Dobby's Friend

DISCLAIMER! This Harry Potter story was written for fun. All rights belong to the wonderful lady (JK Rowling) who gave the world Harry Potter to read and enjoy. Looking forward to the next movie!

When he is freed by Harry Potter, Dobby becomes the house elf of the boy-who-lived. With permission and assistance from the grateful Hogwarts house elves, the determined Dobby takes steps to ensure his wizard is safe and able to recover from years of neglect by every adult in his life. And the adults have to pay the price for abuse and neglect.

CHAPTER 07: 13 July at Hogwarts

In the kitchens at Hogwarts, the elves tried to stay busy. They spent hours each day cleaning and rebuilding the Chamber of Secrets. There were three secret rooms revealed during the cleaning – one filled with books, one with artifacts from a thousand years ago, and the third one filled with raw gold and chunks of amber. They'd keep these rooms hidden until such time as sensible wizards and witches led the school.

Dobby reported his successes with dealing with Death Eaters. The Death Eater Malfoy and Parkinson families were dead using a contact poison made using the basilisk venom mixed with basilisk blood and goat's milk. Slipping into Malfoy Manor where he used to serve as a house elf, Dobby had coated the handles of the knives and forks with the poison. The Malfoys and their guests, and the Aurors on Fudge's security detail had touched the handles of the forks and knives at their place settings. The poison was absorbed through the skin of their fingers and attacked their circulatory system, making their hearts race, their heads hurt, and their breath grow short. And the poison vanished from the handles before the DMLE arrived to investigate. Only moments later, the poison decayed and vanished from the bodies of the Malfoys and their guests.

In the elven books of magic written by the elves in just the last few weeks was a spell to throw some basilisk venom (mixed with fire whiskey) at a wizard or witch to use the power of the person's magical core to fuel spontaneous combustion and burn the person to cinders in mere seconds. Dobby used this spell with an invisible balloon of venom (less than three millimetres) against the witch in Gringotts and then Severus Snape in the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

The elves were pleased when they affirmed that again, the use of the basilisk venom was undetectable by all wizard or goblin magic.

Dobby planned to use a fourth type of basilisk venom poison to remove more Death Eaters. He'd contacted the house elves of the Death Eaters and bargained extra berries for reporting any use of the name of the Boy-Who-Lived. The elf waited for a gathering where there would be drinking to use the latest version of the poisons that the elves had brewed.

Today, the elves were prepared to cast a powerful spell that would leave 41 of their number sleeping for at least 23 days. Gathering in the cleaned Chamber of Secrets around the spot where Harry Potter had bled from the stab by the basilisk fang, 41 elves formed a circle. Dobby stood in the centre; his foot placed on the stain of his wizard's blood.

The elves began chanting slowly, their voices very low, while the whole chamber fell into darkness. Dobby raised his arms, calling out to Mother Magic to notice one of her children. While Dobby cried and asked for help, the circle of elves remained standing in place, but every third elf was raised a metre off the stone floor and then dropped back into place. Then the elf to the right was lifted off the floor to the height of one metre and dropped back to the floor.

"We's asks Mother Most Magic to give elf-friend justice! Give Mr Harry Potters magical justice on the witches and wizards who harmed and ignored him! Justice for Mr Harry Potters!" called Dobby as the elves began rising to three metres before falling back to the floor.

The thuds of elven feet striking the stones grew and resonated in the Chamber of Secrets. The ancient cavern filled with magic as a mysterious force gathered and surrounded Dobby Potter Elf for many minutes, scoured away the blood of the Boy-Who-Lived and then swirled around the circle of elves, leaving them to sleep for 23 days.

In the centre of the sleeping elves, Dobby knelt, exhausted but triumphant. Magic heard his call and examined his claim. The elf didn't know what Mother Magic would do to the adults who failed his Mr Harry Potter, but he believed it would be justice.

Other elves popped into the chamber of secrets and helped Dobby conjure comfortable beds for the sleeping elves with warm blankets to guard each elf for the three weeks they would sleep to recover their magic. Wicked Jezebel said, "It be a few days before we knows what happens. Sleep for two hours, then go watch your wizard and help him enjoys his summer."

"Yes, Wicked Jezebel, Dobby do," the little elf replied as he slipped to the stone floor to sleep for short time. Then he would use short pops to move from Hogwarts to the Leaky Cauldron to watch over his wizard.

Dobby slept with a smile on his face – his wizard was safer this summer, fed and allowed to sleep without threats or pain. And he was taking the potions to help him recover his health.

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15 July Hogwarts in July

Minerva McGonagall felt terrible – she was hungry but nothing on her plate tasted palatable. Her arms ached, eyes were blurry, and her head hurt all day, every day. She kept rubbing her upper right forehead to try and relieve the headache, but it didn't work. She couldn't get her work done but it appeared the elves were cleaning every part of the castle.

Poppy Pomphrey was exhausted. She'd found herself scrubbing the floor of the bathroom in the boy's bathroom near the infirmary with rags in a bucket of ammonia and water. The skin on her hands was red and blistered, depending on her magic to heal it almost continually. This morning, she'd found herself scrubbing the windows in her private apartment with a rag and vinegar. Nothing was ever good enough. And her fingers had blisters as if they'd been burned by hot cooking-pans used on a cooking fire. She was hungry and her eyes were blurry.

On the grounds of the castle, Rubeus Hagrid spent every hour of the day walking back and forth making the motions of pushing something in front of him, reaching the edge of the lawn before turning around and walking, pushing the invisible machine once again. He had tears on his cheeks because he was hungry and if he didn't finish mowing the yard before dark, he'd not get any supper. Hagrid began walking faster when a ghostly voice yelled, "Slow Freak! Walk slow so the grass is cut evenly!"

Hagrid slowed down, tears flowing freely, certain he would go hungry again tonight, like every night that he could ever remember.

15 July Gringotts Curses

In Gringotts the goblin healers spoke quietly, consulting with curse breakers who'd been called away from their experiments with the three parts of Tom Riddle's soul they'd summoned thus far. Their spells quickly determined that the partial goblin Filius Flitwick suffered from a curse, but they could not identify the source of magic or the particulars of the curse. An elder from the same clan as the infamous goblin duelling champion was summoned to examine the younger member of his clan.

Born from a blood adoption of a wizarding child who'd been cursed with a deadly blood disease, Flitwick had become half-goblin and half-human. He never rolled up into a boulder to sleep like a goblin, and never chased witches like a wizard. He spent every minute learned hexes, jinxes and spells to give bullies reason to leave him alone.

The elder sat and held Flitwick's hand for a long time. The elder summoned the healers and curse breakers. He addressed everyone gathered around the cot, "Filius Flitwick suffers from a curse from mother magic for justice. There is some child in his charge that had suffered a decade of abuse, hunger, pain. And Flitwick did nothing when the child came within his view."

Filius groaned, instantly aware of the child he'd not aided – Harry Potter had appeared in September 1991 in need of support, food, medicine, and adults he could trust. Obeying Albus Dumbledore against his better judgement, Flitwick had not pressed McGonagall and Pomphrey to do something – anything – to help the boy. He'd not threatened Snape to curb the man's abuse of the boy; he'd refused to listen to Pomona when she argued with Dumbledore and suffered the headmaster's compulsions to remain silent.

"Ten years…" Filius croaked. "No, ten plus two years. My penance will be twelve years long."

"Can your human side survive ten years of this pain and hunger?"

"My magic will decide," Filius admitted. "Now, I must return to Hogwarts and work in the library. That is a task I must complete before I eat again."

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16 July Scandal at the ICW

On 16 July, the Daily Prophet shocked Magical Britain (a difficult accomplishment after the strange deaths of late June and the first week of July). The headline made everyone stop and read the article underneath.

'ICW Grand Mugwump Dumbledore Loses His Mind!'

At the opening reception for the annual ICW meeting, Grand Mugwump Dumbledore appeared for the first time by running into the banquet hall, looking around wildly and panting, "I gotta outrun my cousin and his friends! They'll beat me up if they catch me! Gotta hide!"

The elderly wizard hid behind some curtains and cried whenever anyone approached him to inquire about his health. Everyone thought there was some joke or pranks planned but the Grand Mugwump seemed to recover and denied anything strange had occurred. During the evening meal, Dumbledore suddenly covered his head with his arms and begged, "No uncle. Please don't hit again! I be good! I no be freak!"

The healers were summoned, and they used a portkey to move the elderly wizard to the closest magical hospital. There were scans and examinations. A dreamless sleep potion appeared to not offer any relief from the moans and groans that Dumbledore suffered through the night.

In the morning, he begged for food and a pain potion but there were no broken bones or torn muscles though the Grand Mugwump did have multiple bruises all over his torso, arms and legs. When food was provided, Dumbledore proved unable to chew and swallow – he claimed the food was sawdust or worse.

Later in the day, he seemed to recover his mind, and asked for clean robes, tea, and the papers for the afternoon's agenda. He walked toward the assembly hall but stopped twice to gather dirty tea and coffee cups that he carried to the kitchen and proceeded to wash manually. The man worked silently, quickly, and carefully, flinching every time anyone approached him.

The healers were summoned again and the members of the ICW quietly voted to replace Dumbledore as the Grand Mugwump before supper that second evening.

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