Harry Potter and Hermione Granger: The Chamber of Secrets

Dobby

Dateline: Half-Past Seven in Harry and Hermione's Room

Harry and Hermione managed not to shout at the figure, but it was a close thing for both of them. The figure had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls.

"Harry Potter and Hermione Granger!" said the creature in a high-pitched voice that would break apart the Dursleys kitchen conversation. "Such an honour it is!"

"Who are you?" Harry asked.

"Dobby sir, Dobby the house-elf."

"Not to be rude or anything, but this isn't a great time to have a house-elf in our bedroom."

"Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby understands! It's just that; Dobby has come to tell you- it is difficult; Dobby wonders where to begin?"

"Why don't you sit down?" said Hermione politely, pointing at the bed.

"S-sit down?" he wailed and sobbed.

"Shhh! I'm sorry. We didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Offend, Dobby!" choked the elf. "Dobby has heard of your greatness but never has been asked to sit down by a wizard or a witch, like an equal..."

"You can't have met many decent wizards then," said Harry, trying to cheer him up.

"No, I haven't." answered the elf. "That was an awful thing to say."

Without warning, he leapt up and started to bang his head furiously into the cabinet door while screaming, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Dobby, stop! Please be quiet. Are you all right?" said a concerned Hermione.

"Dobby had to punish himself." said the elf, slightly crossed-eyed "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family."

"Your family?"

"The wizard family Dobby serves...Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they knew Dobby was here." he shivered.

"This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Can't anyone help you? Can't we?" said Harry.

"Dobby has heard of your greatness, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew."

"Is there any way we can help?"

"Dobby will tell you,"

After telling the kids about it was a plot to make terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Dobby smashed his head with a lamp as punishment unknowingly, dropping Harry and Hermione's letters from the Weasleys.

"Dobby, why did our letters fall from your pocket?" asked Hermione, slightly angry.

"Dobby's master thought it would be best if Harry Potter and Hermione Granger's friends had forgotten them; Harry Potter and Hermione Granger might not want to go back to school."

"Hogwarts is our home. It's better than living here getting abused by our relatives."

A sudden silence fell downstairs. Then, two seconds later, they heard Vernon coming into the hall, calling, "Dudley must have left the television on again, little tyke!"

"Get in there and keep quiet!" hissed Harry as he and Hermione stuffed Dobby in, shutting the closet door quickly just as the front door began to open.

"What the devil are you doing up here?!" he said through gritted teeth, glaring at Harry and Hermione. "You've just ruined the punchline of my Japanese golfer joke...One more sound, and you'll wish you'd never been born, kids."

He stomped flat-footed out of the room, and Hermione let Dobby out of the closet with Harry shook from Vernon's talk.

"See why we've got to go back? We don't belong here; we belong in your world, at Hogwarts," she said, noticing Dobby's torn uniform that looked like a pillowcase. "Why do you wear that thing, Dobby?"

"'Tis a mark of the house elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if his master presents him with clothes. The family is careful not to pass Dobby so much as a sock, for then he would be free to leave their house forever."

"We have to do something, Harry!" she whispered urgently to him.

"We will, but we've got to find out who Dobby's master is," said Harry in the same tone as they went over to Dobby, and from the floor, he clambered himself up on the bed and stood proudly. "We'll figure this out, Dobby. Count on us."

"Dobby is most thankful! Dobby is very pleased!" he said in excitement as he snapped his fingers while leaving a trail of dust on the bed; he was gone.

Harry and Hermione didn't know how to act on this crazy day they had, but one thing's for sure, they need to figure out who Dobby's master is and set him free.

Dateline: August 1st, 1992

The next day, Petunia and Dudley watched Vernon put up metal bars on Harry and Hermione's window because they had to deal with their punishment for knocking over Dudley last evening.

"You're never going back to that school. You're not going to see those freaky friends of yours again. Never!" he yelled.

Everything got worse from there. For the next few days, they had small amounts of food for three times a day pushed inside the room, and they were allowed to use the bathroom every mourning and evening. Otherwise, they were locked in their room around the clock.

Dateline: August 2nd, 1992

Everything went from bad to worse as the Dursleys were on their way to Majorca because of the successful dinner without inviting the two kids who were locked in their room. Harry got out the photo album and looked through every single one of the photos until there was a blank space on the tenth page.

"Harry, do you think that we should... I don't know... take some photographs to help ease the mind for a while?"

"Um... sure, why not?"

Hermione got up from the bed, and Harry got out of the desk chair, and both looked at each other for a while before Harry leaned in. They slowly kissed, and everything in the house was peaceful. The Dursleys won't be back until for a week, and that gives the two of them enough time to go get their stuff from the Cupboard Under The Stairs and begin to finish the rest of their homework that they have been assigned on the last day of school. It looked like Harry and Hermione could might as well be expelled from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry because they didn't know how to get to Diagon Alley from the house. One day gone equals another day of missing the Wizarding World, and just as soon as they fell asleep, they heard a noise coming from outside.