With a loud pop, Tadbey appeared at the entrance for house elves at Hogwarts. The entrance was at present empty as the school year had yet to commence. With a plan in mind, Tadbey made his way to the kitchens, which were busy cleaning up after dinner having fed the entire delegation of the International Confederation of Wizardry.
The Hogwarts male house elves rush about in neat, spotless tea-towels. The tea-towels are covered with neat little black buttoned-up jackets with a darker gray vest underneath. Their spotless white cuffs are spotless with shiny button cufflinks with a gleaming H on them.
The female house elves, on the other hand, wore neat little French maid uniforms, including a little cap on their heads. Their aprons were spotless except for the engraved H in the corner of their apron. The females all wore black stockings with tiny black slippers.
The kitchen of Hogwarts is enormous. Unlike his wife, Dawn, who marveled and felt honored at seeing house elves, whose ancestors had served since the founder's time, Tadbey only felt righteous anger. The house elves of Hogwarts had never had a choice or much less the opportunity to leave. They had been here since Helga Hufflepuff's time.
Sensing the animosity in Tadbey's gaze, two house elves swiftly approached. Habbey, the male house elf, pointedly asked, "Why are you here, husband of Dawn?" At Habbey's side, Toppy, a watery blue-eyed female house elf, intently studied Tadbey, awaiting his answer.
"Have you seen the latest copy of the Daily Prophet?" Tadbey urgently asked.
"We need not, husband of Dawn," Habbey said. "We know why it is that you came, and we have no interest in participating in your cause."
Tadbey looks stunned and confused at the response. "You can all finally be free and leave Hogwarts! Why wouldn't you?"
At Tadbey's outburst, the nearby house elves scurry away lest they catch whatever Tadbey had. It might be contagious, one never knows! Madness can be infectious!
"Have you truly gone senile from serving others? It's nothing more than a grandiose farce to keep house elves as slaves beneath the feet of wizardkind!" Tadbey spat out.
Despite her diminutive stature, Toppy boldly steps forward to confront Tadbey. "Tadbey of the House of Mulciber," she solemnly said causing Tadbey's eyes to widen in shock. "We know of the terrible wrongdoings that were committed against your person by those of your house."
"Yet judge us not by your miserable standards, Tadbey of the House of Mulciber," Toppy proudly said. "We are happy to serve, and we wish to improve ourselves to better to serve. We take pride in what we do and do not see ourselves as slaves; rather, we are in a partnership with Hogwarts."
Seeing that he wouldn't be able to dissuade them, Tadbey clenches his fists. "What about those that are not happy house elves? What about those that are like me?" He fiercely asked.
Sadness and understanding appeared on Toppy's face as Habbey stepped forward and placed a comforting hand on Toppy's back. "We know, and that is why we were planning to see Nana Dina," Habbey answered.
"Come," Toppy gestured at Tadbey to follow, who had furrowed his brow in question.
Curious and wary, Tadbey followed Toppy and Habbey through the kitchen and down a winding staircase. They came to a halt at the end of the winding staircase. The door was warm to the touch, since the chamber is directly beneath the ovens of the kitchen.
Habbey knocked and said in house elf, "Nana Dina, may we enter thine nest?"
"Enter children," a raspy female house elf's voice answered, and in turn, the door swung open. A puff of warm air escaped, which was a trifle too warm for them. The three of them enter an all-too-warm chamber that is cozy and covered in piles of blankets and pillows.
"Nana Dina," Toppy warmly approached a very elderly house elf with a wrinkled face and dozens of age spots. She gently takes the elderly house elves fragile hand, which trembles from her advanced age. "We have come to ask a boon."
"Despite her advanced age, Nana Dina's earth-colored eyes are clear and bright as she turns towards Tadbey. "No, the request must come from him," she pointed with a wrinkled, gnarled finger.
Toppy obediently moves out of the way as Tadbey warily approaches the ancient house elf. "Give me your hand, young one," Nana Dina extended her quivering hand for Tadbey to place his hand therein.
Hesitantly, Tadbey does as he is told. A surge of forgotten warmth fills his limbs from the tip of his toes to the tips of his head. Without his knowledge, droplets of water trickle down his face. A soft sob escaped from him as he felt all the pain within him being released.
When Tadbey comes too, Tadbey finds his head resting on the lap of Nana Dina. Nana Dina gently stroked his head and face, humming the same lullaby his mother used to sing to him, and which his wife now sang to their child. "-May our wishes meet on dragon wings."
Raising his wet face, Tadbey feels as though he has been scraped raw from within. Yet he also felt the lightest he had ever felt in years. It was though all the anger and hurt within him had simply been drained away.
Uncertain of what to say, Tadbey opens his mouth only to close it again. "All is well, little tadpole," Nana Dina gently said.
The eyes of Tadbey widen in bewilderment and wonder. His mother used to call him her little tadpole. He had not been called by that name since the death of his mother.
Patting the head of Tadbey one last time, Nana Dina turns toward Habbey and Toppy. "I still have ears in these walls, I know what it is you seek. However, I must formally ask what it is that you seek?"
Habbey and Toppy exchange glances but do not speak, patiently waiting for Tadbey to make the request. Seeing that neither Habbey nor Toppy moves to speak, Tadbey remains kneeling at the side of Nana Dina. With great respect and awe, he humbly says, "Nana Dina, the International Confederation of Wizardry has righted a great wrong. Our kind has been granted the right to be free and remain free. But I know what unkind masters are like, and they will do all in their power to keep such knowledge from our kind. I ask for help in sharing the knowledge with our brothers and sisters in bondage."
Nana Dina gently touches the face of Tadbey. "You see our service as bondage, but it is not so."
Old disagreement flutters across Tadbey's face, but he will not protest the statement. He respected Nana Dina. He would bid his tongue silent out of veneration.
Withdrawing her hand, Nana Dina settled back against the soft cushions. "Long ago, when the realm of mortals and Spirits had yet to split, and were one, we were not as we are today. Once we were called Hobbledehoy, a halfling. We were short of stature even then, but taller than we are now."
Sadness crossed the face of Nana Dina. "Our people were led wisely, and we gained the knowledge of magic as we grew. Yet as our magic grew, there also grew dissent among our people. One side chose to reside in peace, and we-, we chose the way of power. Our people split into two, the halflings remained in the hills and forests where they had lived for generations, while we sought other lands, building great fortified cities of stone."
"As we grew in might, we willingly went to war and enslaved others." Nana Dina is full of bitterness and old pain. "When the people taken captive were of no further use to us, we sacrificed them all, including the newborn babe, using evil blood magic to further fuel our terrible might. We were truly awful, murderous beings, who held no compassion for others, delighting only in their pain and suffering."
Surprise flashed across Tadbey's face since he had never heard of such a tale before. A part of him did not believe, yet another part of him did. Why else had house elves been treated as such for centuries? It would certainly explain the ill will that others held for them.
"Having made countless enemies, an alliance was formed to counter us," Nana Dina whispered with a forlorn smile. "Outnumbered, we were finally defeated. Yet mercy was shown to the survivors, and we were cast out into the badlands in exile rather than slain."
"I am certain that if our people had humbled themselves then," Nana Dina regretfully said, "our kind would have willingly accepted us back into the fold. Instead, our ancestors felt their defeat had been unjust and swore an oath of vengeance aganist the heavens."
The gaze of Nana Dina appeared distant and faraway. "Alas, we had fallen so greatly, we no longer resembled our kin, the Hobbledoy, (halfings), not just in our hearts but in appearance. The blood magic we used had twisted our physical appearance in such manner that we had become grotesque in comparison to the fair people we once were."