"Why did you cast a spell outside school?" Picquery asked, his voice as weary as his face. "And make such a racket?"
He looked toward the alley.
Dozens of trash cans, large and small, lay overturned, their contents scattered across the ground.
"Gryffindor?" he added.
Harry nodded. "Yes, I'm in Gryffindor, but I didn't cast the spell. It was a house-elf."
"A house-elf?" Picquery's tone didn't change. "Don't lie. As far as I know, they're very well-behaved creatures. They wouldn't play pranks."
Harry pulled out his wand. "Maybe you could use Prior Incantato."
Picquery shook his head and waved his wand, casting the Muggle-Repelling Charm. "No, that's a hassle. Before I deal with the scene, you need to tell me if any Muggles saw."
"Tell the truth, young wizard."
Harry shook his head. "No."
"Really?" He didn't seem convinced.
Harry nodded, looking a little helpless. "Really."
"Good." Picquery muttered, "Don't you dare lie to me. If a Muggle saw and we didn't erase their memory in time, it'd be a huge hassle."
"I've been working overtime for three weeks straight. Please, don't make me work overtime for a whole month."
Harry made a request. "Could I ask you for a favor?"
Picquery waved his wand listlessly. "You want me to send you home? You can do that yourself..."
"Please send a letter to Professor Flitwick at Hogwarts for me," Harry interrupted, getting straight to the point. "Tell him Harry Potter is waiting for him at the Leaky Cauldron."
"Why don't you..." he grumbled, then stopped halfway through and stared at Harry in astonishment. "Harry Potter?"
"The Harry Potter who survived the Killing Curse?"
Harry nodded.
"You're him?" Picquery asked, uncertain and suddenly excited. He waved his free hand and reached for his forehead.
"I think asking you to send a letter to Professor Flitwick already proves who I am." Harry didn't want to raise his hand, and tucked the knife back into his waistband.
"So it really wasn't you? It really was a house-elf?" Picquery was starting to believe him.
"Please send the letter quickly," Harry urged.
Picquery waved his wand rapidly. He was very good at Scourgify and the Levitation Charm, even casting them without incantations. In less than ten minutes, he had cleaned the alley until it was spotless—possibly cleaner than it had ever been since it was built.
Once he had finished, they went to the Leaky Cauldron together.
Harry borrowed an owl to send a letter to Flitwick.
Less than an hour later,
the fire in the pub's hearth flared green, and Flitwick hurried out of it.
"Harry?" He spotted Harry at the bar at once, drinking whiskey, and hurried over. "What happened? Why did you have someone else contact me?"
Picquery stood up drunkenly and burped. "My dear Professor Flitwick, it's been ages."
"Yes, it's been... since you graduated..." Flitwick humored him.
Picquery let out a long burp. "You're still so short. I thought you'd have grown at least a little by now."
Harry's eyelid twitched.
Flitwick gritted his teeth and waved his wand. "Silencio!"
Picquery stood there with his mouth open, still trying to speak, but not a single word came out.
"Good. Drunks should keep quiet." Flitwick climbed onto the chair beside Harry. "Now we can talk. Why did you have someone else send me a letter?"
"I've been targeted by a house-elf," Harry said in a low voice.
Flitwick's mouth fell open in surprise.
"From the Malfoy family," Harry continued.
Flitwick frowned. "Although... they're not exactly good people, they shouldn't do something this foolish."
"Right. The house-elf acted on its own and did something stupid," Harry agreed.
Flitwick was even more surprised. "They wouldn't do anything of their own accord without their master's orders."
Harry took a sip of his drink. "I'm not sure what's going on either, but it intercepted my letter and threatened me, telling me not to return to Hogwarts next term."
"It also said... the Malfoy family is plotting something that could affect all of Hogwarts."
Flitwick's brows knitted together. "I'll tell Dumbledore about this."
"No need to rush." Harry shook his head and took hold of his hand. "Please help me catch that house-elf, Professor."
"I've put up with enough already."
"It has a very unusual kind of magic. It can disappear in an instant..."
Flitwick explained, "That's Apparition, a very dangerous but convenient spell. You have to be at least seventeen to learn it."
"House-elves are all experts at Apparition. They're very good at it."
Harry frowned. "Is there a way to catch it?"
"Of course. Every spell has a counter-curse." Flitwick nodded. "But I should warn you: ordinary counter-spells for Apparition won't work on them."
"Ever since they became slaves, wizards haven't considered those poor, wretched creatures a threat."
"They only had to tweak the spell a little so the house-elves wouldn't be affected by counter-spells, which let them enjoy better service from them."
"If you want to learn it, I can teach you later."
"Then let's do it tonight." Harry downed the rest of his drink. "But you'll probably have to stay hidden, Professor. Do you want to borrow my Invisibility Cloak?"
"The one from the Potter family?" Flitwick raised an eyebrow. "No need. I'm quite good at the Disillusionment Charm too."
That night,
Harry released Hedwig on Privet Drive.
Ten minutes passed, and the girl still hadn't returned.
Dobby clearly hadn't intercepted her.
Had he... given up?
Maybe he thought he'd been expelled after the Ministry of Magic's warning?
This couldn't go on.
He didn't know if calling Dobby's name would work...
"Dobby!" Harry took a deep breath and called out. "I know you can hear me. The Ministry of Magic only gave me a warning. They didn't expel me."
There was no response.
Harry didn't give up. He called out again, "Dobby, come out!"
"If you come out, I promise I won't go to Hogwarts."
Still no response.
Harry felt like an idiot. Maybe... he should try another way and send a letter straight to the Malfoy family?
Just then,
with a pop—
Dobby appeared in front of Harry, looking delighted. "Harry Potter finally understands? Dobby only wanted what was best for Harry Potter..."
He didn't get to finish.
Flitwick darted out from the side and waved his wand.
"Shadow-Locking Spell!"
Magic surged outward in all directions, and the space around them grew viscous and heavy.
Dobby snapped his fingers.
But his magic failed, and he couldn't Apparate away. Panic filled his eyes as he screamed, "Harry Potter tricked Dobby!"
Neither of them showed any expression.
Flitwick waved his wand. Ropes appeared and bound Dobby tightly, followed by another spell that sealed away the magic inside him.
"I really want to chop his head off," Harry said with a sigh.
Flitwick offered no comment.
"But clearly, handing him over to Dumbledore is the best choice." Harry looked at Dobby, his gaze deep. "He should be able to pry plenty of information out of this house-elf."
The great crisis at Hogwarts.
It was most likely aimed at him.
They could deal with Dobby after they found out what he knew.
"House-elf contracts are a bit of a nuisance," Flitwick said, scratching his head. "But Professor Dumbledore is an excellent Legilimens. If that doesn't work, there's Snape's Veritaserum."
He paused, then asked, "Don't you want to get some payback?"
Harry shook his head. "I'm afraid if I hit him, I won't be able to stop myself from killing him."
"Very well. I'll take him to Dumbledore, then." Flitwick waved his wand, and the heaviness in the air gradually faded. "See you in half a month, Harry."
With a pop—
he Apparated away with Dobby.
Harry clicked his tongue. What a convenient ability. He wondered how it compared to a warlock's teleportation, and hoped it didn't come with that sickening dizziness.
When he returned to his bedroom,
Hedwig finally came back, carrying a reply—one from Hermione.
"Harry? Thank goodness, you finally wrote back. But why did you send me a blank sheet of paper? Did I do something wrong and make you angry?"
The reply came quickly.
It was already this late. He glanced at the alarm clock. It was almost two in the morning.
"I'm sorry. Something unexpected came up recently, but I've just dealt with it. I encountered a creature called a house-elf..." Harry wrote back.
Hedwig made eight round trips that night.
It wasn't until the first ray of sunlight came through the window that she finally got to rest. Grumbling, she pecked Harry hard several times, then flapped her wings and flew into Petunia's bedroom.
She'd worked hard all night. She wasn't about to eat that dry owl feed.
She preferred Petunia's cooking.
Amid a racket of hoots and squawks, Petunia got out of bed, unable to bear the disturbance any longer—even though it was summer vacation, she still had to wait on a young lady.
Lily's owl had never been this annoying!
Without the house-elf bothering him, the remaining half month finally returned to normal.
On the morning of the first day of the third week of July,
Flitwick arrived at Harry's front door right on time.
"Harry, I'm here to pick you up." Flitwick looked at Dudley, who had opened the door for him, then walked right past him and into the house.
Vernon rolled his eyes. "Thank goodness that freak is finally leaving our house."
Harry finished packing and followed Professor Flitwick out. "Professor, did you find out anything about Dobby?"
"Of course." Flitwick nodded. "Professor Dumbledore's Legilimency is very impressive."
"Old Malfoy wants to smuggle a piece of Dark Magic left behind by You-Know-Who into the school. It could cause a lot of trouble."
"But don't worry. The professors will check at the station, and all the Dark Magic items will be thrown out. Those Slytherins, and your Gryffindors too, had better get their act together."
Harry looked at Flitwick. "Professor, there's something I've been meaning to ask."
"You're surely much braver than you are tall. Why do you call Voldemort You-Know-Who too?"
Three chapters today! More tomorrow!
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