(Word Count: 1,890)
Since it was down hill most of the way back, they were able to return quickly. When they entered—they were in the sitting room—Draco called Dobby to store his things. He couldn't meet up with his parents holding muggle rock music.
"Dobby!"
Dobby popped into the room, looking around eagerly. He found Draco quickly, nervously rubbing his hands together. "Yes, young master, how can Dobby help—"
At that moment, Dobby noticed Harry next to Draco, and he gasped. "Great Harry Potter, sir!"
Draco frowned. "Potter. Why does my house elf know you?"
Dobby slapped his hands over his mouth. "Eep!"
"Apparently, the house elves are grateful that I 'put a stop' to the Dark Lord. He and his followers weren't very kind to them," Harry said.
"Oh yes, it was horrible! We house elves were treated like vermin, sir!" Dobby groaned pitifully. "Of course, Dobby is still—Eep!" Dobby cut himself off, slapping his hands over his mouth again, looking fearfully towards Draco. Then he wailed, smacking his head against the nearby wall. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
"Dobby!" Draco barked, annoyed. "What are you playing at, talking bad about your masters! Are you trying to embarrass me?"
"Draco," Harry stepped in. "What's truly embarrassing is treating your own servants with such disdain. The servants reflect the image of the house they serve, if the servants are in disarray and look poor, then what does that say about the house they serve? Here, look at my own house elves. Tripsy! Kreacher!"
The two house elves popped into the room. "Yes, Master Harry Potter, sir?" Tripsy asked eagerly.
"Yes, young master?" Kreacher asked.
The two house elves were clean, and dressed in fine maid/butler uniforms. Tripsy had the Potter crest embroidered onto the chest of the dress, and Kreacher had the Black crest on the chest of the butler coat. They even had little dress shoes.
They noticed Dobby, and they jumped in alertness. "It's you again!" Tripsy gasped. Kreacher just growled, and was suddenly brandishing a knife. They leapt at him, but Dobby shrieked, and hid behind Draco.
"Tripsy told Dobby not to come here again!" Tripsy yelled angrily.
"Let Kreacher gut you!" Kreacher growled, trying to get around Draco to get at the poor elf.
"Ah! Dobby didn't mean to! Dobby came because Dobby was called!" Dobby wailed.
"Kreacher! Tripsy! That's enough. Come here," Harry ordered.
They reluctantly stopped, and returned to Harry's side. Kreacher gave one last swipe with the knife, but he kept glaring at Dobby.
Draco's eyes bugged out. "What was that all about!? Why's your elf got a knife!?"
Harry shrugged. "I have no idea. Kreacher? Why do you have a knife?"
"Kreacher needs it. Kreacher is guarding this house from unwanted visitors," Kreacher explained, testing the sharpness of the blade with his thumb, not taking his eyes off of Dobby. Dobby gulped audibly, and ducked further behind Draco.
"Wait a minute," Draco said, looking at Kreacher, "You gave them clothes?"
"No, but I ordered them to make these uniforms for themselves. Now, every time they're sent out on a task, everyone knows that they're my servants. They think to themselves, 'how rich are the Potters and Blacks, that they can dress their house elves like this?' They may not realize it, but they respect my houses even more."
Draco looked between the three house elves. The difference between them was obvious. Seeing Dobby's filthy pillow case and smudged skin, Draco couldn't help but feel ashamed. He had to admit Harry had a point.
"Tell me, Draco, do you think my house elves would ever, even accidentally, talk bad about me?" Harry asked.
Dobby wailed and started smacking his head against the wall again. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
"Dobby! Stop that!" Draco hissed, flushing red with embarrassment.
"Not to mention…" Harry made a disgusted frown, "Dobby is the one that cooks your food, isn't he? Are you fine with him being so filthy while also handling your food?" If talking about the prestige of the house wasn't enough, he gave another point from another angle to make sure they treated Dobby better.
This time Draco turned green.
"Dobby! Go wash yourself this instant!" Draco ordered.
"Hold on a second, Draco. Your house elf has apparently been trying to cause some trouble here. I want to know why," Harry stopped him before Dobby could pop away.
"Don't be ridiculous. Why would Dobby be coming here? Are you trying to say something?" Draco demanded.
"It's true, sir!" Tripsy interjected. "He's been trying to steal Master Harry Potter's mail all summer!"
Draco looked at Dobby. "Is this true?"
Dobby pulled on his ears guiltily. "Y-yes, sir."
"Why? Did father put you up to this?" Draco asked, bewildered.
"No sir…"
"It couldn't be mother?"
"No sir…" Dobby covered his eyes, miserable.
"Then why? Speak!" Draco demanded.
"Dobby did it on his own, sir! Harry Potter mustn't go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year! It's not safe!" Dobby broke down and wailed. "It's not safe!"
Draco gaped. "You did this by yourself? Without anyone ordering you? How's this possible?"
"They may have to follow orders, for some reason, but they're still living, thinking beings. They have their own minds and feelings," Harry said.
"I…" Draco trailed off. This revelation stunned him. It was the first time he's ever learned anything about them that wasn't "they live to serve."
"Wait a minute," Draco scowled at Dobby, suddenly realizing something. "You say it's dangerous at Hogwarts this year, but you didn't think to warn me? Aren't I going to Hogwarts too?"
Dobby groaned and started hitting his head again.
"Can you order him to stop punishing himself?" Harry asked. It was getting sad.
"Dobby, stop punishing yourself."
"Dobby didn't think to warn you about the danger because the danger is coming from your father," Harry explained on Dobby's behalf.
Both Draco and Dobby looked at him in shock.
"You already know?" Dobby asked in wonder.
"My father?" Draco asked. "What does my father have to do with any of this? He's on the board of governors! Why would he do something to endanger Hogwarts?"
"I'm a seer, remember? In my visions of the future, I've seen your father smuggle a dark artifact into Ginny Weasley's school supplies. That dark artifact possesses her and endangers all of Hogwarts. The school nearly shuts down because of it. As for motives, I can think of two. Recently, Arthur Weasley had been doing surprise raids, right? I think your father wanted to get a little pay back on him by planting a dark artifact into the Weasely's home. In this case, I don't think he would have meant for all of the chaos released in Hogwarts. Alternatively, Lucius could have known and meant to cause that chaos in an effort to remove Dumbledore from his post as Headmaster, and get Ginny expelled as revenge against Arthur at the same time," Harry explained.
"I… you," Draco floundered for words, his face pale. "You're just making that up, aren't you?"
Harry gestured to Dobby. "You can ask for yourself. I can't make him talk, but perhaps you can."
Draco turned to Dobby, but hesitated. Harry could hear his thoughts turning. 'Father did always say Dumbledore was the worst thing to ever happen to Hogwarts. Could father really be planning something like this? Then wouldn't it be really bad if it got found out? No, Potter already knows. But he has no proof! I can't let Dobby say anything more.'
"Dobby! Didn't I already tell you to go clean yourself? Go now! And take these with you. Hide them in my room so father doesn't see," Draco said. Dobby gave another pitiful look towards Harry, took the albums from Draco, and popped away. Draco then turned to Harry, reclaiming that trademark look of smugness, though Harry could sense the uncertainty within. "I don't know what you're talking about. You're just making things up to slander my father."
Harry sighed, "You're forcing my hand here, Draco. I will be forced to go to the aurors with this. But all I want is that dark artifact. If you help me get it, this whole thing can be swept under the rug. Nobody else will even know.
Draco scowled angrily. "Aurors? You can't do that! You have no proof!"
"I have to! That artifact releases a bloody basilisk into the school! Do you realize how dangerous a basilisk is? It's a magical snake, 60 feet long, just one look at its eyes, and you're dead! What if it enters the great hall during a meal? It could kill everyone in the castle! I cannot let that happen. To be fair to your father, I'm not sure how much he truly knows about the dark artifact, or if he knew the scale of danger he had set loose. I can't imagine he would mean to set such a creature loose in the same school his son attends. But that's why we can't let this happen, Draco. It would go far beyond what he meant to do. Don't you want to help prevent your father from making a huge mistake?"
Draco paled. "B-basilisk? Instant death? What kind of creature is that? You're exaggerating, aren't you?"
Harry pulled out his trunk necklace and summoned a book of monsters from it. He flipped through the pages until he found the entry for the basilisk and turned it around for Draco to see. "Unfortunately, I'm not."
Draco read through it, paling even further. "Why would father release something like this into the school? He would never endanger pureblood children."
'So you know he would endanger muggleborns?' Harry thought wryly. Evidently, he still had a ways to go with Draco's reeducation.
"Like I said, I'm not sure he understands the scale of danger here. That's why you need to help me. He'll slip the artifact into Ginny's cauldron today, when he encounters the Weasley's at Gilderoy Lockhart's book signing as we're all doing our school shopping. I'll make sure to take it from her before it can do any damage. All you need to do is to give me a moment of distraction so I can grab it without anyone noticing. Your father can go on thinking he got his revenge, and no one else gets hurt."
"I… what about you? What are you going to do with this dark artifact? Something that can possess others is dangerous," Draco asked.
"Don't worry. I'll destroy it as soon as I'm able. The dark artifact is a cursed diary. It can only possess me if I write in it. That's how Ginny was possessed. As soon as I return home, I'll be placing it in a locked box until I can arrange for it to be destroyed," Harry said.
"Why are you doing this? You could have easily just exposed my father on your own. Why go out of your way to hide this?" Draco asked.
Harry thought about it for a moment. He couldn't exactly explain everything about the horcruxes to him. "Well, the two of us will be in the Wizengamot in the future. I figured you owing me a favor wouldn't be too bad."
Draco's face soured, but, slowly, he nodded. "Alright, fine. But I'm only doing this for my father, understand?"
Harry grinned. "Perfectly."