AN: My one and only disclaimer; All hail the Great and Powerful Rowling!

Chapter 1: The Rebellion Begins

Dumbledore sat in his office and seethed. Damn that insufferable boy! Looking around his destroyed office he sighed. It had taken him almost 50 years of his life to design and create the delicate silver instruments.

It had started while he was still teaching transfiguration and needed to keep an eye on young Tom Riddle and had expanded from there. His first models had all failed in spectacular manners, some exploding destroying his notes, but Tom had vanished long before he had success. Only in the last 17 years had he perfected his instruments. He had made steady progress but it had been slow going working in his slim periods of time to himself. Between the International Confederation of Wizards, the Wizengamot, his duties as Headmaster of Hogwarts, and subtle manipulations, Dumbledore had very little time for inventing.

Fuming Dumbledore realized that he may not have time to rebuild the volatile little machines. The ones now in pieces around his office had been his most used and precious as they all had one thing in common. Harry Potter.

Most of them had been tracking or monitoring devices of the highest caliber. They were sensitive enough to catch slight fluctuations in mood, temperature, hunger, and magical power. There was an entire series indicating location. But while they had been useful, it was his last two that truly angered the old wizard.

Both the magical suppressor and magical signature block had been tied into the first devices to be smashed in the young wizards rage. Up until that point only owls the Headmaster had keyed in to the device had been able to make it past his block. The only notable exception being Hedwig, but then it is rather difficult to separate a wizard from his familiar.

"Damn him!" Dumbledore said. The tracking mechanisms being destroyed was not a large blow, but the others... The others had the potential to bring all of his carefully laid plans to ruin.

Unfortunately this problem would have to wait. He needed to prepare for the ICW's summer conference that was to start a week past the end of term. And being Supreme Mugwump, he had last minute planning to do as well as an agenda to write.

He sighed. No, Potter would have to wait. After all what could he possibly do trapped in that hellhole he himself had shoved him into? And with the Order watching the boy nothing will go wrong until the transfer to headquarters near the end of August.

Still in a foul mood Dumbledore banished the pieces of his work back to his personal quarters to deal with them later. And with that he began to finalize the details of the end of year feast and exams currently taking place for younger years.

Harry had spent the three weeks since the end of term brooding. Three weeks since the battle in the DOM. Since Sirius, his godfather, died.

Ever since Dumbledore had revealed the Prophecy to him, Harry had been re-evaluating his life. And the results had not been pleasant.

In first year when Harry came face to face with Voldemort in front of an extremely rare magical artifact that Dumbledore just happened to explain the function of before using it to protect the stone. And then the story about passing the owl mid-air. What was he doing flying? Harry had seen Dumbledore make a portkey into the headmaster's office just weeks ago so why hadn't he simply made one to take him back to the castle? And the troll? Wards were invented for a reason and repelling undesirable creatures is one of them.

And then second year contained the whole Chamber of Secrets fiasco. Even in the wizarding world there are only a handful of creatures that can petrify their victims, and with the legend taken into account the answer is obvious enough for second year students to find the answer. Dumbledore even sent his familiar to assist Harry during his battle against the Basilisk. Saving Dobby was the only good that came of the entire event.

Third year when Dumbledore refused to help free Sirius and Wormtail escaped. Fourth year he agreed with the Ministry of Magic, breaking his own rule about underage wizards, to force Harry to compete in the tournament.

And then at the end when he had tied with Cedric, they had been whisked away to the grave yard. To live through the rebirth of Voldemort and return to Hogwarts, only to be called a liar. And then the catastrophe that was this year. Occlumency lessons with Snape were bound to end badly as the mutual hatred grew and no explanation in what occlumency really is or how it can help shield the mind.

And then... Sirius died. And all the clues pointed back to the person everyone is told to trust. The one person who controlled all of the information. Albus Dumbledore.

Ever since his parents had been killed, maybe even before, Harry's life had been dictated be the meddling old fool. He had begun early by placing him with relatives who hated him, making him grateful to his rescuers and easy to mold to their whims. His first letters from Hogwarts were proof that at least someone in the castle knew of his living conditions.

Since the moment Harry had re-entered the magical world, Dumbledore had sent his most devoted followers to indoctrinate him to the light. He had started by sending Hagrid to fill his head with tales of Gryffindor courage and Slytherin evils. Grindelwald didn't even attend Hogwarts and still has a higher body count than Voldemort could dream of despite his best efforts. The Weasley's at the train station with Molly calling out blatantly magical terms trying to find the portal to not only her own old school, but the school she had already put 5 of her children in and 2 had already graduated.

'Hell', Harry thought, 'the old man probably even set it up so I'd be rivals with Draco, who happens to be the most bigoted Slytherin of them all.'

No Harry was done letting Dumbledore and the Order think for him. From now on he would be the only one making decisions about his life. And Harry was going to be changing everything.

Over these last few weeks Harry had come to an understanding of sorts. Simply put, he was weak.

After witnessing the duel between Voldemort and Dumbledore in the Ministry Atrium, Harry had re-calculated his chances of survival and had not been pleased with the outcome. Harry knew that if it came down to a duel, at his current level, he would lose. By fighting with the limitations Dumbledore imposed Harry knew that they would lose the fight. With Order members stunning and Death Eaters being revived just to return killing curses, it was only matter of time before the Order was drastically outnumbered if they weren't already.

What Harry needed was time. Time in which to train and learn the skills he would need to defeat both Voldemort and Dumbledore. Although his fight against Dumbledore would be drastically different than the battle with Voldemort.

For Voldemort, Harry would need to delve into the innermost workings of magic. He would need to learn spells that would prevent his opponents from getting back up once downed. In other words he needed to study the Dark Arts.

Dumbledore would probably be the harder of the two to fight against as Harry planned for that to happen in the political arena. The first step there would be to remove any and all legal hold the elder wizard may have over him.

For this part one thing Harry realized he needed was to be in charge of himself. He needed his emancipation. Harry smiled at that. He could get the Dursley's to sign anything he put in front of them.

In the time since he had returned from school he had only seen any of his relatives as he walked down to grab a little bit of food from the refrigerator, or in the hallway leading to the toilet.

The threats his uncle had received at the train station had more of an impact than Harry initially thought they would. Each time the other occupants of the house saw him they flinched slightly and scurried away as if he carried the plague.

His stomach growled and Harry frowned. Even at Hogwarts when the food was plentiful Harry had never had this much of an appetite. Since arriving at #4 Harry had found himself increasingly dissatisfied with the meager morsels that had provided for him.

But right now Harry couldn't go down to pilfer food. He had already eaten that day and didn't want to have to go anywhere near his realities if it could be avoided. What he craved now was a full on Hogwarts feast. The house elves down in the kitchens were only matched by Mrs. Weasley, but only just.

House elves…Dobby! Harry sat up on his bed where he had chosen to lie after his last meal. Dobby would be able to provide him with all the food he needed as well as being able to move around more freely than Harry could at the moment.

He stood up not knowing if his idea would work and looked over to one of Dudley's old clocks on the wall. It was ten to three in the afternoon, plenty of time. In a somewhat apprehensive he called out, "Dobby?"

Seconds later the excitable little elf popped right in front of Harry with an audible crack, knitted hats wobbling. "Harry Potter sir!" Dobby exclaimed while launching himself at Harry's knees, "You is calling for Dobby?"

Carefully extricating himself from the small creature he said, "Yes Dobby, I was wondering if you would like to work for me."

Dobby's tennis ball sized eyes went wide with excitement. "Oh yes, Harry Potter sir! Dobby was to wait till yous was of age so he could make the request, and then yous dose it for Dobby!"

Harry frowned at this. Wait till he was of age to do what? "What do you mean Dobby?"

With a confused look on his face Dobby asked, "Yous is not knowing?"

"Knowing what?" Harry asked.

"It is being impolite to ask a wizard to form the bond while they are being underage. The magic's of Hogwarts can sustain the elves that work for her but it is not the proper bond wes is needing. A house elf gets its magic from the one it is bound to serve. The more magic the master has the more magic for the elf and the longer the elf's life. Without the bond and the magic's elf's whither and dies. Dobby is thinking he could live for 2 years if he stopped working at Hogwarts and didn't find a new master to bond."

Harry was dumbstruck. Finally the entirety of house elf enslavement made sense. The elf gained almost as much as the wizard did. He made up his mind. Hermione would probably be furious him when she found out, but surprisingly Harry didn't care.

"Dobby, if you would agree I would like to bond you. The only problem is I have no idea how to do it."

Dobby squealed in excitement. "Thank you Harry Potter sir! And for the bond do not worry. It is the elf's job to do but the wizard needs to be willing."

"Ok then Dobby you may begin." Harry said a little uncertainly as the elf's eyes had started to turn silver.

Then in a deeper voice than Harry had ever heard from the small creature, Dobby began chanting in a language Harry did not understand. Dobby snapped his fingers and Harry's shirt vanished as he felt himself freeze in place, not able to move.

Stepping forward Dobby traced seven small runes onto Harry's chest with his forefinger. Dobby stepped back still chanting and traced the same runes over his own bald head after knocking his hats off.

With a final snap of his fingers Dobby stopped chanting and the place where the runes had been drawn flashed a deep navy blue before fading from sight.

All through the process Harry kept one thing in mind: the wizard must be willing. Now at the completion nearly 7 seconds after it had begun, Harry felt something shift and magic flow out of him into Dobby. A new awareness bloomed that wasn't there before. Not detailed but just enough to know that Dobby existed.

Blinking rapidly Harry looked at the elf that was now swaying slightly on the spot with a huge smile across his face. He looked positively drunk.

"Dobby?" Harry asked tentatively as he pulled his shirt back on from where it had been lying behind him. While not sure of exactly what happened, he knew the bond had worked and was worried by the strange expression on the elf's face.

Upon hearing his name Dobby seemed to come around as he began to talk. "Master Harry, you is hungry. Dobby will get you food."

With that Dobby popped away and back again with almost no time in between, a platter filled with enough food for three people to eat.

Harry sat and began devouring the meal in front of him. Even though he wanted answers he was too hungry to pass up the food. The bonding ritual had taken a lot out of him.

Harry was about to ask how Dobby knew he was hungry when an enormous eagle carrying and envelope flew through his open window. Harry detached the letter from the proud looking eagle's leg and stared at the large seal affixed to the parchment.

Gringotts. Harry recognized the symbol of the wizarding bank even though he hadn't actually been in the building since the summer before third year.

Unlike all the letters Harry had received from Ron, Hermione, and various other Order members that had all been various renditions of how are you doing after your godfather died, Harry found himself interested in why the bank would be sending him a letter. He quickly opened it noting that the eagle that had delivered it took off not waiting for a response.

Dear Mr. Potter

In regards to the last Will and Testament of Sirius Orion Black you are henceforth requested to make an appearance within the next week to fulfill one of the terms listed within. At that time you shall also be asked to deal with a small matter left to you by one Nichols Flamel.

May your gold always flow,
Rocksplitter

Harry sat there stunned as tears slid down his face. Sirius. Harry's resolve to learn to fight hardened further as he set the letter down.

He turned to Dobby and asked, "Can you get me to Diagon alley?"

Dobby squirmed seeming reluctant but answered, "Yes Harry Potter sir, but you is not wanting to do it as it is not good for any wizard."

"Dobby, I don't care about comfort all that much I just need to get to Gringotts either tonight of tomorrow morning at the latest."

"Then wes is going tomorrow after yous is rested and prepared as the elf transport is painful for the wizard"

Harry nodded and went back to his meal when a thought occurred to him and he asked, "How did you know I was hungry before?"

"It is being the bond, Harry Potter sir. A house elf is needing to know what the master wants if they is to serve properly."

Pondering this new bit of information Harry quickly finished his meal. He would need to spend almost all day in the Alley to get all of the things he might need.

As Harry stood up he took note of his growing exhaustion with plans for the next day swimming through his mind. With a mumbled warning to Dobby to remain unseen by the Dursley's and the Order, Harry stumbled over to his small bed and fell into the land of dreams and nightmares.