"But they shouldn't have to work like that if they don't want to," Hermione said.
"And you shouldn't have to breathe," Lichfield countered. "But that won't stop you from passing out if you tried to quit. You take away a house-elf's work and family and they'll be dead before you know it."
"How could that possibly be true?" Hermione asked, the very idea seemed strange to Harry as well. "How many elves have you seen die that way?"
"Four," Lichfield said without missing a beat. "It would've been five but one of them managed to pull through, and that took a lot of work. As strange as it seems, house-elves need to work as much as they need a family - no one knows why-"
Barchoke looked down and fiddled with his files again.
"-But it's likely the reason they swear themselves and their family to serve a wizarding one for as long as they'll have them," Lichfield continued.
"But that's slavery!"
"That's the closest term we have for it, sure," the old bailiff agreed. "But look at what they get in return. By swearing to serve not just one person but an entire group of people - that's a lot of need to go around. That makes it a perfect environment for raising a little house-elf family, doesn't it? And if the human family grows and the kids go off to form their own families, then it's a perfect route for the house-elf family to do so too while still sticking to that family."
"Th-that," Hermione sputtered, "that makes it sound like they're some sort of magical parasite that sucks up work instead of blood."
"Maybe they are," he replied with an amused look on his face and a shrug. "But letting them do our laundry seems like a small thing to sacrifice when we're talking about letting their entire race continue on for another generation."
"Now that's not to say there isn't abuse," he continued. "Dobby's proof it can happen, even if most people treat house-elves like the children they seem to be. If you want a righteous cause, if you want to go off and change the world for the better, use that, fight that, and you might even get house-elves to support the measure. But if you try to force them all to be free and find paying jobs like an adult human then you're going to have a fight on your hands because it's the worst thing that could ever happen to them."
"So what's going to happen to Dobby's old family?" Hermione asked, her fiery passion for justice reignited again. "Are they going to be punished for how they treated him?"
"No," Lichfield said neutrally. "What they did was horrible, but that doesn't mean it's illegal. What's going to happen is they get paid for their loss and Harry's gain."
"You're buying Dobby?" Hermione asked Harry with a scandalized look on her face. "That is slavery."
"Then what should I do, give him back to the Malfoys?" Harry retorted. "You were the one who said getting him away is the right thing to do. Why does it change if this is how I have to do it?"
"His family was the Malfoys?" Hermione asked and Harry knew he had scored a point on the issue.
"It's a good thing there wasn't a non-disclosure agreement in this," Barchoke said flipping through his file.
"You can look at it as paying for Dobby if you want," Lichfield said. "They certainly see it that way. I prefer to see it is as an acknowledgement, in rough and admittedly arbitrary human terms, that having a house-elf adds value to a family. Everything they do, each meal they prepare, each sock they wash, is a service they render to the family. All Harry's money is doing is reimbursing the Malfoys for losing those services for the rest of Dobby's life while he, in turn, gains them. Where the house-elf resides then becomes a moot issue."
Harry had to admit, as horrible as paying the Malfoys was, thinking of it that way didn't seem so bad.
He was drawn from his thoughts by quick repeated thud s on the iron door and a goblin sticking their head inside. It certainly looked different than any other goblin he'd seen, the facial features were less pronounced, the nose and ears smaller, but it could've been the two puffy pigtails that screamed the goblin was female.
"Secretary Trixie?" Barchoke asked with a bit of a shocked look on his face as Lichfield glanced up at the decorative line of runes along the ceiling. "What are you doing here?"
"Sorry to interrupt, Overseer Barchoke," the new arrival said lieu of a greeting. "But it's awake and bouncing around the entire office," Harry silently cringed as her voice cracked, sending shivers down his spine in the most uncomfortable way. "We really want to get him outta there."
"Yes, yes," Barchoke said with a wave, "send him in."
The goblin secretary left as quickly as her feet could carry her, leaving the door ajar.
"You sure those are charged?" Lichfield asked, pointing up to the line of runes.
"Should be," the Overseer replied, glancing up at them. "It does say 'deter intruders' and not 'prohibit' so maybe the elf's causing enough problems it let her enter."
For a moment Harry was worried Hermione would question why there weren't any female goblins working where people could see them but his concern was quickly quashed when he saw a fleshy blur fly past the door and have to double back. Dobby ran into the room with the biggest grin Harry had ever seen.
"Harry Potter!" the delighted elf cried excitedly, still in his grubby old pillowcase. "Harry Potter said Dobby would see him again and now Dobby has!"
"How are you, Dobby, are you feeling alright?" he asked, concerned for the little elf's health. Now that he was closer Harry noticed the house-elf had large circles under his eyes.
"Dobby is very tired, sir," Dobby nodded. "Dobby's been given ever so much work."
"Once he finishes with this form," Lichfield said as he slid the appropriate form closer to Harry and Barchoke produced a Blood Quill, quill, and ink from a suit pocket. "Harry can let you get some rest."
"But Harry Potter will have work for Dobby!" the elf said as Harry made his scratch with the Blood Quill, his slight wince drawing a concerned look from Hermione. "Wash his clothes, make his lunch, clean his room-"
"And how do you feel about doing all this work, Dobby?" Hermione asked as Secretary Trixie huffed up to the room and with a look shut the door on them as if to lock the house-elf inside.
"Dobby, this is Hermione," Harry said by way of introduction. "She's my - er - friend."
.....
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