Harry potter and the Time of Retirement
Everything related to Harry Potter belongs to JKR
Chapter 29 – Year 2
"Harry Potter!" said the elf again, trying to get closer – but stopping midway, as if it bumped against something. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you… Dobby tried to reach you for so long from out here, and was about to lose hope…"
Ron, meanwhile, managed to come back and was now staring at the miserable-looking elf which, as many of his kinds, was dressed completely in rags. "Do you know this…elf?" he asked.
"No. So, the next thing to ask is" said Harry, turning now towards Dobby "Who are you again?"
"Dobby, sir, Dobby the house elf! Such an honor to meet you, it is so, so…"
"Weird" added Ron, snorting at his own joke. "You draw all the crazies, Harry. My sister included".
Harry looked at him, but did not answer. Then, refocusing on Dobby, he started speaking:
"So, Dobby, have you come here just to meet me?"
"No, sir, no! Dobby has the most important thing to say to Harry Potter, sir! But Dobby knows not how to start, it is such an important matter…."
"Your autograph, Harry. Or he loves you. Did I say you draw all…" started Ron, amused, stopping only at Harry's exasperated look. "Ok, ok" he said, keeping back a snigger. Once Harry turned again towards Dobby, though, he added in a low voice "I'll let your fan speak."
"Dobby, let's not waste both our time. What do you…" started Harry.
"My time! My time is meaningless compared to that of the great Harry Potter! How nice of Harry Potter to treat me like an equal…. So kind and noble…."
"Do tell, Dobby!" said Ron, who was apparently enjoying a bit of fun at Harry's expense; how good willed, it was hard to say. 'At least a house elf doesn't make him jealous' thought Harry.
"I thought house elves served wizard families, or Hogwarts. Can you really spend all this time here with us?" asked Harry in a questioning tone.
"Harry Potter is right, sir! Dobby might be late already, and must hurry. My master could call me, and if Dobby did not answer, the punishment would be terrible!"
"Punishments? Just for being late?" asked Ron.
"Yes, yes! Dobby already will punish himself for coming here to warn Harry Potter. Maybe Dobby could place his hands in the fire, or crush his ears in the oven" he said, now sadly.
"Really? I doubt this elf comes from a good family, Harry. It must be some follower of you-know-who" said Ron, only to startle as Dobby suddenly fixated his stare on him.
"You might be onto something" said Harry, unironically. "Anyway. You can't be late, so start talking, Dobby."
"….yes. Harry Potter… Dobby will tell, even if it means more punishments. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts!"
"Why not?" asked Harry.
"Harry Potter would be in mortal danger, sir! There is a plot, a dark plot to make horrible things happen at Hogwarts. You must not go!" said Dobby, frantic, before biting hard on his hands.
"What the… are you crazy?" said Ron.
"He is punishing himself for betraying his master's secret" said casually Harry. "Can you tell me anything more, without having to hurt yourself?"
Dobby shook his head, still biting himself.
"I see. Thanks for the warning, Dobby. You better go, now" said Harry, only to see Ron step onwards, wide eyed.
"Harry, are you stupid? This is important. I go to Hogwarts. My brothers, Ginny will go to Hogwarts this year! He is not just leaving" said Ron, pointing his finger at the elf.
"Dobby can't tell anything more, sir friend of Harry Potter! I can't tell, I shouldn't even have said that something will happen!" countered Dobby.
"Oh, well, then it's ok!" answered Ron, sarcastically, while grabbing Dobby by his arm "You are not leaving; in fact, you are going to my father right now".
At this Ron started pulling, with Dobby trying to resist uselessly. Still, after maybe a couple steps, Dobby started trashing around and screaming and while Ron didn't let him go, he still followed Dobby a couple steps away from the house.
"What are you doing now, elf?" asked Ron, getting angry.
"Nothing, sir. This is not Dobby's fault!" said Dobby, while Ron, focusing again, restarted dragging him.
"Stop it, Ron. It's your house's wards; he can't pass them without being invited in."
"Then" said panting Ron, while dragging Dobby who seemed afraid now at being pulled again "you are invited. Come!" he said, until finally Dobby crashed on top of him, and they rolled obviously over what must have been the wards border.
'Damn you, Ron' thought Harry. "Ron, DON'T invite unknown elves inside your house."
"Not the time for preaching, Harry" growled Ron, trying to stand up "Help me, instead!"
"Harry Potter!" started now Dobby "Please let me go! Dobby can't tell anything more, Dobby is… my master! My master is calling me, now! I must go, I must go, I must…" said Dobby, now really panicking.
"Ron, we can't force him to talk. Not a house elf. Let's go talk to your dad" said Harry.
"I said" answered Ron, still dragging a more and more desperate Dobby behind him "that he is not leaving!"
Finally, instead of counter pulling, Dobby rushed towards Ron and started scratching his face as hard as he could. In pain, Ron whined and finally let the elf go, which immediately started running away.
"Stop him, Harry!" shouted Ron, but Harry did not move one inch while he kept looking at the elf that, once he was back roughly where he was at the start of the whole conversation, finally disappeared with a loud crack.
Harry shrugged, uncaring, and turned back towards Ron – who was now again on his feet, red scratches on his face, and completely enraged.
"What… is… wrong with you!" he screamed, pushing Harry with both his hands. "You had to help me!"
"I felt sorry for him" said Harry, sadly.
"Screw him! And you too" said Ron, venomously, before turning towards his house and starting to walk.
Harry, after one last look at where Dobby disappeared, followed him.
Ron all but marched inside the house, asking where his dad was, only to be reminded by his mother that he was out and would be back the morning after. At this he let himself slip a not particularly nice curse word that, in turn, got Mrs Weasley angry – so much so that she ordered him to his room, on the spot.
Watching a miserable-looking, and obviously upset Ron, walking up the stairs Harry wondered how pleasant the rest of the night or of his whole staying would be. Still, there was no helping that.
"That boy! What happened that made him so cranky? Harry, did you two fought?" asked Mrs Weasly.
"We did, but that's not the point. We met an house elf outside, talking gibberish. Ron tried to keep it here, and I didn't help him" said Harry, sitting down at the table.
"Poor Ronnykins" said one of the twins, present at the same table.
"He rarely get what he wants" said the other.
"We help with that, of course"
"Brother's duty" concluded one, nodding smugly – until his mother lightly slapped him on the head.
"It wouldn't hurt you being nicer to… actually, to all your siblings! As if you weren't a bad example anyway" said Mrs Weasley, huffing, but still busy with putting the kitchen in order.
"We make great role models!" said one, offended.
"We can't be all boring as Percy, mom" said the other.
"And if they want to be, they can still watch us"
"And do the opposite" sniggered one of the twins.
At this, their mother huffed again, but said nothing. Only, at one point, to startle and turn towards Harry.
"Still, an house elf? Here? Doing what?" she asked.
"I am not sure myself" lied Harry, effortlessy "He was really vague. He was talking about the next year of school"
"Weird" commented one of the twins.
"Indeed" said simply the other.
"I think Ron invited him inside the wards, at some point. Should you lock him out again, Mrs Weasley?" asked Harry.
"I probably should. Later" said Mrs Weasley uninterested, and refocusing on her chores.
Beside the twins chatting in a low voice between themselves no conversation followed, so Harry eventually stood up and walked away.
Once he reached Ron's door he knocked and stepped inside. Ron was laying down on his bed, shoes and all.
"I didn't want to get you angry" said Harry, but Ron did not even turn his head.
"We can tell all to your dad tomorrow morning, I am…" he continued, only to stop as Ron turned towards him.
"Shut up! I don't have to listen to you. I didn't even want you here!" said Ron, before showing an embarrassed face and turning red. Apparently, that was too much even for his anger because he calmed down and went back to sulking, his back turned.
As for Harry, he just felt sad about the whole scene. "I am sorry about tonight. Tomorrow will go better" he said, before laying down on his, smaller, bed and starting reading a book he had brought with him. Neither one said anything more, until they eventually went to sleep.
The morning after, even if less emotional, was still quite awkward. Harry woke up while Ron was already standing and, though he noticed Harry's awakening and said nothing, still answered to the polite "Good morning" he received, before leaving the room.
Dressing up, Harry spared a quick glance at Wormtail quietly sleeping in his cage. The rat's presence was slowly, but surely, grating at his nerves, like an itch that he could not scratch. The tentation to put him on fire, or simply 'hinting' to the Weasley parents that something seemed to be wrong with it, already present within Harry. And he was supposed to stay in this room for weeks?
Taking a deep breath, Harry tied up his shoes and left the room. His mind blank, he tried to forget it.
Joining the rest of the household downstairs at the breakfast table, Harry tried to enjoy the admittedly good food and the conversation – which, led by Fred and George, revolved mostly around teasing either Ron for his sulkiness or Ginny for being the only one not in a pajama or nightgown at the table – "You are so pretty this morning, sis! I don't need glasses to see that!" started Fred. Or George. Their mom tried to stop them, but with no real success.
Only when Harry saw both Ron and Ginny almost as red as a tomato, though for different reasons, he decided to act and give a little wandless push to the food and drinks that the twins were consuming, right up into their faces.
Probably thinking it was their mother's magic they started bickering with her but Mrs Weasley, who probably assumed it was just more clownish behavior on their side, got angry and punished them by ordering to get out and de-gnome the garden which, eventually and mumbling darkly while on their way, they did.
With a light smile of self-satisfaction, Harry continued to enjoy his meal and started some random talk – or tried to. Ron gave him only single-word answers, Mrs Weasley concluded each other phrase with offers for more food, Percy tried to hint that he would do better to study in advance for the coming year and Ginny, apparently, was still too upset to chat so in the end Harry stood up and walked outside, to enjoy the warming sun and the sight of the twins throwing gnomes away with a strength and a mean streak that seemed unusual on them. Something that did not bother him at all.
Later in the morning, long after the twins were done and Harry was munching on a couple cookies that Ginny had silently brought him, Ron approached him.
"Harry, my dad is back. Come" he said neutrally, before turning. Calmly, Harry stood up from the stone he was sitting on and followed him inside.
Indeed, at the table – surrounded by his children and wife – sat Mr. Weasley, apparently busy talking about his night before.
"…you wouldn't believe. Some would enchant the sun if they could, so long as they could make fun of the muggles in the process."
"You do have a sizeable collection yourself in the shed, Arthur" added lightly Mrs. Weasley, while serving him a cup of tea.
"Now, now, beside the car there are only a couple of trinkets and… do you need something, Ron?" asked Mr. Weasley as his youngest son was now at his side, pulling his arm.
"Yes dad. I have something to tell you" answered Ron.
"Can't that wait a little, Ron? I had a long night at work" countered, not unkindly, Mr Weasley.
At this Ron just shook his head, while Mrs Weasley – that was now adding some cookies to the table – butted in.
"The boys had something unusual happen yesterday, dear. Something about an elf and a fight?" she said, her face showing clearly how unseriously she took all of it. Mr Weasley smiled condescendinglly, and patted the chair next to him.
"Well, sit down here and talk, then" he added, while picking up a cookies and starting to munch on it.
Ron sat down, but was obviously less sure of himself at that point. He looked all around himself – from the patronizing faces of his parents, to the two twins – busy whispering between themselves of who knows what – to Harry's face, which was emotionless. Only Percy and Ginny seemed uninterested. Finally, he started.
"Yesterday we met a house elf, dad. I mean, me and Harry were walking near the end of the garden after dinner when we met what I think was an house elf."
"Really?" interrupted Mr Weasley, who was not even looking at Ron, too busy with his food "An elf from one of your classmates, maybe?" he added.
"No, dad, no. He… well, actually, he was here for Harry. Wanted to warn him of something terrible that should happen this year at Hogwarts."
Mr Weasly, while still silent, was obviously paying attention now. "What did he said, exactly?"
"He said there was a…. a dark plot! To make horrible things. And that we would have been in mortal danger, going to school this year".
"Aren't you sure this is your own plot to avoid school, Ron?" added jokingly Mrs Weasley, who was now sitting down and caressing her husband's arm.
"Why didn't we came up with it?" could be heard in the background, from the corner where the twins were. At this, Percy just snorted.
No one said anything for a couple seconds, then Mr Weasley took a sip from his cup of tea and then patted Ron's head.
"This seems only like a prank, Ron" he said, before narrowing his eyes and turning towards Fred and George "In fact, I can imagine someone setting it all up to scare you".
"Wait, wait dad" said one of the twins.
"We are innocent" said the other.
"Fresh and pure like rainwater."
"Beside, we would have done it better" concluded one of them.
"True, so much true" added the other, with a smug smile.
"All solved, anyway. Anything else, Ron?" asked Mr Weasley.
"Dad, it was not a prank!" said Ron, now upset.
"How do you know, dear?" said peacefully Mrs Weasly, and Ron was left wordless for a second.
"I… well, he seemed completely sure! He didn't want to come inside the house, either. He hurt me actually, when I tried to force him" added Ron, emotional.
"Poor Ron" said Ginny, from her corner. Harry looked at her, unsure if she had been sincere or not. But he could not tell from just her face.
"House elves rarely hurts wizards, Ron" said Mr Weasley. "Is that the reason for all the scratches you had on your face yesterday?" added his wife.
"…yes" said Ron, who was now starting to sulk.
"Still, there is not much I can do anyway, Ron. If you learn whose family this elf belongs to I can talk to them just to check, but that's it. Mysterious dark plots are not exactly a good reason to let you skip one year of school" concluded Mr. Weasley with a smile.
After this everything went on normally. Ron, now obviously discouraged, picked up a couple of cookies and started eating them, without looking at anyone. Mrs Weasley restarted her chores, Percy and the twins went back upstair as did their dad, full-on yawning. Harry, quietly went back out of the house, shortly being followed by Ginny.
"Harry, what happened exactly last night?"
"You heard your brother, didn't you?" he countered.
"Yes, but…. you know" she said.
"No, I don't know" said Harry with a grimace. As Ginny added nothing, he eventually continued speaking "If it was a prank, it was a mean one. I think your dad will warn the headmaster, even if he made fun of it before"
"So, something will happen this year?"
"I have no idea, and there is nothing I can do anyway. Beside cheering up Ron, your brother really seems unhappy now" concluded Harry, nodding back towards the house.
"Yeah, he does" said Ginny. "….we could fly all together" she finally added, unsure but hopefull.
"We could. Let's invite him out" said Harry after a moment of pause. Slowly, he walked back towards the door, followed by Ginny.