The Fear of Elves
Although the members of the Quidditch team wanted to carry Harry back to the Gryffindor common room to celebrate their crushing victory over Slytherin, Harry told them he'd catch up later because he had something important to do, then ran off toward where Percy and the others had taken Dobby and Lia.
In an empty classroom not far from the hospital wing, everyone was gathered around Dobby, the house-elf who had just tried to kill Harry.
Lia was there too, wearing a thoroughly displeased expression, still refusing to let go of her wooden spoon as she glared at him.
If Percy hadn't specifically ordered her not to hit or attack Dobby, she would probably still be giving him what she thought he deserved.
The moment Harry stepped into the classroom, he found Dobby kneeling on the floor, crying so hard that tears and snot covered most of his face while Lia stood only a few feet away gripping her wooden spoon like she was waiting for permission to swing it.
"Can someone explain what's going on?" Harry asked.
Though, looking at Dobby, he already had a pretty good guess.
"Harry Potter has come back to school. Dobby warned Harry Potter. Dobby warned and warned Harry Potter. Oh, sir, why would Harry Potter not listen to Dobby? Why didn't Harry Potter and his family go back home when they missed the train?" the elf whimpered.
Harry already felt a headache coming on just looking at Dobby.
Of course, last time Dobby had stopped them from boarding the Hogwarts Express.
Even so, they'd still managed to reach the school another way.
"Dobby was very surprised when he found out that Harry Potter had made it to school after all. Dobby even burned his master's dinner. Dobby had not received so many beatings in a very long time," Dobby added.
Hermione frowned as she listened.
She had been staring at Dobby's clothes—that ragged old pillowcase—and at the obvious injuries covering him, especially his bandaged hands, which looked as though he'd burned them on an iron.
She also looked over at Lia.
Compared to Dobby, Lia was much better dressed, wearing a tiny maid's apron over a little dress that looked as though it had been sewn from an old curtain, but it had been made remarkably well.
The most obvious difference, though, was that Lia looked healthy and well cared for.
"Dobby tried to hurt Young Master Harry. Please let Lia punish the bad elf Dobby," Lia said immediately, glaring angrily at him before Tyson quickly stopped her from trying to hit Dobby again.
Dobby didn't seem to pay any attention to Lia's words.
He even smiled a little...
Though he kept one eye warily on the wooden spoon in her hand.
"Dobby is used to threats. Dobby receives them five times a day at home," Dobby said as he blew his nose into his clothes...
...his pillowcase.
Hermione's frown deepened even further.
"They abuse you? Why do you allow it? And why are you wearing those clothes?" she finally asked, unable to hold herself back any longer.
"I think I've heard about this," Ron said. "House-elves' clothing is the symbol of their slavery. From what I understand, if their masters give them an actual piece of clothing, they're set free. That's why a lot of families are careful not to hand them even a sock, because then the house-elf could leave forever."
For once, Ron was showing a little knowledge about the wizarding world.
"Slaves?" Hermione asked, both shocked and angry. "How can slavery still exist nowadays? That's illegal."
"Well... house-elves are... different," Ron continued.
He looked over at Lia, who was still wearing her little maid's dress.
"Then... she should be a free house-elf, shouldn't she?" Ron asked.
The moment those words left his mouth, the two house-elves in the room reacted in completely different ways.
Dobby's expression was one of obvious jealousy.
Lia's...
...was pure horror.
Harry and Percy couldn't help exchanging wide-eyed looks filled with mild panic, as though they already knew exactly what was about to happen.
"Lia... is a free elf?" Lia whispered.
Her eyes immediately began filling with tears as all the color drained from her face.
"No, of course not," Percy said instantly. "Lia is our servant, not a free elf... right, Harry?" Percy added in complete panic.
"Exactly. Didn't you hear? Ron said it has to be clothing. But your clothes were made out of old curtains and scraps of cloth. Those shouldn't count as proper clothes," Harry said just as quickly, matching Percy's urgency.
Lia had started breathing rapidly, as though gathering enough air to burst into tears.
"Right, Ron?" Harry asked, giving his friend a rather dangerous look.
"Uh... ah... well... yeah. I think it has to be actual clothes..." Ron replied, not really understanding why Percy and Harry looked so worried about the little house-elf.
As though she were a bomb that could explode at any second... or something.
"So... it's not clothing?" Lia asked, seeming to calm down a little.
"No, of course not. They're just rags," Percy answered immediately.
Tyson nodded immediately, while Harry shot Hermione an almost pleading look before she could say anything.
"I-I'd better not say anything... for now," Hermione ended up saying.
But apparently that was enough for Lia, who calmed down completely.
Harry and Percy couldn't help letting out a sigh, as though they'd just escaped something truly terrifying.
Dobby looked confused.
Seeing how his masters genuinely seemed to care about Lia, Dobby couldn't help feeling even more jealous than he had when they'd said she was a free house-elf.
"Let's get back to the main topic," Harry said, changing the subject before someone accidentally frightened Lia again. "Why did you try to kill me?" Harry asked Dobby in a serious tone.
"No, no, not kill! Dobby never wanted that," Dobby said in alarm. "Dobby wants to save Harry Potter's life. Better Harry Potter goes home injured than stays here. Sir, Dobby only wanted to hurt Harry Potter enough that he would be sent home."
"Oh, that was all? How foolish of me to misunderstand," Harry said, his voice dripping with irritation and sarcasm. "So I was the one overreacting?" he asked Percy.
"A little," Percy replied, playing along.
"Ahh, and I suppose, just like before, you're not going to tell me why you wanted to send me home in pieces, are you?" Harry asked with an annoyed expression.
Just as Harry had expected, Dobby couldn't say it.
His mouth clamped shut so tightly it looked as though he physically couldn't speak.
Finally, though, it opened again.
"Terrible things are going to happen at Hogwarts... or perhaps they are happening already. And Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is about to repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets has been opened once again."
The moment the words left his mouth, Dobby's eyes went wide with terror.
He quickly looked around, rushed over to Lia, snatched the wooden spoon from her hands, and began hitting himself on the forehead with it while repeating,
"Bad Dobby. Very bad Dobby."
But Tyson reacted quickly and took it away from him again.
This time, Lia remained completely silent, staring fixedly at Dobby.
As another house-elf, she seemed to understand far more than the others about what house-elves owed Harry Potter.
Some had even gone so far as to break the direct orders of their masters.
Dobby himself was standing right there as proof of that.
"Go home, Harry Potter. Go home before you become involved," Dobby said before turning toward Lia. "Remember what everything was like when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his power."
Lia slowly lowered her gaze, gripping the wooden spoon tightly in her small hands.
"...I remember," she murmured, barely above a whisper.
Dobby nodded sadly.
"The house-elves cried in silence. Families disappeared from one day to the next. The good masters stopped coming home... and the bad masters laughed."
His voice trembled.
"If the Chamber of Secrets has been opened again... then that means the darkness is returning. And if Harry Potter stays here... Harry Potter will be the first one they try to destroy."
The classroom fell silent.
Even Percy stopped joking.
Harry frowned.
"Who opened the Chamber?"
But Dobby's mouth sealed shut once more.
His face twisted in pain, as though some invisible force was preventing him from answering.
"Dobby cannot say... Dobby cannot betray his orders..." he said with difficulty, clutching both hands against his head.
Then, with a loud crack!, he disappeared, leaving the classroom buried in an uncomfortable silence and a bitter feeling that none of them seemed able to ignore.
Harry exchanged a glance with Percy.
"For now, we'd better head back before curfew starts, or Filch will probably get excited if he finds us still wandering the corridors," Harry said at once.
The others could only nod.
Lia was sent home.
Judging by the look in her eyes, she had become lost in her own thoughts before she too disappeared with a crack.