Chapter Eight: The Password

I woke up the next morning to a rapping on the door. Groggily, I rolled out of bed and opened it. It was Ron. "What are you two doing still asleep?" he said, glancing at Hermione snoring on her bed. "Breakfast is in the common room, I had Dobby and Winky bring it there for us. Hermione! Wake up!"

Hermione sat up with a start and looked with a glazed sort of look at Ron. Suddenly, her hand went to her head. I laughed....her usually textured hair now resembled an Afro. "Come on Hermione, time for breakfast."

"Did I hear someone say something about the common room?" she asked.

"Yeah," said Ron, "breakfast is in there. House-elves brought it for us. Now comb your hair and-"

"Ron! You made the poor house-elves go through all the trouble of bringing breakfast all the way up to the Gryffindor tower? When we could have just gone down to the Great Hall? It's bad enough they're cooking for us during the summer, without you having to - "

"Oh, come off it Hermione, you know they were thrilled. Oh, and Jo, Dobby's desperate to meet you. We'd better go down now before he has a heart attack or something. Don't worry about getting dressed, we're all still in our night things."

We proceeded down the stairs into the common room. The second I stepped off the last stair, a small, fast-moving bundle of energy rammed into me and threw its arms around my waist."

"Ms. Rowling! Ms. Joanne Kathleen Rowling! Dobby is so excited to meet you, miss! Even thought you have changed some things about Dobby, who would never ever injure Harry Potter with a cursed Bludger! And Dobby's fashion sense is a little better than Ms. J.K. Rowling says....Dobby wears a beret, miss, not a tea cosy! But it is a small matter....Winky! Come and meet Ms. Rowling!"

Winky walked up to me slowly and batted her eyes demurely. She held out her hand. "Winky is most happy to meet you, miss."

"Dobby and Winky have made coffee and scrambled eggs for Ms. Rowling! Come and sit!"

I took a seat next to Harry, who, true to Ron's word, was still in his pajamas. Hermione sat on my other side. Across from me was Sirius, with Remus on his right. Both men were wearing bathrobes, and I had a sneaking suspicion that nothing was underneath.

Next to Remus was a very large empty chair, and then Ron. Harry noticed me eyeing the vacant chair. "Hagrid's coming to breakfast too," he said.

"That is," Ron said, "if he can get past the Fat Lady." Harry nudged him and scowled.

Sirius turned to Harry. "Why shouldn't he be able to get past the Fat Lady, he knows the password, doesn't he?"

"Well," said Ron, with a look of mischief on his face that I usually associated with Fred and George, "the password's changed."

"What do you mean, changed?" demanded Remus, setting down his coffee cup.

Sirius gave Harry a look that will be referred to hereon as the Sirius Black Tell-Me-The-Truth-Or-I'll-Kill-You Look, or SBTMTTOIKYL. "Harry. Tell us all now what happened with the password."

Before Harry could speak, Hagrid's voice came from outside the portrait hole. "'Ave you all gone an' changed the password on me?"

"Yeah, sorry," Ron called. "Here, I'll write it down and pass it under the door." Grabbing a quill and paper napkin, he scrawled something and shoved it hastily under the portrait hole.

Hagrid uttered a series of expletives that I will delete.

"Ron! You changed the password to THAT!" exclaimed Hermione.

"No, no, not THAT!" answered Harry. "He hasn't said it yet."

Sirius shot him the SBTMTTOIKYL. "What. Is. The. Password."

"Well..."

"We thought we'd try and help Hagrid get over his problem with..."

"It's for his own good...."

Hagrid's voice came stuttering from outside. "Vol-vol-vol..."

"Come on Hagrid, you're almost there," called Remus. Sirius gave him a modified version of the SBTMTTOIKYL that will be referred to hereon as the Sirius Black Be-Quiet-Or-You-Sleep-On-The-Couch Look, or SBBQOYSOTCL.

"Harry," Sirius said, "sometimes you remind me of James so much that it scares me."

"Come on Hagrid, it isn't that hard," called Hermione.

"Just try breaking it up into smaller parts," I said. "Winky and Dobby! Stop that now, it's all right!"

Dobby and Winky were huddled in the corner, their hands over their ears and their bodies shaking violently. Both of them stood up and began beating themselves over their respective heads with a butter knife (Winky) and a saucer (Dobby). "Stop it!" I cried.

"But Dobby has displease Ms. Rowling, the wonderful Muggle writer who has done so much for him!"

"If you two don't stop," I said, "I'll sell you both to the Malfoys." They were as still as statues.

"Vol. De. Mor...mo..."

"Come on, you're almost there!" I called.

"VOLDEMORT!"

The door sprang open and a triumphant Hagrid stomped in, ready for breakfast.