Stay - Theodore Nott

Misplaced Pudding

Kirra softly hushed the elf and kindly ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Kirra in an expression of watery adoration.

"You can't have met many decent wizards," said Kirra, trying to cheer him up. Dobby shook his head.

Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Don't — what are you doing?" Harry hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed — Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage.

Kirra had quickly stood up and grabbed onto Harrys hand which had a firm grip on the back of Dobby's pillowcase, "don't hurt him Harry," she scolded him softly

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed, Kirra looked at him in concern. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir. . . ."

"Your family?" Kirra asked softly

"The wizard family Dobby serves, my lady. . . . Dobby is a house-elf — bound to serve one house and one family forever. . . ."

"Do they know you're here?" asked Harry curiously. Dobby shuddered. "Oh, no, sir, no . . . Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you and your sister, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir —"

"But won't they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?" Kirra asked and felt a wave of anger towards whoever his family was. How could someone be so cruel to their house-elf, so abusive.

"Dobby doubts it, my lady. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, my lady. They lets Dobby get on with it, my lady. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments. . . ."

"But why don't you leave? Escape?" Kirra asked him quickly, though she had been asking herself that for the few years that she had been with her uncle and aunt.

"A house-elf must be set free, my lady. And the family will never set Dobby free . . . Dobby will serve the family until he dies, my lady. . . ." Harry stared while Kirra looked down, trying to figure out how somebody could be so cruel.

"And I thought I had it bad staying here for another four weeks," both of the twins said.

"This makes the Dursleys sound almost human." Harry stated

"Can't anyone help you? Can't I?" Almost at once, Kirra wished she hadn't spoken. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude.

"Please," Harry whispered frantically, "please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you're here —"

"Kirra Potter asks if she can help Dobby . . . Dobby has heard of your greatness and your great kindness and goodness, but Dobby never believed that he would be one of the lucky few who get to experience it. . . ."

Kirra, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. You should meet my friends, Rudy is so protective, he'd never let anything happen to anyone he cared about and Adira, she's so pretty and kind and responsible, and of course, there are the twins who bring a smile to everyone f —" But she stopped quickly because thinking about her friends was painful.

"Kirra Potter is humble and modest," said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. " and so is Harry Potter who speaks not of his triumph over He-WhoMust-Not-Be-Named —"