"Shh, Hedwig, keep it down."
With a rare chance to stretch her wings, Hedwig excitedly spread them to show off her feathers. Afraid they would be discovered, Harry hurriedly hushed her.
Dobby was draped in Harry's old bedsheet, chattering away. "Dobby doesn't understand. Why not use magic? Dobby can take you by Apparition..."
Harry's eyes instantly widened. He really wanted to experience what teleportation felt like.
Lorne looked around. It was late and quiet, and they were already a long way from Privet Drive.
"I expect the Ministry of Magic will be sending you another letter soon, Harry. Dobby used Apparition in your house. Speaking of which, aren't house-elves forbidden from using magic without their master's permission?"
Dobby lowered his head without saying a word.
Harry rubbed it in. "I expect house-elves aren't allowed to turn up in other people's homes without their master's permission either."
Dobby's head sank even lower, until his nose nearly touched the ground.
"Dobby only wanted to help Harry Potter..."
The three of them walked into a secluded corner. Lorne took a deep breath and slowly let it out.
"All right, Dobby. Take us to my shop."
If he hadn't been worried about Muggles spotting Dobby, Lorne would never have subjected himself to Apparition again. Still, the thought that Harry would have to make another trip back later made him feel a little better.
Harry was very excited. "What do I need to do?"
Dobby stretched his two thin arms out from beneath the bedsheet. "Hold tight to Dobby's arms."
One second later.
Harry clutched his stomach and fell to his knees on the shop floor. He retched a few times, then couldn't help protesting, "That's even worse than getting carsick."
Lorne had come prepared. The instant his feet touched the floor, he grabbed the table beside him for support.
"It's too late to take Dobby anywhere, so I'll make something myself. Speaking of which, Dobby, aren't you going to show us what you can do?"
Dobby said stubbornly, "Only if you stop Harry Potter from going to Hogwarts."
Lorne was so annoyed that he laughed. Without another word, he turned and went straight into the kitchen.
With plenty of experience staying at home, Lorne knew very well how to whip up a reasonably tasty late-night snack as quickly as possible. In just over ten minutes, he brought out three plates of food, even preparing a separate serving of pet food for Hedwig.
The three of them sat on the shop's high stools. Harry wolfed down his food, and Dobby was not far behind.
"Lorne is the first wizard to cook for Dobby. Dobby is so touched he could cry."
Harry ate quickly. He swallowed his last mouthful of food and looked around curiously.
"Director Lorne, what does your shop sell? Magic Mobile Phones?"
"Yes." Lorne nodded. "Speaking of which, did you bring your Magic Mobile Phone?"
Harry nodded sheepishly. When he left home, he had thought that if Director Lorne took him in, he could spend a lovely summer holiday with his Magic Mobile Phone. As for those first-year textbooks he had left open, he could leave them to the bedboards and cobwebs.
Lorne took the phone from Harry and held it right against a Magic Mobile Phone in the shop. He channeled his magic into it to check, then said, "Done."
Harry was puzzled. "What?"
"I downloaded a new game for you," Lorne explained. "Every piece of software needs a storage component to be created. Any changes to the storage component are automatically copied to your Magic Mobile Phone-that's a game update. But for new games, you'll need to bring your Magic Mobile Phones into the shop to download them."
Harry opened his Magic Mobile Phone. To the right of Wizard Legend's square icon, a new game called Street Wizard Fighter had appeared.
"Cool," Harry said admiringly.
"You can play for a while." Lorne yawned. "I'm going to bed first. Once you think you won't throw up, have Dobby take you back by Apparition. You'd better go somewhere near Privet Drive first, or the Ministry of Magic will pinpoint you."
"No-"
Dobby left after taking Harry home, saying he still had work to do.
Before leaving, Dobby once again begged Harry not to go to Hogwarts, at least not this school year, but Harry firmly refused. Dobby was very disappointed, but still said he wouldn't give up.
Harry was alone in his room again, only this time he had food and a new game brought back from Director Lorne's.
One night, while he was happily playing on his Magic Mobile Phone, the hum of an engine suddenly came from outside the window.
Harry instinctively stuffed the phone under his covers. He didn't know why he had done it either.
He slowly walked over to the window and watched two large, round lights rapidly grow bigger in the distance. In just a few seconds, they were right outside his window.
It was a car-a flying car!
Worried that the Ministry of Magic had come to arrest him, Harry stumbled backward, but a familiar face suddenly poked out of the car window.
"Ron!" Harry cried in delighted surprise. "And Fred and George!"
Ron leaned halfway out of the window and patted the car. "We're taking you to stay at our house. How about it? Admission and the fare will only cost you one Magic Mobile Phone."
"Of course!" Harry readily agreed, but when he went back to pack, he suddenly realized that Vernon still had his luggage locked in the cupboard under the stairs.
After hearing Harry out, George gave a disdainful smile from the back seat. He squeezed through the bars on the window and took a hairpin out of his pocket. "We don't just know Alohomora. We know Hairpinomora too."
They tiptoed along with the luggage, but the noise still woke Vernon. A chase broke out in the cramped hallway. Luckily, Harry climbed into the car a second before Vernon reached him, waved, and sped away.
The four boys chattered all the way, with Harry talking nonstop about Dobby and Lorne.
"Director Lorne really did open a shop," George said. "I thought Dad was having us on."
"Maybe we can ask Director Lorne for advice when we open our shop. Or how about we just become his neighbors?" Fred turned his head to talk as he drove.
Ron had long since taken the Magic Mobile Phone Harry handed him and was holding it in his hands, much to Harry's displeasure.
He complained with a laugh, "Ron, did you come to pick me up or the Magic Mobile Phone?"
"You, of course, Harry." Ron briefly put down the Magic Mobile Phone, but picked it up again before even three seconds had passed. "And the Magic Mobile Phone along the way. I've missed it... I've missed you both so much I was going mad."
The night sky was boundless and clear of obstacles. Fred kept driving wherever he pleased until a pale light appeared on the horizon, then told the three excited boys, "We're home."
Harry craned his neck to look. They were on the edge of a small village. Beside a small pond and a neatly tended vegetable garden stood a crooked four-story house, built on a stone foundation with layers of wooden planks stacked above it.
Battered cauldrons and Potions bottles were piled outside the door. A majestic rooster happened to crow in the yard, while several brown hens beside it stepped over bottles and jars. The little yard was cluttered but full of life.
A wooden sign stood right in front of the house.
The Burrow.