III.
Harry's new body did not make him more graceful when it came to floo travel. But to his somewhat relief, when he spilled out of the fire onto the stone floor of Nott Keep, Theo was right there beside him. Apparently, the Nott's weren't the most elegant travelers accepted Theo's hand as he rose to his feet and glanced about the room of his, possibly, new house.
Nott Keep managed to be both cavernous and claustrephobic. Theo's voice echoed slightly as he dragged Harry away from a fireplace easily large enough for three adults to stand in, towards a winding stone hallway. Indeed, they were dwafted by the soaring ceilings and arched doors, but the weight of the stone pressed down on Harry's sensabilities despite that.
The Keep was circular, but clearly charmed to seem larger on the inside than it appeared on the outside, or so Harry had to assume since a building of the size Theo ran them through would have had to be noticeable to any muggle outside. It sprawled, streched, and echoed like a cave as Theo ran him up stair cases and then down endless spiraling stairs.
There were no windows. Harry passed a few slits in the walls that served to accent how thick the stone walls were rather than let in any light or air.
"Spell slots," Theo explained when he caught Harry peering through one. "Incase anyone attacks. Fwush. Woosh." The boy mimed pointing a wand out the window and taking aim, much like a muggle with a toy gun. He grinned at Harry who couldn't help but grin back hesitantly.
"Who's going to attack us?" Harry asked. Theo shrugged happily.
"Anyone. Everyone. Giants. Dragons. Muggles. They've all tried and they've all failed. Hey- Race you to the next doorway!" He took off down the hall with an ungainly sprint. Harry spared one more glance out the spell slot. The glimpse of the land outside the Keep was as cold and damp as any in England. And completely deserted.
. . . . . .
One thing the Keep did have in abundance was magical tapestries. There wasn't a portrait to be found anywhere in the house and Harry found that he missed the murmering, chattering background of the portraits at Hogwarts. The tapestries moved as fluidly as people, animals, and horses might, but they were completely silent.
"We have the best collection in all of England," Theo told him proudly when he caught Harry stopping to stare at a particularly intricate tapestry of a battle. The swords glinted and the blood splashed so realistically, Harry half thought he was watching a movie.
"I've never seen one like this before," Harry admitted as Theo came up to the tapestry as well.
"And you won't anywhere else," He said, tracing a finger over the delicate weaving. The warriors fought on without noticing. "These were all made with family Magic. Nott magic. I think our great, great, great, great, great aunt made these. Arachne Nott. Her work was so famous that wizarding princes would come from all over the world to buy them."
"Wow-" Harry breathed, "What happened to her?"
Theo shrugged, "Apparently she angered another pureblood- maybe the McGonagal family? They transformed her into a spider. Or her animagus was a spider. I don't remember. Either way, she stopped making the tapestries."
He dropped his hand and took a step back to consider it critically. "Do you want to see my favorites? They are on the fifth floor!"
. . . . . . . . . .
"Where is everyone?" Harry finally asked when Theo had completed the dizzying, whirlwind tour of the castle and brought them back to the original sitting room. Or what Harry thought was the original room. Honestly, he wasn't sure.
Besides the immensity of the keep, the main thing that struck Harry was how empty the house was. In the entire tour, he and Theo hadn't passed another living creature- no parents, no servants, no other- well, anyone. The Keep looked like it was built to hold an entire village, but the rooms were bare, the walls empty, the hallways silent.
"What do you mean?" Theo cast Harry a suspicious look as he built up the fire. Harry perched on the edge of an old couch and tried to recall Dumbldore and Snape's conversation.
"Like Lord Nott or-"
"Oh- he's away," Theo said blithely, turning back to coaxing the flames into life. "Don't worry about it."
"He's our father-" Harry stumbled over the words, wondering just how far he should take this charade. "Shouldn't you let him know? About me? I don't want him to come in and be -" Harry shivered slightly. If Uncle Vernon had come home to find that Harry had suddenly developed a sister, well, Harry didn't want to think about the rage that would have produced. Being locked in his room was probably the least of his concerns.
"Oh- don't worry about that." Theo repeated, "He won't care. I promise you that. There." He sat back on his heels happily and held his hands out towards the flames in pleasure. Harry, also feeling chilled, crept closer to sit on the carpet next to him.
"Is he gone a lot for work?"
"Who?"
"Lord Nott."
Theo looked relieved. "Oh yeah. All the time. He is always traveling for work. Gone for months at a time."
"And leaves you by yourself!" Harry looked horrified. Granted, he loved the few times that the Dursley's had left him on his own in the house. But they had been gone for a few hours tops- an evening at the most. Not for months.
"I'm not by myself." Theo protested, "I have…." His final word faded into an undetectable mumble.
Harry leaned forward. "What was that?"
Theo repeated the mumble, then sighed. "She's our house elf, see? But she's very old and I'm worried she's a little sick. If you say her name, she'll come because she thinks you're summoning her and I don't want to stress her. I set her up a nice little bed in the kitchen, do you want to see?"
Harry nodded mutely and Theo leaped to his feet. He grinned- two bright spots of color on his normally pale cheeks.
. . . . . . .
The kitchen was located in the depths of the Keep- acting as both hub and heart of the old castle. Or it would have in an earlier day. Harry gazed around in wide eyed wonder at the huge, wood burning stoves, a cauldron over an empty hearth that was large enough to bathe in, scarred wooden table that seemed better to plan a battle than cook a meal.
Theo ignored all of it- hurrying through the enormous kitchen to a small alcove tucked beside the stoves. There, in a bed that had clearly been created of old towels and at least one boy's shirt, a very old, very wrinkly house elf lay.
Harry had only ever seen one house elf in his life (the one that had ruined Aunt Petunia's dinner party) and was no healer, but even he could tell that the creature was ill. Its skin was dry and papery. The large ears drooped with no visible life. And the eyes, when they slowly opened at Theo's approach were rheumy and dull.
"Master Theodore-" The creature rasped and tried to sit up. But Theo crouched down and gently pressed her back onto the makeshift bed.
"Stay Euphie-" Theo begged. "You need to rest. That's an order. Plus I have a surprise for you."
He looked over his shoulder and motioned to Harry. Harry approached slowly and knelt down beside the boy. Up close, he could feel the faint heat from a fever radiating from the elf.
"Hello," He said softly and the creature's eyes flew open in surprise.
"You is-" she started.
"Dorothea!" Theo interrupted happily. "My new sister. Magic gave her to us today, Euphie! Right before Yule too. Together, we'll be able to complete the Yule rituals and get you better!"
The House Elf smiled softly up at the boy and took his hand in her long, dry fingers. "You is a good boy, Master Theo."
"You is a good elf, Euphie," Theo said gravely and squeezed her fingers gently. "Do you need anything to drink? I can get you some water?"
The exertion of the all the conversation seemed to have tired out the elf who only shook her head and closed her eyes weakly. "I is getting you the water-"
"No, no-" Harry interrupted, "You rest. We can get it."
. . . . . . .
"I know I don't treat Euphie like a proper pureblood. But, she raised me, you see. After Mama died. " Theo explained to Harry as together they pulled a wooden top off a large cistern in the kitchen. The cold, sweet smell of well water hit Harry's face as Theo filled a mug with water.
"I think you treat her wonderfully," Harry said.
"Thanks. She's a good elf. She's been with the Nott family for ages and ages- so has her parents and their parents and so on. And for as long as I can remember she's been managing the Keep all by herself."
Harry let out a low whistle. This was a big house for only one elf to manage. Hogwarts, he heard, had dozens and dozens of elves. Granted, Hogwarts was a lot bigger and had many more students.
"But she got sick two years ago," Theo carefully carried the mug over to the sleeping House elf and placed the cup near her bed.
"What happened?" Harry asked when Theo returned.
"I don't know," Theo admitted, "I think Euphie is connected to the Keep. If its magic fails, then so does she. Which is why it is so brilliant that you are here! With two people we can do a proper Yule Ritual. Which will restore the magic of the house and Euphie to good health."
He seemed so determined and sure of himself that Harry didn't have the heart to ask if House Elves just sometimes grew ill or old. Instead, he just nodded and wondered if the Hogwarts library had some books on how to take care of House Elves.
"Oh- are you hungry!" Theo asked. Harry thought about it and realized that breakfast at Hogwarts had been a long, long time ago. His stomach grumbled in response and Theo laughed. The boy ran across the kitchen to where a series of small doors were set into the wall. They didn't look like regular cupboards and Harry watched curiously as Theo opened one and pulled out a half eaten loaf of bred.
He ran back to Harry, set the bread on the counter, found two plates and a knife, carefully cut two slices from the loaf, and handed one plate to Harry.
"Here you go!" He said happily. Harry stared at the single, dry slice of bread in disbelief.
This was dinner?
. . . . .
A/N: Nott Keep is such a vividly imagined place in my head- I hope it comes across well in this story.
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