Chapter 10 The Unhappy Holidays

Harry was waiting to meet with Xavier, and he was angry. The elf had attacked him twice. The first time was bad enough, sitting in the hospital wing with no bones in his arm, listening to an earnest elf telling him he had charmed a bludger to injure him enough to ensure he had to go home. The elf said he meant him no permanent harm, but Harry didn't know how much control the elf had over that bludger. The second time, the elf had again caught him unaware again. Harry needed to do two things. He had to regain the ability to transform, and he needed to stop that elf. Dobby was now an enemy. Harry knew what the older kneazles did, with an enemy.

Dobby was a threat Harry didn't know how to deal with. Dobby was much more magically capable than Harry, and could attack Harry at will. He had no idea where Dobby lived, and he doubted he could get close enough to physically attack him. Harry's discussion with Xavier about Quirrell had made him rethink his decision to attack a magically powerful person. Harry had caught Quirrell unaware, and killed him easily. Dobby apparently wasn't trying to kill Harry, but Dobby had done the same thing to him that Harry had done with Quirrell. He had made very successful surprise attacks, and Harry had no idea how to prevent them. Harry had found out just how vulnerable to magical attack he was. He could be attacked at Hogwarts and at home, just as easily as Harry could catch a rabbit.

Harry saw Xavier going toward his study, and caught his attention. "I wanted to talk to you this morning," said Xavier. "Follow me."

Harry followed him into the study, and jumped up on a chair. "Harry," Xavier laughed. "I am going to need your human version."

Harry made a low rumble that could only be interpreted as frustration. "What is the matter Harry?" asked Xavier. "Can't you make the change?" Harry shook his head 'No'.

"I see," said Xavier. "Any idea why?" Harry jumped down, and Xavier followed Harry to his room. When Harry stopped outside, Xavier opened the door. Harry went to his drawing material, and picked up a piece of charcoal in his teeth. He went to the drawing pad, and managed to write a legible large word, 'ELF'.

"That elf Dobby did this?" asked Xavier. Harry nodded 'yes'. Xavier did a few tests with his wand. He tried to force the human transformation, without success.

"He has bound you to your kneazle form!" exclaimed Xavier. Harry nodded 'yes'.

Xavier called his senior elf. "Lanta"

"Yes, sir," replied the elf.

"Harry can't make his transformation. He said an elf attacked him. What can you tell me about this binding?" asked Xavier.

The old elf looked at Harry for a while. "Sir, I can see the binding, but I don't know how to remove it."

"Thank you," said Xavier. "If you think of anything, let me know."

"Harry, Dumbledore is a transfiguration master, and he knows about your animagus ability. Should I contact him?" asked Xavier. Harry thought about it for a while, and nodded 'yes'. Harry needed to fix this problem. Xavier had the elves install magical 'cat flaps' in the back door and in Harry's room door for the winter.

Harry went over to Ginny's, climbed the tree, and got her attention. She opened the window, and let him in. "Hi Harry," she said. "Enjoying your holiday?"

"No, elf attack. Can't change," said Harry.

"What are you going to do?" asked Ginny. "How long will it last?"

"Don't know," said Harry. "Professor help."

"Dumbledore?" asked Ginny.

Harry nodded his head. "Tomorrow." Harry just curled up beside her.

Harry spent the night with the kneazles that were not on patrol. Harry thought events were not too bad. The worse thing that could happen was that he was stuck as a kneazle for a while. He was comfortable as a kneazle. He discovered that he could work on his wing structure, and he could change size as a kneazle. He could not make any changes remotely associated with being human. He couldn't even change a paw into a hand.

Dumbledore arrived at 9:00 a.m. at the apparation point at the front door, and the wards announced his arrival. Xavier led Albus to his study, where Harry was waiting by the fireplace.

"Harry, my boy," said Dumbledore, "Xavier tells me a house elf has bound you to your kneazle form. Do you mind if I perform a few tests, to see what I might be able to do?"

Harry nodded, 'No', and walked nearer to the professor. Dumbledore made test after test, all the while making little 'Hmmm' and 'Ah' noises. Finally, he walked over to the tea service, and sat down.

"There seems to be nothing I can do," he said. "I have never seen anything quite like it. House elf magic has never been categorized, to my knowledge. Their magic is similar in many ways to that used by wizards, but there are just as many differences as there are similarities. Elves can apparate through wards, even the prodigious wards of Hogwarts. I suppose the reason elven magic hasn't been studied is two-fold. One, humans can not use magic the way elves do. Two, elves are not a threat. I can not think of a single reported incident of house elf magic used in a hostile manner, other than in defense of their household."

Xavier spoke up. "Albus, is there any thing I can do to ward my property against this Dobby? The elves here knew he arrived, but they didn't consider him a threat. It isn't uncommon for elves to deliver packages and messages. They also visit other elves, from time to time. He was here, and gone in less than half a minute."

"Nothing that I know of," said Dumbledore, "Other than instructing the elves that live here that Dobby is a threat, and should be treated accordingly."

"Oh, believe me, we have discussed that," said Xavier. "Dobby will met soon after arrival next time he comes here, if there is a next time. The elves here are most embarrassed by what has happened."

"Harry," said Albus, "I would like to study this problem further. Would you come with me to Hogwarts? I can make your stay there quite comfortable." Harry nodded 'Yes'. He had to get this problem resolved. "Well then," Albus continued, "Lets be off. If we are lucky, we can have you back in time for the season's festivities. Please place your paw on this portkey, which will take us directly to my office." The portkey activated.

Dumbledore took a seat by the window, and motioned for Harry to take a seat. "As you know, Harry," began Dumbledore, "there are a few students here spending the holidays. Not everyone can return home. I will set you up a guest room on the first floor, not too far from the Great Hall. Food will be in your room for you at meal times. I am sure you are aware of the arrangements for pet cats to enter and leave the castle. If you want to go out on the grounds, I see no problem with that. I will visit you in your room every morning at 9:00 a.m., and at other arranged times. If I need you earlier, I will send an elf for you. Are these arrangements satisfactory?" Harry nodded, 'Yes.'

Dumbledore called one of the senior castle elves. "Nelly," he said.

"Yes, sir," replied the elf.

"Please set up one of the first floor guest rooms for my friend here," he said, motioning to the kneazle. "He will need appropriate food at meal times"

"Yes sir. Sir, may Nelly ask what has happened?" asked Nelly.

"Yes, you may," replied Dumbledore.

"Sir, Nelly can tell this in not an ordinary kneazle. He appears to be an animagus transformation," said Nelly.

"Yes, that is true. Nelly, he has been bound by another elf, so that he is restricted to this form. Do you know of a way to remove the binding?" asked Albus.

"Sir! An elf has bound a wizard against his will!" squeaked the elf.

"Yes, that seems to be the case," replied Dumbledore.

"Nelly doesn't know about such things, but Nelly will ask a few questions, with Sir's permission," said Nelly.

"Yes, of coarse," said Albus. "Please escort my friend here to his room. He might want to rest some, as his day has not developed as he would wish."

Harry followed the elf down to his assigned room, but he didn't stay long. He went out on the grounds. Paths had been made through the snow to the most traveled locations. The snow wasn't too deep, and a crust had formed on top of the snow. He was able to walk on top of it without breaking the crust, as long as he didn't make a quick movement. Harry found Hagrid and Sirius in the sheep pens. Scottish winters could be hard on livestock. Only breeding stock was kept through the winter. Some of the stock was moved south for the winter. He wanted to say hello, but of coarse, he could not. Sirius knew about him, but Hagrid did not. Harry would wait until Sirius was alone, not that two-way conversation was possible. A kneazle's vocal cords could mimic a few words, but vocabulary was limited. Harry didn't intend to hold any long discussions.

While Harry was out on the grounds, Dumbledore located Professor McGonagall. She was an expert on the animagus transformation. Albus was an owl animagus. He was a Master of Transfiguration, he just hadn't delved as deeply into the procedure as Minerva had. Strangely enough, his specialty was battle magic, which is the main reason he had defeated Grindewald, and Voldemort reportedly feared him.

"Minerva," began Dumbledore, "it has come to my attention that an animagus has been trapped in his form by a house elf. Have you ever heard of this happening?"

"Good heavens no," replied McGonagall. "I have heard of people being trapped because of unsupervised practice in the initial transformation, but I have never heard of an elf forcing a person to stay in form. It has been done by wizards to other wizards, for a host of reasons usually involving revenge or manipulation, but the reversal of those forced transformations is well documented. I know you are aware of them."

"Yes, I am," said Albus. "This binding is beyond me. I have not seen anything like it in my tenure as a Transfiguration Master."

"Will I get to examine this individual?" asked McGonagall.

"I am not sure yet. This individual is unregistered, for very good reasons. I am not at liberty to divulge his identity," said Albus. "The situation is most complicated."

"I see," said Minerva. "If there is any way I can be of assistance, let me know. I am always interested in the animagus transformation. I was appalled when we found Pettigrew on the castle grounds. A criminal hiding among children. I hope he rots in Azkaban."

Sirius and Hagrid were done by 5:00, and Sirius was off work the rest of the day. He didn't really have set hours, since a working castle has many needs. Harry followed him toward Hogsmeade, then got his attention by leaping in front of him.

"Hey kitty," said Sirius. "What are you doing way out here. You should be in a nice warm barn somewhere reducing our rodent population."

Harry took a paw, and wrote 'HI' in the snow. Sirius looked closer, and said, "Harry! What are you doing here? I wasn't paying attention. Aren't you home for the holiday?" Harry wrote, 'Stuck,' in the snow. He then walked down the path a few steps, and looked back. "You want me to follow? asked Sirius. Harry nodded 'Yes'. Harry led Sirius back to his guest room in the castle.

Harry trusted Xavier Figg, Albus Dumbledore, and Sirius Black, the ones on the short list of people who officially knew his history. He wanted all three of them involved in resolving his problem. Fred and George knew a little, but he didn't think they were likely to be any help. Harry still felt vulnerable following Dobby's two attacks. He wanted to get the binding off, and start learning some way of reducing his susceptibility to magical attack. What better way to start, than his Headmaster , and Godfather, ex-auror.

Shortly after Harry brought Sirius to his room, Albus knocked on the door and entered.

"Sirius, how good to see you with Harry," said Dumbledore.

"Headmaster, what has happened to him?" asked Sirius.

"Please," replied Dumbledore, "call me Albus when I am not acting in an official capacity. You are here as a concerned guardian, since you are his godfather. Harry has been bound into his kneazle form by a house elf named Dobby. I am researching methods to overcome this binding. I would like to ask Professor McGonagall to join us in looking for a solution to this problem. She is both, a Transfiguration Master and an expert on the animagus transformation. Harry, what do you think?"

Harry nodded his head 'Yes.' He wanted to ask her more questions anyway.

"Nelly," stated Dumbledore.

"Yes Sir," replied the elf after popping in.

"Could you ask Professor McGonagall if she has time to meet with us here, and let me know her answer?" asked Albus.

"Yes Sir, right away Sir," said the elf, and she was gone. A few minutes later, she returned, and stated the Professor would be there shortly.

There was a knock on the door, and Albus opened the door for Minerva McGonagall.

"Professor," began Albus, "you remember Sirius Black." She nodded. "This kneazle is an animagus who is bound to that form. I have suggested to him that you might able to help remove the binding."

"I will see what I can do," said McGonagall. She walked over, and made a few tests with her wand. She looked closely at the kneazle. She was indeed an animagus expert. She noticed the green eyes and the slightly darker lightening bolt above the right eye. "Mr. Potter?" she asked. Harry nodded 'Yes'. "I have never heard of one so young," she said.

"You don't know the half of it," said Sirius. "Is there anything you can do?"

"You, the Headmaster, and I should perform the standard auror reversal charm at the same time. That may have enough power to overcome the binding. Ready Mr. Potter? On three. One. Two. Three." They cast the spell, and it had no effect what so ever. "I shall research some of my older reference materials. Maybe I will find something there. I have one in mind right now. Good day, gentlemen," she said.

"Albus," began Sirius, "would it be OK if I stay here with Harry for a few days? Hopefully it won't take too long to fix this mess."

"Yes, that will be fine," said Dumbledore. "You are, after all, an employee of Hogwarts. I realize there isn't much in the way of adult entertainment here, and I thought you preferred living in Hogsmeade."

"Actually, I do prefer the Hogshead," said Sirius grinning. "I am not exactly a scholar. I'm not dating anyone yet, but I am not likely to find anyone here."

"Well, I will leave you two to your own devices," said Dumbledore, as he walked out the door. Actually, he couldn't be more pleased with the way things turned out. Albus was hoping Harry would spend more time with his godfather. It didn't hurt at all that he was an ex-auror. He hadn't forgotten the incidents with the mirror and Quirrell, and it laid heavy on him. He couldn't see an easy way to socialize Harry. As far as Albus was concerned, Harry was too comfortable returning to the kneazles at the Figg's. Thank goodness for the Weasley girl.

One sided conversations tend to get pretty boring, so it wasn't long until Sirius changed into his dog form. The confines of the room were no place for the pair of them to be, so they went out onto the grounds. The animal flaps in the doors were just large enough for Padfoot to make it through. They went running all over the grounds, and didn't come in until they were ready to rest for the night.

Sirius worked until noon the next day. Albus and Minerva had not discovered anything new yet, and Albus's 9:00 meeting was uneventful. After lunch, Harry and Padfoot went about five miles into the forest. They were having a good time, until they came too close to a wolf pack's den for pack to be comfortable with it. Wolves can be rather territorial, and Padfoot was 'persona non grata'. Harry had been there many times, but the cat didn't get the rise out of the wolves that the dog did. Harry knew they were there, he didn't expect trouble. The wolves were upon Padfoot before Padfoot realized he had a problem. Padfoot didn't have time to transform, and get his wand. Harry solved the problem by an age old solution in the animal kingdom ... intimidation. He made his form a bit larger than the one Ginny rode, got in front of Padfoot, hunched up his back and made a noise that wasn't really a roar, and wasn't a screech either. It was rather loud, though. The unnerved wolves backed off, and Padfoot sprinted in the general direction of Hogwarts, with Harry right behind him. The wolves didn't give chase. Padfoot made half a mile in pretty good time before he slowed down. Harry kept his larger form, which he hadn't ran, in for a while. Sirius kept glancing at him as they leisurely made their way back toward Hogwarts. Harry took his normal kneazle form as he neared the grounds, and they went on in to their room and laid down by the fireplace. Sirius had a few more questions for Harry when they had the opportunity.

Christmas came, and left. So did New Year's Day. It didn't really bother Harry, since for him it was pretty much just another day. Harry and Padfoot had a lot of fun out on the grounds, and in the Forest. They avoided the spiders and the wolves. Dumbledore kept Xavier up to date on the lack of progress. Xavier made out Harry's Christmas cards and Diagon Alley gift certificates for him. Ginny was disappointed Harry missed Christmas, but even more worried about Harry being bound. She had not seen Harry since the night before he left for Hogwarts with Dumbledore.

The problem was resolved in a way no one could have anticipated. Sirius needed more sleep than Harry. One night while Sirius slept, Harry was on one of his castle excursions. "Harry Potter, Sir." Harry had made a leap toward Dobby before Dobby was able to finish that three word phrase. Harry was frozen in mid leap.

"Dobby is sorry about that, Harry Potter, Sir. Harry Potter went to Hogwarts the day after Dobby bound him. Nothing Dobby does will keep you from here. Dobby has come to remove your binding and tell you Dobby will bother you no more. The Elders have convinced Dobby that Dobby has made a serious crime against Harry Potter and Dobby must not continue to interfere in Harry Potter's life. Dobby's life is not his own to give, but any punishment Harry Potter gives, Dobby will accept." Dobby cast two quick spells, releasing Harry.

Harry's leap continued, catching the elf in the chest, pushing him backward with Harry remaining on top of him. Dobby was limp as a rag doll, laying there with his eyes closed as if sleeping. Dobby's chest was bleeding lightly where Harry's claws had grabbed him.

Harry's first impression was to tear the elf to pieces, so Dobby couldn't hurt him anymore. He had listened, suspended in the air, to everything that Dobby told him. The elf was, once again, completely honest in what he said, and Harry knew it without a doubt. He tried to transform to human form, and did so effortlessly. Dobby was no longer a valid threat. Looking down at Dobby, with great frustration, he said, "Stand up."

Dobby stood, but looked at the floor in remorse. Harry continued, "I have no desire to give pain, to you, or anyone else. I know you believe what you just told me. Punishment makes no sense to me. You are either a threat to me, or you are not a threat to me. I gain nothing by hurting you." Harry thought to himself, 'If you change your mind, and try to hurt me again, you won't get another chance. If I don't kill you, it won't be because I didn't try.'

"Dobby deserves punishment from the great and powerful Harry Potter," said Dobby.

"No one deserves punishment, elf. I am not going to try to explain any further. Leave me," said Harry. Dobby simply disappeared. Harry walked back to his room, and waited for Sirius to wake up.

He realized he was young, and untrained. That is why he was at Hogwarts. There wasn't anything in his current course schedule to reduce this susceptibility to magical attack. The second year of DADA was still heavily theory on creatures and hazards. A few weeks ago he had been involved in a dueling club demonstration that taught him protego, the shield charm, and expelliarmus, the disarming hex. He also knew the jelly legs jinx and the tickling charm, among other similar spells. Whoopty do, not much help there. Tonight, once again, he had been powerless against the elf. Harry knew he was physically very capable, but magic neutralized that easily. He thought about this until Sirius woke up.

"Harry!" exclaimed Sirius. "You're back! How?"

"Same elf that bound me, released me," said Harry. "He said he wouldn't bother me anymore."

"And you believed him!" shouted Sirius.

"Yeah, I believe him. At least I believe that is what he thinks today," said Harry. "I need training to defend myself against magical attack. The elf stopped me effortlessly tonight."

"Dumbledore will be here at 9:00, after breakfast. You can bring defense training up then," said Sirius.

Breakfast arrived, and Sirius dug in. "Harry, now that we can talk to each other, how did you change into that humongous cat? I didn't stand a chance against that pack," said Sirius.

"Have you tried to change the size of your transformation?" Harry asked. "I read a book that said the initial transformation is easiest if a person doesn't change their volume or weight."

"I haven't tried," replied Sirius. "I can't think of a reason to be smaller, but when those wolves tried to jump me, I wouldn't have minded being a whole lot larger. Of course, if I had had a little more time, I would have shown them the business end of my wand."

"I don't think the wolves would have bothered you if you were a wizard, and not a dog," said Harry. "As a dog, you were not allowed in their territory. I have been there several times, and I didn't think about Padfoot upsetting them."

"I'm going to try that size changing trick. That could come in handy. Hell, if I could get smaller, I could get through that damned door flap easier," said Sirius scowling.

Harry looked up at Sirius, and grinned. "You ever try this?" he asked. Harry changed into his normal kneazle form and jumped up on the chair. He changed his paw into a human hand as he reached for a fork, and picked it up. I bet you could get through a door easier this way," changing back.

"Your Dad and I never thought about partial transformation," replied Sirius. "That's a neat trick. I have turned a door knob with my mouth before. We became animagi to help out Remus. I wonder what ever happened to Remus. Anyway, Remus is a werewolf, and we used to keep him company on the full moon. A werewolf can't infect an animagus in animal form. Who knows why? Doesn't make any sense, but then magic doesn't always make sense. Your Dad and I were large enough to gang up on the werewolf to keep him in line. I don't know what kept the werewolf from eating the rat. I wish he HAD ate the rat." Sirius started telling stories about the marauders as animagi.

Dumbledore and McGonagall arrived promptly at 9:00. They were pleasantly surprised to see Harry sitting at the small table. "Harry, how did you get out of the binding?" asked Dumbledore.

"Elf showed up again, and released it. He said he wouldn't bother me anymore. I didn't have any defense against him. I am not too upset about the bludger. The game was over, and I thought the thing would go back to the box. When Dobby bound me, he hexed me before I even knew he was there. Tonight, I was moving toward him as soon as he got my name out of his mouth, and he effortlessly stopped me again. I need defense training."

"Harry, my boy," began Dumbledore. "That is why you are at Hogwarts. No one expects a boy your age to be able to defend against an adult wizard, or in this case, an adult elf. You will start learning a lot more about defense in your third year. You will know what every wizard knows by the end of your seventh year. Later, you might go to the Auror Academy. You don't need extra defense training now." Dumbledore thought, 'You're dangerous enough as it is. You need more time in our world.'

Harry could tell something about his question was bothering Dumbledore. He wouldn't get any help from him. "I want to thank you both for trying to help me," said Harry. "When can I go home?"

"You are most welcome, Harry," said Dumbledore. "Follow me to my office, and you can floo home right away."

"Mr. Potter, it was no problem, I just wish I had been able to help," said McGonagall. "I have spent many years studying the abilities of wizards and witches who are animagi. There are not that many of us. Could you come to my office when the new term starts, to discuss your transformation?"

"Yeah, sure, Professor. I would like that. I have some questions myself," said Harry. Light conversation continued as the professors finished their tea.

When Minerva finished her tea, she stood and said, "Good day, gentlemen, I really must be going. I am glad to see you are back to normal, Mr. Potter, as you are better able to attend my class" and left, with a smile on her face.

Dumbledore said, "Harry, I will be in my office until 10:50, if you want to use my fireplace. You are quite welcome to stay here until the holiday is over."

"I'll be there shortly, Headmaster," said Harry. "I just want to spend a few more minutes with Sirius."

"That is quite OK, Harry. I will see you soon," said Albus as he left.

"Sirius, I enjoyed spending time with Padfoot. I certainly didn't plan this holiday, but it turned out well enough," said Harry.

"I haven't done anything like since this before I went to Azkaban," said Sirius. "I have enjoyed it immensely. I will find the books I had at the Auror Academy, and give them to you when you come back for the spring term. I don't have any use for them now. They are restricted for use, except by aurors, but I trust you to keep them out of sight. Who knows? Maybe we can find some place around here to get in a little practice."

"I would like that," said Harry. "Thanks. I better go." Harry walked to the Headmaster's office, and announced himself to the gargoyles that guarded the entrance to the office. Presently, they moved aside, and Harry entered the office. He thanked the Headmaster again, and was gone.

Xavier was gone, so Harry went out back to visit with his family. Two hours later, he was on his way to the Burrow. Ginny was at her desk working on a sketch. She ran to the window, let him in, then ran to the door and locked it. She turned around, and there was Harry. She gave him a hug to rival one of Molly's rib-bruising crushes.

"How are you?" she asked softly. "Tell me everything." They sat on the bed, and Harry started at the top. Dobby, Dumbledore, Sirius, McGonagall, everything came spilling out.

"Ginny," he said. "I have never felt so defenseless. Dumbledore told me that is normal. I am SUPPOSED to be defenseless. I am a kid. When I see Xavier tonight, I am going to ask for training. He said when I wanted more, he would find a trainer. I am ready. Sirius is going to give me reading material, and some practical training if we can find a location. There has to be something I can do. I don't want this to happen again."

"You'll teach me, right?" she asked.

"Sure, no problem," he said. "Sirius and I had fun. Do you want Sirius to know about you?"

"I don't know," she said, "if Mum found out, she would have kittens." She laughed. "Kittens. My arse, more like it. I don't worry about Fred and George. They would never give me up to Mum. If Ron knew, he couldn't keep his mouth shut, once he lost his temper. The Twins stopped by a few times and discussed the transformation. I didn't say anything about your problem."

Harry had no clue how his magical core actually functioned. Practically everything he did was by instinct and intuition, and he just hadn't been exposed to elven curses before Dobby attacked him. If Voldemort had AK'd Harry before attacking his parents, Harry would not have survived.

Every human has a magical core. Squibs and muggles have a core that is too weak to manifest any magical power. Everyone's magical core is linked to what some call the subconscience, which is the center for intuition and instinct. Some muggles are quite perceptive. Everyone's spinal cord has enough independence to send a signal to muscles to drop a hot object before a person's brain has even been informed there is a problem. Similarly, Harry's core was hyper-sensitive to magical frequencies, or signatures, if you will. The avada kedavra has the finesse of an air raid siren, and it took three of them for Harry's core to catalog it well enough for accidental, or instinctive, magic to reflect it. Harry had a long way to go, and a lot to learn. The good thing about it, was now he knew it. He was going to make some changes.

Harry spent about three hours with Ginny. They didn't even bring up the foregone Christmas. He met Xavier going in to the dining room.

"Harry, I heard you were back," said Xavier smiling. "Discussion after supper?"

"Sounds good," replied Harry.

Supper was the usual, simple affair. Harry and Xavier retired to the study. Harry repeated the entire story again.

"Xavier," he asked. "How can I prevent this from happening again. You mentioned you might find me a trainer?"

"I thought it might be a couple more years," replied Xavier, "but I will contact some of my old acquaintances. I know some retired hit wizards. I have never understood that silly name, but they are essentially the small military arm of the ministry. We don't really need much of a military. The last glaring need was Voldemort, and they were not very effective. Voldemort was hard to track, and pin down. If a wizard wants to hide, he can hide. Voldemort was careful to avoid their teams. One on one, Voldemort is about as good a fighter as exists. Ruthless bastard too, and he likes to play. I doubt he could stand face to face with a hit wizard team. Voldemort did have a few talented Death Eaters. Some of his best are in Azkaban. Hit wizards are authorized to execute on sight. They seldom try to apprehend a target. They are not part of the DMLE, but they can be asked to assist the DMLE. No one attacks a hit wizard, without expecting deadly force to be returned. Many wizards will resist arrest by aurors, but when hit wizards are assisting aurors, most wizards just surrender. When on a mission, HW's just need positive identification of the target. The standing committee in the Wizengamut rarely authorizes hit wizard missions, unless someone has been convicted in absentia. The usual Wizengamut sentence is Azkaban, or The Kiss. Voldemort had a pending death sentence, execute on sight. I don't think Albus Dumbledore would ever assist an HW team, or even notify one, if he saw a criminal."

"Can you find me someone for next summer?" asked Harry.

"I believe I can," replied Xavier. "On a happier note, I put your Christmas gifts in your room, and sent out gift cards in your name."

"Thanks," said Harry. "Dobby kind of messed things up for me. I hope I have seen the last of his trouble."

"Speaking of trouble," asked Xavier, "how much grief did you receive over the parseltongue event?"

"Not too much," said Harry. "People have been avoiding me, but I am not that close to many people anyway. The few friends I have don't care, one way or the other."

"Don't underestimate this problem, Harry," said Xavier. "Most of the wizarding world associates the parseltongue ability with evil wizards. You could go from legendary hero to evil lord in a heart beat."

"I'll be careful," said Harry. "Now that I know what is happening, I will avoid any public discussions with snakes. Speaking of snakes, I think I hear one in the walls at Hogwarts. I haven't been able to catch up with it when I have tried."

"Have you been going into the walls?" Xavier asked. "I didn't know that was possible."

"Only house elves and smaller creatures, like my kneazle, can move through the walls where the pipes run. The passages are tight in some places. I can move around easily, as a cat," said Harry.

"Watch your arse, Harry," Xavier said. "If you get into trouble in the walls, there may be no one to find you."

"I'll be careful," said Harry. "There is an elf named Kob that I talk to from time to time in there." He still hadn't told anyone about Ginny, and saw no need to. It was her secret to tell.

"I'll remember that name," replied Xavier. "Do you need anything from Diagon Alley before you go back to school?"

"No, I'm good," said Harry. "Thanks for all your help."

"I am happy to be some assistance, Harry," he said smiling. "This is one of the pleasures of getting old. I will see you at breakfast." Harry was cordial with the rest of the Figg household, but he was little more than a temporary guest. Everyone knew, of course, that Xavier had taken him on as a ward, and Harry was in school. Once again, Harry had spent little time at the compound, as far as the others knew. He had a room, and access to the fireplace. Sometimes he was in his room, sometimes he wasn't. Everyone knew he met regularly with Xavier.

A few more turns of the sun, and Harry was back on the Hogwarts Express, sitting with Ginny, Hermione, Ron, Neville, and Luna.