Time passed quickly, and a few weeks after the beginning of the term had passed. Dobby had been wandering among the Hogwarts lately, looking for the right time to build Harry.
Today he found it.
Harry's owl needed to be sent back, and the elf volunteered to take the task. At night in the common room, he took the owl to see Harry Potter.
'Who is it? '
Harry sat up straight. The candles in the common room had gone out, and the room was dark, but something moved beside him.
'Dobby has brought your owl, sir! '
Said the elf in his shrill voice.
'Dobby? '
Harry answered numbly, and looked in the dark in the direction of the voice.
Dobby, the house elf, was standing by the table where Hermione had left her little flowered hat. He seemed to be wearing all the hats that Hermione had ever knitted between his large pointed ears, one on top of the other, making his head seem two or three feet longer.
At the top crouched Hedwig, and the owl was calmly hooting, apparently healed.
'Dobby has volunteered to send back Harry Potter's owl! '
Said the elf in a shrill voice, his face full of enthusiasm. 'Professor Grapland says it's all right, sir!'
He bowed low, and his lead-tipped nose brushed the worn carpet. Hedwig gave a disgruntled cry and flew to the arm of Harry's chair.
'Thank you, Dobby! '
Harry stroked Hedwig's head, and blinked hard to get rid of the image of the door he had seen in his dream... but it was so vivid... He looked at Dobby carefully, and saw that the elf was still wearing shawls and socks that made his feet look disproportionately large.
'Er... have you taken all the clothes that Hermione has put here? '
'Oh no, sir, 'said Dobby cheerfully.' Dobby's got some for Twinkle, sir. '
'Oh, how's Twinkle? '
Dobby's ears drooped slightly.
'Twinkle's still drinking, sir, 'he said sadly.
He said sadly, his green eyes drooping. "She still won't put away her clothes, and neither will the other house-elves. They won't clean Gryffindor Tower any more, and hide their hats and stockings all over the place. They think it an insult.
Dobby did it all by himself, sir, but Dobby didn't mind, sir, because he always wanted to meet Harry Potter, and he got it tonight, sir! '
Dobby bowed again.
"But Harry Potter doesn't seem happy."
Dobby straightened up and looked at Harry timidly. "Dobby heard him talking in his sleep. Did Harry Potter have a nightmare? "
"It's okay." Harry yawned and rubbed his eyes. "I've done worse."
The elf looked at Harry with his big round eyes.
Then he drooped his ears and said very seriously, "Dobby wants to help Harry Potter because Harry Potter freed Dobby. Dobby is much, much happier now than he used to be."
Harry smiled.
"You can't help me, Dobby, but thank you."
He leaned over and picked up the Potions textbook. He had to work hard tomorrow. As he closed the book, the fire lit up the white scar on the back of his hand, the result of his confinement by Umbridge.
"Wait a minute--there's something you can help me with, Dobby."
Harry said slowly.
This made the elf smile, for he had been worried about finding the right opportunity to tell Harry what he needed to tell him.
"Go ahead, Mr. Harry Potter!"
"I need a place where twenty-eight people can practice Defence Against the Dark Arts without being discovered by the teachers, especially," Harry gripped the textbook, and the scar glowed white, "Professor Umbridge."
He thought the elf's smile would disappear and his ears drooped. He thought he would say it was impossible, or that he would try, but there was little hope.
But he did not expect Dobby to jump up, his ears swinging happily, and clap his hands.
"Dobby knows a wonderful place, sir!" the elf said cheerfully. "When Dobby came to Hogwarts, he heard the other elves mention it. We call it the House of Coming and Going or the House of Asking!"
"Why?" asked Harry curiously.
"Because this house can only be entered when a person really needs it," Dobby said seriously. "It comes and goes, but when it does, it is always arranged to meet the needs of the person who asks for help. Dobby has used it, sir."
The elf's voice dropped and he looked ashamed. "When Twinkle was very drunk, Dobby hid her in the House of Asking. He found there was a sobering potion for butter beer, and a bed of the size of an elf for her to sleep in... Dobby also knew where Mr. Filch had found spare cleaning utensils when his tools were not enough, sir, and--"
These words were half true, half false. For example, he never hid Twinkle in the House of Asking. He just changed the place where he hid Twinkle. At this moment, he just attributed what he did to the house, but Dobby felt that this was not a bad thing.
He was helping Harry Potter, and these words were not entirely false, because under Jon's guidance, he had been there once, and these things did appear.
"And, if you need a cleaner," Harry asked, suddenly remembering what Dumbledore had said at last year's Christmas party. "Will it have many porta-potties?"
"Dobby thinks so, sir," Dobby nodded seriously. "It's a very wonderful house, sir."
"How many people know about it?" Harry sat up straight. "Very few, sir. People usually find it when they need it, and then never find it again, because they don't know it's always there, sir, waiting for it. '
"That sounds wonderful," Harry said, his heart beating faster. "That sounds wonderful, Dobby. When can you take me there to have a look? "
"Anytime, Mr. Harry Potter," Dobby was pleased to see Harry's eagerness. "You can go now, if you like."
Harry wanted to go at once. He was about to get up and run upstairs to get the Invisibility Cloak, but a voice very like Hermione's said in his ear, "Reckless."
Indeed, it was late, he was exhausted, and there was Snape's paper to write.
"Not tonight, Dobby," Harry said reluctantly, but there was no other way. He sat back in his chair. "It's very important... I don't want to mess it up. I need careful planning... Can you tell me where the House of Asking is and how to get in?"
"Of course."
In the light of the fire, the elf's face was very happy.
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