The Fatal Enchantment

Hermione's Stupidity

       I got up early morning at 3.45 am as my stomach growled with hunger. I clutched my stomach as it pained. I had skipped dinner last night, and now, not only did my stomach pain its ass off, it was growling like a hungry lioness waiting to pounce on its prey. I sighed and began to tie my hair into a ponytail and put on my bedroom slippers as I went out of my dorm towards the Hufflepuff basements in my .

I went towards the picture of the bowl of fruit salad, and tickled the pear of the assorted fruits in the silver bowl. It laughed as the door opened revealing several house elves at their work. They all were busy, boiling milk, taking out owl flakes, dragon loops, and what not, along with cutting bacon to thin strips, and taking out eggs, peeling the peas, taking out and cutting mushrooms and tomatoes, and taking out bangers and beans from tins and cans. Some were juicing up pumpkins; some were boiling water for a nice cup of tea or coffee.
"Mistress Alexia" squeaked an elf. I saw it as Tiffany. I smiled.
"Hi Tiffany, how are you doing?" I asked her.
"Tiffany is happy and well. Mistres Alexia is very kind and honourable witch. Now what may Tiffany do for Mistress?" she asked in her squeaky voice. Immediately my stomach let out a loud growl as the house elves giggled and suppressed peals of laughter. "Tiffany, will get Mistress some snacks immediately." With that she skipped away. Moments later she came back with a tray of black current slush, a hamburger and chips, and she bowed returning to her work. I took the burger as I held it with both my hands when I took a huge bite, savouring in the flavours in the burger and the juices of the juicy bacon. And that's when the door opened again. And I saw my twin, with Hermione and Ronald.
"Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!" came a squeaky voice, as I saw Dobby the house elf. One of the two, free and living, house elves of the wizarding world... The next Dobby was hugging my brother so tightly he looked like his ribs would break.
"D-Dobby?" Harry gasped.
"It is Dobby, sir, it is!" squealed the voice from somewhere around his navel. "Dobby has been hoping and hoping to see Harry Potter, sir, and Harry Potter has come to see him, sir!" Dobby let go and stepped back a few paces, beaming up at Harry, his enormous, green, tennis-ball-shaped eyes brimming with tears of happiness. He looked almost exactly as I remembered him; the pencil-shaped nose, the batlike ears, the long fingers and feet - all except the clothes, which were very different. When Dobby had worked for the Malfoys, he had always worn the same filthy old pillowcase. Now, however, he was wearing the strangest assortment of garments I'd ever seen; he had done an even worse job of dressing himself than the wizards at the World Cup. He was wearing a tea cozy for a hat, on which he had pinned a number of bright badges; a tie patterned with horseshoes over a bare chest, a pair of what looked like children's soccer shorts, and odd socks. One of these was the black one Harry had removed from his own foot and tricked Mr. Malfoy into giving Dobby, thereby setting Dobby free. The other was covered in pink and orange stripes.
"Dobby, what're you doing here?" Harry said in amazement.
"Dobby has come to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!
"Winky?" said Harry. "She's here too?"
"Yes, sir, yes!" said Dobby, and he seized Harry's hand and pulled him off into the kitchen between the four long wooden tables that stood there. Each of these tables, were positioned exactly beneath the four House tables above, in the Great Hall. At the moment, they were being laden with dishes.
At least a hundred little elves were standing around the kitchen, beaming, bowing, and curtsying as Dobby led Harry past them. They were all wearing the same uniform: a tea towel stamped with the Hogwarts crest, and tied, as Winky's had been, like a toga. Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed.
"Winky, sir!" he said. Winky was sitting on a stool by the fire. Unlike Dobby, she had obviously not foraged for clothes. She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse with a matching blue hat, which had holes in it for her large ears. However, while every one of Dobby's strange collection of garments was so clean and well cared for that it looked brand-new, Winky was plainly not taking care other clothes at all. There were soup stains all down her blouse and a burn in her skirt.
"Hello, Winky," said Harry. Winky's lip quivered. Then she burst into tears, which spilled out of her great brown eyes and splashed down her front, just as they had done at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Oh dear," said Hermione. She and Ron had followed Harry and Dobby to the end of the kitchen. "Winky, don't cry, please don't..." But Winky cried harder than ever. Dobby, on the other hand, beamed up at Harry.
"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he squeaked loudly, over Winky's sobs.
"Er - yeah, okay," said Harry. Instantly, about six house-elves came trotting up behind him, bearing a large silver tray laden with a teapot, cups for Harry, Ron, and Hermione, a milk jug, and a large plate of biscuits.
"Good service!" Ron said, in an impressed voice. Hermione frowned at him, but the elves all looked delighted; they bowed very low and retreated.
"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked as Dobby handed around the tea.
"Only a week. Harry Potter, sir!" said Dobby happily. "Dobby came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You see, sir, it is very difficult for a house-elf who has been dismissed to get a new position, sir, very difficult indeed -" At this, Winky howled even harder, her squashed-tomato of a nose dribbling all down her front, though she made no effort to stem the flow. "Dobby has traveled the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work!" Dobby squeaked. "But Dobby hasn't found work, sir, because Dobby wants paying now!" The house-elves all around the kitchen, who had been listening and watching with interest, all looked away at these words, as though Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing.
Hermione, however, said, "Good for you, Dobby!"
"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning toothily at her. "But most wizards doesn't want a house-elf who wants paying, miss. 'That's not the point of a house-elf,' they says, and they slammed the door in Dobby's face! Dobby likes work, but he wants to wear clothes and he wants to be paid. Harry Potter... Dobby likes being free!" The Hogwarts house-elves had now started edging away from Dobby, as though he were carrying something contagious. Winky, however, remained where she was, though there was a definite increase in the volume other crying. "And then, Harry Potter, Dobby goes to visit Winky, and finds out Winky has been freed too, sir!" said Dobby delightedly.
At this, Winky flung herself forward off her stool and lay face-down on the flagged stone floor, beating her tiny fists upon it and positively screaming with misery. Hermione hastily dropped down to her knees beside her and tried to comfort her, but nothing she said made the slightest difference. Dobby continued with his story, shouting shrilly over Winky's screeches.
"And then Dobby had the idea. Harry Potter, sir! 'Why doesn't Dobby and Winky find work together?' Dobby says. 'Where is there enough work for two house elves?' says Winky. And Dobby thinks, and it comes to him, sir! Hogwarts! So Dobby and Winky came to see Professor Dumbledore, sir, and Professor Dumbledore took us on!" Dobby beamed very brightly, and happy tears welled in his eyes again. "And Professor Dumbledore says he will pay Dobby, sir, if Dobby wants paying! And so Dobby is a free elf, sir, and Dobby gets a Galleon a week and one day off a month!"
"That's not very much!" Hermione shouted indignantly from the floor, over Winky's continued screaming and fist-beating.
"Professor Dumbledore offered Dobby ten Galleons a week, and weekends off," said Dobby, suddenly giving a little shiver, as though the prospect of so much leisure and riches were frightening, "but Dobby beat him down, miss... Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he isn't wanting too much, miss, he likes work better."
"And how much is Professor Dumbledore paying you, Winky?" Hermione asked kindly. If she thinks this will cheer up Winky, she is so wildly mistaken. Winky did stop crying, but when she sat up she was glaring at Hermione through her massive brown eyes, her whole face sopping wet and suddenly furious.
"Winky is a disgraced elf, but Winky is not yet getting paid!" she squeaked. "Winky is not sunk so low as that! Winky is properly ashamed of being freed!"
"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, come on! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was really horrible to you -"
But at these words, Winky clapped her hands over the holes in her hat, flattening her ears so that she couldn't hear a word, and screeched, "You is not insulting my master, miss! You is not insulting Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch is right to sack bad Winky!"
"Winky is having trouble adjusting, Harry Potter," squeaked Dobby confidentially. "Winky forgets she is not bound to Mr. Crouch anymore; she is allowed to speak her mind now, but she won't do it."
"Can't house-elves speak their minds about their masters, then?" Harry asked.
"Oh no, sir, no," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "'Tis part of the house-elf's enslavement, sir. We keeps their secrets and our silence, sir. We upholds the family's honor, and we never speaks ill of them - though Professor Dumbledore told Dobby he does not insist upon this. Professor Dumbledore said we is free to - to-" Dobby looked suddenly nervous and beckoned Harry closer. Harry bent forward. Dobby whispered, "He said we is free to call him a - a barmy old codger if we likes, sir!" Dobby gave a frightened sort of giggle. "But Dobby is not wanting to, Harry Potter," he said, talking normally again, and shaking his head so that his ears flapped. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and is proud to keep his secrets and our silence for him."
"But you can say what you like about the Malfoys now?" Harry asked him, grinning. A slightly fearful look came into Dobby's immense eyes.
"Dobby - Dobby could," he said doubtfully. He squared his small shoulders. "Dobby could tell Harry Potter that his old masters were - were - bad Dark wizards'." Dobby stood for a moment, quivering all over, horror-struck by his own daring - then he rushed over to the nearest table and began banging his head on it very hard, squealing, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!" Harry seized Dobby by the back of his tie and pulled him away from the table. "Thank you. Harry Potter, thank you," said Dobby breathlessly, rubbing his head.
"You just need a bit of practice," Harry said.
"Practice!" squealed Winky furiously. "You is ought to be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, talking that way about your masters!"
"They isn't my masters anymore, Winky!" said Dobby defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"
"Oh you is a bad elf, Dobby!" moaned Winky, tears leaking down her face once more. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what is he doing without Winky? He is needing me, he is needing my help! I is looking after the Crouches all my life, and my mother is doing it before me, and my grandmother is doing it before her... oh what is they saying if they knew Winky was freed? Oh the shame, the shame!" She buried her face in her skirt again and bawled.
"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm quite sure Mr. Crouch is getting along perfectly well without you. We've seen him, you know -"
"You is seeing my master?" said Winky breathlessly, raising her tearstained face out of her skirt once more and goggling at Hermione. "You is seeing him here at Hogwarts?"
"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges in the Triwizard Tournament."
"Mr. Bagman comes too?" squeaked Winky, and to Harry's great surprise, she looked angry again. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad wizard! My master isn't liking him, oh no, not at all!" Ron's and Hermione's too, by the looks on their faces.
"Bagman - bad?" said Harry.
"Oh yes," Winky said, nodding her head furiously, "My master is telling Winky some things! But Winky is not saying... Winky - Winky keeps her master's secrets..." She dissolved yet again in tears; they could hear her sobbing into her skirt, "Poor master, poor master, no Winky to help him no more!" They couldn't get another sensible word out of Winky. They left her to her crying and finished their tea, while Dobby chatted happily about his life as a free elf and his plans for his wages.
"Dobby is going to buy a sweater next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, pointing at his bare chest.
"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'll give you the one my mum knits me this Christmas, I always get one from her. You don't mind maroon, do you?" Dobby was delighted. "We might have to shrink it a bit to fit you," Ron told him, "but it'll go well with your tea cozy."
As they prepared to take their leave, many of the surrounding elves pressed in upon them, offering snacks to take back upstairs. Hermione refused, with a pained look at the way the elves kept bowing and curtsying, but Harry and Ron loaded their pockets with cream cakes and pies.
"Thanks a lot!" Harry said to the elves, who had all clustered around the door to say good night. "See you, Dobby!"
"Harry Potter... can Dobby come and see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.
"'Course you can," said Harry, and Dobby beamed. But they spotted me. Tiffany came up and cleared up my things as she served me with a chocolate sundae.
"Did Tiffany do well?" she asked me.
"Tiffany did splendidly." I giggled as she smiled. Hermione's eyes narrowed as she marched up to me.
"HOW DARE YOU ALEX! HOW CAN YOU OWN A HOUSE ELF! YOU ARE ENSLAVING HER! HOW DARE YOU! YOU ALL SHOULD BE GETTING PAID LIKE DOBBY! PAID, WITH HOLIDAYS, NEW CLOTHES AND EVERYTHING!" she hollered. The house elves looked at her with disgust as Ron tried to sneak in between and steal my sundae. All of a sudden he was knocked off.
"You boy shall not steal, my Mistress Alexia's dessert" she scolded him as she glared at him with her baseball like eyes.
"Hermione. This is Tiffany. She is like the sibling I never had, apart from being my elf. And yes, I own a house elf. Her mother, Tessie was freed by the Yaxley family, since she got pregnant and was expecting Tiffany and ended up living in the streets, and helped out Tom of the Leaky Cauldron. She gave birth to Tiffany and lived out in the streets and died when Tiffany was fifteen... Since then Tiffany has been homeless, and would have perished if I had not taken her in. She willingly gave in to my ownership. And yes, she does get holidays and hand me down and hand-made and wizard made clothes. She knows I am not freeing her with it, but just giving her birthday, easter, and Christmas gifts." I said as Hermione huffed and left with the two. I went up to Winky and bent down to her ear level.
"Winky stop crying. I have a surprise for a christmas present for you. You up to that? I'm confident it'll make you very very happy." I said.
"I'm sure I'll be happy. Alexia is very kind and good girl." said Winky.