"The thing I don't understand," said Harry between exuberant mouthfuls of mashed potato, "is how it can not be Nagini, if it went like Dumbledore said. Voldemort was a Horcrux short, right, because he didn't get to make one with me. So he used Frank Bryce's murder to make another one, and Nagini would have been right there. She would have been the most convenient thing. Whatever Voldemort had been planning to make into a Horcrux, he wouldn't have it anymore. So if he didn't use Nagini, what did he use?"
Pokey, perched on a couple of telephone directories, translated this to Pat!k and Tadatada, who sat on their stacks of dictionaries and gazed with great dubiousness at their plates of boiled broccoli, mashed potatoes and roasted chicken legs with gravy.
"What have they done to the vegetables?" whispered Tadatada to Pat!k with an expression of open disgust.
"I don't know," Pat!k whispered back. "I don't want to know."
"They're all squashy!" Tadatada poked a piece of broccoli and shuddered.
"Maybe he had something else? Perhaps a family heirloom of the Riddles," Molly suggested.
Harry shook his head. "No. Couldn't be. Dumbledore told me that Voldemort only used things that were valuable and meaningful to him, like stuff from the Hogwarts founders. He was ashamed of being part Muggle. He wouldn't put a piece of his soul in some Muggle thing."
Pokey began to translate this, but Pat!k interrupted with the remark, "They made them all waterlogged somehow."
"How can we possibly eat this?" whispered Tadatada with dismay.
"Would you two listen?" hissed Pokey. "This could be important."
"I know," sighed Pat!k, "but this food--"
"If you can call it food," muttered Tadatada.
"I've eaten human food all my adult life, and it hasn't hurt me," Pokey said.
"Are you sure?" asked Pat!k doubtfully.
"Is something wrong?" inquired Molly, her fork in midair.
Pokey turned red. "N-no, Mistress, nothing, everything is so delicious--"
"Why, thank you." Molly smiled.
"It's just that Pat!k and Tadatada are not sure they are worthy to eat in the company of such great wizards...oh save me, I think that's the worst lie I've ever come up with," muttered Pokey in wood-elfish.
Molly looked puzzled.
"You have to eat it," he told Pat!k and Tadatada. "They'll be insulted if you don't."
In her high chair, Ch!kch!k took a bite of broccoli, made a face, and spit it out.
"Even if we manage to choke it down," said Tadatada, "we can't force a child to eat."
"As long as..." Pokey began, but was interrupted as Ch!kch!k opened her mouth and let out a wail.
"Thank you, Ch!kch!k!" cried Tadatada. She stood up on the stack of dictionaries and pulled Ch!kch!k from the high chair. "We'd better take her outside until she calms down. You know... children," Tadatada said happily. Then, with two pops, she and Pat!k Disapparated from the table, and went to gather berries and grubs in the Weasley's garden.
"They had to take her outside, until she calms down," quavered Pokey in English. "You know... children." His head sank down until little more than his ears were visible above the table.
"Right, well," said Ron, "where were we? Oh yeah, the Horcruxes."
"Maybe Wormtail went back to Godric's Hollow, found whatever it was that Voldemort was going to put his soul in, and brought it back to Voldemort," Hermione suggested. "Of course, he'd have to do this after he got away from Sirius and Lupin."
"Yeah," said Ron. "Maybe You-Know-Who ordered Wormtail to go and get it."
"Did he have time?" Harry murmured. "In between kidnapping Bertha Jorkins and all." He gazed at his plate. "I wish I could ask Dumbledore."
In a low voice, Hermione said, "There is the portrait."
Harry shook his head. "No. Not unless I'm absolutely desperate."
Pat!k, Tadatada and Ch!kch!k returned just as Molly was serving the pudding.
"Good," said Pokey impatiently as they climbed back into their chairs. "Now listen." And he went through the discussion about Horcruxes.
"Mm," said Tadatada. "How come the evil wizard was short one... horrr-cr!k?" She stumbled over the unfamiliar word.
"Because he was trying to make one with Harry's murder. But Harry didn't die, and the evil wizard's soul came out of his body, but he didn't die either. And he had no body, so he couldn't make another one for a long time--"
"Yes, yes, I understand that. But how do they know that the evil wizard was making his last horr-cr!k with Harry's murder?"
"Because--" Pokey began. "I don't know." He repeated the question in English.
"Because Voldemort reserved Horcrux-making for significant deaths," Harry replied. and explained about the prophecy. "He knew the first half of the prophecy, about how I could vanquish him. But he didn't know the second half, so he didn't know he'd be marking me as his equal."
Pokey translated this. Tadatada gazed in great concentration at the table. "So... when the evil wizard first heard the prophecy... he had made five horr-cr!ks and he had one more left to make?"
Pokey repeated the question to Harry. "Yes," he said confidently. Hermione's brow furrowed. "Do we know that?"
"Dumbledore said so," said Harry. "Well look, I would have been a significant death, wouldn't I?"
"If he still had a Horcrux left to make," said Hermione, "yes. But what if he already had all six Horcruxes done before he heard the prophecy?"
Harry stared at her, as Pokey translated excitedly in a hissing whisper.
"It could be the explanation we're looking for," said Hermione. "Why wouldn't Voldemort make Nagini a Horcrux? Because he already had the full set."
"Yeah, but," said Harry, "Dumbledore said, by his calculations, Voldemort was a Horcrux short."
Hermione pursed her lips and gazed at her plate. She looked up and said, "And he didn't tell you what those calculations were."
"No."
"If we asked the portrait..."
"No," Harry said again.
"Well, you can't risk facing Voldemort unless you're sure you've gotten rid of every last Horcrux. It would be awful if you missed one--even if you did manage to, you know, blast him out of his body, his last Horcrux would keep him alive and he could come back again."
"That's right," said Ron. "We have to be sure."
"I know that," said Harry.
"Let's revisit this discussion at a later time," said Molly briskly. "Right now, we've got five guests who've come a long way, and they need putting up."
"Lucky they're small," observed Ron.
It was decided to put the wood elves in Percy's old bedroom. As Harry was using Fred and George's old room and Hermione was staying in Ginny's room, Percy's room was the only vacancy. Dobby and Pokey were assigned the sofas in the sitting room.
Molly left the wood elves with a pile of extra blankets, and carefully pulled the door to without letting the latch click, so that the elves could get in and out without using magic to turn the overly-high doorknob.
Molly walked slowly down the steps and back to the kitchen where Hermione, Harry and Ron were helping Dobby clear the table. "You know, I think we need to have a little meeting," she said to Ron in a low voice.
"Does that mean we don't have to finish clearing up?" Ron murmured back.
"Yes."
"First-rate," said Ron. "I'll tell Harry and Hermione."
Molly called, "Dobby, would you mind finishing on your own? I need to borrow the children for a moment."
Heaped with bountiful assurances that Dobby would be honoured, no, thrilled to take entirely upon himself the delightful responsibility of cleaning up after dinner, the four of them left the kitchen.
"Honestly, Mum," said Ron as they climbed the stairs, "Would you stop calling us 'children,' we're all of age now. We've even been inducted into the Or--ow!" he concluded as Molly turned on the landing and gave him a sharp poke. "There's nobody here, is there?"
Molly glared at him before proceeding to the master bedroom. She ushered them in, shut the door and cast an Imperturbable charm on it before turning and saying, "So what do you three intend to do about this?"
"I think it's clear," said Harry slowly, "that we're going to have to at least investigate the elf's claim."
"Definitely," said Hermione. "It's like I said before. We can't risk missing out one Horcrux when we face Voldemort."
"We?" repeated Harry softly. Hermione glanced at him but said nothing.,
"Of course, he could turn out to be a pint-sized Trelawney," Ron said, "but we can't take the chance."
"Right," said Harry.
Molly gazed at all of them. A trace of sadness crossed her faces for a moment. She nodded. "Yes, you're right, I suppose. You'd best check out the elf's story. But you need to consider the possibility... that this is a trick."
There was a pause. "Why don't you all sit down?" Molly gestured at the queen-sized bed behind the trio.
The three of them sat in a row on the edge of the bed. Molly reached for a chair that rested against the wall, heaped with clothes. She tipped it to dump the clothes on the floor, pulled it over to face the bed and sat on it.
"Are you thinking," said Hermione, "that they could be ordinary house-elves, under the Imperius curse?"
"Would they even need to be under the Imperius curse?" rejoined Molly. "The Death Eaters are from old, purebred families. They probably all have their own house-elves, who will obey any order without question."
"They seem pretty convincing," noted Harry, "what with the click language, and the baby elf..."
"And walking around naked," Ron put in.
"They could be faking the language," Molly noted. "Who would know the difference?"
"The Hogwarts elf, Pokey, is translating it," Hermione pointed out. "Or pretending to."
"So... for this plot to work, Pokey would have to be under the Imperius curse," said Harry. "Because he's not owned by a Death Eater."
"Perhaps," said Molly. "It's not impossible."
Ron, Hermione and Harry contemplated the notion.
"I'm not saying this is the case. I'm just pointing out that we need to be careful."
Three heads nodded.
"Which is why we need to have an Order meeting about this."
Ron, Harry and Hermione exchanged glances.
"I'd rather not get the other members involved unless we have to," said Harry.
"Harry," said Molly, leaning forward in her chair, "I know you came of age recently and you want to feel all grown up, but--"
"It's not that, Mrs. Weasley!" Harry interrupted. "Really, it's not that at all."
"What is it then?"
"It's just..." Harry made a fist and gripped it with his other hand. "I'm tired of people putting themselves between me and Voldemort. My mother. Dumbledore. Tonks. Moody. Lupin." He swallowed. "It's got to stop."
"All the more reason to involve the other Order members," asserted Molly. "Wouldn't you rather one of us older folks sacrificed himself or herself, than Ron or Hermione?"
"Did I say Ron and Hermione were coming?" Harry retorted.
Hermione turned to him. "What?"
"Hey mate," said Ron, "we've been through this before."
"Exactly," said Hermione. "I told you before, we've had plenty of time to back out--"
"I'm not going to let everybody keep dying for me!" cried Harry.
"All right you three, fight on your own time." Molly stood, wand raised. "I'm calling a meeting."
"Mrs. Weasley, can't this wait?" asked Harry.
"I don't see why."
"But we haven't even asked the elf if he knows where the Horcrux is!"
Molly hesitated.
"That's true," Hermione chimed in.
"Bit of an oversight, that," noted Molly. "Well, we'll just have to go ask him then. Right after I've called the meeting." She flourished her wand. "Expecto Patronum," she murmured. Her patronus emerged, flapped its silvery wings and flew directly through the bedroom wall.
***
As soon as Tadatada had deposited Ch!kch!k on the bedroom floor, she yanked off her jumper and flung it in the corner. "Thank Tireelah I can finally get this off!" she growled. Pat!k's jumper landed in the corner on top of Tadatada's. He wrapped his arms around himself and scratched himself vigorously in sweeping circles. "So itchy," he muttered. "How do they do it?"
The food... the body-covering... I think saving the world from the evil wizard is going to be the easy part!"
At that moment, the door swung open and Pokey strode in, towel flapping, eyes murderous. Pat!k and Tadatada froze and gazed at him in startled alarm.
For a moment, Pokey just glared at them. Then he said softly, "Shall I just be off then?"
"What?" gasped Tadatada. "Be off where?"
"Back to Hogwarts," said Pokey, more loudly. "I daresay my efforts will be more appreciated there."
"Efforts? But you don't work anymore," Tadatada pointed out.
"What with all the effort involved," continued Pokey, ignoring her, "in trying to make two groups of people understand each other, the tedious repeating of every conversation, the difficulty of rendering a thing said in one language into another very different language that you last spoke eighty years ago--"
"But you're doing very well at it, really," Tadatada broke in nervously.
"...one might expect an occasional show of appreciation, even... dare one dream..." Pokey rose up on his toes in indignation, "a thank you."
"Oh dear," murmured Pat!k.
"Failing that, one would certainly expect to be spared the EMBARRASSMENT," Pokey shouted the word, "and HUMILIATION," he shouted the next one, "of guests who not only insist on flaunting their naked bodies, but refuse to eat the perfectly good food that is put in front of them!"
"It was not perfectly good food!" snapped Tadatada, her temper flaring. "And if you'd grown up in your natural place, and not been snatched away by ruthless kidnapping humans, you would know that."
Ch!kch!k gathered up a handful of bedding and wrapped it halfway around herself, whimpering.
"Pokey," said Pat!k, "I'm sorry if we've caused you embarrassment. It was not intentional. Try to understand what this is like for us. I... we... have never been out of the forest until this day. We knew nothing of the human world, except for what I saw in my vision, and what Tadatada saw in the ancestral memories. And that was little enough. So many things here are so peculiar and shocking."
"Yes, and we see no reason to adore the humans, as you seem to, what with the atrocious things they have done to our fellow elves," Tadatada added.
Pokey studied his feet. "Yes, I suppose it is a bit difficult. Er... I may have overdone it a bit just now."
"That's quite all right," said Tadatada.
"And maybe we have been guilty of taking you for granted," added Pat!k.
"Yes," said Pokey, with another small flash of anger, "You've treated me like a convenience. In point of fact, you've treated me... the way any human treats a bonded house-elf."
"Oh no!" cried Tadatada.
"Surely we haven't been that bad?" Pat!k said in consternation.
"Well..." Pokey rubbed his head, seeming confused. "But they're really not that bad, once you get to know them. Humans. They feed us and care for us--"
"You were stolen from your mother and your tribe!" cried Tadatada.
"Yes, and it was hard, yes, coming to know that I'd never see them again, but... they need us. Humans need us to do their work for them, and it makes us happy to know that we can be helpful in this way."
Pat!k and Tadatada gaped at him. Tadatada cried indignantly, "Because they twisted your mind with a spell!"
"Spell?" Pokey blinked his eyes in befuddlement. "But... everyone wants to feel important, and we know that we house-elves play a vital role in the running of Hogwarts. And if I am important to this mission," he continued indignantly, "then it would be nice to have some sign of that."
"You are important to this mission, Pokey," said Pat!k solemnly. "Not just important--vital."
"We need you, Pokey," Tadatada chimed in. "Please don't go back to Hogwarts."
"Without you, we'll have no way to communicate with the humans," Pat!k pointed out.
"We'd be lost without you," Tadatada concluded.
"Yes," Pokey said. "And the humans would be lost without us, in the same way. They need house-elves."
Tadatada thought that wizards could probably get along fine without house-elves if they had to--in fact, Mrs. Wheezy didn't have one--but she understood that this was something Pokey needed to believe, and bit back a retort with difficulty.
"It wasn't just you two, really," said Pokey. "It was the lack of naps. I warned you before we left that I'm accustomed to several naps a day, and I haven't had one all afternoon!"
"Oh. If it's just a nap you need, you could go take one now," said Tadatada.
Pokey shook his head. "I'm sharing the sitting room with Dobby, and he won't stop talking!" He sighed.
At that moment, the door moved with a small creak, and a large flappy ear and big eye peeked through the gap, some eight inches below the doorknob.
"Pokey," said Dobby. "I was wondering where you'd gone to."
"Oh. Yes," said Pokey. "I was just... explaining to these two why the wizards need house-elves."
"Oh. Right," said Dobby uncertainly.
"Well, don't you think so?"
"Oh... think what?" asked Dobby.
"That the wizards need us."
Dobby thought. "I think they need us at Hogwarts," he said finally. "There's so much to do there, and some things that only house-elves know how to do properly. And Hogwarts is a good, fair place where they even pay wages to a free elf like me. But the families who have house-elves bonded to them... they don't really need elves. No, I don't think so."
Pokey gaped at him.
"And many families who have a house-elf don't deserve to. Some wizard families are evil and abuse their poor house-elves. Like..." He shuddered and his eyes flickered to a lamp sitting on an end table, but he tore them away with an effort, "like the family I had."
"Dobby!" cried Pokey, aghast.
"I used to punish myself every time I said that they were bad, but I've been practicing, and I'm getting better," Dobby announced proudly.
"Pokey?" Tadatada said tentatively. "What's he saying? I mean... would you mind translating, please?"
Pokey swallowed. "He said... that the family that owned him were evil and bad. He spoke ill of his family." Pokey said all of this in a murmur of stunned awe.
There was a knock on the door. Pokey started.
After a moment had passed with no response, Molly's voice floated through the door: "All right if we come in for a moment?"
"Yes of course," Pokey began, but as the door opened he remembered and cried, "But the wood elves aren't wearing anything!"
Molly's head penetrated the crack between the door and the doorway. "I think we're used to that," she said. Her head turned. "What about you three?"
"Makes no difference to me," said Harry's voice.
"Ron, you might want to stay in the hall," said Hermione's voice.
Molly, Harry and Hermione entered the room, while Ron stayed just behind the door. "We'd just like to ask the wood elves a little question," Molly explained. "Well, Patuck, actually."
"Yeah," said Harry. "Does Patuck know where this Hocrux is? Did he see that in his vision?"
Pokey explained to Pat!k what Molly and Harry wanted. Pat!k told Pokey, "I can see the room very clearly. It's a room like this one, only smaller."
"Pat!k says it's in a small bedroom," Pokey reported.
"But does he know whose bedroom it is, and what house it's in?" Harry asked.
"It's the evil wizard's room," Pat!k replied when Pokey translated the question. "He was a child in that room."
"Does he mean," said Hermione in a surprised voice, "that there's a Horcrux in the orphanage?"
"It could be his dorm room at Hogwarts," Ron suggested from behind the door.
"How old was the wizard when he lived in this room?" asked Pokey.
"He was very young," Pat!k replied.
"So it wasn't his room at school?"
"No," said Pat!k. "Though there were still many children living in the same place."
Pokey translated this.
"Definitely the orphanage," said Ron.
"Tell Patuck thank you," said Molly. "We'll get out of your way now." They filed out and the door closed.