The elf burst into motion again. The floor began shaking and a huge crack appeared on the floor – another wall collapsed. After a few moments of the eerily silent temper tantrum, the elf shouted again: "No one must harm Master Harry Potter!" and snapped its fingers. Harry was frozen and Silenced once more as the elf Disapparated with a CRACK!

Well, Harry thought, wriggling and finding that these bindings weren't fading away. The elf is gone. Now what?

Harry managed to remain calm for the next half hour or so. After all, surely his friends had sent an owl ahead of the train to tell Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick that he had been kidnapped. It was only a matter of time before someone came for him.

About an hour after that, Harry started to get bored. He combated it by listing the properties of various potions ingredients that he could remember off the top of his head. After another half hour he couldn't remember past muskrat tail, so he began listing the defensive spells he had learned and imagining their movements. That took up another hour.

You know, Harry thought, Voldemort really was a pretty good teacher. Who would've thought?

It had been three hours since the elf had disappeared, by the clock that still sat on the mantle. It was now 5:00, and Harry was wondering if anyone had thought of sending an owl to Dumbledore. Surely Hermione would've come up with that, if no one else. Then he started remembering properties of Transfiguration, and after that he moved on to Charms.

It was 6:00, and Harry had descended to trying to remember trivia about his friends to stave off the boredom. Ginny's favorite color is… he thought, trying to remember. Green. Neville's is brown, and Hermione's is… what was it… his train of thought was interrupted by a sudden loud CRACK- CRACK!

Harry opened his eyes, the only part of him that hadn't been locked into place, and saw Dumbledore standing over him in a terrible rage, Flitwick next to him with his wand out. He was saved.

"…and then he left," Harry finished. "Nothing happened until you came about four hours after that."

"And you're sure that you're alright?" Flitwick asked worriedly.

"I'm fine, really," Harry said, for what must have been the fifth time.

Dumbledore smiled. "You have a remarkable ability to remain calm under pressure, Harry," he said. "It will serve you well in life, I'm sure."

"That's true," Harry agreed. "I didn't panic when Voldemort-Adams-whatever was attacking me either. Well, maybe a little, but…" He trailed off. "What happened on your end of things?"

"Just after you were abducted, your friend Hermione sent an owl ahead of the Express to tell me what happened," Dumbledore said. "It seems that she discovered the pensieve charm–"

"I taught it to her," Harry interrupted.

"A good idea," Dumbledore said approvingly, "In any case, she sent a vial with her memory of the event ahead. Filius and I traveled back to where it happened to try and trace the house-elf, but were unsuccessful. We continued to search, but it took some time before we received another letter, from Minerva. The elf had appeared in the prison cell of Vernon Dursley, killed him, and then disappeared."

Harry gasped. He hated Vernon, sure, but he didn't want him dead…

"Filius and I suspected that the elf was searching for Petunia, who was in a different prison," continued the headmaster. "We managed to reach her cell before he did, and captured him when he arrived – but not, unfortunately, before he attacked her. She is currently in a hospital with what appears to be a broken neck.

"After some… persuasion, the elf gave its memory of kidnapping you, and we were able to Apparate to Privet Drive and recover you."

"Why did the elf attack me?" Harry asked. "It was saying something about its 'bad masters' and not being safe at Hogwarts."

"Severus has been attempting to discern that," Dumbledore said. "He'll likely finish soon."

The three of them waited silently in Dumbledore's office for a few minutes. Harry was thinking about the power the house-elf had shown. It had Apparated onto a moving train and off, with no apparent trouble, and had done so in such a manner that neither Dumbledore or Flitwick could trace. Not only that, it had then proceeded to attack both Petunia and Vernon, killing Vernon and nearly killing Petunia despite the protection of both Dumbledore and Flitwick. Clearly, Harry concluded, house-elves were not to be underestimated.

At around this point, Dumbledore apparently randomly said "Enter!" and the door swung open. Professor Snape stalked in, the elf floating behind him in a bluish bubble. He was followed by Lucius Malfoy, whose dark wand was producing the bubble.

"Severus," Dumbledore greeted. "And Lord Malfoy. Is something the matter?"

Snape sneered. "It seems that this elf belongs to Lucius."

Malfoy bowed formally to Harry. "I apologize, Lord Potter, for the unseemly conduct of my servant," he said, voice dry and not apologetic in the slightest. "I assure you that I made no command that he act in such a manner."

"Please explain," Dumbledore invited.

Malfoy sighed heavily. "This elf, Dobby, has in the past several years become increasingly unstable," he declared. "It got to the point where he was able to act in ways he wasn't commanded to, and even occasionally disobey. I've been trying to do something about it, but he's generally kept locked up by two of my other house-elves, Gabby and Nerry."

"However…" Snape said.

"However, a week or so ago I declared that all of my non-essential house-elves were to assist the Hogwarts elves in the construction that had begun," Malfoy continued. "You remember, I'm sure. So, Gabby, Nerry, and Dobby all went to assist. And at the first moment when Dobby knew where Lord Potter would be, he went to kidnap him, although I am quite at a loss as to why."

"I can answer that, fortunately," Snape drawled. "It seems that the elf believed you want your son to kill Mr. Potter during the school year, and that he is therefore not safe at Hogwarts. Somehow it found out about the blood wards which once guarded Privet Drive, although not that they have fallen, and so it brought Mr. Potter there."

"Dobby is not particularly rational," Malfoy said. "He may have believed that bringing Mr. Potter back to the site of the wards would reactivate them."

"Thank you for your assistance, Lord Malfoy," Dumbledore said stiffly. "I expect that this will expedite the process of getting rid of your Dobby."

"Likely," Malfoy agreed. "Good day, Headmaster. Severus. Lord Potter." Malfoy nodded to Dumbledore and Snape, bowed again to Harry, and strode out, Dobby in its bubble following behind.

"What construction is this?" Harry asked.

"Your secret passage didn't find anywhere suitable for a theatre," Flitwick told him. "So the house-elves have been building one out near the greenhouses. There aren't enough to keep Hogwarts running and build during the year, so Dumbledore asked the members of the board to lend any spare house-elves."

"Secret passage?" Dumbledore inquired.

"On the seventh floor," Harry told him. "It can lead to anywhere below it as a slide. I guess it needs a specific location, though. It's opposite a tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy."

Dumbledore wrinkled his brow for a moment. "But that's where…" he snorted. "Oh, I see," said the aging headmaster, beginning to giggle uncontrollably.

"Albus?" Flitwick asked as Snape firmly planted his face in his hand. "Are you alright?"

"Oh, perfectly, my old friend," Dumbledore said with a chuckle. "Harry, you should probably go down to the Hall. The students should arrive soon, and we don't want your friends worrying about you."

Harry nodded and began to rise, wincing a little as his shirt brushed against a slight burn on his back. Nothing to worry about.

Flitwick, obviously, was over-reacting.

"You're not alright!" he exclaimed. "What is it!"

"Just a little rug burn!" Harry insisted, shrinking away from Flitwick as he approached.

Snape folded his arms and sneered. "After being transported by a deranged house-elf? Really, Mr. Ev- Mr. Potter. What did I tell you about earlier this very summer?"

Harry paused, memories rushing through his mind. "Counterpoint stirring patterns," he said after a moment. "With the Despard Salve."

"Which is for treating what?" Snape asked.

"Mage burns," Harry said. "They're caused by…" he trailed off. "Oh."

"Yes," Snape agreed. "'Oh'."

"Go to the infirmary," Flitwick ordered sternly. "Madam Pomphrey will be up to apply to Despard Salve in a few minutes."

"But what about Ginny?" Harry asked. "She and the others will be worrying."

"They'll be brought to visit while the first-years are crossing on the boats," Dumbledore assured him. "Filius is right. Mage burns only get worse with time – you need the Despard Salve as soon as you can get it."

Harry sighed, defeated. "Alright, I'll go." He turned and trudged out of the room, wincing with each step. By the time he had crossed the door's threshold, one of the three within the room had cast a silent spell to lift his shirt and keep him from feeling the pain. After a moment's though, Harry decided that it didn't matter who. All three cared for him in their own way.

Harry took his shirt off and lay face down as Madam Pomphrey spread the Despard Salve over the mage burns which covered his back. It was surprisingly soothing – he wondered if Pomphrey had any training in massage. After a few minutes she told him to sit up and began applying a bandage over the whole area.

"You'll have to sleep face down tonight, Mr. Potter," she told him sternly. "In the morning your salve will have finished, and I'll heal the burns normally."

"Yes ma'am," Harry said obediently. "Am I allowed to go to the feast?"

She shook her head. "No. You've already missed the Sorting and the feast is starting, you'd just cause a commotion by eating now. I'll have a house-elf bring you some food." Harry tensed. "Right, sorry," she said, wincing. "I'll bring you up a plate. What would you like?"

"Mashed potatoes and baked beans," Harry said, remembering that Healer Dane said he could start to have sweets at the beginning of school. "With a few brownies as dessert. And can you tell my friends that I'm alright?"

"I believe that Professor McGonagall told them already, Mr. Potter," Pomphrey said. "I'll see about getting them up here, though."

"Thank you," Harry said, lying down on his stomach again and closing his eyes as Madam Pomphrey left the infirmary. A few minutes later, he opened his eyes after hearing the door click open.

"Harry!" That was Ginny's voice.

"You're okay!" Hermione.

"Geez, your back!" Ron.

"What happened?"

Harry frowned for a moment. Who was the last voice? Oh, it was Luna. "I got mage burn when the house-elf transported me," he said. "It's nothing to worry about."

"What's mage burn?" Hermione asked.

"Yeah, I've never heard of it." Ron agreed.

"Didn't Professor Snape tell you about it when you made Despard Salve at the end of last year?"

"Nope. In fact, we didn't make Despard Salve at all," came Neville's voice.

"Then what was the first potion you made using a counterpoint stirring pattern?" Harry asked, confused.

"Harry… counterpoint stirring patterns don't come up until fourth year," Hermione said.

Harry wrinkled his brow, confused. "Well, Professor Snape had me do it at the end of last year."

"Just tell us what mage burn is," Ginny ordered him.

"Okay, okay. If I remember right, mage burn is when a magical creature's magic is channeled through a wizard's body," Harry told them. "It's too different from wizards' magic for our bodies to handle, and is expressed as a kind of magically-resistant burn. Any more magic which touches the burn will make it worse – the burns were smaller and not as bad before Dumbledore Apparated to Hogsmeade with me. Despard Salve is kind of a magical void, and it draws out the foreign magic to make the mage burns in to normal burns which can be healed with magic normally."

Hermione nodded, understanding, as did Luna. Everyone else still seemed somewhat lost.

"But it'll take time to do that," Luna guessed. "How long will you be stuck in the infirmary?"

"Only for tonight," Harry said. "Madam Pomphrey will heal me in the morning, and then of course we have the 2nd to get settled into Hogwarts again, so I'll go to breakfast and then unpack my trunk up in the Tower."

"So why did the elf kidnap you, anyway?" Ron asked.

Harry opened his mouth to tell him, but then thought better. There was already bad blood between the Weasleys and the Malfoys, after all – something like this would make it worse, even though they really couldn't be blamed for the elf's actions. "I think I should talk to Professor Flitwick and the headmaster before I talk about it," Harry said, realizing a moment later that it wasn't even a lie.

"We understand," Ginny said, interrupting Ron before he could protest. "Come on, we'll go back down to the feast and let you rest."

"Wait!" Harry called. "Where was Luna Sorted?"

"It took a while," Neville said. "She's a Hatstall, actually. But the Hat decided to put her in Ravenclaw, just under six minutes in."

"It wanted to put me in Slytherin," Luna said, surprising everyone. "But that didn't really seem like a good idea to me. I mean, there's the feud between my mother and young Malfoy's father, and I'm a halfblood – not even of a good family, too. Everyone there would know that my mum was disowned. So Ravenclaw it was."

Harry smiled and congratulated her absentmindedly. Luna really wasn't the kind of person he'd expect to go into Slytherin, at least not outwardly. She was apparently guileless and unambitious. Then again, appearances could be deceiving. He had nearly gone to Slytherin as well. But the Hat hadn't taken nearly as long to Sort him…