The Cupboard Series 3: Potter Haven

Chapter 18

Harry Potter sat on the grass inside the great magical dome in the valley of Potter Haven. Between his splayed legs, a pair of puffskeins gently rolled backwards and forwards. First, they'd roll one way before bumping into a leg, giving a soft shiver and then rolling back, only to run into Harry's other leg. He smiled at their antics even as he caressed the soft golden down of the puffskein in his hands.

They were an odd little creature with no arms or legs who seemed to enjoy rolling around to get wherever they wanted to go. As he petted the ball of fluff, it hummed contentedly. Mind you, they seemed to hum anytime that Harry was near. Suddenly, he squirmed slightly as its amazingly long, thin tongue shot out and licked his neck. The soft, gentle touch was incredible ticklish.

Lifting his eyes from the antics of the puffskeins, Harry looked around the dome. The area that he and Dobby had filled with magical creatures always filled him with awe. Until he'd started reading his Care of Magical Creatures books, he'd had no idea that there were so many creatures hidden from the muggle world.

A pair of diricawls waddled past, their deep honks almost as bizarre as their rotund bodies and tiny, useless wings. Harry still didn't know where Dobby had found the flightless birds, nor how he'd managed to capture birds that had the ability to disappear and reappear elsewhere at will, but he'd done it. At least the magical properties of the dome kept them contained.

His attention was distracted by a flock of tiny moths, their wings glowing orange as they flittered past. The flitterbys high pitched laughing hum struck a nice counterpoint to that of the puffskeins.

"Master Harry Sir has got mail," Dobby stated as he popped into being beside him.

In shying away, Harry nearly managed to squash one of the puffskeins under a leg.

"Dobby! Don't do that! You know popping in like that always startles me," Harry admonished.

"Dobby is sorry, Master Harry Sir," the house elf apologised, his huge bat-like ears drooping dangerously low. "Dobby will go and iron his hands."

"Dobby, no!" Harry cried. "No punishing yourself. It was just an accident. Just ... just try to let me know before you pop in like that."

"Yes, Master Harry Sir," the down-cast elf replied.

"Now, did you say something about mail?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Master Harry Sir. Dobby did as Master asked. Dobby watched the Hoggy-warty map until he sees Master Harry Sir's friends go into the little square and when they was all gone, Dobby pops to Hoggy-warty and collects what Master Harry Sir's friends left behind," he explained.

A massive smile erupted on Harry's face. "That's great, Dobby! Thanks. Where's the mail?"

"Dobby put it in Master Harry Sir's mail box," Dobby replied proudly.

"Oh, okay, um, do you think that you could bring it here, please?" Harry asked.

With a nod of his great head, Dobby raised one hand and snapped his fingers. Immediately, a small bundle of envelopes appeared on the grass between the two.

"Thanks, Dobby," Harry smiled as he reached out to pick up the bundle, leaving the puffskein in its place.

Rifling through the envelopes, he came across one that didn't fit. From the Office of Tentridge, Oldfield and Pew. Obviously this one had already been in the Goblin Postal Box waiting for him. Dropping the other three letters, he ripped open the envelope and pulled out the parchment within.

Harry sped read through the letter, noting nothing of drastic importance before going back to read the letter from Julius Tentridge, the lawyer that Sirius had arranged for him, much more carefully. It seemed that, apart from this latest charge that the Ministry had levelled against him, Mister Tentridge was prepared to plead his case in the Wizengamot. In regards to the truancy charge, Mister Tentridge was asking for confirmation of what Sirius had told him about Harry continuing his education independently.