Chapter 10 – The Power of a House Elf and Back to Hogwarts
Elves were once said to be the most beautiful creatures to walk on this planet. To lay sight upon one was considered to be a blessing and promise of good things to come. So then the question begs to be asked, do house elves and these elves have any connection between them?
Harry was reading a chapter on the myth of elves and how the house elves came into existence.
According to the book many centuries or perhaps even millenia ago elves and humans lived together in peace and harmony. They usually kept to themselves and did not interfere in the business of humans. Their vision was said to greater than any living creature, they could spot a snake moving in the sand from great distances and they were also capable of judging a man by looking into his soul. They moved with such grace that it felt and looked like they were part of a gentle breeze flowing through the lands. Their skill in healing could be matched by no man and their arms for open to any being was in need to be healed, be it physical or mental injuries.
But peace as always is never meant to last forever. A group of elves attracted by the powers wielded by a wizard decided to find to find a way to obtain those powers in an attempt to become even more powerful. For such peaceful creatures, even the thought of attempting such a thing was considered sacrilege.
The elves were captured before they could go through with their plan and were summoned by the elders, who ruled over the Elvin kingdom. The elves who tried to commit this offence were deeply ashamed of their actions and begged for forgiveness.
But the elders did not forgive them. They concluded that being in contact with humans had begun to corrupt their kind and it was time to leave these lands forever. The guilty elves instead of being executing, were cursed to lead a life of a slave, to become a slave to wizards and suffer for eternity.
The descendants of these elves are still among the living and are now commonly known as house elves. Whether or not they retained their powers is unproven.
This is the legend about the house elves and most historians have concluded it to simply be a story for children passed on over the ages. A fairy tale about what should happen should you do wrong. None of these theories/stories have any concrete evidence and nobody really knows how the house elf came into existence.
Today the house elf is just a slave in the household of a rich wizarding family and the house elf cannot leave the family unless it is set free which is considered to be a disgrace to the house elf. It is said that house elves have powerful magic of their own but seldom use it. The master of the house elf can order the house elf to use magic and it is unclear if the elves are capable of using magic without being ordered to do so.
Nobody can break the bond tying the house elf to its master unless the master gives the house elf clothes thus freeing it.
Harry sighed and shut the book with a snap, he didn't need to know about house elf history, he needed to know how to unbind his magic, he thought bitterly.
"BOY!" he heard his uncle yelling. "BOY, GET DOWN HERE!"
Harry sighed. He slid the book under his bed and went downstairs grumbling all the way to see what his uncle wanted now.
"Yes, uncle Vernon?" he said politely "You called?"
"Yes, take your dinner and don't come down until we call you again, don't make a sound, don't say a word, pretend you don't exist or else…"
He left the threat hanging in the air.
Harry was surprised they were actually giving him his meal when they had decided not to. He stood there not moving until his uncle yelled again.
"Boy, go upstairs now! The Masons will be here soon!"
Harry nodded and quickly went upstairs before Vernon decided to take his food back even if it was just cheese and bread.
He heard the bell ringing and quickly entered his room and shut his door. He went to sit on his bed but almost dropped his plate in shock.
There was already someone or rather something on it staring at him with big wide yellow eyes. They stared at each other for a while until Harry blurted out, "Who are you?"
"I is Dobby sir! Dobby the house elf!" it said enthusiastically in a high pitched voice jumping down from his bed. "So long Dobby has wanted to meet you sir, such an honor it is to meet the great Harry Potter…."
"I don't mean to be rude but is there a reason you are in my room?" ignoring the house elf's praises.
"Oh, yes, sir" the house elf said earnestly, "But Dobby has come to tell you… but Dobby doesn't know where to begin…" it said hesitantly.
Harry put his plate on the bed side table and sat on his bed. "Why don't you think and then tell me what the hell are you here to tell me," he said sharply.
"Harry Potter is so kind and noble," the house elf whimpered in joy "So brave and gentle, so handsome…"
Harry just stood there completely bemused while the elf continued to shower him with praises. "Dobby, tell me why are you here?" he snapped when the elf didn't stop.
"Dobby has heard that you has faced the dark lord and escaped once again a few weeks ago!"
"Yes I know, is that why you're here?" Harry asked and then added sarcastically, "You want to congratulate me or something?"
"No, no, Dobby is here to warn you sir!" the house elf said shaking his head vigorously making his bat like ears shake.
"Warn me?"
"Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."
Harry's mouth dropped open in surprise.
"W-what!" he growled.
"There is a plot, Harry Potter sir, a plot to make the most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts and put himself in mortal danger!"
"What plot?" Harry asked immediately "Who's plotting them? Tell me!" he demanded.
Dobby made a choking noise and before he could stop him he began banging his head on the wall.
"Stop! What in heavens name are you doing?" he hissed.
Dobby kept banging his head on the wall squealing in pain very time his head made contact with the wall. Harry grabbed him by his clothes and held him in the air forcing him to stop hurting himself.
"Why the hell did you start banging your head on the wall!" Harry asked him incredulously.
Dobby looked at Harry miserably, "Dobby cannot betray or speak ill about his master or Dobby will have to punish himself very badly."
"Your family doesn't know you are here?"
Dobby shook his head, "Dobby will have to punish himself for coming to visit Harry Potter without master's permission."
"Who is your master?"
Dobby opened his mouth and then caught his throat and started squeezing it, trying to choke himself.
"Alright, alright stop! You don't have to tell me!" Harry whispered frantically afraid the Dursley's might hear the noise the elf was making.
Dobby left his throat and fell to the ground panting, "Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts. Dobby cannot let anything happen to the great Harry Potter."
Harry took a deep breath and was about to refuse when he spotted the book he was reading earlier. He remembered the chapter on house elves and their supposed healing powers. He was struck by a brain wave, what if this elf could remove his magic block? If he could do it would he do it? Or would he insist that Harry not go back to Hogwarts in exchange for removing the block?
Don't get your hopes high, he thought. For all you know the elf wouldn't be able to remove it.
"Dobby," he began "You don't want me to go to Hogwarts because I could die due to the dangers there right?"
Dobby nodded.
"Well it will do you no good because I will be dead by the end of this year," he said doing his best to look dejected. It wasn't that hard because he knew he would be dead if the block was not removed!
"What is Harry Potter saying! Harry Potter cannot die, he will be safe here!" the elf said panicking.
"You don't understand Dobby. My magic has been bound by someone years ago and now if that block is not removed I will die by the end of this year."
"No, no Harry Potter cannot die! Harry Potter is much too precious! He cannot die," Dobby said covering his ears and shaking his head, tears threatening to spill from his big yellow eyes.
"But if the block is removed I will be saved Dobby," he said bending down and looking into the big yellow eyes of the house elf. "Can you help me Dobby, elves are supposed to have some powers of their own don't they? Can you help me remove this block and save my life?"
Dobby looked at Harry tears now dropping slowly, "Dobby can try, but Dobby will help try and remove the block only if Harry Potter promises not to go back to Hogwarts."
"I cannot do that Dobby, but I can promise to stay out of trouble and go to the headmaster if anything happens."
"No Harry Potter sir, a great evil will be unleashed at Hogwarts! Not even Albus Dumbledore can do anything to stop it!"
"Remove my block first if you can and then we will discuss about me going to Hogwarts or not," Harry said firmly, he was going to Hogwarts one way or the other and this elf was not going to stop him.
"Harry Potter must first promise not to go to Hogwarts this year!" the elf said, not backing down.
Harry wanted to strangle the elf in his frustration. He calmed himself down and decided to try a different tactic, "do you like being a slave Dobby?"
Dobby looked confused by the change in topic but shook his head in negative nonetheless.
"If you help me remove my block I promise to help free you."
Dobby's lower lip trembled, "Such a great wizard Harry Potter is, he is wanting to help a house elf like Dobby to be free from his dark master," as soon as the words left his mouth his eyes widened in horror, he took the lamp from Harry's bedside and started banging it over his head screaming, "Bad Dobby, bad Dobby," over and over again.
"Stop it!" Harry hissed "What's wrong now!" he said grabbing the elf and holding him up. The elf struggled for a while before falling limp in Harry's hands.
As soon as Dobby fell silent he heard his someone stomping up the stairs laughing and saying, "Dudley must have left the T.V switched on, the little tyke."
Harry quickly shoved Dobby in the closet and jumped on his bed. At the same time he heard his room being unlocked and Vernon came in looking like a mad bull.
"What on earth are you doing here, boy," he hissed angrily "you ruined the punch line of my Japanese golfer joke!"
"Sorry uncle Vernon, I fell out of my bed, it won't happen again."
"It better not or you'll be wishing you were never born boy," he hissed menacingly and left the room locking it as he went out.
Harry sighed and went and opened the closet pulling Dobby out. "You see why I can't stay here, my relatives hate me and I hate them. Hogwarts is the only place I can call home and where I think I actually have friends."
"Friends who don't even write to you, Harry Potter sir?" Dobby said slyly.
"Well I think Blaise is busy, I've sent him at least three to four letters and he hasn't responded but… wait a minute, how do you know he hasn't been writing to me?" asked Harry suspiciously.
Dobby shifted awkwardly looking at his feet, "Dobby did it for the best, Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby."
"Have you been stopping my letters Dobby?"
Dobby mumbled something and pulled out a thick wad of envelopes and put them on the bed.
Harry gritted his teeth in anger but somehow in a controlled voice he said, "Letter don't matter to me right now Dobby. But if you can remove the block on my magic, I am begging you to do it. You said you want to protect me and save me from death, so if you really mean it, please remove the block."
Dobby looked a little apprehensive before he finally nodded in agreement. He motioned for Harry to lie down on the floor. "Dobby has never tried this before Harry Potter sir, but Dobby has the power to remove the block. It will hurt a lot until the block is removed," the little elf said looking extremely nervous.
Harry nodded and lay on the floor excitement and fear rushing through his veins, his heart pounding in anticipation of what was to come. He took a deep breath, "Alright Dobby, do it."
Dobby placed his hands on Harry's stomach. He closed his eyes and slowly his hands began to glow black. He dug his nails into Harry's stomach drawing blood causing Harry to wince in pain. The black light crawled over Dobby's hands like ripples in water before shooting into Harry's stomach. As soon as the light went in Harry felt like his insides had caught fire, he opened his mouth to scream in pain, only no voice came out. He tired to move and break Dobby's hold on him but find he was incapable of moving at the moment, it was like his body had completely frozen except for the pain rushing through his body.
All he wanted at that moment was the pain to go. He didn't notice how all the objects in the room were vibrating slightly nor did he notice Dobby remove his hands from Harry's stomach pulling out a foul smelling greenish black smoke that rose from the small holes made by the elf's nails on his stomach.
Dobby snapped his fingers and the smoke vanished. The wound on Harry's stomach remained and he felt the pain slowly disappearing but the pain in his stomach remained.
Harry slowly opened his eyes trying to get his breathing under control. He saw Dobby standing over him looking worried and concerned and he realized that he was completely drenched in sweat.
"I-is it gone?" he asked Dobby wearily, touching his stomach gently and wincing.
"Yes, Harry Potter sir, it is gone. Dobby sensed the block and removed it Harry Potter sir, your magic is completely under your control now."
Harry didn't know what to do, he felt like yelling in victory, felt like dancing and felt like he owned the world at the moment. He tried to stand up but immediately his head spun and he fell on his bed. He suddenly felt horribly weak and helpless.
"You must rest for a few days Harry Potter sir, then you will feel perfectly fine."
Harry looked at the elf and started chuckling and shaking his head, "I can't believe it," he said looking terribly amused "All this time I've been looking in every book I could find which said anything about binding ones magic and all I had to do was find a house elf who removed it in less than a minute!"
He sat up and looked at the elf that had practically saved his life, "Dobby, I promise you I will find a way to free you from the family you are bound to," said Harry sincerely.
"Dobby doesn't care about that Harry Potter sir, all Dobby wants is for Harry Potter to be safe. He is much too important to lose."
Harry shook his head, "You just saved my life Dobby, the least I can do is free you, and you want to be free don't you?"
Dobby nodded and said "Dobby wants to be free but he also does not want Harry Potter to return to Hogwarts this year! He has to stay in this house where he is safe!"
"Dobby if I stay here my relatives will kill me. Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. I'm not a helpless wizard you know," Harry said chuckling. "I'm going back to Hogwarts no matter what you try to do, the only way you can stop me is if you get me expelled."
"Then Dobby shall get you expelled, Dobby will not allow Harry Potter to go to Hogwarts this year," the elf said firmly and opened the door to his room with a snap of his fingers and hurried downstairs.
"Wait, what! Dobby, where are you going?" Harry asked panicking "Dobby stop!" he whispered harshly but the elf just ran down. Harry cursed and ran after the elf but almost fell as he couldn't stand considering how weak he was. He somehow dragged his body down to prevent Dobby from doing anything stupid.
He rushed into the kitchen, his eyes scanning the area looking for the elf. His insides turned to lead as he spotted the elf standing on the cupboard in the corner and hovering near the roof was Aunt Petunia's masterpiece of a pudding.
"Dobby, what are you doing!" Harry hissed panicking.
"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school."
"Dobby, stop this insanity! If you do that there will be no Harry Potter in this world!"
"Say it Harry Potter, sir," the elf said, ignoring Harry.
"Dobby, please think about what you are doing," Harry tired desperately.
The elf gave him a tragic look, "Then Dobby must do it for Harry Potter's safety," he said and vanished with a whip like cracking sound. Harry stared in horror as the pudding fell in slow motion, but just before it hit the ground Harry threw out his hands and stopped the bowl from crashing on the floor, the jelly wobbling dangerously. He levitated it and put it back in its original place, just as Vernon came into the kitchen.
"What are you doing down here!" his uncle hissed dangerously.
"Nothing, I was feeling hungry so I came down for a bite," Harry lied smoothly.
Vernon narrowed his eyes and his face turned red with fury, "There is some ham and bread in the fridge, take it and get out," he said, gritting his teeth.
It showed how important this deal was to his uncle that he didn't even attempt to smack him. He quickly grabbed the food and ran back upstairs to his room and collapsed on his bed. Two minutes later he heard a distinct growl coming from his stomach, he realized that he hadn't eaten the food his aunt and given him because of Dobby's arrival. He grabbed both plates and began to eat with vigor.
As Harry ate, he thought about Dobby, the psychotic house elf, who saved his life and yet wanted to destroy it. "What kind of danger could Hogwarts be in?" he mused.
Fifteen minutes later if anybody looked into Harry Potter's room, they would have seen a room littered with books, clothes, a few drops of blood smeared near his bed and Harry Potter himself fast asleep fully clothed, hugging his wand close to his heart.
-x-x-x-x-x-
The light filtering through the windows fell upon his eyes disturbing his comfortable sleep. Groaning he cracked an eyelid open and turned to his bedside table and checked the time… it was noon. He yawned and sat up on his bed rubbing his eyes.
He wondered why he was all dressed when memories of last night's happenings assaulted him. His face broke out into a large grin and he was filled with a large sense of happiness. Dobby had unbound his magic! He jumped out of his bed exuberantly and decided to test his magic.
He pointed his right hand towards the bed and concentrated on levitating it. To his shock and surprise, the bed shot up like an arrow and slammed into the ceiling causing the ceiling to crack and the bed came crashing down making a hell of a noise.
Harry was absolutely stunned. But he was broken out of his trance when he heard his door being violently opened and his uncle came in, huffing like a mad man.
"WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU DOING THAT MADE THE HOUSE RATTLE!" he bellowed.
Harry pretended to be confused, "Make the house shake? What are you talking about uncle?" he said looking bewildered.
"Don't play innocent with me boy," he growled, baring his teeth "I know you did something freakish in here."
"Sorry uncle Vernon, I have no clue what you're talking about," he said innocently "I just woke up because I thought my bed was shaking but then you came barging in like a hippo and I thought it was you," Harry said, desperately trying not to laugh.
Vernon's face turned purple and his fists shook in anger, it was a rather scary sight but Harry stood there not intimidated in the slightest. He had gotten used to that look a long time ago.
"Must have been a slight tremor uncle Vernon, you might want to check the news if there are any reports of earthquakes occurring nearby," he said seriously, concealing his grin expertly.
Immediately Vernon blanched and fear took over his features as he bolted from the room yelling for his aunt as he ran down to the kitchen.
As soon as he left Harry burst out laughing. He laughed until tears were pouring from his eyes. "Buffoon," he gasped, wiping his tears of laughter. A few minutes later when he had managed to get himself under control, he looked at his hands in amazement. He hadn't realized removing his block would have had such an effect on his magic.
He raised his hands towards the bed and made it levitate carefully controlling the amount of magic he used. This time the bed smoothly rose into the air. Harry closed his eyes and willed all the items in the room to float. Instantly every item in his room began to rise in the air.
He made everything to go higher and higher until he heard a high pitched scream coming from downstairs and his uncle was yelling something about freaks and monsters.
His eyes shot open when he realized every thing in the house was levitating! He looked out of his window and saw that a few objects were levitating outside too! Grinning lightly but not losing his concentration, he gently made everything come back to their original positions, before anybody outside noticed.
He waited for his uncle to come up and start yelling again but surprisingly nobody came and there was utter silence in the house. Harry couldn't believe it. The Dursley's passing up a chance to yell at him? Maybe they finally realized that they couldn't do anything to him when he had the power of magic at his finger tips.
Harry sighed blissfully and made his way to the bathroom. He had finally decided to wash up when he smelt his armpits and almost retched. He was in for yet another surprise while he was washing his face. Every time his hands touched the water, it would pull strands of water back along with it and would fall off only when he shook his hands vigorously. He frowned at this new development and found that while taking a shower too the water kept clinging to his body and was extremely hard to shake of his body. It was almost like the water wanted to stay close to him, but the weirdest thing was he seemed to enjoy it. The every touch of water was so comforting to his body that he didn't know what to think of it.
He decided to ponder over this new ability of his later as he was feeling ravenous and felt like he could eat a whole turkey in one go.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
A few days later, on 31 July, an owl came swooping in Harry's room and dropped a heavy package on the said wizard's head, who was deep in concentration holding a small ball of swirling water in his hand.
"What the…!" he yelped as the package fell painfully on his head and the ball of water splashed on his bed. "Bloody owl… couldn't drop the package anywhere else," he grumbled as he opened the box.
He pulled out the letter and saw it was from Blaise.
Hey Harry,
Finally you reply to my letters! Happy birthday to you! I hope the owl delivered the package on your head (evil grin). Anyway the gift will be worth it, it's a complete set of rare books on defense against the dark arts, charms and transfiguration I found in the library in my house which by the way nobody ever goes to. It contains all advanced spells and complicated shit that I couldn't understand at all! I figured since you spend almost all your time reading books back at Hogwarts, you'd appreciate more advanced books!
Hope you're fine and don't let the muggles bully you,
Blaise
"Bloody Blaise," Harry said ripping open the package, "He really knows what I want best!"
Inside there were five ancient looking thick books each having an impressive name. Harry looked at the books in awe vowing to finish them before he gets back to Hogwarts.
Another owl flew into his room and dropped a letter bearing the Hogwarts seal. "Finally, book lists arrive," he muttered, as broke the wax seal and pulled out a parchment.
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE:
The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk
Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart
Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart
Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart
Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart
Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart
Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart
"What the hell? Who on earth is this Gilderoy Lockhart?" Harry wondered. He idly flicked his wand at the books Blaise sent him banishing them into his trunk. "Hmmm and how am I supposed to get to Diagon alley?" he thought "Will aunt Petunia take me….?" "Oh shit!" he cursed "did I just do magic!" he yelped leaping from his bed.
"Shit I just did magic!" he said frantically looking around for an owl announcing his expulsion from school "What am I going to do! What am I going to do!" he groaned panicking. He kept pacing up and down in his room not realizing that an owl hadn't arrived and nor was it going to arrive. "I know what I'll do, I'll run, I can say some other wizard stole my wand or something or maybe….." Suddenly he stopped and realized no owl had come.
He calmed down and looked confused, "Why on earth has no owl arrived? Am I allowed to do magic?" he waited for another 15 minutes and when there was so sign of any owl he raised his wand hesitantly and cast a cleaning charm in his room. Immediately everything flew back to their respective places and there wasn't even a speck of dirt was left.
Harry waited holding his breath for the letter to arrive but none came. He looked at his wand incredulously, "How is this possible! McGonagall told me if we use magic outside school we would be expelled!" he said hoping for an answer from the ever mysterious wand, but unfortunately the wand didn't bother to say anything.
Harry frowned and his mind was working at furious speeds, "Is it because of you isn't it? You being an all powerful wand capable of destroying evil, so if I do magic with you it won't be detected?" he said looking at his wand, but as expected he didn't get any reply.
A few minutes later, Harry's face broke out into a truly delightful grin, "I can do magic outside school!" he said in awe. "This is truly the best birthday ever! Now all I need to do is convince aunt Petunia to take me into London."
"Conceal yourself," he said and there was a flash of white light and his wand vanished.
Harry casually entered the kitchen were his aunt was busy preparing lunch. "What do you want?" she snapped as soon as she saw him "I'm busy at the moment."
"My apologies aunt Petunia," Harry said politely.
She narrowed her eyes suspiciously, "What do you want?"
"I was wondering if you could take me to London within the week, I have to buy my school supplies."
"So go on your own, I don't have time to take you to London," she said stiffly and resumed her work.
"I would, but wouldn't it be odd to see a small 12 year old shopping all alone in London? One might wonder what kind of guardians the boy has," Harry said, knowing how the Dursley's were when it came to their public image.
Petunia glared at him but Harry was unfazed, "Alright, I'll be going to buy grocery supplies tomorrow and you can tag along."
"Thank you aunt Petunia," Harry said thankful that she had agreed.
"But I don't want you to come back with me, go and stay in one of your freakish friends house and come back next summer," she said with a tone of finality.
Harry was stunned for a moment but composed himself quickly, "Alright aunt Petunia, if that's what you wish," he replied and left the kitchen. "I can stay at the leaky cauldron, I can buy more books and practice more magic," he thought as he went upstairs.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry stood in front of the leaky cauldron as he watched his aunt and uncle drive away happy to be rid of him. "Idiots," he scoffed as he walked towards the famous pub.
"Excuse me, I would like to rent a room please," Harry said getting the bartenders attention.
"Rent a room huh, aren't you a little too young to be living alone? Where are your parents?" Tom the bartender asked suspiciously.
"They left for vacation, I didn't want to go so they agreed to let me stay here alone," Harry lied smoothly, he had was wearing a baseball cap which covered his scar and cast a shadow over his face, so that nobody would recognize him, out of the many things he hated, being hero worshipped was right at the top of the list.
Tom stared at him for a moment before flicking his wand and summoning a register. "Sign here and till when you'll be staying," he grunted.
Harry took the quill and signed his name as Harry not wanting people rushing at him if they found out who he was and wrote September 1st as his leaving date.
"Hogwarts student are you?" he asked. Harry nodded. "Right follow me and I'll show you your room."
Harry followed Tom up the stairs and stopped on the 3rd floor, he walked up to a door with the number 321 and opened it with his wand. "Alright son, this is your room till the 1st of September. You can pay now or before you leave, it's up to you. If you need anything just tap your wand on the little black ball beside the bed. Your food will be sent up magically and the cleaning lady will come every morning at 8.00. Now do you have any questions?"
"No thank you sir," Harry said politely "If you don't mind I'd like to settle in," he said and walked into his new room. Tom shut the door as he left. Harry walked up to the window and saw that it over looked the Muggle London.
He pulled out a small box from his pocket and waved his wand over it causing it to enlarge into his trunk. Harry summoned the books Blaise sent him and began to read eager to learn new spells and techniques.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
One week later
Harry made his way to Gringotts in need of money to buy the books assigned to them this year. He pushed through the crowd of people and went up to one of the counters and pulled out his key. "Excuse me, master goblin, I would like to make a withdrawal please," he said politely to the goblin.
The goblin looked down at him from his high chair and sneered, "Your key?"
"Right here," Harry said giving the goblin his key.
"Very well, all seems to be in order Mr. Potter," he said.
"Ah wait, would you be kind enough to tell me how much money I have in my vault?" asked Harry. Before buying his books, he needed to know how much money he had, not judge his riches by seeing piles of gold in a vault.
The goblin narrowed his eyes irritably, "Go to room 746 and ask for Bronzespear," he said handing Harry his key.
Harry took his key back and made his way to room 746. Outside the room a goblin guard stopped him, "Purpose of visiting Mr. Bronzespear," it said in a monotonous voice.
"Err… to check my account balance," Harry said nervously, eying the armed goblin.
"Name?"
"Harry James Potter."
The goblin glared at Harry and then stepped aside, "Enter," it said and opening the door for Harry.
Harry entered the room to find a goblin sitting behind a gold, silver table with various stacks of papers around him. The goblin himself was ancient looking and had half moon spectacles similar to the headmasters.
"Yes?" the goblin said, not looking up from whatever he was doing.
"Err… I was told to meet a Mr. Bronzespear if I wanted to check my account balance," Harry said, wondering why they would send him to such a goblin that looked like he dealt only with rich families.
"Name?"
"Harry James Potter."
Finally the goblin looked up and glanced at Harry, "Take a seat Mr. Potter," he said snapping his fingers to summon a file to him.
"You are here to inquire about the balance in your vaults? Am I correct?"
"Yes, but what do you mean vaults?
The goblin looked annoyed, "Obviously you have not been informed about your family fortunes Mr. Potter. You should know that I deal only with rich and ancient families and your father's family is one of the few oldest families I have dealt with."
Harry just stared at the goblin dumbly.
"Right, so as for your balance as you put it," said Bronzespear, sounding irritated for having to deal with a small kid. "You have three vaults, one being the main family vault, one being your trust vault which is under the control of your guardian and another vault which is said to contain priceless ancient artifacts and portraits and other treasures which are not known except for those who have visited the vault.
Now your trust vault is refilled every year to a total of 50,000 galleons and your family vault contains a total of nine hundred thousand galleons and a number of sickles and Knuts."
"W-what!" Harry stammered "My main vault contains about a million galleons!"
"Yes Mr. Potter and you also have two properties. One is the family manor whose location I do not know and the other is Godric's hollow which is now nothing but a pile of rubble now. Now do you have any questions?"
"Lots," Harry muttered making the goblin frown.
"Tell me Mr. Bronzespear, how come I wasn't informed of all this the first time I came to Gringotts?"
"It is the responsibility of your magical guardian Mr. Potter, not the responsibility of Gringotts," Bronzespear snapped.
"Who is my magical guardian? As far as I know the only guardians I have are the Dursley's and they certainly aren't magical," Harry said a little confused.
"Your magical guardian is Mr. Albus Dumbledore, who gained custody over you after your parents were murdered. It is his responsibility to inform you of your inheritance whenever he feels like it. But that doesn't mean he has control over any of your vaults, they are solely under your control irrespective of your age since you are the last Potter in the Potter Bloodline."
"So the headmaster is my guardian in this world and I never knew and he knew all about my inheritance and saw fit not to tell me about it?" Harry said with a hint of anger seeping into his voice.
"Like I said, it would be his decision as to when to enlighten you of the fact that you are rich and the heir to an ancient family," the goblin said in a bored tone.
"You said something about a family home?"
"Yes, Potter Manor."
"How do I get there?"
"I told you we don't know where it is. Only a Potter can disclose the location or someone who knows the location. Maybe if you visit your vaults you will get the answers you need," the goblin said irritably.
"Right, so can I visit these vaults?" Harry asked, his anger evaporating and curiously replacing it.
"PROUDFEET," the goblin called, and a small goblin hobbled in.
"Take Mr. Potter to his family vault and instruct him on how to open it. Take Clankers and leave now," the goblin said dismissing Harry.
The goblin known as Proudfeet beckoned Harry to follow him and they left the office and entered a different door having the rail tracks leading to the vaults. Harry got in along with the goblin and the cart shot of into the darkness.
The cart kept going and going not stopping at high speeds taking much more time then it took to reach his other vault. After a twenty minute ride they stopped near a huge dragon!
Harry was both awed and terrified at the sight of the dragon.
"Stay behind me human," said Proudfeet with a smirk. He pulled out a leather bag from the cart and removed a metallic device from within. With a small metal rod and hit the device which emitted a sound which made Harry's head vibrate. On hearing the sound the dragon roared and stepped aside revealing a small entrance.
"Follow me quick," the goblin commanded and they entered into a small corridor behind the dragon where the dragon could not reach them.
"Inside are the two vaults that belong to you now, just put your hand on the hand imprint on the vault doors and if you are a Potter you will be granted permission to enter, if not you die and i feed you to the dragon. I you live I shall wait for you here."
"It will kill me if I'm not a Potter?" Harry said weakly.
"Yes," the goblin said smirking evilly.
Harry gulped and walked the length of the tiny corridor until it opened out into a large area with two gold doors at each end.
Harry walked towards the vault to his left and placed his palm on the imprint on the door. He felt a tingling sensation running through the tip of his fingers traveling under his skin all the way up to his shoulder and a second later the door creaked open.
Harry walked in cautiously and the door shut with a snap and the torches flared to life inside the vault. The vault was a huge circular dome carved out of rocks. The ceiling looked like it would collapse any minute. "Must be held up by magic," he thought. In one corner of the huge vault was a huge shelf filled with books, in another corner were a number of portraits snoozing in their frames. There were various chests lying around and at the centre of the room were a number of columns with artifacts placed on them.
Harry was amazed at the contents of the vault. He had never expected to see books and painting inside a vault. He made his way to the centre where the artifacts were kept. There were rings, clothes, some weird items he didn't recognize, swords, gem stones, small cups with inscriptions on them and many other things he had never heard of. Plus the history of the artifact along with the name of the owner was written on the columns.
One particularly caught his eye; it was the silver ring with emeralds embedded in it and the name Salazar Slytherin was imprinted in small gold letter inside it.
Harry bent down to read the column, 'This ring belonging to Salazar Slytherin was found in the forbidden forest by Jeffrey Potter the 3rd. The ring is said to have various magical properties and is supposed to be the key to finding Slytherin's life works which have been said to be truly the work of a genius.
According to our ancestors Slytherin had not known about magic until he was fourteen and was captured by the village folk and set to be burnt by the stake because of the unexplainable things that happened around him. He was rescued by mysterious Godric Gryffindor who lived deep within the forest. Gryffindor was the one who taught Slytherin about magic and helped him grow into a powerful wizard he was known to be.
Years later after Hogwarts was built each founder built one magical artifact of their own as a symbol of the effort they put into building the school. Slytherin made a ring which also served as a key, Gryffindor with the assistance of goblins, a sword as he was known for his skill with a blade, Rowena Ravenclaw a tiara which is said to give you infinite knowledge and Helga Hufflepuff a cup with healing powers.
Nobody knows what happened afterwards but it is known that after a long time of peace and harmony there was great argument between Slytherin and Gryffindor which ended up in a duel to death within the forest of doom where Slytherin lost and fled from the school never to be seen again.'
Harry was amazed. Who would have thought Slytherin was practically a Muggleborn. Harry picked up the ring and tried to put in on his left hand forefinger but every time he brought it closer to his finger it would just shrink and couldn't be put on. He tried it on every finger but it just would refuse to fit on Harry's fingers. Eventually Harry gave up and slid the ring into his pocket.
He explored the vault further and tried talking to the portraits but they just ignored him and continued snoozing in their frames. Finally Harry gave up and made his way to the bookshelves.
Half an hour later, Harry came out of the vault with a bottomless and weightless bag full of books he thought useful and made his way to the family vault in hopes of finding a way to his ancestral home.
His family vault was similar to his trust vault but bigger with a lot more money and hundreds of huge sacks of galleons scattered here and there. At one corner of the vault there was a golden desk with stacks of papers piled on it.
Harry made his way to the desk but when he reached it the desk was empty. Confused he looked around for the stacks of paper he saw earlier. He looked at the desk and saw something written on it.
Welcome,
Ask for the parchment you wish to see and it shall be presented to you
"Location of Potter ancestral home," he said clearly. Instantly a parchment appeared in front of him with a map on it.
Harry took it and to his dismay he couldn't understand any of it as it was written in a completely different language. He sighed and made a copy of the map with his wand. He left the copy on the table and pocketed the original. He thought of any other document he wanted to see when one struck his mind rather forcefully. Taking a deep breath he said, "Will of James and Lily Potter."
After a few seconds another parchment appeared. On it was written; Will of James and Lily Potter is lost.
Harry frowned and wondered how on earth could a will be lost when this place would show him the location of their ancestral home. Not giving it much thought and realizing there was nothing else of interest in the vault, he scooped up a number of galleons and slipped them into his money bag and left the vault.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry strolled down Diagon alley casually after exiting Gringotts. He kept visiting random shops with no particular reason. He had decided to buy his school books before going back to his room later in the evening.
He made his way to Flourish and Blotts finally to buy his books and was surprised to find a huge crowd outside the famed book store. Scowling he pushed through all the fat ladies and entered the book shop.
On the entrance of the bookstore there was a huge banner.
GILDEROY LOCKHART
Will be signing copies of his autobiography
MAGICAL ME
Today 12:30 P.m. to 4:30 P.m.
So that was the reason for the massive crowds thought Harry. "Might be interesting to meet this guy," he muttered. "After all, all our books for this year have been written by him."
"What are you muttering about kid?" said a witch irritably, a few paces beside him.
"Shut up hag," he spat back and turned away ignoring her gasp of outrage. Five minutes later he purchased all the books required and decided to have an ice cream from the ice cream parlor.
He sat outside the shop comfortably in one of the chairs watching all the people pushing each other to get their books autographed by Lockhart, who was sitting near the book shop in a temporary shed signing autographs.
Yawning he licked his ice cream enjoying the shivers it sent down his spine. He then spotted a bunch of very familiar looking people running towards the bookstore. His eyes widened in recognition. It was the Weasley's, Granger and Austin.
He saw Granger and the mother of the Weasley's shrieking and jumping in joy as they saw Lockhart stand up and get on the podium smiling, flashing his bright white teeth.
"Pathetic," he muttered rolling his eyes at their antics. Honestly, no need to act like fools, he thought. But when he got a good look of Lockhart he could help but doubt the man credentials. He certainly didn't look like the type of a man he claimed to be. His ice cream was almost over when he saw Malfoy and a man who had to be his father walk up to the Weasley's. He saw the elder Malfoy remove a book from the red head girl's cauldron and sneer at Weasley's father.
Harry snorted; trust a Malfoy to insult anyone they don't like. Suddenly the red head man leaped at Malfoy's dad and started pounding him. Both men rolled on the ground punching each other and crashed into a book shelf in the bookstore tipping the shelf over.
A few minutes later after the two men had broken apart, Malfoy snarled at Weasley and threw the book back into the girls cauldron and walk away his head high in the air.
Harry couldn't help but chuckle. It was too amusing to see two grown men fight like five year old children.
"What are you laughing at Potter?"
Harry jumped, startled and looked around wildly to see who had recognized him. He turned to his left and there she was; her black hair glittering in the sun tied loosely into a pony tail, freckles splattered across her face standing with her hands folded watching him with narrowed eyes.
Harry narrowed his eyes at her and coolly responded, "Freckles, how did you recognize me?" he said smirking as he saw her scowl when he used the nickname he had given her.
"I'd recognize that laugh anywhere, having heard it so many times myself," she said scowling.
"Congratulations, you should take a job to recognize voices in the future. Now is there a particular reason you are here or is it just to compliment my voice and looks unlike your own," he said raising an eyebrow.
Her scowl deepened, "I wasn't…." she began coldly but was interrupted as Ron's called her.
"Hey, Mary! Mary," he shouted as the whole Weasley clan and Granger came towards her. Harry groaned.
"Whom are you talking to?" Ron asked her.
"I'm hurt Weasley, don't recognize your best friend?" Harry said in a mock hurt voice.
"Who are you?" Ron asked rudely.
Harry removed his cap and his dark hair fell over his eyes and stuck out at odd places. "Ta da," he said bowing to them.
"You!" he spat "What are you doing here?"
"Temper, temper Weasley, I don't need to explain myself to you," he turned to the mother, "You must be Mrs. Weasley, pleasure to meet you ma'am," he said politely giving her a small bow. "And you're Mr. Weasley," he said shaking the man's hand "I must say sir; you have a nasty right hook."
Mr. Weasley went red in embarrassment.
"I'm sorry but we didn't get your name," said Mr. Weasley.
"No? Ronald didn't tell you? I'm Harry Potter," he said.
The girl with the cauldron squeaked and Mr. and Mrs. Weasley paled.
"So you're Harry Potter," Mr. Weasley said nervously "Ron has told us quite a lot about you."
"I'm sure he has, though I hope none of it is bad."
"No, no, of course not," Mrs. Weasley said laughing nervously. "Well come on children, we have to get back," she said quickly.
"Mum…," began the small girl.
"Now Ginevra," Mrs. Weasley said sharply.
"Starting Hogwarts this year Ginevra?" Harry asked her kindly.
The girl nodded and blushed until her face resembled the color of her hair.
"Well hope to see you in Slytherin then," Harry said cheerfully as the family turned and left as fast as they came.
"Well see you later Harry," said Lillian a little hesitantly before she took off after the red head family.
Harry looked at her weirdly. That girl made no sense to him at all. One minute she'd be all hostile towards him and the next she'd look like she wanted to be his friend and would talk all nicely and all and the next minute she'd try and punch the daylights out of him. "Even more barmy than Dobby, that one is," he muttered as he made his way back to the leaky cauldron.
"I told you he was evil mum," muttered Ron.
"Honestly, he was just talking Ron. Don't listen to Ron Mrs. Weasley, he just hates Harry that's all," said Lillian.
"Yes, yes dear, now come along," she said distracted.
Nobody noticed there was an extra item in Ginny Weasley's cauldron. A small black diary with a malevolent presence about it.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-
On September 1st 10.20 Am Harry had shrunk his trunk to the size of a matchbox and placed it in his pocket and was ready to leave for his second year at Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry. He had been staying in the leaky cauldron for almost a month and he hadn't just wasted his time. He had made numerous trips to his library vault as he called it and had read as many books as possible about not only spells but also different fields of magic, runes being his favorite.
He had also been practicing his ability to conjure water without a wand or a spell. It was something that had happened after that crazy house elf had unbound his magic. Every time near water, it would leap up at him or it would suddenly just sprout out of his fingers. He had been trying to control it and had managed it to a certain degree.
Looking around the room once more checking if he had forgotten anything, he turned towards Hedwig his ever faithful owl and said, "Meet you in Hogwarts Hedwig," and went downstairs and paid Tom for his stay in the room.
"It was a pleasure having you here Harry," said Tom.
"It was great being here, maybe I can stay here next year too," Harry said grinning. "Say Tom, do you know how to get to platform 9 and 3 quarters from here?"
"Sure, you can take the floo or the knight bus," he said.
"Floo? What's that?" asked Harry never having heard that form of travel before.
"You never heard of floo travel!" Tom exclaimed incredulously. When Harry shook his head, he explained, "It's a way of traveling by the fire. I'm surprised with magical parents you never heard of floo travel before."
Harry laughed nervously, cursing his stupidity, "Na, my parents prefer Muggle ways of transport, so could you tell me how to use it?"
"Sure, you just take a pinch of floo powder which is in the pot next to the fire place, throw it into the fire, get in and yell your destination. Look that man is taking it right now," he said.
Harry saw the wizard take a pinch of the powder and throw it into the fire place and say something inaudible.
"Now you go Harry and keep your hands close to your body and say the destination clearly," said Tom.
Harry nodded and took a pinch of the powder and threw it in. The fire roared and turned emerald green.
"You know I never got your last name," Tom said just before Harry stepped in.
Harry smiled and said, "Potter," before stepping into the fire place and yelling Platform 9 and 3 quarters.
"Merlin's beard, that was Harry Potter, the boy who lived staying in my pub," whispered Tom before his eyes rolled back into his head and he fell to the ground.
-x-x-x-x-x-x-
Harry meanwhile was traveling through fire at great speeds and felt like he was about to throw up. After a very nauseating few minutes he started to slow down and was thrown out of the fire place and he fell on the ground in heap.
His head spinning and back hurting he stood up slowly and looked around. He was almost at the other end of the station near the tail of the train. Almost all the people were closer to the entrance from king cross.
"I'm never going to travel by floo again," he croaked, wincing as he walked towards the train. He made his way to the train and settled comfortably in an empty compartment and took a short nap.
Nobody disturbed him for the whole trip except for the trolley lady who made her usual rounds in the train for which he was thankful but kept wondering why Blaise hadn't shown up. They had exchanged letters after Harry moved to the pub and he had said he would meet Harry on the train.
Soon the train came to a stop and Harry got off and walked up to the stagecoaches eager to get back to the place he called home. Suddenly he heard someone calling him. Frowning he turned back and saw a tall Blaise Zabini walking towards him as cool as a cucumber.
"Hey Harry, long time no see," he said grinning.
"Yeah, yeah you too, Mr. Tall," he said. Blaise had certainly grown tall during the summer, he was now 5'7'' compared to Harry who was 5'4''.
"Hmmm, you seem to have grown shorter except for your hair that is. It looks like a bunch of grass pulled out and stuck to your head," he said smirking.
"Shut it, you moron," grumbled Harry, annoyed at being called short. "Let's get to the carriages before they're all full."
On reaching the carriages Harry stopped short. "What's the matter Harry?" Blaise asked him.
"Look in front of the carriages and tell me what are those things?" he said pointing towards the creatures between the carriage shafts. If he had had to give them a name, he supposed he would have called them horses, though there was something reptilian about them, too. They were completely fleshless, their black coats clinging to their skeletons, of which every bone was visible. Their heads were dragonish, and their pupil less eyes white and staring. Wings sprouted from each wither vast, black leathery wings that looked as though they ought to belong to giant bats.
"Huh? What are you talking about? There's nothing in front of the carriages," said Blaise looking bewildered, "Are you sure you're eyes are fine?"
"Yeah I'm sure," snapped Harry. "And what do you mean you can't see them! Look they're harnessed to the carriages, they're like horses only black and with wings and ugly," he said staring at them.
"Mate, I don't see anything," Blaise said, "Hey Tracey, do you see anything pulling the carriages," he asked the Slytherin girl who was passing by.
"Huh, no. what are you talking about?" she asked confused.
"Nothing, nothing," Blaise said waving her off. "You see nothing," he said turning back to Harry. "Now let's go."
"But…"
"I see them too Potter," said a quiet voice behind him.
Both Harry and Blaise turned around to see Nott standing behind them. "But only those who have seen death can see them, and if you can see them that means you have seen someone die."
Harry stared at him, his mind flashing back to Quirrell who was turned into ashes just by touching him.
"Don't worry they're harmless," he said as Blaise pulled Harry into a carriage and they were followed by Nott and Daphne Greengrass.
A few minutes later they reached Hogwarts and went to their house table waiting for the sorting to begin.
McGonagall came into the hall and placed the hat and the stool in front of the head table and walked out of the hall to bring the new first years into the hall to be sorted.
As soon as the first years entered the entire hall feel silent. Harry leaned towards Blaise and muttered, "They look shit scared."
"So were we," Blaise whispered back.
"Speak for yourself, I wasn't scared at all," Harry said, smirking.
"Yeah right, I saw you go up to the hat you know," Blaise said rolling his eyes "You looked like you were about to pass out any second."
"Was not!" Harry whispered glaring at him.
"Yes you were."
"Was not, you jerk."
"Deny all you want Harry, but you know you were scared," Blaise said sniggering.
"I was not….."
"Shut up you two, the sorting is about to begin," Daphne whispered harshly.
"What! What happened to the sorting song?" Harry asked surprised the hat was skipping the song.
"You missed it you moron, you and Blaise were too busy arguing."
Harry looked at Blaise surprised who just shrugged and settled to see the first years get sorted.
"Amberline, Charles," McGonagall called.
"HUFFLEPUFF," screamed the hat.
"Creevy, Collin."
"GRYFFINDOR!"
"Lovegood, Luna."
"RAVENCLAW!"
The sorting went on and on and Slytherin had gained 2 girls and 2 boys up till now.
"Weasley, Ginevra."
"Weasley?" Harry said, his interest being perked up "Look Blaise, its the blushing Weasley! Which house do you think she'll be in?"
"Gryffindor all the way, she's a Weasley."
Five minutes later the sorting hat still hadn't decided.
"She's taking almost as long as you," Blaise muttered.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Suddenly the hat called out, "SLYTHERIN!" stunning the entire hall into silence.
Even McGonagall looked shocked though she removed the hat and gave the girl a gentle push towards the Slytherin table. Ginny walked towards the table in a daze, her eyes moistening. She took a seat away from everyone and started sobbing silently holding her face in her hands.
Harry looked at Blaise shocked, "A Weasley in Slytherin…. Has the hat lost his brain or something!"
Blaise looked equally shocked, "I donno mate, I don't know."
Harry look of shock turned to a gleeful one, "I can't wait to see the Gryffindor Weasley," he said rubbing his hands in anticipation "His sister in Slytherin!" he said snickering. Harry looked over to the Gryffindor table and saw all the Weasley's sitting in their chairs with their mouths hanging open. He looked at Ron who was glaring at him with pure loathing as if it was his fault she was in Slytherin.
Harry smirked at him and began to eat the food which had just appeared after Dumbledore gave his usual before feast speech.
"This is going to be an interesting year," he murmured as he glanced at the Weasley girl who had stopped crying and was eating her food looking miserable.
"You going to help her Harry?" Blaise asked quietly.
"Help her with what?"
"Settling into Slytherin. You know how everybody's going to behave with her."
Harry snorted. "If she belongs in Slytherin, she shouldn't have any problem but let's see. She might need a little protection from the seniors," he said thoughtfully.
"I can't help but feel bad for her," murmured Blaise looking at the smallest Weasley sympathetically. It was going to be a hard year for her.