"Harry?"
Opening his eyes and then squinting against the light, Harry saw his father crouching beside his chair once again. Harry's mouth twitched a bit. "Are you aware you're hovering?"
His father stiffened a bit. "Well--"
The statement remained unfinished as a thudding noise echoed in the distance. Harry felt his blood run cold. "What was that?"
"Someone is at the door," the headmaster and Snape both stated at once.
"What do we do?" Harry asked, gripping his wand and stiffly raising himself from the chair.
"We remain calm," his father replied as he rose to his feet. "I hardly think that Voldemort would knock, Harry. It may be no one of consequence."
In the meantime, Dumbledore had grown silent, his eyes closing as he appeared to concentrate deeply. When his eyes opened again, they were twinkling. "I would estimate our visitor to be someone we should see. He's projecting one Hogwarts' password after another, though it seems he can't cross the wards your brother raised. Wait here . . ."
Harry did wait, but he fingered his wand nervously all the while. He strained to hear what he could. The front door swinging open? A crackling like popcorn?
Then that noise came into the room where he and his father were waiting. Dumbledore and two house-elves appeared. Harry's mouth dropped open in shock. "Dobby? What are you doing here?"
"Harry Potter sir," Dobby cried, wringing his wrinkly hands together. "Dobby is bringing Gibby here to stop him from telling on Harry Potter!"
Sure enough, it was Gibby standing behind Dobby. The house-elf couldn't seem to decide between looking contrite or sullen.
"From what I was able to gather, Gibby turned up at Hogwarts for Dobby's counsel when he found himself freed," Dumbledore supplied, stroking his beard thoughtfully. "Quite fortunate for us really. Perhaps, you should tell us exactly what happened, Dobby."
As Dobby nodded vigorously, his large ears to flapped like bat wings. "Dobby was working in the kitchens with the other house-elves when Gibby come looking for Dobby. All upset and panicking, Gibby was! Gibby was saying that Master Malfoy had forced Harry Potter and Draco Snape away from Hogwarts to be hurting them bad. To be killing them! Dobby was fetching the headmaster right away, but then Gibby was saying that Harry Potter was already turning Master Malfoy to stone! Then Gibby was saying that Draco Snape is still a Malfoy and was giving him clothes! And now Gibby is a free elf but he was deciding he would be ignoring the clothes. But then he was told to be jumping in with snakes, so he was running away to Dobby because Dobby is the only free house-elf Gibby is knowing, and--."
"How many people did Gibby tell about Lucius being turned to stone?" Severus demanded.
Dobby looked at Gibby and then back to the Potions Master. "Gibby was just telling Dobby, Harry Potter's father Professor Snape sir, but many other house-elves was overhearing him. But Dobby is telling all house-elves to keep quiet. Hogwarts' elves is loyal to Harry Potter and will be cutting out their tongues before they is saying things that is sending Harry Potter to prison!"
"Prison!" Harry's voice squeaked higher than normal. The thought of going to prison for Lucius' death hadn't really occurred to Harry. He'd been too busy worrying about Voldemort and getting home. He knew that what he'd done was self-defense, but with untrustworthy idiots like Fudge running the Ministry, that might not matter at all. "Oh, God," he said thickly, his mind spinning back to that horrible inquisition he'd been put through after the Dementor attack. "I'm not going to have to go on trial for this, am I?"
Snape's voice was resolute. "No. This will never come to the attention of the Ministry, Harry. I think you know the measures I am prepared to take to protect my sons."
"Yeah, Argentina."
"Now, now," said Dumbledore gently. "That won't be necessary. Dobby, are you quite sure that Gibby spoke to no one outside of the Hogwarts kitchens?"
Dobby prodded Gibby who answered, sniffing all the while, "Gibby is cast into shame now that he is being free. Gibby can never be telling nobody but Dobby! Because Dobby is already shamed!"
Just then, Harry noticed that the headmaster and his father were looking at one another in a strange, intense way. Communicating silently, no doubt. He felt a little irritated by that, even though he knew they were probably trying to hide things more from Gibby than from him. He wished he knew some Legilimency so he could join in.
"Done?" he asked, a bit snidely, when they finally broke off eye contact.
His father twisted his upper lip, "Your rather unique situation makes you difficult to include. Why else do you think I alerted your brother to our presence and not you?"
"Oh," Harry said aloud. Of course his constant Occlumency would make it impossible for anyone to communicate with him telepathically -- not that he was aware that this was something wizards did. He felt rather sheepish that he hadn't realized that before when Draco was lowering the wards.
"Gibby, follow me," Severus ordered. The elf looked uncertain until Severus pointed his wand and ground out, "I'm not ordering tea, you realise. I'm attempting to enact an alternative to killing you. I sincerely suggest that you. Come. With. Me."
Harry couldn't help but smirk a bit at Gibby as scrambled to follow the Potions Master out of the room. "I assume he's to be Obliviated?"
Dumbledore nodded. "When the house-elf wakes he'll be lacking any memory of this day, but he'll be led to believe that his memory lapse is due to head trauma from punishment inflicted by Lucius. He'll never know that you and Draco were here at all."
Or that he was free, Harry thought, but he didn't say it.
Dobby was nodding his head up and down. "Oh, yes. Yes yes yes. Master Malfoy Senior, he was always kicking poor house-elves in the head, yes yes. Master Malfoy Junior as well, sometimes--" Without warning, Dobby suddenly began chomping on his own fingers, screeching in between bites, "Dobby was speaking ill of Harry Potter's brother! Harry Potter must hate Dobby now! Dobby is being a bad, bad, wicked elf, even if it is being true that Draco Snape is not a nice boy--" Dobby hopped up and down in agitation. "Aaaargh! Dobby was speaking ill again--"
"Dobby, you're free!" Harry shouted. He bent down when Dobby stopped chewing his fingers. "I wish you'd really believe that. You don't have to punish yourself, whatever you say. All right?"
"As Harry Potter is wishing," said Dobby frenetically. "It shall be done, yes, yes, yes--"
Harry sighed a little bit, wishing he wasn't quite so . . . adored by Dobby.
The headmaster smiled in understanding as he took a seat on a brocade divan. He gestured for Dobby to hop up and sit beside him. Dobby looked like it was a signal honour. Once the elf was settled, Dumbledore began to speak. "Dobby, you have a very important role to play now."
Smiling as the elf nodded, the old wizard continued, "You will return to Hogwarts and relay the following story to anyone who may have overheard Gibby's story. Tell them that when you returned Gibby to his employer, you found Mr Malfoy alive and well. He was clearly displeased with Gibby and you do not know whether Gibby was ever actually freed or not. However, when you told him what Gibby had said about him turning to stone, he laughed and said that Gibby had heard him complaining about Harry Potter. Just then, Mr Malfoy flooed to Hogwarts, leaving behind a lifelike statue that Mr Malfoy had intended to send to Hogwarts to, ah, enhance the artistic holdings."
Dobby looked thoughtful. "Dobby is thinking that this house here is never connected to the Floo network, Albus Dumbledore Headmaster sir, but aha -- no elves at Hogwarts is knowing that. Dobby will be telling them just as you is saying, yes, yes." All of a sudden, though, the elf looked fearful and wrung his hands together. "But, sir, to be seeing a statue and thinking it is Mr Malfoy turned to stone? Dobby is begging your pardon, sir, but house-elves is not that stupid. The others will never be saying anything against Harry Potter, sir, but they may be guessing that Dobby is lying."