House-Elves
Houselves
James Potter awoke with a start, sitting up abruptly on the burlap sofa. He had detention! How had he forgotten? He looked around at the room. His friends still lay asleep. Remus was on the opposite sofa looking peaceful wrapped in a silver fur. Sirius, who lay across from him, looked far less peaceful. He almost looked like he’d been knocked out, his legs scrunched awkwardly on the too small armchair and his face pressed into a cushion.
James figured it was best to let them sleep; they had been up all night and he didn’t want to wake them. So trying to make as little noise as possible he got up and left the hut, passing by the snoring dog that was dripping drool on the feather-covered floor. James closed the door behind him and then started running for the castle. He didn’t know what time it was but the sun was bright and he had a feeling he’d already missed breakfast.
He’d have to find Arthur Weasley and see if he could still do his detention late, but he didn’t have to get to the castle as he spotted Weasley still on the grounds. He had his broom in his hands and was dressed in Quidditch robes, likely just coming back from practice.
Arthur laughed when he saw James. “Merlin’s beard, Potter! Where have you been?” he asked, looking at the many feathers and splatters of blood covering his robes.
“Umm…” James said, looking back at the hut.
Arthur followed his gaze. Then shook his head, looking amused. “Were you helping Hagrid?” he asked.
“Yeah,” James said, grateful he didn’t have to explain. “Do you know him?” he asked.
Arthur nodded. “Everybody knows Hagrid. Be careful, though. He once got the whole Gryffindor Quidditch team to help him search the forbidden forest for a demiguise. We looked all night and we never found it, but we ended up running for our lives from some acromantulas and Frank Longbottom got the nastiest bite from a thestral. Madam Pomfrey was so angry!” he laughed, shaking his head.
James laughed too and shuddered. Acromantulas were giant spiders that fed on human flesh. He had no idea the were some in the forest; that was probably why it was off limits. “What’s a demiguise?” he asked.
Arthur shrugged. “I’ve never actually seen one. Kind of similar to monkeys but with long fur. They're practically invisible and can see the future so they're nearly impossible to catch, but very valuable. Their fur can be used to make invisibility cloaks,” he explained.
“Cool!” James said. He had always wanted an invisibility cloak but knew they were incredibly rare and had never seen one.
He thought of The Tale of the Three Brothers, a children's story his father used to read to him about a man with an invisibility cloak that would hide him from death. As a kid he used to run around with a blanket on his head pretending it was an invisibility cloak.
How cool would it be to have a real one! Maybe he could get Remus to help him catch a demiguise. James had seen him run impossibly fast the night before. He must know some kind of charm for speed. He could teach him and Sirius. With all three of them running that fast James bet they could do it.
“Don’t even think about it,” Arthur laughed, noticing James's gaze wander toward the forest. “Remember the acromantula.”
“Right,” James said, feeling a little less eager. Last night they had all been scared out of their minds by a barking dog; they probably weren’t ready to face any flesh eating spiders quite yet. Maybe in a couple years when they had learned more magic.
“Can I still do my detention?” he asked.
“Oh yeah,” Arthur said. “I forgot about that. Let's head back to the dormitories. We can both change and then I’ll show you what to do.”
When they got to the common room, however, they found it was packed full of students all in a right state of panic.
“Oh, thank goodness!” Molly, the pretty, slightly bossy prefect gasped when they walked in. She pressed a hand to her chest in relief. Her curly red hair, which she normally wore up in a ponytail, was a wild mess and she was still in her nightgown.
“Thank goodness! You found him!” she said to Arthur then rounded on James. “What happened? Where were you and where are Sirius and Remus?” she asked.
“They were helping Hagrid,” Arthur explained, putting himself in between James and Molly. Then he turned back to James. “Are Sirius and Remus still with him?” he asked.
James nodded.
Molly looked more angry. “Of course!” she exclaimed, waving her hand in frustration. She turned back to James. “When did you leave? None of the portraits saw you go.” James forgot that the portraits were an extra layer of security since they could talk. That was going to make future excursions more difficult. The prefect wasn’t finished with her rant. “No one knew where you were and we couldn’t even get the teachers’ help because they’re all in a meeting. We’ve been looking for you for hours!”
“We left last night,” James confessed, figuring he’d better be honest if the portraits had already turned on him.
Molly looked shocked then she glared at Arthur. “You didn’t check to make sure they were in their beds?” she accused.
Arthur shrank a little, looking ashamed. “I forgot,” he admitted.
“Forgot?” she said, like she didn’t understand the word. Her eyes narrowed and she stepped forward, her voice a deadly whisper. “You are a prefect, Weasley. A prefect! One of those boys could have died and it would have been your fault.”
He stepped back, raising his hands defensively. “I know! I’m sorry. It won’t happen again,” he promised.
“It had better not,” Molly said, crossing her arms. “And I’m telling McGonagall about Hagrid. He can't be getting first years to help him in the middle of the night. I can’t even believe it! I've about had it with him. First years! He should know better!” she said.
Arthur looked panicked. “I’ll talk to Hagrid. Let's not get McGonagall involved,” he said.
Molly’s eyes widened in shock. “She’s head of Gryffindor house. She needs to know.”
Arthur looked frustrated. “Yeah, but you know her. She’ll take all the points from Gryffindor and then we’ll never win the house cup.”
“The cup!” Molly raged. “I don’t care about the cup! As prefects, Arthur, it's our job to report this to McGonagall.”
James felt nervous. If Hagrid was confronted he would certainly explain that he had found them already on the grounds after curfew.
“Molly, please,” Arthur begged. “I can’t stand to see Slytherin win again. Especially now. We need to win. Show them that they're wrong. Wrong about Muggles and pure-bloods being better and all of it.”
Molly bit her lip looking conflicted.
Arthur pushed harder, seeing he could win. “I know you want the cup as much as I do. You work so hard and you earn more points than anyone. It won't happen again. I promise.”
Molly sighed but her cheeks were a little pink.
“Alright,” she relented. “But make sure you do talk to Hagrid.”
Arthur grinned. “I will. Thanks, Molly, you’re the best!”
She shook her head and walked away, but she looked like she was fighting back a smile.
“Thanks,” James said to Arthur.
“No worries, meet you back here in a few minutes,” he said then headed for his dormitory, running up the steps two at a time.
James walked over to Lily and Poppy who were standing in the corner.
“What happened?” Poppy asked, looking amused.
“Were you in Hogsmeade?” Lily whispered anxiously.
“I’ll tell you later,” James promised. The common room was still full of people, including the prefect Molly who was giving him a suspicious look. James headed up to his own dormitory and changed into new robes then met Arthur back in the common room. He led him past the Great Hall and down a staircase to a stone corridor James had never seen before. It was brightly lit with vibrant paintings of food on every wall. Arthur grabbed a feather duster from the broom cupboard and handed it to James.
“Just dust all the portraits and you can put the duster back in the bucket when you're finished.”
“Alright,” James said and Arthur left him. James didn’t really mind doing his detention alone. It had honestly been kind of funny doing chores with the other students. They felt like a gang of criminals, each asking each other what they were in for. James couldn’t help but notice that most of them had been sent by McGonagall, but it had started to feel embarrassing when they all finished and James had to keep coming back. Fabian Prewett, who had sorted Potions ingredients with him in Slughorn's classroom after McGonagall had caught him with a lumisprite in a jar he had snuck from Care of Magical Creatures, was shocked when he returned a week later for skipping class to find that James was still serving under the same sentence. So he was just relieved to finally be done.
James didn’t really see the point of dusting the paint as there wasn’t a speck of dust on them but he obediently brushed the duster across every inch, going through the motions because all he really wanted to do was take a nap and he couldn’t go back to the common room until he had been gone long enough to finish the job. His stomach growled as he brushed over a painting of strawberry cream tarts. James hadn’t eaten since dinner and was looking forward to lunch. He should have grabbed some of the fudge his mom had sent him while he was in his room.
James had never been in this part of the castle before but he knew it was close to the Hufflepuff common room. He wondered vaguely what their common room was like. He’d have to ask his mom when he wrote to her tonight. He had kept his promise and had written to her every day. She and his dad would always write him back. Everyone made fun of how often James got letters and parcels. It helped him feel less homesick but also made him feel a little guilty. Sirius had gotten nothing from home since arriving at the castle, though his mother’s owl often sent stuff for Regulus. Remus got an occasional letter but never a parcel. Though Sirius acted like he didn’t mind that his parents were ignoring him James knew that he did. How could he not? Though James always shared what he got with his friends he felt bad every time an owl landed in front of him at breakfast. It felt like cruel reminder to his friends that no one had sent them anything. Maybe would explain the situation to his mom. He knew it would be hard for her to stop sending him things but felt she could understand.
James jumped, startled, when he heard a giggle. It was high pitched, almost like a child's laugh. He looked around. No one was in the corridor. The laugh had sounded like it had come from right in front of him. The painting he’d been dusting was a bowl of fruit. As he watched, a green handle appeared on the front of the pear. He had completely forgotten. Had been so distracted by his tiredness he hadn’t even noticed the pear. He had almost given hope of ever finding it.
James gripped the handle and swung the door open, revealing a massive room with a high ceiling and shining brass pots and pans. The room was very similar to the dining hall with four large tables stacked high with food identical to the house tables above. When the door swung closed behind a dozen small faces turned to see who had just entered. “House-elves!” James exclaimed excitedly. The little creatures all shuffled forward.
“We is house-elves, sir,” the smallest one said with a little bow.
“Do you make all the food?” he asked.
The house-elves all nodded proudly.
“We do. We does that, sir,” the little one said, bobbing up and down with excitement. She was so cute with little pointed ears and beady eyes.
“It’s very good,” James said, bending down to their level and looking at each of them. The house-elves all beamed. A few of them split off and grabbed plates. They filled the plates with food from the tables and came back to him, offering it with heads bowed. “Thank you!” James said, accepting a raspberry tart and looking suspiciously at the chunks of meat floating in the stew and wondering if they came from the same roosters he had spent all night preparing. “Umm, you don’t have to hold it,” he said, feeling awkward as he realized that the house-elves intended to just stand there with their arms raised like human tables until he finished the five course meal they had brought him.
“We don’t mind, sir,” squeaked one, his voice a little lower. He was thin with distinctive white eyebrows and little tufts of hair coming out from under his ears.
“I actually didn’t come for food,” James said.
The elves' ears drooped and they lowered the plates, looking offended.
“It’s really good!” James added quickly. “But I actually came to meet you guys.”
“Us?” squeaked the one holding a dessert tray.
“Yes, you,” James smiled and the elf blushed. “What’s your name?” he asked.
“Ginger,” she squeaked.
“Well, Ginger,” James said, smiling at her. “Can I get your help with something?” James knew a bit about house-elves. His mom had always wanted one but his father had always been against it because he disapproved of how they were treated by the wizarding community. Because no one paid house-elves for their work. They took great pride in their service and saw any personal reward or incentive as evil and offensive. James figured the only way he would be able to get the house-elves to let him help them was to make them believe that they were doing him a service.
“Certainly,” Ginger perked up, looking excited.
“Well, you see, I’m trying to find something and I’ve been given a few clues and tasks and in order for me to get a clue I have to accomplish the task first. The task I was given was to do something to help each of the Hogwarts cooks to thank them for all the hard work they do. Could you tell me what you want? Something I can help you with so I can get my next clue?”
Ginger looked up at him wide-eyed. She looked fearful but maybe a little excited. But the old house elf with the white hair cut her off before she could respond. “We are house-elves. We are not helped; we is doing the helping, sir. Your gratitude is sufficient help enough.”
“And what your name?” James asked.
“Soot,” the elf said
“Well, Soot, the only way to help me is to let me help you. There has to be something you want. It could be anything: a blanket, a massage, a day off.”
They all gasped. “House-elves do not take days off!” one shouted angrily.
“Then it doesn't have to be that. But everybody wants something,” James said.
“Not us,” Soot insisted, but looking at the other faces James knew that was a lie. Some of them looked like they wanted to ask for something but were scared to say it in front of Soot.
“Well, why don’t you think about it?” James said. “I’ll come back tomorrow and I’m going to keep coming back until you tell me, until everyone tells me what I can do to help them,” he declared.
A house elf with a massive bowl full of sugared cream ran over. “Goodbye, sir,” he squeaked, offering the bowl.
“Thank you! See you all tomorrow,” James promised. A few elves were pushing on his legs, trying to force him out, but the little one was smiling and a couple others were looking hopeful.
“And thanks for all the food,” James added as a few of them closed the door, shutting him out.
Sirius felt a lot better after having showered and put on new robes. He and Remus had come back to the common room and sat in a corner explaining last night's adventure to Poppy and Lily. They were a good audience, gasping and gagging and looking shocked at all the appropriate times.
“I wonder who did kill the roosters, though?” Poppy said.
Lily nodded, looking troubled. The common room door burst open and James walked in holding a tray of delicious looking cream pies.
“Gryffindors!” he announced. The whole room turned to look. He grinned. “Who wants some?” he asked, setting the silver platter on the round wooden table.
Everyone got to their feet and ran forward. Including Sirius who made his way through the crowd and grabbed a lemon one. It was good. It was cold and the crumbling buttery golden crust perfectly complemented the tangy cream filling that was velvety smooth, the perfect blend of sweet and sour so it felt both indulgent and refreshing. Sirius reached for another.
“Where did you get these?” Molly the prefect asked James suspiciously.
“Dumbledore,” James said quickly.
Molly perked up. “Oh great, is the meeting over?” she asked.
James shoveled a raspberry tart in his mouth and shook his head.
“No, they were just on break. He saw me walking past and gave it to me,” he said, gesturing at the platter.
James was not a good liar he looked far too guilty and Sirius would have bet everything he owned that he had not gotten that platter from Dumbledore. He was definitely hiding something but Molly seemed satisfied. She sighed and no longer looked suspicious as she took the chocolate cream tart Sirius had been about to grab. James smiled at Sirius and motioned for them to follow him outside. They did, curious about what he wanted to talk about.
“I found the pear!” he said as soon as the door shut.
“Where?” Sirius asked.
“On a painting in a corridor under the Great Hall. I’ll show you tomorrow. Today we need to go to Hogsmeade.”
“Why?” Remus asked nervously.
James grinned. “To get presents for a bunch of house-elves.”
Poppy squealed. Of course, Sirius thought, of course the Hogwarts cooks were house-elves. He should have realized.
“What are house-elves?” Lily asked.
“They're so cute!” Poppy said, bouncing on her heels. “So sweet and tiny with pointed ears. You will love them.”
“Let’s all go change and meet at the mirror in five minutes.”
It took a lot longer than five minutes by the time they were all ready. People had started heading to the dining hall for lunch and they decided it was better to eat first. So it was late afternoon by the time they actually arrived in Hogsmeade.
“Alright,” James said after they’d made their way up the trapdoor. They waited in the trees as he passed them each a handful of gold. “I think it will be faster if we split up. We’ll meet back here in an hour.”
They all agreed and ran for the streets. Sirius had originally planned to go to Honeydukes but James and Lily were already headed in that direction and Sirius thought it was best to get a variety of presents so he started heading for Zonko’s Joke Shop but saw Remus walk inside. So instead Sirius walked down the dirt alley between two fences away from the central road until he stumbled on a little shop made mostly of glass with a pointed roof and hanging wooden sign on the door that read The Wandering Willow: Charmed Relics and Botany.
Sirius walked towards it and grabbed the smooth wooden handle. The door was made of a rich reddish wood he thought might be mahogany but as soon as he stepped in, Sirius forgot about the door, he forgot about the house-elves, he forgot about everything. The shop was covered with lush greenery. Shelves lined the walls filled with magical plants, or mysterious artifacts, misty crystal orbs, jewels or small brass trinkets. The ceiling was adorned with hanging vines, their leaves gently swaying. There was the soft sound of rushing water that flowed from a magical waterfall into a rock pool full of fish and the air was infused with the delicate scent of blooming flowers, but none of that was what made him stop in his tracks. Because sitting behind a wooden counter adorned with dried herbs and potion ingredients was a woman. The most beautiful woman Sirius had ever seen. She had long red hair with creamy smooth luminescent skin, high cheekbones and deep blue eyes. The woman wore a blue fitted dress and she radiated beauty like she was actually shining. With light. Sirius had never been known to lose his head but this woman was breathtaking. She couldn’t be real.
She smiled at him and her eyes changed from a deep blue to a vibrant green, reminding him of a forest or a jungle. “Welcome,” she said and her voice was like a song and suddenly Sirius understood why sailors would throw themselves overboard for a siren. Her voice drew him closer. He wasn’t aware of walking over but found himself at the front of the counter. He set down the whole allotment of gold James had given him for the elves. She would want it right? If she ran a shop then she wanted gold. He wanted to make her happy. The woman smiled and her green eyes were now a sparkling purple. She lifted her slender hand to take the gold but another hand covered it before she could.
It was Poppy. The woman’s beautiful eyes turned to fiery orbs, her delicate features contorted with fury, and her hair stood up as the air around them began to crackle with electricity, shocking Sirius out of whatever trance she had held him in. Poppy yanked him by the arm and dragged him to one of the shelves in the back of the shop, far away from the woman with long shimmering hair that shone like molten gold.
Poppy handed him back the coins. “This is gold,” she whispered, “and it belongs to James. He wanted us to get stuff for the house-elves. We probably shouldn’t just be giving it away,” she laughed.
Sirius shook his head to clear it. “What happened?” he asked, feeling a little embarrassed now he could no longer see the woman. He tried to look back but Poppy blocked his view.
“Don’t look at her. She's a Veela. It was clever of them to put her at the register.” She smiled and shook her head. “And people won’t be able to complain because of the Creature Rights and Workplace Equity Decree. It’s almost evil but brilliant.”
Sirius had heard of Veela, magic beings that were said to hypnotize people with their beauty. Sirius had always thought it was kind of a joke but he didn’t think so anymore.
“Come look at these,” she said waving him over to a little row of plants in animated pots. Some were blinking up at them and a few were snoring. “Aren’t they cute!” she gushed.
Each plant cost only two Sickles. Sirius picked up a plant and eyed it skeptically. He was suspicious of this shop after what had happened with the Veela. “Yeah they're cute but kind of useless.” The plant glared back at him as he set it down. “Do we really want to give the house-elves more work?”
Poppy pointed at a small wooden sign that read Self Watering. “I’m getting some.” She grabbed a basket from one of the other shelves and set the plants gently inside.
“I wish they had a blue in Remus’s size,” a woman sighed.
Both Sirius and Poppy looked to where the voice had come from. Through the leaves of a tall shrub they could see a pretty woman who had just pulled a boy's shirt off the rack. She had dark hair and was wearing a pink sweater.
A man, likely her husband, was standing beside her in a gray suit. “He’ll be fine with green. He just needs something he can’t rip or he’ll be out of clothes by the end of the school year,” he said. The man’s resemblance to Remus was unmistakeable and Sirius was certain that he was his friend's father.
“I suppose,” the woman sighed, picking up a pair of gray trousers.
Poppy and Sirius looked at each other, confused. They kept examining the products around them, flying shoes, glasses that let you see things far away, and some of the misty crystal balls, waiting for his parents to leave the shop.
“Maybe the house-elves want to see the future,” he whispered.
Instead of laughing Poppy shuddered.
“You okay?” Sirius asked.
“Yeah, I just hate that kind of stuff. Like have you ever heard of a happy prophecy?”
“No,” Sirius confessed but grabbed the misty ball anyways, “but maybe they’d be happier if they were made by house-elves.” Poppy rolled her eyes as Sirius added the crystal ball to her basket.
Remus’s parents left the shop and Sirius and Poppy went over to examine the clothes they’d been looking at.
“Non-tearing,” Poppy read, feeling the soft fabric and looking confused. “Does Remus rip a lot of his clothes?”
Sirius shook his head. Not that he had noticed. He must have torn something though. Still it was odd. His father made it sound like it was inevitable Remus would destroy his wardrobe, but Remus was actually a very neat and careful kid. It made no sense, especially because after seeing his father Sirius could not deny that they were related by blood. So if he really was a half-blood, why had the dementors attacked him?
“We should probably find Remus and warn him they're in Hogsmeade so he doesn’t run into them,” Sirius said to Poppy.
“Good idea! I didn’t even think of that.”
Sirius passed his gold to Poppy so she could pay then stepped outside, careful not to look at the Veela. Poppy came out a few moments later. They checked Zonko’s first but Remus had already left. They found him with Lily and James in Honeydukes.
“Nice choice; every house elf wants to breathe fire,” Sirius said, as James added some pepper imps to his basket.
James grinned. “Maybe. And if they don’t want them then they're ours.”
A little bell rang as the shop door swung open again. “Get down!” Sirius warned as he noticed Lupin’s parents enter the shop. James, Remus and Lily all dropped to the floor obediently, with shocking promptness.
“What is it?” Remus asked
“Your parents,” Sirius whispered through his teeth.
“Oh no,” Remus said.
“Don’t worry. They didn’t see you,” he muttered.
“But they're going to come to this shelf,” Remus whispered, panicked.
“How do you know?” Lily asked, peering through the shelves.
“Jelly Slugs,” Remus said, pointing at the stack on the shelf above him. “They said they were gonna send me a package and I like Jelly Slugs.”
James pulled out a large box containing “The World’s Largest Chocolate Dragon: 5 Galleons 3 Knots.” “In here!” he said.
Remus scuttered into the hole left on the shelf and James pushed the box in front of him, standing in front of it. Lily stood up too, brushing off her skirt. They all started examining the surrounding sweets, trying to look casual. Sirius grabbed a bag of Fizzing Whizbees, sherbet balls that make you levitate a few inches off the ground. Remus’s parents, sure enough, started walking towards them. Sirius couldn’t help but notice that Remus’s mom didn’t look very sick. Her husband took a few bags of Jelly Slugs. The chocolate dragon box shuddered and James kicked it.
Remus’s mom looked over and they all froze, afraid she’d noticed. “Do you guys come here a lot?” she asked.
James nodded wordlessly. He looked so guilty. His smile was plastered on but his eyes were nervous. He was leaning against the shelf with his arms folded. He couldn’t have looked more suspicious if he tried. Luckily Remus’s mom didn’t seem to notice.
“We’re sending a package to our son at Hogwarts,” she said, gesturing at the man in a grey suit, who nodded at them. “Do you have any recommendations?”
“The chocolate’s really good and I like the toffee up front,” Poppy said quickly.
“Thank you,” his mom said with a kind smile, grabbing a couple of bars of Honeydukes’ Famous Chocolate. His dad smiled too and they both walked to the counter to pay.
The kids all watched them walk away and James breathed a sigh of relief when they finally left. He stepped away from the shelf and pulled out the box.
“That was close!” Lily said as Remus crawled out of the shelf grinning.
“Yeah,” James agreed, adding some Jelly Slugs to his basket. “I never considered we might run into one of our parents.”
Sirius laughed. “At least it was Lupin’s. I don’t want to think about what would happen if we ran into mine.” He shuddered.
“We’ll have to be more careful,” Poppy said as they walked to the register, which was fortunately run by an old man and completely Veela free. No one had any problem letting James pay for everything. He had more gold then the rest of them. Sirius couldn’t remember what his father had invented. Some kind of hair care potion? He kept forgetting, but it had left him rather wealthy and none of the rest of them had the gold to spend on over a hundred house-elves. Sirius’s family was wealthy but he knew they were mad at him. They had not even written to him since he had arrived at Hogwarts; he wasn’t about to write home and ask for gold.
“Want one?” James said, offering Remus a Jelly Slug.
“Aren’t those for the house-elves?” Remus asked.
“Some of them. We can always come back and get more,” James said, ripping open the bag and passing it around. They had a good time munching on the various of treats. Poppy made the mistake of eating a Fizzing Whizzbee, which made her levitate a few inches of the ground, and they had to drag her back through the tunnel until it wore off and she could walk again. They climbed out from the mirror, all feeling very relieved to be back at the castle and slightly sick after all the treats.