Alice Pavel - Aged 9 - Runner Up!
Dark, eerie, and full of gothic charm, we really liked how this story took inspiration from Harry Potter but showed a different side of Draco's character whilst still not changing him completely. Looking at the character of Draco, he now feels more rounded and more a real person! We think it also highlights how wrong the idea of house elves are in a very well-handled manner! The description of the setting and characters is particularly strong. This author was able to paint a picture of the sadness and desperation that Dobby felt so effectively. This short story plays on the Grimm traditions to create a fairy-tale with an ending so grisly it would make Roald Dahl blush. We also thought that this was a lovely illustration to go with an imaginative reworking of a classic story. Well done!
Dobby – The Malfoys
Dobby was a house elf. You see, a house elf doesn’t choose which family to go to. He never changed his clothes because he wasn’t allowed to. They get chosen and they could only get clothes from their master, but that would be classed as ‘FREE ELF’.
The poor elf was very young, and he was already going to his new home. Dobby was on a sketchy looking owl; he had just arrived, and the strange owl was banging its head on the deadly looking door of a tall dark fortress.
As the door opens there stands a scary, tall, long haired, blonde looking man. ‘Get in! You stupid hairless elf’, Lucius snarls with a terrifying voice. If you were there you would see his big sad eyes and tilted ears, as he only replied with an “Okay… Mr.”
Inside, he was taken through shadowy corridors that seem to eat up all the light. The walls were filled with family portraits with black cold eyes that seem to follow him everywhere. Dobby was to live in a dungeon underneath, that felt suffocating, filled with a complete silence that would make Dobby’s heart freeze.
As soon as the daylight hit the horizon, helpless Dobby was put to work. Every time, Lucius would stab him with his snake headed wand. I could see Mrs Malfoys, Narissa, heart sank. Dobby would try to work until the Malfoys would finally be happy... If the little guy would have at least one day off, he could maybe do the job better, but alas the Malfoys are cruel and selfish to every imperfect thing by TORTURE! Day after day, a slave had nothing to do but clean and bear the cruelty of his master.
Wondering the corridors, Dobby entered a bizarre dusty library. He felt the air carrying a faint smell of dark magic and could hear whispering voices about the boy who lived, Harry Potter. If only Dobby could talk to Harry, his life and dreams would come true. Yet Harry was a child, and just like Dobby, he was on his way to another awful family. From that moment on, all Dobby dreamed of is find Harry and warn him of Lucius evil plans.
When the Malfoys went to their special Voldemort meeting, Dobby could finally stop working even if he wasn’t allowed to. Dobby was left alone; the creepy dark house was empty, there was nothing to be seen except for tall black webbed walls.
The skinny elf heard some murmuring in the distance, it sounded like it was in the same house. When Dobby looked around, he saw…. A small boy with neat blonde hair - his name was Malfoy, Draco Malfoy. The green-eyed boy was practicing his spells accidentally destroying everything by turning frogs into princes. (That’s how the muggle fairytales were made).
‘Hello Dobby’, Malfoy whispered.
‘Hello, young master’, Dobby replied with a shy voice.
Draco seemed to be upset. Dobby leaned over to ask if he was alright, but just before Dobby could let out a word the boy said in a crying, angry voice “My cruel father!”.
Dobby, seeing Draco sad and lonely just like him, felt sorry for the boy.
Earlier, when Dobby was hiding in the spider filled forbidden library, he noticed an old decaying book. On the cover it wrote in a strange font “The vicious book of voodoo “.
‘I know how to help you!’ Dobby exclaimed ‘A voodoo way out!’ ‘
‘What is it?! What is it?!’ Draco shouts.
Dobby shows him the vicious book of voodoo and the doll the previous owner sewed, shockingly it was in the form if Lucius, but the strange thing is … it was him!
As soon as their parents got home, they used the voodoo spells. Narissa yelled at them to stop but it was too late.
Lucius was soon under his sons control, torturing himself by SectumSempra or even Crucio and finally perfected a spell he has been working on - ‘Obliviate’ ,yet Lucius was now on the floor exhausted. It’s been 5 years since that happened, and Draco and Dobby are now laughing about their memories, that forever bound them in a secret friendship.
It was Draco who helped Dobby make his dream come true by seeing Harry Potter in 4 Privet Drive. But more about that in a future chapter.
