Harry carefully opened the package and found a small drawstring pouch with a long string that could be worn around the neck. There was a note under it. Harry felt that he had seen this wavy handwriting before.

--

Happy Birthday, Potter

I hope my present finds you in good health. I've been trying to contact you the whole summer, but none of my letters seemed to have reached their destination.

I was able to divine that someone has been intercepting all the owls coming to your place of residence. Using my unfathomable powers, I have come to identify the perpetrator as a house-elf.

Nasty little buggers they are. If you meet a little green creature with big round eyes, don't make the mistake of being nice to it, or it will never leave you alone. Don't be rude either. They are already quite pitiful creatures. Just don't be courteous and offer a seat.

Anyways, the stars have also told me that a pig has been stealing all your food, so I've filled this Mokeskin pouch with foodstuffs. You don't have to starve anymore. There are Chocolate frogs, Pumpkin pasties, Peppermint creams, and Jelly Slugs. I've even put some Toothflossing Stringmints to keep your teeth healthy after eating all this.

I don't comprehend how your muggle guardians could allow a pig to steal your food, but don't worry, Mokeskin pouches are anti-theft. Just hang it around your neck, and if a stranger approaches, it will shrink itself and disappear.

Alright, see you at Hogwarts.

Your friendly neighbourhood Seer,

U̶n̶c̶l̶e̶ B̶e̶n̶ Benedictus the Great.

PS: I suggest you master the Enlargement charm and the Shrinking charm as soon as possible if you are to make full use of this Mokeskin pouch.

PPS: Since I had to make use of rather peculiar magic to deliver this package, this letter will self-destruct to cover my tracks in 3..2..1.

--

Harry had only read till 3 when the letter spontaneously burst into flames and disappeared. The puff of smoke left behind made him break into a coughing fit.

By the time it cleared, he noticed that the packaging had disappeared as well, leaving only the small pouch on his bed.

Despite the smoke making his eyes tear up, Harry was extremely happy. It wasn't that his friends had forgotten him, but they couldn't contact him because of some stupid elf. Harry decided to teach that elf a lesson if it ever appeared before him.

--

The elf in question had been here just moments earlier, in Harry's room, sitting on top of his bed and muttering to himself.

"I am Dobby. Dobby the house-elf, bound to serve one house and one family forever."

"Dobby still remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was at the height of his powers. We house-elves were treated like vermin. Of course, Dobby is still treated like that, but mostly, life has improved for my kind since the great Harry Potter triumphed over He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named."

"It was like a new dawn, and Harry Potter shone like a beacon of hope for us who had thought that the dark days would never end, but-"

"-But for months now, Dobby has known of a plot. A plot to make the most terrible things happen at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry this year, the school that the great Harry Potter goes to."

"If Harry Potter goes back to Hogwarts, he will be in mortal danger. That is why Harry Potter must stay where he is safe. Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. He is too important, and Dobby must make sure Harry Potter is safe."

"Dobby will warn Harry Potter today, and make him promise he will not go back to Hogwarts, even if Dobby has to shut his ears in the oven door for it. Any moment now, Harry Potter will walk through that door, and Dobby will finally meet the great Harry Potter."

The door to the room slowly creaked open, and a boy stepped in, still facing the door and trying to close it as quietly as possible.

"He's here, Harry Potter!" Just as he was about to get off the bed to bow deeply before the great Harry Potter, Dobby felt as if the bed under him disappeared. A feeling of weightlessness came over him as he fell through a tunnel of swirling light.

"BOING, BOING, BOING!"

He fell on a soft surface that made Dobby bounce a few times before coming to a stop.

"Hello, Dobby," said a voice. Looking around, Dobby found himself in a dark, unfamiliar room. There was a figure sitting on an armchair near the fire pit. The light from the firepit cast a shadow on the man, shrouding him in mystery.

---

"Hello, Dobby," Ben said, looking at the befuddled elf.

Dobby slowly inched backwards, looking a little scared and uncertain.

"Sir knows Dobby?" He asked, shocked.

"I do. You're the one who's been intercepting my letters, are you not?"

There was a mix of guilt and relief on the poor elf's face, knowing that Ben was Harry's friend.

"Sir is Harry Potter's friend? Dobby is sorry, sir! Dobby didn't mean to, sir! But Dobby had to-" he said hurriedly.

"It's alright, Dobby. I understand why you did it," said Ben, stopping the elf before he turned into a bumbling mess.

"Sir does?" He was shocked even further.

"I do. You are trying to protect Harry, are you not?" Ben asked.

"Sir is right. Dobby is trying to stop Harry Potter from going back to Hogwarts, sir!"

"Ah, forgive me. I sometimes forget how dark this place is," Ben said, clapping his hands. The candle horns and scones on the walls and the chandelier lit up at once.

"Here, take a seat," he said with a smile, pointing at the armchair next to him.

"Take a s-seat!" Dobby started wailing. "Never... never ever... has a wizard offered Dobby a seat to sit like an equal."

"...." Ben was dumbstruck looking at the sobbing elf. He didn't expect it to turn this dramatic.

"Please stop crying, mate. I just can't take it," he said, unable to handle his melodrama.

"Mate! Sir is calling Dobby a friend! Dobby must have known sir's greatness, for sir is the Great Harry Potter’s friend," he said, wiping his snout on the scruffy pillow cloth around his neck.

"Yes, the Great Harry Potter's friend. Aren't I great as well? Come sit, I want to talk to you about the great Harry Potter," he said.

--Dreamscape--

Did you know how great Harry Potter is? You better not ask Dobby.

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