Chrysalis | A Harry Potter Fanfiction

Chapter 15

"Um... hello, Dobby. What brings you here?" asked Caelia.

"It is a bit hard to explain, miss... you see, Dobby must speak to Mr. Harry Potter urgently."

Caelia nodded slowly, and then turned to the doorway. "Hey, Dad?" she called. "On second thought, can you send Harry in here? I need to show him something."

"No problem, munchkin!" came the reply, and moments later Harry jogged into the room. Unfortunately, at the sight of Dobby the poor boy nearly tripped over thin air.

"Hi! Uh... hello. Um..." he turned to Caelia quickly. "Who is this?"

She smiled in slight amusement. "Harry, this is Dobby the house elf."

"Nice to meet you, Dobby," he said politely, still glancing at Caelia in confusion. "May I ask why you're here?"

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

"Have a seat," offered Harry, taking one of his own.

At this, the poor creature burst into tears.

"S-sit down!" he wailed. "Never...never ever..."

Caelia brought a hand to her mouth as poor Harry tried to console the weeping elf. She knew that the treatment of many house-elves was far from good--the only house elves she knew that were treated well were the ones at Hogwarts--but she couldn't imagine the kinds of horrors that Dobby might have seen if he was this affected by the offer to sit down.

However, the loud cries had alerted Mr. Carter to their situation, and he poked his head in the room. "Are you two alrigh--oh, hello there," he said, quirking an eyebrow. "May I come in?"

Caelia nodded, and the three of them listened to Dobby explain.

"Dobby must not speak ill of his family... but Dobby has not experienced such kindness in a long time..." the house elf murmured.

"Well, isn't there anything we could do?" asked Harry.

Caelia glanced at her father. "You would be welcome to stay here if you need to."

And the elf began to sob once more. "Dobby has heard of Harry Potter's greatness, but oh, he never knew... Harry Potter and his friend want to help Dobby..."

Harry's face was red. "Whatever you've heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish, I'm not ever top of my year--I mean, I wouldn't have even gotten near Voldemort the last time if it weren't for Caelia--"

But Dobby had covered his ears. "Ahh, speak not the name, sir, speak not the name!"

"Right. Sorry. I know some people don't like it."

Caelia tried to help out. "Dobby, you said you had something urgent to tell Harry?"

Dobby nodded, wiping his eyes on the pillowcase he wore. Mr. Carter pulled out a handkerchief for him and he accepted it gratefully. "Harry Potter is so valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later... Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts."

Three pairs of eyebrows shot up. Caelia began to spiral. Why couldn't Harry come back to Hogwarts? She had made so many friends there, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what it would be like if her best friend wasn't there. What would he even do? She didn't know if he'd survive another year stuck with the Dursleys. And what about Ron and Hermione? Caelia didn't think they'd last a day without Harry there to keep the peace.