MAGIC AND MYSTERY

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets Part 2

The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. 

"Dobby!!!!" Maliana grinned.

As they stared at each other, Dudley's voice drifted from the hall. "May I take your coats, Mr. and Mrs. Mason?"

Halley fake vomited.

The elf slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long, thin nose touched the carpet. He was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm and leg-holes.

"Er—hello," Harry said nervously.

"Harry Potter!" the elf said in a high-pitched voice. "So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir... Such an honor it is..."

"Aww! He's a fan!"

"Th-thank you," Harry said, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair. "Who are you?"

"Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf," Dobby said.

"Oh—really?" Harry said. "Er—I don't want to be rude or anything, but—this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom." Petunia's high, false laugh sounded from the living room. The elf hung his head. "Not that I'm not pleased to meet you," Harry said quickly, "but, er, is there any particular reason you're here?"

"Oh, yes, sir," Dobby said earnestly. "Dobby has come to tell you, sir... it is difficult, sir... Dobby wonders where to begin..."

"Sit down," Harry said politely, pointing at the bed.

"Sit down!"

A few wizarding families looked shocked at Harry's treatment of the house elf.

Dobby burst into tears. "S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never... never ever..."

"I'm sorry," Harry whispered, "I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Offend Dobby!" the elf choked. "Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard—like an equal—"

Maliana looked embarrassed. "Sorry Dobby," she coughed.

Harry ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration.

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

"Rude."

Then 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.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross eyed. "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir..."

"Your family?"

"The wizard family Dobby serves, sir... Dobby's is a house-elf—bound to serve one house and one family for ever..."

"That's sad."

"Do they know you're here?" Harry asked curiously.

Dobby shuddered. "Oh, no, sir, no... Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir—"