Dobby's Freedom

Sirius felt like a failure because of him, his best friend had died.

He had considered ending it all, but Azkaban's suffering made him feel that perhaps living in the world and tormenting himself was the best way to atone for his sins.

But due to an unexpected turn of events, he was declared "not guilty".

At that moment, he had only one thought: to die, to be with James.

The hardest thing for a person is to make peace with themselves.

Dumbledore astutely noticed this. "He looks very much like his father, except for his eyes—"

Sirius interrupted the rest of the conversation; all he needed to know was that there was still a 'James'.

In Sirius's eyes now, Harry is everything.

Harry had already gone mad once when he learned that one of Harry teachers in the first school year was a Voldemort follower or Voldemort's Soul Fragment.

Unbeknownst to Harry, he had once frantically used every evil curse he could imagine against Dumbledore.

And now, it seems we need to do it again.

Sirius suppressed his anger and forced a smile from his slightly sunken cheeks. "Harry, we'll go to Arthur's house first, and I'll come back to pick you up later."

Ron and Draco both wore expressions of shock.

Harry might not know, but they do know how eager Sirius was to take Harry away when he was at Ron's house, but now he's changed his mind?

Draco was quite pleased, as this meant he could spend more time with his idol, Arthur Weasley, while living with Harry.

This is quite rare. The reason his father was willing to release him was entirely because he mistakenly thought he would go to Sirius.

If it were the Ron family, it would probably be impossible in this lifetime.

Draco, who was thinking this, was unaware that if it weren't for the sudden appearance of a teenage version of Voldemort, Lucius Malfoy wouldn't even allow him to go to Sirius's house.

After all, in Lucius Malfoy's eyes, his child might really be having an affair with Harry or Ron.

Limiting their contact with others is a good way to correct your child's bad habits.

"Can I leave now?" The unexpected good news made Harry overlook Sirius's strange behavior.

After all, Sirius might not be used to it, having spent a long time in Azkaban.

"Yes, Kreacher, then stay at the Weasley family and do whatever Harry says! Anything!" Sirius emphasized.

"Kreacher had no choice but to agree. Although Kreacher didn't want to stay in the house of that tainted old traitor, this way he could stay away from the young master and serve his friend Harry Potter." Kreacher reluctantly agreed again.

However, in his eyes, he wasn't serving Harry, but rather Draco Malfoy's friend Harry.

"Great, Harry! We can share a room!" Ron exclaimed belatedly.

"Come on, you're sharing a room with Harry anyway, unlike me. I'm fine with Goyle and Crabbe, but—" Draco said, half-sarcastically and half-complainingly.

And so, the happiest moment of Harry's life unfolded.

Sirius led Harry into the Dursley family, where Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia trembled, trying to appear as if they were always kind to Harry.

When they learned that Sirius wasn't there to cause them trouble, but to take Harry away...

"Aha—no, I mean, Harry, I'll miss you. Come back early next term." That was Uncle Vernon.

"Dudley was cared for at Hogwarts." That was Aunt Petunia.

This left Dali, who had run out to Dudley his parents, speechless as he stared blankly at the carpet.

Harry noticed that Aunt Petunia was acting strangely, guessing that she would do a thorough cleaning after they left—they stood on Aunt Petunia's favorite rug.

Aunt Petunia seemed about to cry, especially at the sight of the two ugly and dirty House-elf.

"Isn't Harry coming back the day after tomorrow for the next semester?" Draco said with ill intent.

"You can't stay out too long the day after tomorrow—no, no, you can come back the day after tomorrow too. Petunia and I are going to miss you, right, Petunia?"

"Mmm." Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia soon inadvertently revealed their true colors, and then frantically tried to cover it up.

"Oh dear, I got it wrong." Draco shrugged. "It's next semester."

Uncle Vernon's laughter stopped abruptly. He squinted at Draco and realized that the person in front of him was just like Dudley had been.

Fortunately, Sirius soon arrived with his luggage. Dobby wanted to help and kept looking at Draco, but he didn't get permission from Draco, who was playing pranks on Uncle Vernon and the others.

Kreacher stared at the carpet as if he didn't exist.

It was as if as long as she didn't serve Sirius, she wouldn't be the servant of the spendthrift in his eyes.

Sirius's appearance seemed to have given Vernon Dursley a lifeline, and he exclaimed, "Well, goodbye then, Harry."

He stretched out his right arm, wanting to shake hands with Harry, but at the last moment he seemed unable to face him, so he clenched his fist and swung it back and forth like a metronome.

"Goodbye, Harry." Dudley rushed over and hugged Harry warmly.

This startled Ron and the others, who thought they were about to attack Harry.

"Goodbye." With Aunt Petunia's final goodbye, the four of them, including the two House-elf, quickly came outside, and Uncle Vernon impatiently closed the door.

Just as the four were about to get into the car and Dobby was about to go home, Draco called out to Dobby, "Dobby, I think you need something—clothes."

"What are you going to give me, little master?" Dobby asked, trembling.

"Draco! Are you crazy? Just be nicer to Dobby!" Ron said.

As someone who dreamed of House-elf, he never imagined that someone would give up.

"It must be old Kreacher's ears that are broken. Kreacher too old." Kreacher touched his bat ears, which were covered in white fur. Harry thought he was going to pluck all the fur off his ears the next second.

Even Sirius, who was suppressing his emotions, couldn't help but look at the child who should be his nephew. Only now did he truly realize that this child was not a qualified Malfoy at all.

He had assumed that becoming friends with Harry was just another of Malfoy's opportunistic moves.

"No, Ron. If my dad finds out what Dobby did, Dobby will be dead." (Dobby says, "Dobby n't be afraid, it's all for Harry Potter.")

"Dobby is different. He's different from all the other House-elf. He wants freedom!" Draco said, taking off his sock. "Here you go, Dobby, for what you once wanted."

"My little master is different; he's a good wizard, as kind as Harry Potter." Dobby carefully took it. "Dobby — Dobby is free!"