Thinking of her, he realised he needed to let her know that he was alright and Riddle was dealt with. In a clear voice he asked out loud, "Can I have an ex-Malfoy house elf, please?"
With a pop, one appeared. "New Master?" it fearfully asked.
Harry could see it was in just as poor a state as Dobby had been in when he'd first 'rescued' him at the end of his second year.
"Hello, little one," he kindly said. "Please be assured I will not punish you. I need to know if there is anyone else in this manor, or on the grounds, at this time and who is also still alive."
The elf looked around in awe for a moment before it turned back and replied, "There be ex-Mistress up in her... suites... on the second floor. She be... un-con-shus. Ex-Master did beats her.
"Then there be 'prisinees' in basement cells. Theys be safe, but theys be unwell." As Harry became angry he realised his anger must have been reflected in his expression. The little elf began to cower.
Getting his anger under control through sheer will, not using his Occlumency, Harry was a moment before he felt he had sufficiently suppressed it. Then he turned to the elf and said, "Sorry. I did not mean for you to think I was angry at you. I'm not; I'm angry at there being prisoners here. Now, what's your name?"
"Tippy, Master," the elf, Tippy, replied.
"Are there other elves that were Malfoy and are now mine?"
"Yes, Master."
When the elf didn't extrapolate on that, Harry realised it was obviously conditioned to not do so.
"What are their names?" he asked. "They be Slappy, Hoggy aaand... Dobby," replied the elf.
Confused at being informed the Malfoys had another house elf named Dobby, it was a long moment before Harry realised what had happened. Tippy was reporting Dobby because Dobby met the requirements of the question, even though he'd been Harry's elf for over six years.
"Excluding Dobby, where are they?" he asked.
"Slappy be attending Mistress... ex-Mistress. And Hoggy be working out in the gardens," the elf immediately replied.
Thinking about what he needed to do, he also thought about what he needed to do first. 'First, the wards,' he thought.
Looking to the elf he said, "I need to take proper control of the wards. Where do I need to go and what do I need to do to accomplish that?" "Master must follow me to the office," said the elf.
"Then, lead me, please," said Harry. He thought, 'Secure the premises, then deal with the prisoners.'
Fifteen seconds later, Harry was led by the elf into the head-of-house study on the other side of the manor. And, after being shown where the ward book was located and then how to change the wards, Harry quickly had it done.
Once he was done he breathed a sigh of relief. At any moment a Death Eater, who wasn't privy to or invited to attend the meeting between he and Riddle, could have suddenly turned up. With the changes he made to the wards, everyone was blocked from getting in via apparation, floo or portkey. Now, no one could leave except via a portkey he'd made... or simply walking out the door, crossing the grounds and walking out the front gate. 'Right,' he thought. 'That's done. Next, the prisoners.'
"Tippy."
"Yes, Master?" "How do I find the prisoners?" "Theys be in the secret cells under drawing room floor, Master," the elf replied.
"How do I get down there?" "There be a secret enty-rance in the drawing room, Master."
"Can I activate the secret entrance so I can get in?" "Yes, Master."
"Great," he happily returned. "Show me how to activate it so I can go and get them out."
"Yes, Master.". Then it gestured back to the door to the office and said, "This way, Master." Following the elf he was surprised it led him back to the 'audience' room. Then, once inside, he gestured to a wall sconce and said, "Master must be turnings that to the right side one quarter turn. That will open hidden enty-rance."
"The entrance is in here?" he asked.
Indicating a seven foot tall cabinet that appeared flush with the wall, one that had a big gash across it at hip height from one of Harry's ribbon cutters, the elf said, "The enty-rance be behind that cabby-nets, master."
"That's the only way in or out?" he asked.
"Yes, Master."
Thinking a bit he asked, "These prisoners. Any women or children with them?"
"Yes, Master."
With a sigh, he thought about the problem of bringing children up past the bodies. "Damn!" he quietly said. That was not something he wanted 'innocents' to see. However the bodies were, until decided otherwise by the DMLE, part of a 'crime scene'.
Then he had it. He'd go muggle for this.
"Tippy, please go and get for me as many bed sheets as there are bodies in here," he ordered. "I intend to cover them with the sheets."
"Yes, Master," replied the elf before it popped away. It was back only moments later with a stack of folded linen.
Harry took the top one and said, "This is what I want you to do for each, alright?" Then he flicked the sheet open and allowed it to billow out over the body closest to him to entirely cover it and the pooling blood and other fluids that came from it. "Got that?"
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