A frustrated tear squeezed out of the corner of Harry's eye as he stood at the door, kicking it and struggling to hold the flopping elf in his arms. Dobby's head lolled against his wet cheek and the elf drew in a sudden gasping breath.
"Dobby!" In his rush to get him to safety, Harry hadn't realized that the elf hadn't been breathing. He kicked at the door again.
Harry sighed with relief when he finally heard hurried footsteps on the other side of the kitchen door. When it swung open so that he could enter, he lurched forward, struggling to keep Dobby in his arms and swing his shortened staff so that he could get through the door without smashing into it.
"Hey, what's going on? Oh! Dobby! Here, come on in." The voice changed from annoyed to helpful almost instantly and a flour-covered hand grabbed his elbow to guide him into the kitchen.
Dobby coughed and his head rolled off Harry's shoulder. Harry tried to shift him back onto his shoulder.
Harry's arms and back were lit up with pain from carrying the little elf who seemed to weigh more than his cousin Dudley, though in a much smaller package.
"Something's happened to Dobby! Is there someplace to lay him down?"
"What happened to him?"
"I don't know. He just collapsed in the corridor… my staff blew up and the doors won't open."
"Merlin! What's going on? Here, lay him on this table," the person said as they pulled Harry around a corner until he felt Dobby's dangling legs pressed against him, caught between him and a table. "Can you transfigure it into a bed?"
"No, I don't know how to do that. Can't you?" Harry said.
"No, I'm a squib."
"Oh. Sorry."
"Don't be. I'm not." There was a smile in her voice as she said it. She helped Harry lower Dobby down on the table.
"Er, okay. Hey, we've got to get someone who can help Dobby! Isn't there anyone else here?"
"No, they are eating lunch. Use your staff thingy—doesn't it do that?"
"Uh, right, but it broke," Harry said, lifting it up. It was dull in his hand… just a stick.
"Oh, that's not good. I'll ring Healer Jordan." The woman's steps pattered away toward another part of the kitchen and Harry heard the incongruous sound of a telephone being used.
Dobby shifted under Harry's hand that was resting on his shoulder and groaned.
"Dobby, are you all right? Can you hear me?" Harry asked.
"Er… Dobby is not well," the little elf moaned, struggling to sit up and then falling back against the table with a thud.
"Just rest. Dobby. We're ringing for help. We'll get you sorted out. Just wait."
"Dobby hates to ask… but Dobby is very thirsty."
The woman had returned to the tableside and was shifting from foot to foot next to Harry.
"I'll get you a glass of water. Just hold tight." The woman ran across the kitchen and filled a glass with water from the sink, then came back walking more slowly.
Again, Dobby struggled to sit up and Harry helped pull him into a seated position on the table, supporting his shaking frame with an arm around his back.
"Septima is very kind. Dobby thanks you." He gulped the water and hiccuped.
"What happened, Dobby?" Septima asked.
"Terrible… empty. Dobby's magic was stolen."
"What? All of it?"
"No, not all. Much." Dobby swayed and sank back down onto the table.
"Wouldn't that kill you, Dobby?" Septima asked.
"Very bad. Yes. How is Dobby here? Dobby doesn't remember leaving the corridor?"
"This boy brought you. He carried you in."
"Harry Potter saves Dobby again!" The elf started wailing, grasping Harry's shirt in his fists and pulling him toward him. Harry could feel his embarrassment rising across the back of his neck. It made him feel very uncomfortable to be praised in this way.
"Hey, Dobby, it's all right," Harry said, patting his heaving back. Dobby released his shirt and his sobs quieted to wet gasps and gulps. He was no longer burning up, but was warmer than he'd been earlier.
A door opened on the other side of the room and short, heavy footsteps approached them.
"Healer Jordan sent me… she said that something has happened to Dobby? Can I help?" Figora's rough voice echoed across the kitchen as she approached them.
"Oh, I'm so glad you're here, Figora!" Septima said. "Something really strange is going on. This resident found Dobby out in the corridor and carried him in here and we're trying to figure out why Dobby collapsed."
When Harry told Figora about the corridor and his staff exploding, she exclaimed and asked to see it.
"I've never seen anything like this! This very rare. It shouldn't happen… an undetectable, expandable charm should be safe from every kind of magic. That your staff splintered is very alarming. And everything spilled out of it? Were your magical items damaged?"
"Well, they just felt dull… like my broom… it didn't have it's usual zing, you know?"
"What about your wand? How is it?"
"Oh, I don't know," Harry said, fumbling for it in his pocket. When his hand touched it, he felt a zing. "Oh, I think the magic is back… I can feel it. But not in my staff."
"Probably because it burst open… and … ah, yeah. The core has been damaged. It'll need to be repaired." Harry could hear Figora turning his staff in her hands.
"And when Dobby went into the corridor, he fainted? Could you feel anything in the corridor? Did it affect your magic?"
"I couldn't do any magic… nothing worked. All the doors were locked and no one came when I knocked."
"Huh. But you didn't feel drained? But when you came back in here, Dobby revived?"
"Yeah."
"Septima, do you mind going out into the corridor and taking a look? See if there's any sign of what happened? I'd go, but then I suspect you'd be hauling me in here just as you did with Dobby."
"Um, all right," Septima hurried to the door.
"Dobby?" Figora asked. "Are you all right? Dobby?"
Dobby made a snorting noise, like a little snore.
"Ahh, he's fallen asleep. He needs to sleep to replenish his magic."
"Can't we get him somewhere more comfortable?" Harry asked.
"Yes, after Septima comes back. Terrible that your staff was damaged… I'll fix it as soon as I can."
"You think you can fix it?"
"Certainly! But it'll take a few days."
Harry hadn't considered that he'd be without his staff for days… it seemed like an eternity. He gulped.
"I guess I'll just ask Godric if I can use one of his muggle canes while I wait…"
The door opened and footsteps headed their way.
"Yeah, there's definitely something odd going on in that corridor. I found Harry's pile of stuff and all the doors are locked and no one is answering, even though I know there were residents headed to those classrooms not that long ago. And it just feels weird. Dull."
Harry tried to think about how the corridor had felt to him… he'd been so focused on corralling his runaway stuff and trying to find others… but now that he thought about it, it had felt like a dessert… bone dry, desiccated. The air in the kitchen had been like that first breath when he'd surfaced in the South Sea when Mei had dragged him through the ocean portal.
"I'll let Healer Jordan know. We've got to seal off that corridor so no one else is hurt by it and then find a way to contact the people in classrooms." There was a pop and a gust of wind.
"Figora? Shouldn't we move Dobby first?" Harry said.
"She's gone, Harry. Yes, let's take Dobby to Healer Jordan's office… to one of the hospital beds there. Can you levitate him?"
"I can try… I've only done it once before…" Harry fished his wand out of his pocket and was encouraged by the faint, barely perceptible magical pulse that seemed to respond to his touch. "Can you help me make sure I don't run him into things?"
"Sure. I'm going to get a dishtowel to drape on him, though… so he doesn't go into shock." Septima padded across the kitchen and opened a cabinet door and then was back.
"Okay, you can levitate him now."
"Moblicorpus," Harry uttered as he touched his wand to Dobby's shoulder. He kept his wand lightly touching the elf and then started moving toward the door. He used his shortened staff to move through the kitchen and was thankful for the silver tip which was giving him more information as its clear tone bounced off the surrounding surfaces.
Septima walked along beside him and sometimes nudged Dobby's floating form around obstacles and gave Harry verbal directions. She opened the door and helped Harry guide Dobby through it and they walked down the deserted corridor.
"Where is everyone?"
"It's usually quiet at this time with everyone in sessions and the kitchen staff eating lunch."
"Why weren't you and Dobby eating lunch?"
"We get the earlier shift and then serve the staff on Tuesdays… we all take turns. Turn left, we're nearly there. Here. I'll get the door." Septima jogged ahead and opened the door, nudging Dobby again so that he'd pass through.
"Harry! Septima! You've brought Dobby. That's good. Let's get him settled in here."
Harry followed Besel's voice and the sound of her chair as she led the way to the camp beds in the back office. A warm breeze was carrying the fragrant scents from the herb garden into the room making it feel even more soothing than usual. Birds were making their calls against the growling backdrop of the city. She helped him position over and then lower Dobby onto the camp bed. Harry ended the floating charm and shook his arm out and stretched his neck… they were cramping from holding the same position for so long.
Besel charmed a blanket to cover Dobby. "Septima, here's this… good thinking to cover him up."
"Do you know what's going on?" Harry asked.
"We're still trying to figure it out… I'm sure Healer Jordan will be able to set things to rights. She and Figora are down by the kitchen now. Are either of you injured?"
"No, I'm fine," Septima said while Harry shook his head.
"Septima, Figora said you went into the nullified area?"
"Yes, but it didn't affect me like it did Dobby. It was something that sapped his magic… and since I have none… I was fine."
"But what about you, Harry? Did it take your magic?"
"I don't know. I guess not? I was able to do it once I was out of that area."
"Hmmm. That's odd. I should do diagnostic tests on all of you. Hold still."
Harry could feel Besel passing her wand in front of him.
"Hmmm. Septima, your magical core is weaker than usual… you didn't feel it?"
"I could tell that there wasn't magic in the corridor… but I don't have a magical core."
"My diagnostic says that you do actually… but that it is weaker than usual. That it has been depleted recently."
"Huh." Septima sat down on a chair heavily. "Really?"
"Really. You never had it tested before?"
"Well, yes. But I was told I didn't have a magical core. That I'm essentially a muggle. But can we discuss this privately… maybe later?"
"Sure, of course. I apologize. Harry, yours was depleted, too, but it has been recently replenished. You didn't feel tired or anything?"
"I was worried about Dobby… I didn't notice."
"Dobby's was nearly extinguished… he almost died, but something revived him. What did you give him?"
"We didn't give him anything," Septima said. "Right, Harry? Figora didn't give him a potion or anything while I was gone?"
"No, we didn't do anything." Harry had a niggling thought, though. He cringed at the thought of saying anything.
"Hmmm. Well, something entered Dobby's system that gave his magic a serious boost—something powerful."
Besel was saying more, but Harry was distracted by a noise from the herb garden that was coming in through the open window in the small room. He walked over to the open window and put his hand on the wood sill.
"Big Friend? Are you there?" a sibilant voice was saying from far below.
"Little Friend, is that you? What are you doing here?" Harry responded, leaning out of the open window.
"Finally! I found you! I received a message that you were in danger. I came to warn you."
"Stay there. I'm coming out."
"What's going on, Harry?" Besel asked.
"Um. A friend of mine is here," Harry said over his shoulder as he worked on finding the door to the herb garden with his staff.
Harry pushed the garden door open and took a few tentative steps out into the garden, then stopped to listen for Nio hus cherio kisa. He knelt down, leaning on his broken staff as the little snake slithered across the flagstone pathway toward him and put out his hand. He smiled when Little Friend's tongue whispered across his fingertips.
"Little Friend! I'm so surprised that you traveled all this way to see me!"
"It was a long journey, Big Friend. I didn't know the world was so big."
"Are you hungry? Should I find some worms for you?"
"Oh, yes. I'm famished." The little snake slid up Harry's palm and wound himself around Harry's wrist. "But I need to tell you. This place where you are… there are dangerous legwalkers trying to break through the enchantments and trying to harm those inside."
"Yes, I think they already made it in. Something happened just a little bit ago."
"Oh, I was too late!" Little Friend squeezed around Harry's wrist.
"No, no, it's good. We'll tell them what you know. Let me get you some food first though."
Harry stood up and walked over to the horse-shoe garden in the center of the courtyard and settled on the wide wall. He tried to collapse his staff, forgetting that it was broken, then leaned it against the wall and dug in the wet earth beneath the lavender plants until he unearthed a plump worm to offer to Little Friend.
"The trip. It had to be dangerous," Harry considered while Little Friend gulped down the treat.
"Indeed it was… your owl helped me… it was terrifying. But my den received word that you were in danger and, well, I was worried for you."
"Hedwig brought you? You flew?! That must have been so scary. You can communicate with Hedwig? How did you do that? Oi. You're a good friend to brave flying for me."
"I am honored to be your friend. And yes, speaking to the owl is not easy, but we figured out a way and since you had asked her not to harm me or my family, she honored that request. She, too, feels strongly about your safety." Little Friend coiled around Harry's wrist as he said this. It felt like a hug.
"I wish I could talk as easily to Hedwig as I can talk to you."
"But you do. She says you tell her all sorts of things."
"But I can't understand her."
"Ah. Well, maybe just listen harder."
"Hmmm. Let's go tell Besel what you know," Harry said, standing up and following the paving stones to the door.
"You can get around well with your stick to feel the ground. You don't need a friend to guide you now?"
"Oh, well, the stick… my staff… is good, but I do like it when I have a friend to guide me, too."
Using his staff as an extension of his hand to search the wall for the handle to the door, Harry cried out when the splinter from earlier was driven further into his palm.
"What is it?"
"Just a splinter from my broken staff," Harry muttered, trying to ignore the twinge as he found the handle and pulled the door open.
He was surprised to find that Septima and Besel were right by the door… they had been watching him talk to the little snake through the open window.
"Oh, you're bringing it in here?" Septima said, doubt saturating her voice.
"Yes, this is Little Friend. He made a dangerous journey to warn us. And he has something important to tell us about what is happening at the Center." Harry was annoyed that she called Little Friend 'it.'
"What does Little Friend need to tell us?" Besel asked, moving closer to Harry and Little Friend.
"Little Friend, can you tell me what you know?" Harry asked and then listened as the snake described the threat. He translated for Besel and Septima.
"The passageways that we used yesterday to travel secretly beneath the city from the apparition point… others are using it as well. Dangerous people. The snakes see and hear them even though they use magical means to conceal themselves."
"The snakes can understand them?" Besel asked.
Harry consulted with Little Friend. "Yes, apparently, some snakes are like me… they can understand English as I can understand Parseltongue. But I guess they can't speak so that we can understand them. The way we form our words… they don't have the vocal cords to make the sounds. That's why Little Friend came to find me. So that I could help with the communication."
"We need to tell Healer Jordan. Septima, do you mind staying here with Dobby while Harry and I go find Healer Jordan?"
"Certainly."
"Little Friend, too?" Harry asked.
"Of course, yes. Ask Little Friend if that is okay."
"He says yes. He wants to help."
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Author's note: 1-22-2020: I wanted to let you know that while many of you have requested guide-dog Padfoot in the past... and I've responded that this isn't a direction that this story is going to take any time soon... that I did write a guide-dog Padfoot scene for the collaboration that I'm writing with BrailleErin that is now posted in Harry Potter and the Forgotten Lady. It is a continuation of her two Blind!HarryPotter Fics: Harry Potter and the Sword of Gryffindor and Harry Potter and the Blind Seer. Thanks for all the favs, follows, and reviews. I love them all.