So, every once in a while, someone talks about how Hermione was in the wrong about spew. This chapter has Harry arrange for Dobby to explain a few things to Hermione about house elves.

Hermione Granger was sitting by herself in the library reviewing The Standard Book of Spells Grade Five when Hedwig arrived, dropped a note onto her table, and took off again.

The note simply read:|

Dear Hermione:

We need to talk one of one without being interrupted. Please meet me in the Room of Requirement right now. Use I need a place to talk one on one with Harry Potter as your request for what the room will become. I have asked the Room of Requirement to allow Hermione Granger in but no other people.

- Harry.

Suspecting that Harry was having some more extreme trouble with someone like Snape or Umbridge, Hermione quietly exited the library and walked toward the Room of Requirement.

She walked past the wall three times thinking, "I'm Hermione Granger and I need to talk one on one with Harry Potter."

Sure enough, after the third time, the Room of Requirement let Hermione in, and she shut and locked the door behind her.

"What's up, Harry?" asked Hermione, wanting to get right down to business.

"It's about your whole spew thing with the house elves, " said Harry clearly, "The long and the short of it is that it's not going how you think it is. You see, all those clothes and hats you've been leaving in Gryffindor Tower in hopes of freeing the house elves, well they haven't actually freed any house elves. Dobby has been taking everything you've been making."

Hermione looked horrified.

"How do you know this?" Hermione asked Harry urgently.

"Saw him with them all when he suggested the Room of Requirement as the place to what became our D.A. meetings. He explicitly told me that none of the other house elves will even enter Gryffindor Tower anymore because of all the hats and clothes lying around, which they find insulting, " explained Harry.

Hermione couldn't deny this. She knew that Dobby would not have lied to Harry about something like this and that Harry would not lie about something Dobby had said to him. She at least understood what the relationship between Harry and Dobby was like.

"What do I do now?" wondered a desperate Hermione.

"How about actually listening to what's really going on here and understanding it instead of insisting that what you believe is automatically right, " said Harry seriously.

"Go on then," said Hermione simply.

"So," said Harry in a crystal clear voice, "It's important to understand Dobby as an individual case instead of assuming all house elves are like him. You've used Dobby being "over the moon" about my freeing him as a reason why all house elves should be free and as an explanation for why it's what house elves actually want. The truth is, Dobby, at least in the modern era is a somewhat special case. Dobby's old masters ABUSED him. I mean, who, regardless of what kind of creature he or she is, WOULDN'T be desperate to be free of Lucius Malfoy. Lucius Malfoy is one the cruelest and most ruthless people to have ever walked the face of the earth. His story is not about house elves wanting freedom from their masters. Rather, it is specifically about Dobby wanting to be free of Lucius Malfoy. The reason that Dobby loves clothes so much is that to him, clothes represent his break from Lucius Malfoy."

Next nanosecond, Harry snapped his fingers while calling, "DOBBY!"

Dobby apparated into the Room of Requirement and sure enough he was wearing all the hats and clothes he'd collected from Gryffindor Tower.

"Dobby," said Hermione sharply, "Those hats and clothes are for the other house elves so they can be freed!"

"The other house elves is not wanting to be freed, Miss," said Dobby in his usual voice, "Most house elves is wanting to serve humans. Dobby is wanting to be freed because Dobby wants away from bad master. At any rate, you is not able to free them anyway, Miss."

"Harry freed you-" began Hermione sharply.

"Harry Potter is helping set Dobby free by tricking bad master into freeing him, but it was only by master presenting Dobby with clothes that Dobby is able to be free. If Harry Potter is presenting Dobby with clothes directly then Dobby is not being freed, Miss. House elf magic only allows the master or mistress of a house elf to set him or her free. Even if the other house elves is picking up your clothes and hats, they is not being freed, Miss. Miss is wasting her time and energy."

"I've been wanting to help house elves ever since I saw Winky being treated like shit by Mr. Crouch at the Quidditch World Cup, " said Hermione matter of factly.

"House elves is treated much better in general today," explained Dobby, "When the Dark Lord was first in power, house elves were treated like vermin. Dobby is still treated like vermin when Lucius is still his master. Life is better for Dobby without bad master. Most house elves nowadays is doing pretty well. "

"Hermione," said Harry seriously, "Dobby and Winky are isolated cases. The truth is that not only are most house elves happy, but in this particular case, the Hogwarts lot are perfectly happy with their place in life. "

"Dobby can confirm this," said Dobby bluntly, "Dobby sees the Hogwarts elves every day. They are happy and content. Miss is out of line to insist that what she wants for the house elves is actually what's best for the house elves."

"Remember what Hagrid tried to tell you about this?" Harry asked Hermione, "It's in their nature to look after humans. Make em unhappy to take their work way and an insult if yeh try ter pay em."

"Hagrid is understanding houses elves correctly," said Dobby very clearly.

"Fred and George have also tried to make it clear that the house elves are happy, " Harry reminded Hermione, "And they've actually seen the elves loads more times than you have. "

"What now?" wondered Hermione.

"Miss needs to understand that it's not her place to make the house elves' decisions for them," said Dobby, looking Hermione eye to eye.

"The problem with spew, " Harry told Hermione, "Is that you need to understand that it's not up to you to make decisions for others based on your own feelings. Trying to force freedom on the elves who don't want freedom is its own form of abuse."

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