Soul of the Enemy
By Willow Spirit
Disclaimer: I only own the plot. Everything else belongs to the wonderful J. K. Rowling.
A/N: Thanks for the reviews. Sorry for any delay. Was I the only one having trouble uploading documents? Oh, well, it's fixed now so let the show begin...
Chapter 9 – House Elves and Fur Balls
"Alright then," Ron rubbed his hands together eagerly. "Harry and Alex, you guys are probably starving since you missed supper. I think we should all go down to the kitchens and get you two something to eat."
"In other words you want some more of those lemon tarts we had at supper," Hermione teased.
"Hey, they were good!"
"Well, I'm not really that hungry, which is very unusual," Alex said. "But I suppose I should eat something. I swear my stomach will soon go on strike if I don't start feeding it."
"Sounds like a good idea to me," Harry's stomach, on the other hand, loudly protested its lack of fullness. "Let's show Alex one of Hogwart's best kept secrets."
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The hallways leading towards the kitchen were completely deserted, normal for an early Saturday evening. So Harry, Alex, Ron, Ginny, and Hermione never passed a single soul, be it alive or dead, while on their journey. They made good time to the portrait with the fruit. The five teens came to a simultaneous halt.
"Watch this," Ginny said softly to Alex. Everyone waited patiently while Ron reached out and tickled the pear in the portrait. Suddenly a handle appeared out of thin air.
"Wicked!" Alex blinked in surprised.
"Ladies first," Harry grabbed the handle and held the door open for the girls. They entered through the narrow door one by one. After they were in, Harry gestured to Ron. "Ladies first, Ron."
"Oh, ha, ha," Ron grabbed Harry by his collar and shoved him through the door. As Ron followed the stumbling Harry, he could see that the girls had already attracted a small group of house elves.
"How can we help you, Misses?"
"Can I get you pastries, Miss?"
"Maybe Miss would like some roasted chicken?"
"Harry Potter!"
One elf voice rang out loud and clear above all the others. As Harry and Ron joined the girls they could see the owner of that voice and his big, round, shiny eyes. "Hello Dobby," Harry said. "How are things in the house elf world?"
"Things are wonderful, Sir! Dobby is so glad to see Harry Potter. It's been many days, not since Christmas that I have seen Sir. What brings Harry Potter and friends to the kitchens?"
"Ah…well, Alex and I missed supper and we were hoping to get a little something to eat."
All of a sudden, Dobby seemed to notice the new person standing with the usual gang. Then, if it was even possible, Dobby's eyes got even bigger. "Oh!" he exclaimed in surprise. "It is the Miss from the hospital wing. Miss looks all better now."
"How'd you know I came from the hospital wing?" Alex asked suspiciously.
"Every house elf at Hogwarts knows about the witch from the hospital wing," Dobby explained like it was obvious. "Some clean it at night time or when no one is there. We always tell other house elves what happens in Hogwarts, Miss. We keep informed, Miss. It helps us do our job better."
"Is that so?"
"Yes, indeed it is, Miss," Dobby suddenly became very nervous, wringing his hands behind his back. "Dobby was also wondering, Miss. If it's not too much to ask, Dobby and the others don't know Miss's name. We don't know how to properly address our new guest."
"Well, I suppose anything is better than being called 'Miss' all the time," Alex muttered. "I'm Alex Reid. It's a pleasure to meet you Dobby."
Harry winced, half expecting Dobby to burst into tears over Alex's politeness. But Dobby didn't shed a tear. Instead he had the most curious look on his face. It was like he was very confused and was trying to search for an answer in his head.
"Is Miss certain her name is Reid?" he asked with narrowed eyes.
"Yes, I am certain," Alex gave Dobby a powerful yet subtle glare. No one else really saw the dangerous flash that went across her eyes. It was, however, clear as the sun to Dobby. Maybe he didn't completely know what was going on, but he knew enough to know that Alex was telling him to drop the subject and forget about it.
And Dobby was never one to disobey an order. No matter whom it came from.
"Very well, Alex Reid," Dobby gave her a slight bow. "If Harry Potter and his friends will excuse Dobby, he is needed to do his duties now."
"See you soon, Dobby," Harry bid his little friend goodbye. Alex noticed, however, that Hermione became very stiff and agitated when Dobby had mentioned 'duties'.
"What's wrong with Hermione?" Alex leaned over to whisper to Ginny.
"Oh, it's nothing really," Ginny shrugged. "Hermione disapproves of house-elf labour. She thinks they're abused and treated unfairly. She even started S.P.E.W. a few years back, trying to raise awareness for house-elf welfare. That just made all the house-elves mad, though."
"I see," Alex looked over the small group of house-elves, who were easily supplying Harry and Ron with plenty of sweets and goodies. She spotted one house-elf who holding a tray of blueberry scones. Stepping away from Ginny, Alex started to approach him with care. "Excuse me?" she asked softly. "What is your name?"
"M…m…me, Miss?" the poor house-elf looked up at her like she was some giant, ready to gobble him up in a single bite.
"Yes, you," Alex tried to smile to put him at ease.
"M…m…my name is D…Diddle, Miss."
"Hey, Diddle, Diddle, all we need is a cat and fiddle and maybe a cow and moon," Alex quipped. Diddle just looked at her like she was the strangest witch he had ever met. "Sorry. Couldn't help myself. Anyway, Diddle, I was hoping to ask you a few questions."
"Why Diddle, Miss?" if the little elf had been wearing boots, he would have been shaking like mad in them.
"Because you seem to be a respectable house-elf," Alex said. "So would you mind, Diddle?"
"Diddle will answer Miss's questions," he slowly agreed.
"Good!" Then to the amazement of everyone else, Alex crouched down so that she and Diddle were eye to eye. "So how long have you been working at Hogwarts?"
"About…about nineteen years, Miss."
"You don't have to call me 'Miss' every time, you know. I don't need such formalities. You can call me Alex."
"Very well, Miss Alex."
"Close enough," Alex rolled her eyes. "Do you like working at Hogwarts, Diddle?"
"Oh, yes, Miss Alex!" Diddle looked like it would be a scandal to not like working at the beautiful castle. "Hogwarts is the most wonderful place to work. Diddle loves being here. It is a great honour to serve the wizards and witches in the castle."
"How so?"
"What does Miss Alex mean?"
"I mean, what makes Hogwarts so special?" Alex clarified. "There must be something specific that you like about the place."
"Yes there is," suddenly Diddle's eyes had a glazed, happy look. It was kind of scary seeing a dreamy-eyed house-elf. "Headmaster Dumbledore is the best master a house-elf could ever have. He let's us work as much as we want. Us house-elves can work all day if we want to. And he asks us to make special menus for holidays feasts. We make them, Miss Alex!"
"Really?" Alex appeared to be very interested. "So where do you keep your belongings, Diddle?"
"Belongings, Miss Alex?" now Diddle looked thoroughly confused. "House-elves don't have many belongings. Some of us don't have belongings. They always make things messy."
"But what about books and photographs and other possessions?"
"House-elves don't possess, Miss Alex," Diddle said in a matter-of-fact way. "Sometimes if we have something, house-elves share. Except clothes. House-elves never share clothes."
"No," Alex smirked slightly at that remark. "I don't suppose you would."
"Miss Alex is right," Diddle nodded eagerly. "No thinking house-elf would ever want clothes here. We hate to think…"
But whatever the house-elves would hate to think, the group of teens would never know. Diddle started shivering so heavily at the thought that Alex decided to bring the interview to an end. "Thank you for your time, Diddle," Alex bowed her head slightly. "I'm sure that even Dumbledore would be very proud of you."
"Diddle is pleased to help Miss Alex," after a very low bow, Diddle spun around and scurried off with his plate of scones. Harry, Ginny, Hermione, and Ron all turned their heads to stare at Alex, who pushed herself up out of her crouching position.
"Well, that's that," Alex shrugged her shoulders casually when she noticed the others staring at her.
"What on earth was that?" Hermione nearly hissed through her teeth. "You call that 'asking a few questions'! That was a complete interrogation!"
"You think they'd notice if we slowly backed away and ran right now?" Ron carefully whispered to Harry and his sister.
"Actually, Hermione, I'd have to disagree with you," Alex remained perfectly calm before the seething Head Girl. "I think that exchange was very informative. Didn't you hear what Diddle said? You were standing right there, after all."
"Of course I heard him!" Hermione cried. "All he spoke of was slave labour. Honestly, they have no restrictions on how long they work. What if they worked ninety hours a week? That's just wrong! And on top of that all, they have to create the menus for all of our feasts, on top of all their cooking and cleaning work. How does that benefit them?"
"It's freedom."
"What?"
"It's freedom," Alex repeated those simple words. "Think about it, Hermione. No one is telling them when to go to work or for how long. To a house-elf, that is total independence. And to be able to create the menu they get to cook, why that's just as powerful. They can use their imaginations and try to surpass their own abilities."
Everyone looked to Hermione to see what she had to say to that. "Well…" her logical mind worked furiously. "What about having no personal possessions? They could at least have something to show how hard they work."
"Come on, Hermione," Alex looked highly disappointed. "We humans have way too much clutter in our lives. All those things that fill up our homes mean nothing. Well…most of it at least. But at the end of the day, they're just things. And they make a mess of our lives."
"Well…" everyone could see that Hermione was having an internal battle. The only question was, which side would win? "I suppose you do make a valid point."
"Thank you," Alex smirked.
"And I might even be open to some of your ideas. But you can't expect me to completely change my views over night!"
"I didn't say you had to."
"Alex, I think you might have done the impossible," Ginny sounded shocked. "I think you might have changed Hermione's view of house-elf labour. We've been trying for years to do that!"
"You heard what she said," Alex tilted her head towards Hermione. "No changing views over night. It takes more than that to mess with someone's opinions.
"So, how about getting out of here? You all had enough to eat?"
"Er…yeah…" Harry looked to Ginny and Ron, who merely shrugged their shoulders.
"Alright, then," Alex said. "Let's get out of here."
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Alex, Harry, Hermione, Ginny and Ron all made their way back to the Gryffindor common room before curfew. By that point it was starting to get late. A few students were left hanging around the fireplace in the common room. They looked up as the quintet entered the room.
Four of them they recognized, the fifth person, Alex, they didn't.
They looked at her with a puzzled expression, trying to figure out who this strange person was. Alex noticed their stares and returned the looks with and icy glare. The students nearly jumped out of their skins before taking off towards the staircases.
"Er…what just happened there?" Harry looked to Alex for an answer.
"Nothing," Alex said smoothly. "I just looked at them. I didn't make them run off like a flock of pigeons. Besides, that was only a minor offence. Nothing wrong there."
"Yeah…right…" Ron said uncertainly. "If looks could kill."
"Anyway," Alex gestured towards the girl's staircase. "I think we ladies need our beauty sleep. Hermione, if you wouldn't mind, I'd really like to turn in for the evening."
"Oh, right. Absolutely," Hermione nodded. "We'll see you later, boys. 'Night."
"'Night, Harry. 'Night, Ron," Ginny joined Alex and Hermione as they started up the stair, leaving the boys behind in the common room.
"Well…" Ron was at a loss for words. "Tonight was…interesting."
"You could say that again," Harry muttered. "I'm still trying to figure out what's going on with her."
"Good luck there, mate," Ron said sympathetically. "Trying to figure her out would be like…
"AAAAHHHH!"
"What the…" all of a sudden, Hermione came tearing down the staircase, completely panic stricken.
"Hermione!" Harry exclaimed. "Are you okay? Was that you screaming?"
"No!" Hermione nearly screamed. "It's Alex!"
"Why?" Harry's face suddenly drained of its color. "What happened?"
"It's Crookshanks!" Hermione cried. "Crookshanks is attacking Alex!"
At that moment, Alex burst into the common room from the staircase, with a very agitated Crookshanks on her heels.
"GET THIS BLOODY DEVIL AWAY FROM ME!" Alex bellowed as she leaped over an armchair, only to have Crookshanks follow her. Harry pulled out his wand, but Hermione spotted him before he could act.
"No!" she called out. "You can't hurt him! Please, Harry, don't hurt him."
"I don't want to Hermione," Harry reasoned. "But we have to do something! Crookshanks' gone mad."
"Yeah, well, this wouldn't've been the first time!" Ron added.
By this time, Alex and Crookshanks had developed a small audience at the base of the staircase. Ginny was back, along with a few other girls, after hearing Alex's scream. Everyone watched as Alex ran circles around the common room. She dodged and ducked to avoid Crookshanks, who never once let up on his chase.
It was scary and comical, all at the same time.
"Alright!" Alex screamed as she finally whipped around to meet her chaser. She crouched behind a table and glared at Crookshanks, who glared right back. "I've had it! Take this, you damn little fur ball!"
"No! Crookshanks!" Hermione cried as Alex took off her cloak and pulled out her wand, all in the blink of an eye.
"Wingardium Leviosa!" Alex shouted the simple spell as she broke out into a run. As Crookshanks took to the air, Alex raced by him and caught him in her cloak. She then proceeded to run straight up the girls' staircase…and through the stunned group of girls.
"Wait!" Hermione was the first to recover. She took off after Alex and was soon joined by Harry and Ron. Hermione flew past the other girls, but as Harry and Ron approached, Ginny stepped out and held out a hand.
"Hold on," Ginny stopped the boys in their tracks. "One foot on this staircase and no one is getting up there. You'd better stay down here and wait."
"What!" Harry asked. "How can we just stay down here while they're up there?"
"Yeah, we'll fly up or something," Ron said. But no one had a chance to blow that idea out of the water, because Hermione once again came running back down the staircase.
"Oh, it's awful!" she sobbed. "Alex magically sealed the door to my room. She and Crookshanks are in there right now. I have no idea what she's doing to him! All I heard was Alex cursing and swearing at him like a banshee. Guys, I think she really means to hurt him. I don't know what to do!"
"Don't worry Hermione," Ron said. "We'll fix everything…somehow."
"Right," Harry agreed. "Hermione, let's not panic. You and Ginny are the only ones who can get up the stairs right now, so here's what I think we should do. Ron and I can go get our brooms and we'll work on getting into the room from the window. Ginny, take Hermione and try to find a way to undo the locking charm. If Ron and I manage to get through your window, you may find Alex coming your way, so be prepared."
"Wait a second," a girl in the crowd interrupted. "I think someone's coming down the stairs."
And it definitely was someone; Alex, in fact, with Crookshanks nestled in her arms, and he was…purring!
"Crookshanks!" Hermione nearly collapsed with relief as raced over to snatch Crookshanks from Alex's arms. "Oh, I'm so glad you're alright!"
"Alex," Ginny noticed the state of Alex's bare arms as soon as the cat was gone. "What happened to your arms!"
"Oh," Alex looked down at her own arms in surprise, which were covered in scratches. "I guess Crookshanks and I had a healthy, little rumble up in Hermione's room. Nothing to worry about though. We're both fine now, aren't we Crookshanks?"
Crookshanks gave a little purr in response.
"But…what…why…how…" Hermione couldn't seem to piece together a sentence.
"I think you forgot when and where, Hermione," Ron said.
"Tell me what just happened here!" Hermione cried.
"I thought it was quite obvious," Alex replied calmly. "Crookshanks flips out on Alex. Alex captures Crookshanks. Alex and Crookshanks work things out."
One of the girls on the staircase let out a small giggle, reminding everyone that they still had an audience. "All right everyone, back to bed!" Hermione ordered. "The show's over, there's nothing left to see." And since no one wanted to stick around and experience the wrath of their Head Girl, they all quickly scampered up the stairs to their rooms.
"Well that clears things out a bit," Harry said.
"Right, well, maybe we should be getting to bed too," Alex tried to sneak up the stairs, but was horribly unsuccessful.
"And just where do you think you're going?" Hermione said in her best 'scolding mother' tone.
"I'm going to your room," Alex said like it was obvious.
"Not likely. Not until you've explained yourself."
"I can't. That's confidential," Alex shrugged her shoulders.
"Well that won't do for me," the look that Hermione gave Alex was unnaturally icy. And that made Alex look at her new group of friends with uncertainty.
"Something tells me everything isn't all fine and dandy," Alex glanced at each in turn. "Has my little pep talk with Crookshanks really disturbed you? Don't you…don't you trust me?"
"Of course we do!" Harry exclaimed. But as he looked around to his friends, he noticed they were not so eager to proclaim their trust.
"Look," Ginny began. "I've only just met you, and you do seem like a really good person and all, but what just happened was a bit unnerving."
"I agree," Hermione instantly jumped in. "Who's to say you didn't put a spell on poor Crookshanks to make him behave?"
"Hermione, now I really hate to say this…" Ron started hesitantly. "But you can check for a spell if you need to. And Crookshanks is a pretty good judge of character. I mean, he knew that Scabbers was really that rat Peter, and he knew that Sirius wasn't a mad criminal. If he thinks that Alex is okay, then she's okay."
"Yes, but he didn't think she was 'okay' when they first met," Hermione pointed out.
"Maybe he was confused," Harry said, wanting to defend Alex.
"Oh this is nonsense," Ginny rolled her eyes. "There's nothing wrong with Alex. Someone would have noticed by now. Any anyway, it's getting late."
"I agree," Hermione admitted. "But there's still just one thing…"
"I see," Alex nodded in understanding. "Well then, I suppose there's only one thing that we can do…
And that's how, upon Alex's suggestion, the five Gryffindors ended up having a sleepover in Ron's room.
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A/N: Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Next one should be up really soon. Please review!
Next Chapter: It's Alex's first day of classes...how will things go?