"You mean to tell me, that the rogue bludger was the house-elves doing?" Blaise asked annoyed.

"Yes. Dobby came to my bed yesterday and told me he did it to protect me for what was in the chamber." Harry said through gritted teeth.

Their little group was seated in a corner of the library, talking in hushed tones so Madam Pince wouldn't overhear them. Harry had told them everything that had happened last night, starting with telling them about Collin who had been petrified, before explaining them what Dobby had told him. Hermione had been pretty quiet for the whole time, keeping an eye on Theo and Blaise who had been behaving odd the moment Harry had mentioned Dobby's name. just now again, Blaise stiffened when Harry talked about the elf and Theo hadn't looked any of them in the eye the entire time.

"Can you two please tell us what you know?!" she finally said, letting out an annoyed huff and startling the Slytherins by surprise.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Hermione." Blaise said at the same time as Theo said:

"We don't know nothing."

"She didn't mention anyone's name." Daphne said coldly, catching up on the observation Hermione had made.

"Spit it out you dipshits." Hermione said dryly. She didn't expect any trouble, both boys knew they were caught red handed and even though Harry looked a bit confused, he had caught up that his two friends were keeping something from him.

"Theo? Blaise?" He asked confused.

"It's nothing, probably just coincidence." Blaise grumbled.

"I'm sure he has nothing to do with it. He would never be so stupid." Theo added.

"Or inventive." Blaise said in an afterthought.

"You know who's elf it is, don't you…" Daphne stated.

"Well, we know someone who has an elf called Dobby…. And the elf always caused problems even though he is his favourite one." Blaise said hesitantly.

"It's Malfoy's elf, isn't it?" Harry said softly, counting one and one together. There was only one person those two would agree on not to be as stupid as try and kill him during a quidditch game. Salazar it had been his own words he wouldn't be that stupid.

"Go and get him." Hermione said bluntly. "It's easy enough to find out."

The four Slytherins looked at the brunette in surprise. It was the bluntness she stated the idea with that caught them off guard. Of course, asking Draco if he knew anything was the logic thing to do but if the elf was doing stuff behind the back of its family, how would they know if it really was the Malfoy elf.

"Easy to find out? Blimey Hermione, I'm not sure you thought this through. That darn elf is working behind the back of its family. Drake probably knows nothing about it." Blaise said carefully, not really wanting to insult the witches intelligence.

"He could just call for the elf and ask him." Hermione said as a matter of fact.

"Of course…." Daphne muttered. "Draco is Dobby's master. He has to show up if he calls him."

"It was rather stupid of us not to think of that…" Theo muttered softly. "How did you know, Hermione?"

"When I found out a house-elf had stolen Harry's letters I decided to read up on them. It's a very peculiar and dark side of wizarding history if you ask me. It's as if you promote slavery with them." She had to add.

"Well, that's a bit harsh, Mione." Daphne said softly. "It's a part of our culture. Not all house-elves are treated badly. The elves that are here in the castle were brought here by Helga Hufflepuff herself to protect them against it."

"A lot of them are. How Harry described Dobby…" Her eyes drifted to Blaise and Theo and she bit her lip to keep herself from saying anything else.

"I'll go and get Draco." Blaise said bluntly. "Daphne, I leave it to you to educate Hermione in the pureblood culture while we are gone." He grabbed Theo by his arm and dragged him away without waiting. The tension had risen when they had come on this subject and neither one of the second years wanted a repeat from the dark magic argument.

Daphne gave a small sigh and looked at Hermione.

"You know. Sometimes I wish pureblood cultures was a course at school. It would be so much better for the muggleborns to actually learn something about our culture and its history before they start judging." She noticed what she had said. "No offense to you, Hermione."

"No, I see what you mean. I often wish you guys would get the chance to learn about muggles so there would be a smaller gap between us."

"Well, in third year they do give muggle studies." Daphne said thoughtfully. "Anyway. Let me give you a quick insight in the house-elf culture. Despite what you might think, elves like to serve their master. They are extremely loyal and would be insulted if you tried to set them free. The only way you can do that, is by presenting them clothes." Daphne explained.

"Dobby mentioned something like that. That only his master could set him free by giving him clothes." Harry muttered thoughtfully.

"Yeah, I think Dobby is like the only elf who actually wants to be set free." Daphne said thoughtfully. "Most masters use presenting them with clothes as a treat if their elf doesn't listen. You see, elves can't directly disobey their master, because they would have to punish themselves then," Hermione's sharp intake of breath at the mention of that made Daphne stop for a moment and give the brunette a sad smile. "They are, however, extremely smart and able to find loopholes. Like this elf is doing right now."

"So you mean to say they aren't allowed to have a will of their own?" Hermione said horrified.

"They do have a will of their own, Mione." Daphne said quickly. "House-elves who are treated badly will only do the bare minimum so they just follow the orders but nothing more. Believe me, the bad treatment from the elves is mostly due to the fear their masters have of the power that they bear."

"It still is a vile thing to do." Hermione grumbled.

"Well, why don't you try and change it." Daphne said exasperated.

Harry, who had been listening in silence most of the time piped up at this comment.

"Yeah, that should be possible. I mean, aren't there rules to protect them?" He asked.

"Not yet." Daphne said quietly. "Anything not pure is in disadvantage at the moment in the wizarding world. Something that need to change quickly before it is too late."

The three of them waited in silence for the return of their friends with the young Malfoy heir, all lost in their own thoughts.

"Can someone finally explain to me why I was dragged away from my lovely seat in the common room and had to put my book down?" Malfoy complained as Blaise and Theo dragged him towards their friends who looked up at the scowling blond.

"We want you to call your house-elf." Hermione said, as blunt as she had stated that they should get Malfoy.

"My house-elf…" Malfoy looked at the muggleborn in front of him and snickered. "You might want to be a bit more specific, Granger. My family has more than one."

"Yeah, but only one of them causes trouble and stands up against your families bad treatment." Hermione spat.

Malfoys face turned in a scowl and he send a glare to Blaise.

"I hope you didn't bring me here to let the mudblood insult my family, Blaise." He brought out through gritted teeth. "I have better things to do."

"What Hermione tried to ask you," Blaise said with a small glare in the brunettes direction. "Was if you would please call Dobby for us."

None of the second years commented on the insult Malfoy had given Hermione. Harry because he was stopped by Theo, and the others because they knew they needed the boy to work with them. And Hermione did see that she had crossed a line by attacking his family.

"Why would I do that?" He asked, the scowl still on his face.

"Because an elf called Dobby has tried to kill me yesterday to protect me from the evil that is roaming the hallways." Harry said darkly. "Although I would say the bloody elf is the thing that will get me killed."

Malfoy was quiet for a moment, thinking over all the knowledge he just got told.

"That does sound like Dobby." He muttered. "He has a good heart, would call him an angel… although he's more an angel of death if he wants to help you. Almost killed me while practising quidditch. Mom was furious with him." He was silent for a moment. "Probably the thing he got the rogue bludger idea from." He said in an afterthought. "Dobby!" He called, leaning against the bookcase.

A loud crack indicated the appearance of a small, wrinkly house elf. Harry's eyes went big when he recognised him as the same Dobby that had stolen his letters, stopped him from boarding the train and almost killed him the day before.

"Young master Malfoy called, sir." Dobby said, bowing nervously as he looked at the six students who were surrounding him. He trembled slightly and Hermione's face softened. The poor thing looked so scared.

"What in Salazar's name have you been doing now, Dobby?!" Malfoy said in an exasperate voice. "Dad might actually kill you if he finds out you have been leaving the house!"

"Dobby has been doing a lot, sire." The small elf said softly.

"You know what I'm talking about." Malfoy spat annoyed. "You almost got Potter killed!"

"Oh no sir, Dobby only tried to protect mister Potter, not harming him." He said with a trembling voice. Malfoy seemed to notice how scared his elf was and sighed before kneeling down in front of him and gently grabbing the elves fingers that were covered in rags to cover the burn wounds. "Dobby burned the food when he heard that Mr. Harry Potter did get to school, sir."

All five friends watched in silence at the exchange between Master and elf as Malfoy got his wand out. He muttered a soft healing spell and made sure his elves hands were free from burns again.

"What happened to stay out of trouble until I was home again, you darn elf." The blonde asked softly. It seemed as if he had forgotten about his audience. Hermione and Harry's mouth were almost hanging open as they saw the softer side of the Slytherin prat. This wasn't something they had expected.

"Dobby had to save Mr. Harry Potter, young Master." The elf spoke. "Master wants him dead."

"What did my dad do?" Draco grumbled.

"He set evil magic free in the castle, young Master." The elf spoke sadly.

"How did he do that?" Harry asked, startling Malfoy who had forgotten all about the other students.

"Master forbid Dobby to tell anyone, sir." Dobby spoke. "Dobby has to go, young master. Mistress wants Dobby to prepare lunch."

"Stay out of trouble, Dobby." The blonde spoke, getting up from his knees again. "And leave saving Potter to his friends over here. I don't want you to get hurt."

"See you over Christmas, young master?" Dobby asked, ready to disappear again.

"Not this Christmas, Dobby. My parents are going away. Feel free to drop by if you want to see me though. Don't forget some of that lovely fudge you make."

"Dobby most certainly will, young master." The elf said a lot more cheerful than he had been before the conversation with his favourite young master. With a crack he disappeared again.

"You better watch out, Potter." Malfoy spoke stiffly. "If my dad is connected to all this, no one is save. He probably looked for the heir himself and set him up to do this." His eyes drifted to Hermione who still looked entirely stunned by what just had happened. "Not a word about this, Granger. I don't want to lose my elf." With that being said, he looked at Blaise who nodded and looked at his other friends.

"I'm going with Drake. I think I've had enough of drama for a bit. We can look in all this secret chamber stuff again tomorrow. Take a break, at least we know you're save from the elf now, Harry."

"See you later." Theo said to both of them, taking his seat again and looking at Hermione with an amused smirk. The muggleborn was still looking in the direction Blaise and Draco had taken off. "Like Daphne probably told you. Not all masters are cruel to their elves."

"I can tell…" she muttered.

"Dobby raised Drake." Theo said chuckling. "He was his nanny."

"Well, I'm still surprised." She said. "That boy is cruel to everything not pure."

"Comes with the name, Mione." Daphne said sadly. "Draco hasn't had much choice about how he behaves. His parents wouldn't be as understanding as Fina and mine." Daphne said quietly.

"And they wouldn't be as uncaring as my dad." Theo muttered. "As long as I get good grades he is satisfied. Malfoy doesn't have that opportunity, Lucius would never approve of it."

Hermione nodded quietly. She got what Theo meant. Lucius Malfoy didn't seem someone to take lightly. And being his son, it seemed a burden the young Malfoy heir carried in silence.