DOBBY THE HOUSE-ELF!

JULY 1992

2nd Year

• • • •

On a quiet Summer evening in Surrey, Annabelle Potter let out a sigh as she sat on her and Harry's bed, duck taping the large crack in her broken skateboard - courtesy of her cousin - as her brother sat at their desk, looking at the picture book that Rubeus Hagrid had given the twins at the end of their first year at Hogwarts. Harry smiled, looking at the picture of him and his sister as babies with their parents, before turning the page to look at a picture of The Potter siblings with their closest friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger, grinning at the memory. It was then Harry's owl, Hedwig started chirping and hooting in her cage.

"I can't let you out, Hedwig." Harry told her.

Annabelle looked at the bird in sympathy, stroking Nutmeg, who's head was next to her owners lap, Vernon allowing her pet out of the cage, but not their room, but they found ways to let her out without him knowing. Hedwig was a different story, considering their Uncle put a padlock on her cage.

"I'm not allowed to use magic outside of school," Hedwig continued to nibble at her lock, squawking loudly, "Besides, if Uncle Vernon--"

"POTTERS!!!" Their Uncles voice yelled up, making Annabelle let out a groan.

"Great." The girl nodded, standing up.

Harry glanced downstairs, then at his sister, who gave him a look, before he turned to Hedwig and closed the book, "Now you've done it."

The Potters sighed, walking downstairs and walking into the kitchen, where Petunia was working on a cake.

"He's in there," The woman told the twins, nodding to the living room, "Vernon." She got her husband's attention, as Harry and Annabelle entered the living room, seeing their Uncle assisting their cousin get dressed up.

"I'm warning you. If you can't control that bloody bird, it'll have to go." Vernon told Harry.

"But she's bored. If I could only let her out for... an hour or two." Harry attempted to reason with the man - who chuckled evilly.

"So you two can send secret messages to your freaky little friends? No, sir." Vernon shook his head.

"But we haven't had any messages from any of our friends." Harry told him, sadly, gesturing between him and his sister.

"Not one," Annabelle shook her head in confirmation, licking her lips, "All Summer." She frowned, thinking of all the people who had promised to write to her just before the holidays had started: Hermione, Ron, Cora, Neville, Seamus, Dean, the Patil twins, Fred, George, Oliver, Angelina, and more. Perhaps they only said that, but didn't actually mean it, as not to upset her, or she had done something she didn't realise she had done, and made them hate her. Those thoughts had been running through her head all Summer.

"Who would want to be friends with you two?" Dudley scoffed, bumping shoulders with Annabelle and Harry harshly as he passed.

"I should think you'd be a little more grateful. We've raised the two you since you were babies, given you the food off our table, even let you share Dudley's second bedroom, purely out of the goodness of our hearts." Their Uncle listed off and the pair fought to suppress their eye rolls, as Dudley reached out to touch the cake Petunia had made, causing her to slap his hand away.

"Not now, bumpkins. It's for when the Masons arrive." She told him.

Vernon clasped his hands together, "Which should be any minute," He exclaimed, motioning for his family to come into the living room, "Now, let's go over our schedule once again, shall we? Petunia, when the Masons arrive, you will be...?"

"In the lounge, waiting to welcome them graciously to our home." The tall woman said, along with a demonstration.

"Good," Vernon nodded, "And, Dudley, you will be...?"

"I'll be waiting to open the door." The boy answered, he too giving an example.

"Excellent," The family of three of them turned to Harry and Annabelle with scornful looks, "And you two...?"

"I'll be in my bedroom, making no noise and pretending that I don't exist." Harry replied.

"And I'll be there, too." Annabelle muttered, raising her hand.

"Too right you will," Vernon said with a nod, "With any luck, this could well be the day I make the biggest deal of my career, and you two will not mess it up." He told them, before sending the pair upstairs, just as the Masons arrived.

"Honestly, they're vile." Annabelle muttered ti Harry, the two stopping on the landing.

"All the more reason to be excited to go back to Hogwarts and see our friends." Harry said, nodding in agreement.

"If we have any friends," The younger sibling told him, "Not one letter. Not one single letter from anyone. Merlin, this time last year that was Uncle Vernon's dream!" She quietly exclaimed, making Harry laugh as he opened the door to their bedroom, the freezing at the sight in front of them.

The pair watched as a small creature jumped gleefully bouncing on their bed, stopping as it noticed the astounded siblings standing in the doorway.

"Harry and Annabelle Potter!" The unidentified creature marvelled, "Such an honor it is!" It cried.

Harry closed the door as Annabelle leaned into Harry, "Harry, I think that's a house-elf." She whispered, making Harry look at her, and then at the large eared creature in front of them.

"Who are you?" He asked, cautiously.

"Dobby sir," The elf grinned, "Dobby the house-elf." He clarified, making Annabelle grin, realising that she was correct, before licking her lips and picking up Nutmeg, placing her on the cat bed, on the floor beside their dresser.

"Not to be to be rude or anything, but this isn't a great time for me to have a house-elf in our bedroom." Harry told Dobby.

"Oh, oh, yes, sir! Dobby understands!" Dobby exclaimed, as Annabelle sat down on the bed, playing with the tasseled ends of her Gryffindor scarf, "It's just that, Dobby has come to tell you- it is difficult, sir- Dobby wonders where to begin?" The elf attempted to explain.

"Why don't you sit down?" The twins chorused.

"S-sit down?" Dobby spluttered, "S-sit- sit down?" He then suddenly begin to burst into tears.

"Dobby, ssh! I'm sorry!" Harry tried to hush his cries, as Annabelle quickly stand up and crouch beside the eld, putting her hand on his back in a way to try and calm him down, as Dobby cried louder, "We didn't mean to offend you, or anything."

Dobby stopped crying when he heard that word, "Offend Dobby? Dobby has heard of the Potter twins' greatness, sir, but never has he been asked to sit down by a wizard, like an equal." He said, looking up at Annabelle with wide eyes, making the girl take his hands in her own.

"You can't have met many decent wizards then." Harry said.

"No, I haven't," Dobby shook his head, before frowning, "That was an awful thing to say." He then moved over to the dresser, banging his head repeatedly on the drawer, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" He criticised himself.

"Stop, Dobby! Dobby, shh! Dobby, please stop!" Harry asked, trying to get him to stop.

"Dobby, stop," Annabelle joined in, "You're going to hurt yourself." She cared far more for his wellbeing than being caught and yelled at by her Uncle.

"Bad Dobby!" The elf continued.

"Dobby, stop! Please be quiet," Harry begged, the parole both sighing in relief as he stopped, "Are you all right?"

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," Dobby said, as Annabelle pushed a stool closer to the creature, "Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir."

"Your family?" Annabelle questioned, gesturing for him to sit on the stool.

"The wizard family Dobby serves, Miss," Dobby looked up at the girl, as he sat on the stool and she sat cross-legged on the floor, "Dobby is bound to serve one family forever. If they knew Dobby was here...," He shivered, "But Dobby had to come. Dobby has to protect Harry Potter. To warn him. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," He said, making the twins look at him in surprise, "There is a plot, a plot to make most terrible things happen."

"What terrible things?" Harry asked.

"Who's plotting them?" Annabelle inquired.

Dobby panicked, trying to resist himself from saying something, "Oh, he! Can't say!"

"Okay, we understand. You can't say." Harry told him slowly.

"Don't make me talk. L--" The elf continued to panic, getting up on the desk and grabbing the lamp and hitting himself with it, "Bad Dobby!"

"Dobby? Dobby, put the lamp down." Annabelle tried to instruct him, but he kept hitting himself with the object, both her and her brother attempting to take it out of his grasp.

"Give me the lamp!" Harry exclaimed, but Dobby kept straining until Annabelle heard footsteps coming upstairs.

"Harry!" She shouted to him in a hush whisper as he too heard the approaching person.

"Dobby, stop!" The boy tried again, and he finally grabbed it from Dobby, grabbed the elf's rags, hides him in the wardrobe, and closed the door, "Get in there and keep quiet!" He ordered, just as the door to their bedroom swung open, revealing their Uncle, who glared at the Potters standing in front of him.

"What the devil are you doing up here?!" He exclaimed.

"We were just..." Annabelle trailer off, licking her lips, looking at the wardrobe, Dobby slowly opened the door; Harry quickly pushing it closed.

"You've just ruined the punchline of my Japanese golfer joke." Vernon growled.

"Sorry." The siblings chorused, Harry closing the closet door again.

Vernon glanced at the closet door, unaware of Dobby's presence, then lifted his finger as he turns his eyes back to Harry and Annabelle, "One more sound. From either of you. And you two'll wish you'd never born," He promised seeing the closet door opening again, "And fix that door."

Harry closed the door again, "Yes, sir." The twins nodded. Vernon glares at Harry and Annabelle, before he walked out of the room, pulling the door closed. With Vernon gone, Harry opened the closet door to let Dobby out.

"See why we've got to go back?" Harry asked the eld, as Dobby removed what was one of Harry's socks from his ear, "We don't belong here; we belong in your world, at Hogwarts," He said and Annabelle chuckled, as Dobby sniffed the sock and threw it aside, turning to Harry, "It's the only place we've got friends."

Dobby looked at them, "Friends who don't even write to Harry and Annabelle Potter?"

"Well, we expect they've... been-"

"Hang on-," Annabelle cut her brother off, "How do you know our friends haven't been writing to us?"

"Harry and Annabelle Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby," The elf said, backing away from the confused siblings, "Heh- Dobby hoped, if Harry and Annabelle Potter thought his friends had forgotten them, Harry Potter, and by extent, his sister, might not want to go back to school." He told them, as he brought out a pile of letters, tied together by some string.

"Give us those, now!" Harry seethed.

"No!" Dobby told him, making the siblings lunge for the letter, and causing Dobby to dodge them and run out of the bedroom, and down the stairs, Harry and Annabelle following close behind, "Ahh!"

"Dobby, please give them to me!" Annabelle cried, fighting the house-elf for the letters, smiling when she successfully pulled them out of his grasp.

Her smile then soon fell, as she and her brother watched as Dobby smiled at the cake their aunt had baked in the kitchen.

"Oh!"

"Dobby, get back here!" Harry whisper-yelled, before Dobby snapped his fingers, making the cake levitate.

Their eyes widened, "Dobby, please, no!" Annabelle begged.

"Harry Potter must say he's not going back to school!" Dobby told them.

"I can't," Harry told him, "Hogwarts is my home!"

"Then, Dobby must do it, sir, for Harry Potter's own good." Dobby said, snapping his fingers once more, and the cake started to move towards the living room.

Harry let out a frustrated sigh, pushing past Dobby and walking after the cake, his sister watching worriedly from the doorway.

"...it spread as far as the eye could see, all over the floor of this vast building, and it was this deep," Vernon told the Masons, eyeing Harry and the levitating cake, the rest of the Dursley's noticing to, glaring at the eldest Potter, "And one plumber said 'Look at all that water!' A-and the second plumber said, 'Yes, and that's just the top of it!'"

It was then the cake smashed onto Mrs Mason's head, and Annabelle turned to Dobby, who snapped his fingers for the third time that night, and vanished.

"I'm so sorry!" Vernon exclaimed, as the woman wiped the icing off of her face, "It's my nephew- he's very disturbed. Meeting strangers upsets him. That's why I kept him upstairs!"

"I am so gonna kill Dobby." Annabelle whispered, staring wide-eyed at the scene in front of her.