บท 45: Chapter - 45 : Politics and Pettiness part - 3

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Pushing his broom ever faster and feeling the freezing sea spray on his face, Harry was filled with a carefree joy he had rarely experienced. There had been so few times in his life when he could simply have fun without worrying about Uncle Vernon or Voldemort or Umbridge or any of the other adults who had done their best to make his life hell. The last few years in his old world had been one long gruelling struggle, filled with worries over whom to trust, where to hide and who would die next. Now, laughing as Draco was drenched by a wave and surfaced spluttering, Harry found himself able to put those worries behind him. This new family of his was way better than the Dursleys ever were.

Over a badly-cooked dinner back at Grimmauld Place that evening, Harry and Sirius discussed the visit and came to the conclusion that it had gone rather well. Sirius didn't seem quite as enthused as Harry but did admit that he'd enjoyed seeing his family again, though added that he could have done without having Lucius Malfoy around. They'd apparently gotten into an argument over Sirius' decision to accept Orion as his son, with Lucius claiming it was a disgrace to give a bastard the same rights as a legitimate child.

"Of course, it isn't as if Lucius disagrees due to strong moral principles or some such," Sirius said as he helped himself to some more burnt potatoes. "He just doesn't want Grandfather Arcturus getting it into his head to leave the Black fortune to either of us instead of the Malfoy boy. If I were disowned and you weren't considered a proper member of the family, then there'd be a chance of Draco inheriting through his mother."

"I can't say that sort of self-interest surprises me," Harry said, knowing that Malfoys always put themselves first.

"Hmm," Sirius hummed agreement, his mouth full. He swallowed and continued with a smirk. "What was great was that Arcturus defended you. Well really he just didn't want to let a Malfoy criticise a Black, but it worked out to the same thing. He went on about resourceful and magically talented you are, and how you're a credit to the family name and everything."

"Really?" Harry looked up in amazement, his fork suspended half-way to his mouth as he tried to take that in. "Why would he say that? He knows I'm no good when it comes to pureblood manners and he's never seen me perform any spells."

Sirius grinned. "I know. He pulled me aside once the Malfoys had left and said I'd better make sure your spell-casting was up to scratch before you start Hogwarts. It's a matter of family pride to him now."

"Huh." Harry finally took a bite of his chicken only to immediately grimace at the taste. "Well, lucky for him that magic is one of the things I'm actually good at then. I'll have to wait for my magic to mature like everyone else, of course, but that doesn't change the fact that I've already gone through school once before and still know how to cast all the spells I learnt in my old world."

"Speaking of school… Melania wants you to join the other children for lessons every day," Sirius said apologetically. "I tried to get you out of it, but Arcturus backed her up and I can't really afford to go against them right now."

"Draco and Ernie already mentioned the possibility," Harry said in between gulps of pumpkin juice to wash out the taste of his dinner. "I can't say I'm exactly looking forward to it, but it could be useful." He put down his glass and stared at the food on his plate in disgust. "Sirius, we really have to do something about Kreacher. Every meal he's made has been practically inedible."

"What can we do? Get him cooking lessons? He's doing it on purpose, you know – he has to follow orders, so when I tell him to prepare dinner he does. Unfortunately there's nothing really to stop him from making it taste horrible. We should count ourselves lucky that he hasn't accidentally-on-purpose given us food poisoning."

Harry sighed. "I know. He's better than he was back when I first saw him in my old world, but that's not saying much. I had hoped to win him over by destroying the locket like I did before, but that's turned out to be impossible…"

"We could always get rid of him," Sirius suggested. "Though that wouldn't really be a good idea, since there's no way we could afford to get another elf. A house this size needs a lot of work and I certainly don't want to dust all the rooms or clean all the windows. How about you?"

"Yeah… no," Harry said, remembering all the cleaning Mrs Weasley had made him and his friends do and how exhausting he'd found it. Still, he knew having a disloyal house-elf could be dangerous. The small beings were very good at getting around direct orders, which had led to Sirius' death in Harry's old world. Dobby had also managed to betray his master, warning Harry of the plot to open the Chamber of Secrets even though he had to punish himself afterwards. Harry suddenly sat up straight in realisation. "Dobby!" he said excitedly. "There's our answer."

"Dobby?" Sirius echoed in confusion.

"Yeah, he's a House-elf who saved me loads of times over the years," Harry said. "Though I could have done without some of his help," he added, thinking back to the rogue Bludger that broke his arm in second year. "He belonged to the Malfoys but I managed to trick Lucius into freeing him."

"Wait, is that the House-elf who sent you to this universe after you were hit by a Killing Curse?" Sirius asked, then blinked. "I think that must be the strangest sentence I've ever said."

Harry nodded. "Yeah, that's him. Or at least I think so. I'm not sure if he was just a product of my imagination or not… I'd like to think he was real. And something sent me here after all."

"Right. So how is he going to solve the problem with Kreacher?" Sirius asked, clearly uninterested in starting a philosophical debate.

"We exchange Kreacher for Dobby," Harry explained. "Then everyone's happy. Malfoy gets an elf who likes him, Kreacher still gets to serve a member of the Black family, we hopefully get help around the house, and Dobby gets his freedom."

Sirius looked surprised. "You want to free him?"

"Yes," Harry said firmly. "I owe him that. Dobby died as a free elf, saving me from Death Eaters. I know he'd want me to help his counterpart in this world if I could."

"And he actually wants to be free?"

Harry chuckled. "Yeah, he's a little strange like that. He likes wearing clothes and having days off and being paid a few galleons a month."

"He certainly sounds odd," Sirius said and then shrugged. "I suppose he'll fit right in with the Azkaban convict and the boy from another universe."

"So you'll go along with my plan?"

"Yeah, sure, so long as we cast a mountain of secrecy spells on Kreacher." Sirius leaned back in his chair and stifled a yawn. "I'll contact Lucius in the morning."

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