At that moment—
Outside the room, a hideous little house-elf dressed in rags stood with bulging, terrified eyes. His hands were clamped tightly over his mouth. His bluish skin had turned pale—paler even than Malfoy's face.
He was just an ordinary house-elf, timid and cowardly by nature.
After accidentally overhearing what had been said inside, he wished more than anything that he could puncture his own ears and pretend he'd heard nothing.
He didn't dare move an inch. He curled himself up and cowered at the base of the staircase.
Even after Lucius left the study, he still didn't dare to move. He remained hidden behind the stairs until dawn began to break. Only then did he muster the courage to slowly crawl back to his little nest.
Though scared out of his wits, he had made up his mind to warn Harry not to return to Hogwarts. If Harry refused to listen, he would do everything in his power to stop him.
To protect Harry—even if it meant being hated—he didn't care.
He idolized Harry Potter, firmly believing that Harry was the Chosen One, the savior.
Which just goes to show: ignorance can be terrifying.
Compared to wizards, who as a group were intelligent and rational, and generally skeptical about prophecies, house-elves were alchemical creations with limited intellect.
Dobby, like all the elves working at Hogwarts, worshipped Harry in the extreme. He was absolutely convinced it was Harry who had defeated Voldemort.
So he had gone to great lengths to find Harry.
But unfortunately, Harry had only stayed at the Sherlock Hotel for a few days at the start of the summer holiday.
Dobby didn't find him, so he intercepted all the letters sent to Harry, hoping to cut off his communication with the outside world.
That's the thing about house-elves—they probably didn't even know what a telephone was.
Then again, Harry didn't know Hermione or Cho Chang's phone numbers either.
In the meantime, Dobby had already come up with a plan: if he blocked the passageway to Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, Harry wouldn't be able to get to Hogwarts…
"Hehe, I'm so clever," Dobby thought proudly.
Harry thought it over and figured Dobby must've shown up already—and that he had hidden all his letters.
He probably hadn't destroyed them outright.
Hmm… Could Dobby have stashed them somewhere in this room? It was possible. If he'd taken them back to Malfoy Manor and got caught, the consequences would've been disastrous.
So the likeliest scenario was that they were still here.
Given the intellectual limits of a house-elf, how clever could his hiding spots be?
After searching a few places where a child might think were "safe," Harry soon found several letters under the guest bed.
Only two people had written to him: Hermione and Cho Chang. After all, they were the only ones he'd given his new address.
Harry started with the letter at the bottom—it was the first one sent.
He quickly skimmed through their contents. They were quite similar: polite greetings at first, phrased as if they were merely friends. Later ones, seeing no reply from Harry, grew worried and even a bit annoyed. Hermione even asked him a few questions about magic she hadn't fully understood from her books—Harry broke into a sweat reading those.
Hermione was, without a doubt, a true academic.
What made Harry feel guilty was that despite receiving caring letters from two beautiful girls, he didn't feel happy at all. Voldemort's resentment had apparently dug deep.
He was genuinely worried that his… orientation might change one day.
He grabbed some paper and wrote replies to both Hermione and Cho.
Once the letters were tied to his big black owl and sent off, Harry suddenly realized—it probably wasn't a good idea to send both at once.
While Harry was waiting to receive his medal from Dumbledore, he found himself face-to-face in his bedroom with that ugly little house-elf—Dobby.
In his dream, he'd had two beautiful personal maids, one with blue hair and one with red, who waited by his bed every morning.
So when he opened his eyes today and saw a thin figure standing by the bed, he was momentarily hopeful—
But alas, it wasn't a pretty girl. It was ugly old Dobby.
His huge eyes made him look like an alien.
The moment Harry woke up, Dobby cried out in excitement: "The great Harry Potter—!"
The volume of that voice gave Harry an instant headache.
"Shut up," Harry snapped, making the wisest decision.
Dobby obediently clutched his own neck and dared not make another sound.
Harry gave him a once-over. "Back off. Stay away from me."
Dobby looked stricken.
"You're Dobby, right?"
"Great Harry Potter! Even someone as noble as you knows my name—" Dobby immediately burst into tears.
Harry felt his chest tighten.
"I said shut up. When I ask you a question, you're only allowed to nod or shake your head. Got it?" Harry said coldly.
Dobby lowered his hands and opened his mouth to speak: "Dobby—"
Harry shot him a glare. Dobby whimpered like a kicked puppy and clapped his hands over his mouth again, looking ready to cry.
Harry didn't care how emotionally complex Dobby's thoughts were.
"You're the Malfoy family's house-elf, right?"
Dobby nodded fearfully—then quickly shook his head and tried to explain aloud.
Harry silenced him with another glare, and Dobby let out a pitiful whine.
"Was it you who hid my letters?" Harry asked calmly.
Dobby shrank his head and didn't dare look at him.
"Voldemort is trying to harm me, and you found out about it. You're here to warn me not to go back to school, aren't you?"
Sure enough, at the mention of Voldemort's name, Dobby dropped to the floor and trembled violently.
"Well? Is that right?" Harry asked sharply.
Dobby pitifully nodded.
"Alright, since I already know, you can go now," Harry said.
Dobby's mind couldn't quite keep up—this was a development he hadn't anticipated.
But when he realized that Harry still planned to go to school, he had to speak up, even if Harry hated him. He had to stop him.
Just as he lifted his head to speak, Harry swiftly cast a Silencing Charm, followed by a Full Body-Bind Curse.
Dobby's wide eyes rolled in shock. He couldn't believe Harry had dared to use magic in the Muggle world.
Harry tapped his wand against Dobby's head and said, "I already know what you're going to say, so there's no need. Even though I don't need your warning, I do appreciate your good intentions. I'll help free you from the Malfoy family—but don't come looking for me again. Got it? If you understand, roll your left eye clockwise and your right eye counter-clockwise."
Dobby burst into tears. I don't know how to do that!
Harry lifted the charms and let him go.
When Dobby left, he was full of confusion, but also deep gratitude. Needless to say.
Once Dobby was gone, Harry felt completely at ease.
Not long after, a large owl flew in.
Its eyes were full of fear.
Judging by its anxious expression, Harry wondered—was this the same owl from last time?
It dropped a letter. Harry opened it—and immediately frowned.
It was a warning from the Ministry of Magic.
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