Aderic [DISCONTINUED]

Ch 18- Twenty sickles!

"Who are the judges?" Harry asked.

"Well, the Heads of the participating schools are always on the panel," said Hermione, and everyone, except Adelaide, looked around at her, rather surprised, "because all three of them were injured during the Tournament of 1792 when a cockatrice the champions were supposed to be catching went on the rampage. It's all in Hogwarts: A History. Though, of course, that book's not entirely reliable. A Revised History of Hogwarts would be a more accurate title. Or A Highly Biased and Selective History of Hogwarts, Which Glosses Over the Nastier Aspects of the School."

"What are you on about?" said Ron,

"House-elves!" said Hermione, her eyes flashing. "Not once, in over a thousand pages, does Hogwarts: A History mention that we are all colluding in the oppression of a hundred slaves!"

Harry shook his head and applied himself to his scrambled eggs.

Ron now rolled his eyes at the ceiling, which was flooding them all in autumn sunlight, and Fred became extremely interested in his bacon (both twins had refused to buy a S.P.E.W. badge). George, however, leaned in toward Hermione.

"Listen, have you ever been down in the kitchens, Hermione?"

"No, of course not," said Hermione curtly,

"Well, we have," said George, indicating Fred, "loads of times, to nick food. And we've met them, and they're happy. They think they've got the best job in the world —"

"That's because they're uneducated and brainwashed!" Hermione began hotly.

"Hermione, Helga Hufflepuff brought the house-elves to Hogwarts to work in the kitchens because they were being mistreated. Hogwarts is not a bad place to work at," Adelaide said.

"How do you know that?" she snapped

"I read it in a book...." Adelaide lied. She remembered exactly where she had read it, but there was no way she could tell them that she had read it in a 'Harry Potter fan site', is there?

"But still, they don't get wages or pensions or sick-leaves or vacations" Hermione went on

"Hermione, listen. How would you feel if someone suddenly came and made you a slave?" Adelaide said

"Why, that is atrocious!" Hermione cried.

"And you would rebel, and hate it completely?" Adelaide continued

"Same thing. The elves have been serving families and castles for centuries, you can't just go and say you're freeing them. They will revolt and hate it completely. We've gotta take it slow," Adelaide explained.

"Freedom isn't completely necessary for them, not all of them are like Dobby, but we could take baby steps to make sure that slowly their conditions improve and they receive basic respect ."

"I suppose so," Hermione said, staring into her goblet of pumpkin juice.

Harry and Ron grinned at each other. Fred and George gave Adelaide thumbs up.

There was a pleasant feeling of anticipation in the air that day. Nobody was very attentive in lessons, being much more interested in the arrival that evening of the people from Beauxbatons and Durmstrang. When the bell rang early,

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Adelaide hurried up to Gryffindor Tower, deposited their bags and books as they had been instructed, pulled on their cloaks, and rushed back downstairs into the entrance hall.

The Heads of Houses were ordering their students into lines.

"Weasley, straighten your hat," Professor McGonagall snapped at Ron. "Miss Patil, take that ridiculous thing out of your hair."