Disclaimer: No money is being made by this. It is JK Rowlings world that our imagination just played in.
Chapter 6 Ma and Dad's
Harry landed back in Grimmauld Place with a bit of a dilemma. He was hurt and he was wet. The warming charm had come in handy but it didn't block the rain. He thought he might recommend a rain block to the manufacturers of the motorcycle. He tried a wandless drying charm before he left Mrs. Black's bedroom, but he definitely looked the worse for wear.
He stopped by a loo to clean and bandage the cut high on his shoulder and flung a towel over it to hide it from Phineas' view before going to his room. He grabbed some nightclothes and quickly made his way down the trunk. An automatic glance at the Weasley door he noticed they were settled for the night again. Ginny's stress ball and present were missing. There was a note left in their place. 'Thank you for the present.' Harry hoped she liked it. It was a charm for her bracelet in the shape of their exercise bike. He felt it was a thin line to tread. He wasn't sure if she had been serious about dating Dean but if she was he didn't want to offend Dean by getting anything too personal. But she wasn't some total stranger either.
Harry relaxed in a nice, warm bath. It felt wonderful after the chilled, wet night. He thought he might not take any more rides now, at least for a while. He had no other destinations to try, except the 'Ma and Dad's' and he figured that would just return him to Grimmauld Place.
Harry returned to his room and picked up his new magical stress ball that was setting beside his bed. He climbed under his covers and gave it a squeeze. Phoenix song filled his mind and he smiled as he drifted off to sleep.
The next few days Harry spent mostly trying to stay out of his House elf's way. Winky was almost done with her kitchen and Dobby was always right by her side. The kitchen was looking completely different than before. It was bright and cheery. The table was smooth and the chairs matched. The cooking appliances shone as well as hanging pots and pans. It reminded Harry a bit of the Hogwarts kitchen. Winky definitely had ideas of what she wanted and was becoming much less shy about stating them. Her suggestions to Harry didn't seem to seek his approval as her first ones so desperately did. They were more informing him of what was going to be, and Harry was fine with that.
Harry was glad Winky didn't seem to need the attention she did before; at least not from him. When he thought of the difference from not even a month ago…
Harry spent the next few days and evenings practicing down in his trunk, listening to the Wireless or reading. He was beginning to get restless again. He was tempted to visit the Weasley's again, but knew he couldn't just pop out of Ginny's trunk, especially if she didn't have privacy and there could be alarms for any male in the dorm. But he was tempted. His friends were so close, yet so far away and it was driving him mad.
He talked with Remus on Wednesday, thinking how he could easily picture Remus living in an upstairs apartment of some old lady's house. Remus asked if he had any other visions and Harry gladly told him how he hadn't been having any problems at all. He occasionally still got a twinge and even the odd jolt of a foreign emotion, but much less than before. He thought he would ask Dumbledore about it when he next saw him. He wasn't sure if it meant he hadn't mastered Occlumency since Voldemort could still get through or since he pretty much needed the stress ball to calm him down before sleeping. Well, he knew he hadn't 'mastered' it, but he knew he had a good beginning.
On Friday Harry was looking for another book to read. Nothing was holding his attention anymore. He saw at the end of the row his Dad's journal. He only read bits at a time because, frankly, his father's handwriting wasn't the best and not the easiest to read. He thought he was probably good enough with the wordless and wandless magic to proceed to the next step, except his friends weren't and he couldn't do the trance by himself anyway. At least he didn't think so. He took the journal down.
22-Oct-75
We've come a ways on the Wordless magic, but Wandless magic is still iffy. I say 'we' but that's excluding Peter. Remus and I have each been trying to do some one on one with Peter to get him to be able to get close to where we are, but nothing yet. Remus, of course, is trying any spell; I've been working only with the 'Espiritufalsus'. The book we read said that if you can hold the animation spell for five minutes wordlessly and wandlessly, you should be able to complete the Animagus spell. It's not that easy but we will do it. It sure was the pits that we had to waste a whole summer not being able to practice. Someone should do something about that underage law!
I was thinking that when we succeed we could give each other nicknames. I think that would be kinda neat. I can't wait until we do succeed. I know Remus still keeps expecting that we will leave him because of what he is just one night a month.
Found another thing about the animal we can turn into. Had to do something this summer, so we actually spent some time reading! Well, we didn't dedicate our life to it, but Sirius found the animating spell thing and I found that the wizard's level of power limits what animal he can become. I think Peter's dream of being a dragon is totally out. I hope our dreams of being large animals aren't out.
Basically – 'The size of the animal can be an indication of a witch or wizard's power. The smaller the animal, the less powerful the person; the larger the animal, the more powerful the person.' – of course right there Sirius was making raunchy jokes about it not being the size of the animal, but what you can do with it, but to continue…
'An exception comes with magical creatures. A cat that is part kneazle could be more powerful than a wizard who is an elephant, though not always; and a pure magical moke lizard would be much more powerful than any non-magical creature even though it's size is only ten inches.'
I don't know if McGonagall's cat form is part kneazle or not, but I expect it is because I've heard Ma talk about her being a powerful witch.
Speaking of Ma, I guess old McGonagall followed through on her threat of owling Ma and Dad on the Head Table Vanishing prank. Ma sent a howler like you wouldn't believe. She not only yelled at me, but also Sirius. Not too surprising since he spent most of the summer with us. Ma says that he's practically become another Potter. Sure was funny, though, with all the teachers with their laps full of food…
'Ma and Dad'? Could the destination on the motorcycle be his grandparent's place? Harry started breathing faster. He had to see. Suddenly Harry couldn't wait for night to fall again.
As for the spell to practice for the Animagus transformation, he would have to look through his books to see if it was in there. There may be certain movements or something that help with the spell. Harry quickly scanned the titles in front of him. None seemed a likely candidate for an animation spell.
'Ma and Dad'. Harry wanted to find out now, but knew he had to wait. He could probably leave in about four hours. It wouldn't be totally dark yet, but maybe it was a long drive. He could keep the invisibility booster on if it was short and keep out of sight. He hoped it wasn't raining, but he would go even if it was.
Harry remembered the rip in the jacket and cloak. He thought he would ask Winky if she could mend them. Harry left the trunk and made his way upstairs.
Winky was happy to mend the jacket and cloak even though she was appalled at the blood on them. Harry left them with her asking her to return them to Mrs. Black's room instead of his. She looked at him suspiciously, but didn't say anything. She was still too much the good house elf to ever question her master.
Harry moved on to find his new schoolbooks. He looked through them for a couple of hours and there were some basic animating spells, but not the one mentioned. Harry decided to see if he could order a book from Flourish and Blotts. But that could wait. Now Harry was going to eat some dinner and get ready to go out again.
The night was overcast but dry. There was almost no moon being not quite two weeks away from the full moon. The Triumph vibrated along with Harry's heart. He still couldn't quite believe that he was on his way to his Grandparent's house. He had been half afraid that the bike would do a 180 and return him to Grimmauld Place and he couldn't keep in the whoop of joy and excitement when instead the bike turned south.
He flew for about half an hour. The English countryside spread out below in the darkening twilight. Soon Harry started hearing the sound of the sea. The Triumph started descending and lightly touched down along a country lane. Shortly he turned into what looked the entrance of a private drive.
All of a sudden the bike slowed to a stop. A circle appeared in the air to his right. A voice intoned, "Place your hand through the circle for ward recognition."
Harry hadn't run into this before. He briefly wondered what would happen if the wards didn't recognize him, but he hadn't come all this way to turn around without trying. Harry placed his hand through the circle.
Everything suddenly went dark and Harry was no longer on his bike or even outside. As Harry's eyes started adjusting to the light, he reached for his wand. It wasn't on him anymore. Harry started recognizing shapes. He recognized vertical bars coming down in front of him. It looked like he was in some sort of holding cell. Harry tried "Alohamora" but nothing opened.
Harry tried a Lumos spell. A small ball of light settled above his hand. He couldn't tell much more about his surroundings than in the dingy darkness, but he did find a cot to sit on in the cell.
Harry sat down and heaved a large sigh. He let the light go out. He hoped someone came soon. Come to think of it, if this was his grandparents place, he hoped there was someone alive to come.
After about ten minutes Harry heard a noise across the room. Slowly a door opened. A short creature came waddling in. Harry couldn't tell much about him. The door closed behind him and the creature moved towards a table. He struck a match and lit a lantern. He lifted it up and moved towards Harry.
"Let Gilly see what Gilly caught today." he said in a low, rasping voice. He was a house elf who looked older than Kreacher had been. He peered nearsightedly at Harry. "Move closer, yous."
Harry got up from the cot and moved closer to the house elf. The elf was wearing a worn toga-style towel with a crest that Harry couldn't see clearly. He had bits of gray hair on his head and his nose was as short as Winky's but as pointed as Dobby's. The house elf looked up in surprise and said, "Master James? No…No…Yous is trying to trick old Gilly. Old Gilly won't be tricked by that Polyjuice. Who is yous?" The old elf looked suspiciously at Harry.
"My name is Harry."
"Why is yous coming to this place? Who is yous looking for?" The voice sounded like rough gravel and almost painful to the ears.
"This is where my Godfather's motorcycle drove me. I was hoping this was where the Potter's had lived."
"This be their place. Who be your Godfather?"
"My Godfather was Sirius Black. On his bike this was listed as 'Ma and Dad's'."
"I's remember young Black. He and Master James, they was right wild ones they was. Leastways until Miss Lily settled him down." The old elf gave a slightly wheezy chuckle.
Gilly sank into memories for several minutes. Finally Harry felt he needed to interrupt. "Gilly, what is this place?"
"Eh? This be the interrogation room. If yous not known by the wards, yous sent here. Gilly's job is to find out who yous is. If yous belong, Gilly let you though; but if'n yous don't belong…" Gilly suddenly looked up with a sharp look on his face. "Yous said young Black was your Godfather? Where's young Black?"
Harry looked at his hands before looking back to the old elf. "He died last June."
The elf shook his head sorrowfully. "'Tis a pity. Another one gone. Do you know of Master James and Miss Lily? They said they was going away only for a little, but they'd not come back to see Gilly."
"They died almost fifteen years ago."
Gilly was nodding his head. "Gilly knowed something like that happened. Master James and Miss Lily would've come to see Old Gilly long before now. Gilly supposes it was You-Know-Who?"
Harry nodded. "Yes. He came to their house. They died and their house was destroyed."
"How be you knows this? Your Godfather tell you?" Gilly was peering closely at Harry again.
"They were my parents."
Gilly's eyes opened to their fullest extent and he fell down. "You…be…Master Harry?"
"Well…I'm Harry. Harry Potter." Harry reached down through the bars to help the old elf back up.
"Master Harry, forgive old Gilly. Old Gilly's magic is failing and don't knows wizards likes I used to. If'n you be Master James boy, would yous just go to the back and place yous hand on the circle thing back there? That will nip your finger a bit and turn orange if'n you be of the Potter line."
Harry shrugged and walked to the back. There was another circle as there had been outside, but this one was smaller. Harry placed his hand in the circle and felt a sharp pressure on one of his fingers, like a small doxy bite. The circle glowed orange around his hand and he pulled his hand back out. The sting from his finger already faded and there was no mark on it. Harry walked back over to the bars at the front of his cell.
Gilly had his eyes scrunched closed and snapped his fingers. He peeked one eye open, saw nothing changed and scrunched it closed again. He started mumbling some words softly to himself and snapped his fingers again. The eye peeked open again and this time he heaved a panicked breath. He walked over to the bars and started to bang his head against them.
Harry reached through and grabbed hold of the old elf's head. "Gilly! Gilly! Stop! What are you doing?"
The elf looked up with fearful eyes. "Gilly's magic can't open the doors. You is stuck. What is Gilly to do?" Gilly went to bang his head against the bars again, but Harry held him back.
"Stop. Stop. Punishing yourself won't help. Is there some spell I could do? I tried Alohamora earlier, but it didn't work." Harry was trying to think of other alternatives.
Gilly's eyes widened. "Gilly can get Master Harry his wand. Gilly go now!" Gilly ran off to get Harry's wand.
In a moment he came wheezing back. He triumphantly handed Harry his wand. "Thanks, Gilly. The only problem is that I'm 16. I'm not allowed to use wand magic." As Gilly's face fell, Harry continued. "It might be okay, though. I've been practicing wandless magic. What is the spell?"
"It be the break out spell. Much stronger than the open lock spell. 'Erumpo' is the word. It lifts the bars back up." Gilly looked like he was trying to think of what else they could do. His fists started curling up and he was pressing them against his head. From experience with Dobby, Harry knew it was only a matter of time before he started hitting himself.
Harry took his focus off of the elf and put it on the bars. It sounded like they should explode out and up. Harry thought that maybe it would be like a garage door. The old elf said it needed a lot of power so Harry focused intently on the power gathering in his chest then threw his hands forwards saying forcefully, "Erumpo!" trying to force the bottom of the bars to swing upward.
The spell seemed to cause a minor explosion. The bottom of the bars did swing up. They hit the ceiling and the whole set came crashing down to the floor. Dust swirled up, causing Harry to start choking on it. The force sent Gilly flying back into the wall.
"Oops. Gilly are you all right? Sorry 'bout that." Harry coughed through the gloom, looking for the old elf. Harry just heard rasping breathing from the side of the room.
Harry picked through the debris until he was kneeling by the elf. Gilly was holding his left arm. It was obviously injured. "Oh! I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to get hurt! Is there someone around who can help you? Can I help you?"
Gilly turned painful eyes towards Harry. Even through the pain, Harry could see some confusion. "Master Harry would help Gilly? Gilly prisoned Master Harry! Gilly not deserve help."
Harry shook his head. "Yes, you do deserve help. How can I help you?"
"Master cannot help Gilly. Only house elf magic can fix arm. And Gilly is last house elf. Others all die. Gilly be the last house elf to serve Master Harry." Harry could see that Gilly's breathing was not going well. He needed to get him out of this mess.
"Could I call other house elves here to help you?"
"They could not find this place. Only house elves that serves Potters can find."
Harry brightened. "Well, that's okay then. Dobby! Winky!" Harry called to the two elves that lived with him.
Winky appeared with a crack. "Harry Potter, sir! What can Winky be doing for Harry Potter?" Winky started looking around with shock on her face at the dusty mess that was around her.
Harry motioned toward Gilly. "There was a bit of an accident and Gilly was hurt. Can you help him?"
Winky blinked a few times then seemed to snap out of it. She leaned over the injured house elf. She ran one hand about 3 inches above his body until she stopped over his arm. She had a look of compassion on her face as if she realized something then she closed her eyes and snapped her long fingers.
Gilly's breathing instantly evened out. Harry let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Winky. By the way, this is Gilly. Gilly, this is Winky. Gilly, is there somewhere I can take you where you'll be more comfortable?"
It looked like Winky's bottom lip started to quiver, then she bit down on it firmly. Tears started building in her eyes. Gilly looked tired. He silently pointed out the door. Harry got up and then lifted the old house elf in his arms. He was heavier than he thought he would be, but with the working out he'd been doing this summer, Harry managed all right. He carefully picked his way through the rubble to the door. Winky followed behind.
The elf started to rasp, "Master Harry mustn't be carrying old Gilly. Masters don't be carrying house elves."
Harry just stated, "This one does."
Harry carried the elf through the door and into another darkened room. "Winky, can you light it up in here?"
"Of course, sir. Winky be glad to." She snapped her fingers and the room lit. It was a little room with a small bed over in one corner. Harry gently laid the old elf on his bed. The old elf closed his eyes. Harry glanced over to Winky.
"Could Dobby not come? Or was he busy?" He was curious why only Winky came when he called both of them. Normally Dobby would try to get near Harry first.
Winky shrugged her small shoulders. "Winky be not knowing."
The raspy voice from the bed asked, "Is this Dobby Master Harry's house elf?"
"Well, no. He prefers to be a free house elf. He's my friend, though and I was just surprised he didn't come as well."
"This house be protected very well. Dobby wouldn't be able to come."
Winky's eyes got wide and she started to shake her head. "Oooh. Dobby not like that!"
"Gilly? Is there any way I can let Dobby in?" Harry thought Dobby might be getting frantic if he couldn't find Harry.
The old house elf pointed to another door. "If Master Harry go out that door, Master be outside wards. Master could call to Dobby again and Dobby could get there. If Master wants to let trusted ones in, Master just need say recognition spell and lead them in. Then they be able to find." Gilly started to get agitated as he had a thought. "Spell does not need to be as strong as break out spell. Master Harry must be strong wizard."
Harry shrugged. He looked at Winky, silently asking her to take care of the old elf for a moment. Winky nodded back. Harry left through the second door.
Standing outside, he was right by his bike again. Harry called out for Dobby and Dobby popped right next to him and grabbed his middle in a relieved squeeze.
"Harry Potter needed help and Dobby couldn't find Harry Potter! Winky went missing, too. Is Harry Potter all right?" Dobby's ears were flapping back in forth in his agitation.
"I'm fine, Dobby." Harry tried to ease out of Dobby's enthusiastic greeting hold. "This is my Grandparent's place. There was a bit of trouble, but it's all okay now. It's just that the wards won't let you through. I asked an old house elf who lives here about it and he told me how to get them to recognize you so you'll be able to come here, too. I haven't done it before, but I'll give it a try."
Dobby's eyes grew as he felt the honor that Harry wanted him to have access to another of his homes. Harry turned toward the shimmer of orange. He spoke the same incantation he heard Mrs. Weasley say when they gave him the trunk. There was a brief flare of light then Harry led the way back to the door he could see just beyond the shimmer. Dobby was able to follow him through.
Harry could hear a bit of the conversation between Winky and Gilly. Gilly had the impression that Winky must be a high ranking house elf because of her style of clothes, but he didn't understand the crest. "Where did that crest come from? That is not the Potter crest."
"I don't believe Harry Potter, sir, knowed his family crest, so this one got made. The 'P' for Potter and the jagged edge for his scar." Harry hadn't really thought of it before, but it was kinda cool.
Harry introduced Dobby to Gilly and they each looked at each other curiously. Harry looked more closely at the crest that Gilly wore. He'd never seen it before. It was divided in three. The entire right side had a lion rising on it's back paws and the left side top had a sword and the left bottom was a wizard's hat. "Is that the Potter crest?"
"Yes, Master Harry. That be the Potter crest for a thousand years. Master Harry, you need not stay with Gilly. You go on up to see your house." Gilly gave a cough. Harry looked at him closely.
"Yes. You be going, Harry Potter, sir. Winky and Dobby be staying with Gilly. We's be making sure he be ok." Winky took Harry's hand and led him to the door. "Gilly says that you just needs to follow the drive to the house."
"All right, but if you need anything, come and get me." And Harry turned and left.
Harry got back on the bike and could now drive through the orange 'balloon'. He followed the drive. It was quite long and he imagined it was quite overgrown. Night had now fallen and all he could see was what his headlight illuminated. Finally he rounded a last corner and the headlight illuminated a large building. Harry figured this was the main house.
He parked the bike and approached the front doors. The building looked totally deserted. It was huge. It wasn't a castle or anything, but it was a very grand house; or it was at one time. It looked neglected. No wonder. It had been empty for at least 15 years, probably more.
As Harry approached the door, it opened for him. He figured the recognition of the wards must key into the house somehow. As Harry entered, lights flared in dusty sconces along the wall. Tentatively Harry called out a greeting. "Hello?"
Harry heard a noise to his left. There was a large portrait on the wall of a small-one story cottage. Harry thought it might have been what the house in Godric's Hollow might have looked like before it had been destroyed. A man stepped into the picture.
"Harry? Is that you? Sirius said he would be bringing you by this summer, but I didn't think it would be so late in the summer or so late at night!" The man in the portrait had iron-grey hair that stuck up in the back. Harry felt a slight, inappropriate pang of disappointment. Somehow he had always thought that as he got older, his hair would start to behave. He had a long slender face and he wore a pair of glasses. His eyes were a deep brown and he was dressed in somewhat modern robes. He looked to be in his late 50's. He turned to look back at the cottage and shouted, "Ma! Ma! Young Harry is here!" He turned back to Harry. "Where is your Godfather? I thought I heard his motorcycle."
At that moment, the door opened from the cottage and a woman in what Harry guessed was her mid-50's came out. She was wearing an elegant robe in blue and her black hair was swept up on top of her head. "Will you stop with that awful name!" She looked at Harry. "It's so good to finally meet you, dear. My! You look so much like James." She looked past him. "Now where is that rascal of a Godfather of yours? I have a bone to pick with him that it took him so long to take you here."
"I…I'm afraid that Sirius died last June. Right before school got out." Harry had to explain for the second time that night. The woman gave a shocked gasp and the man went over to her and put an arm around her shoulders. She leaned into him and buried her face into his shoulder. The man patted her back.
Harry gave them some time to pull themselves back together. Seeing their grief brought his back to the surface. He looked around trying to distract himself. He noticed that everything looked very nicely done, there was just a thick layer of dust on everything. He saw some curtains across the way that opened to a huge picture window. It was too dark to see the view, but he could see the curtains swaying a bit and could hear a buzzing noise coming from them. With his cleaning experience of last year, he knew some doxies had probably moved in. He wondered if any other nasty little things made their way into the abandoned mansion.
This did seem to be a mansion. It was huge. The ceiling was at least 25 feet, and there were double doors leading into other rooms. This entrance hall was probably bigger than all of Grimmauld Place.
Harry heard a clearing of a throat. He turned his attention back to the portrait. They had gotten themselves back under control. The lady spoke. "I apologize for that breakdown. He was like another son to me."
Harry looked to his feet. "I know. I'm sorry, too. I miss him, too."
The man got a puzzled expression on his face. "If he didn't bring you here, how did you get here?"
Harry explained about the AutoPilots on his motorcycle and how by reading his father's journal he put together that 'Ma and Dad' might actually be his grandparents. Harry stopped there. "Er…you are my grandparents? Aren't you?"
The man looked surprised that Harry wasn't sure. "Oh, yes. I guess I never did introduce myself. I'm John Potter and this is Mary, my lovely wife; better known as 'Ma'"
Mary glared at her husband. "Only because you got your son started using that ridiculous name. 'Ma'. Other women get a more dignified 'mother', but me? 'Ma'. I tell you…"
Harry grinned at her rambling. He put a serious look on his face. "You don't need to worry, Ma'am. I won't continue it."
John frowned slightly, but Mary looked up with a look of pleased surprise on her face. "Oh?"
"Yeah. I won't call you 'Ma'…GrandMa." John burst out in laughter as Mary started sputtering.
"You're going to be another just like them! I don't know where they get it from. Wait… yes I do." She glared at her husband. He calmed his laughter.
"We only do it because we love you, dearest. Don't you want to stand out from the rest?" She had a thoughtful look on her face.
"I'm rather glad they did call you 'Ma'. If they hadn't, I might never had tried to use that button and I never would have found this place. I had just assumed it went to Padfoots' mother, and as that's where I stay I wasn't going to push it, until I read that my Dad and Sirius used to call you 'Ma'." Harry saw a flash of something go across her expression.
"Then I won't ever object to it again. I'm glad you found your way here, son." She smiled at him gently.
"I'm Harry. Pleased to meet you."
Harry spent the next two hours chatting with his grandparents. His Granddad noticed he had called Sirius 'Padfoot' and they chatted about animagus capabilities. He proudly told Harry that his father, Harry's Great-Grandfather had been a Tebo, a magical warthog that could turn invisible. He went on to explain that his abilities had been the main reason this house was so protected. It was unplottable and tracking spells randomly fizzled 100 kilometers out from the property edge or went in false directions. He had become an animagi as a young wizard when his cousin had been bit by a werewolf and he would stay with him during full moons, which is where James had gotten the idea for them to become animagi. The wards weren't as strong as the Fidelius charm that surrounded Grimmauld Place, but it was one of the more highly protected wizarding homes.
His grandparents were quite up to date on current events. It seemed that Sirius had made a few trips out to see them and collect some of James old things for Harry. He had intended to use them as a preview of things to come. He was going to give the box to Harry as soon as school was out, and then when his Dursley time was over, he would take him to the house.
Harry asked if he could get a list of who had access to the house and his grandfather said that the security elf at the gate would have that if he was still alive. Harry mentioned that he had met Gilly and that was how he got in. His grandfather seemed pleased that Gilly was still alive. He had been the strongest elf left when James and Lily went into hiding and so had been stationed as the security guard.
Eventually Harry decided to leave and come back another time. He said goodnight and made his way outside. He drove back to the edge of the property, a good twenty minutes of slow, careful driving around bends and tight turns. At the guard entrance, Harry knocked on the door and Dobby let him in. Gilly had rested while Harry was at the house and Winky had watched over him and straightened up his living area for him, reinforcing some lighting, heating and food supply charms. Harry thought she had connected it somehow with her kitchen at Grimmauld Place. Dobby had gone back into the interrogation area and made it secure again.
Gilly sat back up to attention as Harry came close to him. Harry pulled out a chair and sat down. "Gilly, are you feel up to talking a bit more? I have a few questions. But they can wait if you don't feel up to it now."
Gilly perked up his ears. "Gilly is being much better now, Master Harry. What is what you wants to ask?"
Harry asked where the list of people with access to this property was and Gilly pointed to a small desk. Dobby retrieved it and Harry noticed that the list wasn't very long. Gilly explained that it was a self-updating list. If a person died, their name automatically was removed from the list. Gilly also explained that even if someone was on the list, it didn't mean that they knew where the house was located, only that they had permission to enter if they happened to find the house. Since James had disconnected the floo, Gilly doubted any at all actually knew the location.
Most names Harry didn't recognize. There was one he did, though. Peter Pettigrew. Harry quickly asked how to un-authorize a person and performed it straight away. Remus' name was still on the list, too, but Harry didn't have a problem with that. Harry took a few moments and removed any names he was not familiar with from the list. If it ended being someone who should have access, such as a local vendor he figured he could re-add them later.
When he had finished, Harry turned his attention back to Gilly. "Gilly, are you all right here? Do you want to come back with us?"
Gilly shook his head. "Gilly be staying at his post. Gilly has job to do and Gilly be doing it."
Harry smiled at the old elf and patted his shoulder. "You've done a fine job." Harry turned to Winky. "Is it possible for Gilly to call for help if he needs it?"
Winky nodded. "Winky will listen for Gilly's call if Harry Potter, sir, wants."
Harry nodded. "I'd appreciate that, Winky. Thank you."
When Harry arrived back at Number 12, he called Winky over to him. He asked how Gilly really was doing.
"Gilly's magic is almost completely gone, sir." Winky said in a small voice, almost as if she felt she was tattling.
"I realize that. I was just wondering if it was some sickness that could be helped or if it was just old age coming on. What happens when a house elf starts to get old and lose his magic?"
"When house elves is losing their magic, they usually only has a year at most to live. It be the Master's decision what happens to them." Winky wouldn't make eye contact with Harry. "Gilly is getting old. His time will be coming soon."
Harry thanked her and went to his room to think.
The next morning Harry went quickly through his exercises in the trunk, then had breakfast with Dobby and Winky. "I'd like to go back today and see it in the light, but I don't think it would be safe for me to fly. Would one of you be willing to bring me there?"
Both house elves were eager to help Harry go back there again. Both were also curious about this new house and wanted to see it for themselves. Harry went upstairs and snuck his Firebolt out of his room. Phineas didn't seem to be in his portrait, but Harry wasn't taking any chances.
He met up with the elves in the kitchen and they all went to the Potter Estate. They checked in with Gilly first. Gilly seemed much recovered and was happy to see them as well. Harry offered to let him come along on their tour of the estate if he wanted, but Gilly declined. He said he wanted to stay at his post. Harry suspected that Gilly knew it would take too much out of him to do that much walking.
Harry told the elves that he wanted to fly over the grounds and would meet them at the house. Both nodded and popped away. Harry got on his Firebolt for the first time in close to a year. As the ground fell away Harry took a good look around. With the advantage of height, Harry could see the outline of the property. It wasn't too difficult to tell where the edges were, because there was an abrupt change from well-tended and cared for to almost jungle-like. Harry imagined that at one time it had been gorgeous, but that time was some years back. There was a lawn area directly in front of the house, big enough to play Quidditch over. Surrounding what had been the lawn was a wild jungle of overgrown plants and trees. Harry thought there may have been some gardens or walking paths. He was happy to see that the twenty minute ride to the entrance was more due to the winding driveway than to actual distance. Directly behind the house were cliffs that fell to the sea. In the bright sunlight, Harry could appreciate the view. The house appeared to have been built on one side of an area where the sea dug into the land. The house side was a bit lower than the other side.
With the general setting in his mind, Harry flew to the house and landed near the entry. As Harry approached the opening door he looked up and froze.
"Oh, wow!" The view Harry saw through the back windows was more than impressive. As the house had been built on one side of the cove, the back had a view of not only the sea, but also of the impressive cliffs. The picture window took up the whole of the back wall.
Dobby and Winky were there as well and enjoyed watching Harry's reaction. His grandparents were also watching him with smiles on their faces. Mary was the one who commented. "That view never failed to take my breath away as long as I lived here."
Harry dragged his eyes away from the view and turned to the portrait. "Hello, Granddad, Grandma." His eyes sparked with a bit of laughter at the automatic wince of his grandmother. "If you liked this place so much, why did you choose Godric's Hollow to be painted by?"
"This is where we lived. Godric's Hollow is where we remember how best to live. Living here can blind you to how life really is. Godric's Hollow is a simple place. Most family members used it as a honeymoon cottage or vacation home. There are no house elves there and life is considerably rougher for your average wizard. That roughness helped keep our focus and kept our heads a little smaller." John gave a small laugh. "We probably should have taken James with us more often when he was younger. We used it more as a get-away for the two of us and he was left behind for short weekends. In his Hogwarts years I believe Lily used to consider him a tad big-headed."
Harry gave a snort. "Yeah. I have to admit this is a far cry from how I grew up." Harry thought you couldn't get much different between this and a cupboard under some stairs.
John kept shooting glances towards the two elves, especially Winky. Harry suddenly recalled himself. "Have you been introduced. Dobby, Winky, these are my Grandparents, John and Mary Potter."
His grandfather cut in to say, "We introduced ourselves earlier. Why don't you start looking around. I'm sure we can talk later. We don't want to take up all your time again like we did last night."
Harry nodded and bid them a farewell and started poking around in the rooms with Dobby and Winky. He mostly wanted to get an overall layout of the house in his head. He'd have time to go through details of each room at some later date.
There were three floors and an attic. The ground floor had the formal dining room, kitchen, a fancy loo, ball room and a games/weapons room with several animal heads that Harry had never seen before. He figured some of them must have been magical creatures. He thought he recognized a Nundu leopard, like the kind that had breathed poisonous gas on Neville's uncle. All the furniture was covered with sheets and everywhere was a thick layer of dust. Behind the kitchens were an almost hidden area from the rest of the house. Harry thought that it seemed to be housing for the house elves and laundry facilities. There were long work tables and a row of small rooms with beds and tiny chests of drawers. Winky and Dobby were impressed with the area.
Rising up one of the two long staircases to the second floor, Harry found several more rooms. There was a more comfortable living room and eating area with a great view of the cliffs, a library, office and a gymnasium with a dueling platform. The third floor seemed to mostly be bedrooms. All had en-suite bathrooms. The master bedroom was very large and consisted of several rooms by itself. One room was obviously a nursery and still had many toys put carefully on the shelves in an attached play room. Harry was getting a feeling of unreality. It was totally unbelievable that he might have been raised to accept this as a normal place to live.
The attic was full of trunks. It was all very neat and orderly. There was an owlery along one side of the attic. It was very neat except for the dust and didn't smell. It obviously hadn't been used in a very long time and must have had a thorough cleaning after the last time it had been used.
Two hours had gone by before the 'fast' tour was over. Harry asked if Winky could pop back to Grimmauld Place and make them some lunch. Harry thought they could share the lunch with Gilly. Harry had some more questions he wanted to ask each of the house elves and thought they could enjoy a lunch while he did.
Winky agreed and with a crack, was gone. Harry got his broom and Dobby popped away. Harry enjoyed the brief flight over the grounds back to the guard house.
Winky was already there when Harry reached the small house. She had lunch spread out on the table and Dobby and Gilly were already sitting there. The table and chairs were small in size and Harry felt like he imagined an adult must feel sitting at a Primer school table. Gilly kept shooting glances between Harry and the other two elves. He obviously wasn't sure about the master eating with the house elves, but it was also obvious that Winky and Dobby were used to such things so he held his tongue.
They had general conversation during their lunch about what they saw at the house. After they finished their lunch, Harry mentioned his main concern. He wanted their opinions on this next part of the conversation. "You three know a lot more than me about what it takes to run a property. What do you suggest I do? I'll be going back to school and I need to be living at Grimmauld Place mostly during the summer, but I hate the idea of leaving this abandoned. Any suggestions?"
"M…Master Harry is asking for Gilly's suggestions?" The old elf's eyes were wide.
"Yes, Gilly. You have been at this house for a long time. Being the elf in the Guard Shack, you were obviously well trusted by my family. I've only been part of this world for five years. I'm not sure how things happen in households. Yes, I would gladly listen to you."
Gilly's eyes started watering and his hands started to shake. When he spoke, his voice was in a horse whisper. "B…But G…Gilly's m…magic…is g…gone." He hung his head as if waiting for the executioners blow.
"Gilly, that doesn't matter to me. You are more than just magic. You are a trusted part of my family. But I do believe in choice and I give you the choice to stay in my service or freedom. Either way you are welcome to stay here."
Gilly looked up confused. Dobby and Winky leaned over and quickly explained their backgrounds with Harry.
"Gilly prefers to serve, Master Harry."
"And I am happy to have you serve, for as long as you want." At that moment a strange thing happened. Gilly's towel toga blurred and became a dignified uniform, something similar to what Harry had seen in pictures of the Queen's Guard. Dobby and Winky clapped their hands and Harry just looked confused. Gilly looked at his uniform and the tears in his eyes fell down his face. He pulled a handkerchief from his front pocket and stared at it in amazement. In the corner was the same stylized 'P' that was on Winky's dress. His uniform had the same crest he had before. He used the handkerchief to dry his face.
Harry wasn't sure what just happened with the clothing thing, but now that they were distracted with the serving issue, he thought he'd clear some more things up.
"Gilly, this is a request, not an order. I prefer not to be called 'Master'. It's just a personal quirk of mine. I do realize that it is a very common title to use, so I don't mind if there are slip ups from time to time, but I would rather you just use my name. I also have a friend who is working on modifying the enslavement spell for existing serving house elves so that you and any of your children have a choice on whether to serve or if, like Dobby, freedom is preferred it can be obtained by choice of the house elf. Of course, as long as I am master you can always request it of me and I would grant you freedom."
Gilly was making a wheezing, choking noise. Harry thought he might be trying to suppress laughter. Gilly looked up. "Gilly will need not that spell. Gilly prefers service and Gilly is too old for children." His lips twitched again and Harry couldn't help but smile at the amusement of the old house elf.
"Well, that just proves again how much I don't know or understand about the wizarding world." Harry grimaced deprecatingly at his ignorance.
"Oh, 'tis not how the wizarding world is doing things. Old Master John and his ancestors had a tradition of taking older house elves into their service. Elves that is been turned out of their previous positions. But he would only take elves that was past bearing age. Master John did not want enslaved child elves. Many wizarding masters turns out elves when they is past bearing age. They's believes the elves value is less. Yous is very like Master John." The old elf gave an approving look to Harry. Harry smiled under the approval.
Winky decided to get the conversation back on track. "Harry Potter, sir, Winky does not know if we will be able to help with what you is wanting. Winky knows how to run house like Harry Potter's London house, but not this size house. Many house elves be needed here. What you is needing is a head house elf."
Dobby started jumping up and down on his seat. "Dobby knows! Dobby knows just who is good for helping Harry Potter! Dobby heard that Tubow is been released. Tubow would know what to do for estate like this!"
Harry frowned in confusion. "Tubow?"
Winky nodded. "Yes. Tubow would be good for Harry Potter. Tubow ran the Abbott estate. That estate be bigger than this."
"Would Tubow be trustworthy?"
"Oh, yes, sir. Dobby has no doubts about Tubow. Tubow is good house elf."
Harry had Winky bring him back to Grimmauld Place while Dobby left to search for Tubow. Winky confessed that they may have problems finding Tubow. Winky knew Tubow also, but he had been freed over half a year ago. Chances were he was not in good shape. Harry started wondering if house elves lasted so little after their magic left them mainly because they were usually freed at that point.
The next few days passed with Harry taking trips to the estate with Winky. He always made sure he left from the kitchen where Phineas wouldn't be able to see. He never stayed for more than a couple of hours, but he was able to explore the house in more detail and have more conversations with his grandparents.
Harry explained Hermione's modification of the enslavement spell and John Potter was very impressed. His attitude towards Winky's enslavement was much improved. He had had concerns that Winky could have still borne children who would be automatically enslaved. Harry thought he would like Hermione.
Dobby found success the following Thursday. He came with Tubow and a young female house elf named Tiz. Tubow was a study in contradictions. He had on a child's tee shirt and shorts. His attitude, however, was quite dignified. Tiz seemed to flutter around him, fussing and worrying over him. Tiz was quite young but had been trained for service at St. Mungo's. She had a very caring attitude and knew quite a lot about taking care of others. Dobby told Harry it was due to her that Tubow stayed as healthy as he was. Tiz had been released from service because she had a slight clumsiness problem.
Dobby had already explained much of Harry's situation so Tubow was prepared for most of Harry's eccentricities. Harry tried to explain a little more what he required of the house elves. He didn't care if they wanted freedom or enslavement; if they wanted pay or not; days off or not; he didn't particularly care how much magic they had. Harry's main concern was that they be loyal to him. He emphasized that this property should be safe, but he was a constant target and he wouldn't put it past Death Eaters to try to get someone, maybe even a house elf, close to Harry. Basically, he just wanted Tubow to be careful when scouting for house elves to work there. Tubow assured him he knew his job. Tubow had a gift of discerning intentions. His gift was not tied to his magic and was as strong as ever. He would be perfect for the position.
Harry showed Tubow and Tiz around along with Dobby, Winky, and even Gilly came along floating on Harry's broom. Tubow was surprised by the housing capacities for the elves. Tubow said he thought the house and grounds could be run efficiently with a third less than the accommodations provided for. Gilly explained how the Potters had taken older house elves in service and not turn out house elves when their magic started to leave and so needed more elves than most estates to cover all the jobs effectively. Harry took that time to explain that with the modification of the spell, age no longer mattered to him.
Gilly proved invaluable in providing information. Even though he was not an 'indoor' elf, he had been to the house many times and knew much of the house and was able to answer many of Tubow's questions.
Towards the end of the tour, Harry asked Winky to fix them some lunch. She popped away and Tiz decided to follow. Harry saw Tubow cringe as she left. He seemed to be mumbling some kind of prayer under his breath.
Everything went well during the lunch. Harry and Tubow decided to fly the grounds after lunch to give Tubow an overview of the outside. He had never flown on a broom before but was willing to give it a try. Harry noticed that Tubow's speech was much more proper than most house elves Harry knew. No that he knew that many. Harry felt comfortable with these two new elves.
After the dinner was over, Harry got on the back of his Firebolt behind Gilly and Tubow and brought Gilly back to the Guard Shack. Harry stayed slow and low to the ground, for Gilly had no interest in going any higher.
After they dropped Gilly off, Harry mentioned that at some point he would like an elf to be hired to help Gilly; not to take his place, but to help him when he requested help. Harry made it clear that he wanted Gilly in charge of that and his position was not to be threatened. Tubow agreed. In fact, he seemed rather unsurprised at the statement.
"Yes, sir. I could tell he is highly honored by you, as is Winky." Harry was confused by the statement, but let it go. They continued with the tour. Harry took Tubow high in the air to get a general layout and then low to the specific places Tubow wanted to see.
Harry also asked questions about Tiz. Tubow mentioned he had met Tiz about a month after he had left his former service. She had just been freed from her job. She started taking care of Tubow from that moment. Tubow seemed a bit embarrassed as he admitted that he had started to let himself go. She convinced him to hang on. Together they traveled. No one wanted Tubow because of his age, but Tiz could sometimes find jobs. Unfortunately she would usually end up breaking something one too many times or tripping too often and she would be given clothes after just a short time. Tubow ashamedly mentioned that in his former position, he, too, would probably have brought things to his masters attention and had her given clothes as well. Then he earnestly turned to Harry and spoke of how she was extremely caring and loyal.
As they headed back for the house, Harry heard a loud wailing coming from the kitchens. He muttered a "Hang on" to Tubow and put the broom in high gear to get back quickly. As they quickly entered the kitchen Harry saw Tiz kneeling on the floor in the midst of broken plates. What horrified Harry was she was banging her head on the floor among the broken shards. Her head was bleeding. Winky was near her, trying to stop the elf from hurting herself more. Harry heard a heavy sigh from behind him as he ran across the broken crockery to the wailing elf. He took her in his arms and carried her away from the mess.
She finally started calming down as Harry restrained her so she couldn't hit herself. The elf's whole attitude showed total dejection. Finally, with hiccupping sobs, she lifted her head and spoke to the sad faced Tubow. "I's tried, Tubow. I's tried my best, but I tripped over a chair leg and dropped the plates. I's sorry. Maybe you can stay."
Harry understood. Tiz thought Harry wouldn't keep her. Harry kneeled in front of her and lifted her head with his hand so she would see his eyes.
"I must have forgotten to mention one other thing about house elves working for me. I don't want them punishing themselves for such trivial things such as broken plates. Plates can be fixed or replaced. I don't like seeing you causing yourself pain. If you're to become my house elf, you will have to stop doing that. Now let's get you fixed up." Tiz and Tubow looked at Harry with wide eyes. Winky stepped forward with a broad smile showing all her teeth and pulled a dazed Tiz away.
Harry grinned over at Tubow. "She reminds me of a lady auror I know. She has a good heart, but her feet keep tripping over anything at all. If housework isn't a strong point for Tiz, could she be a sort of caretaker of the older elves? Making sure they have everything they need to be comfortable?"
Tubow blinked then gathered his composure to answer. "Yes, sir. Tiz has a gift for relating with others of my kind, she just is not so good with handling 'things'. I believe she would do very well at that."
The rest of the time passed quickly. Harry went through the modified ritual with both Tubow and a bandaged Tiz. Tubow formed a dignified suit with some bars across the shoulder which declared him additional privileges as a head house elf. Tubow had power to authorize others to enter the house. He also had, as did Winky, authorization to charge things from Harry's Gringotts vault. His eyes had widened when Harry performed that part of the ritual. Tiz had a plain white dress with a belt. Both had the Potter crest on the front, but the 'P' insignia on any accessory, such as the belt. Both seemed very happy with the outfits they wore.
A/N – We really like house elves. Onwards to Hogwarts, next chapter!