Reporting for Duty
*****
Arianna finished the preparations for her bonding session with minutes to spare. They’d had to arrange a specific time to start so everyone would be on the same page of where she was and what was going on to prevent any distraction or need to abandon the efforts in the middle, thereby depriving many elves of the bond until a later point. Something she was loath to begin her relationship with them with. It also didn’t help that Eir was adamant she needed to be there, to ensure Arianna didn’t overextend herself…
But for now, she had a small table full of finger foods for herself, cushions all over the largest hall Badger’s Den had to offer, a massive table taking up one whole wall groaning under the weight of foods she had for the elves, and a massive pile of delicately embroidered pillowcases in a variety of colors and a variety of House emblems represented. Since she wouldn’t be combining the Houses, she felt it was disrespectful to ask the elves to wear the crest of any but their chosen House and so had spelled the majority of the pillowcases with one crest. A small percentage, though, were able to take more than one, or even simply switch the main one, as she wasn’t sure how they would divide themselves once she gave them the option to move households as desired.
She had no idea how they were treated by their last masters and she worried families had been separated, as was common practice with the poor creatures nowadays. Something she would remedy if possible, if only for her elves.
Eir finally marched through the doors of the room she’d chosen, face a mask of little to no emotion.
“Shall we?” she asked, tonelessly.
“I’ll be fine, Healer Eir,” Arianna said softly, trying to reassure what she could only assume was a worried goblin.
“Of that I have no doubt, witch, but it will probably be after I’ve healed your reckless behind,” Eir snapped, already setting up the potion bottle she’d brought. “I had thought that, as a Hufflepuff, I would not have to deal with such Gryffindor tendencies from you. Your brother can be forgiven, as he epitomizes that line, but this is foolhardy. As I’ve said before.”
“My core is stable, my affairs are in good hands with the goblins and the few wizards I’ve decided to trust. I’ll not wait anymore. And they could help with the audits,” she reasoned.
Eir just grumbled and Arianna gave up for the moment. The healer was bound and determined to be opposed to the whole idea and Arianna was willing to admit defeat, at least temporarily. She’d prove she was right in time. This needed to be done. And before Harry could bond his own before he went to school.
Taking a deep breath, she intoned, “I, Lady of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses Aiaia, Arcadia, Plato, Emyrs, Le Fay, and Ptolemy, Lady of the Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw, Lady of the Noble House of Evans, Heir of the Most Noble and Most Ancient Houses of Flamel, Peverell, Gaunt, Heir of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black and proxy for the Noble and Most Ancient House of Slytherin do call all house elves in service to these Houses come to Badger’s Den’s grand hall.”
*****
The kitchen of Hogwarts was normally a bustling place. House elves with no master or with no House often found themselves work in the hallowed halls, the ambient magic of the stones providing the needed control a bond often provided. Those came for sanctuary were easily enveloped in the many tasks needed to keep such a large place in working order. It was a haven for the creatures, especially once freed from sometimes vicious masters. Much like Dobby had after his beloved Harry Potter had gotten him freed from his mean Master Malfoy. Much like Winky had when dismissed by hers. Much like Kreacher would have if his Mistress had not bound him to his Masters Reggie and Sirius directly. Or if his Masters had truly been as thought, fully imprisoned and stripped of title. And dead.
Yet when Dobby was working with the Hogwarts elves to prepare for the grand feast to welcome back their little Misses and Messers to their school, he was not surprised to find that many snapped away at a call only they could hear. His Harry Potter had explained what he could when Dobby had been helping mad elfie Kreacher, but he was not prepared for the realization that many Hogwarts elves were not in fact Hogwarts elves.
Oh, so much more work for poor Dobby and the other elvies left. But he would do what he could to help the elvies getting a new master and hide from the nasty old one.
*****
The instantaneous pop of many simultaneous apparations was deafening, even with the elves softening the sound a way most magicals didn’t even consider possible. The chorused and excited greetings of some variation of Mistress were adorable and she tried not to coo at the ancient elves. Some of which were older than her great-great-great grandparents.
“Hello all,” she greeted back, bowing slightly and smiling when she received some startled looks. But it was the ones that looked both horrified and frightened for her that caused her to explain. “I will not disrespect you for your service, my wonderful elves. A bow is simple respect and if the elves who remember the customs once employed for the correct treatment of elves would please explain at another time, I would appreciate it.”
She received several nods and she noted the older ones. It would have been easy before, since they stood out well with their weathered wisps of hair and drooping ears, wrinkles covering every bit of their skin, but she noted that not all the older ones showed signs of servicing houses that maintained those customs. Some seemed positively horrified at the prospect and she made a quick note to speak with them at some point.
“Now, I assure you, I will be a lady unlike you’ve probably seen before, unless you served Circe directly, which I highly doubt. My understanding of her habits from the various accounts I’ve managed to find seem to show we shared much more than just a title. But know I will not punish you for mistakes. In fact, once we bond, I expect you not to punish yourselves overly much for what your previous masters might have demanded. I’m not naïve enough to think you’ll stop completely, but try? There is almost nothing you can do that will get me to hit you in anger, ask that you punish yourselves excessively, or free you from service unless that is your wish. And the only thing you could do to displease me is become a traitor to your House by giving secrets to our enemies. If you feel you are in need of punishment, see me and I will decide.”
She saw a few confused looks at that, but a majority just nodded obediently, some even looking gleeful at her little speech.
“Now, before I bond you all, I would like to let you know that you don’t have to bond me. If you truly desire freedom, then please ask for it. I will not begrudge you that. And if you want to bond but then go about your way and never see or serve me again, that is also an option. You will not be slaves with me. You will not be forced to do anything you truly don’t want to do. I will ask you to do some unpleasant things, but if you are uncomfortable, I will find another way. I will also not force you to serve a House you do not enjoy working for. Any and all transfers can happen upon request, even if you decide a week, a month, or thirty years from now. And that includes any family you have. I’ve a parchment on a table to the back of the room for you to list any and all relatives you’ve been separated from and I will do my best to find them and obtain them if possible. If you cannot pen the names and last known bonded family or whereabouts yourself, there is a dicta-quill available or you can ask a fellow elf. There’s much to do and many elves will be needed for my holdings. I will not protest more help. There is also food and drink for you to partake in while we proceed. There are quite a few of you and I won’t rush a bonding to get through this quickly. I won’t ask for questions just yet, because I feel you will need time to process everything I’ve just told you, but we will meet all together again after I’ve bonded any and all that wish for it. Please help yourselves to some food and organize yourselves into some sort of order to bond.”
The elves stood staring at her in shock for a good ten minutes before they shook themselves and followed her directions. Many flocked to the fresh food stuffs on the table, making quick work of passing out the small plates and taking portions of the fresh fruits, vegetables, sweets, and very little meat that decorated the long oak table. She’d adjusted it to match their shorter stature and the few furtive looks shot her way told her they appreciated it. While the younger ones were doing so, the older ones were conducting the rest into orderly lines. One was winding its way to the back of the room, the parchment already littered with scratched names and last known locations. One was towards the table and a more organized devouring of the foods. And one was forming in front of the chair she’d set up for herself, as she had no doubt she’d need to sit after a while.
“Oh, and one more thing, if anyone needs healing, please let me know, either when we’re bonding or at another time. I’ve arranged with the goblins for elf specific potions to be available and a healer is on call if needed,” she called. The hall froze for a moment, every head turning to her before the chaos started up again with eager squeaks.
By the time the noise had leveled out, there were orderly lines and elves chatting all over the large room, even as more continued to appear. Arianna was afraid she’d have to give her speech again once all the stragglers arrived, but the elves were quick to fill in the others. The line for the bondings was finally ready and snaked through the chaos to the back of the room and back, with what had to be the oldest house elf alive at the front. Foregoing the chair in favor of kneeling in front of the small body, she smiled at the awe and love she saw in the overlarge brown eyes.
“Merry meet, dear one,” she said softly, nodding to the elf but withholding her hand until the elf specified how it wanted to proceed. She would not presume to know the gender and would hold off assigning one in her mind until provided preference.
“Merry meet, My Lady Aiaia,” the elf greeted, its tone decidedly ancient and well spoken. “I am Zoe and I was the last elf born in the Aiaia holdings that still remembers your predecessor. We are very grateful for the new Mistress and I would stay there if you’d have me.”
Arianna beamed, holding out her hand to both accept the elf into the bond and to help her onto the stool a few others had brought.
“Then welcome, Zoe Aiaia, as I, Arianna Potter, do so accept the House Elf Zoe into my bond for the Most Noble and Most Ancient House of Aiaia.”
The trickle of magic from their shared skin warmed her heart and to see the practically blinding smile she received was worth the mouthful of words she would need to repeat a myriad of times yet today and tomorrow. She would have looked for a way to bond en masse, but she felt elves deserved the one on one attention for once in their lives. Too long had they been the last thought of their masters as a species and if she wanted to change that opinion, she would do it with actions. And she would start with her own.
“I’m sure we’ll have much to discuss, dear Zoe,” she said softly once the bond was complete and Zoe had been guided to the stool, a new pillowcase clutched in her hands tightly. Already, she was looking much better, more alive and even losing some wrinkles at the influx of magic into a long drained body. “I would gladly hear stories of Lady Circe and I will probably rely on you far too much to help with this lot, as that’s a curse of being the oldest,” she continued with a smirk.
Zoe chuckled for a good minute before nodding. “I do believe, Mistress, that we shall get along very well.”
“I should hope,” she answered. “We’re bonded now after all.”
She left Zoe to her renewed laughter and turned to the next in line, who was staring at the interactions in awe. Then eagerly approached when she waved the elf forwards. She repeated the same process of greeting, asking the elf’s name, then asking if they’d like to join her family, before finally bonding them and sending them off, with a new pillowcase, to occupy themselves until she dismissed the whole lot. Then again. And again. And again.
Hours went by and eventually, she did have to take her chair, apologizing profusely to the small elf Agnes at having to postpone her greeting a few short minutes while she gathered herself. Taking on so many bonds was proving to be both better and worse than she’d imagined. Eir eyed her critically each hour and was pleased at the somewhat mild drain she was suffering. It was less than they had been expecting, so far into the number of elves. But she was also making sure to speak to each genuinely, paying attention to the little tidbits of information they gave as they took the bond or requested time to decide or politely requested freedom. So her throat was starting to itch and there was only so much water she could drink to sooth it.
The efforts at respect for the elves were paying off, though, so they were well worth the loss of voice she was certain was coming. She’d taken a fair number in already and so far, only a handful had requested time to decide and two had requested freedom, but those two were ancient and wanted to see what the world had become instead of serving yet another master. They were old enough that they really didn’t need a bond to maintain their magics at the moment and she let them go with a smile and a suggestion to visit the States to start their world tour, as it had perhaps the most diverse population and was quite large. She also told them that, should they ever get in trouble or change their minds, she would welcome them back gladly. That seemed to startle the entire room, but they nodded thankfully and she ignored the tears building in their eyes. She sent one of her newly bonded elves to kindly ask the goblins for supplies for the pair and then proceeded with the bondings, completely unaware of the stunned silence around her.
When it reached true night, sometime after ten o’clock, Eir finally called a halt to the bondings. Arianna could have kissed the goblin healer, as she both wanted the entire affair over with and didn’t want to be rude. It was a heady mix and, in the end, only really detrimental to her health. Since Eir had decided to ensure the continued proper treatment of her hard work in all of them, she’d basically become the group’s healer, with Andromeda Tonks quickly taking on the role of assistant to the older and more experienced goblin. The pair of them together was absolutely terrifying, as Arianna had discovered when they found her manically reviewing for her OWL and NEWT tests. To have convinced the pair she’d be fine and therefore only garnered Eir’s protective ire, was going to be an accomplishment Arianna would celebrate for years. Because it meant the goblin only grumbled as she caught the witch’s stumble when she tried to stand, instead of hexing her for exhausting herself.
“Bed, now, for at least four hours,” Eir ordered, guiding her to the bedroom just off the grand hall they’d set up in. It may or may not have been predicted she’d be too exhausted to make it back to the master suite.
Arianna nodded tiredly, allowing the goblin to manhandle her into comfortable sleep clothes before tucking her in. She smiled at the ornery goblin but didn’t voice her thoughts. Eir would not take kindly to her notion that the goblin actually liked her. Even if it was true. Then she slipped into sleep before the door closed behind the goblin.
The next day was much the same, though they started very early and ended around the same time. The ratio of elves requesting time went up as they proceeded and Arianna suspected they’d reached the elves that had previously had difficult masters. The ancient ones, the ones sequestered away waiting for an heir that was many centuries away, had dealt with simple neglect, knowing their previous master had loved them, and eagerly celebrated the arrival of another. The rest were a mixture of abused, neglected, tortured, and demeaned. So she would not fault them their caution. If anything, she respected them for their desire to see if she lived up to her words. She knew it was an odd stance to have in the current climate, but she’d be cursed if a single elf under her care had to deal with a single bruise from her hand.
Once the elves were bonded, though, she could request their help in getting some of the holdings and properties inventoried and relieve some of the pressure on the goblins. The elves wouldn’t be able to address some of the wards or curses they found, but it would save the goblins the job of finding such things and completely remove the more mundane tasks to others much more eager for them.
So, she had a sign up sheet with Zoe, with a list of properties and tasks they could undertake. It also helped her Head Elf get to know her new charges. And the bonded elves took to the task quite well, excitedly discussing possible issues they could encounter in the older properties and making loud promises to stay safe for the new Missy! With their focus on cleaning magics and household upkeep charms, she had little doubt the properties would come around quickly. And they could access the buildings with ease, something the goblins had struggled with, since the wards were so strong on many of them and she’d only had time to release a few for the audit. Each elf team was required to have an elf that could legibly write so they could create an inventory for the records the goblins were putting together. They were also to note which properties had modern plumbing and other such conveniences that stunned some of the older elves in their marked disappearance and reappearance in the world.
When she’d talked through her idea with Ragnok last week, he’d agreed with no small amount of relief. He’d been afraid they’d be overextended for years with all the work they suddenly had to complete, an amount the Nation hadn’t seen in centuries, and Arianna had blushed sheepishly before offering to end the Recall on some of her holdings. Since most had been vacant for so long and some of the properties had seen their share of looters and graverobbers, all but the newest Houses were still in effect. But Ragnok had just laughed and shook his head. As he had explained, the Recalls were the one part they didn’t mind, since it allowed them to be quite creative in their punishments of some of the holders of the requested items and so many goblins hadn’t seen sunlight in years. If anything, the audits would need to be postponed even longer. To have elves helping with the properties and the promise of elves joining the exploration groups in her vaults afterwards? That he would gladly take.
Those elves that had requested time were given it, but she was hesitant to have them in her properties, just in case they decided to leave her service completely. An opinion they didn’t begrudge her. Instead, she sent them to the various schools around the world that used house elves in their kitchens. Since they wouldn’t be bonding to the school itself, they would not register with the headmasters and there was a good chance they’d either find employment if they decided to leave, or they’d get some good gossip from the resident elves that she could use in her efforts. And if she told them they were welcome in Badger’s Den at any time, well, the group hug she suffered was to be expected.
Finally, they were done and Arianna did not even wait for Eir’s order.
After sending the newly bonded elves off to the previously agreed upon requests, she stumbled back to her room, passed out before she’d even made it fully into bed, and slept for ten hours straight.