Twice Rescued | Esmerelda Potter

1. House Elf

Esmerelda's Point Of View

The empty feeling fills me up again as I turn the last page of the scrapbook that Hagrid gave me at the beginning of summer. Seeing my parents alive, and all of us together makes me realize how things have could have been. 

The sun shines brightly outside, right into my eyes. I get up to close the blinds, pushing my memory box that I made at the very beginning of summer with my foot. I put my scrapbook away, not wanting to feel the empty hole in my stomach again. Instead, I pull out one of my trunks from my closet, deciding that I'll pack early for when I stay at the Weasleys in two days. 

I sigh in disgust when I realize that I forgot to take my clothes out of the dryer. I wished that I could clean my clothes with my wand, but I'm not allowed to perform magic outside of school. Besides, Dora usually does it, but she hasn't been around long enough to do anything like that. In fact, she barely has enough time to take care of herself.

I step carefully down the stairs and walk past the kitchen. I pull open the stained white door that leads to our cramped laundry room, which really needs to be updated. Seeing as we never use it, maybe spending money on the laundry room isn't exactly a good use of money.

I pull a laundry basket off the shelf in the laundry room, and hastily pull my clothes out of the dryer. It suddenly occurs to me that I don't even own that many clothes. Oh well. I don't need that many anyway, not when I wear my Hogwarts robes for most of the year anyway.

When I close the dryer, I hear a big bang upstairs. Glass shatters. I drop the basket and sprint up the stairs to my room.

When I get there, I stop moving, analyzing the damage. My porcelain horse is shattered, my Hogwarts memory box is flipped upside down, and my pillows are scattered all over the room. 

Even worse, a creature is jumping on the bed. Not just any creature, but one I recognize as a house elf.

This house elf has floppy ears, big green eyes, and is wearing gray, torn rags as clothing. It is much smaller than I imagined, only about three feet tall.

As soon as I meet his eyes, the house elf stops jumping.

"Esmerelda Potter, how great to see you!" the house elf says. 

I give it a quizzical look. "What are you doing here?" I ask. 

"I have come to warn Miss Esmerelda Potter about the dangers of Hogwarts this year! There is a terrible plot about to happen this year, and Dobby has come to tell Miss Esmerelda Potter that she shouldn't go to Hogwarts this year!"

I close my eyes for a second, taking in what the house elf said. "What? I shouldn't go back to Hogwarts?"

"No miss! A horrible danger is coming for Esmerelda Potter! Dobby is here to protect you!"

"Dobby? Is that your name?" I ask quietly.

Dobby nods frantically.

I pause. "Well, tell me why I shouldn't go back to Hogwarts."

I sit on my bed and motion for Dobby to sit down as well.

I obviously did something wrong, since Dobby breaks into tears and begins to sob loudly, leaning against my bed.

"I'm sorry Dobby!" I cry. "I didn't mean to make you cry!"

"Dobby has n-never been told t-to s-sit down by a wizard before!" he starts. "You, m-miss, treat Dobby like an equal!"

"Well, what kind of family must you serve, if no one has ever asked you to sit down before?" I ask.

"It's horrible. My family treats me very bad," Dobby starts. 

Dobby suddenly jumps off the bed. "I shouldn't have said that!" Dobby picks up the lamp on my bedside table and whacks himself with it.

I jump up and wrestle the lamp out of Dobby's hands before setting it back on the table.

"Dobby, are you okay?" I ask.

"Dobby had to punish himself, miss. Dobby almost spoke ill of his family!"

"Who's your family?"

"Dobby must serve one wizarding family for his entire life, and cannot go against them. If they ever knew Dobby was here..."

"Then why did you come?" I wonder aloud.

"Dobby must stop Esmerelda Potter from going to Hogwarts this year!" 

Dobby suddenly lowers his voice. "There is a plan... a horrible plan!"

"To do what?" I ask.

"Dobby cannot say! But Esmerelda Potter cannot return to Hogwarts this year!"

Dobby almost grabs the lamp again, but I knock it on the floor, out of his reach before he can hurt himself again.

"I have to return to Hogwarts this year! I have to see my brother, and I must see Ron and Hermione too, and make sure they're alright! They haven't been writing at all this summer..!"

I trail off as Dobby picks up an unlighted candle and whacks himself with it. I pull it out of hands and he begins to sob again.

"Dobby has your letters, Miss Potter. Dobby thought that if you didn't get any, you wouldn't want to go back to Hogwarts."

Dobby pulls a large stack of letters bonded together by string from inside the rags. I recognize Hermione's cursive handwriting from the top envelope and I tear up, realizing my friends never really left me at all. 

All of a sudden, I snap. "Give them back, Dobby!" I shout.

"Not until Esmerelda Potter promises not to go back to Hogwarts!" Dobby retorts, crossing his skinny arms.

"I have to!" I sit down on the stool by my desk. "Hogwarts is my home!"

"Hogwarts is not safe this year!" Dobby pleads.

"What could be safer?" I yell, to the point of straining my voice. I stop yelling when I watch Dobby's face scrunch up, on the brink of tears.

I quiet my voice. "Professor Dumbledore is there! He would protect us from anything!" 

After all, he protected us from Professor Quirrell and the Sorcerer's Stone last year. 

Or did he? 

He certainly let us get quite close to death last year. Is Dobby right? Even if he was, it didn't matter. I would fight death a second time just to talk to Harry again.

My eyes glance to the letters beside Dobby. He isn't guarding them, and I know with a quick move, I could snatch the letters and read them somewhere else.

I stand up quietly. In an instant I lunge at the letters, trying to snatch them quickly.

Unfortunately, Dobby is quicker. He pulls the letters toward him, stands up, and with a snap of his fingers, he disappears into thin air, along with the letters.