Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 10
By David
Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. JK Rowling has that honor.
Author's Notes: these marks [] indicate Japanese spoken.
Ninja Wizard IV: Goblet of Fire 10
'Dumbledore Again'
Sunday afternoon everybody met in Harry's private flat. Harry waited until everybody settled down to open the meeting.
"Okay. Everybody saw what happened at the second task. Any thoughts?" Harry asked as he sat down next to Hermione.
Neville spoke up first. "I was observing the crowd reaction, and I saw how Dumbledore reacted to Hermione's appearance and how she greeted Harry. He did not look happy."
Hermione was next. "I remember walking into the common room and then felt something hit me from behind. I remember waking up inside of my mind because something had tripped the defenses. It was Dumbledore forcing his way into my mind. I had something very special set up for him and nudged him in that direction. He was casting spells inside of my mind to make me hate you and walk away from you. He wanted to know all about Harry so I gave him a lot of disinformation on Harry, and I think he believed it. For someone who thinks he's all mighty Merlin, he sure is gullible."
Harry nodded as Sirius looked somber.
"He's not going to stop until he has complete control over you, Harry. The old man is definitely up to something, I just know it," Sirius said.
"The bumblebee will try his best to sting but he will fall from grace," Luna spoke up in a strange voice and fell silent.
Everybody turned to look at her as she sighed and leaned against Neville.
"That sounded like prophecy to me," Hermione said.
Ginny handed Hermione a piece of parchment with Luna's words on it. Hermione set it on the nearby table and turned back to the group.
"That was very obvious," Sirius said after a moment. "What I get from that is Dumbledore will attack Harry time and time again until something happens to make him fall. He's just as wily as a fox and all of you need to be very careful as he might use any of you to get to Harry like he had tried with Hermione already. Just watch your back, all of you. I am going to try to get a small team assigned to here and rotate out as needed at the MLE. I'm sure Bones will go for it."
"Good idea, and let her know Skeeter got banned from here by McGonagall," Harry told Sirius.
"We know already and Hermione's letter writing campaign against Skeeter after that Hogwarts article was brilliant. I plan on writing a letter myself after having been here a few days and having seen the changes McGonagall has done in bringing back the subject that should have been taught here ages ago. Snape unfortunately is here to stay as he is the best potions master to be found here in England. There are others just as good as Snape, but they are currently employed by St. Mungo's and the Ministry research and development department and all of them are overworked as they are working very long hours. There are a few of them working on potions to try and heal up those who got hurt by the crucio spell like Neville's parents. I've donated a fair bit of money to them," Sirius said as he nodded to Neville.
"Thanks," Neville nodded back.
"So what do we do now?" Ginny asked.
Harry contemplated that question. "We wait, we watch, and we document everything. The third task is coming up and I have no idea what it is."
"I'm sure we will find out soon enough," Sirius said. "I get the feeling that things are going to start happening soon enough."
With that the meeting broke up and everyone headed back to their houses for the night.
Sirius had no idea just how right he was. Harry was headed down a corridor a few mornings later when he heard voices up ahead of him arguing about something. Harry was sure that one of the voices was Snape. He wasn't sure about the other one. Harry stepped lightly down the hall to a door that was slightly open. He peeked in and didn't see anyone in sight. He slipped in through the slightly open door and moved into the shadows. He moved around a cabinet and saw Snape with Karkaroff. Karkaroff had the sleeve of his left arm rolled up and Harry was able to see what it was that he was showing Snape. A tattoo of a snake coming out of a skull. Voldemort's mark.
"He's coming back!" Karkaroff practically yelled at Snape.
Snape regarded the man coolly, not reacting to the sight of the dark mark. "And so what if he is? Are you that afraid of him?"
"You know what he does to those that turn on him!" Karkaroff whimpered. "You have to save me from him!"
"I shall do no such thing," Snape looked down on the man. "If you betrayed him in any way he will find you and kill you."
Harry raised his eyebrows at that. Now he knew for sure which side of the fence Snape was falling down on. Snape was on the side of Snape. It was as simple as that. Harry watched Karkaroff pacing back and forth.
"What am I to do?" Karkaroff cried.
Snape leaned forward and stared down at him. "I know what I shall do. I shall give the dark lord my support as I believe he will win this war. The Potter brat's time is coming."
Harry wondered if Snape was involved in some kind of plot against Hogwarts and then reconsidered. It was too early for him to act. Voldemort had to come back first in order for something to happen to Hogwarts. He turned his attention back to the men but they had left the room. Harry came out of the shadows and went to the now closed door. He peeked out and seeing the hall was clear, slipped out the door and headed back to his flat. He needed to get the memory copied before putting it away in his safe room.
Neville was the one to bring the news to Harry a few days later during lunch, looking very serious.
"You need to see this," he said to Harry. "Follow me."
As Neville led Harry out of the great hall, Viktor fell in step with them. Cedric and Fleur hurried to catch up with them. Neville led them out to where the Quidditch stadium was, or in this case, had been. Instead of the Quidditch stadium, there was a hedge growing in front of them. It was already waist high. They wandered around within the hedges noting how it seemed to dead end in places, turn in other places, and then it hit Harry.
"A maze!" Harry called out. "They're creating a maze!"
"Very good!" a voice called out from behind them.
Harry turned to see a short bald Asian man sporting a small white goatee. He was standing there with his hands behind his back beaming at them. Ludo Bagman was behind the man and he was beaming as well.
"I see that all of you are here!" he called out as the five of them made their way out as the hedges suddenly parted to give them a direct path out. "Come and meet the gentleman who will be taking Crouch's place!"
They stopped before Bagman as Karkaroff, Maxime, McGonagall, and Dumbledore appeared, leading a few of the tournament officials behind them. Harry turned to look at the man before him and he felt power coming off the man in front of him. Harry wondered if he was ninja. Once he found out the man's name, he would send off a letter to Kotake and Hiroshi to properly identify the man.
"I am Daichi Souta. I shall be taking the place of Mr. Bagman as he will now be taking the place of Mr. Crouch until he recovers. I wish all of you well," he said.
Dumbledore now spoke up. "Mr. Potter is right. By the middle of May this will be a fully grown hedge. As the four of you make your way through the maze you will encounter many things that will try your courage and strength. The TriWizard's Trophy will be in the middle of the hedge. The first person to it will be the winner."
Harry knew he needed to step up his training if he had a chance to get through it in one piece as he was sure they would be throwing everything possible at them. Harry's mind was already at work formulating a plan for surviving the maze as he surveyed the hedges before him. He nodded to himself and headed back to the castle with Neville behind him. It was time to go to work.
"A maze?" Hermione questioned when they gathered in Harry's flat that evening, minus Sirius as he was on assignment. "You got your work cut out for you Harry."
Harry nodded. "I know. I certainly have my work cut out for me."
"That you do," Neville said as he returned to the couch he had been sitting on with a plant book. "I acquired a sample of the hedge that's growing for a bit of research. The hedge is a normal one, very common to plant to use as cover around a house."
"That means they will be loading up the hedge with all kinds of things," Hermione hypothesized.
"Oh wonderful. That means I could be meeting one of Hagrid's cute and cuddly pets," Harry groaned.
Everybody laughed at that one.
"There's nothing cute and cuddly about Hagrid's pets," Ginny piped up. "Fluffy's a great example."
"Aragog," Neville said.
Harry shivered at the memory of the giant spider.
"Norbert!" Ginny grinned.
Norbert was a dragon Hagrid had hatched in his hut back in first year. Harry ran a mission up to the top of a tower to hand it off to Charlie Weasley to be placed at a dragon reserve. Damn thing nearly burned down the hut before Harry could get to it.
"Hagrid definitely has a thing for dangerous creatures," Harry said.
Neville laughed. "Only Hagrid calls them cute."
Hermione turned her attention back to the notebook in front of her. "So anything could be inside the maze. Not knowing what they are is going to make it hard to prepare Harry for, so the only thing I can recommend is basic combat and defensive spells. I can dig up some defensive spells for creatures in the library and some trap detection spells, but that's it. As Professor Moody is fond of yelling, constant vigilance is the key."
Harry rubbed the back of his neck and sighed. "Damn it. Okay, every free moment I have will be dedicated to working all kinds of possible scenarios. I'm taking this last task very seriously. It's not going to be a game here. Anything can happen."
"I'm confident that you can make it Harry," Neville said. "You can do it."
Harry looked at his friends and saw the confident looks on their faces. He knew they were behind him one hundred percent and that they believed in him. He would increase his training starting tomorrow.
How the word about the final task got around Hogwarts Harry would never know. Neville told him he didn't say a thing to anybody as he showed Harry the headlines in the morning Daily Prophet. The tournament officials were fuming and nerves were on edge as several arguments broke out amongst the tournament officials. To top it all off, Mr. High and mighty Draco Malfoy had to pop up with his crew.
"Potter," he sneered at Harry, "I've got a little betting pool going on that you'll be running out of there screaming like a little girl for your mommy."
"He can't, Draco. His mommy's dead, remember?" one of the Slytherins behind Draco sneered.
Harry just looked at Draco for a moment and then nodded his head. "You're not worth the effort. I would be wasting my time dealing with you as I have better things to do with my time. You really are a pathetic human being to resort to verbal taunts. Just like your daddy, all hot air and no action."
Harry stepped around him and continued on his way as Draco turned a dark red from anger. He went for his wand and then suddenly froze when he heard a thunking noise headed his way. Alistor Moody appeared as people immediately scattered. He stood there for a few minutes and then moved on. Draco snarled at the man's back as he walked away. Draco burned with anger as he thought of what that damned man had done to him. He couldn't decide who he wanted to get even with first, Moody or Potter. He stomped off in another direction as Harry continued on to the great hall for lunch. Souta Daichi emerged from the shadows and nodded to himself. He had seen how Potter handled the boy and was impressed with the boy's strength. He was so sure that the boy was ninja. He decided to keep watching Harry. There was something about that boy that intrigued him. He smiled to himself and moved on. Both of them did not see Dumbledore come out of the shadows of a nearby suit of armor, having seen the confrontation. Dumbledore wondered how he could use the third task as a way to turn Potter to him. He needed to think it through as he needed something really good that would crack the boy badly. Something involving Hermione. Dumbledore was still trying to figure out what went wrong with his plan in the second task. He took her down real easy. He had gotten into her mind. He planted the right kind of spells, the right kind of suggestions, and had gotten information from her. Something had gone wrong, he was sure of it. Dumbledore sighed and headed off to his office in the history of magic classroom. He had some serious thinking to do.
Harry spent the afternoon with his friends in his flat. They could tell that he was bothered by something and each one was wondering just how to approach him when he finally spoke up.
"I do appreciate all of the support all of you are giving me in this thing. As Dumbledore knows that all of you are my closest friends, he would do anything to get me, even using you in his schemes like he did with Hermione. I don't want to see you guys get hurt by him as he tries to get to me."
"Not your fault that he came after me," Hermione said. "I knew he would try something on me to get to you and I had taken precautions to make sure he didn't succeed and he didn't. Please don't worry about it, Harry. If all of us are prepared for his attacking us we should be fine."
Harry looked up and nodded as he sighed. "Then promise me that all of you will try to be aware of what's going on around you all the time. Constant vigilance."
Neville nodded. "We will be careful around him. I'll have to admit he makes a better teacher than a headmaster."
"That he does. History of magic has gotten better ever since he took it over," Ginny said. "He's talked about things other than the goblin wars."
"Thank God," Hermione said, making everybody laugh.
Harry smiled a bit and Hermione knew he was feeling a bit better at that. That having been settled, they turned to more pleasant things to discuss and the afternoon got better. Harry hoped there would be more days like this and to be able to spend time with his friends was important to him. They gave him a sense of stability, and his relationship with Hermione made his life even better. He knew he would never find better friends than the ones he now had.
Harry wondered just how much longer the situation with the Ravenclaws would continue despite the few people that tried to change their minds about Harry being in the tournament. Harry decided to just ride it out and worry about it later. He needed to prepare for the third task and it would be a rough one as anything could happen. In the next few weeks he got a lot of help from his friends in preparing for it. Hermione did some research in the library to come up with good defensive spells for Harry to use. As there wasn't really anything the others could do, they did their best to show support for Harry and he appreciated it. Harry's continued ignoring Malfoy drove the kid nuts and he stepped up on the insults to Harry but he ignored them as he walked past the blond Slytherin. Naturally Snape would be there in the shadows ready to step out and 'catch' Harry in the act of 'harassing' his students. As Harry had a number of people around him Snape was unable to act knowing that he would have to deal with McGonagall if it was reported to her by another student that he was giving Harry any kind of trouble. Knowing Snape and Malfoy, Harry knew it would be a matter of time before they caught him without witnesses around to see and a confrontation finally did happen. Harry walking down an empty hall when Malfoy popped out of a door and ran right into Harry, tripping over his feet and going down. Before Harry could do anything, Snape popped out of nowhere.
"Stay right there, Potter. Don't you dare run off while I see to Mr. Malfoy," Snape snarled at Harry.
Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle were right there almost on Snape's heels.
"We saw it all, Professor Snape. That arrogant bastard pushed my Drakie down," whined Pansy.
"I will be taking him to see the headmistress. The three of you can escort Draco to the medical wing," Snape said. "Come Potter, time for you to be expelled."
McGonagall sat there in her chair behind the desk and listened to Snape.
"I observed Potter push Mr. Malfoy down to the floor. Mr. Malfoy has a broken wrist as a result of his being shoved down. I demand Potter be expelled for his crime!" Snape demanded as McGonagall sighed.
Harry turned to her. "I didn't do anything to Malfoy. He came running out of a classroom and ran into me and tripped over his own feet."
"That is a lie!" Snape yelled. "There were witnesses to your crime!"
"Witnesses that you taught how to lie," Harry said.
Snape turned a deep red from anger. "I want Potter expelled!"
McGonagall sighed. This was the last thing she needed right now. "Did you have any witnesses, Mr. Potter?"
Harry sighed as he knew Snape had him cold. "No."
Snape sneered triumphantly at Harry. McGonagall knew a detention with Snape would end up badly for Harry.
"Detention with me. Eight o' clock this evening," she told Harry as Snape's face fell. "Do not be late."
Harry could hear Snape ranting as he closed the door to the office.
It wasn't too bad of a detention. McGonagall had Harry work on placing books in a bookcase as they discussed transfigurations. Harry felt he had learned more in those three hours of work than he ever had sitting in her classroom. McGonagall was relaxed as she supervised his efforts and listened to his thoughts on transfigurations. She had been impressed with what he thought about the subject. They also discussed other things as well and by the time Harry left her office, she understood him a little better. Harry potter definitely wasn't like the other students she'd encountered in her many years of teaching. Harry was one of a few students she had met who had a good understanding of the subject. He definitely had his father's talent there. McGonagall made an important decision and she turned to one of the many paintings in the office of past headmasters and headmistresses. Phineas Nigellus Black nodded down to her from his painting.
"I'll get the word out, Minerva. That greasy git will be watched along with the Malfoy boy and Harry," he promised.
McGonagall smiled. "Thank you."
"The Potter boy is well liked by a number of the paintings, and one of them has been counseling Harry in regards to his relationship with Miss Granger. I would keep an eye on that one, she is a very bright witch. Point her in the right direction, and she could very well end up doing the wizarding world a lot of good," Black said from his painting.
McGonagall nodded. "You are not the only one who has said that to me."
Black nodded and took his leave. McGonagall resumed her seat at her desk and sighed. She hoped that Harry could avoid trouble in the future. She had the feeling that things were about to happen. She hoped that Sirius would return soon as she trusted him the most. She wasn't sure of Nyphadora Tonks, Sirius' current partner. She was constantly tripping over things and making messes. Sirius had told her that he trusted Tonks over all the other Aurors. Sirius' lawsuits against the group that arrested him, the ones at Azkaban, Crouch Sr., Dumbledore, and former minister of magic Millicent Bagnold had succeeded beyond his expectations. A number of them had been dismissed and they didn't waste time leaving Britain for other places. Then Sirius shocked people with his very generous donation to the Department of Magical Law Enforcement to help with recruiting efforts and to set up classes that were needed to educate prospective Aurors. One of those classes was potions and Sirius had stated to the Daily Prophet in an interview why.
"To be an Auror one must have a good potions grade. Thanks to the current potions professor at Hogwarts named Severus Snape, there has been a serious lack of qualified Aurors because of how he teaches, and yes, I am accusing him of deliberately sabotaging the Auror Recruitment Program. The only reason we have the Aurors that we do is because they have gotten their training and potions training in other schools," Sirius told Rita Skeeter. "I believe it is time that the Hogwarts Board of Governors takes a serious look at the current staff of teachers and decided if they are working in the best interests of the Wizarding World by teaching our youth the things they should know."
That had set off Snape and he had challenged Sirius to prove it. Sirius did prove it in the next Wizengamot meeting and the Hogwarts governors then ordered Snape to 'shape up or ship out', something Dumbledore didn't want as he needed to keep Snape close to him. Naturally Snape blamed Harry for all of his problems and Harry knew that he needed to be careful around Snape. Sooner or later Snape would make his one big mistake and he would be gone. It was that simple. Hermione went into protective mode and began running a tutoring program in an effort to help those who were having trouble in potions. Snape tried to derail her efforts but McGonagall came to the rescue and stopped him from harassing her. Even Dumbledore had words with Snape and he backed off. He continued to stalk Harry at every opportunity, trying to get something on him. Harry and his crew used the Marauder's Map to learn all of the secret passages in and around the castle to avoid Snape and Malfoy's crew. Better to avoid a conflict with them than to get in trouble was Harry's reasoning. There was enough trouble in the castle as it was.
One evening in late March, Viktor Krum stood up from the Durmstrang table at the end of dinner and walked up front of the great hall. People went quiet as they wondered what he had to say. Even Karkaroff looked puzzled.
"Good evening to all," Viktor began. "I have noticed that there is too much tension here at Hogwarts of late and asked certain people why there is no Quidditch matches and was astonished to learn that the Hogwarts Quidditch League had been cancelled for the year. That's not fair to all of you. So I have polled a few of my fellow Durmstrang students and they have agreed to my suggestion. On behalf of Durmstrang, we wish to challenge a Quidditch team from Hogwarts to a match."
That set off the hall to talking. McGonagall turned to Karkaroff and he had a look of surprise on his face.
"I had no idea about any of this Madame McGonagall," Karkaroff said. "However, I do support the idea. Perhaps we could ask Ludo Bagman to referee the game as he is a former professional Quidditch player."
"We do have plenty of space on the grounds to set up a Quidditch pitch," Hagrid called out. "I'll need help with it."
"It would be just the thing we need to relieve some of the stress around here," McGonagall said as she tapped her chin. "It should be fairly easy to form a team to represent Hogwarts." She turned to Maxime. "Would you be interested in joining the challenge and make it a two day tournament?"
Maxime beamed. "I would love to but none of my students are Quidditch players, so sorry. But do not let that stop you and Durmstrang from having a match. I think it is a great idea."
McGonagall made it known a few days later there would be boxes by the doors to the great hall where people were to vote for a player from one of the four houses to play for the Hogwarts team in all positions. Harry quietly nominated Cedric for keeper as he believed that Cedric was the best one he'd ever seen besides Oliver Wood. If Viktor was looking to change things at Hogwarts with his announcement, he had succeeded. Excitement within the walls of Hogwarts was at a fever pitch and it was all anyone could talk about in the days afterward the challenge. Even the tournament officials were pleased by the challenge and every one of them endorsed the challenge. The voting went on for one week and at Friday night's dinner McGonagall floated the boxes in from outside the great hall doors and set them on a table on the dais.
"I shall wave my wand above each box that represents a position on the Hogwarts team. The person who gets the most votes will be the player. The second most will be the reserve," she stated. "Any padding on the votes for one person will disqualify that person. And now we begin."
The voting began with the keeper position. Cedric got the job at keeper and people cheered. It went on down the row, two people getting picked for each position. Draco Malfoy rejoiced when he got the seeker position with another Slytherin as his backup. Harry shrugged his shoulders and blew it off but Hermione knew different as she looked into his eyes and saw the anger and sadness there. She wanted to say something but she knew she couldn't as that would cause trouble for her. While the rejoicing went on Harry left the great hall and headed up to his private flat. A number of people saw him leave the great hall. The Slytherins, Harry's crew, some of the teachers, Viktor, Fleur, and Cedric all noticed Harry leaving. Dumbledore grinned to himself. He hadn't planned this but it could work in his favor. All he had to do now was lay a heavy guilt trip on Harry and he was sure it would break him. Dumbledore slipped away from the table. He had a letter to write. Snape rejoiced as he was sure it had brought the brat down a few pegs. McGonagall and the teachers who noticed Harry leaving were furious. There was nothing they could do at the moment.
Harry headed up to the stairs to the floor where he had his private flat. The pictures that were assigned to watch him as Harry moved around the castle now followed his progress up the stairs and into his flat, the word having reached Miyamoto in moments. He opened the door to the flat and let Harry in. Harry flopped down in a recliner as the fire popped up inside the fireplace. He sat there for a time until Hermione arrived a few minutes later. He moved to the edge of his seat and leaned into her as she wrapped her arms around him. Hermione held onto him for a time until he let go of her.
"I'm okay love," he said after a moment. "Your hug was just what I needed."
Hermione sighed as she brushed the front of his hair out of his eyes. "Harry, that… that was so unfair! They all know that you're the best seeker ever!"
Harry smiled up at her. "Thanks love. They made their choice and they will have to live with it. I am not going to force people to change. They have to do that on their own."
Harry stood up and gathered her up in his arms. Hermione leaned into him and they stayed like that for a bit, each one enjoying being close to the other. Miyamoto nodded as he watched them knowing it was Hermione's love for him that would carry him through the hard times. Both of them moved over to the couch and sat down on it, Hermione snuggling down into Harry as he wrapped his right arm around her. They sat there for a long time until Miyamoto announced curfew. Harry walked her to the door and wished her goodnight. Miyamoto saw her out and the pictures followed her up to Gryffindor tower. Harry turned to the living room area and went back to the recliner. He was feeling tired and he settled down in it to relax for a few minutes before going to be. Harry must have been a lot more tired than he realized because when he woke up in the recliner the next morning the clock on the mantle announced the time as being six in the morning, his usual time. He got out of the recliner and went about his normal morning routine, working out, shower, and breakfast in the flat. It was during lunch that Dumbledore's letter was delivered to him. He checked it for spells first and found a tracking spell. He destroyed it and checked once more for any others and found one inside the envelope, a spell designed to compel a person to do anything the caster wanted. Hermione and Neville both checked the envelope and letter again and finding it clean. Harry tucked it into his pack and continued on with his day. He would read it later in the safety of his flat. He was curious to see what Dumbledore wanted.
Harry opened the letter after the remains of his dinner was carried away by Bustah. The house elf sensed that something was wrong and he went back to the flat to see Harry open the letter from Dumbledore.
"Mr. Potter, it is obvious by now that you have become a great disappointment to all of us at Hogwarts. It is clear now to me that nobody likes you or even wants you here. I am sure that your parents would be very disappointed in you because of your actions towards me, and towards the vendetta you have carried out against me. Because of your actions against me, I am no longer in a position to where I can protect the Wizarding World against Voldemort or any of his followers. By attacking me in the way that you have, our enemies have won a great victory against us, and the innocent people you have condemned. By listening to the wrong people you have gone astray. I cannot help you now. I could have helped you in a great deal many things. Despite whatever you say you are indeed going dark, and now I find myself having to do something to prevent you from becoming the next dark lord. I can fix everything. All you have to do is surrender yourself to me and I will fix everything and put things back to the way they are supposed to be. I will give you to the end of the year to do so. If you do not then I will have no choice but to find you and bind all of your magic and put you under my control. It is for the greater good that you must follow me. Albus Dumbledore," Harry read out loud.
He crumpled up the letter in a ball of parchment and tossed it in anger at the fireplace and fell short. He turned away and Bustah made his move. He picked up the letter and disappeared, knowing that people needed to see the letter from Dumbledore. Bustah now knew that Harry was going to need protection from the evil man named Dumbledore. It was time to activate two special spies he had been training in secret for the last two years.
Flitwick was sitting at his desk when Bustah appeared. He handed Flitwick the letter and Flitwick smoothed it out and read it. By the time he was done reading it he was trembling in anger. This was the last thing Harry Potter needed.
"Please take this to McGonagall after I make a copy of it. We need evidence to prove that Dumbledore is not leaving Mr. Potter alone," Flitwick said. "Let her know I will call on her sometime tomorrow morning as we need to deal with this with a rational mind. I should have some suggestions by then."
"As you wish," Bustah nodded and disappeared with the original letter.
McGonagall had the same reaction as Flitwick did. Bustah left her there after delivering the message that Flitwick asked him to and appeared in house elf territory. He mentally called for the elf Dobby and he appeared.
"Dobby comes," he announced to Bustah.
Bustah nodded. "Good. The Dumbledore has threatened Harry Potter. This cannot be allowed. It is time for you and Winky to do what the both of you have been trained for. The both of you must now be bonded to Harry Potter in order to look after him. Both of you will protect Harry Potter. The Lady McGonagall will be advised as she must be brought into the plan to save Harry Potter from the evil Dumbledore."
Winky appeared a moment later. Bustah had taken her to Japan the moment he had found her, a total mess from all of the drinking she had been doing and not caring for herself ever since Crouch Sr. had dismissed her. Kazuya had bonded with her and in doing so, saved her from self destruction. He had bonded with Dobby as well and spent the two years in training both in the ninja arts. While both elves were nowhere near Bustah's skills as Bustah had been Kazuya's personal elf in years past, they were more than capable of protecting themselves but were very good at the skills they needed to move around places undetected. Harry had not seen Bustah in the time he had grown up in the village as Kazuya wanted Bustah to remain in the shadows and to constantly pop in and out of Hogwarts to spy on Dumbledore as he knew Harry would eventually go there. Bustah had joined the Hogwarts house elves after Harry turned ten and Dumbledore had accepted him there but not bonded to him. Now the time had come for Dobby and Winky to bond with Harry and start watching over him as he knew Harry would be in constant danger, not just from Dumbledore, but from Voldemort as well. The village seer had seen his return to the Wizarding World. Kazuya then wrote a letter to Harry and sent it to him via the secure letterbox. Bustah then returned to Hogwarts.
Dobby appeared in Harry's flat the next morning, startling him as he waited for breakfast. Dobby beamed as he set the tray on the table in front of Harry.
"Dobby?" Harry asked, instantly recognizing him from second year.
Dobby stood a bit straighter and beamed. "The great wizard Harry Potter recognizes me! I am so happy!"
"I've wondered what happened to you ever since I saw you last," Harry said.
Dobby sighed and drooped a bit. "I've been having a hard time trying to get a job with a wizard family. Nobody wants Dobby as they know that Dobby was once a Malfoy house elf, so Dobby has been without a family to care for. Dobby must bond with a wizard or Dobby will die. Dobby has been getting weak."
"So if you were to bond with someone, you would get better and stronger?" Harry asked. "You wouldn't lose your magic?"
Dobby nodded, his big ears flapping. "Yes. I would consider it an honor to work for the great Harry Potter. I know another elf that is in need of a wizard to take care of."
Harry instantly thought of Hermione. "Would this particular elf be willing to bond to a witch I know of?"
Dobby thought for a moment and realized that would work out well as Hermione would need protecting as well. Hermione arrived at that moment and found Harry talking to an elf. Harry looked up and saw Hermione there.
"Oh good, just the person I wanted to see. Come meet Dobby, the elf that gave me so much trouble back in my second year. He wants to bond to me and be my personal elf. He knows another elf who wants to bond to a witch and serve her too. You would know her as Winky…" Harry was interrupted by Hermione.
"Crouch Sr. former elf?" she asked. "The one he gave clothes to?"
"Yes, Miss Grangy," Dobby said. "She has been searching for a family to bond to and has spent time with various wizard families on a temporary basis and that has helped her from losing her magic and her life. You are a powerful witch. By bonding with Winky you would be restoring to her magic and life. There is much she can do for you."
"Be a big help to your various research projects as she knows more about the wizarding world that you and I do," Harry said.
Hermione nodded. "I'll do it."
Winky appeared instantly, grabbing onto Hermione's hands and looking up at her with a pleading look in her eyes.
"What do I do?" Hermione asked.
"Simply say that you accept her as your bonded elf," Dobby said as he reached for Harry's hand.
Hermione looked down at the little girl elf and smiled. "Winky, I accept you as my bonded elf."
A blue glow surrounded both of them for a moment and faded away. Winky cried tears of joy as Hermione got down on one knee and patter the elf on the back. Harry turned to Dobby and said the same thing. The blue glow surrounded both for a moment and then Dobby was hopping up and down in joy. Harry smiled and sat down on the couch.
"Dobby, would you be willing to wear a uniform? It would consist of black pants, a white button up shirt, and a black vest with the Potter Crest on the left side," Harry asked him.
"Of course," Dobby beamed. "Everyone will know I am a Potter elf."
Hermione turned to Winky. "Would you be willing to wear a nice dress? I'd want you to look pretty."
Winky nodded, the tears still rolling down her face. "Mistress Granger is far too kind."
Bustah nodded as he looked on the scene before him from the shadows in the room. Master Kazuya would be so pleased. He popped out to join the meeting in progress up in the headmistress's office.
McGonagall had finished reading the letter that had been sent to Harry as Flitwick paced the floor, having seen the letter from last night. The paintings of the previous headmaster and headmistress's of Hogwarts all hissed their disapproval as Bustah appeared. Flitwick turned to the elf.
"Bustah? Is everything alright?" Flitwick asked.
Bustah nodded. "It is now, Master Flitwick. I have set protection around Harry Potter by convincing him to bond with the elf known as Dobby and Miss Granger to bond with the elf known as Winky. Both of them are more than willing to watch over them as they understand the threat the Dumbledore and any evil wizards and witched that want to harm Harry Potter pose to him and his lady."
Flitwick sighed in relief. "Well done, Bustah. You have seen the need to protect them and have done the best thing possible. They are to report to you, and you to me, and I in turn, will report to McGonagall, provided she agrees to all of this."
"I do, Filius. Well done Bustah. You are commended," McGonagall said. "I feel better knowing that they are being looked after now."
"So do I, Minerva. One less worry to deal with," Flitwick said.
Bustah disappeared and went looking for the Dumbledore, as it had become his job to watch the old man and make sure he did not become a threat to Harry Potter as he had a lot to deal with right now. Bustah had the feeling that things were about to get worse.
To Be Continued