AUTHOR'S REPLY----amkrell, we shall see whether we hear more from Winky. And thank you everyone, I never want to disappoint anyone when I write.
By the time the carriages arrived at the Hogwarts Express, Harry's fingers were very cold and numb, and so were all the others. Only Dobby was cheerily humming to himself, and appeared not to be bothered by the miserable weather.
"Go on, sirs and misses, Dobby has your trunks!"
They found a carriage at the very end of the train, mostly because everyone else were heaving their own luggage aboard the stairs, and Harry and company had a great head pick.
Again, Dobby snapped his fingers, and the four heavy trunks rose up higher to stack neatly in the above luggage compartment.
"Dobby, you're a blessing." Ginny said fondly. Dobby responded with a toothy grin.
"Thank you, miss!"
They sat down, rubbing precious warmth into their fingers. A sneering voice sounded at the door.
"Ah, thought I might you here, Weasley...and what's this?"
It was Malfoy, predictably with Crabbe and Goyle at his back.
"What do you want now, Malfoy?" Ginny sighly exasperatedly. Malfoy did not seem to hear her words.
"Why do you have my former house-elf with you?" he demanded.
"Didn't you hear?" Ron said mockingly. "He's staying at our house for Christmas."
"That old pig stall?" Malfoy laughed. "Well, if you want him to live, send him back to the school."
Normally, Ron would've thrown a punch for such a stinging insult, but the Pigwidgeon incident had changed that.
"Well, it's a lot better than that old hag-house of yours, Malfoy. Why, I'm surprised some dratty Lethifold hasn't wrapped you up yet, your house is so evil - "
This time, it was Malfoy who lost his temper, lunging at Ron.
"Don't you dare insult my family, Weasley - "
Ginny was yelling, Hermione jumped up, and Harry pulled out his wand, but first -
A sharp whip-crack sound snapped, and Malfoy was thrown back with such force that he bowled Crabbe and Goyle over, all three collapsing in a painful heap.
"Tut tut, Malfoy, letting yourself get beat by your old house-elf." Hermione said dismissively.
Ginny added, "What's the matter, can't even bring yourself to curse him? You must be softer than I thought!" She slammed the door shut and locked it.
"Why do those three have to annoy us every single time we ride this train?" Harry said bitterly.
"I guess he gets a kick out of it," Ron said. "Well, look at the bright side. These last few times we humiliated him more than he did us."
He picked himself up, dusted himself off, and looked at Dobby, who was still eyeing the door.
"Hey, Dobby. Good job there, mate! I owe you one."
Dobby's ferocious expression vanished and was replaced by one of happy gratitude bordering among the extremities.
"Thank you, kind sir...but you don't need to owe Dobby anything."
Ron looked at Hermione quickly, who was keeping her expression as neutral as she could keep it.
"Nah, we all owe you something. And please don't argue."
***
Mr. and Mrs. Weasley were waiting for them on Platform 9 3/4, and were greeted by four trunks levitating in midair.
"Ronny! You know you're not supposed to be using magic out of school, not even a simple Wingardium Leviosa."
Ron peeked out, and showed his parents that his hands were empty. "No worries, mum. He's got 'em." Ron pointed at Dobby, who was waddling behind him.
"Who, now?" she sidestepped.
Dobby stuck his head out and bowed shyly.
"Pardon this unworthy Dobby here, ma'am, but young sir here invited Dobby home for Christmas and Dobby was wondering..." his squeaky voice trailed off.
Mrs. Weasley knelt down. "Well, hello there, young elf, sir! Ronny here invited you to the Burrow for Christmas with us, you say?"
Dobby nodded, his face anxious.
Mrs. Weasley smiled reassuringly down at him, almost in a motherly fashion. "Well, you are most welcome at our house!"
Dobby beamed up at her.
Mr. Weasley patted Ron's shoulder. "Son, it was very mature and kind of you to invite a Hogwarts house-elf to the Burrow for Christmas. So let me just say that I am very proud of you."
Ron grinned happily. "Thanks, dad."
"Well, come on, everyone," Mrs. Weasley said, briskly. "Dobby, if you want, I can take the trunks..."
"Oh no, kind mistress...Dobby is quite capable of carrying them himself."
"Oh...right then." she turned to Mr. Weasley. "Arthur, you take the children home the long way. I'll be apparating with Dobby, and I think house-elves have the ability to also disapparate with objects..(here she looked at Dobby for confirmation, who quickly nodded)..so we'll be there for a while, and I can show him around."
"Oh no you don't, mum." Ron said warningly. "Me, Harry, Hermione, and Ginny will. We're better at it."
"Oh, all right, then." she sighed. "Come on, then, Dobby."
With a loud crack, both of them disappeared with the trunks.
"Come on, boys." Mr. Weasley called.
"And girls," Ginny and Hermione added.
"And girls," Mr. Weasley said hurriedly. "Well, come on then, you lot. Kingsley pressed a few buttons over at the Ministry, and borrowed one of their cars to make the trip shorter."
"Yeah, how're things at the Ministry?" Ron asked. "Percy being a bit of a snob as usual?"
"No, no. He's been improving his attitude, just as our Minister has," Mr. Weasley said brightly. "He's been treating Dumbledore like royalty, almost. But you know Dumbledore, he..."
"...doesn't want any of it." the rest finished.
"Right. Typical old Dumbledore. Great man, isn't he?"
"I always thought he was a bit off his rocker." Ron said. His father looked at him sternly.
"Ron, don't talk about him like that."
Ron just shrugged.
Kingsley met them by a gleaming new car. Several Muggles nearby gazed at it admiringly.
"No luggage?" He asked suprisedly.
"Molly's got them, she's home with Dobby. House-elf from Hogwarts. Very gentlemanly, he is."
"House-elves are supposed to be like that, Arthur." Kingsley said, tapping the windshield lightly. The doors opened of their own accord.
Harry squeezed Hermione's hand when she opened her mouth.
"What?" she whispered.
"I told you, no talking about house-elf poverty."
"I wasn't going to!" she said, annoyed. "I was going to ask if there are going to be any Order meetings at the Burrow."
"Of course," Mr. Weasley said, from the front seat. "Dumbledore's put a Fidelius Charm on our house. I'm the Secret-Keeper. Thankfully, Fudge hasn't found out about the secret Order yet, and we're trying to keep it a secret from him. If he finds out, sooner or later he's going to accidentally blurt it to the public."
Sure enough, the Fidelius Charm was still in effect when they arrived.
"Dad, I can't see our house." Ginny said, frowning.
"Ah, that's ok." he told everybody the address.
As soon as Mr. Weasley had finished talking, the Burrow popped into sight at the end of the drive. The car stopped at the front door.
"Everyone out, everyone out." Kingsley said. "I promised I'd have the car back by five o'clock. Still have five minutes."
He got back in and drove off.
"Bill, Charlie, Fred, and George are coming soon, in about ten minutes." Mr. Weasley said, as they strode in the front door. "Right now, they're visiting the twins's shop. Having fun, I daresay. I just hope they all come back in one piece, goodness knows what Fred and George invent these days."
Dobby was sitting on a chesterfield nervously near the merrily blazing fireplace, the trunks beside him. Mr. Weasley waved at him. "Hello there, Dobby! Ron, you said you'd show him around the place, so go right ahead."
"Right. Come on, Dobby. We have to unpack, and all, anyways. Might as well do two things at once."
Dobby snapped his fingers, and the trunks rose up once more.
"Dobby has your trunks, sirs and misses...go right ahead."
Ginny beamed at him fondly. "Dobby, you're very gentlemanlike, unlike that rat Kreacher."
Dobby grinned happily back at her. "Thank you again, miss! May Dobby inquire as to who this 'Kreacher' is?"
"Old house-elf of my godfather's," Harry said darkly. "Kreacher betrayed him, and he's part of the reason why Sirius is dead."
Dobby stopped in his tracks. "Kreacher betrayed his own master?"
"Yeah." Harry said, cracking his knuckles as if he wanted to give Kreacher a good hard punch.
"He is bad house-elf, very bad!" Dobby said very angrily. "He betrays his own master, he who is Harry Potter's godfather! He deserves death! No house-elf could do such shameful things!"
"My exact thoughts, Dobby." Harry said.
Ron, Hermione, and Ginny had not said a single word since the subject of Kreacher started up. Harry noticed Ginny glance at him fleetingly; she was most likely worried that she had ever brought the subject up.
Dobby noticed too, and changed the subject himself. "Ronald Weasley, your living space is quite large, sir! More than my former master's was!"
"The Malfoys?" Ron said skeptically. "They live in a manor, Dobby."
"That may be so, sir. But they only lived in part of this house; the other part..."
Dobby swallowed, and Harry said. "Go on, Dobby. And I forbid you to punish yourself!" he added as Dobby pointed a finger at the trunks floating above.
"...the other part was use for very bad things, sir. Dark things. Masters forbade Dobby to ever go in there, or they would punish him severely!"
"Typical Lucius Malfoy." Harry snorted. "Using his own house for Dark Arts."
"The ministry searched his mansion, didn't they?" Hermione said.
"Yeah, but Lucius Malfoy's smart, I have to tell you that." Harry said. "He most likely somehow concealed them. Maybe if they had gotten Mad-Eye Moody to have a looksie, they wouldn't have gotten away so easily."
Holy crap, that was a lot of replies 😄...guess I have to answer SF's question. I came up with the spells myself, many of them from Diablo II(computer game)(from Sorceress and Druid's arsenals). Earthquake was the only one I thought of myself.
236 viruses? Jesus, get Spyware and Anti Virus stuff. Delete any P2P programs you have(Kazaa, Napster) and whatever files you got.
At least you don't have 400,000+ viruses like Strong Bad, even though he's a fictional character.
And thank you yet again. Dunno when I'll post again. Maybe this afternoon, maybe tomorrow. Or in about six days.
They finished unpacking in less than half an hour, mostly due to Dobby's help. He was very generous, humbly accepting continuous thank you's and compliments.
"No need, sir! Tis' all Dobby's job!"
Three loud cracks sounded downstairs.
"That'll be Bill, Charlie, Percy, and the twins." Ron said, jumping up. "C'mon, Dobby. They'll be pleased to meet you."
Fred was already coming up the stairs and nearly ran slap-bang into Ron, who was anxiously running downstairs.
"Oi! Watch it, Ron, and hey - Dobby, is that you?"
Dobby sprang to attention. "Mr. Fred Weasley, sir!"
"At ease, at ease." Fred chuckled kindly, and patted Dobby's head.
"You know him?" Hermione asked.
"Well, of course!" Fred snorted. "Met him in our third year. Mind you, he wasn't exactly hard to distinguish from the others, you see. Only house-elf in Hogwarts to wear socks."
Dobby grinned. "Yes, Dobby loves socks, sir."
"Oi! George! Dobby's here!"
Within the space of three seconds, George had bounded up. "Dobby? Here, at the Burrow? Hey, Dobby! Good to see you, mate!"
"Dobby is very happy to see Mr. George Weasley too, sir!"
"So, what's Dobby doing here?" Fred asked.
"Ron invited him home for Christmas." Harry replied.
"Did you really?" Fred asked, looking very impressed. "Gosh, I should've thought to bring him home too sometime. Come on downstairs, everyone...Bill and Charlie'll think it's a treat to meet a house-elf."
***
Ron and Fred both turned out to be right.
Bill was sitting in an armchair next to the fireplace and the magical Weasley grandfather clock.
"Who've we got here?" he asked, rising out of the armchair. "Harry, Hermione! Come on, have a seat, and...hey, are you from Hogwarts, young sir?"
"He's talking to you, Dobby." Ron whispered.
"Oh! Apologies, sir, apologies! And Dobby does come from Hogwarts."
"Well, welcome to our house! I hope you can stay with us for Christmas, everyone here's like family."
He shook Dobby's hand warmly.
"Dobby is honoured to stay with the Weasley family for Christmas, sir!"
Charlie was next, and rushed in with an utterly delighted expression on his well-worn face.
"Hey, Ron! Dad just told me you brought a Hogwarts house-elf home for Christmas! Where is he, I've got to meet him."
"Dobby is here, sir." Dobby said shyly.
"Well, it's an honor to meet you, Dobby! Hah, I work with dragons, but they're not very friendly. After getting burnt so many times, it's a pleasure to meet a honest house-elf like you, Dobby."
Charlie also shook Dobby's hand.
Percy was last. He had a somewhat guilty expression on his face, and acknowledged Harry and Hermione's prescence with a polite nod, which was returned. He also shook Dobby's hand, genuninely smiling.
"Your family is very nice, sir!" Dobby told Ron excitedly. "Before, at the Malfoys, Dobby was treated like dirt, sir. But the Weasleys are a very honourable and nice family."
"Thanks, Dobby. Don't mention it. But house-elves aren't supposed to be treated like dirt, that's animalistic."
Hermione beamed at him. "That's talking, Ron."
Harry elbowed her as she opened her mouth again. "Hermione..."
She shut up, and looked sulky.
"Sorry."
"Ah, it's OK. All good. No big deal." Harry squeezed her hand reassuringly.
Mrs. Weasley called from the kitchen. "I'm starting dinner now, all right? I'll probably finish in an hour or two. Tonks and Remus and dropping by for supper. Arthur, get your behind off that sofa and help me with dinner. Dobby, you and the rest get a bit of sleep, you've had a big day."
Dobby leapt up and pushed Mr. Weasley back into the old sofa. "No sir, you need rest! Dobby can help with supper!"
Mrs. Weasley heard his high-pitched voice. "Oh, Dobby, you must be tired! I can handle it, don't worry."
"But mistress, Dobby likes to work! Dobby wants to earn his keep, and is proud to do some chores around the house."
"Dobby, your keep is already earned," Mrs. Weasley laughed. "But if you insist on helping, that would be wonderful."
Harry had never seen anyone so happy about doing chores. Dobby was practically bouncing off to the kitchen.
"Dobby can be weird sometimes, as you can see." Ron remarked to Bill. "But he's a good lad, really."
"Come on, let's get some sleep," Harry yawned to Hermione. "I hate sitting on my behind for so long, makes it so sore."
"Better off for girls." Hermione told him.
"Why?"
"Because we have bigger hips."
Harry looked at Hermione, who was smiling somewhat mischeviously.
"Hermione, you're weird sometimes too."
She paid him no attention. "C'mon, my room." She pulled him inside despite his protests.
"What are you - "
"Oh, be quiet." she snorted. "Come on. I always imagined falling asleep with you."
Harry rolled his eyes. "Real nice."
They got it together.
"Night, Hermione." Harry mumbled.
"It's only evening, Harry!"
"OK. Evening, Hermione." He put his arm around her waist, as if the two were dancing. If it was with Cho for the first time, he would've had a flock of butterflies dancing in his stomach, but with Hermione, he felt naturally at ease.
She hugged him. "Evening, Harry."
They fell asleep, enterlocked in each other's arms.