Chapter 9: Meet Phil.
Thanks for all the reviews. This chapter is unbetaed.
So, I decided to continue this, even if it is only this chapter for now. Be forewarned my writing style has changed a bit since I wrote the first eight chapters.
So, should I continue it here, or start a whole new story with Phil? Let me know in the comments.
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Millie continued to teach Harry in his muggle studies every day, and he was getting mind-healing every Wednesday. He was getting over the fact that he caused the death of Professor Quirrell, but he now knew it was not his fault, per se. The man brought it upon himself by being possessed by a Dark Lord.
This also kept the Dursleys off his back to have magical adults around all the time, either Millie or his therapist. They left him alone except for meals, where they asked him how his day was and were polite. Even Dudley let him be.
Millie had taken Vernon and Petunia aside and explained that ignoring him was just as abusive as beating him, and that they could get Dudley taken away if they kept it up. It had taken a few of these talks for it to sink in, but she got her friend from Scotland Yard to come and lay down the law to them.
Millie also continued to teach Harry and Hermione self-defense moves, as well as a large group of other people. She'd go to classes first, and then teach the wizarding folk. She was making money hand over foot. She was pretty much set for the summer. If she wanted to get into teaching, she was making a good start of it.
It was all going really well until Harry's birthday, where it didn't go pear-shaped, per se, but it got twisted a bit.
The Dursleys were having a dinner party for the Masons, some important clients of Grunnings. Harry was to stay in his room and remain quiet, which he was okay with. He had homework to do anyway. He went to his room, after watching the Dursleys do their dress rehearsal of what to say and do for their guests.
It was hilarious.
In the middle of the room was a creature.
It was a small, thin humanoid creature that had a huge head. The ears made up most of the head. The eyes made up the rest. Though its nose was nothing to sneeze at. Its arms and legs were stick thin; its body wasn't much better.
"Hello," Harry said in a friendly tone, coming in and closing the door. He kept his voice low and kind.
"Harry Potter says hello to Dobby," the creature said, blowing its nose on the disgusting pillowcase it was wearing.
"What are you doing in my room?" Harry asked, going to his bed, and sitting on it.
"Dobby has come to warn Harry Potter that he must not return to Hogwarts," Dobby said in an ominous tone. He turned his body to face Harry but didn't do anything else untoward.
"Oh, why?" Harry asked, tilting his head.
"Bad things will be happening at that school this year," the creature said, blinking at the boy's calm demeanor. "Dangerous things. Things that can hurt Harry Potter. Even kill," Dobby warned, pointing a finger at Harry.
"Oh, what?" was Harry's next question. He leaned forward to listen intently.
"Dobby cannot say," Dobby said, wiping some snot from his nose, like he was sorry that he couldn't add more.
"Can you tell me anything else?" Harry asked, remorseful that there wasn't anything else forthcoming, looking at the pitiful creature. He really wanted to help him.
"Dobby cannot," confessed Dobby. His eyes got big, and he looked around the room like there might be someone listening.
"Let me talk to a few people, and I'll let you know if I'll go back or not," Harry said, going to the door and listening to the people talking downstairs. "Can you get home on your own?" he asked Dobby. He had no idea how the creature got into his room, but it wasn't through the front door.
"Dobby will stop Harry Potter from going back to Hogwarts," the creature threatened, though it wasn't menacingly. He was pointing at Harry again.
"Like I said, let me talk to a few people," Harry said, crouching down and looking the creature in the eye. "I promise to think about what you've said," he pledged, making motions over his heart.
"Dobby wills bes keeping an eye on yous," Dobby said, clicking his fingers and popping away.
"Millie isn't going to like that," the preteen said, looking out the window. He went to his desk and wrote a letter. He attached it to Hedwig and sent it to his older friend. He really hoped she could help.
He then did his homework, but his mind was on the poor creature that was in his room earlier. Maybe he should have offered it something to eat at the very least. But he didn't have any food in his room. The Dursleys didn't allow food in the bedrooms. Unless your name was Dudley.
He finished his homework and Hedwig returned. The letter said that the creature sounded like a house elf and if it returned, just to be kind and listen to it and not to provoke it in any way. She'd be there in the morning to see what they could do about it.
He went to bed feeling better about the whole situation.
Millie showed up at the regular time and they went to the library and got their normal table. This time Millie put up a Notice-Me-Not charm and a Muggle Repellent charm. She didn't want them overheard. They would have gone to the park, but it was raining out.
"Tell me what happened, yeah," she said, putting her books on the table and getting set up for their tutoring session. She was still getting paid to teach him, and this shouldn't take long.
So, Harry recounted his little meeting with Dobby and left nothing out. "He looked like he was abused," he added at the end. There was sadness in his tone and a few tears in his eyes.
"Sadly, most house elves are," she said, a forlorn look on her face. "There's nothing we can do for them. They are technically slaves, for all they need the bond to live," she added, running a hand down her face. It had been an ongoing problem for centuries, if not longer.
"I don't understand. They are slaves," Harry said, aghast. Slavery was illegal. Not to mention immoral.
"Yeah, but they are also symbiont," she explained, taking up a piece of paper and drawing a chart. "If they don't bond with a wizard they die," she said, showing the chart she had drawn. "It's a vicious circle. They can't live without the bond, but they have to deal with cruel masters. Well, I shouldn't say that. The Hogwarts' elves are treated fairly. And I know many purebloods that treat their elves well too, yeah. But there are those, like your Dobby's owners, that are bastards," she said, anger in her tone.
"That sucks," Harry said, looking at the chart and frowning. Like he could fix it by thinking hard enough.
"We've tried," she said with a smile, knowing what he was thinking. "Believe me, we've tried. Like many more before us," she added, pulling the English textbook to her. "You should remind him that muggleborns are under contract to go to Hogwarts," she suggested, tapping her chin.
"Oh, yeah" Harry said, hating to be reminded of that himself.
"Let's study what we came here to study. I'll think about what to do about Dobby," she said, starting their session.
"Do you think Dobby is the reason I've not heard from my dormmates?" Harry asked, pulling his textbook to him. Neville and Seamus hadn't written to him all summer. He'd written to them, but he had not heard a word from them. Nor the Weasleys. Dean wrote using the muggle post, as did most of the study group. Dean said that Seamus was worried about him, but Dean had told the Irish boy that Harry was alright, and something must be messing with his post.
"Probably. You could ask him when he comes back," Millie said, thoughtfully. That did make a lot of sense.
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Dobby came back two days later. "Yous tricked Dobby," the elf accused, pointing a finger at Harry. He was vibrating so hard; he was so angry that he missed the chance to get Harry Potter in trouble.
"What? How?" Harry asked, getting up from his bed where he'd been laying and thinking. It was fortuitus that he was thinking about this particular house elf.
"Now Dobby can not do as he had planned," Dobby said, stamping his spindly foot.
"Sorry," Harry said, confused. "What can I do to make it up to you?" he asked, genuinely willing to make the little fellow happy.
"Yous can say yous will not go back to Hogwarts," the elf said immediately. His eyes got big and hopeful.
"Dobby, you know we're contracted to go until our OWLs, right?" Harry asked, looking at the elf like he was confused. Maybe the purebloods weren't held by such a contract. Well, Millie did say it was the muggleborn, so maybe so.
"Oh, Dobby did not know this," Dobby said, reaching over and grabbing a lamp and banging it onto his head. "Bad Dobby," he said as he brought the lamp down on his head again and again.
"Hey, stop that," Harry said, grabbing the offending object and putting it away from the elf. "Why did you do that?" the flabbergasted boy asked. He'd never seen anyone punish themselves in such a manner before.
"Dobby almost got Harry Potter's magic taken away," the elf said, looking down at the floor. Sure, he was trying to get the boy in trouble, but not his magic taken away. That was paramount to death.
"But you didn't, so it's okay," Harry said, kneeling down and hugging the dirty elf. He didn't care if his shirt got stained, the elf needed some physical contact that wasn't abusive.
The elf stood stiff as a board and snotted on Harry's shoulder. He reached up his hand and touched the boy's back tentatively.
Harry let go quickly enough and sat back on his heels.
"Dobby is being sorry, Harry Potter," Dobby said, pulling some letters from his pillowcase. "Dobby did not know he was putting yous in trouble by trying to keep yous from Hogwarts," he said, handing the letters over.
"Wait!" Harry said, when the elf lifted his fingers to disappear. "We can still be friends," he offered, giving the elf a smile.
"Yous wants to be friends with Dobby?" Dobby asked dubiously. His eyes went wide with disbelief. It just wasn't done. "Dobby had heard of Harry Potter's kindness, but he never thought he would want to be friends with a lowly house elf," the elf said, still wide-eyed.
"Well, yes. I don't have any house elf friends, and you are trying to save my life," Harry said, putting his hand on Dobby's shoulder, making Dobby flinch.
"Dobby would love to be Harry Potter's friend," Dobby said, then snapped his fingers and popped away.
"Strange fellow," Harry said, then looked to the stack of letters in his hand and started reading. He spent the better part of the night replying to them. Especially, the Weasleys so they didn't attempt a rescue. He had too much to do to spend time at the Burrow, though he would have loved to see a magical house. He needed to keep up with his non-magical studies. He wasn't going to fall behind.
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One day, a few weeks later, at their self-defense class Millie introduced them to Phil Blake. He was a sixth year Hufflepuff muggleborn. They had seen him in the class, but rarely interacted with him. He was tall and good-looking. He was blond, tan and had an athletic build.
"You lot, this is Phil Blake," she said, bringing him over to the two going-on second years. "He's going to watch out for you this year and the next. He's going to keep in touch with me too. I want you two to write to me once a week to let me know what's going on, but Phil, will be my go-between, yeah," she said, a big smile on her face like she had solved a particularly hard problem.
"Hello, Phil," Hermione said, holding out her hand. She was glad someone would be there like Millie had been last year. She had been at a loss for who they would turn to if something happened like Hagrid's dragon egg.
"'ello," Harry mumbled. Though he did nod his head. "Millie, are you taking me to Diagon Alley?" he asked his favorite adult. She was the light of his world in a sea of worthless adults. In his eyes.
"I will," Millie said, putting her hand on Phil's shoulder. "Phil is coming with us," she added, giving Harry a firm look. "You can be politer," she chastised, giving him the stink-eye.
"Sorry," he mumbled again.
"We'll go tomorrow," she said, looking at the two younger kids. "Hermione, ask your parents if they want to come, or if they are more comfortable with me taking you," she instructed the bushy-haired girl.
"Okay, Millie," Hermione said, grinning. Her parents were more than likely to come. They loved the magical world. "Shall we meet you there, if they want to come?" she asked, looking at the sullen Harry and frowning.
"Yeah, we'll save the bookshop for last though, so how about we meet at the Leaky?" the older girl proposed.
"Great. Around noon?" was the next question.
"More like ten in the morning," Millie said, looking at her watch. "I have an afternoon appointment," she explained the need for the earlier time.
"Oh, okay. I'll let my parents know and have Mum call you tonight," Hermione said, and then ran off to the car her dad was waiting for her in. He didn't have time to chat today. They were celebrating something. She didn't know what, it was an adult thing. Something about her parents' first date or something. Adults were strange.
"So, Harry, do you want to go and get some ice cream, and get to know Phil a bit better?" Millie asked, looking at the pouting boy. It was kind of cute how jealous he was.
"No, thanks," Harry said before he turned tail and ran home.
"Do you think it's because I'm a boy?" Phil asked with a chuckle.
"I don't know," Millie said, not sure whether to laugh or not.
"Come on, I'll buy the ice cream," Phil said, going to the ice cream truck.
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The next day they all met up at the Leaky Cauldron and went to Diagon Alley. The Grangers, Dan and Emma, were happy to be part of the group. They loved Millie and were glad she had found someone to watch the kids in her place. Phil looked like a capable young man. They ran into the Weasleys and were very unimpressed with the father's lack of knowledge of muggles. The fact that he treated them like smart pets was kind of insulting.
They had met them at the bookstore, so most of the group was glad their day was almost done. Lockhart was signing books and the store was crowded. They didn't care for the blowhard, and they just wanted to get their books and leave.
Gilderoy saw Harry and grabbed him. Harry took his arm, and shoulder checked him right over his shoulder and on to the floor. The whole store came to a standstill.
"Don't touch me," Harry said in a firm voice.
Millie came running up and said, "Who do you think you are? Grabbing a young boy like that?"
"Yeah, you pervert," Hermione stated, stamping up to Harry and hugging him.
"Wait," Lockhart said, getting up off the floor and dusting off. "I just wanted a picture," he said, smiling his award-winning smile. He waved to the crowd and the women swooned.
"Don't touch me," Harry threatened, when the man went to grab him again. He went into a defensive stance.
Hermione and Millie doing the same. Phil came up and was standing behind Millie to back her play.
"Come now, I just want a picture," Gilderoy said again, still smiling and waving at the crowd, though his smile looked forced.
"I don't. I don't like my picture in the papers," Harry said, moving away from the camera.
"Did you hear that, cameraman? He doesn't want his picture in the paper," Millie stated, glaring at the man, who just sneered at her.
"My camera is protected against magic," he taunted, holding the camera out in a 'come and try it' gesture.
She stomped up to him, snatched his camera out of his hands and exposed his film. "There, problem solved," she said, smirking at his astonished face.
"You can't do that," the cameraman said, looking at hours of work gone.
"Then you should have respected Harry's wishes," she said, stomping back over to Phil, Harry, and Hermione. They were still holding their defensive poses. They were all moving backwards towards the Grangers and Weasleys.
The Grangers were standing with the Weasleys, being held back by the two adults. They did not look happy. The younger Weasleys were all cheering Harry and his group on.
Millie, Phil, Hermione, and Harry rejoined their group, got their books, and left. They went to the Leaky and out to the non-magical world.
"I can't believe the Weasleys wouldn't let us help," Dan said as they were going to his car.
"It's actually a good thing that they did," Phil said, holding Harry's and his supplies. They were shrunk and in a small bag, but Harry was holding Millie's and Hermione's things.
"How so?" Emma asked, not sure why that was. She too had taken self-defense courses. She was the one who had gotten Hermione the pamphlets for the classes Millie was taking and in turn tutoring the kids in. Dan had learned in the navy.
"If spells had started flying then you would have been vulnerable," Millie answered as she attempted to fix Hermione's hair. It got bushier during the confrontation. Now it was standing on end.
"I see," Dan said, thinking it might have been a good thing then.
"Lockhart is going to be our DADA professor," Phil said, his tone one of resignation.
"Shite," Millie said, then excused her language to the Grangers.
"What does that mean?" Harry asked, worried that they seemed concerned.
"That means self-study, again," Phil said, shoulders slumping.
"Sh…" Harry started, only to get a stinging hex to the rump.
"Don't you dare," Millie said, smirking at him.
"Sorry," Harry said, though personally he thought that was hypocritical.
"Don't worry, Phil will be there to help you. I'm only an owl away. you'll be fine," Millie said, ruffling his hair.
He truly hoped she was right.