Effervescence | h.p.

ii | xii. elves and arguments

Hours and hours later, Lyra woke suddenly in the pitch blackness and gave a small yelp of pain. Her arm now felt full of large splinters. For a second, she thought that was what woke her. Then, with a thrill of horror, she realized that someone was sponging her forehead in the dark. She ducked and backed away quickly.

"Get off!" she said loudly, and then, "Dobby!"

The house-elf's goggling tennis ball eyes were peering at her through the darkness. A single tear was running down his long, pointed nose.

"Lyra Lupin-Black came back to school," he whispered miserably. "Dobby warned and warned Lyra Lupin-Black. Ah, miss, why didn't you heed Dobby? Why didn't Lyra Lupin-Black go back home when she missed the train?"

"Well, I still would have — " she started. "How did you know we missed the train?" Lyra asked suspiciously.

Dobby's lip trembled as he backed away. "Lyra Lupin-Black must not be angry — "

"It was you, wasn't it?" said Lyra angrily in realization. "You stopped the barrier from letting us through!"

"Dobby is most aggrieved, miss," he said, nodding vigorously. "Dobby had to iron his hands, miss" — he showed Lyra ten long, bandaged fingers — "but Dobby did it to keep Miss Lupin-Black safe. Dobby never thought Lyra Lupin-Black would get to school another way!"

"You nearly got me, Ron, and Harry expelled," said Lyra fiercely. "You'd better clear off before my bones grow back or I might strangle you."

Dobby whimpered with a weak smile.

"Dobby is used to death threats, miss. Dobby gets them five times a day at home."

He blew his nose on a corner of the filthy pillowcase he wore, looking so pathetic that Lyra felt her anger dissipate.

"Why d'you wear that thing, Dobby?" she asked with mild disgust.

"This, miss?" said Dobby. "'Tis a mark of the house-elf's enslavement. Dobby can only be freed if he is presented with clothes, miss. Then he would be free to leave his master forever."

Dobby mopped his eyes and said suddenly, "Lyra Lupin-Black must go home! Dobby thought his Bludger would be enough to make — "

"Your Bludger?" said Lyra, anger rising again. "What d'you mean, your Bludger? You made that Bludger try and kill me?"

"Not kill you, miss, never kill you!" said Dobby shocked. "Dobby only wanted Lyra Lupin-Black hurt enough to be sent home! Better sent home, grievously injured, than remain here!"

"Oh, is that all?" said Lyra, nodding angrily. "I don't suppose you're going to tell me why you wanted me sent home in pieces?"

"Ah, if Lyra Lupin-Black only knew!" Dobby groaned, more tears dripping onto his ragged pillowcase. "If she knew what she means to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world! Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers, miss! We house-elves were treated like vermin. Of course, Dobby is still treated like vermin, miss," he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase.

"But mostly, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Lyra Lupin-Black survived, and the Dark Lord's power was broken, and it was a new dawn, and Lyra Lupin-Black shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought the dark days would never end, miss. . . . And now, at Hogwarts, terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and Dobby cannot let Lyra Lupin-Black stay here now that history is to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once more — "