When a wild elf departs on a journey, there is little need for preparation. They wear no clothes, so there is no need to pack. Their magic sticks were all they needed to bring with them, to aid them in magic. Every elf of age had a magic stick: a living branch chewed from a tree. An elf could carry the same branch for decades, and still the leaves would be present, changing colour and falling off in autumn, then sprouting anew from buds in the spring; for as long as elf-magic flowed through that wood, the branch would live, and only while the branch lived was it of any magical use to an elf.
The only problem was that in the distraught moments after his vision, Pat!k had dropped his stick and run off, and he wasn't sure where he'd left it. But if Pat!k could find lost items for anyone in the tribe, he could certainly find his own stick. He did, in short order, and then the trio was ready to depart.
They Apparated to the edge of the woods, Tadatada holding Ch!kch!k, who was not old enough to Apparate. From there, they peered from the only world they had ever known at an expanse of cropped grass. To their right was a lonely willow, marooned in the sea of grass. To their left was a great grey thing rising into the air, with four extrusions like limbs pointing skywards. It would have been utterly alien to Tadatada had she not just seen it in the ancestral memories. "That's the place for wizard children. Hogwarts," she told him.
"Good! Come." Pat!k stepped onto the cropped grass and started towards the grey hulk. Tadatada followed reluctantly, still holding Ch!kch!k with one arm and her magic stick with the other hand.
They walked for a long time around the stone walls, looking for a way in. They did not meet any children. Finally they found two broad wooden doors set in the stone wall.
Tadatada trailed her magic stick over one of the doors. "They killed trees to make these," she whispered, horrified.
"I know, I know," said Pat!k. "Best not to think about it. Whatever sort of creatures these are, we must still go among them." He waved his stick at the other door, and it swung open. They tiptoed inside.
They were in a great hallway with distant vaulted ceilings. It was quiet. They could hear their footsteps as they walked the hard floor, staring about at the strange, immense area. Spaced along the walls at intervals were thick sticks gusting with flame. A row of white steps ran upward.
"Where are the human children?" asked Tadatada.
"I don't know, and I'm not concerned right now," Pat!k replied. "Where are the elves? That's more my concern at the moment."
"It seems deserted," Tadatada remarked.
Then a bell rang. A moment of silence was followed by a swell of babbling and the pattering of shod feet. Tadatada turned towards the staircase and saw robed legs emerging from its upper reaches. The legs trotted down the stairs and the humans came into view. But these surely could not be children; they were twice her size at least.
Tadatada burst into laughter. She couldn't help it: these creatures looked so absurd with the tufts that sprouted out of their heads and flopped down over their ears. At the sound of her high-pitched laugh bouncing about the Great Hall, the human eyes flicked in her direction. One girl pointed and screamed. Then the group of them began pointing at the trio and chattering excitedly. Some covered their eyes. Tadatada wondered at this strange gesture.
A shout came from behind them. They turned; a figure was bearing down on them. All of Tadatada's doubt that the others were children vanished; this woman was massive. She looked furious too. They backed off a few steps. Ch!kch!k began to whimper. The huge woman let out an angry tirade in their direction. A minute went by before Tadatada realized she didn't understand a word.
The woman bent over and grasped Tadatada's and Pat!k's shoulders firmly and twisted them through a ninety-degree turn. The next thing they knew, they were being hustled down a small flight of stairs with a firm hand at the back of each of their necks.
They came out into a wide underground passageway. Its walls were lined with renderings of fruits and vegetables. The woman steered them to a stop in front of an image of a silver bowl filled with fruit. Her arm shot out above the elves' heads and she wiggled the tip of her index finger against one of the fruits--a green pear. It giggled, squirmed, and became a handle. The woman gripped the handle and pulled. A door opened in the wall. The woman uttered a final burst of angry nonsense syllables, thrust them through the opening, and slammed the door behind them.
They were in another enormous room filled with gleaming pots and pans . Three elves came running up to meet them. "Kin!" cried Tadatada happily. "Hello!" The sight of other elves made her feel comfortable enough with the surroundings to put Ch!kch!k down.
The elves were each wrapped in an identical towel that was tied by two of its corners over one shoulder. "Well met, kin," Pat!k chimed in happily. He turned to Tadatada and said, "That scary woman was trying to help us, after all. She brought us here to see our kin."
"But then, why did she seem so angry?" asked Tadatada.
Pat!k had no answer to this. He turned back to the elves, who were looking at them curiously.
"We need your help," he told them. "We are looking for a boy named Harry Potter."
"Harry Potter," repeated one of the elves, nodding. Another one scurried off somewhere.
"That's right," said Tadatada. "We thought he would be here, since he is a boy."
"And I had a vision," continued Pat!k. "You see..." but he trailed off as he saw the blank looks of the two remaining elves. One of them burst into a flurry of sound in which only the words "Harry Potter" were recognizable.
"Pat!k." Tadatada gripped his arm. "They don't know how to speak." She seemed to be talking through her teeth.
"They can speak," replied Pat!k, "just not so we can understand."
"They cannot speak our language... their own language!" hissed Tadatada. "Look what's been done to them. Look! Every new thing we find out is worse than the last."
The third elf was returning with an armful of towels. With him was a very colourful fourth elf. There was a soft, bumpy thing on his head, something stripy tied around his neck, and different-coloured tubes fitted to his feet. It almost hurt the eyes to look at him.
The elf with the towels picked one off the pile and offered it to Tadatada, who shook her head and backed away. Meanwhile, the colourful elf jabbered away excitedly. The words "Harry Potter" jumped out at them from time to time.
The towel elf seemed puzzled by Tadatada's disinterest in the towel. He proffered it to Pat!k, who held up his hand, palm out in a gesture of refusal.
"Is there no one here who understands us?" cried Tadatada in despair.
The four elves looked at each other, then huddled together for a murmured conference. Then they began to walk across the room, beckoning. Tadatada, Pat!k and Ch!kch!k followed.
At the far end of the room was a nook in the wall with a fire burning in it. An old elf sat in a chair a couple of feet from the fire, his legs resting on a stool, the soles of his feet facing the flames. As they drew near, they heard him snoring softly. The multicoloured elf laid a hand on the sleeping elf's shoulder and gave it a shake, while everyone stood around him in a semicircle and watched.
The old elf twitched and mumbled. The multicoloured elf bent over and spoke softly and excitedly in the old elf's ear. The old elf slowly raised his head and looked up with sleepy eyes, which immediately widened with astonishment when they fell upon the trio.
The multicoloured elf, seeing the old elf awakened, twittered even more excitedly, and bounced on his heels. The words "Harry Potter" could be distinguished a few times. Pat!k and Tadatada waited and watched the old elf intently, hoping.
"Greetings, kin," said the old elf haltingly. "It is... good to see you. I had no idea... any were left." Placing a hand on his knee, he pushed himself to his feet and bent in a shallow bow. "My name is Pokey. Please excuse me... I do not remember... my real name."
Tadatada gave a squeal of happiness and threw her arms about Pokey, who promptly went red in the face. "You have nothing to apologize for... Pokey." She uttered the foolish, undignified name reluctantly, having no other options. "It is so good to meet an elf who remembers how to speak!"
"How to speak our language, she means," added Pat!k hastily, using the inclusive "our" to indicate that it was the language of all the elves, not just the three of them from the forest. Elf language is replete with such fine distinctions that English sadly lacks. Pat!k had spoken out of concern that Tadatada might have offended Pokey with her tacit dismissal of his adopted language. Now he wondered how Pokey would feel about his use of the inclusive "our". Did Pokey, after all his years of slavery, still feel that the ancient language of the forest was his own? Or was he so indoctrinated that he considered the human language his language?
Pokey showed no sign of offence or concern. "This is Dobby," he stated, laying a hand on the multicoloured elf's shoulder. "He thinks you are looking for Harry Potter?"
"That's right," said Pat!k.
"Dobby is very... happy, that you are looking for Harry Potter. He is a... oh my..." Pokey rubbed his head. "He likes Harry Potter."
"He is a friend of Harry Potter's?" Tadatada offered.
Pokey snapped his fingers. "That's it. It's been so long, I'm forgetting words."
"It will come back to you," said Tadatada encouragingly.
"But this is great news!" cried Pat!k. "A friend of Harry Potter's! He can help us find him!"
Pokey turned to the house elves and spoke English to them, presumably translating. Dobby beamed.
Pokey reached out an arm towards the three elves wearing towels. "This is Kootchy, this is Patchy, and this," he gestured towards the elf with the pile of folded towels, "is Brownie." Brownie still held one of the towels between his index finger and thumb, slightly extended, as if unable to believe that his offering would not be accepted. "Perhaps I should explain," Pokey continued. "You see...." He paused in thought. "Among the big creatures..."
"Humans," interjected Tadatada.
"Thank you, dear. Among humans, it is the habit to cover the body. So much so that it is not acceptable to walk around where everyone can see you, with nothing covering you. That is why Brownie is offering you that--" he gestured at the towel. "To cover yourselves."
Pat!k drew himself erect. "We do not wish to offend. But those--" he gestured disdainfully, "great withered leaves are a symbol of enslavement, and we shall not wear them." In this instance, of course, he used the exclusive "we".
Pokey's ears drooped to his shoulders. "Oh well..." He turned to the others and translated. Brownie's arm flopped dispiritedly to his side, the towel dragging on the floor. Dobby, however, looked as pleased and excited as ever. He jabbered a few words, then lifted a foot and yanked the tube off it.
"Pokey turned back. "Dobby would like to offer you... this is called a sock."
"Sock," Pat!k and Tadatada repeated in unison.
"You see, Dobby is a free elf. Enslaved elves cover themselves, but with things that are different from what humans wear. When an elf is freed or dismissed from service, he is given... they are called clothes. Clothes are shaped to fit different parts of the human body. Such as the sock. Dobby, in fact, was freed by a sock, so he likes them very much. He can offer you socks, and things that you wear here--" Pokey planted both palms on his pelvis, "which are called pants, and are very important, because that's the part that you have to keep covered. And Dobby can also offer you hats--" Pokey seized his head in his hands-- "which are things you put on your head."
Dobby interjected with a few happy words. "Ah. And Dobby says that the hats were made by one of Harry Potter's good friends."
Pat!k and Tadatada gazed from Pokey to Dobby and back to Pokey with bewilderment. Pat!k was growing uncomfortable. He did not want to put the horrid things on his body, but he had already refused the towels. If they kept refusing what the well-intentioned elves were offering them, they might get offended. Perhaps they would even refuse to help them. He turned to look at Tadatada, and she looked helplessly back at him. Then he saw in her face that she'd had an idea.
"But we are forgetting our manners!" she cried. "I am Tadatada, and this is my mate, Pat!k. This little girl is Ch!kch!k," she concluded, laying a hand on Ch!kch!k's head.
Pat!k nodded gravely and approvingly. Distraction: always a good gambit. Pokey repeated the introductions to the other elves, and the subject of clothing was forgotten for the moment as the young elves struggled with the clicking sounds. All born into servitude, they knew only the limited array of vowels and consonants found in the English language. Dobby watched them, looked down at the sock in his hand, then at his bare foot, and coming to a decision, slipped the sock back on.
Pat!k broke in. "Pokey, will you ask Dobby if he will show us to Harry Potter now?"
Pokey looked uneasy, but he turned and spoke to Dobby. Dobby shook his head. Pokey translated what Dobby said next: "Harry Potter is not here. He did not come to school this year."
"Oh." Pat!k and Tadatada looked at each other in dismay.
"He is not sure exactly where Harry Potter is right now," Pokey continued. "He thinks he could find him, but it might take time, and he has duties to perform here at Hogwarts."
"Oh, but it's very important that we find him," Pat!k assured Pokey. He explained his vision to Pokey, who listened gravely, then spoke with Dobby. Brownie also made a remark.
"Then Dobby will ask Mistress McGonagall if he may leave his duties. She is... oh, how can I say it? You don't have a word for it. She's the school's mother. That's the closest I can come. He says wait here. He thinks McGonagall will not be pleased if you come to her with no clothes on. Brownie adds that she did not look pleased when she brought you down here."
Pat!k and Tadatada digested this last bit of news as Dobby Disapparated with a pop.
"You know, my dears," said Pokey, "if you would just put some clothes on, you'd be less noticeable, and I think you'd find that people would treat you better."
"We'll think about it," said Pat!k after a pause.
"Good. Dobby has enough clothes for all of you. He's so fond of clothes, he collects as many items of clothing as he can." He added, "Or you might reconsider the towels. They cover everything up, but they're small and easy to carry. Oh, I know they mean you're a slave, but wouldn't that be a good disguise?"
"You have a point," admitted Tadatada, but she saw a dangerous expression on Pat!k's face, and added, "It might be better, though, if we travel light."
"But they really are quite light, and you can see for yourself here that they fold into a nice, neat square..."
"Pokey," interrupted Pat!k somewhat loudly, "It occurs to me that the three of us will very much need a translator on this quest. I hope you can come with us. We'll be lost without you."
Pokey grinned. "Yes, I'll come. I can tell you that right now. I don't work anymore, due to my age, so nobody will miss me."
"Good." Tadatada nodded.
"Ooh, I'm looking forward to it!" Pokey clapped his hands. "It will be the most exciting thing I've done in years."
"Excellent," said Pat!k, pleased. Distraction really did work well, he thought.
"I should mention," Pokey added hastily, "that I need many naps a day."
With a pop, Dobby reappeared, grinning from ear to ear, wearing several hats stacked on his head and holding a stick with a bundle attached to it.
"Mistress McGonagall said yes," Pokey translated. "We're ready to go. I told Dobby I'm going along as translator.
"Where are we going first?" asked Tadatada.
"To the home of the Dursleys, Harry Potter's guardians. He may not be there anymore, but they may know where he is. Dobby has already visited them."
They said goodbye to the other elves, Tadatada picked up Ch!kch!k again, and three cracks sounded in quick succession. The fourth came after a slight delay, as Pokey snatched three towels off Brownie's pile before departing.