Harry Potter and the Unexpected Visitor

Chapter 5

Last week at the Dursleys

At half-past eight, Harry was awake, was dressed with his cousin's hand-me-downs (the only Muggle clothes he had) and had tidied the whole room. He had spent the whole morning since he opened his eyes questioning himself about who could be this mysterious visitor Dumbledore had mentioned the night before.

He had dismissed immediately his friend or Sirius and Lupin, because he had seen them at Grimmauld Place the day before and it would be strange that Dumbledore had mentioned it would be a surprise. Then he thought of Hagrid and smiled: the first (and only) time Hagrid had met the Dursleys, Dudley had finished with a pig's tail, and his parents had to take him to a private hospital in London. But the half-giant surely would not be the one who came to Privet Drive, because he attracted attention like the light attracted moths.

Another possibility could be Professor Snape; could it be that Dumbledore wanted Harry to keep studying Occlumency? No, since he could tell that the old Headmaster thought Harry would like to meet this visitor, and everybody knew that Snape's hatred towards him was one step below Voldemort's.

Nevertheless with the lack of information, he had prepared everything in his little room so that he could receive him or her in a good manner.

At that time, he remembered he had to send Sirius the mirror with all the shatters. He knew that he would be back with his godfather in a week, but it would be great to have someone to talk with during the next days. He wrote a short note to him, telling what had happened in his journey with Dumbledore and asking him to send the mirror back as soon as possible. Then, he prepared the package cautiously, trying not to leave a shatter behind, and he tied both the note and the package to Hedwig.

"You can stay with them until they give you the answer, OK?"

The snowy owl hooted to agree and left into the sunny day. Harry sat down again at his bed and, in the exact moment his clock rang to say it was nine o'clock, someone Apparated into the room.

"Harry Potter, sir!"

Harry smiled again; only Dobby, the house-elf he had freed from the Malfoys, would call him like that.

"Dobby! How nice of you to visit me! Sit down, please," he said, pointing at the bed.

"Thank you, Harry Potter sir," he answered, grinning. "Dobby asked Professor Dumbledore if Dobby could visit Harry Potter sir, and Dumbledore said yes! And he also asked me to give you these things for you, Harry Potter sir!"

Dobby then gave Harry two letters and a small package.

"Professor Dumbledore told Dobby to tell Harry to open the package first, Harry Potter sir."

Harry, with his natural curiosity, opened it carefully, and he was dumbstruck by the content. It was an egg, but not a normal egg: it was a shiny and multicoloured egg, and all the colours twirled constantly. It was very light, and by the touch of it Harry could tell it was very hard, too.

"Do you know what this is, Dobby?" Harry asked the house-elf.

Dobby shook his head fast, and his ears batted.

"No, Harry Potter sir, but Professor Dumbledore said the answer would be on the red envelope, Harry Potter sir."

The young man took the red envelope and he took the letter from the interior. He recognised the neat and clean handwriting of Albus Dumbledore, and he started to read it:

Dear Harry,

As you may have heard from one of your classes with Hagrid at Hogwarts, phoenixes are single their infinite life, because there are no male and female phoenixes. They can put their own eggs and they fertilize them themselves, but this only happens once or twice in centuries.

A few days ago, I was working on a few documents related to the next year at Hogwarts, when Fawkes asked me to help him (I use the ‘him' because is the only pronoun I can think when it's related to him) to do something related to his egg. I was surprised, because of what I told you before in this letter.

When I approached him, I saw it between his legs. I had seen an egg once before (I was given Fawkes long ago) but it surprised me in spite of it.

I asked Fawkes why he had decided to do this, and he told me I should give it to you, Harry. You should be grateful, because phoenixes only give their eggs to the ones they trust the most, and surely you have impressed him a lot.

Now, a few tips for the care of the egg: try to keep it warm, not very hot like it would be for dragons, but approximately at your body's temperature; talk to him about you and what are you doing, phoenixes can hear what it is said from the outside of their egg; although the shell is hard, I do not recommend you to let it fall to the floor, it isn't healthful for the phoenix.

If you follow all these tips, it should hatch in one month approximately. Don't worry; I'm sure you will get a guide on how to care for your Pheonix from someone.

Read now the second letter, it is very important.

Yours,

Albus Dumbledore

Harry was amazed: Fawkes had chosen him to look after his son! He certainly was happy when he knew the bird which would come outside of this egg would be his, and he would make sure it was raised well.

He put the egg next to his body, to start with the suggestion the Professor had given to him, and took the other envelope, which was gold. Also, this letter had been written by Dumbledore.

Dear Harry,

I am writing you this letter to let you know the change in Dobby's status. Since you freed him from the Malfoys, he has been nearly three years in liberty, something he liked a lot after the punishment he had suffered from them. He savoured what being free meant, and then he came to Hogwarts to take a job with Winky in your fourth year. He asked for a salary, and I gave him one gladly, alongside with free days, but he rejected having too much salary and free days.

Now, you will be asking yourself, "Why nearly three years?"

Harry snorted. The first time he had read the first paragraph he had not noticed it, but that sentence made him think of it. He knew Dobby had been freed three days before the exams started, and the third anniversary had passed long ago. He kept reading the letter so that he could know what Dumbledore was talking about.

I have said nearly three years because of that change in Dobby's status. The night Madame Umbridge knew about the Dumbledore's Army, she had asked all the elves not to help any of you, but they only obeyed her in the quality of professor. Dobby, who was only at the moment an employee of mine, decided to go against that order to warn you and your friends about it.

From what Dobby told me about that night, you ordered him to lie to Umbridge if she asked him about the warning Dobby had given you.

If Umbridge had ordered him something in a life-or-death situation, Dobby, since he was not bound to a family or to the school (as the other house-elves are), he would have bound himself to her. It would have been against his will, but because of the magical contract existent among elves and wizards since centuries ago, he would have done that.

However, you were the first person to do that, and since that night, Dobby has been bound (very gladly, I have to admit it) to the house of Potter.

Before you try to do anything about it (I'm sure you have thought of giving Dobby clothes) you should think on Winky, Mr. Crouch's house-elf. If you remember the Quidditch Cup finals day, you should remember that from the moment Winky was free she has been in a continuous bad state due to her sadness. I'm pretty sure that Dobby would feel the same way if you freed him, so please keep him with you.

Since you are Dobby's master, I think you also should try to ask him about the Black's elf, Kreacher. He won't say a word to anybody about it, and I would like to know what happened to him.

Finally, treat Dobby well. I'm sure you will be a good master for him.

Yours sincerely,

Albus Dumbledore.

Harry raised an eyebrow. "I'll die of boredom if Hermione hears about this," he thought.

"Dobby, are you truly bound to me?" Harry asked the elf.

"Yes, Harry Potter sir! Dobby told Professor Dumbledore about it, and Professor Dumbledore said Dobby should not tell Harry Potter sir until Professor Dumbledore thought it was good, and last week Professor Dumbledore told Dobby that today Dobby would see his Master!" he finished, jumping with joy.

Harry noticed then that Dobby was wearing a pillow cover with a crest he had not seen before on it. It was not Hogwarts' crest or Black family's crest, and he was curious about it.

"Dobby, what is this crest on your cover? And, by the way, why are you wearing a cover?"

Dobby stopped jumping and looked seriously at Harry.

"This, Harry Potter sir, it's the Ancient House of Potter crest."

It was very beautiful. It was divided in four parts by golden threads. Each part had a red background and a drawing: the top at the left showed a silvery sword with a golden hilt engraved with rubies (Harry thought it looked like the Gryffindor sword he had taken out of the Sorting Hat in his second year); the top at the right had a wand made of different wood each part; the bottom at the left showed a phoenix burning in a fire, and the bottom at the right had a lion walking on his back legs. Finally, on the top, it could be seen a sentence in French, engraved in a black thread: Courageux jusqu'a la Mort.

"And Dobby is wearing the cover because, since Dobby is a servant of the House of Potter, Dobby has to wear it."

"Dobby, since I am your master, I am going to put a few rules on the relationship we are going to have, and I expect you follow them, OK?"

"Yes, Harry Potter sir," Dobby answered, nodding.

"First rule: you will not call me ‘sir', ‘master' or something like that. I want you to treat me like my friends do, so you can call me Harry. You only have to use my surname if I am in a formal place, but if you feel better using my full name, you are free to do it. Did you understand that?"

"Yes, Harry Potter s…" Dobby stopped himself before he said ‘sir'. He tried to hit his head with the lamp, but Harry stopped him before he hurt himself.

"Second rule: you will not punish yourself ever. If you think you have done something bad, you are to tell me, without doing any damage to you."

"Third rule: if you believe I am being a bad master (I still forbid you to call me that), you will tell me, and between both of us we will try to solve it."

"And last rule: if someone tries to hurt you or treats you badly, you will tell me that exact moment, unless I am sleeping or something like that. Is everything set, then?"

"Yes, Harry Potter, Dobby will follow all your rules."

Harry smiled. "Well, that's good. Now I would like to know if you would prefer wearing your clothes instead of that cover."

Dobby looked terrified. Obviously, he thought Harry was going to free him.

"Dobby, please, I am not going to do anything you don't like. I was just going to suggest you that you wear some clothes you like. We could have a look at one of those magazines my aunt has and, if you see something you like, you tell me and you could make it. That way, you would be wearing clothes but without me giving you clothes. Is that good for you?"

"Harry Potter sir does not want to give Dobby clothes, but he wants Dobby to wear clothes! Dobby is happy!"

Harry smiled.

~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~***~~~~

The rest of the week went very slowly. On Thursday, Hedwig went back to Privet Drive with the magic mirror. He used it when he received it, and he grinned when he saw Sirius on the other side. They chatted for a few minutes, and then Sirius said he had to leave, but that he would be back soon.

Finally, Sunday arrived. It would be the last one he would stay at the Dursleys (at least, from what Sirius had told everybody, his parents didn't want him to be there any more time). Dumbledore had sent him a note which said that he would pick him up at half-past eleven, so for that time Harry had put all his possessions in his trunk (with a little help from Dobby, who had enlarged the trunk) and had sent Hedwig to Grimmauld Place, since he knew he would be travelling by Portkey and surely Hedwig would not like it.

Harry could not be still, so he paced into his room, waiting impatiently for Dumbledore to appear at the door of the house. When the clock downstairs started to chime to declare it was the hour, someone rang the bell.

"Who the hell will be calling now?" Harry heard his Uncle Vernon shouting from the living room. The young man went to the hall, and when Vernon opened the door, he could see the imposing figure of Albus Dumbledore.

"Good morning, Mr. Dursley," he said, in a calm and polite voice, although the absence of the usual twinkle in his eyes could be an indicator of the anger he was feeling inside.

"G-g-good morning, sir," said Harry's uncle, obviously impressed by the older man. Dumbledore was wearing at that moment a light brown Muggle suit, with a red tie, a white shirt and black shoes, and his white beard and hair were much shorter than usual. In fact, if Harry did not know the voice of his director, he would have swore that he was in front of a Muggle bank manager, which obviously was what his uncle Vernon was thinking.

Then Dumbledore looked at Harry, who was at that moment coming down the stairs, and smiled. "Ah, good morning to you too, Harry."

"Good morning, Professor," he replied, amused at the reaction of his uncle.

"Professor?" Vernon had, apparently, recovered the ability of talking. "Are you telling me this man is one of those... freaks that teach at your freak school?"

"He is the Headmaster," Harry said, coolly. "Professor Dumbledore, this is my uncle Vernon, who obviously hasn't got manners. Uncle Vernon, this is Professor Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts, Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorcerer, Chief Warlock and Supreme Mugwump of the International Confederation of Wizards."

"Incredible, Harry. You have been able to memorise all those positions, when I myself am only able to remember half of them."

The young man grinned. "When I am here, I read whatever I pick up, and the other day the thing I picked was one of my old Hogwarts letters, and I managed to memorise that in a heartbeat."

"Excellent. Do you have everything prepared?"

"Yes. I've put everything into my trunk with some help from Dobby. He's been a great help this week."

"Good. Would you be kind and bring it downstairs? And don't forget to take the egg."

"Always have it with me, Professor," Harry laughed, pulling the phoenix egg out of the inner pocket Dobby had made in the cast-off shirts Harry had 'inherited' from his cousin. It had been good that the old shirts were baggy; if it wasn't for that, Harry would have had a terrible time.

"Excellent. Now, Mr. Dursley, would you be kind enough to take your wife to the living room while Harry comes down? I have to talk with both of you about

something concerning Harry's future."

Harry could not hear the answer, because he had just arrived at his bedroom. He went for the trunk, which was resting on the foot of the bed, and picked it up. Fortunately, Harry had remembered to ask Dobby to use a Feather-Weight Charm to make the trunk weigh a few grams, so it was not very difficult for him to take it downstairs (Hedwig's cage was inside). When he arrived at the hall, nobody was there, so he went straight to the living room.

Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia were sitting on the sofa, looking at Dumbledore with a mix of fear and hate, while the latter was on a chintz armchair like the one he had summoned last year, at Harry's trial at the Ministry. When the older man saw Harry, he summoned another armchair, and he sat on it.

"Well, now that Harry is here," Dumbledore said, "we will discuss a few things about Harry's future, what will he do next summer, and his studies at Hogwarts School."

"In first place, you should know that the wizard that killed James and Lily Potter sixteen years ago, Lord Voldemort, is alive and on the loose. His main purpose is to find Harry by all means, and then kill him. Since he knows you two and your son are related to Harry, there is a possibility that he will try to come after you..."

"I KNEW you would mean problem to us, boy!" Uncle Vernon yelled, looking at Harry.

"For heaven's sake, give me a break! I'm fed up of you putting the blame on me, no matter who is the real one to blame!" Harry replied, angry at his uncle.

Vernon was about to shout at Harry again, when Dumbledore shut him up with a cold glare.

"This was other thing I wanted to talk with you about. As I'm sure you remember from the letter that was with Harry when I left him at your door, explaining what had happened the day before, I also had asked you to treat him as you would treat your son, with love."

"But that never happened. The only thing you did was to neglect him, to treat him like a servant, and to only care about him when he was in the worst shape. How did he manage to be such a great boy, with lots of friends and people who love him and would do anything he asked them to do just because of the loyalty they feel towards him, I don't know, but I'd rather have him than having the spoiled bad-mannered boy you have raised."

"You won't surely be talking about Dudders, no?" Aunt Petunia said, in a shaking voice.

"Yes, I'm talking about him. From what I've heard from the minder that has been watching over Harry since he was here, your son made a custom of beating Harry nearly everyday and was the one behind the impossibility of Harry to have any friends at primary school, and now he beats boys and girls which are five years younger than him and half his weight. That is the result of the education - or, more likely, the lack of - you have given Dudley, treating him like he was better than everybody else, which obviously he isn't."

That left both Vernon and Petunia speechless.

"Let's move on the next subject. You may remember Sirius Black, who three years ago had escaped from prison. In reality, he was innocent of the crime he was accused of, and since he is Harry's godfather, he has asked Harry to stay with him at his house."

"Is it possible for Sirius to be my guardian? I've been wanting to live with him since I knew he was innocent, and having to stay here doesn't do anything good for me, apart from the protection which surely could be replaced by the Fidelius Charm Sirius' house is under."

Dumbledore thought about it very carefully. Harry's magical protection would only work if Harry could call that place 'his house', but he knew that, knowing that he could be with Sirius, Harry would not ever be able to call Privet Drive a name that usually was sided with love and protection, which he would never have there.

"We will have to talk about it with your actual guardians, Harry. If they don't want to give up your guardianship, you won't be able to do anything until your sixteenth birthday. Then, they would not be able to reject your decision, but you would still need a guardian until you are of age, which would be the next year."

"Great! When are we going to Sirius' place?"

"I was intending of talking about of your plan of studies for this year, but now that you show you want to have Sirius as your official guardian, we will leave that conversation for after your birthday," Dumbledore said, smiling. "Get prepared, we are going now."

Harry rose and went to the hall, where he waited for Dumbledore to make the Portkey which would take him to Number 12 Grimmauld Place.

"I think that sums it all up, Mr. and Mrs. Dursley." And with those words, Dumbledore stood up, vanished the armchairs, took an old teapot and gave it to Harry, who disappeared into a whirl of colours.