I own nothing. J.K.R Owns everything :(
Chapter 32: Fourth Year (Part 20)
17, August. 1998. 4.00pm...
"Kitchens?" Harry said to Ron and Hermione who nodded. "Right we were looking everywhere for Hermione and we just got back to Gryffindor tower when she caught up to us." he explained to the confused looking people in the room.
"Wonder where she's got to?" Ron said as he and Harry went back to Gryffindor Tower.
"Dunno... balderdash."
But the Fat Lady had barely begun to swing forward when the sound of racing feet behind them announced Hermione's arrival.
"Harry!" she panted, skidding to a halt beside him (the Fat Lady stared down at her, eyebrows raised.) "Harry, you've got to come - you've got to come, the most amazing thing's happened - please -"
"Hello to you too." Harry chuckled. Hermione just rolled her eyes.
She seized Harry's arm and started to try to drag him back along the corridor.
"What's the matter?" Harry said.
"I'll show you when we get there - oh come on, quick -"
Harry looked around at Ron; he looked back at Harry, intrigued.
"Okay," Harry said, starting off back down the corridor with Hermione, Ron hurrying to keep up.
"Oh don't mind me!" the Fat Lady called irritably after them. "Don't apologize for bothering me! I'll just hang here, wide open, until you get back, shall I?"
"Yeah, thanks!" Ron shouted over his shoulder.
"Hermione, where are we going?" Harry asked, after she had led them down through six floors, and started down the marble staircase into the entrance hall.
"You'll see, you'll see in a minute!" said Hermione excitedly.
She turned left at the bottom of the staircase and hurried toward the door through which Cedric Diggory had gone the night after the Goblet of Fire had regurgitated his and Harry's names. Harry had never been through here before. He and Ron followed Hermione down a flight of stone steps, but instead of ending up in a gloomy underground passage like the one that led to Snape's dungeon, they found themselves in a broad stone corridor, brightly lit with torches, and decorated with cheerful paintings that were mainly of food.
"Oh hang on..." said Harry slowly, halfway down the corridor. "Wait a minute, Hermione..."
"What?" She turned around to look at him, anticipation all over her face.
"I know what this is about," said Harry.
He nudged Ron and pointed to the painting just behind Hermione. It showed a gigantic silver fruit bowl.
"Hermione!" said Ron, cottoning on. "You're trying to rope us into that spew stuff again!"
"No, no, I'm not!" she said hastily. "And it's not spew, Ron - It's S.P.E.W." Hermione corrected with irritation.
"Changed the name, have you?" said Ron, frowning at her. "What are we now, then, the House-Elf Liberation Front? I'm not barging into that kitchen and trying to make them stop work, I'm not doing it -"
"It wouldn't work anyway." Minerva said. "They'd just kick you out of the kitchen."
"We know." the Golden Trio said in unison.
"Have you been kicked out before?" Sirius asked amused.
"Yes, it was Hermione's fault." Harry smirked.
Hermione nodded in confirmation, blushing slightly.
"I'm not asking you to!" Hermione said impatiently. "I came down here just now, to talk to them all, and I found - oh come on, Harry, I want to show you!"
"But not Ron?" Lily asked.
"Well, he isn't exactly being supportive." Remus pointed out.
"Neither is Harry." Ron pouted.
"But he isn't protesting as strongly." Ginny laughed.
She seized his arm again, pulled him in front of the picture of the giant fruit bowl, stretched out her forefinger, and tickled the huge green pear. It began to squirm, chuckling, and suddenly turned into a large green door handle. Hermione seized it, pulled the door open, and pushed Harry hard in the back, forcing him inside.
Harry rubbed his back in remembrance, "You know, there really wasn't a need for you to be so... forceful."
Hermione shrugged, "I might have been a bit too over enthusiastic."
"Might have been?" Ron snorted.
"Fine I was a little over enthusiastic." Hermione huffed, "But you know why I was, so drop it." both Harry and Ron nodded with a chuckle.
He had one brief glimpse of an enormous, high-ceilinged room, large as the Great Hall above it, with mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and a great brick fireplace at the other end, when something small hurtled toward him from the middle of the room, squealing, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"
Next second all the wind had been knocked out of him as the squealing elf hit him hard in the midriff, hugging him so tightly he thought his ribs would break.
"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.
"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!"
Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as Harry remembered him; the pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet - all except the clothes, which were very different. When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase.
"What?" Draco asked when several people glared at him.
"It's not like we could do anything about it." Cissy sighed, "Lucius would have had a fit and tortured him if we did do anything."
"He may not have been happy with us but it wasn't my fault or my Mother's. We were nice to him when Lucius wasn't around." Draco added.
"It was out of Dobby's safety that we didn't dare free him." Cissy nodded, "If we did..."
"He would have been killed." Andy sighed, "At least you don't have to be horrible to your House-Elves anymore." she smiled.
"And that's the best bit. Not having to pretend to hate them or think they're scum." Draco grinned, "Much more freedom in our own home when Lucius's not there."
"I've just thought of something." Cissy frowned. "Dipsy!" she called, a female House-Elf appeared with a 'Crack'.
"Yes Mistress Cissy?" she squeaked.
"Have you heard about the break out at Azkaban?" Cissy asked nicely, Dipsy nodded, "You'll know Lucius is on the loose again then." she sighed.
"Master Lucius tried to summon Binky but Dipsy told him not to go because yous is Black's now and he's a Malfoy so Dipsy didn't think we should respond, we's belonging to the Black's now." Dipsy explained. "It's an automatic change when yous changed your names."
"Good. You were right not to respond to his summons, tell the others you've been ordered not to listen to or take orders from Lucius." Draco smiled. "And tell them you were right, we're Black's not Malfoy's so he's no longer your master."
"Is that an order or a request Master Draco?"
"It's an order." Cissy put in. "We need to know Lucius cant use you and the others to get information or to get supplies."
Dipsy nodded and dissapeared with a 'Crack'.
"That'll stop Lucius terrorising them." Cissy smirked smugly.
"And keep's us as well as them safer." Draco nodded, he looked at the others, "Do you beleive we treat them good now?"
"Yeah. If they were scared of you it would be easy to tell." James nodded, "But Dobby still acted afraid of you." he pointed out.
"Acting." Cissy said, "A few years before he became free I asked him to act terrified of us if he got set free, if he didn't Lucius would track him down and kill him. If a House-Elf has been free'd then they can choose to tell anyone anything and everything about their past families, so Dobby acted like he was too afraid to tell anyone anything."
"I suppose that makes sense and Dobby is a good actor, we didn't suspect a thing." Ron mused.
Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments Harry had ever seen; he had done an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horse-shoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. One of these, Harry saw, was the black one Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.
"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!"
"Winky's there too?" Regulus said, surprised.
"I guess she didn't have anywhere else to go." Lily shrugged.
"Most freed House-Elves go to Hogwarts for work, there's always plenty to do and no-one would refuse the extra help." Minerva added, "They're treated with kindness and respect. Always have been according to the portraits in my office. I tend to believe it, if they weren't then their quality of work would be poorer than it is." she shrugged.
Cissy nodded, "Its a fact that they'll try harder to make people happy if said people are nice to them. Its a shame not many Elves know what kindness is." she sighed.
"Took us a few months to get ours to stop flinching if they made a mistake. They thought they'd be punished." Draco explained, "We told them as punishment for mistakes they weren't allowed to punish themselves. Same as what Harry's told Kreacher." Harry nodded in confirmation.
"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"
"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of these tables, Harry noticed as he passed them, was positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were clear of food, dinner having finished, but he supposed that an hour ago they had been laden with dishes that were then sent up through the ceiling to their counterparts above.
At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them.
They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga.
Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.
"Winky, sir!" he said.
Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care of her clothes at all. There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.
"Hello, Winky," said Harry.
Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Oh dear," said Hermione. She and Ron had followed Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't..."
But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.
"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.
"Dobby sure is... odd." James muttered.
"Was you mean." Hermione sighed, "He was killed saving us Dean, Olivander, Luna and a Goblin."
"That was when you all showed up at Shell Cottage." Bill narrowed his eyes at the four mentioned that were present, "Wasn't it?"
"Yeah." Harry said sadly, "He may have been a bit odd but he was brilliant." he smiled but it didn't reach his eyes, which looked rather haunted.
"Er - yeah, okay," said Harry.
Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.
"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice.
Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.
"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.
"Only a week, Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indee -"
At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow.
"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!"
The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing.
Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"
"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter... Dobby likes being free!"
The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume of her crying.
"And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.
At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.
"Poor Winky. I'm glad she finally cheered up, even if it took a year or two." Minerva sighed.
"And then Dobby had the idea. Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!"
Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again.
"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"
"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor,
"Dobby probably asked not to be payed too much." James said.
"Why?" Lily asked.
"Well, for one thing, Dumbledore would offer him more than that so he must have turned him down and Dobby is still a House-Elf and he probably isn't used to that much freedom yet." Sirius explained.
over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.
"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss..."
"You see?" James said.
"Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."
"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly.
"None, most likely. She probably doesn't want to be paid." Charlie said reasonably.
If she had thought this would cheer up Winky, she was wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.
"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"
"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"
But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"
Lily looked stunned and muttered, "House-Elves have far to much honor."
"Most of them." Hermione corrected, "We've met a few who don't really care what their Master's think as long as they can do their work." she explained.
"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."
"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.
"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to -"
Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. Harry bent forward.
Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!"
Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle.
Lily shook her head in astonishment, "Are they always like this?"
James thought for a moment, "Yeah, pretty much."
"Our's aren't though. They'll speak their minds as long as there's no one else there. And as long as it's not too offensive, if it is we tell them and they'll apologize." Cissy smiled.
"That's what Kreacher does now too, took him a while to get used to it but he's fine with it now." Harry grinned, he looked at the Black brothers, "I successfully corrupted him."
"Good." they both said.
"I had planned to corrupt him as soon as my Mother died anyway, he wouldn't listen to Sirius so he'd stay with me." Regulus shrugged, "No point in having him beleive in all the blood purity trash when I didn't and don't."
"But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."
"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning.
A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.
"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'."
Draco and Cissy frowned.
"He over played that request a little didn't he Mother."
"He did." she shrugged, "But perhaps it was for the best."
Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Most people looked startled.
"Maybe it wasn't acting." Cissy frowned, looking closely at the memory, "He wouldn't have done that unless... Oh. I see what happened." she sighed, "I only told him to act afraid of Draco and I, he really was terrified of Lucius though... I'd bet anything he said about us linked to Lucius, he'd feel compelled to punish himself because of that." she shook her head sadly.
"Question, when was it he went to you?" Sirius frowned.
She paused, looking at him, "When Bella was arrested. He used to belong to the Lestranges, his mother was one of their Head Elves, he was born after the arrest though so his loyalty was transferred to me. But because of the vows used when I married Lucius, it automatically went to him since he was Lord Malfoy and the law at the time stated that all Elves left to a Lady of a house were to go to their Lords. Its a discriminatory thing." she shrugged, "At the time, women weren't allowed House-Elves tied to them unless they were the last in the line, the heir to the line was under 13 and there was no current Lord eligible to have them tied to him."
"So his loyalty went to Lucius by default." Sirius nodded, frowning slightly, "Doesnt that mean Kreacher should've come to you as well? Since I was in Azkaban and didn't have an heir eligible to have him tied to them?"
"You seem to forget the laws concerning House-Elves Sirius." Andy told him, "Cissy's not the oldest, Kreacher was only allowed to bond to the oldest in the line. With you and Bella both in Azkaban, he wouldn't have been able to bond to Cissy without one of you giving the say so, even then he'd go to Lucius by default. Remember your Father put that spell on him to ensure that fact?"
"He did." Regulus nodded, "Again when you left, Sirius. It meant he could literally only be bonded to a male, since you named Harry your heir, he would've easily have bonded to him."
"What do you mean by 'bonded'?" Hermione frowned.
"Can it wait until later?" Harry cut in before someone could answer, "There's still quite a bit of this memory left."
She reluctantly nodded and they all took the que to turn back to the memory.
Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table.
"Thank you. Harry Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.
"You just need a bit of practice," Harry said.
"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"
"They aren't his masters anymore!" Alice, slightly frustrated.
"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"
"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her... oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.
"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"
"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"
"Don't tell her that, Hermione!" James said.
"Oop's." Hermione shrugged.
"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."
"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Harry's great surprise (and Ron's and Hermione's too, by the looks on their faces), she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!"
"Bagman - bad?" said Harry.
"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying... Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets..."
She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!"
They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.
"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest,
"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?"
"Ron does." Harry said, smirking.
"Every year though." Ron mumbled, "I hate maroon."
Molly just chuckled, "Sorry Ron. I keep forgetting you don't like it, I'll remember that this year."
Dobby was delighted.
"We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."
As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Harry and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.
"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"
"Harry Potter... can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.
"'Course you can," said Harry, and Dobby beamed.
Hermione smiled at Harry as well.
"You know what?" said Ron, once he, Hermione, and Harry had left the kitchens behind and were climbing the steps into the entrance hall again. "All these years I've been really impressed with Fred and George, nicking food from the kitchens - well, it's not exactly difficult, is it? They can't wait to give it away!"
"I think this is the best thing that could have happened to those elves, you know," said Hermione, leading the way back up the marble staircase. "Dobby coming to work here, I mean. The other elves will see how happy he is, being free, and slowly it'll dawn on them that they want that too!"
"I don't think so Hermione." James said.
"Most of the Hogwarts House-Elves were free at one point anyway." Minerva admitted, "Hogwarts is a place where there's always plenty work so most freed House-Elves come to the school for work." she explained, "It's always appreciated so they know they wouldn't be rejected."
"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry.
"Oh she'll cheer up," said Hermione, though she sounded a bit doubtful. "Once the shock's worn off, and she's got used to Hogwarts, she'll see how much better off she is without that Crouch man."
"She seems to love him," said Ron thickly (he had just started on a cream cake).
"Doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Harry. "Wonder what Crouch says at home about him?"
"Probably says he's not a very good Head of Department," said Hermione, "and let's face it... he's got a point, hasn't he?"
"I'd still rather work for him than old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman's got a sense of humor."
"Don't let Percy hear you saying that," Hermione said, smiling slightly.
"Yeah, well, Percy wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humor, would he?" said Ron, now starting on a chocolate éclair. "Percy wouldn't recognize a joke if it danced naked in front of him wearing Dobby's tea cozy."
Everybody laughed but Percy glared at Ron. "That was uncalled for Ron."
"Percy the first time I heard you tell a joke or laugh at one since I was 5 was at the end of the war. Can you really blame me?" Ron asked defensively.
Percy sighed, "I guess not."
"Why is it you six always picked on Percy anyway?" Arthur asked his children, "I remember having to tell you off a few times. Your Mother multiple times."
"He rarely fought back. And he acted like he was the best out of us all." George shrugged.
"Which was annoying." Fred added.
"I never really picked on him." Ginny grinned at her big brother, "Did I Perce?"
"No you just annoyed me when I was busy." he chuckled.
"Ron didn't really pick on Percy either." Hermione put in.
"Yeah I only complained about him being bossy and telling us to do stuff we didn't want to." Ron agreed.
Arthur looked at Bill and Charlie.
"You know we only picked on him because he'd never argue with us." Bill smirked at a red faced Percy.
"And we were trying to get him to relax the rules." Charlie grinned. "It worked eventually."
"Took almost 22 years but it did work." Bill chuckled, "You really were a stubborn child Perce."
"No I just followed the rules and respected authority." Percy smirked. "And it was my choice to relax the rules and such. Or rather I got sick of following unstable authority figures so I changed." he shrugged.
"And now you joke about like when we were kids?" Fred asked, "Or is that pushing our luck a little to far?" Percy stuck his tongue out at him.
"Nah Perce is way more relaxed. Basically Percy changed through the war... I'll explain it to you later." George told Fred, "I keep forgetting there's thing's you don't know yet." he frowned.
"We're not used to one of us knowing something and the other not knowing." Fred sighed. "I have a lot to catch up on."
"We'll help as much as we can. There's quite a bit all of you need to know." Harry smiled at the returnee's, Frank and Alice, "But we'll tell you as it becomes relevant or until one of you asks about something. We're still not saying anything about the memories unless we think you can know before seeing it, though." he added, "Now lets continue. This one is of an announcement/warning." he chuckled at their confused looks.
"Potter! Weasley! Will you pay attention?"
"Never!" the twins shouted.
"Ron and Harry pay attention?" George asked in disbelief.
"We have never heard something so ridiculous." Fred pretended to faint onto George's shoulder. Everyone laughed as Ron and Harry glared at the twins.
"Hey if we didn't pay attention we'd have been flattened by that troll in first year, and we'd be dead right now." Harry pointed out.
"It just so happens we weren't paying attention at that point." Ron added.
"True, they usually did pay attention." Hermione nodded, "In everything except History and Potions." she added.
"We did listen a little in potions." Harry protested, "Sure it was mainly just to find out what we were doing but..."
"You'd be asking for a miracle if you expected us to listen to Professor Snape with the way he treated us." Ron finished for him.
Professor McGonagall's irritated voice cracked like a whip through the Transfiguration class on Thursday, and Harry and Ron both jumped and looked up.
It was the end of the lesson; they had finished their work; the guinea fowl they had been changing into guinea pigs had been shut away in a large cage on Professor McGonagall's desk (Neville's still had feathers); they had copied down their homework from the blackboard ("Describe, with examples, the ways in which Transforming Spells must be adapted when performing Cross-Species Switches").
The bell was due to ring at any moment, and Harry and Ron, who had been having a sword fight with a couple of Fred and George's fake wands at the back of the class, looked up, Ron holding a tin parrot and Harry, a rubber haddock.
"Now that Potter and Weasley have been kind enough to act their age,"
"What's the fun in that?" Sirius asked; James nodded.
"We were acting our age." Harry told Minerva.
"Yeah what else do you expect two 14 year old boys to act like?" Ron asked.
"They have a point Minerva." Hermione smiled at the boys.
"I know that." she sighed, "I was hoping they'd be a bit more mature." she frowned.
"Nope. We weren't more mature until the end of this year." Harry smirked.
"Even then it took a few more years for us to properly grow up." Ron shrugged.
said Professor McGonagall, with an angry look at the pair of them as the head of Harry's haddock drooped and fell silently to the floor - Ron's parrot's beak had severed it moments before - "I have something to say to you all. The Yule Ball is approaching - a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament and an opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. Now, the ball will be open only to fourth years and above-although you may invite a younger student if you wish -"
Lavender Brown let out a shrill giggle. Parvati Patil nudged her hard in the ribs, her face working furiously as she too fought not to giggle. They both looked around at Harry, Professor McGonagall ignored them, which Harry thought was distinctly unfair, as she had just told off him and Ron.
"For having a fight with a fish and a tin parrot. I expected that kind of reaction from those two." Minerva smiled.
"Dress robes will be worn," Professor McGonagall continued, "and the ball will start at eight o'clock on Christmas Day, finishing at midnight in the Great Hall. Now then -"
Professor McGonagall stared deliberately around the class.
"The Yule Ball is of course a chance for us all to - er - let our hair down," she said, in a disapproving voice.
Lavender giggled harder than ever, with her hand pressed hard against her mouth to stifle the sound. Harry could see what was funny this time: Professor McGonagall, with her hair in a tight bun, looked as though she had never let her hair down in any sense.
"But that does NOT mean," Professor McGonagall went on, "that we will be relaxing the standards of behavior we expect from Hogwarts students. I will be most seriously displeased if a Gryffindor student embarrasses the school in any way."
"It's a very good thing you three aren't there." Lily said, looking at the Marauders.
"Us, embarrass the school? Never." Remus said at once. "Well... Maybe those two." he added looking at James and Sirius who pouted.
"We wouldn't." they protested.
"You would." Dora rolled her eyes. "Unless you tell us why you wouldn't we're going to assume you would."
"Why would we want to embarrass Hogwarts?" James frowned.
"We wouldn't want people thinking Hogwarts is full of nutters and crazy people." Sirius added, "So we wouldn't embarrass the school." he said smugly.
"Fine. You win this one." Dora grumbled.
The bell rang, and there was the usual scuffle of activity as everyone packed their bags and swung them onto their shoulders.
Professor McGonagall called above the noise, "Potter - a word, if you please."
Assuming this had something to do with his headless rubber haddock, Harry proceeded gloomily to the teacher's desk. Professor McGonagall waited until the rest of the class had gone, and then said, "Potter, the champions and their partners -"
"What partners?" said Harry.
Professor McGonagall looked suspiciously at him, as though she thought he was trying to be funny.
"Your partners for the Yule Ball, Potter," she said coldly. "Your dance partners."
Harry's insides seemed to curl up and shrivel.
"Dance partners?" He felt himself going red. "I don't dance," he said quickly.
"Oh yes, you do," said Professor McGonagall irritably. "That's what I'm telling you. Traditionally, the champions and their partners open the ball."
Harry had a sudden mental image of himself in a top hat and tails, accompanied by a girl in the sort of frilly dress Aunt Petunia always wore to Uncle Vernon's work parties.
"I'm not dancing," he said.
"It is traditional," said Professor McGonagall firmly. "You are a Hogwarts champion, and you will do what is expected of you as a representative of the school. So make sure you get yourself a partner, Potter."
"Thanks for asking what he thought about it, Minnie." Sirius said.
"I was told to tell him that." Minerva shrugged, "Albus was going to tell him but he thought Harry would listen to me better if I warned him."
"And as always he was right. Albus didn't like telling me unpleasant things or telling me I had to do something." Harry smiled, "You on the other hand, Minerva, I would listen to even if I protested at first. I would listen to you better than Albus."
"Why?" Hermione asked.
"Simple, I was used to taking instructions form Minerva and I wasnt that close to Albus at that time." Harry grinned.
"But - I don't -"
"You heard me, Potter," said Professor McGonagall in a very final sort of way.
"And that's what sealed my fate on that matter." Harry chuckled, "It's also the end of the memory so, next one!" he announced.