Chapter Twelve
Changing Minds
Reign waited impatiently as Hagrid prepared the fire and gathered his supplies for their tea. He seemed to be moving slower to her. Perhaps it was just her imagination, but it seemed unusual for him. Granted, Hagrid wasn't a fast person by nature, but his behavior was uncharacteristically sluggish. But she waited. And fussed. And squirmed in her seat. By the time the tea was finished, the sun had set. Reign could hear Cypress outside chewing on bits of Hagrid's lawn. She held her warm cup in her hand and tapped the edges with her finger nervously. Hagrid took his seat and waited. It was an uncomfortable moment of silence for them. Hagrid began to doubt his plan. They had never had a moment of silence between them since they've known each other. He shifted in his seat.
"So," the sound of his deep voice made Reign jump. She pulled her fingers from the teacup and began to tap the wooden planks of the table. Her knee began to bounce up and down in anticipation. She needed to leave. She didn't want to hurt his feelings. It was the last thing she wanted to do. But she needed to leave.
"So," she repeated. Another long moment of silence. And then there was a knock. It made both of them jump. The chair screeched across the floor as Hagrid lifted himself out of it. Reign watched as he slumped to the door and opened it. There was no one there. Just the naked blackness of the night. A breeze came in through the opening and found its way up the elf's spine. She sipped her hot tea to rid her body of the icy shiver. Hagrid really did brew wonderful tea. When she set the cup back down she heard her host whispering to the night. He was talking to himself. She arched an eyebrow at his turned back.
"Harry? Is that you?" He stretched his hand out into the darkness, obviously hoping to grab a hold of something. It was ridiculous. She couldn't stay around for this. So Reign got up from her seat and dusted her clothes off. When she looked up she let out a yelp. Three young seventeen year olds stood in the doorway of Hagrid's hut.
Reign clutched her heart and gave a curious look in Hagrid's direction. He averted his eyes away from her glare and motioned for his visitors to follow him to the table. There were two boys and a girl. One of the boys she recognized.
"Harry. It's good to see you again." She gave a weak smile. Her heart was still pounding from their unexpected arrival. Harry smiled and took a seat across from her. His companions sat on either side of him.
"This is Ron Weasley," he said, motioning toward a shocking red head who smiled with one half of his mouth. He looked more confused than friendly. It amused Reign. "And this is Hermione Granger," he continued. The bushy-haired girl gave a curt nod and an apprehensive smile. "These are my best friends."
"It's a tremendous pleasure to meet you both." They smiled again, but kept their lips sealed tight. It was obvious Harry had already told them about her, and even so she didn't feel very welcome. Hagrid broke the silence by clearing his voice and getting out more cups for the newcomers.
"So what brings you three down 'ere tonight?" he asked as he banged his way around the hut.
"Oh, you know us, Hagrid. We just came down to talk," Harry answered. Ron twiddled his thumbs and Hermione stared absent-mindedly at Reign. The look in her eyes was a suspicious one. And then it turned curious.
"So you're an elf?" she asked. Every head in the room lifted up to look at her. Reign shifted uneasily, as she felt she was about to be interrogated by a teenage human.
"Yes," she said sternly. Hermione leaned forward.
"Well, I can honestly say I haven't read much about your kind." Ron and Harry looked at each other. They were shocked. Something Hermione didn't know about? What was this all about? "I'd really like to know more about you--elves, that is." She leaned back and crossed her arms. Reign relaxed a bit. She was always happy to brag about being an elf.
"Well, what would you like to know?" Hermione stared into her green eyes and replied in an almost menacing tone,
"Everything." Reign laughed. She couldn't possibly tell them everything. Elves did have their secrets, and even if they didn't, it would take years to tell them everything. So she stroked her chin and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
"Well," she placed her hands on the table and straightened up, leaning slightly forward as if she was telling a secret, "unlike humans," she glanced at the three young adults, who all raised an eyebrow at her, "who use magic. Who use a wand to do magic," she paused for a dramatic effect. Ron rolled his eyes. She was such a bad storyteller. Always trying too hard to get a reaction out of her audience. She noticed their annoyance and leaned back in her chair. And she started over.
"Unlike humans, elves are magic. We are part of the magical world, and don't need wands to perform spells. Most of the time we don't need spells to perform magic at all." Harry shifted in his chair, edging forward. He was interested. Ron seemed somewhat engrossed also. And even though Hermione would never admit it, she never took her eyes off of Reign, and never closed her ears to her voice. Reign continued to tell about aspects of elvin life. "We elves are excellent archers and swordsmen. And we're light, also. Not in the sense that we're skinny," Ron and Harry smirked at the wrinkled face Reign made when saying that word, "but we're literally light. Our bones are hollow, like a bird's. That's why we're able to jump great distances. We don't have the aerodynamics to fly, but we can jump. It allows us to walk on snow and sand and such without sinking, also." Hermione was completely hooked by this point. Ron nudged Harry and pointed to their friend, and both of them smiled as Hermione stared, unblinking, at the elf. She told them about their rituals and some of their traditions, and more of their abilities and hobbies. "We love the outdoors. Sunlight helps us grow."
"Like plants?" It was the first interruption in the one-sided conversation, and it wasn't even an intelligent interruption. Ron's faced turned bright red and he lowered his head to avoid the awkward stares.
"Yes Ron, just like plants," Reign said in a soothing tone. Ron brought his head back up to meet her warm smile. He gave a weak grin as his face returned to its normal color. But there was a silence in the room. Reign had forgotten what she was talking about. It didn't matter in the end, because as soon as she remembered Harry had already begun to speak.
"Sheesh. Are there any disadvantages to being an elf?" Reign glared at him. He was taken back by her reaction to his seemingly harmless question.
"Of course there are disadvantages to being an elf, as with any species on this planet," she tried to keep herself under control. She wasn't about to list off all the drawbacks, but she didn't want them thinking it was the perfect species either. "Besides being immortal, among other things. Don't get me wrong. Living for forever is a good deal, but it gets so old, as I'm sure you can imagine." There was a unanimous nod of heads. "We're also arrogant." The nodding stopped. Her pause worked this time. Curious and perplexed faces lifted up to her luminous eyes. "Elves have always thought themselves to be the superior race of bipeds."
"Species that walk on two feet," Hermione said, answering Ron's bewildered look.
"I know what a biped is, Hermione!" he snapped back. The girl rolled her eyes and nodded for Reign to continue.
"Elves can do whatever a human or any other creature can do, and ten times better at that. We're lean, mean, and powerful. We are the perfect specimens." She paused in her explanation, looking down at her hands. "That's why we stick to our own kind. Forming relationships with other creatures--humans, dwarves, whatever--is frowned upon in my culture. And it is strictly forbidden to marry anyone but another elf." She looked up into the faces of her audience. Hagrid looked at her with sympathetic eyes. Harry noticed the sadness surrounding her, and smiled when her eyes fell upon him. She returned it.
"How is it that you're here then?" Hermione asked, trying to change the subject.
"Well," she began, getting up from her chair, "I prefer to live by my own rules." As she stood up, she took notice of the cups sitting on the table. All of them were full. They had been too absorbed in her story to drink the delicious tea. Perhaps she wasn't that bad of a storyteller after all. She edged out from between the wall and her chair. Hermione stood up.
"Thank you for your information. That was really quite interesting." The boys glanced at each other. For once, they agreed with her.
"Well, you're very welcome. I enjoyed this evening with you all." She sidestepped to the door.
"Are you going to be sticking around for a while?" Ron piped up. "Because, well, I'm sure I speak for everyone when I say that we'd love to chat again sometime." Reign's heart sank as she looked at four hopeful faces. Hagrid's most hopeful of all. She stood fixated in her spot, with her hand still on the door handle. Then she let out the breath she had been holding while she thought hard about what she was going to say to them.
"Yes, I'll be around." Hagrid practically leapt up and hugged her. The smiles flooded in her direction as the trio rejoiced at her comment. Reign pulled open the door. "It's been really nice talking with you all. Thank you."
"Thank you," everyone chimed.
"I'll see you all tomorrow, then." They nodded, and Reign stepped outside into the cool night. Cypress raised his head from the patch of grass he had been grazing on, and Reign thought of one last thing. She stuck her head back inside and spoke to the giant. "Hagrid, you don't mind if--" she pointed to the horse.
"Of course not!" He smiled. He was so jolly. Reign gave a wave to everyone and walked away. Toward the castle, and back to her rooms.
