Harry Potter 02 & The Chamber Of Secrets (Illustrated) (2 page)

Harry couldn’t feel too excited about this. He didn’t think the Dursleys would like him any better in Majorca than they did in Privet Drive.

‘Right - I’m off into town to pick up the dinner jackets for Dudley and me. And
you,
‘ he snarled at Harry, ‘you stay out of your aunt’s way while she’s cleaning.’

Harry left through the back door. It was a brilliant, sunny day. He crossed the lawn, slumped down on the garden bench and sang under his breath, ‘Happy birthday to me … happy birthday to me …’

No cards, no presents, and he would be spending the evening pretending not to exist. He gazed miserably into the hedge. He had never felt so lonely. More than anything else at Hogwarts, more even than playing Quidditch, Harry missed his best friends, Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger. They, however, didn’t seem to be missing him at all. Neither of them had written to him all summer, even though Ron had said he was going to ask Harry to come and stay.

Countless times, Harry had been on the point of unlocking Hedwig’s cage by magic and sending her to Ron and Hermione with a letter, but it wasn’t worth the risk. Underage wizards weren’t allowed to use magic outside school. Harry hadn’t told the Dursleys this; he knew it was only their terror that he might turn them all into dung beetles that stopped them locking
him
in the cupboard under the stairs with his wand and broomstick. For the first couple of weeks back, Harry had enjoyed muttering nonsense words under his breath and watching Dudley tearing out of the room as fast as his fat legs would carry him. But the long silence from Ron and Hermione had made Harry feel so cut off from the magical world that even taunting Dudley had lost its appeal - and now Ron and Hermione had forgotten his birthday.

What wouldn’t he give now for a message from Hogwarts? From any witch or wizard? He’d almost be glad of a sight of his arch-enemy, Draco Malfoy, just to be sure it hadn’t all been a dream …

Not that his whole year at Hogwarts had been fun. At the very end of last term, Harry had come face to face with none other than Lord Voldemort himself. Voldemort might be a ruin of his former self, but he was still terrifying, still cunning, still determined to regain power. Harry had slipped through Voldemort’s clutches for a second time, but it had been a narrow escape, and even now, weeks later, Harry kept waking in the night, drenched in cold sweat, wondering where Voldemort was now, remembering his livid face, his wide, mad eyes …

Harry suddenly sat bolt upright on the garden bench. He had been staring absent-mindedly into the hedge -
and the hedge was staring back.
Two enormous green eyes had appeared among the leaves.

Harry jumped to his feet just as a jeering voice floated across the lawn.

‘I know what day it is,’ sang Dudley, waddling towards him.

The huge eyes blinked and vanished.

‘What?’ said Harry, not taking his eyes off the spot where they had been.

‘I know what day it is,’ Dudley repeated, coming right up to him.

‘Well done,’ said Harry. ‘So you’ve finally learned the days of the week.’

‘Today’s your
birthday,
‘ sneered Dudley. ‘How come you haven’t got any cards? Haven’t you even got friends at that freak place?’

‘Better not let your mum hear you talking about my school,’ said Harry coolly.

Dudley hitched up his trousers, which were slipping down his fat bottom.

‘Why’re you staring at the hedge?’ he said suspiciously.

‘I’m trying to decide what would be the best spell to set it on fire,’ said Harry.

Dudley stumbled backwards at once, a look of panic on his fat face.

‘You c-can’t - Dad told you you’re not to do m-magic - he said he’ll chuck you out of the house - and you haven’t got anywhere else to go - you haven’t got any
friends
to take you -‘

‘Jiggery pokery!’
said Harry in a fierce voice. ‘Hocus pocus … squiggly wiggly …’

‘MUUUUUUM!’ howled Dudley, tripping over his feet as he dashed back towards the house. ‘MUUUUM! He’s doing you know what!’

Harry paid dearly for his moment of fun. As neither Dudley nor the hedge was in any way hurt, Aunt Petunia knew he hadn’t really done magic, but he still had to duck as she aimed a heavy blow at his head with the soapy frying pan. Then she gave him work to do, with the promise he wouldn’t eat again until he’d finished.

While Dudley lolled around watching and eating ice-creams, Harry cleaned the windows, washed the car, mowed the lawn, trimmed the flowerbeds, pruned and watered the roses and re-painted the garden bench. The sun blazed overhead, burning the back of his neck. Harry knew he shouldn’t have risen to Dudley’s bait, but Dudley had said the very thing Harry had been thinking himself … maybe he
didn’t
have any friends at Hogwarts …

‘Wish they could see famous Harry Potter now,’ he thought savagely, as he spread manure on the flowerbeds, his back aching, sweat running down his face.

It was half past seven in the evening when at last, exhausted, he heard Aunt Petunia calling him.

‘Get in here! And walk on the newspaper!’

Harry moved gladly into the shade of the gleaming kitchen. On top of the fridge stood tonight’s pudding: a huge mound of whipped cream and sugared violets. A joint of roast pork was sizzling in the oven.

‘Eat quickly! The Masons will be here soon!’ snapped Aunt Petunia, pointing to two slices of bread and a lump of cheese on the kitchen table. She was already wearing a salmon-pink cocktail dress.

Harry washed his hands and bolted down his pitiful supper. The moment he had finished, Aunt Petunia whisked away his plate. ‘Upstairs! Hurry!’

As he passed the door to the living room, Harry caught a glimpse of Uncle Vernon and Dudley in bow-ties and dinner jackets. He had only just reached the upstairs landing when the doorbell rang and Uncle Vernon’s furious face appeared at the foot of the stairs.

‘Remember, boy - one sound …’

Harry crossed to his bedroom on tiptoe, slipped inside, closed the door and turned to collapse on his bed.

The trouble was, there was already someone sitting on it.

Harry managed not to shout out, but it was a close thing. The little creature on the bed had large, bat-like ears and bulging green eyes the size of tennis balls. Harry knew instantly that this was what had been watching him out of the garden hedge that morning.

As they stared at each other, Harry heard Dudley’s voice from the hall.

‘May I take your coats, Mr and Mrs Mason?’

The creature slipped off the bed and bowed so low that the end of its long thin nose touched the carpet. Harry noticed that it was wearing what looked like an old pillowcase, with rips for arm and leg holes.

‘Er - hello,’ said Harry nervously.

‘Harry Potter!’ said the creature, in a high-pitched voice Harry was sure would carry down the stairs. ‘So long has Dobby wanted to meet you, sir … Such an honour it is …’

‘Th-thank you,’ said Harry, edging along the wall and sinking into his desk chair, next to Hedwig, who was asleep in her large cage. He wanted to ask, ‘What are you?’ but thought it would sound too rude, so instead he said, ‘Who are you?’

‘Dobby, sir. Just Dobby. Dobby the house-elf,’ said the creature.

‘Oh - really?’ said Harry. ‘Er - I don’t want to be rude or anything, but - this isn’t a great time for me to have a house-elf in my bedroom.’

Aunt Petunia’s high, false laugh sounded from the living room. The elf hung his head.

‘Not that I’m not pleased to meet you,’ said Harry quickly, ‘but, er, is there any particular reason you’re here?’

‘Oh, yes, sir,’ said Dobby earnestly. ‘Dobby has come to tell you, sir … it is difficult, sir … Dobby wonders where to begin …’

‘Sit down,’ said Harry politely, pointing at the bed.

To his horror, the elf burst into tears - very noisy tears.

‘S-sit down!’
he wailed.
‘Never … never ever …’

Harry thought he heard the voices downstairs falter.

‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered, ‘I didn’t mean to offend you or anything.’

‘Offend Dobby!’ choked the elf. ‘Dobby has never been asked to sit down by a wizard - like an
equal
-‘

Harry, trying to say ‘Shh!’ and look comforting at the same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration.

‘You can’t have met many decent wizards,’ said Harry, trying to cheer him up.

Dobby shook his head. Then, without warning, he leapt up and started banging his head furiously on the window, shouting, ‘
Bad
Dobby!
Bad
Dobby!’

‘Don’t - what are you doing?’ Harry hissed, springing up and pulling Dobby back onto the bed. Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage.

‘Dobby had to punish himself, sir,’ said the elf, who had gone slightly cross-eyed. ‘Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir …’

‘Your family?’

‘The wizard family Dobby serves, sir … Dobby is a house-elf - bound to serve one house and one family for ever …’

‘Do they know you’re here?’ asked Harry curiously.

Dobby shuddered.

‘Oh no, sir, no … Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. If they ever knew, sir -‘

‘But won’t they notice if you shut your ears in the oven door?’

‘Dobby doubts it, sir. Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. Sometimes they reminds me to do extra punishments …’

‘But why don’t you leave? Escape?’

‘A house-elf must be set free, sir. And the family will never set Dobby free … Dobby will serve the family until he dies, sir …’

Harry stared.

‘And I thought I was hard-done-by staying here for another four weeks,’ he said. ‘This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. Can’t anyone help you? Can’t I?’

Almost at once, Harry wished he hadn’t spoken. Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude.

‘Please,’ Harry whispered frantically, ‘please be quiet. If the Dursleys hear anything, if they know you’re here …’

‘Harry Potter asks if he can help Dobby … Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew …’

Harry, who was feeling distinctly hot in the face, said, ‘Whatever you’ve heard about my greatness is a load of rubbish. I’m not even top of my year at Hogwarts, that’s Hermione, she -‘

But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful.

‘Harry Potter is humble and modest,’ said Dobby reverently, his orb-like eyes aglow. ‘Harry Potter speaks not of his triumph over He Who Must Not Be Named.’

‘Voldemort?’ said Harry.

Dobby clapped his hands over his bat ears and moaned, ‘Ah, speak not the name, sir! Speak not the name!’

‘Sorry,’ said Harry quickly. ‘I know lots of people don’t like it - my friend Ron …’

He stopped again. Thinking about Ron was painful, too.

Dobby leaned towards Harry, his eyes wide as headlamps.

‘Dobby heard tell,’ he said hoarsely, ‘that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time, just weeks ago … that Harry Potter escaped
yet again.
’

Harry nodded and Dobby’s eyes suddenly shone with tears.

‘Ah, sir,’ he gasped, dabbing his face with a corner of the grubby pillowcase he was wearing. ‘Harry Potter is valiant and bold! He has braved so many dangers already! But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he
does
have to shut his ears in the oven door later …
Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts.
’

There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon’s voice.

‘W-what?’ Harry stammered. ‘But I’ve got to go back - term starts on September the first. It’s all that’s keeping me going. You don’t know what it’s like here. I don’t
belong
here. I belong in your world - at Hogwarts.’

‘No, no, no,’ squeaked Dobby, shaking his head so hard his ears flapped. ‘Harry Potter must stay where he is safe. He is too great, too good, to lose. If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger.’

‘Why?’ said Harry in surprise.

‘There is a plot, Harry Potter. A plot to make most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year,’ whispered Dobby, suddenly trembling all over. ‘Dobby has known it for months, sir. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, sir!’

‘What terrible things?’ said Harry at once. ‘Who’s plotting them?’

Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head madly against the wall.

‘All right!’ cried Harry, grabbing the elf’s arm to stop him. ‘You can’t say, I understand. But why are you warning
me
?’ A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. ‘Hang on - this hasn’t got anything to do with Vol - sorry - with You Know Who, has it? You could just shake or nod,’ he added hastily, as Dobby’s head tilted worryingly close to the wall again.