One day Dobby came into the kitchen and found all of the other elves moving about slowly and doing their chores in a very unenthusiastic manner. No one was smiling or humming as they normally were and everyone's eyes looked either weary or watery. This gloomy atmosphere made Dobby feel very uneasy as he didn't see any reason for it.
"Is no one happy today?" he asked nervously as he looked around him.
The other elves all turned their attention toward Dobby as though they had never seen him before, like he'd come from another world.
"Has Dobby not heard?" asked one elf.
"Dobby has not heard," said Nifty as she approached him slowly.
"What has Dobby not heard?" Dobby asked Nifty as he felt a slight chill run through him for he now recognized the looks in their eyes as the look Harry Potter had in his when Cedric and Sirius died.
Nifty leaned in close to him and whispered into his ear. "Master Dumbledore is dead."
Dobby gasped quietly in shock and put his hands up to his mouth. It couldn't be true, could it? It just couldn't be!
"When? How?" he mumbled tremblingly.
"Last night..." replied Nifty with tears gathering in her eyelids. "There was fight with death eaters and in the midst of it Master Dumbledore was killed."
"By who?" asked Dobby in horror.
Nifty grimaced painfully. "By Professor Snape."
Dobby was now more shocked than ever. He had never been particularly fond of Professor Snape, but he didn't think he would ever stoop so low.
"What? No! He couldn't have!" Dobby exclaimed hoarsely.
"But he did," Nifty said lowering her head as her tears began to fall now.
"But how does Nifty know?" asked Dobby as he felt a painful lump forming in his throat.
"Nifty overhears conversations among students while cleaning," she replied miserably. "They've said Harry Potter was with Master Dumbledore at the time."
Dobby knew then he just had to speak to Harry Potter about what he had just heard to confirm it. He was still holding onto a shred of hope that it wasn't true.
"Excuse Dobby," he said quickly. "He has to speak with Harry Potter."
Then he apparated out of the kitchen and found himself in Master Dumbledore's office. He looked up and saw that the chair behind the desk was empty and also that Fawkes the Phonex was nowhere to be seen and he felt a deep hollow feeling in his chest as the realization that this had to mean Master Dumbledore was no longer at the school.
He turned and found Harry Potter standing by what used to be Fawkes's perch. Harry Potter's hair was messier than usual and he looked completely disheveled as if he hadn't gotten much sleep in the night and his eyes were red and puffy. He seemed completely oblivious to the world around him.
Dobby approached him and tugged at his pant leg to get his attention and when he turned to look at him he spoke in an unusually quiet voice. "Dobby hears the most things in the kitchens, Harry Potter, sir. Most dreadful, utterly terrible things, sir. The other elves, sir, they tells Dobby that D-Dumbledore... That the Headmaster is... is..."
Harry nodded silently the truth of everything clearly visible in his eyes behind his glasses.
The tears finally broke free from Dobby's eyes as his heart now felt like it had broken in half. The tears fell down his neck and soaked the front collar of his shirt. In his grief he collapsed onto the floor and wailed as loudly as he could.
"D-Dumbledore was so g-g-good to D-Dobby, sir, almost as good as Harry Potter sir. He is hiring when no one else is, g-giving him pay and holidays!"
"Shh..." Harry whispered as he bent down to pick up the sobbing elf. "It's... it's alright, Dobby," Harry said as he held him against his shoulder and cradled him like a child.
"Dobby is without a master now!" he howled. "There will never be another master like Dumbledore! Where will Dobby go! What will Dobby do!"
"I don't know, Dobby," replied Harry soothingly. "Some have been talking about closing the school down, but whether they do or not I will not be coming back next year! I am going to complete the journey we started out to find the last of the horcruxes."
The thought of no more Hogwarts and no more Harry Potter was a pain that was simply to horrible for Dobby to bear. "All is lost!" he wailed, soaking the top of the sleeve of Harry's robe.
"No, it isn't, Dobby," Harry said persistently as he held Dobby up to look into his face. "Dumbledore wouldn't want us to lose all our hope just because he's gone. And he'll only ever be gone if we stop being loyal to him. Remember what you told me last year when Sirius died, that the ones we love are never truly gone from our lives, that remembering them only increases their love. If we remember everything we learned from Dumbledore, he'll still be with us somehow. He'll be guiding us along our way, you and I."
Dobby slowly stopped crying as Harry was speaking to him and realized that Harry was quite right. He couldn't be weak and worry about what would come next, he had to be strong and plunge ahead with his head up.
"That is very wise, Harry Potter, sir! Dobby sees you is right. Though Dobby is still very sad, sir, he thinks he could go on living." He sniffled, then looked at Harry with adoration in his eyes. "After all, sir, Dobby still has Harry Potter sir! Please excuse Dobby for a moment, sir, Dobby is going to the kitchens to reassure the other elves that all is not lost, sir!"
Dobby hugged Harry one last time and then apparated out of his embrace and back into the kitchens where he stood in front of the other elves and spoke with his tearful face betraying his strong voice.
"Listen all you elveses! Our Master Dumbledore is gone but we mustn't let it weaken us! We must honor his memory in our hearts and remain loyal to it. He will be with us in our spirit through to whatever end we face! We must be brave for him and for Harry Potter! We must be free elves and stay or go wherever it is we choose! And when the time comes we must fight and defend for the sake of our old master and for our dear friend Harry Potter!"
Tears filled Nifty's eyes. "Dobby is right!" she exclaimed. "Let us give him an elves' cheer!"
All the other elves cheered and applauded Dobby's speech for they knew he spoke truthfully.