Chapter 4

The bright light faded quickly, leaving Harry blinking spots out of his eyes. Once he could see again, Harry examined the fully completed puzzle. It was a 3-dimensional block of wood, about 10 centimeters on each side. Harry estimated that it was about 30 centimeters tall. Each face of the tower was covered in strange markings, almost like symbols. But the strangest part, besides the strange flash of light, was that it looked like the pieces of the puzzle had all fused together. Harry reached forward to see if he could feel the individual pieces, but his hand was stopped short of the tower.

"What?" Harry whispered to himself. Harry's hand was stopped by something, but there was nothing visible in the way. Harry tried reaching around this invisible wall, and found that it completely surrounded the tower. Harry tried to push harder, thinking he might be able to break through. But no matter how hard he pushed, he could not break through the invisible wall.

Harry sat back. He thought back over this past year at Hogwarts. He had finally found a home; somewhere he belonged. While he wasn't the best in his year, he had done well in his classes. But for the life of him, he could not remember seeing anything like this barrier last year. Although, Harry had a good idea that it was probably a charm of some kind. He could almost hear Professor Flitwick's voice: "A charm is a piece of magic that affects an object in some way. It does not change the shape or change it into something else, but any other effect you want to make upon the object, a charm will do nicely." Harry smiled, remembering one of his favorite classes.

That being said, Harry could not think of what charm this was. I need more information, Harry thought. He looked over at his desk. Hedwig was in her cage, looking over at him. Uncle Vernon had locked Hedwig in her cage as soon as he got back from Hogwarts. He didn't want Harry contacting any of his friends- Harry stopped that thought. Thinking of his friends was beginning to hurt. It had been three weeks since the end of Hogwarts, and he had yet to receive even a piece of mail. He was starting to wonder if they had forgotten about him.

He looked back at Hedwig. "Well girl, I need to figure this out. To do that, I am gonna need to get you out of there. I know Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia won't let you out, so I am gonna have to sneak you out. How though?" Harry asked himself. Hedwig hooted, and ruffled her feathers, pleased. Harry smiled gently at her. "Well, in those cartoons Dudley always talks about, the villains could open locks without a key. Maybe I could learn that?" Harry said, thinking out loud. Harry thought about it, then shook his head.

"Yeah, that's a good idea, but I don't have the first idea on how to do that. If only I was at Hogwarts and I could go to the library…" Harry said, trailing off. "Wait a minute! I could go to the library! Little Whinging has a public library. I might be able to find something there," Harry said, excited. Hedwig hooted, happily. "That's right girl, you're gonna get out of there soon. Once you are, I can figure this out," Harry said, looking back at the tower. But who should he ask for help? Hermione is very smart, and she might- Harry stopped. No, he wasn't going to ask her. Maybe if she sent a letter soon and said why she had forgotten him. Maybe Ron? Harry snorted. No, even if Harry wasn't mad at him, Harry wouldn't ask Ron. He was never one to know information that could be found in a textbook. Maybe Professor Flitwick? Harry cocked his head, thinking. That should work, Harry thought. With a plan in place to figure out the invisible wall, Harry got ready for bed.

The next day, after Harry had made breakfast, washed the car, and cut the lawn, Harry finally had a chance to talk to Aunt Petunia. He decided not to ask during breakfast because he knew that Uncle Vernon would not let him go since it would make Harry happy. Once Harry had a quick shower after his chores, he went downstairs to Aunt Petunia. She was in the kitchen, washing the dishes from lunch.

"Your sandwich is on the counter. Don't make a mess," Petunia said without looking up. Harry picked up his sandwich. "Thanks Aunt Petunia," Harry said. He quickly ate his lunch, then handed Petunia his plate. "Umm, Aunt Petunia?" Harry said, hesitantly. Petunia sighed. "What is it?"

"Well, I was wondering if I could go to the library for a while today," Harry asked. Petunia scoffed. "Why would you want to go to the library? They don't have any freaky books there," she asked, still washing dishes. Harry smiled slightly. "Well, I want to see if I can catch up on my," Harry hesitated, "...normal studies. So I thought I would go look at some books in the library," Harry said. Petunia turned around, looking at Harry, calculating. "I don't believe you for a second," she said. Harry looked at her, surprised. He opened his mouth to speak, but Petunia cut him off.

"But I don't care. I could use some time to deep clean the upstairs hallway and bathroom. Don't come back until 5:30. And don't be late!" Petunia said. She turned back around to finish the dishes. Harry couldn't believe his luck. He immediately left the house and started to walk to the public library. Thankfully, it was only a 10 minute walk. Hopefully he would find a book on lock picking, or at least something to help him figure it out.

Later that night, after everyone had gone to bed, Harry pulled out the book he borrowed from the library: Lock Picking for Dummies. When he was at the library, the name stood out to him because it was amusing, but found that it was exactly what he was looking for. Harry looked over at Hedwig. "I will have you out of there soon!"

Harry spent the next week reading the book and practicing the skills in it. He started with his door. It had a lock on the outside, so he would open the door, lock it, and try and pick the lock. Of course, he would only do this at night while his family was sleeping. He spent the day reading the book and making some notes. The book said he needed some kind of metal to use as a tool, making mention of a few that would work, like a paperclip or a hairpin. So Harry found a couple paperclips that he used while he practiced.

It took Harry two days to master picking the lock on his door. Thinking that the padlock would just as easy or even easier, Harry turned to picking the lock on Hedwig's cage. But that lock was more difficult than he thought. Harry turned back to his book, and read some more on lock picking padlocks. Finally, a week after borrowing the book from the library, Harry was finally able to pick the lock on Hedwig's cage. Harry opened the cage, then opened the window. As Hedwig rushed out, Harry watched her fly around with a smile of satisfaction.

"Okay girl, I need to send a letter. Come back here," Harry said. He rummaged around on his desk and found a piece of paper and a pencil. He wrote a letter to Professor Flitwick, asking about charms that could cause a invisible barrier around an object. Harry rolled up his letter and attached it to Hedwig's leg. He stroked Hedwig's feathers. "Take this to Professor Flitwick girl. Take some time though. Go out and hunt," Harry said, softly. He watched Hedwig spread her wings and fly out the window. Harry watched for a while, then put Hedwig's cage in the wardrobe to hide to from his relatives, just in case. With that, Harry went to sleep.

The night after Harry sent Hedwig with the letter, he snuck downstairs and picked the lock for the cupboard under the stairs. Harry grabbed a quill, some ink, and a piece of parchment, so that he could copy down the strange markings on the tower. While he was there, he also grabbed his summer homework. The next day, after his chores, Harry began copying down the symbols. While he couldn't touch the tower, he could move it by grabbing the invisible wall. This allowed him to see all 6 sides. He copied down every marking for each side, making sure that he wrote them down in the order they appeared. The next day, once he was done with copying the markings down, Harry went to begin looking for any symbols that repeated, but he was called away to do some more chores, and didn't get a chance to look at it the rest of the day.

The next day, however, he got his chance. Everyone was out of the house. Vernon was at work, Dudley was out with his friends, and Petunia went to London to do some shopping. Harry took this chance to look further at the symbols on the tower. He noticed that while none of the sides were the same, there were several repeated symbols. On the back of the piece of parchment, Harry began copying the symbols that showed up multiple times, along with how many times it appeared. Harry was halfway through writing that down when he heard a SNAP behind him, followed by screeching and howls of pain. Harry turned around sharply to see Hedwig was the one screeching and dive-bombing an odd creature. Harry, thankful that everyone was out of the house right now, jumped up and walked over to Hedwig.

"Hedwig! Stop. What's going on?" Harry shouted. Hedwig, hearing Harry's voice, looked over at Harry and landed on his proffered arm. Harry noticed that her feathers were ruffled and there was bits of string hanging from her talon. Getting suspicious, Harry turned back to the creature. Looking back at Harry was a meter tall creature with bat like ears and large, bulging eyes. It was wearing a ragged pillowcase that was covered in stains. Its eyes were an odd shade of green, almost reminding Harry of tennis balls.

"I apologize for Hedwig, but who are you?" Harry asked. The creature looked up at Harry with tears in its eyes. "It is being okay, sir. I is being Dobby the house-elf," Dobby said in a high, squeaky voice. Harry looked nonplussed. "Um, forgive me if this is offensive, but what is a house-elf?" Harry asked carefully. Dobby looked at Harry, shocked. "Harry Potter sir is not knowing of house-elfs?" Dobby exclaimed. Harry shook his head.

"No. As you can see, I live with muggles and have no idea on lots of things about the Wizarding World, house-elves included," Harry said. "Now why don't you take a seat and tell me what a house-elf is." With that, Dobby burst into tears. Harry jerked forward, startled. "What's wrong Dobby? I didn't mean to offend you," Harry said, panicked. "I has never been asked to sit down, like an equal, before, Harry Potter sir," Dobby said between sobs.

Harry looked shocked. "Really? Then you must not have met many nice people," Harry said. Dobby nodded, then froze. He ran to the wall and banged his head against the wall twice. Harry stared at him, surprised. "Dobby, why did you do that? Are you okay?" Harry asked, walking over to Dobby and helping him up. Dobby rubbed his head. "I is being okay Harry Potter sir. I's being bad, and I's punishing myself. I said something bad about my masters," Dobby said. He sat down carefully on Harry's bed. "House-elfs is serving masters for long time. We's doing the cooking, cleaning, anything ours masters being wanting," Dobby said, explaining about house-elves.

Harry looked shocked. "Wow. That's crazy. How much do you get paid?" Harry asked, almost afraid of the answer. Dobby shook his head. "House-elfs not being paid. They is being where we gets our magics from," Dobby explained. Harry looked thoughtful. "Oh. That works I guess. We get services rendered, you get magic. Sounds like a good tradeoff to me," Harry said smiling down at Dobby. "But why do you punish yourself? I'm sure your masters would understand that it was an accident."

Dobby shook his head furiously. "Oh no. They's be reminding me to punish me quite often, sir. They many times suggest different things I could do," Dobby said quickly. Dobby looked stricken again and jumped at the window, shouting "Bad Dobby!" He crashed into it, shocking Hedwig. "Dobby! Don't do that!" Harry said, running over to help Dobby up. Harry made a note to himself to not talk about Dobby's masters if he could help it. Also to find them if he could, Harry thought fiercely.

"Okay, let's talk about something else. Like why you stole the letter from my owl," Harry said, looking sharply at Dobby. Dobby looked down, his ears drooping. Reaching into his pillowcase, Dobby pulled out a small stack of letters. "Are those mine?!" Harry asked, loudly. "No wonder I never got letters from my friends!" Dobby looked up at Harry apologetically. "I is being sorry, Harry Potter, but Dobby has a reason," Dobby said. Harry folded his arms, unimpressed. "Okay, let's hear it then. Why did you steal my mail?" Harry asked.

Dobby's face grew solemn. "There is being a plot, a most terrible plot at Hogwarts School this year. Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts! Dobby is thinking that if you thought your friends not being friends anymore, you not wanting to go back," Dobby said gravely. Harry started. "Not go back? I have to go back! I can't stay here!" Harry exclaimed. Dobby shook his head, ears flapping. "Harry Potter is too great to lose. If Harry Potter is being at Hogwarts this year, terrible things will be happening to him!"

Harry sat there, blinking. "What plot? Who is plotting, and what exactly is the plot?" Harry asked. Dobby got a strange look on his face, and said, "Dobby cannot say." "What, is it your master?" Harry said, not thinking. Dobby immediately got still, then rushed over to the wall and began pounding his head against the wall. "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" Dobby cried. Harry rushed over and pulled Dobby away from the wall. "Sorry, Dobby, forget I asked that." Harry made a mental note to really find out who his masters were.

"Thanks for the warning Dobby. But I can't stay here. And now that I know my friends didn't forget about me, there is no reason to not go back," Harry said to Dobby, who was on Harry's bed, cradling his head. Dobby shot to his feet. "But Harry Potter must stay away! He is too important to lose. Harry Potter must be promising Dobby. You must not go back," Dobby exclaimed, before he calmed down. "Dobby be giving you your letters back if you promise to not go back to Hogwarts," Dobby said. Harry looked at Dobby, startled.

"Why are you telling me this anyway Dobby? Shouldn't you be telling someone like Dumbledore? Do you even know who Professor Dumbledore is?" Harry asked Dobby. Dobby nodded his head, looking up at Harry. "Dobby has heard of Albas Dumbledore. It is being said that he could match the powers of He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named at the height of his power. But this… there are powers Dumbledore… powers no decent wizard would ever –" Dobby stopped himself and grabbed Harry's lamp and started hitting himself over the head.

Harry, thinking This is my chance!, rushed over to stop Dobby. He pulled the lamp away from Dobby and walked Dobby back to the bed. On the way, while Dobby was distracted by his pain, Harry snuck his hand into Dobby's pocket and swiped his letters, stuffing them into his pocket. Dobby, leaking tears from the pain, looked up at Harry. "Promise Dobby, Harry Potter. Promise Dobby that you won't go back!" Dobby said, doing his best to keep tears back. Harry hesitated, feeling pity for Dobby, but shook his head and said, "I'm sorry Dobby, but I belong at Hogwarts. I can't stay here." Dobby's face fell even further. "Then Dobby is sorry, but Dobby must do what Dobby must do," Dobby said, then popped away.

Harry looked at his bed in shock. "Where did he go?" Harry asked himself. He looked around his room, hoping to see him, but Dobby wasn't there. Just then, Harry heard a loud crash from downstairs. Harry went white. Oh please no. Please tell me he didn't break anything. Harry ran downstairs to see what the damage was. In the lounge, Harry found Dobby, waiting for him. On the floor was the pieces of Aunt Petunia's favorite decorative urn that, up until now, had been on the mantle of the fireplace. As soon as Harry saw Dobby, he said, "Dobby is sorry, but Harry Potter must not go back to Hogwarts." With those parting words, Dobby popped away again. Harry barely even noticed Dobby popping away, so consumed was he by the shattered urn. Aunt Petunia is going to kill me. I am so dead…

Later that night, Harry reflected on his family's reactions. Harry cleaned the floor up as best he could, but didn't throw away the pieces, knowing that would only bring more trouble. Thinking quickly, Harry got out the duster and dusted off the rest of the mantle and the room, hoping to be able to explain the broken urn as an accident while dusting. Thankfully, Aunt Petunia believed him. Although, that didn't stop her from slapping him quite hard and sending him up to his room without dinner.

Coming out of his reflection, Harry looked over to his letters that he got away from Dobby. He had one letter each from Ron, Hermione, Neville, and Professor Flitwick. There was also a letter from someone Harry did not know. Deciding to read the unfamiliar one last, he pulled Ron's letter to him and opened it. Unfurling the parchment, Harry saw Ron's untidy scrawl.

Harry,

How is your summer going so far? Mine is great! No classes, no professors, nothing but days of fun, eating, and sleeping. It's like a paradise. We have a pond outside of the Burrow, which is my house, so I have been swimming a lot so far. We even have a Quidditch pitch! So I have been playing that, although that only happens when Fred, George and I can convince Percy to play as well, which, as you can imagine, doesn't happen very often. I know that you have mentioned a few times that you don't particularly like your Aunt and Uncle, so I was wondering if you wanted to come over for three weeks this summer. I talked it over with my mum and dad, and they are both okay with it. Write me back and let me know what you think!

Ron

P.S. I know you don't get the paper, but the Cannons still haven't won yet. But they showed some good signs last game, I think they might have a shot at a win next game!

Harry smiled at that ending. The Chudley Cannons will never win, at least not anytime soon. But the idea of going over to Ron's was something that sparked Harry's interest. Harry looked around his room, stopping at Hedwig. "What do you think girl? Want to get away from here and stay with Ron for a couple weeks?" Harry said. Hedwig shuffled her feathers, hooting in pleasure. Setting Ron's letter aside, Harry picked up Hermione's letter. Opening it, Hermione's neat and tidy writing was revealed.

Harry,

How is your summer? I hope you haven't slacked off too much. You do have summer homework you know. Don't put it off for too long, you don't want to rush it at the last minute. Pay particular attention to the Transfiguration essay, that one is fairly difficult. Let me know if you need any help. While it may come as a surprise to you, but I have spent some time away from my homework and studies so far. Mum and Dad have planned a trip to Spain this summer, so I am super excited for that. They have so many interesting things there, especially the historical sites. They are just fascinating! I even heard that their magical sector is extensive! I cannot wait. I have spoken with Ron, and I know he is planning on asking you to go over to his place for a couple weeks this summer. I was wondering if you wanted to come over to my place as well. If you want to, my parents could come pick you up on August 5th after work and keep you over the weekend. Then you can go to the Weasley's on Monday. What do you think? My parents already said it would be fine, so let me know as soon as you can!

Hermione

Harry chuckled. That was so Hermione, Harry thought. He quite liked the idea of going over to Hermione's as well. He would get to see two of his friends this summer. Maybe while he is at Ron's he could see if they could visit Neville at his place. Speaking of Neville, Harry opened Neville's letter.

Harry,

I hope this finds you well. I also hope your summer is going well. What have you been doing? My Grandmother required that I get my homework done right away, so I already have that done. It's nice, now I don't have it hanging over me all summer. Have you started? What did you think of that Potions essay? Without Snape breathing down my neck, I think I did pretty well. Well, at least I did well with the ingredient part. I have grown snotgrass before, so I knew a lot about it. Just a tip, when you are using snotgrass, it is best to dry it before using. Then it is much easier to grind into a powder. Now that I am done with my homework, I get to spends my days working in my greenhouse! My Great Uncle Algie likes to bring me new plants when he visits, and he just brought me a Venomous Tentacula! Or at least, a new version of it. Someone my uncle knows is trying to breed a less dangerous version. It is awesome! Anyway, I hope your summer goes well. Write back and let me know what you have been up to!

Neville

Harry looked up confused, then shook his head, assuming that snotgrass must be a part of the Potions homework. Thanking Neville for his help, Harry turned to Flitwick's letter. Noticing the Hogwarts seal on the parchment, Harry carefully unsealed the letter, opening it up.

Mr. Potter,

I have to say, it was quite a surprise to receive your letter. It is not often I get letters from my students in the summer. In fact, I believe that last one was from your mother! Anyway, the shock of getting one was not as bad as the surprise over what you were asking. It is not often I get a prospective Second Year asking about wards. While you were very general with what you were describing, I can say with some certainty that you are talking about a ward. The kind of ward would depend on the Runes used to anchor it. We don't talk much about them in Charms. They are mostly a separate class, that you can take in your seventh year. I am glad to see some interest from you in Charms! Enjoy the rest of your summer Mr. Potter.

Professor Filius Flitwick

Harry looked over at the tower, now knowing that the strange markings are Runes and that force field is a ward. Now that I know what it is, now I want to figure out what kind of ward it is, and maybe how to get at the tower. Putting that thought aside for now, Harry pulled over the last letter. Scrawled across the front was: From: Bill, Cursebreaker. Wondering who Bill was, and what a Cursebreaker is, Harry opened the letter.

To whom it may concern,

Congratulations on completing the puzzle! You may or may not be aware, but putting this puzzle together is just one step in the application to becoming a Cursebreaker. To complete the application, you need to discover what kind of ward is over the tower, and take down the ward, or, break it. You must also, of course, have the requisite NEWTS in Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Ancient Runes, Artihmancy, and Warding. A couple hints to help you on your way to figuring out what ward this is and how to break it: The symbols are all Runes, and they will be able to tell you what this ward does. Deciphering them will be your first step. To actually break the ward, you will need some advanced Artihmancy, used in a way that you have not seen before. I wish you the best of luck, and hope to see you soon as a Cursebreaker.

Bill Weasley

P.S. This must be done without any help beyond the information I have given you in this letter. Trust me, the Goblins will know if you get help. Your application will then be immediately declined.

Harry sat back, thinking hard. So it was all a test. A test to see if you can be a Cursebreaker, whatever that is. Well, if it's a test, then it's a test Harry aimed to pass. While this letter answered a few questions about the tower, it brought up all new ones. But Harry could find those answers at Hogwarts. He wrote responses to Ron, Hermione, and Neville, accepting Hermione's and Ron's invitations to stay with them. He also made sure to mention what happened with Dobby, just in case they wondered why he never responded. After sending Hedwig off with the letters, he collapsed into bed, drained. It had been a long day, but things were looking up. Harry now had something to strive for. This Cursebreaker thing sounded intriguing, especially since it helped him figure out the puzzle. He would become a Cursebreaker; he was just too interested to give up now.

Authors Note:

Well, this is much later than I wanted it to be. Sorry for the delay, real life came calling and I didn't have much time for anything else. I hope this chapter makes up for it. A lot of you have been asking for changes from canon, and this chapter is the beginning of that.

Also, I just wanted to take a moment and explain a bit about the scene with Dobby. Specifically where Harry says it is a fair tradeoff, getting services rendered for magic. At this point, Harry doesn't know that the service is forever, Dobby just says a long time. He also doesn't know, but it comes up later in that conversation, that Dobby is not treated well. My thought process is that if the hosue-elf bond is done right, it is truly a good tradeoff. But when it is exploited like with Lucius Malfoy and Dobby, then it doesn't become a good thing at all.

As always, I don't own Harry Potter, I just play around in Jo's world. All thanks go to her.