Chapter 5: The Timer and Plans Made

Axegrind and Harry made their way back to the lobby of the bank where the teen thanked the goblin, before quickly going to a counter to exchange some of his money to muggle money. Hidden as he was under his cloak, thinking it was good thing goblins could be discreet. When they wanted, he thought, remembering the goblin teller from this morning. When he was done, he went outside.

Harry ducked into a dark alleyway on the side of the bank and called softly for Dobby.

The house elf appeared with a slight 'pop' noise and instantly looked about himself in confusion. "Where is Harry Potter sir? Dobby is hearing Harry Potter call but he is not seeing him." The poor elf was near hysterics.

"Shhh Dobby, it's okay. I'm under my cloak. Hold out your hand and when I take it, get us back to Privet Drive, okay?" Harry quickly said.

Dobby held out his hand and when he felt his owner's hand, he popped them back into the young wizard's bedroom.

"Thanks, buddy," Harry said and when he saw the house elf big eyes start to tear, he quickly asked the first question that popped into his head. "Hey, if you can pop wizards around, why have I not heard of this? Wouldn't you be popping everyone, especially underage wizards who can't Apparate?"

"Ah, sir, wizards is not liking to have to rely on lowly house elves. They is thinking they should not have to rely on a house elf for anything but housework. If they is asking they is not telling anyone they is asking," Dobby sighed glumly, hanging his head at the shame at what other wizards thought of elves, though he knew the Great Harry Potter would never think that, however, a life time of abuse made him feel shame. He remembered well his treatment from the Malfoys.

Lifting his friend's head back up with a finger under the chin, Harry smiled. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, Dobby. Those other wizards, especially the Malfoys, are the ones who should be hanging their heads. Not my buddy." The big green eyes beamed at such high praise from his favorite wizard. "So, why did you pop me outside of Gringotts and not in the lobby?" he asked, pleased to see his friend smiling again.

"House elves cannot be popping peoples into areas where there is being Anti-Apparition Wards. Wes can be taking them outside the wards, but that is being all. Wes can pop us anywhere Masters is needing, but wes cannot be taking peoples. It is being part of security that was being sets up long, long ago," Dobby explained carefully, not wanting his Master to think it was something he could do, but didn't. "Yous is the only one who being allowed to be popping into this house. So, Dobby can be bringings yous here, easy-peasy."

"Oh, okay. Then I guess that's all for today, you've been great, unless… can you get me something to eat? I don't think the Dursleys are going to feed me this morning. They said something about not getting my chores done on time last night. So if you can, I'd be very grateful." Too bad those charms were only mild. He still had chores to do every day, even if it wasn't as many.

The excitable house elf was horrified that someone would treat the Great Harry Potter that way. "Dobby will be getting Harry Potter something from his Paddy's house. There is being no one there right now. Yous should not be skipping meals, yous is far too skinny," he said, waggling his finger at his Master.

Harry smiled in amusement that Dobby referred to Sirius' Animagus form as 'Paddy' and not Padfoot. Then again he couldn't say Granger or Weasley either and he called the Headmaster, Master Whiskers. "You're the best, Dobby. I don't know what I'd have done without you today," he praised as he placed his hand on Dobby's shoulder and gave it a slight squeeze.

Dobby grinned brightly at such praise and the wizard smiled in return. "The Great Harry Potter is complimenting Dobby. Dobby is not knowing what to say. Dobby will do as Harry Potter is asking and will return as soon as I is having his breakfast ready." And with 'pop' he was gone.

Harry looked around his rather cramped room and wondered where to start. He went to the bed and put the Sneakoscope on the nightstand and wrapped the still broken mirror back into its cloth. He put it under the floorboard beneath his bed, where he kept his most important things. He rearranged his furniture so that there was a wider space in the middle. Then he pulled the shrunken three compartment trunk out of his pocket, placed in the newly acquired space and tapped his wand atop it to make it grow.

I wonder if I should go through the trunks first or look at the books. I think I'll do the trunks, you never know what you will find in those. The teenager pulled out a trunk, placed it next to his bed and tapped it with his wand to enlarging it. When it opened he looked at the mass jumble of junk inside. This might take a while.

It was a good thing the Dursleys were mostly ignoring him this summer so he had most of the day to look through this. He only needed to do the gardening today. Thank Merlin, for those repelling charms, he thought with amusement as he opened the third section of the main trunk so he could store anything useful in it, because Merlin knew there wasn't any extra space in his tiny room, even with the rearrangement.

He placed the useless items —broken quills, old homework, broken ink bottles, and trashed trinkets— on his bed. He found what looked like a man's ring with a wide band and a small red jewel right in the center. When he passed it over some of the trinkets, the jewel would heat up or glow. Through trial and error he found that it would heat up when near cursed objects and only glow around charmed ones. That will be helpful, probably used on mail. Better safe than sorry and anything that heats up I can float to an empty trunk. Those Black sure were paranoid bastards. Good news for me though.

Halfway through the first trunk, he came across a box with a round silver disk that had numbers around the edge, like a cooking timer, which made the ring glow bright.

~The Room Timer~

read the front of the pamphlet, which was stuck on the box. Harry opened the pamphlet and started reading.

~The Room Timer —akin to a Time Turner, yet very different —is a means of slowing down time. By placing the timer on the door to any room and setting it (see instructions), one can slow the time in the room. For example, one minute passes outside the room for every hour that passes inside the room. With the charms added to this device you will not age while inside. Clocks will register only outside time,

CAUTION: You will need to eat, sleep and take care of your daily needs.

This is a must have for the student that can never seem to find the time to do their homework!

This was perfect. Since he could now do magic and he had all these books, he could get the knowledge and maybe some training he needed and Dumbledore would never know. The Order members watching the house wouldn't know either, because he could leave the house at any time and they'd think everything was normal. He quickly read the instructions.

There was a self-sticking charm on the back of the timer for easy placement and removal. The timer could be set so its effects could last for two hours outside the room, perfect for him. Because, even though his relatives were ignoring him, he assumed they'd notice if he disappeared for more than two hours. He'd have to be careful and try and do this when they were sleeping. However, right now he was too excited to wait until nightfall. Before he set the new device, he called Winky.

"What can Winky be doing for Master Harry Potter, sir?" came a squeaky voice from behind him.

The dark haired wizard turned to the female elf and saw she was now clean and wearing a nice tea towel. It was a pretty tea towel with a flowing floral design of blooming vines that snaked the entire body. It had a hole in the middle for her head and a piece of cloth for a belt, shaped like a sleeveless tunic. If one would look at it —not knowing it was in fact a tea towel —it could pass off as a simple dress.

"Winky, didn't you like the dress you wore at Hogwarts? Do you want to wear a tea towel?" he asked, rubbing the side of his nose, not understanding why someone would prefer a tea towel over a dress.

"Oh no, sir, Winky is not liking that dress at all. Winky likes her tea towel," she answered, fingering the tea towel in question.

Well, if she likes it then who am I to say no? And she does look much happier, Harry mused with an inward chuckle, not wanting the happy house elf to think he was laughing at her. "Winky, I'm going to ask something very strange of you. I know Dobby's getting me some breakfast, but I'm putting a time slowing device on my room," he said, holding up the device to show her, "so for every one minute that passes outside my room one hour will have passed in my room. I'd like it if you could tell Dobby to wait to bring my breakfast until about 9 a.m. seeing as it's about 7:30 now," he said as he glanced at the battered clock on his nightstand, he really needed to get a new watch, "about ninety hours will've passed for me. What I need for you to do is go and see if you can get me some type of ready-made meals. Can you do that?"

"Winky can do that for Harry Potter," the excited house elf stated, content to get away from cleaning the dark attic for a new task, even though they were close to being done.

"Will you go do that for me, please? I'm not sure if the wizarding world sells them. Maybe for campouts or explorers," said the teenager as a thoughtful look passed his green eyes. He remembered seeing Muggle stuff on the telly, so if she couldn't find wizarding ones, maybe he could get some Muggle ones. He hoped she could get them, because he didn't want to wait long to do the timer.

"Winky is knowing where to go. Winky will bes right back, Harry Potter, sir." And with a 'pop' she was gone.

Harry waited patiently and read the instruction book again. It said that the disk, when placed, had a Notice-Me-Not Charm for the duration of the timer. Because if someone opened the door while the timer was set, it could cause a paradox. There was a warning that the door would not be noticeable, but it wouldn't erase him from people's minds, they will notice his absence.

If he programed it so ninety minutes went by, he would be uninterrupted until 9 a.m. Well, maybe he'd shoot for eighty minutes as it was now past 7:30. He'd go through the rest of the trunks and see what else could be found and then he'd sort the books. Anything cursed he'd levitate into the empty trunks and have Dobby take them to the Black vault. The curse breakers can go through them, he thought. The elves should be done with most of the attic by then. When they wanted, those busy little buggers were fast.

With a 'pop', Winky was back with a medium size, shrunken bag. In the bag were several ready-to-eat meals that were kept in separate containers. The containers seemed to be in a stasis of some kind. They looked metal, but felt plastic. Each labeled neatly as to what it contained and instructions on how to use. All a person had to do was take a meal out, tap it with a wand twice and they'd have a nice hot meal –or cold if it was fruit, cereal or something of that nature. There were about fifty meals in the bag ranging from breakfasts to dinners, and even to some snacks. The bag also contained several chilled water bottles and pumpkin juice flasks. That should tide him over for quite a while.

"Thanks, you're the best," the teenager said giving the proud elf a hug, making her squeal in delight. "I forgot to ask, but did you get Buckbeak to the Forbidden Forest?" he said returning to his seat on the bed.

"The Buckbeaky is now in the forest, Harry Potter, sir, and he is being most happy," she was glad the poor creature was now free, it hadn't looked happy crammed inside that little room.

Well that is one thing off my mind, the dark haired wizard thought. "How far along are you guys with the attic?" he said, turning again to Winky.

"We is almost being done with the attic. When Dobby is bringing young Master his breakfast, we should be done, sir. There is being many dark things in there, sir," she whispered ominously, then got a serious look on her tiny face. "We is doing what you said and putting them in the trunks. Kreacher is trying to steal some of Master's things, but we is not letting him," Winky said. Her eyes were now alight with pride in their accomplishments.

I'm going to have to keep an eye on Kreacher, the young man's eyes narrowed. He knew Kreacher wasn't to be trusted, but he was unsure as to what else could be done to control the slightly crazy house elf. Harry looked to Winky and noticed she was getting nervous, so he brightened his face with a smile and said, "That's great. If you could, would you take anything useful that you don't think I'll need to the second hand store in Diagon Alley. I think it's called the Junk Shop…" he paused, remembering that he'd need clothes and just this morning Dobby made his cousin's old clothes seem new. "On second thought, maybe you should put them in trunks and bring it to me first, so I can go through them. I trust your judgement to bring me things you think I'll need."

He watched Winky's face light up with pride. Her Master said he trusted her with something so important, she wouldn't let him down.

Harry brought her back to reality and once more picked up the timer. "I'm going to be using this every morning and every evening and I don't think you'll be able to find me when it's on, so don't panic. I'll only be out of touch for about an hour or two. When Dobby brings my breakfast, I would like it if all of you to come here for further instructions."

"Yes, sir, Harry Potter, sir," Winky said and with a determined look in her eyes she popped away.

Harry set the timer, donned the ring, and went to work on the trunks. He found loads of useful things such as: quills, ink pots, wizard robes, pants and shirts (some were a little outdated, but maybe Winky could fix that or give them to the Junk Shop), a pensieve (slightly dinged, but seemed to still be functional), a packet of seeds (he figured he could give to Neville), and trinkets of all kinds and some jewelry (some cursed, some charmed, others with no magic on them).

He also found two wand holsters, which could come in handy. He put one on each arm and was surprised at how well they fit him. There were about four wands in the trunks. He tested them all, only one gave off sparks when he waved it. It wasn't as good as the wand he had gotten at eleven from Ollivander's, but it might be helpful to have a backup in case something happened. Like the time he and newly resurrected Voldemort met and their wands fought against each other, bringing the duel to a draw. Had it not been for the spirits killed by Voldemort, Harry never would have escape.

Shaking his head to get away from those depressing thoughts, he continued to use the ring to scan the trinkets and books. Anything that made it heat up was levitated in one of the now empty trunks.

He found few bottomless bags. Some were torn and useless and joined the rest of the castoffs on the overly crowded bed. However, three were in good condition and he reckoned he could give one each to Ron and Hermione and keep the other.

After vanishing it clear of rejects off the bed, he took a short nap. When he got up, he ate some of the ready-made meals, drank the juice and water, and then started again. It was hard work going through so many years of junk. Many of the trunks were much larger on the inside; storing much more than he initially thought.

When the timer showed he was almost done, he shrunk the rest of the trunks and put the ones of harmful stuff to the side for the elves, vanished his bed again, placed everything else back in the three compartment trunk and closed it then put it at the end of his bed.

Good thing all those spells I used are lightless. Not wanting anyone to see spell work coming from his room.

His owl, Hedwig, was very put out that she couldn't fly during this time. Hooting resentfully, when she ate her treats showing her displeasure.

"I'm sorry girl. Next time I'll let you out before I set the timer. I'll write some letters for you to deliver or just let you outside. Forgive me?" the teenage wizard said, petting her head, trying to placate his irritated owl.

Hedwig turned her back on her master very miffed that he forgotten about her.

Poor Harry looked at her back and with a regretful sigh, he turned back to his task, hoping she would forgive him before nightfall.

Since he had set the timer for eighty minutes is was now close to 8:50 a.m., which should give him time to shower before the elves arrived. He figured he could do this for sixty minutes every morning and every night. That should give him time to sort through the rest of the trunks, then the books and after that he'd start studying. For now was going to take his shower.

That and he really needed to use the loo. He hadn't even thought of that when he set the timer for so long. He should've taken the warning more seriously. He had had to use an empty potion vials, he'd found in the trunks, to relieve himself. Not to mention how crampy he felt. He'd need to look up some hygiene spells for next time and see if there were any he could use for that. Or look in the camping book he had noticed and see if there was one for a temporary outdoor privy. He'd figure it out later. He had gotten so caught up in his excitement that he had pushed his discomfort aside. Now though, well he ran to the bathroom.

At this time in the morning his relatives would be busy with what they normally do on weekdays. His uncle would be at work, his aunt would be gossiping and his cousin would be terrorizing the neighborhood.

When he was done with his morning ritual, he went back to his room. He noticed that all three elves were waiting for him and his bed was made, the room was not clutter and was now dust free. Two looked very happy to see him, the excitement showed in their large eyes. The other looked like he'd rather be dead than be there, glaring at his new hated master with narrowed eyes.

On the desk was a tray of food, with eggs, bacon and toast. The young man was grateful that it was a simple breakfast, he wasn't really hungry after all the food he ate behind the timer, but he didn't want to disappoint Dobby, who seemed very pleased to serve his master.

Harry took the tray sat on his bed, while he talked to the elves between bites. "Dobby, are you guys all done with the attic?" The young man asked the high-strung house elf.

"We is being done with the attic, sir. We is having many, many trunks full of dark objects," Dobby said, stimulated that they had accomplished the attic in the time they had been assigned.

"That's great," Harry praised all of them with a beaming smile, though Kreacher didn't seem to appreciate it. "Did you get Mrs. Black off the wall?" The teenager asked, still eating. Ready-made meals were well and good, but Dobby's meals were much better.

"We has taken the picture off the wall and has put it in the attic," Dobby said bouncing up and down in excitement. That portrait had put up quite a fight; it was a good thing the house had been empty at the time. The screams alone would have woken the dead. He had had to fight Kreacher off as well, even though it had been Kreacher's job to take the portrait off the wall.

"That's good. You guys did a wonderful job. Did you tell Dumbledore that you found a family and what did he say?" he asked the two smiling house elves, ignoring the scowling one for the moment. Thank Merlin, I don't have to put up that damn picture. Harry was sure everyone would be glad of this fact.

"Dobby and Winky is telling Master Whiskers we is finding a family. Master Whiskers is telling us he is happy for us. He said he was being worried we might not survive as free elves. He is telling us that he is thinking that the magic at the castle is helping us," Winky answered.

The green-eyed teen nodded at that, thinking it was a good thing that Dumbledore hadn't questioned the house elves too closely as to who the new family was. Then again house elves were very loyal and they wouldn't tell even if questioned. It also made him feel a little better about the Headmaster that he thought of those working in the castle.

"That was kind of him. Now Dobby, if you would be so kind as to take the trunks from the attic to the Black family vault and take these trunks by the wall here as well, please," Harry waved to the trunks he had set aside.

"Winky, I was wondering if you could make the clothes I found fit me. And also bring me the trunks of useful stuff you found in the attic." He indicated the pile of clothes he had left on top of the trunk.

The female elf nodded her head in understanding.

"Kreacher," He turned to the oldest elf, "I need you to go back to Grimmauld Place and start on the top floor, clean the rooms from any dark creatures and place anything of value in a separate trunk. Keep out things like the silverware and other minor valued stuff. I don't want the Order members thinking someone is emptying out the house. They usually don't go past the third floor anyway. We'll just have to keep an eye on everything. Oh, and Kreacher, close down the library." He knew that until trust was formed between him and Kreacher he'd need to be more demanding of that particular elf than he was of the two devoted ones. It was a good thing he ordered them to ban Mundungus.

Kreacher scowled, but reluctantly nodded his head once to show he was listening.

Harry straightened up from is now empty plate and faced all the elves. "While all of you are cleaning, put anything cursed in another trunk and Dobby will take the trunks to the Black family vault. Dobby, after you are done please help Kreacher, but listen for my call I'll have a letter that I'll need you to get to the goblins and Hedwig is too noticeable to take it for me," The teenager concluded.

If her barks of displeasure were any indication, Hedwig didn't sound too happy at being bypassed, again. Harry sighed, he was going to have to do something extra special for his owl to get back in her good graces.

"Dobby will be happy to do as Harry Potter says," Dobby said bounced in place, hats that he still wore threatening to fall off his head.

"Winky will be doing as Harry Potter asks," Winky said, delighted to have something to do as well. She really hadn't liked being free and now she was part of an important family again. She'd do anything to please her Master; after all he had saved her.

"Kreacher must be doing as the Master is saying, but Kreacher is not happy about this," Kreacher looked like he'd rather have his head on the wall of Grimmauld Place then take orders from this master, but he was a bound elf and had no choice in the matter.

And after the conformation of their instruction the elves went to work. Dobby popped out with one of the trunks and the breakfast dishes.

Winky set about fixing and shrinking or enlarging the clothes to fit the skinny wizard.

Kreacher hastily left with a 'pop', glad to be away from a master he felt was beneath him.

Harry nodded in compliance. This should work, he thought as he started to get ready for the day.