"Harry Potter must not return to Hogwarts this year, sir. Terrible things are planned to happen at the Hogwarts School of witchcraft and wizardry." He said solemnly.
"What do you mean, Dobby?" Harry asked looking very interested and serious.
"Sir, there is terrible things that is planned at Hogwarts this year. Harry Potter must not go to Hogwarts so that he may be safe." Dobby told him again, his glance beseeching and pleading.
"Are these things planned against me or against everybody else?" Harry asked him and the little elf wrung his hands.
"I really don't know everything sir. The bad, bad things are planned against all those who are not pure bloods." Dobby told him very distressed.
Harry was silent for a while. "Thank you Dobby. I will tell Sirius and Remus and ask them to tell Dumbledore to" the elf did not let Harry complete the sentence. He simply latched on to Harry and howled with fear.
"No, no, no, no Harry Potter sir," it cried at the top of its lungs, "please do not tell anyone sir. I would be severely punished by my family sir." Dobby clutched Harry's night robes and cried all down his shirt.
Harry simply sat there allowing Dobby to cry off his terror and after a while he sat Dobby down and put a hand over his mouth, preventing Dobby from speaking.
"Dobby, listen to me." Harry told him quietly. He waited until Dobby was calm and nodded his head before continuing. "I think it would be the best thing to tell the Headmaster. Wait!" Harry told him as Dobby began to whimper. "Wait. I will say that a house elf came and told me that some bad things have been planned for Hogwarts and that he came to me because I was well, what should I say, hmm, well okay, the Boy-Who-Lived and warned me about it but popped away before I could enquire anything about him. Okay?"
Dobby did not agree at first and Harry had to spend the next hour persuading the elf to agree.
"Please be careful sir." Dobby entreated Harry and finally agreeing with him and getting ready to pop away to Malfoy Manor. Before that he snapped his fingers and gave the missing letters to Harry with a bashful and a slightly fearful smile.
Harry grinned as he took the letters. "So they had written!" he exclaimed. "You kept them away." He looked at Dobby in mild surprise.
Dobby hastened to explain. "I did not mean to sir. I merely thought that if Harry Potter felt he had no friends, then he would not want to return."
"That's alright Dobby." Harry told him and was once again treated to wailing and crying about the 'Great Harry Potter and how magnanimous and forgiving he is' before he popped away.
Harry breathed a sigh of relief and opened the letters. There were three letters from Hermione, two from Neville, one from Ron, one from the twins and two from Malfoy.
Feeling curious that Malfoy would write again without receiving a reply Harry opened the letters from Malfoy first. The first one was a reply to Harry's and asking him if he would meet Draco at Diagon Alley to do their shopping together.
The next letter had been written just a week ago and it contained very interesting information.
Harry,
I have received no reply to my letter and so I assumed you were not interested in meeting me at Diagon Alley. I hope your holidays with your guardians have not made you think less about us Slytherins.
Harry rolled his eyes and sighed, sensing the hurt Malfoy was implying through the letter because Harry had not replied.
I went last week to Diagon Alley with mother and father to shop for my School supplies and there in Flourish and Blotts we met the Weasleys and Lockhart, who has written most of the books we will be studying this year.
I presume that I will see you on the train or at School.
Malfoy
So Lucius Malfoy had met the Weasleys. Harry tore open the letters from Hermione, Ron and the twins but they had not written anything about the meeting with the Malfoys in their letters.
Harry sighed and bundling the letters, went out to tell Sirius and Remus about the 'unknown' elf but both of them were sleeping and Harry decided not to wake them up and went to bed himself.
The next morning, Harry was up early as usual and as soon as Sirius and Remus came in, he set the letters on the table and grinned at them.
"So they finally had the decency to write back did they?" Sirius asked him, scowling at the letters.
"No, Sirius. An elf finally had the decency to finally hand over the letters to me. It had apparently taken the letters away and came over yesterday night and handed it over to me. I came to tell you both about it, but both of you were sleeping and I decided to tell you today."
Sirius blinked at this involved and very confusing explanation, "Wait a minute Harry. Are you telling me that a house elf came over to Grimmauld Place and handed the letters to you? How could it Remus?" Sirius asked the last question to Remus who was listening to all this with a very puzzled and a thoughtful look.
"I don't know Sirius. Remember the elves in Hogwarts? We are repeatedly told that you cannot apparate or disapparate in Hogwarts and yet how many times have the elves popped over when ever we called them to give us snacks or clean after us. They should not have been able to but they do it all the time. Maybe this elf too is like that. It could probably pop over if it could, unless you give it a direct order not to come here, ever, like you did with Kreacher."
Sirius frowned even more as he processed all that Remus told him and then nodded thoughtfully, though half – heartedly still not fully convinced. Then he turned to Harry.
"Tell us what actually happened yesterday night Harry, and try not to leave anything. Did the elf tell you its name and was it from Hogwarts or was it working for some family and why did it take away your letters?
Harry cleared his throat and launched into an account of all that happened and finally finished with, "It would not tell me its name Sirius. But it seemed to know from somewhere that someone is planning to unleash something in Hogwarts this year and it did not want me to go. It thought, poor thing, that if I did not receive letters from my friends, then I would not want to go back to School. It popped away before I could ask it anything else."
"I think we should tell this to Dumbledore Sirius. If, as the elf said that someone is going to unleash something that could harm the kids, then it is better Dumbledore is prepared. If we tell him this today, then he may even tighten the wards around the School." Remus told Sirius, his amber eyes very serious.
"I don't like this Remus. Maybe we should heed the elf's warning and keep Harry away from Hogwarts this year. Wait Harry," Sirius told him, as Harry opened his mouth to protest, "last year Voldemort was able to enter into Hogwarts and he even tried to possess you and kill you. This year just a week before, we have an unknown elf that simply pops over and warns you, hands over the letters to you and pops off. I am worried Harry. I think we should take its warning to heart."
"I agree with Sirius, Harry, but I think we should talk to Dumbledore before we decide anything." Remus told Harry and Harry pouted and turned a pleading expression to both of them, "Sirius, Remus, nothing will happen to me. I wanted to start on the potion this year. I will be careful and will not go off on my own. Please."
"Well, we will speak to Dumbledore and then decide alright?" Sirius told him, and Harry shrugged a little disappointedly and then they carried on with their meal in silence.