***
Summer flew by. On September 1st, Richie was relieved to climb into the second-from-the-back carriage of the Hogwarts Express, traditionally reserved for second-year students. He didn't have to wait long for his acquaintances. Harry was the first to pop into the compartment.
Potter's hair was tousled and his glasses were askew. He looked like a mad scientist.
"Richie, you're here!" Harry said happily, adjusting his glasses.
"Hello, Harry," Richard greeted his comrade. "Come in."
"Yes, hi," Potter nodded and sat down opposite his friend. "What a day!"
"Did something happen?" Richard asked.
Harry nodded and began to tell:
"Richie, can you believe it? Some bastard enchanted the barrier between the regular station and platform nine and three-quarters. I ran head-on into a column. It's a good thing Uncle Scott and I got to the station early. We had to go to the Leaky Cauldron and use the Floo to get to the platform."
"Is it just you or everyone?" Richard frowned.
"It seems to be just me," Harry replied. "I saw wizards coming through the passage from the platform. I think it was Dobby."
- Who?
Richie looked at Harry in confusion.
"Oh, I didn't tell you!" Harry slapped his forehead and immediately winced, as his encounter with the pillar hadn't gone unnoticed. "Uncle Scott and I came back home to London for my birthday. We were originally going to celebrate in the wizarding tent, but we decided to take a little rest. Sorry, Richie. If I'd known, I might have come to your birthday party..."
"It's okay," Richard replied. "So who's Dobby?"
"That's the most interesting part," Harry said, frowning. "Uncle went to the store for a cake, and I started setting the table. Suddenly, a strange house-elf burst into my kitchen. He was wearing a tattered towel that looked more like tow. He had a look of insane delight. Compared to Donkey, this house-elf looked like a complete psychopath and stalker. Can you imagine, this big-eared guy told me he stole my mail. He demanded that I not go to Hogwarts! The bastard threatened me, saying that if I went to Hogwarts, I would be in danger.
"Strange," Richard thoughtfully ran the back of his hand over his chin. "It's one of two things: either someone sent this house-elves, or he's gone mad. Madam Marchbanks told me about crazy house-elves. Nothing good can come from them. They need to be killed immediately, otherwise they might kill the wizard they've chosen as their target."
"I was ready," Harry muttered, scowling. "Especially after Dobby grabbed my wand and levitated it into the air, smashing all the dishes in the flat, then dropped it and Apparated away. Soon after, I received a letter from the Ministry warning me that the next infraction would result in my expulsion from Hogwarts."
"Harry, don't worry about that," Richard said. "I'll ask the Minister, she'll sort everything out."
"Thank you, Richie, but no need," Potter shook his head from side to side, causing his hair to become even more disheveled. "When Uncle Scott returned, I told him everything. He thought Sirius Black had sent this house-elf after me. Uncle and I went to see Madam Minister. Uncle told Madam Bagnold everything, and she immediately ordered the warning to be rescinded and told me to hurry the next time I saw him and immediately try to neutralize the house-elf by any means necessary, even with the Unforgivable Curses."
"Did she just say that?" Richard raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Unforgivable?!"
"She was joking," Potter shrugged. "Well, I guess so. At least Mrs. Bagnold spoke of the Unforgivables in a joking tone."
"Ah, then that makes sense," Richard sighed with relief. "Millicent has a sense of humor. A rare gift for a woman. Harry, so what about your investigation?"
T/N note: I just translated the novel, I did not write above sentence.
"We've learned a lot about Black," Potter perked up. "We had to conduct a massive investigation and interview a lot of wizards."
- Closer to the point.
"We found out," Potter continued, "that Sirius Black was my father's best friend.
"I know that," said Richard. "Millicent told me."
"Oh really?" Harry said, slightly surprised. "Well, I'll have something to surprise you with. My father was also friends with Peter Pettigrew and Remus Lupin."
"Pettigrew was killed by Black," Richard nodded.
Harry smiled triumphantly and shook his head from side to side.
"No, it isn't!" he exclaimed. "Uncle Scott and I conducted an investigative experiment."
"Hmm..." Richard said with interest. "Harry, you've intrigued me."
Potter smiled broadly and continued:
"According to the Aurors, Black killed Pettigrew with the Reducto Maxima spell. All that remained of Peter was one finger. But Uncle thought this was very strange. An explosion should leave behind more body parts. He asked me to study this spell. We made several dummies in a deserted area and I used a stronger explosive spell on them. Then we blew up several pig carcasses. They always left behind many parts. From this, Uncle Scott concluded that Pettigrew wasn't dead. At first, he thought Peter had cut off his own finger and Apparated away.
"It looks like it," Richard agreed.