July 31st 1992

The two siblings managed not to shout out upon realising they weren't the only ones in the room, but they were close. A creature Hope recognised to be a house elf was standing on Harry's bed. "Er ...Hello," Harry said nervously while Hope stares at the elf wondering why it was here.

"Harry Potter!" it squeaks out. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you both, sir, madam ...Such an honour it is…."

"Who are you?" Hope asked the elf still not knowing why he was here.

"Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," he answered looking to Hope.

"Not to be rude or anything…" Harry spoke. "But this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom."

"Yes, sir. Dobby understands," the elf begins. "It's just that Dobby has come to tell you… It is difficult, sir. Dobby wonders where to begin."

"Why don't you sit down?" Harry asked trying to get to the point but also keep the elf calm. Hope winces knowing that it could cause a bit of a scene.

"Sit down? Sit down?" Dobby repeats getting louder causing Hope to sigh loudly.

"Dobby, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you or anything…." Harry panicked.

"Offend Dobby? Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir ...but never has he been asked to sit down by a wizard, like an equal."

Hope tries to hush the house elf as she ushers it towards Harry's bed. Dobby manages to control himself, not letting the water drip from his eyes.

"You can't have met many decent wizards then," Harry said, trying to be comforting.

Dobby shook his head. Hope sighed irritated, knowing what was about to happen. Without warning, Dobby jumps up and starts banging his head against the window. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" he yelled.

"Stop, Dobby. Dobby, shush. Dobby, please, stop," Hope called out trying to get him to stop knowing that if her Aunt and Uncle heard them they would be in big trouble.

"Dobby had to punish himself," Dobby explains finally stopping banging his head. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family."

"Your family?" Hope asks, wondering which family he came from.

"The wizard family Dobby serves. Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they ever knew Dobby was here…." he trails off. "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry Potter. To warn him. Harry Potter must not go back ... to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year. There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen."

Even though it doesn't answer her original question of which family he came from, his answer immediately catches her attention. "What terrible things? Who's plotting them?"

"Can't say."

"Okay, I understand. You can't say," she replies before it sends Dobby into one of his 'moments'.

Hope huffs knowing they weren't going to get much out of Dobby. She steps back and allows Harry to continue questioning the elf. When Dobby admits he had been keeping Harry's letters from his friends, Hope sends him an 'I told you so' look.

"Shit," she mutters when Dobby darts out of the bedroom door. "Stay here," she mutters to Harry before following the elf down the stairs. She looks around before heading to the kitchen, dreading what was about to happen. Her Aunt's masterpiece of a pudding, the mountain of cream and sugared violets, was floating up near the ceiling. Dobby crouched on top of the cupboard in the corner.

"No," Hope whispered. "Please ...they'll kill us…."

"Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

Dobby gave Hope a tragic look. The pudding fell, Hope's heart stopped. Cream splattered the windows and walls as the dish shattered. With a crack like a whip, Dobby vanished.

Shrill screams echoed through the house. Uncle Vernon burst into the kitchen just in time to see Hope trying to make her escape, but it was too late. Her Uncle ushered the Masons back into the dining room after promising to flay Hope within an inch of her life.

Despite what had happened Vernon might have still been able to make a deal. But that was before the owl arrived.

Aunt Petunia was just handing round a box of after-dinner mints when a huge barn owl swooped through the dining room window, dropped a letter on Mrs Mason's head and swooped out again. Hope closed her eyes grimacing. Mrs Mason screamed and ran out of the house, shouting about lunatics.

Hope stood in the kitchen gripping the bench for support as Uncle Vernon advanced on her with an all too familiar demonic glint in his eyes. "Go on - read it," he hissed evilly. Hope took it knowing exactly what it was.

She read out the letter. The evil glint in her Uncle's eyes grew more and more as she read. When she was done she looked up from the letter and gulped.

"You didn't tell us you weren't allowed to use magic outside of school," Uncle Vernon stated, a mad gleam in his eye. "Forgot to mention it ...slipped your mind, I dare say…."

He was bearing down on the girl with his teeth bared. "Well, I've got news for you, girl ...I'm locking you and your brother up ...you're never going back to that school ...never ...and if you try and magic yourselves out - they'll expel you!"

Laughing like a maniac, he dragged Hope up stairs. Harry gasped in fear and shut his door when he saw them. When they were near her bedroom door her uncle wrapped his hands around her neck and pushed her against the wall, cutting off her air supply. He repeatedly banged her head against the wall before throwing her into her room. She landed on the floor with a thud, he sent one last kick to her body causing pain to radiate from her already broken ribs. When he slammed the door she pushed herself up rubbing her neck that would, without a doubt, be covered with one large bruise in a few days.

She immediately grabbed some paper and a pen, she wrote her letter as quickly as she could before quietly opening her window. She reached for a hair grip that was laying on the bedside table and picked at the lock that was keeping her owl in its cage. Soon she had released her owl out into the night with her letter and quickly waited for a response.