Chapter 3: Dumbledore's surprise.
"Dobby!" exclaimed a shocked Harry, "What in Merlin's name are you doing here?" Harry's attitude suddenly changed quickly to a worried, cautious and defensive character. "You're not trying to stop me going back to Hogwarts are you?"
Dobby looked terrified, like a small child just being caught doing something he
shouldn't be. "Mm-m, Hm. No Harry Potter sir, no" mumbled Dobby fearfully.
"Now you know just to call me Harry, Dobby. Come then, out with it, what are you doing in my family's front garden?"
"Dobby was watching Harry Potter sir, I've been given orders to keep an eye on Harry Potter during the holidays. I've just been watching over you at night, protecting you when your defences would have been low, but disappearing when you awoke and could look after yourself".
"So that's why I've been feeling a strange presence whenever I first wake up every morning, because it was you". It suddenly dawned on Harry why he was so uptight, and jumpy in the morning, starting to think it was him just getting paranoid. "How come you've been watching over me in my sleep, who's sent you and, hang on, if you were only watching me in my sleep, what on earth are you doing here right now, in the middle of the morning, hidden in my Uncles hedge?"
"Well Dobby, Harry Potter sir…"
"Just Harry will be fine, and come out of the bush, I can't stand around here all day looking as though I'm just talking to the hedge, lets go for a walk to the park and talk. Besides, I want to get away from here anyway. I'm not coming back until sunset in any case" Harry cursed, and taking one look at Dobby said "yes you can keep me company until then. In fact, you can stay with me until the Weasley's come to pick me up on my birthday if your explanation is good enough and if you are allowed. Besides, I could do with the company". Dobby looked at though he'd won a trip to the moon, Harry mused, taking one look at Dobby's awestricken face, thinking to himself that Dobby's explanation would most likely be out of this world now that he had the promise of Harry Potter's company for the next two weeks.
So off they went to the local park, Harry trying with all his might, to stop Dobby's squeals and sobs of excitement. Harry didn't exactly want any attention brought towards them as Dobby for was one a house-elf, and secondly, Dobby being the size of a child, Harry didn't want to look as though he was mistreating Dobby with all the high pitched noises coming from him.
*
Sat as comfortably as possibly could be in a small wood of trees well hidden from muggle view, Harry finally turned to Dobby and said, "Well then, what is it you have to tell me Dobby?"
Harry sat for nearly half an hour as Dobby filled him in on the latest events of the wizarding world. Apparently, Dumbledore had called Dobby into his office the morning Harry and the rest of his fellow students had left Hogwarts on the train back to platform nine and three-quarters, to be at their homes for the summer. Dumbledore wanted someone inconspicuous and well hidden to keep an eye on Harry Potter. Someone who's magic would not be detected by any charms around Hogwarts, especially after all those detection and tracing charms that awful witch Umbridge had set. Harry refused to call her Professor, as she never really was a professor, and she was only sent from the ministry to take over the school and to not teach properly, which defeats the purpose of being a professor. Dumbledore had wanted someone just to check on Harry in the time of greatest emergency so if anything happened and Harry was unable to get help, Dobby was there to do so on his behalf.
"Ok, that's reasonable I suppose" said Harry, as he was the only one able to defeat Voldemort. To make the world liveable again relied mainly on Harry. He and Dumbledore were the only ones who knew about the prophecy. "But why send you Dobby?"
"B-Because I can use my elf magic and travel undetected and unbeknown to anyone else. Therefore any dark wizards or spies would not be able to trace what I was doing, so we still have the upper hand above you-know-who you see?"
"Ok, that's a good idea too" said Harry, "but why did Dumbledore just ask you to watch me every night, why not use different house-elves each night instead of burdening you all the time?"
"Because Professor Dumbledore wanted someone he trusted enough not to let slip to the dark side, someone with so much care for Harry Potter that he thought of him as a master, therefore the bonds could not be broken between them and the house-elf would not betray him".
"What bonds Dobby?"
"Well" said Dobby proudly "When you freed me by presenting me with clothes, a new bond was made between me and you, as a house-elf must always have a caring bond with someone. When this bond is gone, 'tis time for a house-elf to go. And professor Dumbledore said the less people involved the better as it would be less complicated and there was less chance of you-know-who finding out this way". So obvious now Harry came to think of it.
This made sense to Harry too. Dobby would do anything to protect Harry, and would even probably die trying. "Ok, I understand that too, but why have you come to look over me in the day too as well all of a sudden. I mean, if you watch me sleeping, then why are you here in the middle of the day when I'm wide awake?" asked Harry thoughtfully.
"Well master Harry sir, the news is out we've taken a turn for the worse and you-know-who may have one up against us" mourned Dobby, shaking his head sadly.
"Why, what is it Dobby? Tell me quickly. Is Ron, Hermione or Ginny hurt what's wrong?" Harry stopped in his tracks momentarily. Why had he just said Ginny's name. At the moment he didn't care, Ginny was Ron's younger only sister, so if anything happened to her, then it would upset Ron and his family that had taken him in so kindly.
"No, no, nothing of that sort Harry. Just Dumbledore has been suspecting vol-you-know-who has got lots of enemies against us, and he believes he has managed to get one of us to spy on our side, passing on information like in the old days back to him".
Harry's jaw dropped a mile. For a moment there, he was speechless. "W-what are you saying Dobby? Someone on our side is pretending to be good and getting any and all information he can and is giving it to the dark lord?"
*
Dobby nodded still sad, and curled up to the bottom of Harry's leg. They sat there until past sunset, dusk and until night had fallen. Harry had been thinking hard, wishing for a pensieve to sieve his thoughts into. His head had been buzzing, well, all day really. Did Ron and Hermione know? He so longed to speak to them at this point in time, but he did not know of a reliable enough postage system to let them know. A small squeak brought Harry back to the real world. "Dobby had just one more piece of information Harry Potter".
"What is it?" asked Harry dubiously.
"Well, a house-elf dies for two reasons, one, they have lost caring for their master so the bond breaks between them, and without a bond, the house-elf dies. The only other way a house-elf can die is if they choose to divulge secrets of their family when they still have a bond with that family. Because they tell the secrets, they is no longer secrets and it is this which kills them".
"Gob-smacked, Harry spluttered "why are you telling me this Dobby? Any why are you still alive after telling us what you heard from Malfoy manor?"
"Well, Dobby still lives because he no longer shared his bond with the Malfoy family when he shed the family secrets, therefore it did not affect me. I had formed new bond, with you Harry Potter". Dobby bowed obligingly to his new master, "And I tell you this because when I was discussing you with Professor Dumbledore yesterday evening, one of my friends came into his office and was about to tell us something important…"
"Don't tell me" said Harry, "the house elf died?" As Dobby nodded solemnly Harry carried on "And would that house-elf go by the name of Winky?" Dobby continued to nod.
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