PLANS TO ACTION
Harry walked to the door and opened it. Dobby stood waiting with a tray of prepared food, his large eyes fixed expectantly on Harry. "Thank you Dobby, please come in," Harry said.
Dobby bowed his head and said humbly, "Harry Potter is too kind, Dobby is just doing as Headmaster Dumbledore has asked. Dobby would do anything for Harry Potter and Headmaster Dumbledore." Dobby finished with a low bow, his large ears almost flapping the floor.
Harry was amazed at the balance the house elf demonstrated. Even with his head bowed nearly to the floor, Dobby kept the serving tray absolutely level. "Another talent honed by years of forced servitude," Harry thought.
Dumbledore spoke up, "Yes, thank you Dobby. You are precisely on time. I trust that you encountered no problems in securing the food without questions being asked."
Dobby appeared to bow even lower as he spoke to the stone floor of the Headmaster's office, "Dobby had no troubles, sir. Students and staff always asks for extra snacks and meals. House elves are happy to fill those requests. No house elf would ever stop another elf in his duty. We don't ask where food is going, we trusts our fellow elves." Dobby sat the tray of food on the side table and looked to Dumbledore's portrait.
Dumbledore's smile seemed to cause Dobby intense embarrassment. "Thank you Dobby. You have done exactly as I asked. I have one further request. Please do not mention to anyone that you have spoken to either me or to Harry."
"As the Headmaster wishes," squeaked Dobby.
"Thank you Dobby, we'll be seeing you again in two hours," Dumbledore said as he continued to smile at Dobby.
Dobby bowed once again. Harry thanked him as he led him out the door. After Dobby had left the room and Harry had closed the door, Harry turned to Dumbledore's portrait and asked, "Who are the meals for?" The words were barely out of his mouth when he realized that he had assumed that a Porcrux didn't need sustenance. "But why three meals?" thought Harry. Suddenly pieces fit together and realization blazed in Harry's mind, "Nigellus is a Porcrux too!" "How thick was I to miss that! Maybe they both need to eat."
"Why Harry, the meals are for all of you," said Dumbledore in an amused tone of voice.
"All of...me?" asked Harry, taken by surprise.
"Yes," replied Dumbledore, "actually for a moment, there were four of you here at the same time. That conversation can wait. Right now it appears that you have formulated a plan with Headmaster Black and you will need your strength to carry it out. Please place one meal on my desk and a second on the upper alcove landing. You will need to eat the third meal, it's going to be a long day."
Harry separated the meals and placed them as he had been instructed. He then sat down cross-legged on the floor in front of the Headmaster portrait wall and began to eat his meal. Even though he had eaten the sandwich that Dobby had provided less than an hour ago he found that he felt famished. The simple meal of cold Cornish hen, rolls, relish and tomato juice tasted like one of the schools' full-spread feasts to Harry. The whole meal took less than five minutes to finish. When he was done, Harry glanced around the room and his curiosity was roused about the remaining meals.
"Headmaster, about the meals...," Harry began but was cut off in mid-sentence.
"Harry we will have ample time to discuss that question later. Right now, you seem to need transport to the forest. If you will go to that bookcase and find the volume entitled 'A Comparative Study of Broomstick Design Through the Ages' said Dumbledore, motioning toward a specific bookcase among the many in the office.
Harry went to the bookcase that Dumbledore had indicated and quickly found the ancient green-leather covered book with silver lettering. As he tried to remove the book, he found it stuck fast to its spot on the shelf. Harry tried several times to remove the tome before it dawned on him that this was another test. He carefully examined the book and the shelf and found nothing out of the ordinary. He took Dumbledore's glasses from his pocket and exchanged them for his own glasses and then re-examined the shelf and book carefully. Harry found a small glowing point on the shelf just to the right of the book. He now recognized the glow as a trace of magic. He looked again at the book. It was taller than its companion volumes. There were several faint silvery lines on the cover of the book, one on the back cover, three on the front cover, and one on the spine near the title. Harry thought for a moment, examined his own hand, and then grasped the book, his thumb on the back cover over the faint silver line, three fingers covering the lines on the front cover, and the top of his small finger resting over the line on the spine of the book. He then took out his wand with his left hand and placed its tip against the glowing spot on the shelf. Harry was gratified as he felt the book relax its grip on the shelf and slide forward. As the book moved, the entire bookcase began to move to the side revealing a broom cupboard full of remarkable brooms. There were brooms representative of all the ages, from the earliest primitive models to a shining new Firebolt. Harry could tell from the polished handles of all the brooms and trimmed twigs of the racing brooms that this was not just a collection, it was a labor of love. Harry turned to Dumbledore's portrait with a questioning look on his face.
Dumbledore was smiling, he had been anticipating Harry's reaction . He began, "I have, from time to time, been in need of immediate transportation. Through the years, I have gained an appreciation for a good broom. This appreciation grew into a desire to collect examples from the ages. You see before you, the results of many years' searching. They will be yours upon your seventeenth birthday. Right now however, if you would please choose one, you need to make a quick trip to the forbidden forest."
Harry was jolted back to the task at hand. His choice was easy. Today it would be the Firebolt. There would be time later to try out the other brooms. As Harry examined the broom, he noticed a doorway at the back of the hidden closet. Mentally orienting himself to where he was in the castle, Harry surmised that this door opened out of the back of the castle tower that made up the Headmaster's office. Harry turned back to the office and went to the door. As he and Nigellus had discussed, he used Greyback's wand to "vacuum" up its owner's blood from the outside of the door and landing and then he quickly gathered up the leather backpack. Harry emptied out the invisibility cloaks, the crucible and the remaining orbs. He levitated the four red orbs and the stone crucible to Dumbledore's desk and then threw two of the cloaks over them. They immediately vanished from sight. Harry then replaced the empty orb and Greyback's wand in the backpack.
Harry was preparing to leave when Nigellus interrupted him from behind, "Potter, I was just thinking, the remains of your breakfast might provide an additional element of attraction for your family of acromantulas if it is handled correctly."
Harry thought for a moment, and saw how the plan could be improved. He took the plate with the remaining bits of his meal and dumped the Cornish hen pieces unceremoniously into the backpack. With the remaining strap, Harry then slung the backpack over his shoulder and swirled his invisibility cloak around himself and the Firebolt. As Harry kicked off lightly and hovered several feet off the floor the door at the back of the closet opened of its own accord. "Handy," Harry thought, "It must be connected to the brooms by an automatic cupboard door opening spell. That'll make it a lot easier to get back in when I return." Harry flew toward the open door and the bright sunlight on the other side. He didn't hesitate and he didn't look back, he had a job to do and he intended to do it well.
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