Disclaimer: I do not own any of the Harry Potter characters.
Chapter 1
----------------------------------------
"Where is that bloody sock?!" Ron said while throwing random articles of clothing across the dormitory. One of his pairs of
trousers had apparently landed on Trevor, and Neville nearly fainted seeing a pair of trousers hopping across the floor.
"Harry! Do you reckon Peeves has been up to sock stealing in the dorms!?" exclaimed Ron with a slightly red face, redder
than usual anyway.
"Peeves? No, he wouldn't sink as low as a common sock thief!" Ron seemed to catch the hint of sarcasm in Harry's voice and
continued rummaging through his near empty trunk.
There was a knock at the door, which was followed by a young witch covering her eyes with both hands. It was Hermione.
"Morning Hermione!" Harry greeted her cheerfully. As for Ron, he simply scowled when he discovered his trunk was empty,
and no sock was to be found. Once Harry greeted her, she slowly peeked from her hands.
"Doing some dorm redecorating I see." she said as she looked around noticing all of Ron's belongings strewn around the
dorm.
"What in the name of- Ron Weasley! I demand you to clean up all your stuff this instance!" Percy had decided to drop by
this morning. Ron not being in the best mood, called Percy a name that made Hermione say, 'Ron! Where did you ever learn
such a word?!'. Harry knew exactly where he learned it, let's just say it's best not to jinx Draco Malfoy with something he doesn't
know how to remove!
Ron explained the whole thing to Hermione, and his hypothesis about Peeves being the sock thief.
"Sock thief? Don't be preposterous! Peeves isn't allowed in dorms, Dumbledore would be furious if Peeves had been stealing
from students." Hermione replied in a calm voice. Ron wasn't listening as he grabbed a pair of Harry's socks to borrow.
"Do you reckon it has something to do down in the laundry service?" Hermione's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.
"LAUNDRY SERVICE?! And I suppose that is run by house elves too!?" they had long forgotten S.P.E.W., but they knew all
too well that Hermione would attempt to revive it. But before she could march off and fetch the remaining S.P.E.W. badges,
Harry caught her arm.
"Not now, Hermione."
"Well now. I have some socks, let's go get us some breakfast!" Ron ran down the stairs leading to the common room and
waited for the other two to follow suit.
"Harry, there are HOUSE ELVES doing laundry somewhere! We must go convince them into demanding wages and holidays!"
"Hermione, I agree with you," Hermione's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "But something in Hogwarts is stealing socks."
"... Do you think it could be Dobby? He was quite fond of socks last year." Harry remembered last Christmas when Dobby had
given him socks.
"No, Dobby would never steal. He's an oddball house elf, but he's not a thief." Hermione nodded in agreement. They heard
someone running back up the stairs.
"Hermione, must I remind you that you're in the middle of a boy's dormitory?" Ron said with fairly loud voice. Hermione looked
around and saw that Seamus, Neville, and Dean were peeking from under their blankets, obviously clad in nothing but their
boxers. Hermione left with a bit of a flush on her face, and hopped down the stairs. Ron then looked at Harry motioning him to
hurry up.
The common room was unusually crowded for an early Saturday morning. Fred and George, their last year at Hogwarts, were
twice as determined to pull off twice as many jokes than last year. Harry noted they had already fooled three people with a new
invention, Ever Giggling Mints, which caused the consumer to go into a fit of giggles. Harry, having learned his lesson last year,
never accepted food from the twins. They edged their way to the portrait hole and clambered out.
"And where do you three think you're going?" said the Fat Lady in the picture. The ignored her and made their way to the
kitchens with Hermione leading the way. After that incident during the triwizard tournament, they thought best to keep away
from the kitchens for some time. Luckily the house elves had forgotten Hermione trying to get them wages and welcomed them
in with warm 'hellos' and pastries of all kinds.
"Where's Dobby?" Harry asked. He looked down and noticed something had latched onto his leg and was hugging it.
"Mr. Harry Potter, sir! Dobby has missed you greatly!" Harry noticed Winky had cleaned herself up a bit and was back to
normal. He pried Dobby off his leg and began asking him about the laundry room, and where it could be found.
"Harry Potter, sir! Only lowly house elves work in the laundry rooms! Not fit place for wizards at all!" he proceeded to shake
his head. Hermione tutted and Ron was shoveling as many pastries as he could into his robes.
"But Dobby, we need to know where it is." Dobby looked over his shoulders, and pulled Harry over to a quiet corner.
"Sir, Dobby knows where it is. Dobby show you!" he sprang from the corner and led the way. He led them through the kitchen,
and he opened up a trap door in the floor that hadn't been there before. Dobby hopped down into the darkness, but Harry, not
wanting to squash his elf friend, slowly slid himself down into the darkness. Seeing as it was too dark, he pulled out his wand and
muttered, "Lumos". To his surprise, it was a tunnel, much like the one hidden in the statue of the old hag. Ron climbed down,
then Hermione.
"Why are there so many bloody tunnels under Hogwarts? And do you think Fred and George have ever found this one?" Ron
asked.
"The entrance may be in the kitchen floor, but I doubt they could've found it. It was enchanted so you can't see it." Hermione
replied.
Dobby not wasting any time, began sprinting down the dark tunnel, with the others close behind. They had jogged for what
seemed like ten minutes, and began seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Dobby steadily gained speed and in no time they
were at the entrance of the laundry room.
"This is where Dobby will have to leave you, sirs, and miss!" Dobby did a little bow, and ran off in the direction they had just
come.
"Dobby sure is a weird one." Ron said slightly out of breath. Not knowing what was on the other side, for the entrance seemed
to be a wall of steam at least seven feet thick. They gathered their courage, and marched on through.
Chapter 1
----------------------------------------
"Where is that bloody sock?!" Ron said while throwing random articles of clothing across the dormitory. One of his pairs of
trousers had apparently landed on Trevor, and Neville nearly fainted seeing a pair of trousers hopping across the floor.
"Harry! Do you reckon Peeves has been up to sock stealing in the dorms!?" exclaimed Ron with a slightly red face, redder
than usual anyway.
"Peeves? No, he wouldn't sink as low as a common sock thief!" Ron seemed to catch the hint of sarcasm in Harry's voice and
continued rummaging through his near empty trunk.
There was a knock at the door, which was followed by a young witch covering her eyes with both hands. It was Hermione.
"Morning Hermione!" Harry greeted her cheerfully. As for Ron, he simply scowled when he discovered his trunk was empty,
and no sock was to be found. Once Harry greeted her, she slowly peeked from her hands.
"Doing some dorm redecorating I see." she said as she looked around noticing all of Ron's belongings strewn around the
dorm.
"What in the name of- Ron Weasley! I demand you to clean up all your stuff this instance!" Percy had decided to drop by
this morning. Ron not being in the best mood, called Percy a name that made Hermione say, 'Ron! Where did you ever learn
such a word?!'. Harry knew exactly where he learned it, let's just say it's best not to jinx Draco Malfoy with something he doesn't
know how to remove!
Ron explained the whole thing to Hermione, and his hypothesis about Peeves being the sock thief.
"Sock thief? Don't be preposterous! Peeves isn't allowed in dorms, Dumbledore would be furious if Peeves had been stealing
from students." Hermione replied in a calm voice. Ron wasn't listening as he grabbed a pair of Harry's socks to borrow.
"Do you reckon it has something to do down in the laundry service?" Hermione's eyes grew as wide as dinner plates.
"LAUNDRY SERVICE?! And I suppose that is run by house elves too!?" they had long forgotten S.P.E.W., but they knew all
too well that Hermione would attempt to revive it. But before she could march off and fetch the remaining S.P.E.W. badges,
Harry caught her arm.
"Not now, Hermione."
"Well now. I have some socks, let's go get us some breakfast!" Ron ran down the stairs leading to the common room and
waited for the other two to follow suit.
"Harry, there are HOUSE ELVES doing laundry somewhere! We must go convince them into demanding wages and holidays!"
"Hermione, I agree with you," Hermione's eyes grew wide with disbelief. "But something in Hogwarts is stealing socks."
"... Do you think it could be Dobby? He was quite fond of socks last year." Harry remembered last Christmas when Dobby had
given him socks.
"No, Dobby would never steal. He's an oddball house elf, but he's not a thief." Hermione nodded in agreement. They heard
someone running back up the stairs.
"Hermione, must I remind you that you're in the middle of a boy's dormitory?" Ron said with fairly loud voice. Hermione looked
around and saw that Seamus, Neville, and Dean were peeking from under their blankets, obviously clad in nothing but their
boxers. Hermione left with a bit of a flush on her face, and hopped down the stairs. Ron then looked at Harry motioning him to
hurry up.
The common room was unusually crowded for an early Saturday morning. Fred and George, their last year at Hogwarts, were
twice as determined to pull off twice as many jokes than last year. Harry noted they had already fooled three people with a new
invention, Ever Giggling Mints, which caused the consumer to go into a fit of giggles. Harry, having learned his lesson last year,
never accepted food from the twins. They edged their way to the portrait hole and clambered out.
"And where do you three think you're going?" said the Fat Lady in the picture. The ignored her and made their way to the
kitchens with Hermione leading the way. After that incident during the triwizard tournament, they thought best to keep away
from the kitchens for some time. Luckily the house elves had forgotten Hermione trying to get them wages and welcomed them
in with warm 'hellos' and pastries of all kinds.
"Where's Dobby?" Harry asked. He looked down and noticed something had latched onto his leg and was hugging it.
"Mr. Harry Potter, sir! Dobby has missed you greatly!" Harry noticed Winky had cleaned herself up a bit and was back to
normal. He pried Dobby off his leg and began asking him about the laundry room, and where it could be found.
"Harry Potter, sir! Only lowly house elves work in the laundry rooms! Not fit place for wizards at all!" he proceeded to shake
his head. Hermione tutted and Ron was shoveling as many pastries as he could into his robes.
"But Dobby, we need to know where it is." Dobby looked over his shoulders, and pulled Harry over to a quiet corner.
"Sir, Dobby knows where it is. Dobby show you!" he sprang from the corner and led the way. He led them through the kitchen,
and he opened up a trap door in the floor that hadn't been there before. Dobby hopped down into the darkness, but Harry, not
wanting to squash his elf friend, slowly slid himself down into the darkness. Seeing as it was too dark, he pulled out his wand and
muttered, "Lumos". To his surprise, it was a tunnel, much like the one hidden in the statue of the old hag. Ron climbed down,
then Hermione.
"Why are there so many bloody tunnels under Hogwarts? And do you think Fred and George have ever found this one?" Ron
asked.
"The entrance may be in the kitchen floor, but I doubt they could've found it. It was enchanted so you can't see it." Hermione
replied.
Dobby not wasting any time, began sprinting down the dark tunnel, with the others close behind. They had jogged for what
seemed like ten minutes, and began seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. Dobby steadily gained speed and in no time they
were at the entrance of the laundry room.
"This is where Dobby will have to leave you, sirs, and miss!" Dobby did a little bow, and ran off in the direction they had just
come.
"Dobby sure is a weird one." Ron said slightly out of breath. Not knowing what was on the other side, for the entrance seemed
to be a wall of steam at least seven feet thick. They gathered their courage, and marched on through.