chatting some 40 minutes later when Dobby reappeared. "Ask Dumbledore of the prophesy next time you see him,
Miss Skeeter."
Rita sat upright. Tomorrow she would go to the Hall of Records to see what was listed in the restricted Prophesy section. Dobby turned to Rebecca and quietly said, "He will get better, but we need to find a place to put him that no one can find. We need you and your husband to look after him."
"How would our family country house be?" Rebecca asked. Dobby shook his head. "What about that secret chamber in Hogwarts that you mentioned"
Again he shook his head.
Alan looked up and, in his typically irreverent fashion, said, "Shame Atlantis don't exist. We could send him there." Dobby's head shot up and he started to nod and dance. "I was joking," Alan said. "Really,
Atlantis is real."
But Dobby was laughing and jumping up and down. "Harry Potter, sir, be safe there. First we heal him, then move him and you." Dobby sat down and his smile grew bigger.
"Dobby, who are you bonded to?" Rita asked quietly.
"Dobby is not bonded to anyone, he is a free elf."
"You said you were bonded and now you say you're not. I'm confused; none of us gave you clothes, and Harry isn't here, so who?"
Dobby's grin became almost feral. "Dobby is bonded to the idea of making Harry Potter have a good, long, happy, free life. Dobby is not bonded to a person, he bonded to an idea."
"I did not know that was possible, I've never heard of such a thing"
Rita exclaimed.
"It shouldn't be," Dobby said quietly. "It isn't, but it has happened. A Basilisk that a 15-wizard squad should have killed was beaten by a 12-year old. An evil wizard who is only scared of Dumbledore has been beaten three times by the same child. Harry Potter and the word 'impossible' are often used in the same sentence."
It was decided that a plan was needed, and a list was made of items that would be needed to accomplish it. Dobby said he would get some Polyjuice Potion and that would help.
A week later, all was in place. The three humans had no idea how to travel around to complete the plan, but they trusted Dobby. Rita had a big grin on her face and her sister wanted to know why.
"I caught up with Dumbledore yesterday."
Rebecca got a grin. "And?"
"Well," said Rita, "it seems the words 'Harry Potter' and 'prophecy' can nearly kill an old man; it looked like he had a stroke." She smiled as she remembered his face changing colour, his change of direction, and his almost athletic turn of speed at her words. "I went bug and hitched a ride. I had tried everything to get into that room of his, but nothing; this was my last hope."
Rita recalled how she had come to hear about the prophecy. As Dumbledore had been the one to hear it, he had access to the record, and he wanted to make sure it was still there. With a minimum of fuss, he got into the hall of prophesy. It was still there, listed by number, he who had heard it, and she who had said it. If Rita's bug eyes could have, they would have bugged out at the date and the listener. She had memorised all the details and as soon as she could, she had written them down.
By the time the next full moon was about, Rita, Rebecca, Alan, and Harry were gone; if they hadn't been, Rita might have covered the story about Severus Snape vanishing.
The owl wasn't one known to the Blacks; it had come through the window and landed in front of Sirius. After a quick check to make sure it wasn't cursed, the gaunt man removed the letter from the owl's leg.
Remus and Tonks came in to the kitchen.
"Wotcher, who's the newest fan woman, then?" Tonks laughed.
"No idea," Sirius replied, grinning. "Seems that since I'm not a murder anymore but a rich bachelor, I've become very desirable." Tonks picked up two drinks and passed one to Remus, sitting down. Remus waited till she had a mouth full of drink before he spoke:
"As long as this one likes doggy style, he be OK."
The drink exploded from Tonks' nose. She turned to the laughing man and hit him hard in the stomach.
"Those fucking bastards!" Sirius exploded. "I'll kill them all!" He stood jerkily, about to rush off.
"Is it Harry?" Remus asked, sobering immediately. "Has someone sent a ransom?" His time in Azkaban and the fact Remus was a strong werewolf made it easy for him to quickly push Sirius back down. Sirius took a deep breath and passed the letter over.
"A women around a lot of ink and hospitals," Remus said. Tonks hit him.
"Read the bloody letter already, I've gotta go to work soon."
"OK, Love," Remus said, fussing her hair. They had gotten together shortly after Sirius's release from prison; they had needed help to trace Harry and Tonks had been more than happy to help. Remus picked the letter up again. "Please do not bin this letter!"
Tonks jumped. "Git."
"No, it's in capitals so it must be shouted."
"Read the fucking letter so we can kill the bastard!" snapped a very pissed-off Sirius.
"I know you must have a lot of fan mail and such." Tonks sniggered, but a glare from Sirius made Remus continue. "But this isn't about you.
Well, it is, in a way. Were you aware that three weeks before Lilly and James Potter were killed, a prophecy was made?" Remus jerked back in his chair as all playfulness fell from Tonks. "The prophecy was given by one Sybil Trelawney, but that isn't important. It was given to one Albus Dumbledore and one Severus Snape."
Remus's hands were shaking. "As you know, Severus always gave Harry a hard time at school, but in case you didn't know, he was a Death Eater at the time he heard the prophecy. You can check that fact out in the court records taken some time after the Potter tragedy. He gave up several Death Eaters and one Albus Dumbledore spoke up for him, saying that Severus was a spy for him. But he refused to say when he was a spy?" Tonks went to the cupboard, pulled out a bottle of Ogden's Fire Whiskey, and drank straight from the bottle. She passed it to her cousin, who gulped it down like water and passed it to Remus.
All three had an unholy fire in their eyes; none of them liked Severus and none was big in the Dumbledore fan club. Two, however, were big fans of the Potters, and the reason that a certain Albus Dumbledore had told the Potters with certainty that Voldemort was after them, and that they needed hide under the Fidelius Charm, seem to click in their heads.
A quick floo to Amelia Bones and Sirius, Tonks, Remus were in her office. After she read the note, she called into a dark mirror and asked for conformation. A few minutes later, a disembodied voice confirmed such a prophecy, but couldn't say as to its contents. With all they had uncovered before the loss of the Aurors, the news about Harry had hit Amelia hard. "You weren't here; I never saw you today."
With that they left.
The night of the full moon, Severus was out looking for a rare herb. He had a lot on his mind. He had done as the headmaster had said and believed him; after Potter had, gone he had found the Dursleys and,
after reading their minds, had wanted to kill them, but the self loathing he felt for what he had added to Potter's torment was even worse. He had treated him like another James and then found out it was all lies. He had sworn to himself that he would get down on bended knee and apologise to Potter and tell him the whole story as soon as he was well.
He never saw the Grim-like form behind him or for it to change into Black; he never saw Black pull his wand. He did, however, hear the stunner coming, but not in time. A pounding headache and slowly it all came into view: he was trapped, naked. A man sat opposite him.
"You hated James, me, and Remus, but Lilly, I thought you cared for her." Snape tried to speak, but was cut off. "With you, Albus, and Peter, they never stood a chance. Well, I am going to give you the same chance. After I unbind you, I'm going for a run; I hear there's a werewolf in the Forbidden Forest. Oh well." With that, he shimmered and became a Grim-like beast again and ran off.
From somewhere behind him, a spell hit Severus; he tried to shout, but no sound come out. He needed Black to know the truth. A long howl sounded from far away, but how far? Severus got up as the binding was released and started to run. His legs were wobbly, but he had to survive. He had to tell Black everything. Or Potter. Yes, he had made mistakes, but he had not told the Dark Lord the prophecy; he had even tried to warn Lilly.
Another howl. It was closer now; his only though was "Shit, how fast can a werewolf run?" As he ran, he stumbled on the idea to climb a tree. It never entered his head that a werewolf could jump and nearly climb a tree of the sizes around here; if he got to larger trees he might be able to hide. The next howl told him that he wouldn't; in fact, three minutes later, his throat was ripped out, his arms and legs nearly severed. The ghost left the body of Severus Snape. As it formed, it almost clinically looked at it the remains of its former body being eaten.
"Well, guess I'm not going be turned into a werewolf, then." When the werewolf had finished, a Grim came over, cocked its leg, and pissed on the remains. After they were gone, the other meat-eating denizens of the forest came forward. By morning, nothing remained; even the bones were gone. The only thing left was the shade of Severus, doomed to remain here until he could tell his story to Potter. He knew it was going to be a long time.
None of this was known to Rita, Rebecca, or Alan; not even to Harry or Dobby. It was doubtful that they would have cared, anyway. The first part of their plan went off without a hitch: Rita, in her bug form, went into Harry's room. Alan and Rebecca went in after, and Harry was given a Polyjuice Potion with a hair from another patient. Alan wheeled the transformed Harry out wearing a hospital porter's garb.
Once they had gone, Rita, transformed back into a human, took another Polyjuice Potion with Harry's hair in it. Rebecca ran out and called the duty nurse to say Harry was moving. The duty nurse ran down to check on her patient and Rebecca said she would wait outside while the nurses did their thing. The nurse was grateful, as she didn't want to have to send her out, but as soon as Rebecca had offered, the nurse knew that she knew she would be in the way. The doctors rushed in after the nurse and soon, all sorts of test were done. Half an hour later, the doctors came out of Harry's room and a few minutes later, so did the nurse. She smiled.
"He isn't awake, but he isn't moaning anymore, and he seems to be in a normal sleep. His heart rate, blood pleasure, and other vitals are all normal. Go on, love, go see him." Rebecca smiled in response and went in after, nodding her thanks. As Rita returned to normal, she woke.
"That wasn't pleasant; I took the potion and zonked out. It was like I was nowhere; I think it's only because I had my mind and not his that I didn't go into a coma. Next time I think I'll use a charm to change my looks. Damn, this bed is uncomfortable."
A small Obliviate charm every time someone came in convinced them that the child was sleeping and Rebecca was reading to him. At his home, Alan took Harry through the back door from the garage and into kitchen via a door Rita had placed there magically to make their lives easier.
For the first time, Alan got to see Harry Potter. He was skinny and small for his age, a vivid lightning bolt stood out on his forehead, but other than that, nothing seem special about him. Certainty nothing to show his hardships. He took him upstairs and laid him on a bed. He wanted to undo the child's pajama top and give him a quick wash, like his wife had said, but as soon as he saw the emaciated and scarred body,
he felt ill. Now, he knew this child had a hard life; the skinniness could be attributed to a lack of solid food, but the sheer amount of scars and abrasions couldn't. Harry Potter, even though lost in his own mind, had gained another supporter.
Dobby popped in and burst into tears. "Dobby will take care of the great Harry Potter, sir." And the elf seem to vanish in a blur. An array of potions appeared and the phone rang; Alan got up and went to answer it.
"Hi, this is Alan."
"Honey, it's great news: Harry's not awake, he's still fast asleep, but it's not a coma—it's reading as a true sleep."
Alan was puzzled. Rita was supposed to waken, not remain asleep; what the hell had gone wrong?
"I told the nurse you went home with all the fuss here. Can you pick me up in maybe two hours, please, Love?"
"Yes, no problem, Honey. See you then." And Alan put the phone down.
Dobby appeared next to him and made him jump.
"Harry Potter sir is very ill. Dobby thinks Harry Potter needs his head examined." Alan was about to laugh at a conceived joke, but stopped himself.
"How would you go about examining his head?"
Dobby started to pace back and forth. "Dobby can't, but an empath could.
So could a Legilimens, but both would tell someone else, or leave a report. Hum, this hard." A smile suddenly appeared on his face. "I think the headmaster can help us." As he explained his plan, Alan smiled.
"OK, give it a go."
Dobby popped off and into the headmasters room. Albus jumped when that bloody Dobby appeared before him, wringing his hands and looking miserable. Ha, as if a bloody pet could be miserable.
He never noticed Fawkes give him a strange look. A look Fawkes had been giving him for some time. He didn't know the Imperious Curse on Fawkes was slipping; soon, the phoenix would leave him with all the problems because of that bloody Potter kid. He hadn't been paying a lot of attention. Fawkes had been his familiar since he was young, but ever since he betrayed the Potters and the Longbottoms for the greater good,
Fawkes had gone hard towards him. It was only a hasty Imperious that stopped him losing the bird and some of his glory. Plus, only a dark wizard couldn't have a phoenix as a familiar. It had disturb him at the time, but he wrote it off as the bird's small brain being unable to comprehend the big picture. Why, yes, it cost the Longbottoms their sanity and the Potters their lives, but they had nearly ten years without Riddle and very few Death Eater attacks, so the amount saved outweighed the four lives—well, five if you included Harry, or six if you included Sirius, but it was still a small price.
What Dumbledore didn't know was that not only was Fawkes breaking free,
he had chosen his new friend: a certain Harry Potter. A certain Harry Potter who he could smell on the elf in front of him, a certain Harry Potter who the elf was worried about and lying about.
"Yes, Dobby, what is it? Have you any news?"
The look on Dobby's face said it all. "No, sir, but sir, Headmaster sir…." Geez he hated acting like an idiot in front of this windbag. "I has an idea. What about Hedwig, his owl?"
Dumbledore broke in, "I gave Hedwig to Ron Weasley, as I thought he might be able to get her to find Harry."
Now Dobby was confused. He was Harry Potters sir's friend, not Weasley's friend; why had he given Hedwig to Ron and not Sirius Black, who was the boy's guardian? "Headmaster sir, you got me wrong. I know a great man like you thinks of that, but that is not my whole idea."
Dumbledore looked at the elf. "What is the rest of your idea?"
"Well, Headmaster sir, I was popping around, looking for the great wizard Harry Potter," he said, trying to annoy Dumbledore, "and I thought if I had Hedwig with me, she is bonded to Harry Potter sir, and if I get her close enough, she might find him. It might take me two or three weeks to pop all over Great Britain, but I should be able to pop and stay in one place with Hedwig. Then with luck, even if an evil wizard has him in a Fidelius-charmed house, Hedwig might be able to sense him but not find him. Then I could come get you and you could use your great powers to beat up evil people and get the great Harry Potter back!"
Dumbledore nearly fell out of his seat. He knew a bound animal would be unable to get into a protected place, but would be able to narrow down the search area. A genuine smile lit his face and his eyes sparkled. It was a damn shame he couldn't read a house elf's mind—the sparkle looked good, but any ideas he could steal were better. "OK Dobby, great idea! I will get her and then you can start."
A floo call to Ron didn't go well, and when he finally got Hedwig, she was in a bad way. It seemed Ron only wanted her to torment her, as the Weasleys weren't getting to look after Harry over holidays. They had lost a third of their income besides; Ginny was pissed off that Harry might have another women and get married before she could get her hands on him and his cash. And Ron was annoyed that he had lost money,
thinking Harry had it all.
The whole bloody family was thick, as far as Albus was concerned. If Harry turned up and wanted Hedwig back, then a half-dead bird his supposed friend was supposed to be looking after wasn't the best way to stay in his good graces. The only saving grace was that the bloody elf had buggered off to sort out treats and something.
Or so he thought; Dobby had actually gone and silent popped himself and the oldest house elf back into the headmaster's office. They stood and listened to Ron argue that it was his bloody bird and he wasn't giving it back, Ginny screaming about how it was her man and no whore better get him so hand over the bird. Molly was screaming to hand over the bird so she could look after the little wanker and get her cash back.
When Dumbledore finally got the sodding bird back, a couple of healing charms and some water made her looked like she been in a mild war. He decided to blame a prank of the twins' gone wrong and, as the elves were so stupid they would never know. Well, normally they wouldn't, but the oldest elf was four feet away and, as he was bonded to the school, he could see for the first time in a long time all Dumbledore's thoughts.
He was no longer happy; he made the elf sign "See me before you go" and vanished so Dobby could pop in.
Pop! Albus jumped and Dobby immediately screamed, "Great wizard Harry Potter's Hedwig! What happened to her? He will be so mad and so sad."
"Calm down, it's not as bad as it looks. The Weasley twins played a prank, and sadly it hit Hedwig and not Ron." He sniggered. "Well, not that I wish Ron any harm, but it would have been easier to fix him, and faster. Please take care of her and start searching as soon as you can."
Pop! Dobby and Hedwig were gone. None of them had noticed that Fawkes was gone as well.
Dobby appeared before the elf court and jumped. He had expected to appear just before the oldest elf here.
"Creature known as Dobby, you are here to answer some questions."
A proud Dobby stood straight. "Well, you can bloody well wait till Harry Potter's owl is cared for," he said indignantly. "Them fucking Weasleys have hurt her bad; she is not a Weasley friend, she is a Potter friend"
With that, he called for potions and an animal caregiver from amongst those watching. After he was sure Hedwig was being seen to, he turned to face the court. "So what do you old windbags want now? More of 'Dobby should do this,' 'Dobby shouldn't be free.' Well Dobby is bonded, happy?"
The court looked on, stunned, and one member of the court knelt before Dobby. "Dobby, we have been wrong. It was seen inside the Headmaster's head, a true prophecy, as you said. It was also shown that the things Harry Potter—" A murmur went through the hall, "All praise Harry Potter," and a small "Ahem, quiet" went through after, "suffered through were known about or set up by the Headmaster, and he would have him facing dragons and such next. He was setting up a Tri-Wizard Tournament and working out how to get the Chosen One's name into the Goblet of Fire. We can no longer deny it: Harry Potter is the greatest wizard ever. As such, as you are his friend, you are the greatest house elf ever."
A gasp ran through the hall. "How can we help you and Harry Potter? No elf shall betray him; the time of prophecy may well be upon us."
Dobby stooped his shoulders and called for Hedwig. She was given to him.
"I will try to save Harry Potter, but he is lost in his own head. I can't think of anyone who would help him and not run to Black, the Evil One, Dumbledore, or some other who will stop my bond from working properly."
The old elf stood up and stared at Dobby, noticing the strange colour of his bond. "Who, or what, are you bonded to?"
"I am bonded to the idea of Harry Potter having a happy life, free of machinations and evil."
A gasp ran through the place as this sunk in; even the old elf shook his head as his eyes widened in wonder. "The time of prophecy could truly be before us," he said. It was here that poor Dobby got the wrong end of the stick again. Dumbledore had been speaking of the Potter-Riddle fight prophecy; so had Rita, when she confirmed it; so had the old elf when he had admitted knowing about it to the court. Dobby, on the other hand,
had been thinking of the house elf prophecy that the old elf had referred to after the last revelation about who Dobby was bonded to.
Another Harry Potter thing, all things coming to help him—just not from who or where he expected. If anyone had worked it out or known, they would have guessed that one person was trying to fulfill two prophecies and not get in Harry's way. As no one did, it was another strange coincidence, or so some would think. Others would think Harry Potter had the worst luck in the world. If they knew the two prophecies had at that moment decided to join forces, working together, most people would fill their underpants and look up how to Apparate to another planet before standing between Harry Potter and his no concrete destiny. That is,
unless they knew of Dobby's bonding and how the elves had sided with Harry; then they would probably look into long-range Apparition into another galaxy.
Our reluctant hero was, at the time, wandering in his own thoughts. Dead people blamed him for their deaths, and each one locked him in the cupboard; his friends blamed him for their misfortunes and they locked him in the cupboard; his godfather and Remus blamed him for everything and they locked him in the cupboard; the Dursleys blamed him for locking them up and locked him in the cupboard. Each time he was locked in, he reverted to his smallest, most scared self, crying, screaming, hitting,
and kicking the door, all to no avail. Then the whole process started again. It was an above-average vicious circle, but now the two prophecies were working together; the ancient elf prophecy had some ideas and with its age had come its cunning. All would have been well if Dumbledore hadn't interfered, the second prophecy agreed.
"The hat, the hat, it could help, it helped before!" shouted a squeaky voice. The two prophecies smiled. Dobby looked up.
"What hat?"
An old elf stood up. "The Sorting Hat carried Godric Gryffindor's sword to Harry Potter. The Headmaster thinks it was a replica, but it was, in fact, the original. The blade the Headmaster was going to send would have indeed killed the creature, and maybe faster, but the original called to me and so did the hat. They said they were to be given to Harry Potter."
"Given to him?" squeaked several elves.
The old elf looked around. "It seems as we have been lax and done more for what the teachers want than what the students need, or the school wants. If the hat and sword spoke to you and told you to give them to Harry Potter, why are they still in the Headmaster's study? You are the keeper of artifacts, not him." The old elf sat down. "So much lost, so much out of our control."
The keeper replied, "He took them from Harry Potter. Said he had loaned them to him."
A fire lit in a lot of elves' eyes. No one went against the school or the founders with impunity.
"Give Dobby the hat and the sword," the keeper said. He looked at Dobby.
Dobby put the hat on his head and the sword in his hand. "Maybe it will awaken him."
If any elf could have heard the pitch of a phoenix's words, they would have heard Fawkes' invisible form say: "And if they can't, I will."
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks to beta Lanie McCoy