In Death, Standby by Sophisme

Chapter 2: Of All The Little Things

Sometimes, Harry still recalled fondly those days when the Manor had been surrounded by a large, green, and thriving garden. He could still recall how he had used to run around it, just for childishly simplistic fun, or how he had laid on the grass for hours on end and counted all the clouds floating above. Those had been nice days, very easy and carefree.

There wasn't much left of the garden anymore.

Where once flowerbeds had bloomed, now resided nothing but bare, burnt ground. Where a green mat of grass had once stretched over everything, laid now a four-inch layer of ash and dust which would swirl and dance around Harry's ankles when he walked through it. The ash would stick to every inch of his skin and clung to his clothes stubbornly for weeks afterwards.

It could hardly be called beautiful anymore, but it was definitely memorable and extraordinary in its own way. And yet, Harry sometimes missed all the lively green.

The simple reason why there was no longer a garden was the Dark Lord's rather short and explosive temper. Harry had always known that the man had low tolerance for anything irritating, but so far the most extreme reaction had been set off by simple garden gnomes.

It had been a few weeks before Harry's eight birthday, in the beginning of the July, when he had spotted the first of them. A tiny and ugly creature had hobbled through the yard and disappeared between the flowerbeds as soon as it had appeared. At first, Harry had thought nothing of it, but then the second one had appeared mere days later and then a third one on the very same day. Within a week after their first appearance, the population of these strange little beings had exploded and armies of them marched daily up and down the garden pathways on their aimless journey. That was the point when Harry's curiosity had gotten better of him, and he had snatched up one of them in passing and brought it into the Manor to show it to the man with red eyes.

The man had stared down at the small creature with a strange mix of disdain and resignation on his face, before he had sighed heavily.

"I knew I forgot something when I added the wards," he had commented finally and rubbed his eyes despairingly.

"They're gnomes, aren't they?" Harry had asked excitedly.

"Unfortunately. And you said there were more them?"

"Dozens! Maybe hundreds!" Harry had exclaimed, "And each day there are more than the day before."

"I do wish you had come to me when you saw the first one. Then it might have been possible to get rid of them. Now it's too late," the man had sighed. "I will fix the wards tonight and inform Nagini that she can eat as many as she can catch."

"But where did they come from?" Harry has asked curiously, as he had poked the wobbly gnome which had been swaggering around the desktop and wielding quills like swords. The gnome had fallen down onto its back, hopped up quickly and glared daggers at Harry.

"Nowhere and everywhere. Magical plants and herbs attract them, and once they find the source of the magic, they settle down and breed," the Dark Lord had explained. "They are mostly harmless, until the point where there are simply too many of them. Then they are nearly impossible to get rid of."

Since he hadn't sounded too irritated by then, Harry had dared to ask another question, "Why weren't there any before?"

"This used to be a muggle house," the man had replied, sounding obviously displeased by the fact. "It took a while for the magic to settle and for magical plants to seed from that magic, but now they apparently have, since gnomes find this environment to be an appropriate habitat."

The man had glared down at the unfortunate gnome which had been sitting on the desk, looking rather lost and lonely. Probably missing its hundreds of friends and family, Harry had deducted. He had barely finished the thought, when a pale spidery hand had reached out fast as a striking snake, snatched up the creature and wrung its tiny neck with terrible crunch. Harry had involuntarily flinched when the creatures limp body had fallen back onto the desk.