The Cupboard Series 5: United We Stand ...

Chapter 11

Harry stumbled from the FLOO, caught himself and stilled, looking around and listening. The manor was deathly quiet, but then, he was the only one there.

A year ago, after having spent near enough to a whole year here with just him and Dobby, the silence wouldn't have bothered him. But after the last year when the manor had been filled with fourteen teens, a constantly varying number of adults and three house elves, he was unused to it. Even knowing that he was the only one here, he still expected to hear the sounds of laughter coming from somewhere or the voice of one of the adults, teaching and guiding them in their lessons.

Pop

"Hey, Dobby," Harry smiled down at the little elf who'd just arrived next to him.

"Is Master Harry ready?" he asked.

For the first time in a while, Dobby wasn't wearing his Diricawl uniform. Instead, he was wearing what Harry fondly thought of as his 'Potter Haven' garb: his many-pocketed burnt orange cargo pants, dark green sleeveless shirt of many pockets, black boots and special black belt, finished off with his brilliant white beret with the gold Potter crest on the front.

"Yeah, I guess so," Harry replied. "Just reminiscing."

A snap of Dobby's fingers opened the door to the Receiving Room of the manor for them to go deeper inside.

Most of the manor, Harry knew, had been stripped – the furniture, the contents of the library, even the magical creatures and most of the plants in the greenhouses. All had either been put in storage or moved to the Academy.

"This feels a bit like when it was just the two of us here," Harry commented.

Dobby's bulbous head nodded and once again Harry was struck wondering how in Merlin's name the elf wasn't constantly losing his headwear. Magic, he supposed.

"Dobby liked looking after Master Harry Potter Sir," he commented.

"And you did and do a great job of it," Harry smiled.

In some ways, Harry was glad that he actually had a purpose in being here. The silence, combined with the decided lack of furniture, made the manor feel less warm, more alien, regardless of the fact that he knew every inch of it inside and out. He had absolutely no desire to go exploring.

After passing through what had become the Arts Room, the large glassed in room at the back of the manor, the two went outside and to the left. And there, just off to one side, half hidden behind one of the greenhouses, was the object of their being there today: the great metal vault that had originally come from under the remains of Potter Manor on Ynys Crochenydd.

After it had been unearthed by the dwarfs when they were digging the foundations for the new school, it had been transported here. It'd taken Potter blood to open it and Harry still vividly remembered the sight of Tippy, the last remaining Potter house elf, curled up at the very front of it, where he was still protecting the contents in death.

Inside this large metal container were relics of his heritage – furniture, books, paintings, jewellery, suits of armour, and, as one would expect, many large exquisite pots. This was all that was left from the manor of an Ancient and Noble House that had stood for centuries and had been gathered by generations.

And now it was in danger again.

When the body of the late Cornelius Fudge had been returned after the TriWizard Tournament, it had come with a message from Voldemort. Part of that message was him naming Harry (amongst others) as his mortal enemy and his vowing to kill every family member and friend that he had. Harry had no illusions that that would include utterly destroying anything that was his.