"Can I call you Tori? You know Tori, I'm a great friend."
"I don't get it, why are you being nice to me?"
"Maybe I don't want to see you friendless."
When Victoria Silvers, who comes from a long line of Slytherins, is sorted into Gryffindor her life...
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"Let Hedwig out," Ron told Harry, "She can fly behind us. She hasn't had a chance to stretch her wings."
Tori took another hairpin out of her pocket, picking the lock the way Fred and George have taught her. Moments later, the snowy owl was flying happily next to them.
"So— what's the story, Harry?" Ron asked his friend impatiently. Tori glanced up to the twins, who were both in the front seat.
Harry proceeded to tell them all about the mysterious house-elf and how it was his spell, not Harry's that the ministry detected. There was a shocked silence in the car as they all tried to take that in.
Tori was the first to break it. "That's pretty unusual for a house-elf."
"Very fishy," Fred said, George agreed. "Definitely dodgy. So he wouldn't even tell you who's supposed to be plotting all this stuff?"
"I don't think he could," Harry said, his shoulders slumping. "I told you, every time he got close to letting something slip, he started banging his head against the wall."
The twins shared a glance with Tori in the rearview mirror. "Do you think he was lying to me?" Harry asked.
Tori shrugged. "House-elves are very loyal creatures. They do as their master says. Always. No questions asked. So if whoever sent Dobby told them not to spill who did it, he could have been punishing himself for giving you an idea." She thought back to her own house-elf Luman. A very kind elf, especially one who never asked questions or disobeyed.
Fred nodded, adding on. "Put it this way. House-elves have got powerful magic of their own, but they can't usually use it without their master's permission. I reckon old Dobby was sent to stop you coming back to Hogwarts. Someone's idea of a joke. Can you think of anyone at school with a grudge against you?"
"Yes." Harry and Ron said together. "Draco Malfoy."
"Not Lucius Malfoy's son?" George turned around from his seat. Tori sighed, great. And Dove was hanging out with this boy?
"Must be, it's not a very common name, is it?" Harry asked. "Why?"
"I heard Dad talking about him," George replied, glancing out the window. "He was a big supporter of You-Know-Who."
"They came over for dinner come times," Tori muttered, causing Ron to look at her in shock. Fred sent her a sympathetic look. "And when You-Know-Who disappeared, he came back saying he'd never meant any of it. A load of dung— Dad reckons he was right in You-Know-Who's inner circle."
Tori bit her lip. Her dad had worked with Lucius Malfoy before. He never told his children how. Was it possible he worked with You-Know-Who?
"I don't know if the Malfoy's own a house elf..." Harry interjected. "We'll whoever owns him will be an old Wizarding family, and they'll be rich."
