After taking control of the wards, Harry took a quick tour of the Peverell manor.
The building was huge, extravagant, and magnificent to say the least.
It was a three story structure designed with both power and luxury in mind.
The ground floor housed two massive halls and a large kitchen attached to a sprawling dining area, along with eleven additional rooms.
The first floor contained a central hall, smaller than those below, and thirteen more rooms.
The third floor, however, was reserved for the most important functions of the Peverell Lord, divided into three separate units.
The first was the Lord’s room, which was enormous.
It was adorned with a massive bed and luxurious furniture, with a large balcony.
Harry stood on the balcony and looked out over the plain grasslands that stretched as far as the eye could see.
He realized then that he now owned a massive expanse of the territory surrounding the manor.
All this land belonged to him.
The second part of the third floor was the library.
Harry was confident that it was as massive as the one at Hogwarts.
It sounded absurd but the library was so big and massive that Harry was certain that it was not smaller than Hogwarts’ library.
Astounding amounts of books were lined up on shelves that seemed to go on forever.
The entire space was engraved with intricate runes that acted as a magical librarian.
They protected the volumes from any kind of damage and kept them perfectly organized.
These runes also prevented anyone from removing a book without the explicit permission of the Peverell Lord.
While Harry did not indulge in reading just yet, he could not help but notice the titles of a few volumes as he walked past the wooden shelves.
His heart almost hammered in his chest as he read the titles of the book.
Basic Rituals by Antioch Peverell.
Basic of Runes of Ignotus Peverell.
Potions and Ingredients by Salazar Slytherin.
Human Body & Basic Healing by Helga Hufflepuff.
Army, Battle, and Strategies by Godric Gryffindor and Arthur Pendragon.
It was a collection that would make the wizarding world go mad.
Books this old and rare were practically non existent in public.
Only a few ancient families held even a fraction of such knowledge, treating them as their most guarded heirlooms.
Here, they were merely the beginning of the collection.
Probably, only Hogwarts could have books at this level.
The third and final unit on this floor remained to be explored, but Harry already felt the weight of the legacy he had stepped into.
He was no longer just a student of Hogwarts.
Seeing the thousands upon thousands of books lining the walls, Harry could not help but chuckle as he imagined Hermione’s reaction.
If she ever had the chance to visit this library, she would likely faint from pure shock before spending the rest of her life locked inside these walls.
The third and final part of the third floor housed the Lord’s Study.
At one end sat a massive wooden desk with a high back wooden chair placed behind it.
The wall directly opposite the desk featured a floor to ceiling window, flooding the room with natural light and offering a commanding view of the Peverell lands.
The other two walls, the one containing the entrance and the wall across from it, were lined with wooden shelves.
Unlike the main library, these shelves were filled with specific journals, ledgers, and diaries, likely containing the personal records and secrets of the Peverell line.
Harry was exhausted but he was feeling a profound sense of homecoming.
For the first time in years, Harry was feeling that he was actually in his own house.
Though he was alone in the massive castle, inwardly, he was happy and satisfied.
He was no longer a guest in someone else’s house or a pawn in a headmaster’s game.
He was in his own house, own domain, surrounded by the power and knowledge of his magical ancestors, ready to plan his next move.
Harry completed his tour and took his seat in the Lord’s study.
As he sank into the wooden chair, the weight of his new reality finally settled over him.
He was ready for the next move.
“Dobby,” Harry’s low voice echoed through the room.
With a sharp pop, the big eyed house elf manifested in the room.
As was expected, the elf was practically bouncing on his legs, excitement vibrating through the air.
The great Harry Potter had called him and nothing could make Dobby more happy.
But this time apart from happiness, Dobby was also surprised.
His eyes immediately began to wander, darting around the grandeur of the Lord’s study and taking in the ancient, powerful atmosphere of the manor.
“Dobby,” Harry said, snapping Dobby out of his daze.
“You can look around this place in comfort later.”
“How can Dobby be helping the great Harry Potter, sir?” Dobby asked, suppressing his curiosity in his heart.
Harry’s smile turned slightly more serious.
“Dobby,” he said.
“I know that although I freed you from your slavery and a life of misery with the Malfoy family, I basically sentenced you to death.”
During his two weeks of intense study, Harry had uncovered the uncomfortable truth about house elves.
They were a powerful breed of magical creatures that lived in a strictly symbiotic relationship with wizards.
And they had no other way around it.
House elves possessed no independent magic.
And they had no way to draw magic from their surroundings.
To survive and use their abilities, the house elves were completely dependent on a bond with a human or a magical family to provide them with the necessary energy.
In exchange for this life sustaining magic, elves served as assistants in daily life.
From the memories of the Peverell brothers, Harry learned that in the early days of the magical era, house elves were not in such a precarious state.
But over the centuries, human arrogance had grown, and the symbiotic bond had been twisted into slavery.
With weakened bonds and restricted access to magic, the elves had become physically and magically diminished, reduced to the state they were in today.
Harry looked at the small elf, realizing that by freeing him, he had cut Dobby off from the very magic he needed to survive long term.
Dobby might be happy but he was surely not going to live for very long.
In the beginning, Harry had assumed that he had done Dobby a great kindness, completely unaware that he had essentially sentenced him to death.
If Dobby had not found work at Hogwarts, surrounded by such ample ambient magic of Hogwarts, he would have already reached an extremely miserable state.
But even within the castle, Dobby was slowly losing his life.
Without a true bond to sustain him, he did not have more than a few months left.
Hearing Harry’s statement, Dobby panicked, his ears drooping as he trembled.
“How can the great Harry Potter sir do anything wrong?” He said.
“Even with the low amount of magic, Dobby be very happy!
Dobby does not want to go back to the bad masters!”
Harry laughed gently, shaking his head.
“Dobby,” he said.
“I am not sending you back to the Malfoy family.
I have a different offer for you.”
Taking a dramatic pause to let the tension settle, he continued.
“I wonder…
would you be willing to work for me?” He asked.
Although Harry was certain of what the answer would be, he could not help but feel a surge of happiness when Dobby began bouncing in pure excitement, nodding his head so vigorously his ears slapped against his cheeks.
“Dobby be willing,” he said as he almost jumped.
Harry did not say a word and he summoned the Elder Wand.
“I, Harry James Potter, swear on my magic and life to form the symbiotic bond with the house elf Dobby.” He declared.
Harry recited the oath exactly as he had found it in the Peverell brothers’ memories.
It was the ancient, true version, a partnership of magic, and not the corrupted modern version that bound elves into a life of misery and servitude.
Though Dobby did not understand the technicalities of the oath, he followed the pull of the magic guiding him and muttered.
“I, Dobby the house elf, accept the symbiotic bond.”
Two brilliant flashes of light illuminated the study, surrounding the duo.
With that, Harry and Dobby were bound together in a restored, ancient relationship, and for the first time in centuries, a house elf felt the true and unrestricted power of a Peverell Lord.
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