The week so far had been wretched enough.
In Potions earlier, Snape had been being more vicious than usual, especially to Neville. And Ron had snapped.
Maybe it was the increasingly frayed nerves from anticipation of DADA with Crouch. Maybe it was just that, after everything Ron had been through, he sure as hell didn't feel like putting up with Snape or even pretending to respect his authority (no, Ron didn't give a damn what he did later, right now he was just abusing a child). Maybe it was that apparently younger-Ron, after learning about dark plots from having an alternate older-self in his head for weeks, felt the same way.
Snape was only momentarily startled by their boldness when both Rons openly spoke out against Snape, before he grew coldly furious and sentenced Neville and Ron to joint detention.
While disemboweling both barrels of horned toads so Neville wouldn't have to be traumatized by doing the task himself, Ron, for the thousandth time, couldn't help thinking that he still had no idea why in Merlin's name Harry had decided it would be a good idea to name Al after the slimy fucking arsehole.
Then he'd realised that in the entirety of Potions, he hadn't seen Malfoy. The little bastard must have bunked. Great. Ron was stuck reliving Snape-style detention, and Malfoy was missing class and coasting. Ron growled as he shook out some more guts.
And now it was Thursday lunch. As soon as lunch was over, it was off to DADA with fake-Moody. With his damn Unforgivable Curses lesson. Ron was seriously doubting they'd would be able to stick to the plan of not standing out, no matter who was in control. He had even considered ditching, just this once, but reluctantly had to admit that Crouch or some of the students might notice his absence. So clearly, they needed to go to that class. They were just going to have to grin and bear it. Ron sent out, Remember the plan?
Yeah, we make sure to have a low profile, to not stick out too much, and to switch back and forth whenever the one in control is feeling tired, right?
Ron sent a confirmation, and then went back to lunch. For once he ate slowly, as though that would make time slow down and he wouldn't have to go. Come on, Ron told himself, I just have to make it through the lesson, and then I'll have that meeting with Malfoy in the Room of Hidden Things, that's something to look forward to... wait, am I seriously trying to motivate myself with the thought of meeting Malfoy?! God, what even is my life now?
Ron sighed and finished the rest of his lunch. Even though there was still time left, most of the fourth-year Gryffindor students, Harry included, were so eager that they had gone early. Ron forced himself to go with them so he could blend in with the rest. Sure enough, Hermione was the only one who came just in time instead of early.
"Sorry I'm late, been in the-"
"Library." Harry finished her sentence for her. "C'mon, quick, or we won't get any decent seats." They hurried over to the front. Meanwhile, younger-Ron volunteered to take the first shift, and Ron gratefully accepted.
Soon they heard Crouch's clunking footsteps coming down the corridor, and he entered the room, looking just like Moody. If Ron didn't know the truth, he would have been fooled as well. But then, Polyjuice Potion was powerful stuff. Looking back, it was prodigy-level that Hermione was able to make it perfectly as a second year.
"You can put those away," Crouch growled, stumping over to his desk and sitting, "those books. You won't need them." They returned the books to their bags, except younger-Ron who, knowing what the lesson was going to be, hadn't taken it out to begin with.
Crouch took out a register, shook his - Moody's - long gray hair out of Moody's face, and began to call out names, his normal eye moving steadily down the list while his magical eye swiveled around, fixing upon each student as they answered. Idly, Ron wondered if Crouch had stolen Moody's magical eye, or had bought one himself. After all, even the Polyjuice Potion couldn't replicate that. Younger-Ron himself bravely answered that he was present with only a slight waver in his voice.
"Right then," Crouch said, when the list was over, "I've had a letter from Professor Lupin about this class. Seems you've had a pretty thorough grounding in tackling Dark creatures - you've covered boggarts, Red Caps, hinkypunks, grindylows, Kappas, and werewolves, is that right?"
When the class of course said yes, Crouch said, "But you're behind - very behind - on dealing with curses. So I'm here to bring you up to scratch on what wizards can do to each other." But what about what witches can do? Sexist much? Ron thought spitefully. That's what Rose would say, for sure, if she was here. Then she'd ask about wixen who aren't male or female... Merlin, I miss her so much... Hugo, too...
Crouch continued, "I've got one year to teach you how to deal with Dark curses. So - straight into it. They come in many strengths and forms. Now, according to the Ministry of Magic, I'm supposed to teach you countercurses and leave it at that. I'm not supposed to show you what illegal Dark curses look like until you're in the sixth year. You're not supposed to be old enough to deal with it until then. But Professor Dumbledore's got a higher opinion of your nerves, he reckons you can cope, and I say, the sooner you know what you're up against, the better."
Ron had to tune out the rest of Crouch's speech, for everyone's good, because nothing but pure hatred had shot through him right then.
For once, I actually agree with the Ministry; fourteen IS too young, far too young, and it's just sick that Crouch is not openly flaunting the law, but using praise to get all the students - who are all just kids, who don't know any better - to go along with it! The only reason they'd even need to know 'what you're up against', is because of people like YOU! And that's not even getting into what this lesson will do to Harry and Neville! Ron, now recalling how poor Neville had reacted to the spiders, felt new levels of rage rising up.
It's a very good thing, Ron thought, as he imagined going through breathing exercises to calm down, that we decided to have switching shifts for this lesson.
"So... do any of you know which curses are most heavily punished by wizarding law?"
Several hands rose uncertainly into the air, including Hermione's. Crouch pointed at Hermione, though his magical eye was fixed on Lavender - Lavender had been caught looking at something else, right? Ron wasn't sure, he hadn't been paying full attention then.
"The Unforgivable Curses, sir. One of them is the Imperius curse." Hermione looked like she was about to launch into entire paragraphs, but Crouch cut her off.
"Yes, right. Gave the Ministry a lot of trouble at one time, the Imperius Curse did." Crouch got up, opened his desk drawer, and took out a glass jar. Just as he had remembered, three large black spiders were crawling around inside the jar. Normally Ron hated spiders, but knowing what was coming for them, he almost felt sorry for the bugs.
Crouch reached into the jar, caught one of the spiders, held it in his palm so everyone could see it, and then pointed his wand at it and muttered, "Imperio!"
The spider leapt from his hand on threads of silk, swinging back and forth. It did a back flip, cartwheeled, and when Crouch jerked his wand, the spider stood on two hind legs and did a tap dance. Everyone except Crouch laughed. Even younger-Ron involuntarily let out a snort, though he tried to silence it.
"Think it's funny, do you?" Crouch growled. "You'd like it, would you, if I did it to you?"
The laughter died after that. Younger-Ron, probably thinking about who Crouch really was and what he had done, sent out, Please, let's switch. I just - I can't take this anymore. Ron obliged.
This was fortunate for younger-Ron, because then Crouch quietly said, "Total control... I could make it jump out of the window, drown itself, throw itself down one of your throats..."
Ron, thinking that Crouch had probably actually done all that and more to innocent people during the first War, gave an involuntary shudder.
"Years back, there were a lot of witches and wizards being controlled by the Imperius Curse," said Crouch. "Some job for the Ministry, trying to sort out who was being forced to act, and who was acting of their own free will." Ron wondered if the uncles he'd never known, had experienced that before they died, and felt sick.
"The Imperius Curse can be fought, and I'll be teaching you how, but it takes real strength of character, and not everyone's got it. Better avoid being hit with it if you can. CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" he barked, and everyone, even Ron, jumped. Then Crouch picked up the spider and threw it back into the jar.
When Crouch made the spider swell in size, Ron, unable to stand it, pushed his chair backward, as far away from the professor's desk as possible. No one would notice; everyone would just think it was because he was afraid of spiders, wouldn't they?
It was at this point that younger-Ron suggested they switch again. Crouch pointed his wand at the spider and muttered, "Crucio!" While younger-Ron was able to watch what came next without screaming, Ron was very grateful to hide around in the mind, where he didn't have to see it at all, and only vaguely register Hermione and younger-Ron calling out for Crouch to stop. The thought of Neville popped up, and Ron felt like his stomach would've lurched if he had one. He forcibly shoved the emotion aside and tried to focus on imagined abstract shapes floating around in the mindscape instead.
Ron felt an emotional jolt, and came back to see the third spider, dead. Younger-Ron was recoiling from it as though it was contaminated.
Crouch swept the dead spider off the desk onto the floor, and said calmly, "Not nice. Not pleasant. And there's no countercurse. There's no blocking it. Only one known person has ever survived it, and he's sitting right in front of me."
As he saw Crouch, and everyone else, staring at poor 14-year-old Harry, whose face was reddening, Ron felt his rage return. The rushing anger made him feel reckless, and so he sent out, He's wrong, you know. You can block it.
Block it? The Killing Curse? His younger self sounded startled. After what had just happened, Ron didn't blame him at all.
Yes, he sent, defiantly. It's true that there's no countercurse for it - well, except for what happened with Harry, sacrificial protection - but you can dodge it. You can even block it with a physical barrier. I mean, if the spell hits something not alive, it could make an explosion or something, but that wouldn't kill you. And... also, you can kind of use Stunning Spells against it, but you have to be really careful with that one, I can explain more later...
Wow... that's - wow... Wait, what's sacrificial protection?
Oh, damn, was that opening up a bottle of Whizzing Worms. Um... that's a story for another day... I'll tell you, but not right now, okay?
Okay, FINE...
Before they could discuss anything more, Crouch screamed, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" again, and just like earlier, the whole class jumped. Then Crouch started talking about how important it was to be prepared against these curses, and made everyone start taking notes. Younger-Ron insisted they should switch now, and Ron went along with it, but throughout the rest of the class, at any spare moment, Ron continued to explain internally the bit he'd said about the Stunning Spells. By the end of the class, he'd managed to get younger-Ron to understand it completely.
As soon as the bell rang and Crouch dismissed them, Ron rushed out, trying to get to Neville before Crouch did, with Hermione and Harry coming along. They found Neville standing alone, halfway up the passage, staring at the stone wall opposite him with a horrified, wide-eyed look. It was the kind of look that he only now realised, was what his Hermione would have called "shell-shocked."
"Neville-" Ron said, because he had to help him before Crouch came- "please..."
Neville looked around, like he hadn't expected anyone. "Oh hello," he said, his voice much higher than usual. "Interesting lesson, wasn't it? I wonder what's for dinner. I'm - I'm starving, aren't you?"
"Yeah, sure, uh- speaking about dinner, can you come with us?"
"Er, sure, very interesting dinner we had - I mean lesson - I mean, what's for eating?"
"That's great, Neville, now come with us-" Ron grabbed Neville's arm and started trying to drag him away. Hermione was glaring at him, but she didn't get it, he had to get Neville to leave before-
An ominous clunking noise sounded behind them, and they all turned to see what Ron dreaded: Crouch limping towards them. They all fell silent, but while the other three looked only suspicious, Ron suspected that he looked positively frozen.
"It's all right, sonny," he said to Neville. "Why don't you come up to my office? Come on... we can have a cup of tea..."
Neville looked terrified and unable to move. A voice defiantly said, "I think you've done enough." Ron was surprised to realize that it was younger-Ron speaking. Younger-Ron had seized control and evidently had something to say.
"What did you say?" Crouch growled.
"I said, I think you've done enough. We're taking Neville to dinner with us," younger-Ron said fiercely, standing his ground, refusing to look away from Crouch's gaze.
For a long, agonizing moment, nothing was said. You could have heard breathing, it was that quiet. Then Crouch let out a rough laugh, and said, "You've got spirit, boy! Arthur Weasley's son, eh? Well, alright, go off and have your dinner." He clapped one hand on younger-Ron's shoulder, and Ron had to admire how younger-Ron hardly flinched.
When Crouch hobbled away, Neville let out a deep exhale. All four of them started walking to the Great Hall.
"What was that?" Hermione asked. She sounded impressed.
"I don't care who he is," younger-Ron said seriously. "I'm tired of watching professors mistreat Neville. Neville, you're our friend, and you deserve better."
Neville looked embarrassed and startled, but stammered out a thanks. They walked quietly to the Great Hall together, but Ron was sure that by the time they reached the Hall, Neville was already looking a little brighter.
And then Ron remembered. Oh, FUCK, how did I forget - I'm supposed to meet Malfoy in the Room of Lost Things, right after DADA! Oh, great, now I actually am going to be late - I have to get over there now!
Can't we just lie and say Crouch kept us back or something? Do we have to go?
If you ever want a chance of getting me out of your head, then YES!
And so, younger-Ron had to use the same excuse of using the loo. Then they rushed off to the left corridor of the seventh floor of the Hogwarts castle. As fast as he could, Ron walked by it three times, thinking "I need to talk to Malfoy in the Room of Hidden Things."
The room was as he remembered it from before the Fiendfyre: the size of a large cathedral, with high windows sending golden streams of light down onto their surroundings, which looked like a city built of messy but strangely beautiful towers. It may have been filled with junk, but it was the junk of hundreds of years of history, which made it valuable, even priceless. And there were some genuine treasures scattered about here, too. Remembering the diadem, Ron made a mental note to remember to come back here later with a Basilisk fang or two...
"Malfoy?" Ron called out. He began to walk about the roads and pathways. "Malfoy, are you there?"
From behind a tower made up of dusty books, a trunk, some chairs, and a few bottles perched here and there, stepped out Malfoy. He was frowning. "You're late." He started to absentmindedly polish one of the empty bottles. "I specifically told you not to be late."
"Well, I got caught up with something with Neville - oh, wait, it's not like you actually care."
Malfoy glared at him. "Just don't be late again. I can't afford to waste any time."
"Whatever. You said in your note - thanks for writing it backwards, by the way, that was a pain to decipher - that you found some things that could be helpful for getting back. What are they?"
"I wrote it backwards to keep anyone else from accidentally reading it. Obviously. As for what I found... follow me and you'll see."
Ron followed Malfoy until he stopped at a pile made up of several books, a cauldron with some various potions ingredients inside, glass and mirrors of various sizes, a strange-looking glove, and an astrolabe. Ron also saw some scrolls, and he thought some of them were celestial and year charts, but some of the others, Ron couldn't make head or tail of what they were supposed to be depicting.
"This," Malfoy said, sounding pleased with himself, "is a good portion of what I've gathered so far, over the past few weeks, on our quest to discover what happened and how to reverse it, so we can go back home. Some of the materials, though, are still back on Malfoy estates. But I was able to bring almost all of the reading material here, even if I had to skip a class or two in order to do it."
Ron thought for a moment, then said, "Why didn't you just ask the Room of Requirement to give you all the reading material you could need to leave a parallel universe and return back to your normal body in your own universe? Wouldn't that have been easier than searching for weeks, and then having to bring it all here too?"
Malfoy opened his mouth in outrage, only for nothing to come out, probably because he must have realised that Ron was completely right.
"I mean, it just seems like it would be easier," Ron added, unable to resist.
Malfoy snapped back, "Well, what was I supposed to do, sit around and do nothing? Besides, some of these are extremely rare artifacts, who knows if the Room could even reproduce them!"
Ron shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. The important question is, how is this stuff going to help us get back home?"
"First off, thanks to 'this stuff', what I suspected ever since the Quidditch Cup has been confirmed: our conditions are linked. Whatever caused this, it was the same cause for both of us, and either we both go back, at the same time, or neither of us do. Secondly... I may have found an underground investigator, who could, potentially, help us find the remaining pieces we need to find the cause, and return back to our own universe. I haven't contacted them yet, just discovered them."
"What- who is this person? And how did you find them?!" Ron really didn't like the idea of bringing another person into all of this.
"I told you, they're an underground type. All I know about them is that, for a high enough price, they claim to find any magical text or magical materials, no matter how obscure, and that, for a higher price, they can do extra investigative work. This isn't a scam, either. I've checked, and the results are real. As for how I found them... well, we both know I have a lot of capital I can use."
Ron rolled his eyes. Did he really need to stealth brag? Oh, wait, of course he did, he's Malfoy. "Fine. They're real. Then here's another question: do you really think it's a good idea to bring another person into this? Especially one that you admit you know almost nothing about? And if they do anything for money, how do you know they won't just turn around and sell us out?"
"Do you have a better idea on how to find a solution? Because if so, I'd love to hear it," Malfoy said coldly. "Besides, they'll probably just assume it's another wealthy eccentric," he added dismissively. "They'd have no real reason to investigate us further. It's not like we're changing anything really noticeable, not anything that would make us suspicious enough to stand out."
Oh, fuck. Well, I have to tell him, so...
Why do we have to tell him? Can't we just-
Didn't you hear what he just said? Our conditions are linked! What if not updating him causes his solution to fail? And since he's working on the solution himself anyways, doesn't he deserve to know?
Okay, okay, fine, Merlin!
"Umm... about that..."
Flatly, Malfoy said, "What?"
"I.. kind of started planning early on, to work to change things for the better, and I've already started taking some steps towards that?"
"You WHAT?!"
Defensively, Ron yelled, "What, so I'm not allowed to make my own decisions now?"
"Not if they affect someone else's situation and you don't tell them!"
"I'm telling you now, aren't I?
"And now might be too LATE!"
"What is with your obsession with being on time? So far every time we've talked, even in letters, you've brought up something about timeliness!"
"Because we are LITERALLY running on borrowed time! That's another discovery I made: I have reason to think that, the longer we stay here, the harder it will be to get back! So, no, we don't have even a second to waste! But apparently, playing hero is more important to you than that!"
Okay, that stung. Furiously, Ron yelled, "This isn't a game, this is about saving lives - not that you'd know anything about that!"
As soon as those words came out, he regretted it. Malfoy turned bright red, and then said, "Get out."
"What?"
"I said. Get. Out. I have productive work to do and I refuse to be disturbed anymore. Go. Leave."
Ron was almost going to say something, but the look on Malfoy's face made him reconsider. And he did need to get back to dinner before the others became suspicious. So Ron left, still feeling uneasy. Had he gone too far?
But Ron didn't get much time to think on it, because as soon as they got back to the Great Hall, Hermione said, "Where were you? I was waiting for you, what took you so long?"
"Well, you know I said I needed to use the loo, so..." younger-Ron trailed off.
"Oh, ick, I don't want to hear that after I just ate. Anyways, I was going to go to the library, are you coming or not? I was just waiting to know if you were coming."
"Er, sure. We can go right now?" Internally, Ron received, Should we... switch? His younger self seemed hesitant.
Um... let's see how it goes for now.
Then Neville spoke up: "What are you going to the library for? Can I come too?"
Younger-Ron looked at Hermione pleadingly. Hermione looked at Neville, and, perhaps thinking of the lesson they'd had earlier, said, "Sure, Neville, you can come. Harry, do you want to come too?"
"What? Uh, no. I think I'll... just go to the Common Room, after." Harry looked distracted, and Ron wondered sadly if he was still caught up in that awful Unforgivable Curses lesson. Well, they could make sure to check on Harry when they got back.
When they got to the library, Hermione started to get out a list of questions she had been working on to ask house elves. "Look, I was thinking that we should also ask questions about labor unions, and-"
"Um, Hermione, that's great, but...how about we just go down to the kitchens and see the house elves and talk to them first?"
"Yes, you're right! You are so right, we need to take direct action now-"
"We're going to bring about the end of the oppressive treatment and abuse of house elves," Hermione said, fiercely. "This kind of outrageous abuse of our fellow magical creatures must stop, and we're planning on bringing about better working conditions and protections, and eventually new legislation and hopefully even governmental representation -"
Younger-Ron, seeing the growing confusion on Neville's face, said, "Hermione, I think you're losing him. Why don't you just explain about Winky and Dobby?"
So Hermione did. She told Neville what she remembered about Winky. She talked about how Winky was forced to go up into the stands even though she was afraid of heights. About how when the Death Eaters attacked, Winky wasn't even able to run properly because of Crouch's orders. How Crouch blamed everything on Winky later. How even though Winky was frightened and her life endangered, Crouch didn't care about any of that, but only that she had disobeyed him. Then she angrily told about how coldly Crouch dismissed her even though she was crying, and later Percy had actually agreed with Crouch!
When she talked about Dobby, younger-Ron also added in some things he'd talked about with Ron earlier, but essentially, they ended up telling about how badly Dobby would punish himself, how Dobby defied his masters anyway because he was trying to protect Harry somehow, how Dobby had actually said that he wanted to be free, and how Harry had managed to trick Lucius Malfoy into freeing Dobby.
By the time they'd finished telling about Dobby, Neville seemed quite sympathetic, so at that point younger-Ron decided to step in and say, "So, as you can see... while we haven't figured out everything yet, right now, we're going to going to go to the kitchens to find out the Hogwarts elves' thoughts, about what they want, and then we'll see from there. What do you think?"
"That sounds... nice, I'd be glad to come," Neville said.
Hermione beamed. "Really? Oh, Neville, I knew I could count on you... as soon as I finish packing, let's go."
When Hermione reached the painting of the silver fruit bowl, she tickled the pear, it began to squirm, chuckled and then turned into a large green door handle. Hermione opened it, and they found themselves in an enormous, high-ceilinged room, as large as the Great Hall above it. There were mounds of glittering brass pots and pans heaped around the stone walls, and across on the other end of the room was a great brick fireplace.
As they walked further into the kitchen, they reached the four long wooden tables that stood there, placed, Ron remembered, exactly beneath the four House tables in the Great Hall above. At least a hundred house elves were standing around the kitchen, and they beamed, bowed and curtsied as Hermione, Neville, and younger-Ron walked by. The house elves were all wearing the same uniform, a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest... except one.
The house elf turned around, and said in delight, "Oh, it is Harry Potter's friends! Dobby thinks it is very nice to see them!" Both Rons took a closer look to see what Dobby was wearing, which was a very... interesting mishmash. He was wearing a tea cozy covered with badges for a hat, a tie with a horseshoe pattern, soccer shorts, and mismatched socks. One was black and the other pink with orange stripes.
After asking to switch, Ron happily said, "Hi, Dobby." He had to, it was just so good to see Dobby alive and well again!
"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Hermione said in amazement, causing Ron to remember that Hermione must not have known about Dobby's position until this very moment.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, miss!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, miss!"
"Winky?" Hermione gasped. "She's here too? Oh, thank goodness she's alright!"
Dobby hesitated. "Winky is here, miss, but..."
Dobby walked ahead, stopping only at the brick fireplace and pointed at a house elf sitting on the stool by the fire. "Winky, miss!" he said.
Once they saw Winky, it was clear, just by looking at her clothes, why you couldn't exactly describe her as "alright." Unlike Dobby's garments, which were so clean and well cared for that they looked brand new, Winky's clothes were in disrepair. While her blue hat was only a little smudged, her matching blouse had soup stains all over it, and her matching skirt had a burn. She also had a miserable expression on her face. Ron, remembering how much Winky had cried before, winced internally.
Neville nervously greeted Winky, and just as expected, Winky burst into tears.
"Oh dear," said Hermione. "Winky, don't cry, please don't..."
"Maybe... she needs to let it out," Ron said hesitantly.
"Perhaps... Oh, Neville, why don't we go talk with Dobby now, I suppose Winky needs some time to herself... Dobby, is that alright with you, can I ask you some questions?"
Dobby smiled at Hermione. "Certainly, miss, Dobby is happy to answer any questions! Would miss or sirs like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.
"Er - yeah, that would be fine," said Neville.
Instantly, about six house elves came trotting up behind them, bearing a large silver tray with a teapot, cups for all of them, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.
Can we switch back now?
Why? I mean, are you sure that's a good idea?
I don't know, it just seems like the right time to do it... look, if you get nervous or something, I can help you, tell you stuff, maybe even switch again, okay?
Okay...
"Very good service!" Younger-Ron said, sounding impressed. The house elves all looked delighted, and they bowed very low before retreating. Ron could be mistaken, but he thought he felt younger-Ron relaxing, as well as mild confidence appearing.
As Dobby handed around the tea, and Neville and Ron helped themselves to biscuits, Hermione asked, "So, how long have you been here, Dobby?"
"Only a week, miss!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, miss. You see, miss, it is very difficult for a house elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, miss, very difficult indeed -"
At this answer, Winky howled even harder, causing younger-Ron to hurriedly say, "Okay, this is all well and good, but - since you said Winky needs some time to herself - why don't we go somewhere else before we keep talking?"
"Good idea," Hermione said, and, with Dobby taking the silver tray, they walked quickly to a far-off corner of the large room. There Hermione encouraged Dobby to continue, but quietly.
"Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, miss, trying to find work," Dobby said softly. "But Dobby hasn't found work, miss, because Dobby wants paying now."
Neville looked with interest (maybe he was surprised by really meeting an elf who wanted payment), and Hermione said, "Good for you, Dobby. You have a right to pay like everyone else!"
"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning at her. "But most wizards doesn't think so, miss, they doesn't want a house elf who wants paying. 'That's not the point of a house elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Miss... Dobby like being free!"
"They're wrong," Hermione said, lowly but fiercely. "Dobby, I'm glad that you like being free and won't give it up, no matter what those rotten and unjust wizards said to you. That's why we came to the kitchens - we want to help house elves. We were going to talk to house elves and find out what they wanted, and help free any house elves who want to be free like you do, Dobby."
Dobby stared at Hermione, looking completely boggled, as though in shock that she would say something like that. Then he squealed out loudly, "Miss, you is just like the great Harry Potter, so kind, so generous, so unlike Dobby's old masters, they were bad Dark wizards-" Dobby abruptly stopped talking, rushed over the nearest table, and began to bang his head very hard on it, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Hermione, in horror, ran over, and pulled Dobby away from the table.
"Thank you, miss, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.
"You can call me Hermione, please," she said, looking out of breath herself, "or Hermione Granger, if you want."
"Thank you, Hermione Granger," Dobby said. "Dobby is not bound to his old masters anymore, so he can speak his mind now, but he is needing some practice."
Hermione looked newly horrified. "You mean house elves can't speak their mind about their masters?"
"Oh no, miss, no," said Dobby, suddenly looking serious. "'Tis part of the house elf's enslavement, miss. We keeps their secrets and our silence, miss. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to -"
Dobby looked suddenly nervous and called Hermione closer. Hermione bent forward, and after Dobby whispered something, he let out a frightened giggle.
"What did he say?" Neville asked, sounding curious.
Hermione, now smiling, said, "He said that Dumbledore said they're all free to call Dumbledore a barmy old codger if they want."
Both Neville and younger-Ron laughed at that.
"But Dobby is not wanting to, Hermione Granger," he said, happily. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, miss, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."
"How did you end up working for Dumbledore in the first place?" Neville asked. Looks like Neville really is getting drawn into this as well, Ron sent.
"When Dobby is looking for work, then sir, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too. And then Dobby had the idea, sir. 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!" Dobby was beaming very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes.
"And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week, and one day off a month!"
Hermione, forgetting herself and their plan to speak quietly, yelled indignantly, "But that's not very much at all!"
"Oh, no, miss, Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, and he suddenly gave a little shiver, apparently uncomfortable with such an offer. "But Dobby beat him, Hermione Granger, miss... Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."
Hermione frowned, but said, "I see... do you mind if I write that down?"
"Go write any things you want about Dobby, miss, Dobby doesn't mind waiting," Dobby said.
Once Hermione had finished jotting down some notes, Hermione looked at something she'd written down in some notebook, and then said, "Dobby, can I ask you a question about... history?" Dobby nodded eagerly.
"Recently, I've been researching anything about house elves thoroughly in the library. Elf enslavement goes back centuries. I can't believe no one's done anything about it before now... but that's not the point, at least not right now. I just wanted to ask: Dobby, do you know anything about the start of elf slavery, about what started it, and what happened back then? I can't find anything on the cause or the beginnings. I was reminded by Ron that I can hardly bring about elf liberation if I don't know the whole story, so that's why I'm asking."
All at once, Dobby's face changed from being full of eagerness and excitement, to something deeply grave, sombre and distant. "Dobby... Dobby is very sorry, miss, but he - he cannot answer that question. It is not - it is too dangerous. No, Dobby must not answer that question at all."
Ron was sure all four of them were shocked, but Ron was the most shocked of all.
Frantically, he sent, It is too dangerous? It's been years, but I promise you, I know for a FACT that Dobby NEVER said anything like that before!
Hey, I don't know what that means at all, either!
Hermione was the first to recover. "Well, the last thing we'd want to do is make you uncomfortable, Dobby, so if you can't answer that question, that's completely fine. Why don't we change the subject?"
The unsettling expression on Dobby's face melted away, and soon Dobby was back to happily chatting about his life as a free elf, and even went over some of his plans for his wages. Dobby mentioned he was planning on buying a sweater, so younger-Ron generously offered to give Dobby his upcoming Christmas sweater (funnily enough, Ron had done the same thing), and Dobby happily accepted the offer.
When they were about to leave, the rest of the elves came over and offered snacks to take back upstairs. Younger-Ron, remembering how he didn't have much of a dinner, ended up taking enough cream cakes and pies for two people. Neville also took a pile, and even Hermione took a few when younger-Ron, mouth full of cream, suggested it would offend the house elves if she didn't.
They all thanked the house elves greatly before saying good night, and when Dobby timidly asked younger-Ron if he might be able to see Harry Potter sometime, younger-Ron said he'd ask Harry, but that he was sure that Harry would love to see Dobby again. Dobby beamed.
Still, Ron couldn't quite shake off that brief, unsettling moment. What kind of answer to a simple history question could be so dangerous that Dobby couldn't even say it?
And then it came to him: when someone wants to keep the truth of history hidden.
Ron was certain he would have felt a chill go down his spine if he'd been in control then. As it was, all he could do was to make sure not to send these thoughts to younger-Ron. There was no point in both of them being worried about ominous but vague realizations that neither of them could do anything about.
As they headed back to the dorms, Ron tried his best to push all that aside. By the time they arrived, Ron was feeling better... and then he saw Harry. 14-year-old Harry, sitting on his bed, staring at a letter in his hands. Ron wondered, sadly, how long Harry had been sitting there.
"I shouldn't have told him," Harry said numbly.
Ron sent, Younger-Me, you need to take this. He needs his best friend.
Younger-Ron approached Harry, and said, "Harry... what happened?"
"I shouldn't've told him! About my scar hurting! It's made him think he's got to come back!" Harry slammed his fist into his mattress. "He's going to come back, because he thinks I'm in trouble! And there's nothing wrong with me!"
"Harry... just because Sirius is coming back, doesn't mean for sure-"
"Yes it does! Or at least there's more of a chance! And all because of me! Because I had to open my big mouth, and blab, instead of keeping it to myself..."
"Harry-"
"I don't want to talk. I'm going to sleep now." Harry lay down then, but he still had the letter in his hand, and god, was it hitting hard again just how vulnerable 14-year-old Harry could really be. It was terrible to watch him blame himself like that. Ron wished he could do something for him, but somehow he got the feeling that 14-year-old Harry was just going to spend a long time staring at the canopy of his bed this night.
And that the same thing was going to happen to Ron and his younger self.
Sighing internally, Ron prepared himself for a long night of being kept up by his own thoughts - and by thoughts not his own, too.
Chapter 7, hot off the press.
Somehow I was able to write this chapter freakishly fast. It was very challenging at times to write, though. And, again: new longest chapter!
As always: I may not update regularly (so no, I don't know when Chapter 8 is coming, though I do have ideas for it). Please review if you can, and let me know what you think. If you have any questions, feel free to ask (though of course, among other things, I won't answer anything spoiler-y).
Also: the descriptions of the scenery in the Room of Hidden Things are inspired by this amazing DeviantArt piece by AncientKing, called, Room of hidden things. I highly recommend you check it out.