Chapter 249: Dobby Fighting
What kind of person is Lucius Malfoy?
Voldemort's servant?
The patriarch of an ancient wizarding family that values tradition?
Draco knew it was all of the above.
Unlike the Weasleys, who had many children, the Malfoy family had always produced only a single heir in each generation.
This was why his father, as head of the Malfoy family, cared most about the continuation of their bloodline.
And the possibility that Draco might follow the path of Albus Dumbledore was undoubtedly the problem Lucius Malfoy most needed to solve right now.
So Draco wasn't surprised by his father's behavior.
What Gryffindors might call treachery was, for Slytherins, simply common sense.
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"Draco, Sirius, I think you're both wrong," Harry said suddenly.
"Dobby never said his master sent him."
"He said he came on his own."
"The reason I think so is because Dobby hinted that his master wasn't a good person. He also tried to stop himself from harming me, which means it wasn't his master's doing."
"What would a house-elf do on his own? Harry, are you confused?" Ron and Sirius both said at the same time.
"If it's Dobby, it's possible. My father is a Hogwarts governor — of course he knows everything," Draco said, shaking his head. He had always believed Dobby was a strange elf.
"Hint! How dare Dobby!" Kreacher screeched angrily. "Dobby should be ashamed, speaking ill of his master like that!"
"Shut up, Kreacher!" Sirius snapped impatiently.
Kreacher had no choice but to fall silent, his bulbous gray eyes filled with resentment.
"There really is such an elf," Ron muttered doubtfully.
Even though both Draco and Kreacher's reactions suggested Harry was right, Ron still found it hard to believe. Like his mother, he placed blind faith in the professional ethics of house-elves.
If someone told him an elf could make a broomstick, he'd probably believe that too.
"Why don't you call Dobby out and ask him?" Harry suggested.
He wanted to know who the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor was — someone that even Lucius Malfoy considered dangerous.
"Dobby!" Draco called.
With a crack, Dobby appeared beside him, head bowed.
The little elf raised his eyes briefly, giving Harry a pitiful look, but said nothing.
"Dobby is a bad elf," Kreacher muttered immediately. "He was treated kindly by my mistress's pure-blood kin, yet he betrayed his master's family. He doesn't know how fortunate he was. Kreacher would rather serve the Malfoys than be such a disgrace."
"Kreacher, enough." Sirius glared.
Draco, ignoring them, turned to Dobby. "What are you here for?"
Although he already suspected the answer thanks to Harry, he wanted to hear it directly.
"Bad Dobby, foolish Dobby…" Dobby whimpered, raising his hand as if to strike himself, but Draco's order stopped him. Regaining control, he whispered:
"Dobby only wished to protect the great Harry Potter!"
"Protect Harry? Harry's stronger than You-Know-Who," Draco scoffed. "And how did you even intercept my letters?"
He was genuinely curious. House-elves could not disobey their master's orders, let alone tamper with their master's mail.
"That man is very dangerous… Dobby heard it from his master," Dobby said, wringing his thin fingers. "Harry Potter is the little master's friend. For his sake, Dobby intercepted the letters Harry Potter received. Dobby never touched the little master's."
Ron's eyes went wide. He had never imagined a house-elf could twist logic like that.
So Dobby intercepted Harry's mail but pretended it didn't count if it also concerned Draco — a way of deceiving himself while still technically obeying.
It explained how Draco and Harry's letters were blocked, yet Draco still thought he was sending them.
"Intercepting the master's letters! Shameful!" Kreacher bellowed, his wrinkled face turning red with fury.
"No — you must not call the great Harry Potter that way!" Dobby shouted back.
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And then, to everyone's astonishment, the two house-elves launched themselves at each other, rolling across the lawn of Number Four, Privet Drive.
"Kreacher is not allowed to insult Harry Potter! Dobby will silence Kreacher if he must!" Dobby screamed.
"Kreacher can say whatever he wants! You, Dobby, mock your master, intercept his letters, and twist orders to your own ends. If Kreacher's mistress knew he was related to such an elf—"
Whatever Kreacher was about to say was cut short as Dobby's tiny fist slammed into his mouth, knocking out half his teeth.
"Kreacher! Dobby! Stop this at once — I forbid you to fight!" Draco shouted.
"Yes, little master," Dobby growled, glaring daggers at Kreacher.
Kreacher spat blood and broken teeth, then muttered bitterly, "Old Kreacher will listen to the pure-blood kin of his mistress…"
"Harry, he really does love you," Ron teased, shaking his head.
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"Now," Draco said sharply, "who is this person? The Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"
That was the key question — who was dangerous enough that even Lucius feared him? Could it be Mad-Eye Moody?
"Little master… Dobby dares not say the name. He is the man Harry Potter defeated some time ago!" Dobby's anger faded into raw fear.
"That old lunatic Dumbledore!" Draco blurted.
"He wouldn't have captured Voldemort just to make him a professor," Sirius growled darkly. "He wouldn't even have to pay him a Galleon."
"What? Voldemort as our teacher?" Harry gasped.
"Why is it that Defense Against the Dark Arts never gets along with You-Know-Who? It was him last year, and now it's him again!" Ron complained bitterly.
"Dobby — is it true? Is it really that person?" Draco pressed.
"The master said it was the man he once was… before he changed his name. Back when his name could still be spoken." Dobby whispered, trembling.
For once, Kreacher stopped muttering insults. He looked at Harry with something different in his eyes — an uneasy seriousness, as though he wanted to speak.
But no one noticed.
(End of this chapter)
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