Harry Potter: Another Chance

Chapter 61: A new family member

Disclaimer: 

Harry Potter and all of its characters belong to J.K Rowling.

I own nothing but the original characters I make.

"Dialogue"

'Thoughts'

$Parseltongue$

Chapter 61: A new family member

Harry knocked twice on the door before opening it and walked inside his father's studio.

James was sitting already behind his deck, waiting for him.

As soon as Harry sat down, his father pushed a newspaper towards him.

Harry took a glance at the front page. He was already very familiar with this one, it had a picture of Lucius Malfoy followed by an article about his murder and how the Aurora were incompetent for failing to find the culprit.

The Auror department as a whole has been getting a lot of criticism lately, the source of most of it being The Prophet newspaper.

"Did you do this?" his father did not beat around the bush and asked directly.

"Yes." Harry answered with the same directness.

James looked surprised for a moment. It could be because he didn't truly expect his son to be the one responsible, or maybe because he didn't think that Harry would admit it so quickly.

"How…no, why did you do that, Harry?"

"Among other things… I needed information about Voldemort's plans. Malfoy has always been one of his most trusted followers.

He also hired an assassin to kill Neville, so is not like the man was innocent by any means."

"That's not the point, Harry. You can't decide that by yourself!... look, I understand you come from a different era and fought in a bloody war. But here and now, we have laws and rules we must respect, otherwise, everything collapses."

"I do understand what you are trying to say, but this was a necessary measure. Remaining in the dark about that maniac plans, just puts everyone in massive danger."

James let out a sigh. He knew there was no point in continuing that argument. Their points of view were very different.

"And…did you get the information you wanted so badly? I doubt it was easy to make that man talk."

"It wasn't that hard. And I did find some interesting things. But instead of telling you, is best if I show you. Do you have pensive here?"

James made a shocked face.

"A pensive?!. Harry….do you know how rare those things are? Even in the entire ministry, we only have two, and one of them is for the exclusive use of the unspeakables."

"Mmm, is that so?. That's fine then, I had a chance to acquire one very recently. Hold on, let me call him first."

"Call who?" James looked very confused now.

"Dobby, come here." Harry called.

After a loud 'pop', an elf appeared on top of the desk.

"Master Harry called?"

"Master Harry?!, son… where did you get a house elf from?. Wait…did he say Dobby?, that name sounds familiar. " James muttered.

Harry was about to address the elf when saw his father slam his hands on the desk.

"Dobby!, that's Malfoy's house elf!. We have been looking for him since the murder!" Shouted his father.

"Yes, he was." Admitted Harry.

"Lady Malfoy and her son called for him repeatedly but never appeared in front of them, we all assumed he was killed the same day that Malfoy did…" James' eyes moved from the elf to his son.

"Dobby doesn't answer to evil Masters anymore!" Shouted the elf, taking James by surprise.

"Dobby only answers to Master Harry and no one else, Master Harry saved Dobby."

"Okay, Dobby. I think he understands now." Said Harry.

The elf nodded.

"Is there something Master Harry needs of Dobby?"

"There is. Remember that room in Hogwarts where I store things?" 

"Dobby knows!"

"Good, I need something called a pensive. It looks like a small fountain made of white marble. There is a silver liquid inside it. I need you to bring it here with utmost care." 

"Right away, Master Harry!" The elf disappeared.

"So you are his Master now?...that would explain how he got through the house protections."

Harry shrugged.

"It wasn't something I planned. Dobby came to find me at Hogwarts. He had been wandering around for weeks without knowing what to do with his newfound freedom. Malfoy was needlessly cruel to him, but it gave him a purpose. So I told him that if he wanted, he could come to work for me and Dobby agreed."

It was true he didn't plan for this, but having Dobby back with him, has been a coincidence he was very happy about. Now he could give his old friend a family that would treat him properly.

"I see…is he going to live here from now on?" 

"That would be great. I don't know for how long he can stay at Hogwarts before Dumbledore notices he has an extra elf in the kitchens."

"We will need to inform the family and Mipsy, of course."

They heard another 'pop' near the entrance of the room.

Harry turned around and saw Dobby levitating the pensive with his magic.

"Just leave it over here." Harry pointed.

"Thank you, Dobby."

"No problem, Master Harry. Should I go back to the castle?"

"No need, this will be your house from now on. But we must inform my mother and the other house elf before you can move around freely. For the moment stay right here. My father and I have a few more things to discuss. "

Dobby nodded happily.

"Dobby has a new home!" 

James had left his seat and was now observing the Pensive with fascination.

"You really got a pensive!, by Merlin, where did you…"

It was at that moment that James noticed an inscription at the base of the pensive. The word "Malfoy" was beautifully carved in the marble.

"Harry!, you stole this from Malfoy?!" James huffed angrily. 

"Technically, Dobby stole it." Harry pointed at the elf.

"Dobby did!" The elf admitted proudly.

"Harry!" James frowned.

"The man didn't need it anymore."

James was about to shout again when Harry stopped him.

"Wait until you see this. I can guarantee that you won't care about a few stolen items afterward."

"A few?...." James raised an eyebrow.

Harry got next to the pensive and used his wand to pull a strand of memories that he carefully deposited inside the silvery liquid.

"Go ahead."