Link of Hogwarts

Twenty-Seven

After Headmaster Dumbledore had sneakily cost Malfoy their house elf by tricking the man into freeing Dobby, the house elf has decided to move in with Link...at least at his tree house.

Link had the house elf stay at his tree with Gaepora most of the time though it seemed Dobby had sneakily helped him around the Dursley's house. That was the only reason he noticed Dobby's presence at No. 4, Privet Drive. Link won't complain about it. Any help is good help for Link. After all, Dobby's good at staying out of sight and tricking the Dursleys into thinking that Link's just that good at chores.

The upside of having Dobby in his tree would be that he made it more livable.

Dobby even set a special boundary around the tree so that only Link and those he acknowledge can come close let alone enter. This way, Muggles won't discover the tree or destroy the area around the tree. Dobby explained to Link that it was similar to how most magical homes have special barrier and boundaries to keep Muggles away from discovering their abode. And since it is house elf magic, the Ministry of Magic could not detect or blame Link for the magic.

Dobby confessed that last year as a final effort to stop Link from returning to Hogwarts, he had planned to imitate Link's magical signature to force Link away from Hogwarts via legal means. After all, as a minor, Link's not supposed to cast magic outside of Hogwarts. Basically, he would go as far as getting Link into trouble with the government to keep Link safe. But Link managed to change his mind by showing Dobby that he might get Link in trouble but that won't stop Link from going to Hogwarts especially now that he knew his friends will be in great danger.

So with Dobby by his side, Link can now head for Diagon Alley whenever he wanted as Dobby could teleport them to their destination easily. Link felt a little off after the first trip, being squeezed felt very different from being flattened into a one dimensional painting on a wall, but soon he get used to it.

With his home away from home secured with Dobby's help, Link has been spending some money to make it more livable. He didn't splurge or anything of the like but he certainly make sure he has better living quality. His tree has become homier with better furniture and linens.

And since Dobby had magically secured it, Link started noticing magical critters making a home around the tree. He also discovered a mandrake hiding by the root of his tree. Even the air felt different the moment he crossed the magical boundary that Dobby had set for him. Instead of smog and exhaust from cars, the air smelled of the wilderness and Link wondered if it was because of the sudden magical flora growing around the tree.

He also caught a dwarf burrowing at the root of the tree but since they would not harm the tree roots, he decided to leave them be. If anything, since moving in, the tree grew stronger and greener; healthier.

Link treated them like he would the Picori...whatever that was...

But Link didn't spend all his time at his tree. He still had to return to the Dursley. Even if they didn't care to check his wellbeing, it would be too suspicious to be completely absent from No. 4. This was the reason why he spent the evening getting the guest room ready for someone he could sincerely say he'd rather not meet.

For someone who's completely lukewarm to hostile people, Link's rather cold towards one particular person from his (unfortunately) extended family. This person would be the completely unremarkable sister of Uncle Vernon, someone Link has no choice but to politely refer to as Aunt Marge.

One of Link's terrible memory of Aunt Marge would be her bulldog; Ripper, who made it his life mission to tear Link to ribbons from their first meeting. It doesn't help that Link think that Ripper looked more like a pig than a dog.

Link seldom dislikes animals. Even pigs and hogs, with which he has a slight distaste towards, could not be compared to the likes of Ripper. Spoiled rotten by Aunt Marge, Ripper follow her words like they were gospels from the heaven...especially if it includes orders such as "get him" or the likes where it will end up with Link running to whichever high ground he could get to.

Honestly, Ripper's one animal that Link would have great pleasure running his wooden sword through and that says a lot about his sentiment towards the mutt.

So now he stood in the kitchen, pretending he's the wallpaper while Marge continued to slur about his deceased parents. Honestly, she's even starting to make Aunt Petunia fluster as she grew more and more drunk by the hour, her slur becoming more and more creative.

But then she...;

"...if there is something wrong with the bitch, then there is something wrong with the mutt!" She then had the audacity to call for Link, "You! Pour me some more wine!"

When the wine didn't come, the drunken woman looked up at him properly for more scolding and froze. Chills run down her spine like the cold, unfeeling fingers of death as her eyes met frozen blue pools full of rage. The last thing she remembered was those cold, cold eyes...

Vernon managed to grab his sister as she suddenly faint from her chair. He looked at Link, "What did you do to her?"

Link shrugged, his face once more impassive and his eyes once again unreadable, "Nothing," He raised the bottle of wine he was holding, "As you can see, I was about to pour her some more wine,"

Vernon glared at him suspiciously but when Marge's familiar, boar like snore rattled by his ears, he decided that it was not worth mulling on. Grumbling, he dragged his sister to her room.

That evening, as promised to Link (and the whole reason why Link 'behaved' so well that day) he signed that slip of paper from that freaky school, giving Link his permission as guardian to go to the freaky village trip and whatnot.

Link makes himself scarce for the rest of Marge's stay at Privet Drive...

Link was furious at Marge for her callous words and he could not promise that he would not snap at her. He consoled himself that she's ignorant of the truth, even if she's the rudest person he knew on the mundane side of his life. He told himself as he went through the motion of his swordsmanship that he has heard worse, treated worse and for that he should not react to her foolishness because he would not stoop to her lowliness.

It had taken his iron clad control over his emotion to not lash out at her that horrid evening. He didn't really care much for the treatment of others towards his person but it's another matter altogether when it regards to people that earned his respect and favor.

It seemed that she has been getting some form of harassment from Dobby that's disguised as clumsiness on her part. Link would usually try to stop the house elf but he had a feeling that Dobby being the willful elf he is would simply go behind his back. They didn't have a master-servant contract and Dobby's a free elf. Link would never deem to control his friend.

Besides, he supposed he had his petty revenge by scaring her to fainting by unleashing a concentrated bloodlust that only she can feel.

Another arrow hits the center and Link breathed out his tension. He smiled as Gaepora wrestled with the living tome that Hagrid had sent him for his birthday. Link had quickly discovered the way to tame the Monster Book of Monsters and now it was like he has gained another pet of sort.

If one could consider an animated book covered in fur complete with beady eyes like spiders and snapping rows of crocodile teeth with a penchant to bite anything and everything as a particularly volatile pet. He chuckled as Gaepora sat on the book, shutting it.

The 1st of September will soon arrive and Link simply couldn't wait to leave for Hogwarts where he's bound to be dragged into some form of adventure...