BACKSTAIRS AT HOGWARTS

Chapter Six - Elves and Dark Wizards

About two weeks later, Nobby was running down the path to Hogwarts as fast as her little legs could take her. It was nearly 2:00 AM, and almost total darkness. The tiny lantern she carried helped her avoid major obstacles, but every few feet she stumbled over something smaller. She actually fell completely to the ground twice, but each time she picked herself up and continued running.

She could just make out the outline of the Hogwarts castle as she approached. Only a few lights were showing, and when she arrived in front, she pounded on the doors with her little fists. She squealed in frustration when she realized that there was no way anyone could hear her knocking on a door that was six inches thick of solid of oak.

Nobby looked around frantically, raising her lantern as high as she could. At last she spotted the bell pull, but it was beyond her reach. She carefully aimed one finger at the pull, but instead of the loud "BANG" she expected, there was only a small "pop" as the protection charms on the castle repelled her magic. Finally, with all her might, she jumped once, twice, and on the third try made it high enough to grab the chain. She heard a bell ringing somewhere inside the castle, and with both feet back on the ground she waited, hoping that someone had heard it.

As it happened, Dobby was assigned to a night cleaning crew which was just about to finish its shift. He was sitting on Tunny's shoulders as he dusted one last suit of armor on the second floor.

"Who is ringing the bell at this hour?" Dobby wondered aloud as he hopped down from Tunny's shoulders.

"We isn't ought to open the door so late at night" squeaked Tunny.

Just then the bell jangled again. Dobby ran down the steps to the entrance hall, with Tunny some distance behind.

"Hide behind that corner," Dobby whispered, "if there is trouble Tunny can go for help."

There was a small elf-sized door within the main door, and Dobby released the bolts that locked it shut. He still kept a strong chain fastened so the door wouldn't open more than an inch, though.

"Who is there?" he squeaked through the crack.

"Dobby!" is that you?

"Yes 'tis Dobby. Who is you?"

"'Tis Nobby! Nobby has come for help! Her mistress is been taken prisoner!"

"Wait," Dobby said as he closed the door, then said to Tunny "'tis just a message from Hogsmeade. Dobby will take care of it."

Hearing this, Tunny happily scampered off to the elf quarters and his warm bed.

Dobby removed the chain and pulled the door open. "What is you saying?" he asked his sister as she stumbled in, still panting hard.

"Dark Wizards is in Hogsmeade! They has taken Nobby's mistress prisoner thinking she is knowing where the secret passages into Hogwarts is! They is wanting to find a way to get to Harry Potter!"

"Harry Potter!" Dobby squealed, horrified.

"We must tell Professor Dumbledore!" Nobby exclaimed.

"The Headmaster is not here," Dobby squeaked, "Dobby is hearing he was called away to the Ministry in London yesterday."

Nobby squeaked softly in frustration, her little fists clenched tight.

"We must tell Harry Potter," Dobby said. "He is not liking it when Dobby is interfering with his safety last time!"

Suddenly Dobby grabbed Nobby and pulled her into a nearby elf passage, just in time to avoid being seen by Filch. Filch hated house elves, mainly because even the smallest of them had greater magical powers than he did. In turn, the elves disliked him because he constantly ranted about cleaning up messes made by students, when in fact the elves did most of the work. They didn't mind the work, just the fact that someone else took credit for it.

"How many dark wizards and witches is there?" Dobby asked his sister.

"Nobby is thinking there is six. Two at The Three Broomsticks, and the rest is watching the roads and paths into Hogsmeade. Nobby is having to crawl through the bushes to keep from being seen, and couldn't light her lantern until well away from the village."

"We has to get Winky first," Dobby said as he led the way along the elf passage.

When they reached the hospital wing, Dobby slipped into Winky's room and gently shook her awake. Nobby couldn't hear their whispered conversation, but in a couple minutes Dobby came back out. A few minutes later Winky slipped out of her room fully dressed, and all three elves disappeared into the passageway. What neither Dobby nor Nobby knew was that before she left her room Winky had taken what was undoubtedly her most valuable possession out of the locked wardrobe drawer.

They proceeded to the Gryffindor Tower, using the elf passage to enter the common room.

Dobby whispered "Winky and Nobby must get Miss Grainer. Dobby will get Harry Potter and his Wheezy."

They hurried up the stairs to the girls' dormitory, and Dobby went up to the Boys' dormitory.

A short time later Dobby returned to the common room with Harry and Ron, who were yawning and rubbing the sleep from their eyes.

"My invisibility cloak will cover the three of us," Harry said, "but I don't know what we're going to do with Hermione and the other elves."

"Not a problem," Hermione's voice said, seemingly from nowhere. Everyone looked in the direction of where her voice had come from, but saw nothing. Next second Hermione's face appeared, apparently suspended in mid-air. A moment later the two female elves appeared below her face.

"Where did you get an invisibility cloak?" Ron asked.

"It's not mine, Hermione said. "It's Winky's."

"Winky's! Where did she get it?" Harry demanded.

Winky answered "'twas was my old master's. He had Winky carry it always when she is looking after her young master in case something is happening to the other cloak."

"Well, we're lucky to have it," Ron said. "Filch and Mrs. Norris are really on a rampage for some reason lately."

"Anyway, let's get going," Harry said. The two invisible groups had a very interesting time moving around the darkened castle, made all the worse by the fact that they couldn't see each other.

They finally arrived at the statue of the witch that guarded the secret tunnel that Harry had used in the past to get into Hogsmeade. Both Harry and Ron had to stifle oaths when they saw that Mrs. Norris, for unknown reasons, had posted herself in front of the statue. She couldn't of course see them, but she definitely would see if the entrance to the tunnel was opened.

They waited several minutes, but Mrs. Norris refused to budge. Finally Harry managed to find the other invisibility cloak and give it a soft tug, indicating that they should go downstairs. They did so as quietly as possible, coming to a stop in front of the main doors.

After looking and listening carefully, they unlocked the elf door and everyone squeezed through it, then regrouped under the invisibility cloaks on the main steps.

"We have to go to the whomping willow," Harry said, and began to lead the way before anyone could protest. He had his invisibility cloak pulled up slightly so that a small part of his robe sleeve could be seen for the others to follow.

He stropped just short of the whomping willow's wildly swinging and slashing limbs. "Are you there, Winky?" he asked.

"Yes, sir, Harry Potter, Winky is here," came the squeaking reply..

Harry uttered "lumos," and a beam of light appeared at the end of his wand, which he aimed at a knot near the bottom of the willow's trunk.

"Winky," Harry said quietly, "you're small enough that you can squeeze under the branches on your stomach. Be very careful, but when you reach the trunk, press on that knot with your hand."

Winky was terrified, but it wasn't in her nature to disobey.

Hermione gently patted Winky's shoulder and said "don't worry Winky, it will be alright. Just stay as flat on the ground as you can."

Trembling slightly, Winky did as she was told. She could hear the tree's limbs slashing murderously just inches above her, but she kept moving. After what seemed like an eternity she reached the Whomping Willow trunk, and pressed the knot. The tree immediately stopped flailing its branches and stood still.

"Very good, Winky!" Hermione said as loud as she dared. A few seconds later everyone else was clustered at the trunk.

Ron lit his wand, then led the way into a dark hole at the base of the trunk. Harry went last, and once he was in the hole, he reached back with one hand to press the knot he had asked Winky to press. The Whomping Willow's branches and limbs began moving and flailing in their normal manner.

"Where is this tunnel going?" Dobby asked.

"It comes out in the Shrieking Shack," Ron said.

"The Shrieking Shack!" Nobby almost shrieked herself. That is a very bad place!"

"Nobby," Harry said, "I know the reputation the place has, but believe me when I say that it's not haunted at all."

"He's right," Hermione added. All three of us have been there, and it's just a dilapidated old house."

Harry continued "more important is the fact it will get us inside Hogsmeade, so we don't have to run the risk of encountering a death eater on the road. The cloaks make us invisible, but not silent."

"Nobby," Hermione asked, "how did you get out of The Three Broomsticks after they took your mistress prisoner?"

"I is climbing out of an attic window and down the rain gutter pipe," Nobby answered.

"Can you get back in that way?"

"Yes, Nobby is thinking so."

The three students lit their wands and Harry led the way along the dark tunnel. In about ten minutes, they were inside the Shrieking Shack, and Hermione was very carefully using a special summoning charm to pull the nails out of the boards that blocked the door.

They opened the door very carefully, then under the invisibility cloaks, moved to the back yard of the Three Broomsticks.

Hermione pointed her wand at the lock on the back door of The Three Broomsticks and whispered "Alhomora." Nothing happened. "It must be a charm-resistant lock," she said in frustration.

Dobby looked up at the open attic window. "Harry Potter and his friends is too big to fit through the window, but us elfs can climb up together."

"Winky doesn't like heights," Hermione whispered.

Winky whispered back "Winky is not liking heights, but she is not liking dark wizards even more!"

Before anyone could say anything else, the three elves were climbing the drain pipe, and a moment later they had all disappeared through the attic window.

A few minutes later the lock clicked and the back door swung slowly open, but no one was in sight. "Come in, sirs and miss," Dobby whispered from under Winky's invisibility cloak. Silently he held up a small chalkboard normally used as a daily menu, but this time he had sketched a crude drawing of the Three Broomsticks' floor plan. The letter "R" indicated where Madame Rosmerta was located in the tap room. The two "D's" indicated where the Death Eaters were.

Under protection of the invisibility cloaks everyone crept very quietly towards the taproom door. A male voice could be heard as they approached. "She's unconscious. That last crucio curse might have been too much."

"No it wasn't," the other death eater said. Both he and his companion were standing with their backs to the kitchen door and did not see it silently swing open. "Enner--" he said as he pointed his wand at Rosmerta, but before he could complete the spell, there was a loud BANG. Next second the two death eaters were in a heap on the floor, unconscious.

The three students looked down in wonder at the house elves, whose fingers were still pointed toward the death eaters. "Well done, you three," Ron exclaimed under his breath.

"Quick," Hermione whispered as loudly as she dared," can you two conjure ropes?"

"Yes, I think so," Harry said.

"Then tie those two up," Hermione said as she rushed to the chair where Rosmerta sat bound and unconscious. She raised her wand and said "ennervate" as Nobby and Winky rushed to untie Rosmerta's bonds. Rosmerta raised her head with a frightened expression her face and looked about wildly.

"It's alright," Hermione said. "You're safe now." As Hermione spoke, Winky already was busy ministering to Rosmerta's cuts, bruises, and other injuries.

"How did all of you get here?" Rosmerta gasped as she began to flex her abused joints.

"We really can't tell you the details," Harry said, "but it's really Nobby you should be thanking. She ran all the way to Hogwarts to get help."

"Sirs, miss, and ma'am, be quiet please," Dobby said in a loud whisper. His ears seemed to be almost bent forward slightly as he faced one outside wall. The other elves quickly followed his example.

"'Tis someone coming," Winky whispered.

"I don't hear anything" Ron said in slight confusion, but a couple seconds later rapid footsteps could be heard on the gravel outside.

"They must have heard the noise," Harry said urgently. "Everyone under the cloaks again!"

As the students struggled to get under the cloaks, Dobby pointed his finger at a set of large double windows. With a loud BANG, the windows swung open. Nobby and Winky pointed their fingers at the death eaters and there was a second, even larger bang. The two trussed-up death eaters went flying through the window where they flattened two who were standing just outside, then continued flying until they collided with the village fire bell, which began to ring loudly.

Within seconds lights appeared in windows, and the residents of Hogsmeade came running out of their houses in response to the fire alarm. The remaining unrestrained death eaters disappeared immediately, but the villagers made certain the two they found outside The Three Broomsticks and the two near the fire bell went no farther.

"You'd better get back to the school," Madame Rosmerta said. "I think I can tell everyone what happened without saying that you were out of the school without permission." She hugged them each and said "I'll talk to you soon. I owe you my life. Thank you!"

She then ran outside, and the five residents of Hogwarts slipped quietly back to the shrieking shack. Inside the shack Harry asked "Dobby, how did you know they were coming long before any of us heard them?"

"House elfs has very good hearing, Harry Potter, sir. "'Tis so they can hear their masters calling, sir."

Fifteen minutes later they were slipping out of the hole at the base of the whomping willow. Winky came last, pressing the knot to reactivate the willow before she slipped under its branches.

With the two invisibility cloaks it was easy to get back into the castle. Harry, Ron, and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor tower under Harry's cloak, and the two elves used Winky's cloak to return to their respective quarters.

Outside the hospital wing there was a brief awkward moment. Finally, looking very uncertain, Dobby leaned over and kissed Winky on the cheek. She blushed, but didn't turn away and Dobby felt her squeeze his hand gently. A second later, she disappeared into her quarters, leaving Dobby happier than he had been in a long time.

The next day Gryffindor easily won the scheduled qudditch match against Ravenclaw despite the short night's sleep for Harry. As the crowd dispersed, Harry, Ron, and Hermione stood talking together at the edge of the field. Dobby and Winky seemed to have appeared from nowhere. Apparently they watched the game from under Winky's invisibility cloak, worried about the possible presence of death eaters who might have escaped capture the night before.

Madame Rosmerta approached them and said "again, I can't thank you all enough for what you did. I've already spoken to Professor Dumbledore this morning, so he knows everything." She smiled at the look of alarm on the three student's faces and continued, "don't worry, you're not in trouble!"

The all looked very relieved. "And now Nobby would like to speak to you if it's alright," Madame Rosmerta said.

"Of course," everyone said in unison.

Nobby emerged from behind a bush and approached with a little smile on her face. Dobby was the first to notice anything.

"Nobby! You's wearing clothes, you is!"

Nobby was wearing a white blouse with a gray skirt and a straw hat with ear holes. "Yes,' she said, Nobby is a free elf now too!"

Dobby squealed with delight, but Winky was more reserved. "You isn't ought to leave your mistress," she said.

"Nobby will never leave her mistress!" Nobby squeaked back. "Her mistress is given her freedom as a reward. Nobby will get the same paying as Dobby and Winky!"

"It's the least I could do," Madame Rosmerta said. "I tried to get her to take more, but she wouldn't hear of it. I still consider myself to be the lucky one, because Nobby does the work of about three humans!"

"Nobby, you may visit with your friends if you like, but please be back in an hour or so" Madame Rosmerta concluded.

"Yes ma'am," Nobby said.

Everyone left the three elves chattering happily.

As they walked towards the castle Harry said "well, I think Dobby's earned another reward. Help me think of something besides socks!"