Chapter 246: Dobby's Warning
Harry had never imagined that there could be such a disturbing creature.
What a fuss.
"You said please!"
"Never... never..." the unknown house-elf choked.
The slender nose drooped, almost touching the ground.
But then Harry thought about why this elf was like this. He must have never been treated kindly in his daily life.
Didn't the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures of the Ministry of Magic publish guidelines on the rights of house-elves?
"But this law is for abuse. Maybe his dignity was simply ignored," Harry thought innocently.
"Then he is definitely not from Sirius's family. No, that's not right. Sirius is good, but his family is said to be all dark wizards," Harry continued to think. He felt a little confused, but the poor little thing seemed exhausted and kept sobbing.
Perhaps a century later, the unknown house-elf said:
"Great and respected Harry Potter, I am not sent by the gentleman of the Black family you say."
"Great? I'm just an ordinary eleven-year-old wizard."
"Please sit down—uh, please just sit on the grass," Harry said. He suddenly felt that his face must be red.
"Please sit down! Please!" The elf seemed about to faint with excitement. "No wizard has ever asked Dobby to sit down—as if he were an equal—"
"Your name is Dobby?" Harry asked. The name sounded familiar, but Dobby had not yet recovered from Harry's words.
Dobby sat there hiccupping, looking like a big ugly baby. Finally, he caught himself and stared at Harry with great admiration through his large, tearful eyes.
"What has your master sent you to do?" said Harry.
He understood that house-elves cannot run around without the owner's instructions. It is said that even the use of magic requires permission.
"Master?" Dobby trembled. "Oh no, sir, they don't know... Dobby will give himself the most severe punishment for coming to see you. Dobby will clean the master's house ten times, no, a hundred times! If they find out, sir—"
"It seems your master's family isn't kind. But why come to me without your master's permission?" Harry asked curiously.
"Not kind?" Dobby shook his head, then bent down suddenly, as if to smash his head on the ground, but stopped just before impact, shouting:
"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Dobby is going to punish himself!"
"What's wrong with you?" Harry was confused. For the first time, he felt that just reading about house-elves in books was not enough. This Dobby was completely different from what the books described.
"Dobby almost said something bad about the master, sir... The little master ordered me not to torture myself and told me to clean up the master's house whenever I wanted to hurt myself." Dobby's eyes went slightly cross.
Harry understood now — Dobby's master was probably not a decent person.
"Is someone trying to attack me? Your master's family?" Harry asked, keenly aware of Dobby's reason for coming here.
As for why he came even against his master's orders, Harry suspected it had something to do with Dobby's little master.
From Dobby's words, the little master's personality seemed quite different from the rest of the family.
Maybe this little master admired him — and Harry was starting to get used to that.
The disagreement between their family and this little master must have led to Dobby's arrival.
"Yes, it must be," Harry thought confidently, the confidence of a wizarding-world superstar.
But Dobby shook his head.
"There is a conspiracy, Harry Potter. There will be a dangerous man at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year." Dobby said in a low voice, suddenly trembling. "Dobby has known about this for some time, sir. Harry Potter cannot take any chances. He's too important, sir!"
"Danger? Is it Voldemort? You must mean the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor. But our school has Dumbledore, the greatest Headmaster since the founding of Hogwarts."
Harry breathed a sigh of relief. He thought it must be Dobby's little master worrying unnecessarily. After all, he was still a child, and children might exaggerate danger.
But as Dobby said — was this professor really a threat connected to Voldemort?
Harry also recalled something Sirius had mentioned in a letter: Because of Quirrell's death, Hogwarts saved a large sum of money — Quirrell's salary.
Harry suspected that Dumbledore, despite his kindness, might also be taking advantage of the curse on the Defense Against the Dark Arts position to cut costs.
After all, though Dumbledore was noble, he was also cunning — just like Harry himself had been toyed with the previous school year.
"Harry Potter isn't entirely right."
"Dobby can say no more," the elf croaked, wiping tears with his filthy pillowcase.
"Dobby knows Harry Potter met the Dark Lord again a few weeks ago... and Harry Potter defeated him again."
"Harry Potter is indeed great, but his safety is more important than anything else!"
"Dobby wants to protect Harry Potter, to send him a message, even if Dobby is punished afterward... Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts." Dobby's enormous eyes fixed on Harry.
"Are you joking? Ron, Draco, and Alexander are waiting for me at Hogwarts!" Harry retorted.
"Friends? What kind of friend doesn't even write to Harry Potter?" Dobby asked slyly.
"They were just pulling pranks—wait, what do you mean?" Harry frowned.
"Dobby cannot lie to the great Harry Potter. I have blocked all your letters."
"Although Dobby doesn't know why Harry Potter's magic use isn't tracked by the Ministry, if I intercept his letters, maybe he won't want to go back to Hogwarts."
From his pillowcase, Dobby pulled out a thick stack of envelopes.
"Give me those letters," Harry said angrily.
"Harry Potter, don't be angry with Dobby—Dobby did this because..." Dobby scuffed his feet nervously. "Also, Harry Potter's birthday gift was hidden in the cupboard under the stairs."
"Dobby, you must understand — you can't stop me from going to Hogwarts. And that's not a cupboard, it was my bedroom."
"Now you see why I must return to Hogwarts," Harry said firmly, his tone softening as he tried to reason with the frantic elf.
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