Chapter 2
The next three years continued to be wonderful for Harry. Hanbey had been informed of the jewelry James and Lily had left in Harry's trust vault. Jewelry that would have the wearer look like someone else. Hanbey could wear a piece and look like a human and Harry could wear a piece and change his looks so he wouldn't be recognized. Harry and Hanbey would wear the right pieces and they visited parks and Harry played with other children. Hanbey went to the muggle government offices and learned how to educate Harry for his first few years and bought all the books. From the time Harry was five years old, nine in the morning everyday saw Harry sitting in one of the offices at Potter Manor with Hanbey or Mairy teaching him. They didn't realize children usually had Saturday and Sunday off school so every June when they took Harry for his year test with the Government he passed with flying colors.
Harry had fun too. One year when Hanbey was picking up next year's school books from the government office they learned of a popular place for children to visit on special occasions. Hanbey decided on a mission, to check the place out one cool September day.
Hanbey and Mairy stood outside the establishment as elfs, but invisible.
"Do you really think it's safe?" Mairy asked.
"Let's go in and see. Tomorrow is a random day, not his birthday or anything. No one should expect anything." Hanbey said.
The two little elfs went into the building and saw all the flashing lights and happy children. They walked around a bit.
"The food doesn't look healthy. We took Harry all the way to Ireland to the healers to be sure he was safe and healthy. We can't have all their work undone." She said looking at a pizza with distaste.
"One day will not undo their work. Look how happy all the children are here!" Hanbey said, looking around.
"You're right. Tomorrow?" Mairy asked, a little smile on her face as she watched a group of young ones laughing.
"Yes. You go home and I'll go to the bank to get more muggle money." Hanbey said and there were two loud pops that no one noticed.
The next morning a seven year old Harry finished his milk and took his dishes to the sink. He thanked Toney, the kitchen elf, for breakfast and made his way to the office. He was hoping they read more of the history book today because he found it very interesting.
"Good morning." Harry said and sat down at his desk. He did think it was odd that Hanbey, Mariy, and Dokey were all in the classroom but he sat at his desk and waited to hear what was going on today.
"Good morning Harry. Are you doing well?" Hanbey asked.
Harry looked up. "I'm fine, thank you." He said. The elves had taken him to healers in Ireland several months ago and he'd felt the best of his life ever since.
"We have a surprise for you. You've been doing very well in your studies and we decided you need a day off." Mariy said.
"Thank you, but could I still read my history book? It's very interesting." Harry said.
Hanbey smiled. The boy did enjoy learning. "We're taking you somewhere that looks very fun. But you will need to wear some of your muggle clothes, so go get changed." Hanbey said and he saw Harry smile. He got up and ran off to his room.
Ten minutes later he was back wearing a pair of jeans, a t-shirt with some character on it and trainers. He sat at his desk and waited.
It took the next thirty minutes to explain to Harry about where they were going and the plan to get there and back with the places they were going to apparate too. They told them that Hanbey and Mairy were to play his Aunt and Uncle if it were questioned and they explained the reason. The elves always liked to prepare Harry as they would their own children about new places. Hanbey had a pamphlet he had picked up from the mouse named Chuck's restaurant. They told Harry about the lights and the noise to make sure he knew as much as they could tell him. They told him it seemed a completely muggle place so he could not mention elfs, goblins or magic. Harry understood, those were the same rules for playgrounds he went to.
The elves put on some of the jewelry, making them look like humans. Then the three elf humans and an excited Harry walked to the edge of the Potter wards and disapparated to behind the establishment.
Harry could barely contain himself, he was so excited.
The place had just opened and Harry and his three elf human protectors waited in line and got bracelets. They followed the people in front of them to the counter and bought tokens for Harry to play games. Not exactly realizing how many one child could go through they bought too many tokens and all three of the elf humans and Harry had their pockets full of tokens.
Harry was practically jumping with excitement.
The little group sat down in a booth and Harry was looking all around.
"What would you like to do first?" Hanbey asked.
"I want to go see what the big colorful boxes are, those kids look like they are having fun." Harry said and nodded to one of the games with a small group of children in front of it.
"Let's go." Hanbey said and stood up, taking Harry's hand.
They watched a few of the boys play and soon they understood how it worked. Harry took his turn to play and laughed heartily when he lost. After that was a game where you threw little balls at colorful pieces and got points for the ones you knocked down.
"You forgot your tickets." A girl said and Harry turned to see a girl handing him some pieces of paper.
"Oh thank you." Harry said. "Are you going to play?" He asked.
"I am, I think I can get more than two tickets." She said and smiled at him.
"Can I watch?" Harry said and smiled back at the girl.
"Sure." She said and put her token in the large box.
The girl did hit many more colorful pieces than Harry did, and he said, "You got way more than two tickets, well done." He said and smiled at the girl.
She took her tickets and put them in her pocket. "Hermione." She said and held her hand out to Harry.
"Harry." He said and shook her hand.
"What game do you want to play next? We can see who gets the most tickets." Hermione said and looked around.
"Any of them, you pick." Harry said, delighted to be talking to someone his own age.
Hanbey smiled and took a step back. He did scan the girl and knew she was magical but there was no evil in her so he knew Harry was safe. He liked that Harry was talking to another child, he and all the Potter elves wanted a good, normal life for Harry.
An hour later Harry and Hermione were both still excited and had pockets full of tickets.
"Come on, meet my parents." Hermione said and took Harry's hand to pull him to their table.
"Mom, Dad, this is Harry and his Uncle Hanbey." Hermione said.
The parents stood up and shook hands. "Hello, we're Dan and Emma Granger. Hanbey is a unique name, well done to your parents." Dan said and smiled at Hanbey.
"Thank you, nice to meet you." Hanbey said. "Our children seem to enjoy playing these games together." he said with a smile. Hanbey was always nervous talking to humans, except Harry, but he was trying hard because Harry was so happy.
"That's good, would you like to join us? We were just going to order a pizza." Emma said. She too had seen how happy the children were together and knew her daughter desperately wanted a friend.
"Thank you, but my wife and brother are here also," he said as he pointed them out, "And we have to get an order in too." Hanbey said.
"Could Harry stay, if you want to, I mean." Hermilne said, looking a little shy.
Harry looked up to Hanbey and there was pleading in his eyes. He wanted a friend too.
"Of course, but please let me get the tokens for after the pizza?" Hanbey asked and the Grangers nodded. "Very nice to meet you." he said and walked back to his table.
"What happened?" Mairy asked, looking worried.
"Everything is fine, it looks like Harry might have made a friend." Hanbey said and smiled at Mairy and Dokey. They kept an eye out for Harry and ordered their own food and drinks. Surprisingly, Mairy quite enjoyed the pizza.
At the other table Harry and Hermione were talking nonstop. They talked about the games, about school and Hermione was jealous that Harry was homeschooled. They talked about the animatronic mouse and about her parents being dentists.
Hanbey had come back over to the Grangers table when the pizza was finished and put two handfuls of tokens on the table. Harry and Hermione looked at each other then at her parents.
"Go, have fun." Emma said, and the children stuffed their pockets with the tokens and were gone.
Hanbey watched after them.
"So how far did you have to travel to get here?" Dan asked Hanbey.
"I'm sorry?" Hanbey said, since he had not quite been paying attention and didn't know what the man meant.
"We only had to travel from Hampstead, how far did you have to come to get here?" Dan asked.
"Oh, we're right outside of Hampstead, so not far." Hanbey said, slightly panicking. This was something he had heard his previous Master Potter say to avoid telling someone exactly where he lived. Saying a person lived just outside of a place sounded off to Hanbey, but he knew humans could be odd sometimes.
"Does Harry live with you?" Emma asked as she patted the seat next to her.
Hanbey sat down. "Yes, his parents died when Harry was only a baby." He said and looked down.
"Oh, I'm so sorry." Emma said and patted the man's hand.
"Thank you." Hanbey said and looked at the children.
"Maybe we could meet at the park? Get the kids together again?" Dan asked.
Hanbey smiled. "That would be nice, since he is homeschooled he doesn't know many children his age." He said.
Details were exchanged and there was a plan to meet the following Saturday at the park.
Hanbey left the Grangers to follow the children around.
When he left Emma said to Dan, "He does seem a bit overprotective."
"Can you blame him, they already lost Harry's parents." Dan said, watching Hanbey follow the children around.
"A friend would be so good for Hermione." Emma said, watching the children.
"I agree, and an overprotective Uncle isn't a bad thing." he said, then they got back to the scheduling they were working on for their dental practice.
Harry and Hermione played games for another hour, then they played in a ball pit. They got two pictures taken so Harry could have one and Hermione could have one.
When it was finally time to leave Hermione told Harry they had to cash in their tickets and he followed her to the counter. She went first and had wanted a unicorn stuffed animal, but didn't have enough tickets and ended up getting other things.
"Well, this has been my best birthday ever." She said as she held out her hand to Harry.
"It's your birthday?! Happy birthday Hermione!" Harry said and hugged her. "Here take my tickets." He said and emptied his pockets into her hand.
"Are you sure?" She asked.
"Of course, it's your birthday." Harry said.
After the tickets were counted they still didn't have enough for the unicorn.
"Wait," Hanbey said after performing a quick charm in his muggle pants pocket," I forgot the ones I was holding." He said and handed them over.
A minute later Hermione was cuddling a stuffed unicorn in her arms. "Thanks Harry, thank you sir." She said.
The Granger parents were behind them smiling. "We'll see you Saturday." They said and held out their hand to shake Hanbey's hand.
"What?" Hermione almost shrieked.
"We're meeting Harry and his Uncle at the park on Saturday." Dan said, knowing it would make his daughter happy.
Hermione hugged Harry, a big smile on her face. "See you Saturday." She said, and the Grangers left.
"Did you want anything from the counter?" Hanbey asked Harry, knowing he could produce more of the tickets.
"No, thanks Hanbey. I'm glad she got her unicorn." Harry said.
Harry, Hanbey, Mairy and Dokey left and walked around the building to apparate home.
In the coming days the Potter elves were very busy. There was another meeting with the Potter account manager at Gringotts where Harry helped to explain why they wanted to buy a house near Hampstead.
Norack reminded Harry that he was now seven years old and could have his parent's will read. Harry knew what that meant, that he might have to live somewhere else and he couldn't even consider it. He loved the elves and knew they worked hard for him.
Hanbey told Harry it was his choice and they would honor what he chose. Harry vaguely remembered the Dursleys, but he knew the stories the elves told each other. He didn't want to risk it. He knew his parents had probably made plans for him but they would want his happiness, wouldn't they?
Harry decided not to have the will read.
He and the elves took a substantial amount of money out of his trust vault, knowing it would be refilled next July. They had enough transferred to the muggle bank run by Goblins to buy the house they had found, right outside Hampstead.
Thanks to magic furniture was copied and moved from Potter manor to the, comparatively, small three bedroom house. Hanbey bought fake muggle documents from Norack and they had electricity and water from pipes in the house. Toney, the kitchen elf, loudly complained about a refrigerator rather than a stasis cabinet, but she learned to use it.
Gringotts had placed wards around the house for their safety, and while every elf knew it was safe they preferred Potter manor and the other Potter houses.
The next Saturday was soon upon them and Hanbey made sure they were wearing different clothes. He knew it would look odd if they were wearing the same thing.
Hanbey had decided to take Harry to the park by himself, and had apparated them only a block away. When they made it to the park Hermione yelled, "Harry" and started running to him. Harry started running to her. They hugged, then held hands and went to play.
Hanbey sat with the Grangers and they talked. They told Hanbey about their dental practice and Hanbey nodded like he knew what that was, he would find out later. Hanbey told the Grangers that he made furniture, which was true, in a magical way. They talked about the children and their schooling. The Grangers were impressed that Hanbey and his 'wife' taught Harry and kept up their business. Hanbey told the Grangers that after Harry's parents had died they had a difficult time letting go of Harry, which was also true because the elves didn't trust most muggles after the Dursleys.
Harry and Hermione also kept up a running conversation while they played. Hermione told Harry she kept the unicorn on her bed and slept with it every night. Harry told Hermione he was glad and that he had a stuffed dragon he kept on his bed.
They got juice boxes from Hermione's parents and talked under a tree for a long while. Hermione told Harry about her problems with kids at school, but she loved learning. Harry told her how excited he was about learning and all about being taught at home. She laughed when Harry told her he didn't know what would happen if he wasn't at his desk at 9am everyday, but he didn't want to find out. They talked about the different parts of the playground, about what game they liked best and about Hermione's favorite television program. They took turns pushing each other on the swing and catching each other when they went down the slide. Hermione showed Harry a cartwheel and laughed when Harry tried it. Harry laughed too, after dusting his hands off.
When it was finally time to go the children were happy when it was decided that the Grangers would drive Harry and Hanbey home and come in to see their house.
When they got there the Granger parents were quite impressed with the furniture. Mairy had been in the kitchen and offered the group refreshments. She had studied how a human wife would act and did well.
"Wow." Hermione said when Harry took her into the bedroom that had been made to look like a study and was Harry's classroom. They had taken the biggest bedroom for this purpose and the floor to ceiling bookshelves impressed her more than she could express.
"This is my desk." Harry said and saw his math work still on top of it. "I have to get this finished by tomorrow morning." He said and looked at the paper.
"Even with homeschool you have homework?" Hermione asked, a little smile on her face.
"Yep, every day." Harry said and shrugged.
Hermione walked around the bookshelves and saw a book by Ronald Dahl. "Could I borrow this? I've been wanting to read it but it's out at the library." She said.
"Sure. You should borrow this one too." he said and gave her another book by Ronald Dahl she hadn't read.
The parents soon found the children in the study. They were sitting on the floor looking at books and Emma looked at Dan and smiled.
"Hermione, it's time to go." Dan said.
Hermione stood up and went to Hanbey. "Sir, may I borrow these two books? I promise to take good care of them." She said, holding up the two books to him.
"Of course Hermione." He said smiling, and patted her head.
"When can we see each other again?" Harry asked, coming to stand beside Hermione.
"On Wednesday, we're going to the Grangers for dinner." Hanbey said and smiled at Harry.
Harry and Hermione hugged, glad they were going to see each other soon.
After the Grangers left Harry looked thoughtful. "Hanbey, is there any way I could go to her school? She has people picking on her there." he asked.
Hanbey smiled at the boy. "That's nice of you to think about her, but I don't think it would work. The muggle schools go by grade years and you are a grade year ahead of her." Hanbey said.
Harry sighed.
"Can you take off that bracelet, I like who you really are better." Harry said and the elf reverted back to his real self after the bracelet was off.
"This better?" Hanbey asked. He smiled that his Master Harry liked the real him better.
"Much." Harry said. "Can we please go home?" he asked.
Hanbey took his hand and took them back to Potter manor. Mairy was right behind them, after casting a stasis charm on the refrigerator.
The next two years passed happily. Harry still held off having his parent's will read. He had decided that on his tenth birthday he would do it because he would be able to insist he stay at home with the elf family he already had.
Harry and Hermione grew to be the best of friends. Hanbey and Mairy and the Grangers were friendly, the Grangers always thought the man was a little odd but accepted him. His wife Mairy was often busy but always nice. The children's birthdays were spent at the pizza place with the loud noises and bright lights. Harry and Hermione were happy, and to the Granger parents and to the elves that was all that counted.
One Saturday evening Hermione was at Harry's house watching television (Hanbey had bought one) while the Grangers were at the table with Hanbey and Mairy having coffee and biscuits. Hermione had her tenth birthday recently and everyone was relaxing.
Hermione looked at the table and thought she wanted another biscuit, when one floated over to her. She took it from the air and then stood up panicking and apologizing to her parents.
Emma and Dan had also stood up, thinking of an excuse.
Harry stood up and cheered, surprising the whole group.
"Hermione, you're magic! That's wonderful!" he said and hugged her, still jumping up and down.
"What?" Emma asked, walking over.
Harry looked to Hanbey who nodded, he knew exactly what the boy wanted to do.
Harry held his hand out and the television remote floated from the floor into his hand.
"You can do things too?!" Hermione asked.
"Yes, we're both magic!" Harry said, still not containing his excitement.
After some confusion, they all sat around the table, Harry holding Hermione's hand, and had a long conversation.
An hour later Emma asked, "So there are magical people and not magical people?" She asked.
Hanbey nodded. "In the magical world there are also elves and goblins." He said.
"What are elves and goblins?" Dan asked.
"Goblins are great, smart, and they control the wizard bank, Gringotts." He said and the Grangers nodded, trying to digest the knowledge.
"And elves?" Emma asked.
"Elves are the best. They become part of a wizard's family and take care of them." Harry said and Hanbey smiled at the boy.
"What do they look like?" Hermione asked.
Hanbey and Harry looked at each other and Hanbey nodded. "We can show you, but please don't be scared." Harry said.
The Grangers all nodded and Hanbey took off his bracelet. Emma shrieked.
"What is going on?" Hermione asked.
"You know my parents died when I was a baby. Albus Dumbledore, he's the headmaster at the school for witches and wizards, he placed me with the Dursleys, my Mom's sister's family, and they weren't good to me. Hanbey is one of the Potter family elfs and they took care of me in secret. When the Dursleys were going to send me to an orphanage, Hanbey and the Potter elves saved me. They took care of me, they are my family." Harry said, and looked hopeful Hermione and her family would understand. "Hanbey is the head Potter elf. He can wear a bracelet to look like a human when we go into the muggle world." He said.
"So, you aren't really Harry's Uncle?" Dan asked.
"No sir, and I'm sorry for lying to you. It was the story we came up with to explain why Harry doesn't have a proper family." Hanbey said.
Harry stood and went over to Hanbey. "I do have a proper family, you and the other elves are my family." He said, and looked like he would not accept any protest.
Hermione got up and walked around the table. She held out her hand, "Thank you for taking care of Harry, when you didn't have too. He's my best friend, my only friend, and that's because you are his family." She said and shook the elf's hand.
Other elfs might have cried at the statement, but Hanbey was an elf that was most un-elf like. "Thank you Hermione." he said and shook her hand. "Would you like to meet the other elves?" He asked.
Hermione immediately said yes, Dan and Emma were a little hesitant but they said yes too.
Hanbey called them and after several loud pops there was a room full of adult elves and elf children. Several looked scared.
"Potter elves, there is no need for concern. Hermione Granger is magical and the family knows we are elves." Hanbey said and there were audible sighs. Everyone was introduced.
Several of the young elfs ran to Harry and soon he and Hermione were playing with them, running through the house. Two elves were in the kitchen making food and other elves had gone back home.
"Do you have any questions?" Hanbey asked.
"Any questions? I don't even know where to begin." Emma said, still looking in awe at the little elves.
A moment of silence passed, then Hanbey asked, "Are you angry that we lied?"
Emma looked at Dan and they both answered no, then laughed. Dan said, "We're not upset, I understand that you were just trying to do things for Harry, let him have a friend, have experiences, and if you went into regular places looking as you really are, Harry wouldn't have a chance to do those things." He said and Emma patted Hanbey's hand.
"Thank you for understanding." Hanbey said.
"What about this magical school?" Emma asked.
Two hours later, after conversations about Hogwarts and other magical schools, about Diagon Alley, about wands and robes and apparition they decided to call it a night. Emma and Hanbey went to find Harry and Hermione and they found them curled up together on Harry's bed asleep. There was a book that was laying on Harry's chest and Emma saw the large picture of the solar system on the ceiling that showed shooting stars.
"I'll wake Harry." Hanbey said and Emma put her hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"Is it alright if we leave them? They look so peaceful. We can be over early tomorrow morning to get Hermione." Emma asked.
"That's fine, they will be happy with more time together. Come for breakfast tomorrow, Toney makes a good breakfast." Hanbey said as he levitated a blanket over them.