| s-3
| Harry thought he heard the voices downstairs falter. |
| s-4
| Harry, trying to say Shh! and look comforting at the same time, ushered Dobby back onto the bed where he sat hiccoughing, looking like a large and very ugly doll. |
| s-5
| At last he managed to control himself, and sat with his great eyes fixed on Harry in an expression of watery adoration. |
| s-6
| You can't have met many decent wizards, said Harry, trying to cheer him up. |
| s-7
| Dobby shook his head. |
| s-8
| Hedwig had woken up with a particularly loud screech and was beating her wings wildly against the bars of her cage. |
| s-9
| Dobby almost spoke ill of his family, sir. |
| s-10
| Dobby shuddered. |
| s-11
| Oh no, sir, no Dobby will have to punish himself most grievously for coming to see you, sir. |
| s-12
| Dobby will have to shut his ears in the oven door for this. |
| s-13
| Dobby is always having to punish himself for something, sir. |
| s-14
| They lets Dobby get on with it, sir. |
| s-15
| But why don't you leave? |
| s-16
| And the family will never set Dobby free. |
| s-17
| Harry stared. |
| s-18
| This makes the Dursleys sound almost human. |
| s-19
| Can't anyone help you? |
| s-20
| Almost at once, Harry wished he hadn't spoken. |
| s-21
| Dobby dissolved again into wails of gratitude. |
| s-22
| Dobby has heard of your greatness, sir, but of your goodness, Dobby never knew |
| s-23
| But he stopped quickly, because thinking about Hermione was painful. |
| s-24
| Voldemort? said Harry. |
| s-25
| He stopped again. |
| s-26
| Thinking about Ron was painful, too. |
| s-27
| Dobby leaned towards Harry, his eyes wide as headlamps. |
| s-28
| Dobby heard tell, he said hoarsely, that Harry Potter met the Dark Lord for a second time just weeks ago. that Harry Potter escaped yet again. |
| s-29
| Harry nodded and Dobby's eyes suddenly shone with tears. |
| s-30
| He has braved so many dangers already! |
| s-31
| But Dobby has come to protect Harry Potter, to warn him, even if he does have to shut his ears in the oven door later. |
| s-32
| There was a silence broken only by the chink of knives and forks from downstairs and the distant rumble of Uncle Vernon's voice. |
| s-33
| But I've got to go back – term starts on September the first. |
| s-34
| It's all that's keeping me going. |
| s-35
| You don't know what it's like here. |
| s-36
| I don't belong here. |
| s-37
| He is too great, too good, to lose. |
| s-38
| 'Why?' said Harry in surprise. |
| s-39
| Harry Potter must not put himself in peril. |
| s-40
| What terrible things? said Harry at once. |
| s-41
| Dobby made a funny choking noise and then banged his head madly against the wall. |
| s-42
| A sudden, unpleasant thought struck him. |
| s-43
| Hang on – this hasn't got anything to do with Vol – sorry – with You Know Who, has it? |
| s-44
| Slowly, Dobby shook his head. |
| s-45
| But Dobby's eyes were wide and he seemed to be trying to give Harry a hint. |
| s-46
| Harry, however, was completely at sea. |
| s-47
| Dobby shook his head, his eyes wider than ever. |
| s-48
| Dobby bowed his head. |
| s-49
| Albus Dumbledore is the greatest Headmaster Hogwarts has ever had. |
| s-50
| Dobby knows it, sir. |
| s-51
| Dobby has heard Dumbledore's powers rival those of He Who Must Not Be Named at the height of his strength. |
| s-52
| And before Harry could stop him, Dobby bounded off the bed, seized Harry's desk lamp, and started beating himself around the head with ear-splitting yelps. |
| s-53
| A sudden silence fell downstairs. |
| s-54
| What – the – devil – are – you – doing? said Uncle Vernon through gritted teeth, his face horribly close to Harry's. |
| s-55
| He stomped flat-footed from the room. |
| s-56
| Shaking, Harry let Dobby out of the wardrobe. |
| s-57
| Friends who don't even write to Harry Potter? said Dobby slyly. |
| s-58
| Dobby shuffled his feet. |
| s-59
| Dobby has them here, sir, said the elf. |
| s-60
| Stepping nimbly out of Harry's reach, he pulled a thick wad of envelopes from the inside of the pillowcase he was wearing. |
| s-61
| Harry could make out Hermione's neat writing, Ron's untidy scrawl and even a scribble that looked as though it was from the Hogwarts gamekeeper, Hagrid. |
| s-62
| The moment she saw Harry, Ginny accidentally knocked her porridge bowl to the floor with a loud clatter. |
| s-63
| Ginny seemed very prone to knocking things over whenever Harry entered a room. |
| s-64
| She dived under the table to retrieve the bowl and emerged with her face glowing like the setting sun. |
| s-65
| Pretending he hadn't noticed this, Harry sat down and took the toast Mrs Weasley offered him. |
| s-66
| For a few minutes there was silence as they all read their letters. |
| s-67
| Harry's told him to catch the Hogwarts Express as usual from King's Cross station on September the first. |
| s-68
| There was also a list of the new books he'd need for the coming year. |
| s-69
| SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS WILL REQUIRE: |
| s-70
| The Standard Book of Spells, Grade 2 by Miranda Goshawk |
| s-71
| Break with a Banshee by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-72
| Gadding with Ghouls by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-73
| Holidays with Hags by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-74
| Travels with Trolls by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-75
| Voyages with Vampires by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-76
| Wanderings with Werewolves by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-77
| Year with the Yeti by Gilderoy Lockhart |
| s-78
| Fred, who had finished his own list, peered over at Harry's. |
| s-79
| The new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher must be a fan – bet it's a witch. |
| s-80
| At this point, Fred caught his mother's eye and quickly busied himself with the marmalade. |
| s-81
| Oh, are you starting at Hogwarts this year? Harry asked Ginny. |
| s-82
| She nodded, blushing to the roots of her flaming hair, and put her elbow in the butter dish. |
| s-83
| Fortunately no one saw this except Harry, because just then Ron's elder brother Percy walked in. |
| s-84
| He was already dressed, his Hogwarts prefect badge pinned to his knitted tank top. |
| s-85
| He sat down in the only remaining chair but leapt up again almost immediately, pulling from underneath him a moulting, grey feather duster – at least, that was what Harry thought it was, until he saw that it was breathing. |
| s-86
| I wrote to her saying we were going to try and rescue you from the Dursleys. |
| s-87
| Then he ripped open Hermione's letter and read it out loud: |
| s-88
| Dear Ron, and Harry if you're there, |
| s-89
| I hope everything went all right and that Harry is okay and that you didn't do anything illegal to get him out, Ron, because that would get Harry into trouble, too. |
| s-90
| I've been really worried and if Harry is all right, will you please let me know at once, but perhaps it would be better if you used a different owl, because I think another delivery might finish your one off. |
| s-91
| I'm very busy with schoolwork, of course – |
| s-92
| – and we're going to London next Wednesday to buy my new books. |
| s-93
| Why don't we meet in Diagon Alley? |
| s-94
| Let me know what's happening as soon as you can, love from Hermione. |
| s-95
| Harry, Ron, Fred and George were planning to go up the hill to a small paddock the Weasleys owned. |
| s-96
| It was surrounded by trees that blocked it from view of the village below, meaning that they could practise Quidditch there, as long as they didn't fly too high. |
| s-97
| They couldn't use real Quidditch balls, which would have been hard to explain if they had escaped and flown away over the village; instead they threw apples for each other to catch. |
| s-98
| They took turns to ride Harry's Nimbus Two Thousand, which was easily the best broom; Ron's old Shooting Star was often outstripped by passing butterflies. |
| s-99
| Five minutes later they were marching up the hill, broomsticks over their shoulders. |
| s-100
| They had asked Percy if he wanted to join them, but he had said he was busy. |
| s-101
| Harry had only seen Percy at meal-times so far; he stayed shut in his room the rest of the time. |
| s-102
| Wish I knew what he was up to, said Fred, frowning. |