Disclaimer: Line passages have been taken throughout the "Harry Potter Book Series" that was created by J.K Rowling and some from the "Star Wars Series" which was created by George Lucas. I do not own any rights to characters nor do I receive any money from this story. This story is for entertainment purpose only.
Chapter 4
A home fit for a Sith
July 31st, 1993
Number 12 Grimmauld Place, London, 10:28 p.m.
As Harry and Sirius entered number 12 Grimmauld Place and stepped over the threshold into the almost total darkness of the hall. Harry could smell the damp, dusty, and a sweetish, rotting smell; the place had the feeling of a derelict building and there was a cold feeling emanating from all around him but not in due of the temperature of the place, more like something of the darkness and evil was emanating all around the house.
As Sirius began moving into the house, Harry could almost have heard a soft hissing noise and then many old-fashioned gas lamps sputtered into life all along the walls, casting a flickering insubstantial light over the peeling old wallpaper and threadbare carpet of a long and gloomy hallway, where a cobwebby chandelier glimmering overhead and age-blackened portraits hung crooked on the walls.
"Kreacher," Sirius called out to nobody.
Harry was confused for a short period before a crack was heard and there stood a house-elf, much like Dobby, with except a filthy rag tied like a loincloth around its middle, it was completely naked. It looked very old. Its skin seemed to be several times too big for it and though it was bald like all house elves, there was a quantity of white hair growing out of its large, bat-like ears. Its eyes were a bloodshot and watery gray, and its fleshy nose was large and rather snout-like.
"Yes… Master?" The elf asked while bowing, seeming displeased by being summoned by Sirius.
"Kreacher, this is Harry Potter," Sirius said gesturing towards Harry behind him "and he will be staying here. Please have my room cleaned and readied for him. The master's bedroom is to be cleaned up and ready for me to sleeping in as well."
Kreacher bowed again and said, "Whatever, Master says," before disappearing with another crack.
"You have a house elf?" asked Harry.
"The Black family home has always had one… and as I am the last of the Blacks, therefore I'm now the Head of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. So, Kreacher will have to obey me now. Why?"
"I… well last year I… I freed a house elf. He… he wasn't treated very well in his last home," Harry commented cautiously.
"Did you now?" Sirius asked truly curious. "Did you bring him into House Potter?"
"Well, no…," Harry trailed off, "He just wanted to be out from Lucius Malfoy control."
Sirius chuckled a bit. "Are you sure he didn't want to join your house? I suppose a house elf would prefer freedom but that is a rather painful way to die," Sirius queried.
Harry looked horrified at the statement "He would die?"
"Harry, house elves survive mostly off the magical bond with their master or their family. By not having a master or family, the house elf will slowly begin to lose their magic and without their magic, they will eventually die," Sirius stated.
Harry looked, if so… more horrified. Seeing this, Sirius continued.
"You could call him tomorrow Harry and see if he would like to bond with you. Just remember, a house elf and master is a symbiotic relationship, they're there to help you, just as much as you are there to help them, ok?" Sirius said looking into Harry's eyes. With a nod, Sirius continued to the stairway.
They passed a pair of long, moth-eaten curtains, behind which Harry supposed there must be another door, and after skirting a large umbrella stand that looked as though it had been made from a severed troll's leg, they started up the dark staircase, passing a row of shrunken heads mounted on plaques on the wall. A closer look showed Harry that the heads all belonged to house elves and all of them had the same rather snout-like nose.
Harry paused for a moment and Sirius commented, "Aunt Elladora… she started the family tradition of beheading house-elves when they got too old to carry tea trays," Harry cringed at the thought.
They continued up the stairs to the second floor. "The Black Family Library is just down the hall and to the right. The Head of House office is on the left just past the drawing room," Sirius commented.
Again they resumed their trip up another flight of stairs. "Those are the guest bedrooms, there're four on this floor. Yours and mine is one more flight up, I'll be staying in the Master's bedroom and you can stay in my old bedroom," Sirius stated with a grin.
Harry looked up from the third floor and saw two additional floors, 'So five floors and the basement?'
"Sirius… how many levels are to this house, I count five?" Harry asked.
They're a total of seven levels, four floors plus the attic and two basement levels," Sirius answered, "Why?"
"It doesn't look like there are so many floors from the outside, it looks like the house only has three and maybe a basement," Harry clarified his question.
"Over the years the Black family magically expanded the floors for more room. The basement was doubled and expanded for training and… well… other things," Sirius explained a bit reluctantly.
"Training... So does that mean I can do magic here? What about the underage magic won't it be a problem?" Harry asked.
"Well…," Sirius rubbed the back of his head, "that law really only applies to those living in the muggle world. The ministry can't track magic use in a magical family's house or residence, like the backyard or something," Sirius answered a bit reluctantly.
Harry was gobsmacked, 'So the law was to put Muggleborn or muggle raised at a disadvantage from purebloods.'
Sirius saw this and responded, "It stupid, I know, but that is what you get when there is no muggle-born or half-bloods witches or wizards in charge."
Harry nodded still not liking that policy but understood he could do nothing about it right now.
"Look, tomorrow I'll take you down to the training room or as I use to I liked to call it the 'danger room'," Sirius said using air quotes at the end for his name of the training room.
As they reached the 4th floor and the family bedrooms, Sirius pointed out the bathroom where he could use and then the bedroom for Harry. He also pointed out the Master's bedroom just in case Harry needed anything.
Harry looked at the door that would be his bedroom and stared at the nameplate. The nameplate on the door just stated, 'Sirius'. He pushed open the door and entered. The room was spacious and must have been very nice once. There was a large bed with a carved wooden headboard, a tall window obscured by long velvet curtains, and a chandelier with candle stubs still resting in its sockets, solid wax hanging in frostlike drips. A film of dust still covered the pictures on the walls and the bed's headboard; as Harry moved deeper into the room, he heard a scurrying of disturbed mice. 'Hedwig might not have to leave to go hunting now,' Harry thought with a smile.
The teenage Sirius had plastered the walls with so many posters and pictures that little of the walls' silvery-gray was visible. Harry could only assume that Sirius's parents had been unable to remove the Permanent Sticking Charm that kept them on the wall because he was sure they would not have appreciated their eldest son's taste in decoration.
Sirius seemed to have gone out of his way to annoy his parents with this. There were several large Gryffindor banners, faded scarlet and gold, just to underline his difference from all the rest of the Slytherin family. There were many pictures of Muggle motorcycles, and also (Harry had to admire Sirius's nerve) several posters of bikini-clad Muggle girls; Harry could tell that they were Muggles because they remained quite stationary within their pictures, faded smiles and glazed eyes froze on the paper. This was in contrast to the only Wizarding photograph on the walls, which was a picture of four Hogwarts students standing arm in arm, laughing at the camera.
Turning to his Godfather Harry saw a hidden grin plastered on his face. It lasted only a few seconds before they both busted out with laughter at the room.
Sirius finally asked for Harry's wand and after handing it over to his godfather, Sirius shot off a dozen or so Scourgifies and, reparo charms. Harry felt it was now safe to sleep in the room for the night. Harry's trunk was placed at the foot of the bed just like at Hogwarts.
Sirius then took Harry's wand to the Master's bedroom and bathroom before finishing up at the main bathroom on this floor before handing Harry's wand back with a, "thanks," and a nod from Harry.
Harry changed and then climbed into bed and within seconds he was fast asleep.
(Dream training)
Harry was standing in a large open area inside a strange building. All around him stranger beings walked and talked. Some were in groups in a somewhat meditative sitting pose; something like he once saw Buddhist monks doing on the television before Uncle Vernon quickly switched the channel for something else.
In the center of the room was a large fountain with streams of water slowly moving from the very top of the fountain over a hundred feet up, down through many ponds with several small waterfalls all the way down the sides to the ornately shaped pool at the bottom. The sound of the many waterfalls was putting Harry in a very calm mood.
Harry felt at peace and moved over to one of the patches of grass surrounding the fountain were a few kids were sitting around a… man with dark brown hair? Harry decided to sit with the kids in the monk's sitting position and listened to the adult instructor.
"There is no emotion…," The man said.
"There is peace," replied the kids.
"There is no ignorance…," the man continued.
"There is knowledge," the kids answered.
"There is no passion…," the man stated.
"There is serenity," the kids said.
"There is no chaos…," the man spoke.
"There is harmony," the kids answered.
"There is no death…," the man declared.
"There is the Force," they all spoke as one.
'Was this a dream… or a memory,' Harry thought to himself feeling even more at ease with everything.
At that moment the man opened his brown eyes and turned towards where Harry was seated.
"Welcome young Padawan, to our morning meditation session. My name is Master Kyp Durron. How are you feeling today?" the man said looking directly at Harry now.
Harry was confused and a bit scared at the communication coming from the man. The man smiled, waiting for an answer.
"I'm confused," Harry replied.
"Understandable, Padawan, ask and I will try and answer," Kyp said.
"What is this? Where is this? How did I get here?" Harry asked.
The man smiled, "This is a meditation session to teach you how to center one's self and allow you to learn at a faster rate. While meditating, you can begin to organize your mind and thoughts, which will allow you to recall things faster and to start to protect your mind from outside influences'."
Harry nodded.
"This…," Kyp motioned with his hand around the room "is the Room of a Thousand Fountains. This is a place most Jedi come to meditate, to relax and to hold conversations with others in a peaceful way."
Again Harry nodded, trying to understand everything, looking around the room, it was very large and there were many people meditating or talking with each other on the outer skirts of the room and not all of them human.
"You… are here for training in the mental arts," Kyp stated. "Later you will receive other training in Force based techniques. Like Force Push, Pull, Throw, Jump and Run. These techniques you will learn here and practice when you awake."
Harry was a bit surprised at this. He was sure his Grandfather's Holocron would be used for his Jedi training.
"Normally a Padawan starts his or her training at a younger age of five or six but some have started later in their teenage years as you are. Grandmaster Luke Skywalker started his training with Master Obi-Wan Kenobi when he was eighteen years old and with Master Yoda when he was twenty."
"So, I will be training nearly around the clock?" Harry asked and Kyp nodded slightly and with that, and so Master Durron began teaching Harry how to learn, the Jedi way.
Harry spent the time resting and sorting through his own thoughts and memories. Organizing his memories into multiple trunks, some with multiple draws in them, some with traps, others were simply empty or false trunks.
"Time is coming to an end for this session, young Padawan. We will continue this again later," stated Master Durron.
Harry nodded. And the room faded away…
August 1st, 1993
Harry opened his eyes and felt a bit confused for a moment at the room he was in. Slowly and calmly Harry started to become more alert to his surroundings. Slowly, Harry started to remember the night before, his fight with the Dursley's, his run-in with his Godfather, Sirius Black, and from there, their trip to number twelve Grimmauld Place in London.
Harry moved out from the warm bed he was in and gathered up some fresh clothes, his hygiene kit and headed to the communal bathroom on the current floor.
After a quick shower, his teeth brushed and hair combed, mostly, Harry wanted to start exploring the house. Harry found another room with a strange plaque stating "Do Not Enter Without the Express Permission of Regulus Arcturus Black," 'Strange,' Harry thought and was going to enter and take a look but thought twice about it, he would look closer later when Sirius had shown him around.
Harry then proceeded down the flights of stairs, he stopped on the second floor a looked down the hallway, he really wanted to take a look at the library, but again, he didn't want to get into trouble or hurt. Without Sirius around, if something were to go pear shape he would want someone with him. Also, Harry felt something very cold and dark, down the hallway. If he thought more about it, Harry could almost hear a faint whisper of hissing coming from down the hall. He would ask Sirius about that later.
Harry shrugged it off with a force of will and continued down to the main floor of the house. As Harry reached the first floor and entryway, where they had come in the house last night, he heard the scrapes and slight banging of cookware moving around as if someone was cooking breakfast, 'Kreacher', maybe? 'Was Sirius up already?'
Slowly, Harry moving towards the back of the house, down the hallway and slowly opened the door to show an interesting Wizarding Kitchen and the old house elf from last night preparing breakfast in the kitchen.
There, sitting in a chair reading the mornings edition of Daily Prophet, was his godfather Sirius Black. And then he took another look, there on the front page of the newspaper was his godfather laughing, then he would look from left to right before looking forward and laughing again. And in his hand, he held up some sort of prison serial number. It looked rather funny if truth to be told.
As Harry entered the kitchen, Sirius pulled back part of the paper and welcomed him with a "Good morning Harry," and a smile. "Just let Kreacher know of anything you may want for breakfast Harry and he'll make it happen."
Harry asked for some bacon, eggs, fried potatoes, toast and a glass of water. He then proceeded to sit down in a chair across from his godfather. A minute later Kreacher laid a plate down with a silver goblet of water. After a, "Thank you, Kreacher," Harry dug into one of the better breakfast outside of Hogwarts and the Weasley's he had.
After getting some food in him, Harry thought it was time to let Sirius know a little about his trip into Gringotts. "Sirius?" Harry said to get his attention.
"Yes, pup?" Sirius replied folding down the newspaper.
"Yesterday when Mom had informed me to go to Gringotts, you know… in the letter. Well during my visit, I was informed about a few things…," he spoke softly. "Did you know dad put a binder on my magical core when I was a baby?"
Sirius stared at him for a moment and nodded in a 'yes'. "Your dad, Remus and I placed it on you because you were constantly doing magic here and there. Things like summoning Lily's cat and… well, the cat didn't appreciate flying across the room all the time," Sirius said with a chuckle.
"Well, I found out that it wasn't removed. I also found out that others have put more on me…," Harry said trailing off.
Sirius looked dumbfounded for a minute before getting confused. "Who?" was all he said.
"Dumbledore and Tom Riddle," Harry answered.
Again Sirius looked confused before asking "Who's Tom Riddle?"
Harry sighed "You know… Voldemort?" Harry replied questionably.
"Harry, you know his name? How? Who told you about these bindings?" asked Sirius.
"Yesterday, when I visited Gringotts, I spoke the Goblins named Ripclaw about Mom's vault. We did a blood inheritance test and it turns out I have more vaults than the just the one Mom told me about and my trust vault."
"Well yeah, you should have the Potter vaults too," Sirius added.
"Yes but, I have even more vaults than that. But I'm not allowed to access them without my magical guardian or I turn seventeen," Harry supplied.
"Like what?" Sirius asked.
"Well, apparently I'm tied into all four founders' vaults," Harry said somewhat bluntly.
"Four… how?" Sirius choked out.
"Turns out last year, I called for help in the Chambers of Secrets and Fawkes, Dumbledore's Phoenix, showed up with the sorting hat, And… Well… I sort of pulled the Sword of Gryffindor out of the hat which I guess named me his magical heir."
"You retrieved the Sword of Gryffindor? Where is it?" Sirius asked now sitting upright paper off to one side.
"Well, Dumbledore took it… to look at it, I think," Harry replied.
"Why?" Sirius asked "Harry, if the sword appeared to you, Harry… that means you were chosen by the magic to carry it at all times, much like your wand."
At Harry confusion, Sirius continued "Ok, we can get back to that later, what other vaults beside the Founder's, what other vault do you have?"
"Well, there is the Peverell and Evans' vault," Harry answered. "I was told I was also the Heir of the House of Gaunt through conquest or something. I think that is how I was named Heir of Slytherin through conquest," Harry added.
"Harry, if Voldemort, Riddle, if he was the last living Heir to both houses, magic wouldn't claim you as the new magical heir. Only if you would've bested him at least three times. But Harry, you only stopped him the one time, right?" Sirius half stated half asked.
"Sirius, last year would have made it three times that I have faced down Voldemort," Harry stated calmly.
"You are joking, right? How would you face him if he's…?" He… he wouldn't," Sirius, what little blood he had drained from his face. And at that point fear had replaced his expression on his face.
"What is it, Sirius?" Harry asked.
"Horcruxes…," Sirius whispered.
"What?" Harry asked.
"Horcruxes, Harry," Sirius said again a bit louder. "It's very dark stuff. A Horcruxes is an object a dark witch or wizard would place a piece of their soul into in a way to cheat death. That way if their body dies before their normal time, they don't really die. They become a wraith after they are killed. After that, they can just reenter their body and boom they're alive again."
"But, Voldemort body was destroyed. Whatever happened that night…?" Harry suppressed his loss and started again, "Whatever happened, Voldemort's body is gone."
"So, Voldemort became a wraith without a body. So… he would need to either possess someone or create a homunculus body to come back in," Sirius stated.
Now, Harry paled, "Sirius, in my first year, Voldemort possessed our Defense against the Dark Arts teacher, Professor Quirrell. I confronted him at the end of the year. He attacked me and when he placed his hands on me, he kind of crumbled into ash."
"Wait… what!" Sirius jumped up, his chair nearly tipping backward but not falling over, after a minute Sirius cooled down and then sat back down and place his elbows on the table, followed by his head in his hands.
After another few minutes, Sirius lifted his head out of his hands and stared at Harry, really looking at him before saying, "You said you confronted him three times, what happened last year?" Sirius' eyes narrowed, he could have bored holes into Harry with the intensity they had.
"Down in the Chamber of Secrets, I confronted a ghost… no, a… a memory he said. It came out of a diary from a Tom Marvolo Riddle. The memory wrote with flames in mid-air his name then, with a hand jester, he rearranged all the letters to read I am Lord Voldemort," Harry said.
"But how did you stop him?"
"I stabbed the diary with a Basilisk fang, when I did that, a black liquid, like blood, spilled out of it and the memory Voldemort vanished," answered Harry. Why?"
Again Sirius went pale, "Where did you get a Basilisk Fang?"
"From my arm, after a stabbed the Sword of Gryffindor through the mouth of the Basilisk, It caught me in my arm when I pulled it out of its mouth. I pulled it from my arm and Fawkes cried into it and healing my arm. When Voldemort started going after him, Fawkes flew off and brought back the diary. I thought why not and so I stabbed it on the inside pages a few time then closed the book and stabbed it once through the cover. The memory disappeared with a cry of pain and a flash of light. That's when Ginny woke up from the spell she was under," Harry said, "Again why?"
"Because that diary you stabbed was most likely one of his Horcruxes," Sirius stated.
Harry nodded in agreement. "It must have been very strong to control Ginny and in the chamber, it was able to pick up my wand and cast simple spells."
"Hoping he created the one maybe he's been defeated?" Sirius said.
Harry shook his head "Ripclaw said that when Voldemort tried to kill me, he must have tried to make another Horcruxes but that he was too unstable and instead of the piece moving into the object it was placed in… me."
Sirius' face became first scared, then angry, then became determined. "Did Ripclaw say anything about how to remove the soul fragment?"
Harry nodded and Sirius relaxed a bit. "Ripclaw said the Goblins were going to set up a ritual to have the soul fragment removed and transferred into something else. Then they will be able to destroy the soul fragment."
"Did they say how soon they could do this?" Sirius asked.
"In a few days," Harry answered. "He said it would take a few days to gather what they needed to perform the ritual." Sirius nodded.
"Ok, I have things to take care of at Gringotts as well. So we will take care of everything at the same time. I remember Ripclaw. He worked with James dealing with the Potter accounts and property before they went into hiding. He has been the Potter accountant for as long as I can remember."
"Sirius, you mentioned last night about doing magic here without being detected by the ministry. Is it just here in the house, or is on the whole property or just the room?" Harry asked.
"Well, anywhere here within the property wards. But for serious training, there is the room in the basement. I can show you it later today, ok?" Sirius answered.
"Also, down the hall, the library is on I felt something not right. I felt something cold and dark somewhere there," Harry said changing the subject.
At this, Kreacher started to shuffle his feet a bit, "Master? Master Sirius?" Kreacher said.
"Yes, Kreacher?" Sirius asked. "Kreacher is there something down the hall of the library and can you tell me about it," Sirius said a bit forceful.
"A year after Master Regulus had joined; he came down to the kitchen to see Kreacher. Master Regulus always liked Kreacher. And Master Regulus said… he said that the Dark Lord required an elf," Kreacher said a bit painfully
"Voldemort needed an elf?" Harry repeated confused.
"Oh yes," moaned Kreacher. "And Master Regulus had volunteered Kreacher. It was an honor, said Master Regulus, an honor for him and for Kreacher, who must be sure to do whatever the Dark Lord ordered him to do… and then to c-come home."
"So Kreacher went to the Dark Lord. The Dark Lord did not tell Kreacher what they were to do but took Kreacher with him to a cave beside the sea. And beyond the cave, there was another cavern, and in that cavern was a great black lake… There was a boat… There was a b-basin full of potion on the island. The D-Dark Lord made Kreacher drinks it…"
"Kreacher drank, and as he drank, he saw terrible things… Kreacher's insides burned… Kreacher cried for Master Regulus to save him, he cried for his Mistress Black, but the Dark Lord only laughed. He made Kreacher drink the entire potion… He dropped a locket into the empty basin. He refilled it with more potion.
"And then the Dark Lord sailed away, leaving Kreacher on the island…"
"Kreacher needed water, so Kreacher crawled to the island's edge and he drank from the black lake… and hands, dead hands, came out of the water and dragged Kreacher under the surface."
Harry heard Sirius whisper "Inferi."
"How did you get away Kreacher?" Harry asked, and he was not surprised to hear himself whispering.
Kreacher raised his ugly head and looked at Harry with his great, bloodshot eyes.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he said.
"I know… but how did you escape the Inferi?"
Kreacher did not seem to understand.
"Master Regulus told Kreacher to come back," he repeated.
"I know, but…"
"Harry," said Sirius, "He disapparated!"
Seeing as Harry did not totally understand Sirius continued, "Elf magic isn't like wizard's magic," said Sirius. "I mean, they can apparate and disapparate in and out of Hogwarts when we can't."
Kreacher took a look at Sirius but continued speaking. "Master Regulus was very worried, very worried," croaked Kreacher. "Master Regulus told Kreacher to stay hidden and not to leave the house. And then… it was a little while later… Master Regulus came to find Kreacher in his cupboard one night, and Master Regulus was strange, not as he usually was, disturbed in his mind, Kreacher could tell… and he asked Kreacher to take him to the cave, the cave where Kreacher had gone with the Dark Lord."
"And he made you drink the potion again?" Harry said, disgusted.
"M-Master Regulus took from his pocket a locket like the one the Dark Lord had," said Kreacher, tears pouring down either side of his snout-like nose. "And he told Kreacher to take it and, when the basin was empty, to switch the lockets."
Kreacher's sobs came in great rasps now; Harry and Sirius had to concentrate really hard to understand him now.
"And he ordered… Kreacher to leave… without him, and he told Kreacher… to go home… and never to tell my Mistress… what he had done… but to destroy… the first locket. And then he drank… the entire potion… and Kreacher swapped the lockets… and Kreacher watched… as Master Regulus… was dragged beneath the water… and…"
Sirius was now openly crying as with Kreacher.
"My brother did not die a death eater," Sirius cried somberly.
Harry placed one of his hands on Sirius' shoulder to give him some comfort.
"So you brought the locket home," Harry said relentlessly, for he was determined to know the full story. "And you tried to destroy it?"
"Nothing Kreacher did make any mark upon it," moaned the elf. "Kreacher tried everything, everything he knew, but nothing, nothing would work. So many powerful spells upon the casing, Kreacher was sure the way to destroy it was to get inside it, but it would not open. Kreacher punished himself, he tried again, he punished himself, and he tried again. Kreacher failed to obey orders; Kreacher could not destroy the locket! And his Mistress was mad with grief, because Master Regulus had disappeared, and Kreacher could not tell her what had happened, no, because Master Regulus had f-f-forbidden him to tell any of the f-f-family what happened in the c-cave."
Sirius could not listen anymore as he finally knew the truth about his brother's death and it hit him hard.
"Kreacher," Harry spoke softly and Kreacher looked up with those bloodshot eyes and listened. "If there is a way, I will help you fulfill Master Regulus' wish to destroy this locket. The goblins are, at this point working to get rid of another one and as I said, I have already destroyed one last year. I promise you we will help you with this."
After a few minutes, Kreacher nodded in acceptance.
"Kreacher…," Harry asked, "Where is the locket now?"
"Kreacher stored Master Regulus' Locket in a cabinet in the Drawing room on the second floor," Kreacher answered still a bit painfully and Harry nodded.
"We will leave it there till we inform Gringotts and go there to remove the other one, ok?" Harry half asked, half stated and Kreacher agreed.
Harry then looked around at the true state of the place. It was too dirty for just one old house elf to clean so deciding to move forward with another plan. Harry asked Kreacher if he could bring in another house elf in to help him clean the house, and with a little coxing Kreacher agreed.
~Force~
After breakfast and a quick discussion with both Sirius and Kreacher, Harry moved into the hallway and called for, "Dobby?"
It took only a few seconds before Dobby appeared before Harry with a slight crack.
"Master Harry Potter calls for Dobby?" Dobby asked with a hint of hope in his voice.
"Yes Dobby…," Harry said taking a knee before the hyper house elf. "Dobby, I wanted to know if you had found work somewhere yet."
Dobby ears drooped a bit and his feet started to shuffle a bit. "Dobby found work but… but Dobby is not as happy as Dobby would like to be, as Dobby would be happier if…," Dobby looked away "if Dobby could be working for the Great Harry Potter, Sir."
Harry smiled, "Well Dobby…," Harry said, his smile growing a bit more. "I have called for you because I think you would be a great Potter elf if you would like." At this Dobby turned and stared at Harry, his eyes becoming like huge tennis balls in his head.
"Of course, as a Potter elf, we do not like our house elves to wear rags; they will need to wear a proper uniform, something utilitarian.
"Could dobby's uniform have pockets? Dobby always wanted to have pockets," Dobby asked.
"Yes Dobby, you can, but…," Harry said putting up a hand for patients. "Dobby, I will need to pay you for your services." At this Dobby, the excitement faded. "I will pay you one galleon and one day off a week," which Dobby promptly shot down vehemently and countered with one Knut a week and no days off.
Harry and Dobby both countered several times before till they ended up with Harry would pay Dobby one Galleon a month and two days off a month and Dobby could use that money to help Harry Potter and if he chose to could still work if he needed to. Most of it was because of Dobby stating he would not take so much from the Great Harry Potter Sir. As soon as they agreed, Harry asked if he could help Kreacher out in cleaning number twelve Grimmauld place but warned Dobby about the dark item on the second floor and informed him that it would be taken care of in a few days and Dobby was to not overwork himself cleaning.
With the hard-pressed deal out of the way Harry decided to get Sirius to show him around the house, more to the point the library and this training room Sirius was talking about in the basement.
§End Chapter Four§
Author's Notes: Thanks again for all the reviews.
