บท 46: Chapter - 46 : The Freedom Exchange

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The plan to free Dobby moved forwards much faster than Harry had anticipated. He had expected Lucius Malfoy to try and work the deal to his own advantage, yet while Malfoy did make some attempts in that direction it appeared to be more out of habit than anything else. The Malfoy Paterfamilias seemed very keen to get rid of his troublesome House-elf and so didn't draw out the process.

After only a few days of sending owls back and forth (Hedwig showing herself to be just as good a post owl as her counterpart) a deal was struck. Sirius reluctantly suggested meeting in Grimmauld Place to complete the exchange, to which Malfoy quickly agreed - no doubt because he had no desire to entertain blood-traitors in his own home. Harry knew that Malfoy would think it very strange for a child to observe the whole proceedings and so hid up at the top of the first floor staircase, peering down over the banisters at where Sirius, Malfoy and the two elves met in the entrance hall.

Malfoy looked the same as ever. He was dressed in expensive dark green robes, his long hair - denoting him as the Head of his Family - was tied back, he held a silver cane in one hand, and had a supercilious smirk fixed on his face. The elf at his side was a very different matter; Harry barely recognised him. Dobby was as small and skinny as his counterpart, and the dirty pillowcase he wore was almost identical to the one Harry had first seen him in - his attitude was altogether different, however. The Dobby from Harry's old world had been cringing and subservient even after he'd been freed; this Dobby bore himself with angry defiance, his bulbous green eyes filled with obvious hatred as he glared up at Malfoy.

Sirius made it plain he wasn't in the mood for pleasantries. "Well, Malfoy, let's get this over with."

"Very well. An elf for an elf, as we agreed," Lucius Malfoy said smoothly.

"Right." Sirius drew his wand and impatiently beckoned Kreacher towards him. The wizened old elf hurried forwards eagerly and Harry was astonished to see he was actually smiling. Sirius levelled his wand at the elf. "Occultaveris," he encanted and a pale blue light encircled Kreacher's throat before slowly fading into the elf's wrinkled skin. Lucius Malfoy briskly cast the same spell on Dobby, the elf glaring resentfully at his master all the while.

Sirius had told Harry all about the spell earlier after he'd wondered aloud how to stop Kreacher passing on any information which would be dangerous in the hands of someone like Lucius Malfoy. Apparently it ensured that whoever was under the spell was unable to speak the caster's secrets. It was similar to the magic that kept a house-elf from betraying its master, not only because it forced compliance, but also because it was impossible to cast on wizards and witches or any other free magical being. Their own magic would fight against the spell, causing it to fail. House-elves, however, were incapable of throwing off a spell cast by their owners. The spell also worked on Muggles, since they were without magic, and was occasionally used on those who knew about the wizarding world but couldn't be oblivated - either because it was necessary for them to retain their knowledge, or because their memories were too extensive to be removed without causing permanent damage. According to Sirius the spell was routinely cast on the Muggle Prime Minister each time a new one was elected.

"Right then." Sirius shrugged off his outer robe and handed it to Kreacher. "There you go, you're free."

The old elf shuddered as he held the clothing, looking extremely unsettled by the unfamiliar sensation of freedom. When Malfoy ordered him to give him the robe, Kreacher hurried to obey and looked a lot happier once the servant-bond settled over him once more. Malfoy showed no outward reaction to the magic. He simply sneered down at the robe in his hands and threw it at Dobby, who caught it with an ecstatic expression on his pointy face.

"Dobby is a slave no longer!" he exclaimed in a high-pitched voice. "Dobby is free!"

Malfoy smirked at Sirius. "Well, that concludes my business here. Enjoy your new elf."

Without another word the Malfoy Paterfamilias swept out the front door, Kreacher scurrying behind him. Harry quickly realised what the wizard intended – he had freed Dobby as agreed, but knew perfectly well that the elf would refuse to enslave himself to Sirius. All the benefit of the deal would be on Malfoy's side, while Sirius would be left with nothing. Unfortunately for Malfoy, however, his plan relied on Sirius and Harry trying to force the elf to serve them, something neither of them had any intention of doing.

"Hello, Dobby," Sirius said kindly to the small being. There was a hint of condescension in his voice, but Harry supposed that was normal enough for a pureblood wizard. Sirius was at least making an effort to be polite and friendly.

"Hello, Wizard," Dobby replied confidently, tilting his chin up to look Sirius in the eye. "Dobby is telling Wizard now that Dobby will never serve him. Dobby is keeping clothes!"

"Er, right," Sirius said, clearly taken aback by the elf's strident tone. He glanced uncertainly towards Harry, who descended the stairs to join them in the entrance hall. Harry nodded encouragingly at Sirius, prompting him to continue. "Dobby, my name is Sirius Black and this is my son Orion. We would very much like to hire you as our House-elf and -" The rest of his prepared speech was lost as Dobby quickly interrupted him.

"Mr Black! Is you being Harry Potter's godfather?" The small elf bounced up and down in excitement, smiling and no longer looking at all defiant.

"Yes, that's me," Sirius said with a strained smile.

Dobby stopped bouncing. "Dobby is being very sorry for Mr Black," he said earnestly. "Harry Potter is killing He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and making things better for House-Elves everywhere! But then Harry Potter is dying and Bad Master is happy! Dobby hates Bad Master and is very sad about poor Harry Potter."

"Er, thank you, Dobby," Sirius said awkwardly, again looking over at Harry.

"Yes, thank you." Harry stepped forwards and took over the conversation, since Sirius seemed not to know quite what to make of the odd elf. "We don't much care for Lucius Malfoy either and were wondering if you'd like to come work for us instead."

"Dobby is a free elf," Dobby said, his face sliding back into a mutinous expression.

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