Badgersoul

Chapter 5: Up in Flames

Chapter 5: Up in Flames

We got our Hogwarts letters today. Mine came with this weird note from Dumbles saying he wanted to talk to me once term starts. Also, apparently, he likes Ice Mice.

**

Leo found the group well on their way to their destination, clutching various purchases in their arms. They stopped and stared at Leo when they saw him. He had red and green rosettes that shouted the names of players from the various teams, a red Bulgarian scarf that had roaring lions on it, and a dancing shamrock hat adorned on his head. Ron indignantly asked who he was even supporting at this point. Leo shrugged and told him Ireland, but he liked Bulgaria's colors better. Ron stared at him in disbelief before Mr. Weasley ushered them along.

They walked through the wood for twenty minutes, talking and joking loudly, until at last they emerged on the other side and found themselves in the shadow of a gigantic stadium. Though Leo could see only a fraction of the immense gold walls surrounding the field, he could tell that ten cathedrals would fit comfortably inside it. Mr. Weasley led the way to the nearest entrance, which was already surrounded by a swarm of shouting witches and wizards.

"Prime seats!" said the Ministry witch at the entrance when she checked their tickets. "Top Box! Straight upstairs, Arthur, and as high as you can go."

The stairs into the stadium were carpeted in rich purple. They clambered upward with the rest of the crowd, which slowly filtered away through doors into the stands to their left and right. Mr. Weasley's party kept climbing, and at last, they reached the top of the staircase and found themselves in a small box, set at the highest point of the stadium and situated exactly halfway between the golden goal posts. About twenty purple-and-gilt chairs stood in two rows here, and the group filed into the lowest row.

Leo glanced around the box to see who else would be there and was pleasantly surprised to find a house-elf there. The tiny creature looked up as Harry spoke to it and stretched its fingers, revealing enormous brown eyes and a nose the exact size and shape of a large tomato. Leo, who had only ever met male house-elves, was surprised to hear a high-pitched response that told him that the elf might just be female.

"Sorry," Harry told the elf, "I just thought you were someone I knew."

"But I knows Dobby too, sir!" squeaked the elf. She was shielding her face, as though blinded by the light, though the Top Box was not brightly lit. "My name is Winky, sir - and you, sir -" Her dark brown eyes widened to the size of side plates as they rested upon Harry's scar. "You is surely Harry Potter!"

"Yeah, I am," said Harry.

"But Dobby talks of you all the time, sir!" she said, lowering her hands very slightly and looking awestruck.

"How is he?" said Harry. "How's freedom suiting him?"

"Ah, sir," said Winky, shaking her head, "ah sir, meaning no disrespect, sir, but I is not sure you did Dobby a favor, sir, when you is setting him free."

"Why?" said Harry, taken aback. "What's wrong with him?"

"Freedom is going to Dobby's head, sir, " said Winky sadly. "Ideas above his station, sir. Can't get another position, sir."

"Why not?" said Harry.

Winky lowered her voice by a half-octave and whispered, "He is wanting paying for his work, sir."

Leo grimaced at this.

"Paying?" said Harry blankly. "Well - why shouldn't he be paid?"

"House-elves don't normally get paid, Harry," Leo informed him. "To most, it's considered an insult – an affront. They prefer to do their work for free and get satisfaction from a job well done. A house-elf asking for pay, well, it causes problems with their own kind as well as any prospective families. No one wants a servant they have to pay for when they can just find one that'll do it for free."