Dumbledore's arrival at Privet Drive could hardly come too soon. While this stay was the shortest and least unpleasant, due entirely to Sirius being physically present, there was still a tense atmosphere whenever the pair of them saw Harry's aunt and uncle. Even Sirius's childhood home would be a relief after this.
The headmaster thought it best to call at eleven in the evening had struck them both as rather odd, although perhaps less so than his needing Harry's assistance with an errand.
"Bloody presumptive of him to expect a favor from you, after what he's put you through this year," Sirius said conversationally as the two of them read the missive.
Harry had just shrugged. While his godfather's opinion of the headmaster had gone down considerably during the past year, Harry still believed that Dumbledore, while not infallible, generally acted as he saw best.
"At least he'll wake up the Dursleys, at that hour," Harry said, with a laugh. "And they won't be able to take out their frustration on us for it."
Much, anyway. The Dursleys would be rude to Dumbledore if they had to interact with him, but that didn't worry Harry. He knew what they were like, and had still sent Harry to live with them. While he understood that his mum's blood had been the main factor behind this decision, he still felt annoyed that he could have spent his childhood with Sirius or another wizarding family with only a slightly higher amount of risk.
Well, maybe he didn't entirely trust Dumbledore's logic as much as he once did. There was no crying over spilt milk, as the muggle expression went.
Sirius had suggested they take naps earlier in the day, because who knew how long this "errand" would take. Harry hadn't protested, in part because Sirius phrased it as him needing the rest more than Harry, and because Harry could see the logic behind this. Granted, had anyone except (perhaps) Mrs. Weasley made the suggestion, he likely would be been peeved at being treated like a child.
After an early dinner at a nearby restaurant, Harry and Sirius settled down on Harry's bed for a nap until 10, when Harry's alarm was set to go off. All the packing was complete, but this extra hour would give them time to do a quick inspection of both rooms in case they had forgotten anything. Harry knew not to expect the Dursleys to hold onto anything of his, even as innocuous as a muggle sweater. Especially after this summer.
Thanks to his new wardrobe and collection of books, Harry had fully expected to run out of room in his trunk, but Sirius had performed an Extension charm, as well as a Feather Light charm, both of which would last indefinitely. He'd brushed aside Harry's thanks, saying only that he was surprised that no adult had bothered to do this earlier.
"If what you put in your trunk extends past twice the space of the current one, you'll have to perform it again," Sirius had explained, as they piled in the last of the books, "but as you can see, that's not going to be a problem anytime soon. Same with the Feather Light charm."
"Is there a limit to how many times it can be performed on a single item?" Harry had asked, watching with fascinating, then experimenting by moving his trunk around the room with no effort.
Sirius shrugged. "If there is, the wizarding world hasn't discovered it. Probably something the Unspeakables study."
He'd said the last part as a joke, and grinned as his wit. Harry chuckled at the idea of something so innocuous being a job of an Unspeakable, but, well, very little would surprise him at this point about the wizarding world.
They sat on Harry's bed as they waited, not talking but not needing to. They started a few inches apart, but as the time progressed, they shifted closer together, until there was no space between them. Harry felt himself yawning, even as he tried to hide it, but Sirius just gave him a gentle smile and wrapped an arm around him.
"Not the best time to arrive, near the middle of the night," he murmured, smoothing Harry's hair with the other hand.
Harry gave a slight shake of his head, then stopped. "Least it will wake up the Dursleys," he mumbled.
He'd almost drifted off when he was awoken by his uncle's voice, yelling as usual, and Dumbledore's calm response. His immediate response was to jump, but Sirius still had a steady had on his shoulder, and must have seen the startled look on Harry's face. Not that his own denoted a calm demeanor.
"Guess we better get going," Harry said, feeling his heart rate return to normal, and Sirius nodded and gave his shoulder a squeeze.
It would be fine. He was with his godfather, and would be with Dumbledore. The only wizard Voldemort had ever truly feared. Whatever errand the headmaster had in store for them would be nothing compared to seeing the dark wizard again.
All the same, Harry was looking forward to returning to the safety of Grimmauld Place, though certainly not to seeing Kreacher, the elf who had lied to him and nearly got his godfather killed.
Sirius's hand was still on Harry's shoulder as they left the room and headed down the stairs. It was certainly welcome, and had there been room on the stairs for them to walk alongside each other, Harry would have given Sirius a grateful smile. He had to save that for when they had reached the downstairs, though, and Sirius gave him a smile in response before transferring the hand to around Harry's shoulders, in an almost one-armed hug.
The Dursleys were all downstairs, wearing their nightclothes, and Dudley had a look of bewilderment on his face, like he couldn't figure out where he was. The excess weight might have been gone from his cousin, but Harry thought he still looked like a dumb pig.
"Ah, Harry and Sirius. Thank you for accepting my invitation," Dumbledore said, as cordially as though he was hosting tea. "Let us sit down for a moment and discuss some things."
"Some things" turned out to involve Kreacher. Later, after they'd returned to Grimmauld Place, Harry wondered why it had not waited until there, and decided it was the headmaster's idea of a joke.
Dumbledore had heard about Kreacher's role in nearly killing Sirius, and while he had dismissed the elf earlier as a necessary feature of Grimmauld Place, and impossible to free without putting them all in jeopardy, he had been forced to reconsider the situation.
"I propose," he began, ignoring Kreacher's angry mutterings and the Dursleys' screams that he should be allowed at Privet Drive, "that we give him a series of orders binding him to secrecy, and then send him to work at the Hogwarts kitchens. Harry, although you freed Dobby, he considers you his master in a way-" Here, Harry sputtered, but no intelligible words came out. "-so I would recommend you call him here and ask him to keep an eye on Kreacher."
"Dobby?" Harry called, tentatively, and in less than a moment, the other house elf appeared.
Aunt Petunia, Harry noticed with pleasure, was practically whimpering at the emergence of a second house-elf on Privet Drive.
"Harry Potter called?" Dobby asked in his high, squeaky voice.
"Hello, Dobby," Harry answered, trying not to grin too broadly. "I didn't bother you or anything, did I?"
"The great Harry Potter could never bother Dobby, sir!" Dobby answered. "Dobby is more than happy to assist with anything Harry Potter requires, sir!"
Kreacher mumbled something about ungrateful brats, which ceased immediately when Sirius yelled, "SHUT UP!"
Well, the words stopped. His mouth continued to move.
Within the next few minutes, the following events took place. Kreacher, while still under the command of his Master Sirius (and now under the equal command of Harry Potter, to his and Sirius's and Kreacher's distaste, but assured by Dumbledore it was necessary) to leave Grimmauld Place unless commanded to return, to work in the Hogwarts kitchens next to Dobby at all times (unless Dobby told him otherwise), and to never reveal by word or hand motion or writing or any other means what had happened during the past year, or any other secrets or orders that Harry or Sirius might give him, for the remainder of his life. He was further told that if he broke any of these orders, his punishment would be to report his misdeeds to Sirius immediately, who would then he permitted (under the laws of house elf magic) to...dispose of him.
As it turned out, a house-elf who disobeyed his master for any reason except for the physical well-being of his master was expected to commit suicide, but this was rarely enforced because house elves could do more for their masters alive than dead.
It also explained why the Malfoys never used this punishment on Dobby, even though he had disobeyed their orders on several occasions.
Harry wondered, after hearing all of this, whether Hermione had been right about SPEW all along.
"And finally," Dumbledore announced, once the elves had disappeared, "to meet an old colleague and friend of mine, Horace Slughorn."
"Horace Slughorn?" Sirius asked. "The old Potions master?"
"Indeed." Dumbledore smiled. "I am hoping to offer him a job at Hogwarts for this upcoming term."
Harry, upon hearing the news, was dumbfounded.
"So, you're finding going to sack Snape, eh?"
This comment came from Sirius, with a wide grin, and a squeeze around Harry's arms. It was only then that Harry realized his godfather had not let his arm leave Harry's side this whole time.
"I plan to utilize his other set of talents," Dumbledore replied, amiably. "Come, the night is still young."
A/N:
We don't know a ton about the rules of house-elves and their disobeying their masters, but I don't think it would be unheard of to learn that an elf who-it could be argued-tried to kill their master would end up with the same fate. I rather expect that this would almost never be used, though, and it would only happen if an elf like Kreacher tried to betray or kill his master on multiple occasions. Free labor is one thing, but would a witch or wizard really want to keep someone around who's out to get them?
For what it's worth, Hokey's convicted for accidentally poisoning her mistress (or so her altered memory tells her), although we never find out what her punishment was-or if she had one.
I apologize for taking so long to update. I've sort of reached a wall with this fic, and have been working on others. I hope to update again in the near future.
As always, comments/reviews are greatly appreciated!
