Aaand here I am again! Geez, I'm getting so much inspiration for this story, the plot bunnies are running rampant!

Thank you all SO much for the reviews! It's so much fun reading them all! If you have any ideas/constructive criticism, please tell me!

Also, I'm going to be ignoring most of the books, as you can see, even the meeting with Dobby is different than in the book, though I did have some similar elements. The reason for this is that for this story to work, Harry needs to be quite young. I'll say no more or I'll be giving away too much, but I promise you it will be interesting!

Disclaimer: I own nothing. You all should know that by now...


Lying on his back on the rather uncomfortable bed, Harry was thinking. The room around him seemed so cold and uninviting, with its bare walls and Spartan furnishing, compared to his dormitory in Hogwarts. It was only last year that he had finally found out the truth about himself, about how everything he used to believe was a lie and that his true place was in the castle, with its moving stairs, ghosts, living portraits and everything else. Most of all, he had friends. Ron and Hermione had been there almost from the first day and he missed them sorely.

'However, it doesn't seem like they miss me terribly much' he thought darkly and he turned over on his side. There had been no word from his two best friends since the start of the summer vacation and even now, with his birthday coming up, no letter had arrived. With a sigh, Harry got up from the bed and walked over to his desk where Hedwig's cage was placed. The owl bristled a bit, but let him stroke her soft, white feathers. He could hardly blame her for being frustrated. Uncle Vernon had forbidden any attempt at letting her out of her cage. Harry was just about to sit down when a sudden sound made him spin around. His eyes went nearly as big as those of the creature standing in front of the bedroom door.

'Who… What…?' he started, but the creature cut him off. 'Harry Potter, sir! Please, Dobby was not intending to intrude on Master's privacy! Dobby needs to tell Master something, which is why Dobby is so rudely appearing without any notice whatsoever!' The creature's eyes went even wider and it wrung its hands in what seemed to be a worn pillowcase.

'Umm… Don't worry about it?' Harry stammered, unsure of whether to treat the creature, Dobby, as if he had expected him to show up or if he should voice his confusion and ask what the hell was going on. Frankly, he was leaning towards the latter.

Dobby seemed encouraged by the fact that Harry hadn't immediately started shouting at him, because his face broke in a big grin and he proceeded to nod several times, as if thankful for the fact that he hadn't been punished yet.

'You see, Master Harry Potter, sir' Dobby started 'there is something that Master needs to know! Something he needs to know before returning to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry!' Green eyes were pleadingly looking at Harry with such earnestness that the black-haired boy had no choice but to listen.

'Okay, I guess? So what is it that I need to know? Are you coming from Hogwarts, from Dumbledore?' Suddenly, he realized that this strange creature might have been some sort of new way of informing the students about the coming school year. You never knew with the magical world, after all. Everything was possible.

'No, Dobby is not coming from Master Albus Dumbledore, sir.' Dobby said and anxiously moved from one foot to another. Remembering his manners, Harry pointed at the bed. 'Please sit down.'

The little creature looked at him in what appeared to be shock before big, fat tears started streaming down his cheeks. 'M-m-master asked Dobby to s-s-s-it?' he pressed out between increasingly loud sobs. 'A-a-a-s an e-e-e-qual?'

Not understanding the other's reaction, Harry nodded uncomfortably, while shooting wary glances at the door. Luckily for him, the Dursleys had all gone out for the evening because of some sort of social Uncle Vernon had been invited to, along with his family. Harry was, of course, never included in this invitation. Not that he had wanted to go anyway.

'Yes, is there any reason why I shouldn't? Please, sit down. It would be easier and more comfortable for you to tell your story if you do.' The teen pressed on and Dobby slowly inched his way over to the bed with wobbly steps, as if his knees were shaking too hard for him to walk properly. When the strange figure was finally perched on the outermost edge of his mattress, Harry decided to see if he could find out more about his guest.

'So, before you start, could you tell me a bit about… you know… What you are?' he hurriedly added 'not to sound mean or anything, but… what exactly are you?'

To his surprise, Dobby looked up and smiled at him, seemingly relieved at the question. 'That was partly what Dobby was intending to do, Master!' he smiled and a row of quite uneven teeth was revealed. 'Dobby is a house-elf, Master. Someone who serves a magical household and stays with that family for the rest of his or her life.'

Harry furrowed his brow. 'So, does that mean that you came from one of the magical families, then?' suddenly gripped with hope, he asked 'Are you perhaps from the Weasleys? Have they sent you here to pick me up?' His hopes were quickly dispelled, however, when the house-elf furiously shook its head.

'No, Master Harry Potter, sir! Not from the Weasley, oh no! No, Dobby is from a much, much more important family!' he said with something akin to awe in his voice. 'Dobby is serving the Malfoy family line, Master!'

Now Harry's hope changed into suspicion. 'What do the Malfoys want with me? Have Draco sent you here to spy on me, to bother the oh-so-special Boy Who Lived even during summer?' Even Harry was surprised at how spiteful his tone of voice was, almost as if he secretly wished just a little bit of that might've been true. After all, every contact with the magical world seemed precious to him right now. And it was more than he had gotten from either of his friends. How ironic, he thought, that the only contact he got from the Wizarding world was from the one family who hated his guts more than anything.

His curiosity was spiked, however, when Dobby's eyes widened in shock and the little creature frantically shook its head. 'Oh no! No, Master Draco would not do that, Master Harry Potter, sir! No, Dobby has come here to give Master important information about the magical world!' he said breathlessly, as if the thought of any of the Malfoys doing something so base as spying on someone shocked him more than anything. 'Master asked Dobby what he was and Dobby is going to tell Master about house-elves now, sir!'

Harry couldn't deny that he was infinitely curious as to what the elf had to tell him. Despite living in the magical world for one year, he still felt horribly out of touch with that world, as if everyone knew much more than him. Because of that, every little piece of information was welcome to him and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees, and motioned for Dobby to continue talking.

Encouraged by this, Dobby carefully laid folded his hands and put them in his lap, as if considering how to best start the story. A few seconds later, he cleared his throat and started. 'What Master needs to know, is that house-elves are not good creatures. Oh no, sir, house-elves are bad, very naughty indeed. The reason we all look like this' at this he made a little motion with his hand that seemed to point at the entirety of his body at once, 'is because of our punishment. Our people have a deal with the folks of the Wizarding world and if anyone does anything bad, they are transformed into little elvses and made to serve a magical family.'

Now Harry was utterly confused. 'Transformed', 'our people', 'serve'? What did that all mean? 'I don't understand, what do you mean 'our people'?' the boy asked with a furrowed brow. He had just assumed Dobby and other house-elves were just another magical race like centaurs or garden gnomes, but from his words, it seemed like they were actually something else entirely.

'House-elves were elves at one point, Master Harry Potter, sir! Beautiful, elegant, wise. But sometimes, even the wisest elf does something he or she shouldn't have and they are punished by being given this ugly form and made to serve a magical household.' Dobby nodded seriously, as if he full-heartedly approved of this sentence.

'But' Harry started 'that's horrible! You're basically being treated as slaves!' Dobby gave him a look that was hard to decipher before he, without a word, disappeared with a loud 'crack'. The black-haired boy was left with his mouth half-open, as if to protest, but now silence once again descended upon the house and Harry sighed, realizing that his guest had gone. He still had so many questions, such as why the Malfoys would send their house-elf to him to explain just what a house-elf was and nothing more. Was this just a petty prank of Draco's or did Dobby tell the truth? If Hermione had been there, she could probably have told him all about it, but she wasn't, so Harry was left brooding over these unanswered questions for the rest of the afternoon and he eventually fell into an uncomfortable sleep filled with dreams of big, golf-ball sized eyes and whispered words that he didn't quite hear.

The next morning, Harry was making some bacon and eggs for Dudley as usual, when the silence was broken by a sharp knock on the kitchen window and when Petunia pulled the curtain aside to find out where it came from, she screamed as golden eyes stared back at her.

'One of those owls again! I'm not going to tolerate it, you hear me?' she screeched at Harry as the young boy opened the window to let the bird in. While ignoring his aunt's loud complaints, he untied the letter tied to the owl's leg and gave it a few pieces of bread as thanks. With a self-important flap of its wings, the owl disappeared out the window as suddenly as it had arrived. Having learnt his lesson of opening letters at the kitchen table, Harry stealthily slid the letter under his oversized T-shirt and secured it by tucking it into the hem of his pants. Luckily, no one seemed to notice as Petunia was still wailing about birds invading her house and Dudley was complaining about not having gotten breakfast yet. Vernon had left the house early that morning because of a meeting, so Harry didn't have to worry about him.

As punishment for his contact with 'his people', as his aunt had termed it, Harry was sentenced to mow the lawn, paint the fence, do the dishes and weed the flowerbeds. It took him most of the day, because Petunia kept finding small faults with whatever he was doing and thus made him do them all over again. When he finally was admitted into the house again, he grabbed a piece of slightly stale bread and quickly made his way up to his room. The moment he was safely inside Harry locked the door, grabbed the letter from where it had been hiding all day and walked over to the bed to sit down. Examining the envelope, he saw the seal belonging to the Ministry of Magic and Harry groaned inwardly. He quickly broke it and pulled out the piece of parchment inside.

His eyes scanned words written in mint green ink and he could feel himself gaping stupidly as he reached the bottom of the letter. Reading it over once more, a bit more slowly now, as if hoping he had misread something, Harry mumbled the words out loud for himself.

Dear mister Harry Potter

It has come to our attention that there had been a change in who is your magical guardian. As you are currently underage you are required to have a person belonging to the Wizarding world as your legal guardian. Because of recently uncovered matters, Albus Dumbledore, your previous guardian, has been deemed unfit to retain this position by the Department of Magical Law Enforcement and the Wizengamot.

Fortunately, Lucius Malfoy volunteered to become your new magical guardian and it is this department's belief that Mr Malfoy will prove to be an outstanding guardian for you, as he has several connections in the Wizarding world as well as the social standing to provide an excellent future career for you, Mr Potter.

Because of your peculiar standing in our world, it has been decided that you be moved from your current home with Mr and Mrs Dursley to take up permanent residence in Malfoy manor during your vacations away from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. An official from the ministry will accompany you to the manor at 9am tomorrow morning. All your belongings will be magically transported, so there will be no need to worry about packing.

Have a nice day and the best of luck

Miss Amelia Bones

The Department of Magical Law Enforcement

The letter slipped from his suddenly limp fingers and hit the floor with a soft 'thud'. So this was the reason why Dobby had visited him? To prepare him for a future life as one trapped inside the walls of the manor? Harry had no idea why Lucius Malfoy of all people would want to take him up as a ward, but judging from the rumours about the man, it could hardly be because of his gentle heart and caring nature.

Putting his head in his hands, Harry closed his eyes tightly. Dumbledore was deemed unfit to be his guardian? Just what had happened to make the old man lose standing within the ministry? Now Harry was regretting not paying more attention to Hermione when she had lectured Ron and himself on the internal happenings of the ministry and who was in charge of what. Maybe he would've had a better chance of understanding it all or maybe even contesting the claim Malfoy had put on having custody over him. Also, why was it suddenly necessary to move him from Privet Drive? Not that he wasn't happy that he didn't have to spend more time in his uncle's house, but why not earlier? Had something come to light that made further living in the muggle world impossible?

The questions seemed impossible to answer, at least for the moment. Chewing his lip, Harry got up from his bed and sat down in front of his desk, grabbing a quill and some paper. 'If I can't answer these questions, perhaps Hermione or Ron can.' he decided and quickly scribbled down a few lines.

Dear Hermione and Ron, if you're there

I'm not sure what's going on, but it seems like Malfoy Sr. has become my magical guardian and that Dumbledore has been deemed 'unfit'. Do any of you know what's behind this? Did Malfoy trick the Wizengamot or something to accomplish this?

I haven't heard from you at all this summer so I'm assuming you're in a position where you can't really speak, but please try to get in touch! Use Hedwig, she knows where to find me.

Lots of love

Harry

With that, Harry folded up the letter and tied it to Hedwig's foot. He had managed to steal the key to her cage when no one was looking and now it proved to come in handy. Opening the window, trying not to make a sound, Harry carefully stroked the white feathers of the bird in his arms. 'Be careful, girl. Try to make them reply quickly and come back to me as soon as you can! Merlin knows I could probably need a friendly face where I'm going…'

With that, he stretched his arm out and Hedwig flapped her wings and soared out into the night air, seemingly delighted to be flying again. With a sigh, Harry turned around and walked over to his bed. Why all this happened to him, he would never know. Lying down, he stared up at the roof. 'I'm probably not going to be able to sleep at all tonight' he thought dejectedly, but only a few minutes later his eyes started drifting shut and his breath evened. The last thought that went through his head was 'Well, at least I'll have plenty of opportunities to prank Malfoy if I'm living in the same house as him.'


And there you have the second chapter! I like keeping them short, as it makes me update faster and it's easier to sort of thoughts and ideas for what I want to do next :)

The coming days I'll be quite busy with real life, but I'll try to update as fast as I can! Hopefully, it shouldn't take more than a week, though I can't promise anything... Rreviews always make me want to write though... *hint hint*