Chapter 4
Harry looked around at the darkened rooms of Parkinson House, where Pansy had lived alone except for a house elf barely out of childhood.
"This reminds me of my house before I fixed it up."
"Where is your house, Leo?" Padma inquired.
"London," he answered, feeling guilty. He had always intended to have his co-workers…well, the ones he liked…over for an evening; somehow his plans never came to fruition. He would do it, he vowed, as soon as the case was resolved.
Daphne turned her attention to the trembling house elf. "What is your name?"
"Silby, miss." Tears welled up in the little elf's eyes.
"Don't be frightened, Silby," Harry assured her. "Tell me, was your mistress upset, recently? Did she have any visitors, or get any mail, that she was unhappy about?"
"No visitors." Silby shook her head. "Letters, bad red ones for a long time. When they came, Silby had to iron her hands. Other letters now. Silby doesn't know what they said."
Harry's mouth tightened. He hated the way most wizards treated house elves.
Silby began crying harder. "Where will Silby go now? Silby has no more home."
"Will you take her, Gemini?" He looked to his teammate.
"I wish I could. But the new law says purebloods are forbidden to acquire new house elves."
"What! I never heard that!"
Daphne gave him a pitying look. "Since it was largely Granger's doing, I would have thought you knew."
He scowled at her, then turned to study the weeping elf. "Kreacher!"
"Tell me, Leo, do you automatically take in every house elf who is very young, very old, or very injured?"
Harry continued rifling through Pansy's desk. "Must be my Saviour complex."
What they found was sobering: letters of rejection. Rejection of job applications, rejection of proposed marriage contracts, even rejection from former friends.
Daphne said sadly, "We were never friends, but maybe I could have helped her. I feel ashamed that I never checked. Pansy must have been miserable ever since the war ended."
"Nobody would hire her?"
"No. Most purebloods are finding it hard these days. If my name hadn't come out of that Goblet, I'd be one of them."
"What about the other departments in the Ministry?"
"It's the same." Daphne's voice was bleak.
Harry was troubled.
That night, sitting in the dining room at 12 Grimmauld Place with Ron and Hermione, he mentioned his concerns.
"Who cares?" Ron shrugged it off. "I'm not shedding any tears over them, that's for sure. When they were lolling around in their manors, looking down their noses at the rest of us, they were so sure they'd be the top dogs someday."
"They don't deserve to be murdered, Ron," Harry told his friend.
"I'm not so sure. Malfoy and Parkinson were on the Inquisitorial Squad, and so were the Carrow twins."
"The Carrow twins? Huh. Another thing the victims have in common," Harry mused.
A beaming Silby carried in the soup tureen.
"Harry James Potter! You have another house elf?" Hermione screeched accusingly.
Silby's smile vanished.
"Thank you, Silby," Harry smiled at the little elf. "That looks delicious."
He waited until she left, then turned to Hermione. "Before you say anything, Silby belonged to Pansy Parkinson and had no place else to go."
"She could work at the Ministry," Hermione insisted. "I've put through a bill to force them to pay the elves."
"Silby is happy here," Harry insisted. "Many elves prefer a single family home to a public building."
Hermione opened her mouth to argue, but was interrupted by Ron.
"Give it a rest, Hermione. No one wants to hear you boring on about house elf rights!"
Hermione's face scrunched up and turned bright red with anger.
Harry hastened to fend off another quarrel. It seemed as if every time he saw his friends lately, the event ended with bickering. It was getting old.
He mentioned what he'd learned about the discrimination against purebloods. But once again, Ron was indifferent and Hermione thought it was deserved.
"After all, Harry, for years they kept muggleborns away from the best-paying jobs, wouldn't allow them to practice spells at home, and treated them as second-class citizens."
"Still, two wrongs don't make a right. What are they supposed to live on, if it's hard to find jobs?"
"At least purebloods can no longer marry each other," Hermione said with every evidence of satisfaction. "Except for the ones like Malfoy, who squeaked in just before the law became effective!"
Ron frowned. "But suppose two purebloods fall in love?"
Hermione smirked. "Too bad. Soon no one can claim superior blood status. It's for the Greater Good!"
Her words made Harry cringe.
Hermione pushed back her chair. "I'm going to talk to Silby, and to the other elves, and explain that they have rights!" She strode off to the kitchen.
Ron shook his head. "I don't know what's got into her lately."
"Is everything okay with you two?"
"No." Ron met his eyes. "Hasn't been for a long time. I…don't think we ought to get married."
"Does she know?" Harry asked softly.
"It's awkward. We've been living together since we graduated. The family all think it's settled. My mother hints about wedding plans whenever I see her. But it's starting to feel like it's the worst mistake I could make."
"You know, you can always come and stay," Harry offered.
"Thanks, mate," Ron said gratefully. "It might come to that. I don't want to go to the Burrow, can't stay with George now that Angie's there, might need a bolt hole."
Both men were startled by a loud wailing from the kitchen, and Kreacher popped in. "Master's friend is making the other elveses cry."
Ron sighed. "I better take her home."
"So, do you think it's connected to the Inquisitorial Squad?" Harry asked his team.
"After all these years?" Daphne was doubtful.
"If we go by what the victims have in common, the next should be Millicent Bulstrode," Padma offered. "although I believe she is a half-blood."
"We don't want another!" exclaimed Marcus.
"I thought of something," said Harry reluctantly. "We know the killer is probably a skillful spell-crafter. It would be extremely difficult to erase all trace of a magical signature. So…"
"The Registry!" Daphne sat bolt upright.
"Yes," Harry admitted. "First we check the Magical Registry of Wizards and Witches for someone with the ability to create such a spell, then cross-reference that with someone who might want to. A slow process, but better than we have now. Gemini, you and I will look at the Registry; Libra, head back to Weasley Wizard Wheezes and find out if anyone there has remembered anything. And Taurus, go to Malfoy Manor and see if they can tell you anything."