You Come Out, I Absolutely Won't Lie to You (Seeking Follow-ups, Seeking Votes)

"Why cast spells outside of school?" Picquery began, his voice as weary as his face, "And making such a huge commotion."

He looked toward the alleyway.

Dozens of trash cans, large and small, were overturned, their contents scattered across the ground.

"A Gryffindor?" he added as a follow-up question.

Harry nodded: "Yes, I am a Gryffindor, but the spell wasn't cast by me; it was a House-elf."

"A House-elf?" Picquery's tone remained flat, "Don't lie. As far as I know, they are very well-behaved creatures; they wouldn't play pranks."

Harry pulled out his wand: "Perhaps you could use Prior Incantato."

Picquery shook his head, waved his wand, and cast the Muggle-Repelling Charm: "No, that's too much trouble. Before I clear the scene, you must tell me, did any Muggles see?"

"Tell the truth, little wizard."

Harry shook his head: "No."

"Are you sure?" He didn't seem entirely convinced.

Harry nodded, feeling somewhat helpless: "Really, no."

"That's good then," Picquery muttered, "Don't you dare lie to me. If a Muggle sees and their memory isn't wiped in time, it's a very troublesome affair."

"I've been working overtime for three weeks straight; please, don't make me work for a month."

Harry made a request: "Could I trouble you for one thing?"

Picquery, listless, waved his wand: "You want me to send you home, right? You can just..."

"Help me send a letter to Professor Flitwick at Hogwarts," Harry interrupted, concise and to the point, "Tell him Harry Potter is waiting for him at the Leaky Cauldron."

"Why don't you..." he complained in return, then froze halfway through, staring at Harry in astonishment, "Harry Potter?"

"The Harry Potter who survived?"

Harry nodded.

"You are him?" He was suspicious and unsettled, his tone turning agitated as he waved his other hand toward his own forehead.

"I think the fact that I'm asking you to send a letter to Professor Flitwick is proof enough of my identity," Harry said, not wanting to lift his hand, tucking his knife back into his belt.

"So it really wasn't you, it really was a House-elf?" Picquery began to believe Harry's words now.

"Please, hurry with the letter," Harry urged.

Picquery waved his wand rapidly; his Scourgify and Levitation Charm were excellent, even reaching the level of non-verbal casting. In less than ten minutes, he had cleaned the alleyway until it was spotless—it had likely never been this clean since the day it was built.

Once finished, they went to the Leaky Cauldron together.

Borrowing an owl, they sent a letter to Flitwick.

Less than an hour later.

The pub's fireplace flared with green flames, and Flitwick stepped out, looking anxious.

"Harry?" He spotted Harry drinking whiskey at the bar and walked over quickly, "What happened? You had to have someone else contact me."

Picquery stood up, swaying drunkenly, and let out a hiccup: "My dear Professor Flitwick, long time no see."

"Yes, you've been graduated for..." Flitwick replied, humoring him.

Picquery let out a long, drunken hiccup: "You're still so short; I thought after all these years, you'd have grown at least a little."

Harry's eyelid twitched.

Flitwick gritted his teeth and flicked his wand: "Langlock!"

Picquery's mouth hung open, and though he continued to speak, not a single word came out.

"Good, drunks should be quiet," Flitwick climbed onto the chair next to Harry, "Now, it's time for us to talk. Why did you have someone else send me a letter?"

"I've been targeted by a House-elf," Harry lowered his voice.

Flitwick's mouth fell open in surprise.

"The Malfoy family's," Harry continued.

Flitwick furrowed his brows: "Although... they aren't exactly good people, they shouldn't do something so foolish."

"Yes, it was that House-elf acting on its own stupidity," Harry nodded.

Flitwick was even more surprised: "Without its master's orders, they wouldn't take the initiative to do anything."

Harry took a sip of his drink: "I don't know the situation either, but it intercepted my mail and threatened me not to return to Hogwarts next term."

"It also said... the Malfoy family is brewing a conspiracy that could affect all of Hogwarts."

Flitwick's brows twisted into a knot: "I'm going to tell Dumbledore about this."

"No rush," Harry shook his head, grabbing his hand, "I still need the Professor to help me catch that House-elf."

"I've had enough of this frustration."

"It uses a very strange kind of magic, it can disappear in an instant..."

Flitwick explained, "That is Apparition, a very dangerous but also very convenient spell. One can only learn it after turning seventeen."

"House-elves are masters of Apparition; they are highly skilled at this type of magic."

Harry frowned, "Is there a way to catch one?"

"Of course, every spell has a counter-curse." Flitwick nodded, "However, I must warn you that standard anti-Apparition charms are ineffective against them."

"Ever since they were reduced to slavery, wizards have never considered these pathetic, wretched, low-born creatures to be any sort of threat."

"The spells were slightly modified so that they would be immune to counter-curses, all to ensure better service from them."

"If you wish to learn, I can teach you later."

"Then let's do it tonight." Harry downed his drink in one gulp, "But Professor, I'm afraid you'll need to hide. Do you need to borrow my Invisibility Cloak?"

"The one belonging to the Potter family?" Flitwick raised an eyebrow, "No need. My Disillusionment Charm is quite proficient."

That very night.

On the street of Privet Drive, Harry released Hedwig.

Ten minutes passed, and the little girl did not return.

Clearly, Dobby had not intercepted her.

Had he... given up?

Was it because he had received the warning from the Ministry of Magic and assumed he had been expelled?

This wouldn't do.

He wondered if calling its name would be of any use...

"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 and continued to shout, "Dobby, come out!"

"As long as you come out, I promise you I won't go to Hogwarts."

Still, there was no response.

Harry felt like a fool. Perhaps... he should try another method, like sending a letter directly to the Malfoy family?

Just then.

Pop—

Dobby appeared before Harry, looking at him with a face full of surprise, "Harry Potter has finally seen the light? Dobby is doing this for Harry Potter's own good..."

He didn't get to finish his sentence.

Flitwick darted out from the side and waved his wand.

Shadow-Locking Spell!

Magic surged, spreading in all directions, and the space took on a gelatinous, stagnant quality.

Dobby snapped his fingers.

But his magic failed; he couldn't Apparate away. His eyes filled with terror as he shrieked, "Harry Potter has deceived Dobby!"

Both of them remained expressionless.

Flitwick flicked his wand, summoning ropes that bound Dobby tightly, followed immediately by another spell to seal the magic within its body.

"I really want to chop its head off." Harry let out a breath.

Flitwick offered no opinion.

"But clearly, handing it over to Dumbledore is the best choice." Harry looked at Dobby, his eyes deep, "He should have plenty of ways to pry a lot of things out of this house-elf's mouth."

The great crisis at Hogwarts.

It was likely aimed at him.

Once it was questioned, it wouldn't be too late to deal with it.

"House-elf contracts are a bit troublesome." Flitwick scratched his head, "But Dumbledore is an excellent master of Legilimency. If that fails, there is always Snape's Veritaserum."

He paused, "Are you not planning to vent some of your anger?"

Harry shook his head, "I'm afraid if I start hitting it, I won't be able to stop until it's dead."

"Very well, I shall take it to Dumbledore then." Flitwick waved his wand, and the stagnation in the air gradually faded, "See you in half a month, Harry."

Pop—

He took Dobby and Apparated away.

Harry clicked his tongue. What a convenient ability. He wondered how it compared to a warlock's teleportation; he truly hoped it didn't come with that nauseating sense of dizziness.

When he returned to his bedroom.

Hedwig had finally returned, carrying a reply—from Hermione.

"Harry? Thank goodness, you finally wrote back, but why did you only send a blank sheet of paper? Did I do something wrong to make you angry?"

The reply came quickly.

It was already this late; he turned to look at the alarm clock, nearly two in the morning.

"I am very sorry, there was a small complication during this time that I have just resolved. I encountered a creature known as a House-elf..." Harry wrote in his reply.

Hedwig had flown back and forth eight times throughout the night.

It wasn't until the first rays of sunlight cast through the window that she was finally able to rest. Dissatisfied, she pecked Harry fiercely a few times, flapped her wings, and flew into Petunia's bedroom.

She had worked hard all night and had no intention of eating that dry owl feed.

She preferred Petunia's cooking.

Amidst a flurry of cooing and chirping, Petunia got up, unable to bear the disturbance—even though it was summer vacation, she still had to wait on a young lady.

Lily's owl was never this annoying!

Without the harassment of a House-elf, the remaining half-month finally returned to normal.

On the morning of the first day of the third week of July.

Flitwick appeared at Harry's doorstep right on time.

"Harry, I've come to collect you." Flitwick looked at Dudley, who had opened the door for him, and walked straight past him into the house.

Vernon rolled his eyes: "Thank heavens, the freak is finally leaving our house."

Harry packed his luggage and followed Professor Flitwick outside: "Professor, has anything been found out about that Dobby?"

"Of course." Flitwick nodded, "Professor Dumbledore's Legilimency is very profound."

"The elder Malfoy wanted to slip a Dark Magic artifact left behind by Voldemort into the school, which could have caused a great disaster."

"But rest assured, the professors will be conducting checks at the station. All Dark Magic artifacts will be tossed out. That lot in Slytherin, and you lot in Gryffindor, had better settle down."

Harry looked at Flitwick: "Professor, actually, I've been meaning to ask."

"Your courage must be much larger than your stature; why do you also call Voldemort 'You-Know-Who'?"

Three updates today! Continuing tomorrow!

Thanks to Jiuluo Xingyu for the tip.

Thanks to Sardine in the Catfish School for the tip!

Thanks to everyone for the votes~ Keep them coming.