HP [4]

Dobby and Winky would be invaluable to the trio if they desired to restore Potter Manor once more, which he suspected both of his lovers did.

They would also be able to find the Weasley twins and his girls and take him to their locations. Of course, Hermione still hated the idea of house-elf slavery, and even though SPEW was no more, she would have kittens when she found out.

Hopefully, his and Luna's usual strategy to counter her high-handedness would likely make her stop and think about what she was saying.

His mind made up, he softly spoke, "Dobby?"

There was a pop followed by a cheerful projectile slamming into his knees. Harry laughed and pulled the elf off of him before kneeling to be on the same level.

"Harry Potter sir calls Dobby?" the elf asked, bouncing slightly on his heels.

"Yes, Dobby, I did. I had a question and was wondering if you could help me."

Dobby smiled even wider, if that was possible. "Dobby will be answering any questions Harry Potter sir has."

"Thanks, Dobby." Harry ignored his companion's praises and continued, "You see, I recently found out that I have a number of family properties that haven't had anyone to take care of them, so I was wondering if you knew of any elves that were free and wanted a family or any that were in bad situations, like the one you were in with the Malfoys, and wouldn't mind being bought and working for me."

"Dobby knows elves like that," he sadly whispered. "Does Harry Potter sir know of one that he wants special?"

"No, I don't have any I want in particular. Perhaps Winky would be willing to be my elf." Harry paused to plan out his next words. "If you weren't so happy working here, I'd steal you away in an instant."

"Harry Potter sir wants Dobby to be his elf?" This thought had Dobby's ears perk up. "Dobby is very happy to be Master Harry Potter sir's elf!"

His little friend's enthusiasm brought a smile to his face. "I'm happy you're happy. There's just one problem, I don't know how to take on a house-elf. Is there some ritual or oath we need to go through?"

"No, Master Harry Potter sir. Master Harry Potter sir said he wanted to have Dobby as his elf, and Dobby wanted to be his elf. Now Dobby is Master Harry Potter sir's elf!"

Harry needed a moment to wade his way through the quagmire that was Dobby's speech, but was ultimately unsurprised by what the elf was saying.

Over the years, he had learned that magic was more about intent than anything else, and since he and Dobby intended the same thing, it made a sort of twisted sense that that was all binding an elf to the family took.

He shook himself out of his musings and continued with his plan. ‘That's one brought in, now for the other.’

"Well, that was certainly easier than I expected, Dobby, but I have a lot of properties that need to be restored. I don't want to rely only on you and have you hurt yourself or become exhausted. Would you be willing to work with another elf…" he backtracked when he saw Dobby's downcast expression, "Maybe one whose responsibilities was caring for the house while yours was caring for the family?"

"Dobby not bes mind having Winky works with him. Missy Hermy and missy Lunie be needing an elf, too, and Dobby knows not if he can take care of alls three."

Harry nodded. "Yes, Hermione and Luna could also need help. Wait…" He stared at Dobby. "How did you know that I'm with them?"

The elf looked at him like he had asked how to turn himself into an blue elephant. "Dobby knows about Master Harry Potter sir. Dobby has to, to be the best elf Master Harry Potter sir can have. But Dobby be keeping his Master's secrets and not be telling that Master Harry Potter sir and his missies cames from the future." Dobby bounced on his feet once more. "Dobby be making sure Winky be able to take care of Master Harry Potter sir. Calls if Dobby be needed." With a snap of his fingers, the exceptionally devoted elf was gone.

Harry stood where he was for several minutes before he made his way from the corridor. He needed to hear someone speak in an understandable manner to get Dobby's peculiar speech out of his head.

Time to hunt down the Weasley twins.

….

Fred and George were master pranksters, and as their position demanded, had a large workspace in addition to a number of small caches hidden around the school.

Normally, finding their inner sanctum would be impossible. Normally, no one would be able to even get close.

Normally, the one pursuing them didn't have years of experience with the Marauder's Map.

As the twins had told Harry long ago, there were seven passageways marked out on the Map. Filch knew four of them, but three were safe.

One was the route behind the statue of the one-eyed crone on the third floor that led to Honeydukes.

Another was the tunnel running from the Whomping Willow to the Shrieking Shack.

The third, behind a mirror on the second floor, had collapsed, and it was to this last that Harry walked. Upon coming to the mirror, he tapped it with his wand and whispered, "I am the fairest of them all."

He grinned as the mirror seemingly melted from the wall. There had to be some way to alter the passwords for these passages, as it was highly unlikely that what was the Founders originally chose; he wondered who had been inspired by a fairy tale.

Harry had to carefully pick out his path in the hall beyond the mirror.

The room itself was in magnificent condition, but along both walls were long lines of tables covered with partially rendered ingredients, and on the floor were rows and rows of cauldrons, each busily simmering away.

He took a brief look at some of them as he walked to the end of the passage, and recognized pain-relievers next to swelling solution, and he thought he noticed one cauldron full of a possible Polyjuice variant.

The smell was so terrible and his eyes so busy finding safe places to set down his feet that he had to follow his ears to find the dastardly tricksters.