CHAPTER TEN
to us, to the lowly, the enslaved, we dregs of the magical world!
Dobby remembers how it was when He-Who-Must-Not-Be-
Named was at the height of his powers, sir! We house-elves were
treated like vermin, sir! Of course, Dobby is still treated like that,
sir,” he admitted, drying his face on the pillowcase. “But mostly,
sir, life has improved for my kind since you triumphed over He-
Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Harry Potter survived, and the Dark
Lord’s power was broken, and it was a new dawn, sir, and Harry
Potter shone like a beacon of hope for those of us who thought
the Dark days would never end, sir. . . . And now, at Hogwarts,
terrible things are to happen, are perhaps happening already, and
Dobby cannot let Harry Potter stay here now that history is to
repeat itself, now that the Chamber of Secrets is open once
more —”
Dobby froze, horrorstruck, then grabbed Harry’s water jug from
his bedside table and cracked it over his own head, toppling out of
sight. A second later, he crawled back onto the bed, cross-eyed,
muttering, “Bad Dobby, very bad Dobby . . .”
“So there is a Chamber of Secrets?” Harry whispered. “And —
did you say it’s been opened before? Tell me, Dobby!”
He seized the elf ’s bony wrist as Dobby’s hand inched toward
the water jug. “But I’m not Muggle-born — how can I be in dan-
ger from the Chamber?”
“Ah, sir, ask no more, ask no more of poor Dobby,” stammered
the elf, his eyes huge in the dark. “Dark deeds are planned in this
place, but Harry Potter must not be here when they happen — go
home, Harry Potter, go home. Harry Potter must not meddle in
this, sir, ’tis too dangerous —”
“Who is it, Dobby?” Harry said, keeping a firm hold on Dobby’s
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