Chapter 2

            "What are you doing here, Dobby?"

            A funny looking house elf stood before Harry Potter. His ears were bent inward, and he wore a mischievous smirk on his wrinkly face. Quickly, Dobby tried to avert his eyes from Harry's but in was in vain. Harry grabbed Dobby by the arm and pulled him forward.

            "I asked you a question," Harry said as he still panted.

            "And I intend to answer it," said Dobby with a squeamish voice. "Let go of Dobby first!"

            Immediately, Harry pulled away. "Sorry. You just startled me, that's all. Now, I'll ask you again, why are you here?"

            "I likes to collect prickly cones," he said.

            "What?"

            Dobby turned to the ground and kneeled. A brown, round and pointy object lay on the ground with a small stem sticking out of it near him. Using his long, elfish hands, Dobby picked it up and shoved it in front of Harry's face.

            "You see? They makes very nice sewing needles for Dobby. Alls you got to do is break them off!"

            Harry squinted and stared at both Dobby and the prickly cone. He shook his head and sighed.

            "I'm sure you can find those somewhere else…Why this cemetery?"
            "So many questions!" Dobby squealed and circled about. "I mean no harm at all. Since Harry Potter freed Dobby, Dobby has had time to open up shop… But no one comes. So Dobby wanted to make new socks for shop."

            "Really?" Harry asked. "You're dancing around my question, Dobby."

            "Dobby didn't know better! Dobby sees many trees and trees make prickly cones, so Dobby thought there'd be many cones and there is, there is!" Dobby pointed at the ground littered with brown, spiky balls. "Have I been bad?"

            "No… It's okay Dobby. It's just a little bit odd. Just don't sneak up on me, especially here. But it was nice seeing you again."

            Dobby nodded. "Me too, me too." And he continued to collect the cones.

            The rest of the day set Harry's nerves at ease. He had never seen anyone else near Sirius's grave before, and well, Dobby did catch him by surprise. There was no reason to suspect Dobby to be up to no good. Perhaps Harry was just a bit jumpy.

            After prancing about the town for several hours, Harry decided he should poke his head into the Dursley's home before they noticed he was gone so long. When Harry finally found himself back at Privet Drive, there something very strange sitting on the front stoop.

            An ugly, ruddy owl with choppy feathers and a twisted beak sat there. In its mouth was a brown packages tied with a string. A loop of the string bow hung in the owl's beak.

            "Is that you, Pig?" Harry asked.

He approached the little owl and reached down to take the package. The happy little bird chirped and tweeted and danced about. It was so proud of itself that it ruffled up its feathers and perked up and out its round chest.

"I bet it's from Ron," Harry said. "Come on in, Pig. I'm sure Hedwig will let you take a drink from her water."

Harry opened the door and just as quietly, shut it. He tried so carefully to tip toe up the stairs as to not alert the Dursleys to his arrival. Just as he made it to the top stair, he could hear Vernon's voice echoing in the kitchen.

But Harry did not stop. Instead, he grabbed Pig under his left armpit and the package in the right, and made a dart for his room. He jolted onto his bed, dropped the owl and the box and ran back to the door to lock it quickly.

"Sorry," Harry said to Pig who rotated its head around in a daze.

Sitting next to the confused owl was the brown package. Harry picked it up and shook it next to his ear but didn't hear anything. It was a light box, so there couldn't have been more than paper inside.

"I wonder why Ron couldn't just send me a letter," Harry said as he tried to untie the string.

After some tugging, the string was loosened and fell off easily. Next, the paper was ripped off and all that was left was a very small shoebox. It had to have been from one of Ginny's kid shoes because a picture of a ballerina slipper was on the side.

Quickly, Harry pulled the top off to reveal a shiny, golden object and a note underneath. Harry lifted both up at once and read the letter first to himself.

"Harry,

You won't believe what Hermione's parents got her! Lucky for her she got really good OWLS results. And guess who else got good ones? You won't believe it, but it's me! Maybe they sent me the wrong ones… My dad is even letting me use his car for our trip. He had to pull a few dozen strings, but he made sure it's all right.

Wait, I didn't even tell you yet! Hermione got two extra tickets for a trip with her folks to China to see the Chinese Fireball dragons!

And guess who she asked to come? You and me! By the way, Hermione asked me to use Pig 'cause she doesn't trust your Uncle or Aunt in giving you the package through Muggle mail. Send back Pig soon, and if you need a ride, you know who to ask. See you on the 13th.

                                                                                                            -Ron"

"Wicked! The 13th?" Harry said to himself.

He ran to his Quidditch desk calendar and stared at the square that read 'Sunday, July 11.'

"He expects me to be ready by Tuesday? Is he mad?" Harry said as he ran back to his bed.

Underneath the letter he had just put down on his bed was the golden object. It was rectangular in the shape and about a half an inch thick. It didn't weigh anything actually when Harry picked it back up.

"West Pacific Tour Lines," Harry read to himself…

Great, they were supposed to be on a Muggle ship. Of course, Hermione's parents were Muggles, so they'd fit right in. Harry knew the Dursleys wouldn't let him go on a vacation with his friends. Perhaps he didn't have to tell them?

If he just left with Ron, what could the Dursleys do about it? They should be happy. Harry grabbed a scrap piece of paper and quickly wrote a response to Ron.

"Ron,

            Excellent! I'll see you on Tuesday. Try to be quiet when you come. And tell Hermione I said thanks!

                                                                                                            -Harry"

He then rolled up the scrap parchment and placed it on Pig's leg. He tied it with the string from the package and patted Pig on the back.

"This is going to be fantastic," Harry said to himself.

Little did Harry know that the West Pacific Tour Lines traveled dangerously close to the eastern shore lines of modern day Japan… Little did Harry know that two wizards and one witch on a Muggle ship cause so much trouble… Little did Harry know that soon, worrying about Dobby would be the least of his troubles.