"That experience across multiple departments will stand you in good stead," smiled Arthur. "It'll get you moving up the ranks in no time, if that's your desire."
"Thank you, Dad," blushed the young man. "That was my thought, too."
Arthur sat there for a few more moments finishing his tea. With a sigh, he finally said, "Well, now that I've calmed down a fair bit, I'd better go deal with Ron."
He rose and slowly left out the back door.
Ron's clock hand moved back, for the time being, about five minutes later.
Molly saw it happen and sighed. She sent Arthur a messenger Patronus telling him that.
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
Once he'd eaten his lunch and taken his potions, after being reminded, Harry gave that a little while to settle in by reading more of the Weekend Daily Prophet; before he returned to his room to go over his 'list'.
Once he'd checked everything through yet another time, he gave a sigh, decided the Hat allowed him in Gryffindor for a reason, 'manned-up' and went looking for Hermione.
Finding her about to make her own way up to her room, he asked, "Care to take a walk with me? We've been pretty much cooped up inside for―"
"I'd love to!" she suddenly interrupted. Then smiled at him.
Relieved, he said, "Great! I believe you wanted to show me the neighbourhood?"
With a smile back she said, "We'd best let the aurors and Mum and Daddy know. Come on." And grabbed him by the hand, leading him out of the kitchen.
Finding Monica first, she said, "Mum. With Dumbledore 'on ice', he's not a threat at the moment. So, Harry and I can go for our walk. I want to show him where I went to primary school."
She smirked and said, "I'll let the aurors know."
After both teens raced upstairs for Hermione to grab a cardigan and Harry to grab a 'hoodie' - it was a little chilly outside - they quickly ran back downstairs again. And met two aurors waiting for them at the door.
Harry sighed and said, "No need for you to tail us with Dumbledore out of the way. We need a bit of privacy to talk."
Hermione gave him a curious look while the aurors glanced at one another. The senior said, "I think that'd be alright. How long do you think you'll be?"
Harry didn't know but Hermione replied, "About an hour, I think."
The senior gave a nod and said, "If you're any longer than an hour and fifteen, we'll come looking for you."
"Thank you," said Harry, grateful and with a relieved little sigh.
The junior auror held the door for them and they passed through.
Harry said, "See you soon!" And they were walking up the path to the front gate.
Before they'd even reached it, the Senior Auror said to his female partner, "Follow them under disillusionment, Weston. If they don't get into trouble, don't let them know you're there. Step in if they do, but only if it's something they can't handle."
The female auror gave a nod, quietly said, "Will do," then raised her wand to tap herself on the top of her head and faded out.
To the male auror, a moment later the door looked as if it pulled itself shut.
He then went looking for the Grangers, finding Wendell in his office.
"Dumbledore's currently locked up so Lord Potter and the young Miss have gone for their walk," he explained. "They don't know, but Auror Weston is tailing them under a disillusionment charm."
Wendell gave a relieved smile back and said, "Thank you."
_‗_
―==(oIo)==―
ˇ
As they walked down the street outside of Hermione's home, while Harry was trying to think of what to ask her and talk to her about, Hermione beat him to it.
"I suppose you were wondering what Dobby and I were talking about, yesterday morning," she said.
"No, actually," he replied. "I'd actually forgotten about that. And I don't mind if Dobby talks to you, or if you talk to him. If Dobby feels I need to know of what you talk about, he'll tell me."
"Even if it breaks a confidence of mine?" she asked.
"Yes," he replied. "Because he's bonded to me, he must answer to me. It's the nature of the symbiotic bond."
She thought about that for a moment and said, "I wanted to know more about the bond. How it is that he is able to tell you off, like he did our first night home."
"Because I ordered him to," said Harry. "For the past little over three years I've had you telling me off when you knew I'd done something wrong, or when you thought I was going to do something wrong. But, you also explained why you believed or felt that way. I might not have always agreed with what you said, but I appreciate both the care you demonstrated by doing so and giving me a different viewpoint.
"However, house elves are bred and raised... and it is enforced by their bond... to do exactly what they're told by their masters; those to whom they're bonded. There are a few exceptions to that rule, and one of them is killing a human, but it's generally a pretty absolute rule.
"Just before I bonded with Dobby I told him I had some pretty firm rules that he had to obey. And that I was not going to bond with him without a change to the wording of that bond. Dobby agreed to them.
"The first thing you should know about our bond is that I bonded him to me, not as a servant, but as a loyal friend with servant being only secondary to that. But, what neither of us knew would happen, was that it made Dobby significantly magically stronger. It's been years and he still looks like he's one step away from bouncing off the walls with magical energy. He told me it feels as if he's fizzing with magic; whatever that means.
"Now for the orders I gave him right from the start: First, he is not allowed to punish himself for any reason. Second, if he's done something wrong or made a mistake with something he's to come to me to talk about it and we'll figure out how to fix whatever it is or was between us. Third, he is to make sure he stays healthy and doesn't overwork himself; and I included working until he was exhausted in that. And fourth, if he thinks I'm being an idiot about something he was to tell me and not put up with my complaining about it. That last one was what you saw.
"I've also been working hard with him on his diction and how he refers to me. I ordered him to call me 'Harry' but he said he couldn't because it was against some Code of Life house elves live by. The way it was explained, it sounds almost religious. I then argued if he had to call me 'Master' then he was to call me simply 'Master Harry'. He slips up with that every now and again and appends 'Potter Sir' to it. But, I've at least got him to stop adding 'Great' or similar words to the front of it."
"He told me he's not happy that you stopped him doing that," she smiled. "He thinks everyone should know just how great his master is."
Harry blushed and said, "Yeah, but it's embarrassing!"
"Is the Great Master Harry Potter, Sir, blushing?" she teased.
He stopped and turned to her with an almost horrified expression on his face, before he blushed so deeply it looked like he had third degree sunburn.
She freely and gaily laughed with that high tinkling laugh she had, before slipping her hand into his elbow and saying, "Come on. I wanted to show you where I went to school, remember?"
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