Pure-Blood Families Don't Dare Retaliate (4/10) / There's a Room That Answers Every Need (5/10)

"Could you get up first?" Harry gently held the house-elf's hand, his gaze and tone unusually warm.

"Oh... is this... a handshake?" The house-elf dazedly rose with Harry's help, as if he still couldn't believe his situation. "I... I'm actually shaking hands with Harry Potter? This is simply unbelievable!"

"My name is Harry Granger~" Harry earnestly corrected him, then kindly asked, "And you? What's your name?"

"Dobby. Dobby is a house-elf..."

"Dobby, is it? You may have to bear with me a little. I need to treat your wounds, so it might hurt a bit~"

As he spoke, Harry examined Dobby's injuries and took out the various medical supplies he carried with him.

"He... how pitiful!"

Looking at Dobby's hands and the many scars on his exposed skin, Hermione furrowed her brow deeply.

She hadn't seen what Dobby looked like when she'd been abducted, or when he'd Apparated her to the Girls' Bathroom, so she had no idea the house-elf was in such a wretched state!

He was covered in wounds, and all he wore was a filthy pillowcase. He didn't even have a proper set of clothes...

"Hmph." Seeing this, Snape gave a thoughtful snort.

He wasn't surprised that Harry was treating the elf's wounds. Harry had made his character abundantly clear ever since he started at the school.

Harry cared more about people like Filch and his cat, and Hagrid the gamekeeper—people the students hardly noticed—than his schoolmates and some of the lofty professors and headmasters.

The boy had practically devoted all the patience he had to them.

Oh, right. Hermione Granger, who could be considered his one weakness!

So Snape wasn't surprised in the least that Harry would show kindness to a house-elf.

What he was curious about was Harry's pocket. He'd seen Harry pull all sorts of things out of it more than once, so he wasn't foolish enough to think Harry had actually stuffed them in there beforehand.

Even so, he didn't ask.

And Harry didn't mind letting him see.

After Harry had been so open with him through that batch of Rabies Vaccine, Harry and Snape had both gotten a sense of what the other was like.

As far as Harry was concerned, Snape might never have a kind word for him, but he was every bit as trustworthy as Scamander.

And, come to think of it, the two of them really did have a lot in common.

They were both willing to help Harry unconditionally. At the same time, Scamander let Harry make his own choices, while Snape let him keep his secrets.

And they were both named Snape—laughs~

"Treatment? Is that true? Potter... no, Dobby means Mr. Granger. He's actually kind enough to treat Dobby?!"

Hearing that Harry wanted to treat his wounds, Dobby was so moved that he could barely speak. He was so flustered that he didn't even know where to put his hands.

But when Harry actually started cleaning and disinfecting the wounds, Dobby grew unusually quiet.

"Dobby, if it hurts, you can tell me..." Seeing him like this made Harry's heart ache.

"Thank you for your concern, sir, but Dobby can bear it. Dobby is always punishing himself, and his masters always make him punish himself too. Dobby is used to it..."

Looking at Dobby's calm expression, so clearly accustomed to his wounds, Harry felt a heaviness in his heart.

Hermione, standing beside him, furrowed her brow even more deeply.

"Dobby, I'm sorry... If it weren't for Hermione and me, you wouldn't have had to go through this."

The crisscrossing wounds all over Dobby's body were horrifying to look at. Anyone who saw them would feel their heart ache...

"Sorry? Oh, Dobby can hardly believe it. No wizard has ever said that to Dobby! Mr. Granger is even greater than the stories say. He is so kind, willing to treat Dobby so well! Compared to him, the masters are... No! No!!"

Dobby had been shouting and exclaiming in a disjointed rush, but then he suddenly lost control. He dropped to his knees with a thump and began violently banging his head against the floor, even slapping his own face over and over.

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Dobby must punish himself. He almost said something bad about his masters just now!!"

Self-harm...

That was where the fresh wounds on Dobby's body had come from, and why Harry felt sorry.

Dobby could have obeyed his masters' orders and retaliated against Harry and Hermione, but in the end, he hadn't.

And as punishment for violating a house-elf's restrictions, he had continued hurting himself—even when none of his masters were there to watch him...

"Dobby, calm down first!"

Seeing Dobby keep hurting himself, Harry hurried to stop him. He put his hand beneath Dobby's forehead, only just managing to prevent him from harming himself.

"Listen, Dobby. I need you to tell me something, so you have to stay calm. Only if you're calm can you find a loophole in your master's orders. Do you understand?" Harry gently stroked Dobby's back, patiently soothing him.

"Oh... all right. Dobby will try!"

Dobby managed to stop crying, though his body still trembled slightly.

"Dobby, why did you help Hermione and me?" Seeing that Dobby had calmed down a little, Harry got to the point.

"Because Harry Potter... no, Harry Granger. I hope you know what you mean to little people like us, the humble, enslaved folk in the magical world!"

Dobby nervously rubbed his filthy pillowcase. "Dobby can't forget how people treated us house-elves like vermin when that You-Know-Who was at the height of his power. Sir, it was because you defeated him that life improved so much for people like us. So when..."

"That's enough, Dobby. You don't have to answer the rest!" Harry immediately cut him off before Dobby's expression could change.

When talking to a house-elf like Dobby, one had to be especially careful with one's words. Any little thing could make him lose control.

"So... why did you let Hermione go?" Once Dobby had calmed down, Harry continued to guide him.

"That was because... after Dobby sneaked into Hogwarts, he kept secretly watching your life, sir. Dobby thinks there are no better people than you and Miss Granger. So... Dobby didn't want to hurt Miss Granger, and he didn't want to make you sad!"

"Dobby, I really have to thank you properly!" Under Dobby's astonished gaze, Harry stepped forward and gave him a big hug. "You didn't just spare Hermione. At the critical moment, you even brought her to me. I don't know how I could ever repay you!"

"Repay... Mr. Granger says he wants to repay Dobby? Oh, Dobby doesn't know what to do!"

Dobby cried out excitedly, and his big tears even soaked Harry's robes, but Harry didn't mind at all.

"Of course I'm going to repay you properly, because... the person you didn't hurt means too much to me."

His casual words left all three of them stunned.

Dobby was overwhelmed, because he realized Harry wasn't joking and was truly grateful to him.

Snape, meanwhile, looked thoughtful, a gloomy trace of regret appearing on his face.

Once, there had been someone that important to him, too.

She had been clever, a witch from a Muggle family, and for a long time, the two of them had been inseparable...

But... he hadn't recognized how important she was to him in time!

Hermione, for her part, simply stared at Harry, her thoughts in turmoil.

She knew Harry's words weren't just pretty talk. Over the days they'd spent together, he'd proven their truth countless times through his actions!

So... what about her?

Was Harry important to her, too?

Hermione had once thought she could answer that question without a moment's hesitation, but the questions that followed, asked deep within herself, had left her lost in thought.

Was the way she and Harry valued each other—and what they were willing to do for someone important to them—really equal?

Harry had agreed to come to Hogwarts for her, and had always stood firmly by her side. But what about her?

Now that Harry had laid his feelings bare, could she leave Hogwarts, this place of trouble, for his sake...

"Dobby, you're certain you don't know the specifics of the Crabbe family and the Goyle family, right?"

While Hermione and Snape privately reflected, Harry had used the process of elimination to figure out Dobby's origins.

House-elves weren't allowed to talk about their masters' affairs, but that didn't mean they couldn't talk about other families. Dobby could even tell Harry about Voldemort, so of course he could talk about pure-blood families outside his masters' household.

Besides, there were only a few pure-blood families in Slytherin House with any real standing. If you set aside the Crabbe, Goyle, and Parkinson families, that only left the Malfoy family~

Harry could even tell from Dobby's reaction that Lucius definitely wasn't the one who'd sent him.

Seriously, no matter how stupid Lucius was, as the head of a pure-blood family, he wouldn't send his own house-elf to deal with Harry.

If the plan failed, the risk of it tracing back to him would be far too great!

That was also why Harry wasn't worried that he or those "important figures" from the pure-blood families would go after his adoptive parents in the real world.

Any kind of conspiracy could be exposed. Given how unusual Harry was, if anything happened to the people around him, a whole lot of people in both the real world and the magical world would investigate it to the very end!

Why would these selfish blood purists risk the supposed glory handed down through their families just to target two "humble Muggles"?

So long as the Malfoy family and the other pure-blood families had any sense, they should be hoping the Grangers stayed safe and sound!

"Professor, I heard you have a good relationship with that family," Harry said, turning to Snape after he'd worked out Dobby's origins. "Maybe... I should let this go?"

Malfoy had bragged more than once about how close Snape was to his father, so although Harry believed in paying back anyone who wronged him, he could let this one go to keep Snape out of an awkward position.

"That's hearsay."

But Snape clearly had no intention of letting the matter go.

"Then I'll thank you in advance~" There was nothing for it; Harry could only accept it half-heartedly. *Heh heh*ヾ(≧O≦)〃

Harry didn't need to guess how Snape's visit to the Malfoy family would turn out. Draco Malfoy was definitely going to get a beating, because Dobby had surely been sent by him.

He hadn't been able to let go of his earlier grudge, but he couldn't beat Harry either. In the end, the only idea he'd come up with was to write home and ask for help, getting his always-indulgent mother to send Dobby after Harry and Hermione!

Heh. Like mother, like son~

That was why Dobby had only been given the vague order to "retaliate."

Draco Malfoy was just a spoiled brat. He didn't dare cause too much trouble, and he couldn't come up with any specific instructions anyway!

Even so, the whole thing had been enough to leave Harry shaken.

He wasn't shaken because he'd impulsively angered the pure-blood families. It was because Old Bee really hadn't stepped in at all, casually deciding the whole affair was just a "personal squabble" between him and Malfoy!

Well... Dumbledore knew Dobby was a kind house-elf who wouldn't hurt Hermione, so he figured this "children's prank" wouldn't lead to any serious trouble...

Pah. What a joke~

"Now there's just one last question, Dobby..." After silently mocking a certain old bee, Harry asked, "Where did you take Hermione before, and why couldn't I find her?"

"That was a very special room, sir... It's on the Seventh Floor, and Dobby found it by accident. You and the caretaker found traces of Dobby stealing food in the kitchen. Dobby was terrified, and all he wanted was somewhere to hide, so he happened to find it..."

Dobby explained Harry's question in a soft voice, but he hunched over more and more, the fear and guilt on his face growing increasingly clear.

"Sir, Dobby really didn't want to do that! Dobby didn't want to hurt Miss Granger, and he didn't want to make you worry, but his young master's order... Dobby just couldn't... No!!"

"That's enough, Dobby!" Harry once again cut him off at the crucial moment, just as his emotions began to shift. "Could you show me that room, please?"

On Halloween, Harry had nearly run his legs off trying to find Hermione, but he still hadn't managed to locate where she was hidden. That room had to be quite well concealed.

And lately, he'd happened to need somewhere secluded.

"Of course. It would be Dobby's honor, sir~" Dobby nodded eagerly and led everyone out of the Fifth Underground Classroom.

A moment later, the four of them arrived on the Seventh Floor of Hogwarts Castle.

There was a stretch of empty corridor. On one wall hung a tapestry depicting "Barnabas the Barmy being beaten by trolls." After Dobby muttered to himself and passed the tapestry three times, something magical happened.

On the opposite side, a smooth, narrow door suddenly appeared in what had been a bare wall!

"Ha, it appeared! Sir, this is the place!" Dobby excitedly pushed open the door and went inside.

"This place is pretty well hidden... It's just a little too bare."

Harry looked around and saw that the room had almost no decoration. Its only furnishings were a small bed and a worn-out chair. It was practically a hovel.

"This is the Room of Requirement, Granger. What you see now is just what this house-elf needs. It isn't the room's true form." Behind Harry, Snape's voice drifted over.

"The Room of Requirement? That's a very impressive name... Professor, you know about this place?" Harry turned and asked.

"I do." Snape nodded silently, then began to explain the room in a dry voice.