CHP 11

I was at somewhat of an impasse. I had killed a basilisk and I didn't want to let it go to waste, but I also had no idea how to harvest all the parts of the basilisk. The hide of the basilisk was valuable because of its magic resistance, its' fangs were extremely poisonous even after death, I wanted to see if I could do something with its' eyes that could kill or petrify and who knows what magical importance its organs could hold. I had an abundance of some of the rarest materials out there in front of me but I couldn't harvest any. I didn't want to just leave a giant animal corpse in the school hallway either, Filch was already near mourning his cats' petrification, I didn't want him to 'alt+f4' due to overwork from the mess I'd made on top of that.

I stood around a few minutes, considering my options. The school elves were not exactly trustworthy because they answered directly to Dumbledore, I presumed, and I didn't want to expose my hand to him just yet. I couldn't levitate the corpse away without risking someone see the ridiculous sight of me lugging around a 20 feet long snake dripping blood. My capitalist heart is bleeding but I might not have a choice except to leave it here for someone else to find.

"*sigh* I really want to harvest this but I can't right now. What a shame, this would be worth so much money, too." As I said this, I heard a pop behind me, instincts kicking in, palming my sharpened stick and turning around, going to throw only to abort the attempt upon realizing it was a house-elf. However, I don't dismiss it as a threat and instead aim the stick at its neck, poised over an artery.

The elf nearly jumps out of its skin in fright, my eyes not hiding the suspicion I had at this elf coming at such an opportune moment, behind me. Its beady eyes dart about and it stammers trying to explain itself.

"Harry Po-Potter mu-must not harm Dobby. Pl-Please Harry Potter, do not kill Dobby. Dobby will punish itself if that is what Harry Potter wants, but let this one live, please, please sir." It begs. So, this is Dobby, huh. He looks like a Sphynx cat with rounder pupils and eyes, and stick thin limbs. He's wearing a tattered pillowcase around him, stained in all manner of faded out colours.

"Why are you here? Who sent you here?" Is he helping Malfoy this time around? That's the most crucial thing I need to know. Signs point to no, considering my missing mail, the portal to King's Cross closing and him being here but not immediately attacking like what I assume an elf ordered to would.

Hearing my questions, his posture relaxes minutely and a glint shines through his eyes.

"Dobby was just in Hogwarts, taking care of Great Young Master Malfoy," his mouth twists the name while speaking it, making me wonder if he was asked to call Draco that by someone, probably Draco himself, "and Dobby came across a big snake in need of cutting, and lots of cleaning around. Dobby is just a lowly servant and he must not disobey Master Lord Malfoy's commands, Dobby must not betray Lord Malfoy so he cannot help Lord Malfoy's enemies, but nothing stops Dobby from cleaning and doing chores. So, Dobby is here to cut and clean." As he spoke, he seemed to gain more confidence and stood up straighter.

His plan was to help me out by harvesting the snake and leaving it be, letting me pick up conveniently placed loot. That still doesn't explain why he's helping me but at least he's not hostile.

"Why are you helping me, what do you get out of it?" I asked, curious about his answer.

"Harry Potter has helped elves'es more than he knows," he says, a serious look in his eyes. "Dobby found hope in your story, Harry Potter. He learnt that the powerless can win too. This debt is great, I must repay." The words he spoke were heavier than they should be. For all that house-elves were servants and looked down upon, this moment was a stark reminder that however diminished, they were still Fey. Debt was important to them. Dobby was risking his life for someone he'd never met before, only heard of and found inspiring. I moved back, deciding on letting him do what he wants.

Within a minute, Dobby had the basilisk sectioned off, its parts and its bones arranged out and its fangs properly secured. The blood on the wall was quickly pulled out and vanished, the floor similarly spick and span. My clothes got a once over as well before he was done. It was rather jarring seeing him work on so many things and so efficiently. My skills subtly picked his work apart, gaining insight into his process. With the satisfaction of a job well done, he turned to me.

"Oh me, oh my, Dobby has cleaned this great mess up and wrapped it up nicely. Dobby hopes that whoever needs it can come pick it up." I have to say, watching him overplay his innocence was pretty fun. He got really dramatic. Having said his piece, he popped away, which was kind of inconvenient for me because I still had more questions for him. Oh well, for another time.

Now that that entire spiel was done, I wanted to relax and wind down. I would get used to fights eventually I'm sure, but for now my ideal way to spend time was mess around and chill, and the high intensity of fights was antithetical to that. I headed back to Gryffindor Tower to rest. I had the aura of the Diary and its holder already, now I just had to cross reference it with the girls in school. I was close to getting this year's headache out of the way.

.

.

The next morning just before I entered the Hall for breakfast, I used the Six Eyes to peek in and go through the auras of everyone present. The whole school didn't eat at the same time because you had students who woke up late or finished early or just skipped breakfast entirely, but it was a large majority. I couldn't spend very long doing it because I still couldn't handle the strain, but I was close enough that the pain was worth being able to solve the mystery. I didn't focus on the Sixth and Seventh Years, I doubt Voldemort would risk discovery from someone experienced enough to know better, I focused more on the younger students. I went through Gryffindor first, just in case, but didn't find a match. Slytherin was next because Malfoy might have sent the Diary to Hogwarts via his son, but no match there either. I focused on Ravenclaw next because nothing ever happens in Hufflepuff (the real reason being, that roaming around late at night on your own, sudden behaviour changes, would probably be noticed by the rest of the Puffs much faster.) and voila, I found a match in a cute Asian Ravenclaw girl. I didn't want to assume she was Cho Chang because there might be other Asian girls in Ravenclaw, but let's be real, Fate was a real concept in Harry Potter and she was a named character. On second thought, a flighty aura did seem to match with what preconceptions I had of her, does being a Quidditch player make you flighty, too? Regardless, it was probably Cho Chang who had the Diary.

I wonder how she got it and how I can get it from her. I hurried to finish my breakfast and rushed to follow behind when I saw her leave and came across a scene that upset me greatly. It was her and two of her friends surrounding someone, Luna, I recognized, in what was clearly an intimidating fashion. I overheard her insulting Luna about her looks before I got closer. I knew Luna got bullied, but this early into her schooling? That was an unpleasant surprise.

"Hey Marietta don't you think her earrings are really awful, like, I mean, who wears vegetables on their ears? What is she, a farmer?" Cho chuckles.

I had experienced stuff similar to this in the past, insults that aren't spoken to you but around you, loud enough that you overhear it, but because it's a conversation you're not a part of, you can't butt in and slap back because it would be 'rude.' On top of that, I'm sure it was frightening for a First Year like Luna to be surrounded by Third Years like Cho and her gang. She was holding up admirably, even if her eyes were a little misty, but her expression was unaffected, calm. I would love to beat up bullies, especially if they got physical, but I had to keep in mind that the repercussions of that would affect Luna too. I couldn't protect her if she was alone in Ravenclaw Tower. No, it was much easier to deal with it by playing to my advantages. I am an outsider and as Harry Potter, even if I didn't like it, I was a celebrity, a hero.

Bullying was a way to hold or gain social standing by picking on someone weaker, so I would have to do the opposite.

I got closer to where they were standing and positioned myself so that I was close but not enough that I was interrupting them. From there, I screwed on an expression that could only be described as 'disgusted judgemental contempt.' Like I've just seen a person responsible for passing gas in a closed elevator and who's trying to pass it off as someone else's.

It took a few seconds before Marietta noticed me, signalling to Cho and Laura, her other friend, about me. Noticing my expression brought down her cheer a few notches.

"Hello," she said awkwardly, "you here for something, Potter?"

"Hi Luna," I ignored her while trying to put in as much contempt as reasonable before shifting my attention to Luna, "are these three bothering you?"

"Hello Harry," Luna mumbled, not really confident in speaking against her tormentors in front of them.

"You know her Potter?" Marietta asked, "Didn't think you were the type to associate with people like her. You know she's like, really weird, right?"

I was feeling quite a bit of outrage at how she was continuing to treat Luna even in my presence, but I guess it was too much to expect them to feel shame. Cho elbowed Marietta to stop talking on noticing my worsening expression.

"Well, I didn't expect Third Years to pick on 11-year-old children. You know that's like really pathetic, right? Luna is an amazing friend to have and she's very fun to talk to, it's really sad that this is how Ravenclaw treats its members. Luna if you don't have anything else to say, let's leave."

Cho, Marietta and Laura's expressions were stuck between mildly ashamed and outraged. It must be pretty irritating having someone younger criticize you, but it was better than getting punched by me. This is mercy.

"Umm… I've lost my mother's necklace and a few books and potion ingredients from my luggage. I'm- I'm not saying that you've stolen it, but if you find the necklace, it's got bottlecaps decorating it, please give it back, it's one of the few things I have to remember my mother by now that she's… now that she's dead. Please," she sniffed out. Hearing that got them looking much more contrite, something I didn't miss. My expression soured even worse, like I'm looking at human garbage.

"Did you really steal her stuff too?" I asked. I would figure out a way to get the Diary later, supporting Luna was more important now.

"No, no, we didn't steal anything from her," they lied unconvincingly, "we'll help you search for it as an apology. It's probably in the Tower, we'll go there now and get started." They walked away, before Cho hesitated and turned around.

"Sorry, we didn't mean to hurt you that much. We were just-… sorry," she said, before walking back. Marietta and Laura hesitated, wondering whether they should apologize as well, before deciding not to and walking away. Cho apologizing did raise my image of her slightly, very slightly, but it was still a pretty negative view. I didn't know how I was going to get the Diary without asking Cho for it, but relying on her willingly giving it to me out of benevolence would probably not work anymore.

"Luna, are you alright?" I asked. I hoped the bullying wasn't too bad already, I didn't want her to be hurt.

"I'm alright Harry, thanks for asking. And thank you for stepping in. We haven't known each other for very long, so it was kind of you to do that."

"It wasn't a problem, don't worry. I really dislike bullies. Have you 'lost' a lot of stuff since coming to Hogwarts? Are your housemates usually like this or is it worse?" Was she constantly being picked on and isolated? Hogwarts was a boarding school, so being on your own, without the support of your parents or friends was already pretty difficult for a lot of First Years, but bullying on top of that would make it much worse. I was worried for her wellbeing.

"I haven't lost much of worth aside from my necklace. Although I did lose my Wunderwaffel-finding goggles and a curious book that wrote back to you. The book wasn't really special aside from that and my goggles can be easily replaced, I just need a little lemon for it."

A book that wrote back to you sounded an awful lot like what I was looking for. That does explain how it got here. Luna probably got it like Ginny did, it was a good thing she didn't have it for long.

"A responding book sounds interesting. Where did you get it from, how does it reply back," I asked, curious and wanting to know more. I walked along with her to the Hall. "If you find it could I have a look at it?" With any luck Cho and her gang would bring back all the items Luna had 'misplaced' as some form of atonement. That would make things so much easier for me.

"Sure, Harry. I can do that for you. I don't know how I got it to be honest. It was just there with my school supplies when I came back home. It's probably my father who got it for me though, he does tend to give me gifts often. It was a very charming book too, it called itself Tom, which I found a bit odd. Who named it that? It seemed very determined that it was a real person too. Could you imagine a real person trapped in a book, wouldn't that be funny, or horrible I suppose if you looked at it that way," she chattered. It seemed my positive interaction with her was enough to put her mind off of the unpleasantness of before, she seemed better now.

"Yup, pretty horrible and funny…" I replied.