Harry Potter: The Boy Who Lived

Chapter Seven - The Talk (TBWL)

Chapter Seven: The Talk

Harry stared at the open locket in the palm of his hand. Dobby, having finally realized that Mundungus was no longer alive, cowered beside Harry.

“Bloody Hell!” Ron exclaimed, staring at the body in the middle of the sitting room.

“What are we supposed to do with that?” Ginny asked, wrinkling her nose in disgust at Mundungus’ body.

“I have a suggestion,” Hermione piped up, timidly. Her voice was shaking and she didn’t appear to be feeling like herself. “Maybe, that is, if you agree, could we move the body somewhere else?”

“Should we?” Harry asked her slowly, his mind running on overdrive. “We didn’t kill him, could we be held responsible? What would the Ministry do to us?”

“I think it might be the best thing,” Hermione mumbled. “Wait, maybe we should contact someone from the Order.”

“Hermione,” Ron practically shouted, shaking her gently. “Hermione, you need to concentrate. We need to figure out what to do.”

“We can’t contact the Order or the Ministry,” Ginny announced. “They would find out about both the locket and our new powers.”

“We can’t risk that,” Harry announced grimly, “we don’t know what would come of it.”

“Harry Potter,” Dobby piped up shyly, not interrupting the discussion taking place two feet above his head. “Harry Potter,” he bellowed.

Harry looked down in surprise, having missed Dobby’s first address, and saw Dobby’s face filled with fear. Dobby turned abruptly and tried to run headlong into the end of the sofa. Harry caught him by the back of his tea cozy and yanked him to a sitting position on the floor. “He can’t hurt himself from this position.”

“Harry Potter, there is a place where we could leave it,” Dobby squeaked, immensely relieved that Harry had stopped him from hitting the leg of the sofa. “A place where it can’t be found.”

“Where would that be, Dobby?” Hermione asked kindly.

“Dobby cannot say,” Dobby responded, quaking with fear, knowing that he could not tell anyone the secret location.

“What good does it do us then,” Ron scoffed.

“Dobby, can you take the body there?” Hermione tried again, still sounding very compassionate.

Dobby nodded boldly. “Yes,” he replied confidently. “Dobby will take it there.”

“Thank you, Dobby,” Harry said gratefully, extending his hand to help Dobby off the floor. Dobby would not allow Harry to help him up; instead he snapped his fingers and disappeared.

When Harry, Hermione, Ron, and Ginny turned, the body was gone. Hermione began to cry, while Ron tried to comfort her awkwardly. He was not sorry that Mundungus was gone. Mundungus had hurt Harry and caused his Mum a lot of grief. “Why is she so upset? She didn’t even know him. All he ever did was tell stories and smell up the room.”

Harry walked over to Hermione and gently pried her out of Ron’s grip. He pulled her close and held her tightly. He was feeling the same grief that she was and had no idea how to explain his emotional state. Ginny and Ron walked over to where Harry stood, holding Hermione in a bear hug. Ginny approached them first, a smile barely formed on her lips. She threw her arms around Harry and placed her hands on Hermione’s arms. Ron stepped to the other side of his girlfriend and embraced her tightly. His arms overlapped Ginny’s and provided Hermione and Harry with the comfort they so desperately needed.