Chapter 128

Harry hadn't moved a muscle on the outside. But on the inside, his mind was working at speeds beyond imagination. Over a dozen different hypotheses formed in his mind, all just as likely as the other, but none were confirmed. He needed more data…more information.

And he knew just how to get it.

"ID Create" he whispered under his breath and disappeared from that isolated bench on the park and into the ID. He quickly pulled out his invisibility cloak and covered himself before he walked a bit to the side and activated his mage sight.

"ID Escape" he muttered, and the red-skied dimension shattered. With his mage sight turned on, he could easily see the invisible elf looking around the bench trying to see what had happened to Harry and where he had disappeared to.

Moving quickly before the house-elf gave up on his search, Harry snuck up behind him, intending to grab him and drop into an empty ID to ask him some questions. He used his Unicorn Boost to move as fast as he could and grabbed the elf, who let out a startled squeak. But before he could even get the command for ID creation out of his mouth, a small window popped up.

Warning! You are being forcefully apparated!

And that was all he saw before the world around him spun, and with one of the most powerful bouts of pain than he had ever felt, rivaling even Quirrell's Cruciatus, Harry was twisted away from the park, the sheer pressure around him draining his lungs of air and knocking him unconscious.

Now, elf apparition was as much a form of defense as it was a medium of travel. If some unseen predator would catch hold of the elf, the elf would simply apparate with the predator, causing an immense amount of pain to it. While the pain could be prevented if the elf wished so, Dobby was in full instinct mode, and caused Harry a world of hurt.

It was a few minutes before Harry's eyes reopened and refocused, after which he took stock of his surroundings.

He was, in what appeared to be, something like his own childhood cupboard, only smaller. A red towel hung from a hook on one of the walls, and a small shabby sleeping rug lay on the floor to one side. The only light came from a small candle. A strange looking creature with flappy ears, which Harry realized was Dobby the house elf, was fussing over a small cut that Harry had somehow gotten on his hand.

The large-eyed elf caught sight of Harry looking at him and promptly devolved into a blubbering mess.

"Oh! Harry Potter! So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir…Such an honor it is…Dobby is sorry for any pain Dobby may have caused to sir. Dobby was startled and-"

"Quite alright Dobby. No worries," Harry assured the rambling elf, trying to calm him, "Although I would like those letters you've been stealing back." Harry said, stuffing the invisibility cloak into his pocket and pulling himself up to rest himself against the wall. It really had been a painful ride.

The elf looked totally thrown off. "Har-Harry Potter knows about Dobby…what Dobby has been doing?"

"I know enough. But I'd like to hear why you did it" he said vaguely, knowing that his observe only showed the very basic amount of information. He needed to get Dobby to talk.

"Harry Potter mustn't be angry with Dobby. Dobby has them here, sir," said the elf, hesitating, as he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the tattered pillowcase he was wearing and handed them to Harry.

Dobby blinked anxiously up at Harry. "Dobby hoped…if Harry Potter thought his friends had forgotten him…Harry Potter might not want to go back to school, sir…"

"Why would you want that Dobby? Is there any reason for it?" Harry asked, suppressing the urge to vehemently deny Dobby's wish.

"Oh, yes, sir," said Dobby earnestly. "Dobby should tell you, sir…it is difficult, sir…Dobby wonders where to begin…"

"The beginning is a good place. Or we could start with who is your master?" said Harry, trying to coax him into spilling.

"It is difficult sir…Dobby cannot violate any direct orders from master…and master has ordered Dobby to not tell anybody who he belongs to. Legends of Harry Potter sir's wit has traveled far among house elves sir. Dobby is sure it would be no trouble to sir, but Harry Potter sir must guess correctly." he said, his expression desperate.

'Alright then' Harry thought, going through all he knew about house elves, 'House-elves only come with big houses and manors. Which means it could only be one of the Sacred Twenty Eight families. It would make sense for the richer ones to have elves. So that means that the Notts and Malfoys are the most viable choices.'

"Do you work for the Malfoys?" Harry asked, naming his first choice, hoping his luck stats would kick in.

"YES!" Dobby let out a loud exclaim before his face scrunched up. Suddenly he ran over to the candle and started burning his fingers in the flame.

"Don't - what are you doing?" Harry hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back.

"Dobby had to punish himself, sir," said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. "Dobby gave away his family's identity. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this."

Harry stared.

The books didn't mention this. It said that elves were bonded to their house and would serve whoever that owned it, but there was nothing about making an elf punish itself. With a slight gasp of horror, Harry realized that the red towel that hung in the hook was actually not red in color, but stained through with blood.

"There is a plot, Harry Potter." Dobby started talking again, his voice trembling as he tended to his burnt hands. "A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year," he whispered, suddenly trembling all over. "Dobby has heard of bits and pieces of it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!"

"What terrible things?" asked Harry at once.

Dobby made a choking noise and then banged his head frantically against the wall.

"All right!" cried Harry, grabbing the elf's arm to stop him. "You can't tell me. I understand. But why are you warning me?" A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. "Hang on…this hasn't got anything to do with Voldemort, has it?

Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and moaned, "Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!"

"Sorry," said Harry quickly. "But does it have to do with him?"

"Dobby does not know sir. But Dobby knows that it will be the cause of mortal danger at Hogwarts for those not like master."

"Not like master?" Harry asked, "You mean not pureblood?"

Dobby nodded, pulling on his ears. There was a moment's silence as Dobby struggled to not bang himself against the wall and Harry used Gamer's Mind to sort through all that he had just found out. An odd sort of calm anger overtook his mind, as his Gamer's Mind quickly dismissed that it was a random chance that Malfoy had decided to target Hogwarts right after he'd pegged Harry as a potential dark lord.

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