Dobby's Return
Chapter 10

Disclaimer: This work of fan-fiction is not intended for personal profit. All characters utilized herein which are not creations of myself belong to J. K. Rowling.

Dobby hid under the Gryffindor table at supper, and overheard the students babbling about Snape's sudden pratfalls in Potions class. Ron was breathlessly saying to Fred, "You should have seen Snape. Fell right over on his arse when he sat down wrong in the chair! I couldn't believe it. Of course, he was bloody angry after that. I think I must have sweated worse than I ever did at de-gnoming back home!"

Fred (or George) slapped the table and laughed. "Wish I could have seen that, Ron. Would have been worth the term of detentions to laugh at that. Look at him. He's stabbing the food on his plate so hard he's likely to crack it!"

Dobby popped under the High Table, and picked up Snape's mutterings. "Bloody—effing—chair… I'll catch the miscreant who did it even if it takes me the next decade…!"

Dumbledore's even voice broke in as he assumed his seat. "Severus, I take it from your mood, and the rumours circulating around the school, that something happened in your Potions class today?"

"I don't want to talk about it, Headmaster," ground out Snape. Dobby moved out of the way as he stamped his foot.

Dumbledore sighed. "Very well, Severus. But my office door is always open to you. It also would do you well to realise that coerced respect often is a poor facsimile of the real thing, and breaks apart a lot more easily."

Snape's only answer was a sharp clang of his fork against the plate. Dobby grinned. Mission accomplished!

He popped away to join the dishwashing elves, happily stacking the plates for the morrow's breakfast.

/\/\/\/\

Dobby was called by Harry that weekend to the far corner of the library. He quietly popped into existence, shielded by Harry, Ron and Hermione.

Harry was saying, "Hullo, Dobby. Listen, we need a place to talk quietly, without any trouble from anyone. Have the Hogwarts house-elves told you anything?"

Dobby perked up. "Dobby knows the perfect place! We calls it the Come and Go Room. Dobby is meeting you outside the painting on the seventh floor showing Barnabas the Barmy who is trying to teach trolls to dance the ballet."

Ron chuckled and said, "What a sight that must be! C'mon, let's go. We'll see you there, Dobby."

Dobby popped away, hiding himself in the shadows behind the man-sized vase at the end of the corridor. After some minutes, the trio walked up and goggled at the painting before chuckling as they took in the image.

Dobby rushed up to them, saying, "Good, you is here! Now, you is seeing this wall which has no doors in it. If you will walk up and down the hallway three times thinking very clearly what you is wanting, a door will appear here and you is going in."

Hermione looked quite skeptical, but slowly said, "All right, then." She handed off a book and a packet of papers to Ron, then said, "Okay. I'll imagine that we need a quiet room where we can talk without being disturbed."

Her jaw set, Hermione paced up and down the corridor three times, while Harry and Ron watched the wall apprehensively.

And as sure as trolls could not dance, the door appeared just as Hermione went by that part of the wall on the third pass. The trio of humans gasped. Harry tentatively reached for the door, which opened to admit the foursome.

The room was evenly lit with four comfortable chairs surrounding a round table. The carpeting deadened the sound of their feet, and after Dobby closed the door, it squelched shut. The walls were a creamy beige colour, as was the ceiling. Hermione nodded approvingly. "This looks like a conference room my father took me to once."

Harry said, "Yeah, I saw something like this on the telly when Dudley didn't think I was watching."

Hermione's lips thinned, and she looked about to say something when Ron said, "Hmm. Wonder if we could get a drink? I could do with some pumpkin juice."

Even as he said it, a pitcher and four glasses appeared on the round table. Ron whistled in appreciation and sat at a chair, placing the book and paper packet on the table to one side, and then pouring himself a glass.

Dobby waited until the others sat down, and then hesitantly took a chair, noting that Harry smiled. Dobby thought he must surely be the only house-elf that was treated as such an equal, and fought off the urge to throw his arms around Harry's legs in appreciation of the height of this benevolence.

Dobby hesitantly said, "Dobby believes …" Gaining confidence, he sat up straighter and continued. "Dobby believes that wizards is calling this the Room of Requirement."

Harry said, "Seems to fit; Ron wanted pumpkin juice so the Room gave him some. And Hermione wanted a quiet conference room so the Room made one for her."

Hermione said, "Anyway, over the last week I've been busy researching these Death Eater trials. I found out the library's records are incomplete; Madam Pince told me this is because the Ministry keeps some of the less well-known ones. I wrote in asking for summaries of all trials of public record from 1971 to 1983; the transcripts would be too much for an owl to carry, if this book"—Hermione pointed—"is any guide. It's a compendium of the most famous Death Eater trial transcript plus background material."

Hermione took a breath and continued. "So, this piece of parchment summarises the names of each Death Eater tried, the trial date, and conviction or acquittal. And this other piece of parchment is a selection of cuttings from the Daily Prophet for the same time period – just the headline trials, though."

Harry grabbed up the list, while Ron eyed the cuttings.

Harry mumbled, "Hmm. Most of these are from 1979 to 1982. Rowle, Carrow… hmm, Mulciber, Jugson, Dolohov, convicted… a-ha, here's Malfoy. Acquitted, obviously. Parkinson, acquitted, Avery, acquitted, Macnair, acquitted, Crabbe Senior and Goyle Senior, acquitted."

Ron burst out laughing. "Acquitted! They were probably too stupid to even show up at trial. Look at the Crabbe and Goyle with Malfoy! Think they could walk anywhere by themselves if Malfoy wasn't around?"

Hermione said, "Actually, maybe Dobby can confirm this. Did Malfoy's father say anything about bribing the Wizengamot or the Wizard's Council?"

Dobby thought, and remembered. "Dobby did hear former Master Lucius telling a solicitor to be sure that the trial for Crabbe and Goyle was to be 'dismissed for lack of evidence'."

Hermione snapped her fingers. "That's it, then. They weren't acquitted for being mentally incompetent, even if that's what it says there. They were acquitted so Malfoy would have someone to trade favours with later, because otherwise they'd have gone to prison, surely!"

Harry nodded. "Seems to have been traded in, all right. Crabbe and Goyle stick to Malfoy like superglue. Their fathers must have told them to stay close."

Harry then continued. "Rookwood, convicted. Hey, here's a last name. Nott, acquitted. Nott, Nott… anybody we know here?"

"Dobby is thinking you is meaning Theodore Nott."

"Right. His father, maybe."

Harry frowned. "Hey, what's this? Secret proceedings, name withheld. Acquittal."

Dobby knew who it was (Severus Snape), but could not find a way to tell Harry without telling him about the time travel, and that would surely create more problems. So he frustratedly sat, patiently waiting for them to continue.

Finally, Harry finished with "Lestrange, Lestrange, Lestrange, Crouch Junior. Convicted."

Ron looked startled, "Crouch Junior? There's a bloke in the Ministry dad knows. His name's Barty Crouch Senior. That says his son got convicted of being a Death Eater? No wonder he's in International Magical Cooperation. You'll never become Minister for Magic that way."

Hermione pointed at the large volume. "That book's all about the trial. It's one of the more famous precisely because it involves the son of a high-ranking Ministry official. At the time. Bartemius Crouch Senior, it says—"

Hermione picked up the book, located a page and began reading: "Bartemius Crouch, Senior, was the Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement until 1983. Transferred to the Department of International Magical Cooperation by Millicent Bagnold, former Minister for Magic. Crouch's career has largely been considered to be stalled and he is not currently likely to be a viable candidate for Minister for Magic should the current Minister, Cornelius Fudge, retire."

"Lucky he didn't get sent to the Centaur Office," joked Ron.

At Harry and Hermione's puzzled looks, he said, "Well, it's like this. My dad says if you're about to get sacked, you get sent to run the Centaur Liaison Office. Since the centaurs never deal with the Ministry it's considered a dead-end job and anyone who goes there resigns pretty quickly."

Dobby said, "Dobby points out that Dobby's former Master Lucius knows many things about people and he is thinking perhaps Mister Crouch sir is also knowing many things about people."

Hermione tilted her head and frowned. "So you're saying Crouch might have arranged a quid pro quo in exchange for not being fired? Because he knows enough unsavoury secrets about others?"

"Dobby is not sure what a kwid pro kwo is, but Dobby is definitely thinking Barty Crouch sir is knowing many things other people is not wanting to be known."

"Hmpf. The more I find out about the magical world the more I dislike the venality, corruption and lack of logic."

Ron protested, "It's not all bad! I mean, look at Mum and Dad."

Harry said, "And Hermione, if it wasn't for the wizarding world I'd still be cleaning rugs at the Dursleys. I was going to go to Stonewall Comprehensive and try to somehow get out from the Dursleys when I was sixteen, or something, and… well, I still have no idea what I'd have been able to do as a Muggle."

Hermione sighed. "I understand the points you're making, but Ron, your parents treated mine like some kind of… curious foreigner to be gawked at. I know they mean well, but you really need to make them understand this. And on top of all that I'm finding out the wizarding government, if possible, is even more shot through with bribery and corruption than the Muggle! Look at those trial summaries. I didn't show you the charge sheets, but they're in the pile of parchments. Some of those people acquitted, if you check the Prophet cuttings, are reported to be extremely wealthy, and were all allegedly under the Imperius Curse, even though they are reliably alleged to have committed at least—where's that charge sheet for Malfoy's dad?"

Hermione flipped through the parchments still on the table, extracted one, and began reading. She rapidly turned white, and said, "I'm not sure I want to read all of it out loud, but here's a selection. Alleged to have performed at least three separate instances of Muggle-baiting in which Muggle vehicles were enchanted to lose control at high velocity. Alleged to have performed … well, I'm not going to read the whole thing, but there's numerous murders, several reported briberies, and so on. I'll just say the 'and so on' would leave any girl not wanting to get near Malfoy's dad if they're true.

"Now, granted, if he were under the Imperius Curse he's not legally responsible for what he did, but what's interesting is that the identity of the person who cast the actual diagnostic spells to determine for curses and hexes is conveniently unreadable, and the actual list of diagnostic spells wasn't properly magically certified."

Ron snorted. "What did my dad call it that one time he caught someone with the wrong form? Oh yeah, a 'procedural error'."

Hermione frowned. "Procedural error, my foot! This could probably be justifiably so, but Dobby's word is good enough for me to not believe the verdict or the 'Imperius Curse Positive' on this charge sheet."

Harry broke in saying, "Okay. We could spend all day in here picking apart all the acquittals. I think the bottom line is this: how dangerous are these people, to us? To me, personally? Dumbledore doesn't think Voldemort is dead and his word's good enough for me on that subject."

Dobby said, "If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named is not dead, then surely he will come back?"

Ron said, "I don't want to believe it… I just don't. Mum and Dad don't talk about it much, but Mum got really worried – as in, really worried when Fred and George didn't come back on time from the grocery shop in Ottery St. Catchpole, and I heard her say to Dad, 'what if it's like Gideon and Fabian?' real quiet-like.

"That's my Uncle Gideon and Uncle Fabian, or they would be but they died years ago, when You-Know-Who was sending out his Death Eaters. I think Mum still gets really afraid and thinks back to that time when that happens. Look, I'm not saying you're wrong, mate, but… be careful who you talk to about this. I grew up normally for my whole life thanks to you, Harry."

Dobby said, "Dobby thinks the best thing Harry Potter and his friends can be doing is to be learning lots of magic. You has the perfect place to do it, too!"

Harry laughed. "Of course! We're in a room that can be anything we want it to be. What kind of spells should we practice, anyway? I reckon for starters all the first-year ones we know, right?"

Ron said, "Yeah. And I can get Percy's spellbooks. He'll be pleased I'm reading ahead. Even if he does get a bit stuffy at times."

Hermione finished by saying, "I've got all sorts of extra books I can bring; we can try some of the advanced material, but it might take a long time until we can master it."

"I'll drink to that," said Ron as he poured himself another glass of pumpkin juice. "So let's assume these people aren't going to do anything to us at school or when we're with our parents. But we won't be in school or at home forever and it's like chess, you know; if you can think ahead of your opponent you can control the board and get to checkmate."

Harry nodded. "Okay, how about we go over that big trial transcript and then, if we can handle them, the charge sheets for the others? Then we can write off for all the trial transcripts if we want. Dobby, could you take them all if you had to?"

"Dobby can move anything Harry wishes! Dobby reminds Harry that he moved Harry's trunk, broom and other things to the Burrow."

Hermione looked impressed. "I didn't know house-elves could do so much! Can I meet the ones here sometime?"

Dobby replied, "Dobby will be happy to take you to meet the house-elves in the kitchens. But we is doing that later, Dobby thinks."

Hermione picked up the large tome and began reading out loud.

"Council of Magical Law session, January 11, 1982, starting at ten o'clock AM.

Bartemius Crouch, Senior: I open the case of Ministry versus Rodolphus Lestrange, Rabastan Lestrange, Bellatrix Lestrange, and Bartemius Crouch, Junior. Interrogators…"

Dobby listened as the trio passed the book from one to the other, reading through the trial of those who had tortured the Longbottoms. It was always sobering to realise the company his old Master had kept.

Author Note: And now we have serious!Dobby. :)