Chapter Two: The Kreacher Fiasco
Harry awakened the next morning to an ear splitting scream that suggested he had been the cause of this fright. He clambered out of bed and shuffled down the stairs to see what all the fuss was about, but as he stepped into the kitchen at the end of the hallway he froze in shock.
Kreacher, the house elf Harry owned, was standing there holding a frying pan above his head, beating Dudley as he ran in circles around Aunt Petunia. As he laughed gleefully, Kreacher came to a halt and stared loathingly at Harry.
"Kreacher, stop that," said Harry automatically, but with disbelief. Kreacher was here, in his house, hitting Dudley with a frying pan. It was a shame to make him stop, because he found it highly amusing to see precious Diddums being walloped unmercifully.
"Kreacher must stop, for the dirty blood traitors friend commanded him to, but Kreacher hates Harry Potter no matter what Dobby says. What mistress would say now if she knew I must live in this dump…"
"Hang on, you haven't got to live here! I sent you to work in the Hogwarts kitchen last year. What the hell are you doing here?" asked Harry incredulously.
"Kreacher was thrown out Harry," answered Professor McGonagall through the doorway. "He bewitched the cauldrons to run away whenever the house elves tried cooking in them. We couldn't control him so he's staying here. I just wanted to make sure this house was where he ended up."
"So, so this, this… thing, has to live he, he, here does it?" whispered Petunia, who was obviously frightened of the tiny rat-like elf standing in the middle of her kitchen.
"Yes I'm afraid so," responded McGonagall with a note of finality in her voice. "Only Harry can control him, and I'm sorry to say, Harry, that you've been forbidden to free him on account of he knows too much information about the Order, as always." Turning to face Petunia: "He can cook, clean, do household work, whatever it is that Potter here tells him to do. See you at Hogwarts Harry." And with that, she twirled her ruby-red cloak around her and Disapparated into thin air.
Harry was terribly lucky that Uncle Vernon was at work; otherwise Harry would have been chucked up in his room and wouldn't be eating dinner for a week. He climbed the stairs to his room, hoping Aunt Petunia would be too shocked to notice. But as he placed his foot on the squeaky bottom step, he heard the shrill cry of her yelling for him to get his behind back into the kitchen.
Bloody hell, Harry thought as he turned on his heel and went back down the stairs. What on Earth am I going to do now?
Just at that moment, the front door swung open forcefully, revealing Uncle Vernon swaggering in with the manager of his company, but stopped dead as he entered the kitchen. Without a second thought, he turned around and guided his guest into the living room instead.
Harry dashed outside and ran down the street to Mrs. Figg's house, remembering that she was a Squib. Maybe she would know what to do about his elf situation.
"GET BACK HERE YOU RUDDY GIT!" screamed Uncle Vernon as he waddled out of the house, attempting to chase after Harry. "GET BACK HERE OR YOU'LL NEVER SHOW FACE IN MY HOUSE AGAIN! I SWEAR BOY I'LL KILL YOU!"
Harry dashed straight on past Mrs. Figg's house and ran into something he couldn't see. He toppled over and crawled backwards fearfully. Running into things you couldn't see was never a good sign in the Muggle world, or the wizarding world for that matter.
"Need a lift, Harry?" asked the air in front of his face. Smiling shyly, Percy Weasley shook off an invisibility cloak that was large enough to cover himself, and a brand new Firebolt 2.0. Percy had basically disowned himself from his own family, and considered Harry to be rather violent and didn't believe Ron should be friends with him. Two years ago he had sent back his Christmas present to his mum and caused the whole family a lot of confusion, and in Mrs. Weasley's cause, heartbreak.
"We'll go back to your place, grab your trunk and be off to the Burrow," he said as they flew back over Vernon's head and through Harry's window.
"PETUNIA, PETUNIA! HE'S GONE THROUGH HIS WINDOW! CATCH HIM, CATCH HIM AND LOCK HIM UP!"
Harry threw all his books and robes and Hedwig's cage in his trunk as Percy quickly locked the door. He could hear Aunt Petunia and Dudley banging on his door and shouting at the top of their lungs. He felt quite sorry for the poor chap from his uncle's work downstairs that would have to have his memory seriously modified after this.
He lept out the window and Percy grabbed his trunk. They both hopped back on the broom, and Harry thought ruefully: This is the second time I've had a house elf inside my house.