A/N: Written for the 2022 HMS Harmony Advent Fest!
Hermione was not doing something unusual. She was sitting in the library. So far, nothing shocking, for everyone in the school and their mothers knew how much Hermione Granger loved reading.
There was however something shocking about what she was doing in the library. For once, Hermione was not studying but researching house-elves. Again, nothing shocking. What was shocking was the loud squeal of shock she let out while reading a book, which disturbed everyone in the library.
It was shocking because Hermione was known for loving peace and quiet while reading. In fact, she was the second main enforcer of Madam Pince's rule on complete silence. For her to disturb the quietness of the library was out of this world.
"Oh my god… oh my god..!" she ventilated, her eyes wide in shock and… was it delight?
"Miss Granger!" the snappish librarian snapped. Hermione immediately slapped a hand on her mouth, silencing herself.
In a decision that took a fraction of second to form, Hermione decided to share her new findings with Harry.
Quietly, but quickly, Hermione packed her things, grabbed the shocking book and went to the counter. "Hi, can I loan this book, please?" she whispered to the librarian.
Madam Pince looked displeased - whether because of the book or her earlier outburst, Hermione didn't know. "Yes. You know the rules." the woman eventually said.
A few minutes later, Hermione was walking out of her favourite room in the castle in search of her best friend. As she turned into a corner, she collided with someone.
"Ouch!" exclaimed a voice Hermione was more than familiar with.
"Harry?" she asked, surprised.
"Oh, Hermione!" he said with a hint of relief, likely that he hadn't embarrassed himself by crashing into someone he did not know.
"What are you doing here?" she asked him.
"Was going to the library to be with my lovely girlfriend." he said with a smile, making her blush.
Hermione gave him a kiss on the cheek. "I thought you were spending the afternoon with Ron, though?" she asked afterwards.
Harry grinned. "I was, but Ron convinced himself it was now or never to ask someone to the Yule Ball and left me all alone. So, I decided to come to you." he said with a shrug. "What about you?" he then asked. "You told me you would research house-elves the whole afternoon, yet it is only three-o-clock. What gives?"
Hermione's mind went back to the reason she left the library. Her eyes lit with excitement. "Harry, I made an amazing discovery!" she told him.
"Really?" he asked, surprised. "Like… what? A way to free them?" he suggested.
Harry was the only one who took her seriously when she first went on her crusade to free house-elves. He spent a lot of time helping her in the first two months of the year - until their focus shifted to the Tournament when his name came out of the Goblet of Fire. Only he could really understand how much she would love to forever free them from their enslavement.
"No. Well, not by itself, rather."
"What did you find, then?"
Hermione did not answer him with words. With a grin, she opened the book to the right page and passed it to him. Harry took it and, after giving her a confused look, began reading aloud the part she pointed out.
"'Nobody knows how elves became house-elves. British folklore says that elves first became the house-elves, the wizard's servants, following a tragic war between the two species that nearly decimated both populations. It is said the elves were forced into servitude when they lost the war not only to force them to help rebuild the world they so nearly destroyed, but as revenge for all the lives lost as well.' Well, as much as I hate to say it, I guess I can see why some people are so opposed to freeing them." he said. "Not that I agree with them, of course." he quickly added before Hermione could get mad.
"Keep reading." she simply said. Harry nodded.
" 'However, there is not a shred of evidence that supports the existence of a war between wizards and elves. In fact, the evidence supports another theory: that the war in question took place between two groups of magical for the right to enslave the elves, which they saw as a subservient race with the power to serve them and their every need. It seems the origin of the belief that the elves were at war with wizard-kind can be traced back to the late 1700s, with words of a war emerging first around the families of those who enslaved the elves to justify their actions.'Bloody hell, that's horrible!" Harry said.
"Keep going." Hermione said. Not that Harry needed the prompting. He was too curious about the rest to stop now.
" 'It is said that the elves had a horrible curse placed on their species to force them to serve wizard-kind. The curse has been lost to time, and so has its counter-curse - if one does exist. Only one man is believed to know the true origin of the enslavement of the elf species, and the possible counter-curse. It is said this man managed to free dozens of elves once upon a time from their enslavement. Unfortunately, nobody knows who this man is, only that he is married and lives up north.'" he finished. "Uh… I don't see how this helps." Harry eventually said.
"Harry, don't you get it?" she asked.
"Get what? That this man they mentioned could know how to free the elves? That I get. What I don't get is how are we going to find them? The book said they don't know where he is!"
"Come on, Harry! Have a bit of imagination! There's a wizard out there who has the power to free elves from the curse that forced them into enslavement. It's obvious he and his wife must have gone and hidden to avoid the anger of the elves' former masters. So, if they hide from wizard-kind, who else is left to know where they hide?"
Harry's eyes widened in understanding. "You mean… you think the house-elves might know where the couple is hiding? That they were the only ones who knew and kept their secret because they were grateful for the wizard's help?"
"Exactly!" Hermione beamed.
"So, we're going to the kitchens?" he guessed.
"Exactly! Come on!" she squealed. She grabbed his arm and pulled him toward the direction of the kitchens, making him laugh.
They were soon tickling the pear of the portrait, which opened, letting them in the kitchens.
Harry started whispering to her. "How much you want to bet Dobby is going to-"
It was all he could say before he was proven right before he even had a chance to say it aloud.
"Mister Harry Potter!" Dobby shouted, running through the crowd of elves. He crashed into Harry's legs, hugging them, nearly sending him flying to the ground. Hermione snickered at the look on her boyfriend's face. "Has Harry Potter come to visit Dobby, sir?" the elf asked after letting go of him.
"In part, yes," Harry started. "But we also have a question for you. For all of you." he said, looking at all the curious elves.
"What question does Master Potter have, sir?" squeaked one of the elves.
It was Hermione who answered. "We were wondering if any of you knew about the man who freed house-elves from their enslavement, the one that lives up north with his wife. We really want to meet them, to talk to them." she said.
The elves went silent at the question and, for a brief moment, Hermione was worried they were going to kick them out. But, instead, the elves all gathered in a group and started whispering to one another.
"You think they're going to tell us?" Harry whispered in turn to Hermione.
"Only one way to find out." she said anxiously.
After a few minutes, the group went silent and Dobby, acting as their spokesperson, took a step forward. "Dobby can take Harry Potter and Hermy-o-nee Grangy to Mr. Nicholas!"
Hermione ignored the small snicker that escaped Harry's lips at Dobby's butchering of Hermione's name. She said, "The man's name is Nicholas?"
"Yes, Ma'am." Dobby said with a nod.
"Can you take us there now?" Harry asked.
"Yes, sir! Grab on!" he said, offering his arms.
Harry and Hermione traded a look before gently grabbing one of Dobby's arms each. Then, Dobby apparated them out of Hogwarts.
They popped on a field of ice and snow. Cold wind was blowing strongly around them, lifting snow powder off the ground. The sky was already dark.
"Gah, Dobby! Where are we? It's so bloody cold!" Harry exclaimed. Harry and Hermione scuttled together, not only to stay close to one another, but to share body warmth and protect each other from the cold.
"Sorry, sir, ma'am." Dobby said before snapping his fingers. Immediately, the couple felt warmth in their bodies. With the help of his magic, Dobby had raised their body temperature and protected them against the cold.
"Thank you, Dobby." Hermione said with a grateful smile. "Now, where are we?"
"The North Pole, ma'am." Dobby said.
"The North Pole?" Harry repeated incredulously. "No wonder nobody was able to find them, then."
Hermione was looking around. She was surprised to find a house - no, a manor - standing tall behind them. In fact, it wasn't just a manor, but practically a small city as it was surrounded by different buildings and tall walls. It looked like they were standing next to a city of giant gingerbread houses. Lights of various colours were visible everywhere, like the entire place was decorated the same way one would decorate a Christmas tree.
She suddenly felt faint when she realised what exactly she was looking at. Joyful, childish glee rose up in her as much as pure disbelief.
"Dobby? Who exactly are the couple who live here?" she whispered.
"Mr. Nicholas Claus and his wife Jessica." Dobby answered with a grin. Hermione started hyperventilating. This was Santa Claus' North Pole!
"No freaking way." Harry gawked, only now understanding the reality of their situation. He grabbed Hermione's hand and prompted her to move forward inside Santa Claus' village.
Hermione looked everywhere around her as they passed through the small village. She felt like she needed twelve pairs of eyes to even see half of everything they encountered. Everywhere she looked, she could see elves in green outfits doing things. Some worked, some were shopping, others were playing. Every one of them looked very happy with their lives.
It was like a dream come true for Hermione. Not only did she learn Santa Claus was in fact real - something she stopped believing when she was six-year-old, but she saw free elves living their lives as they saw fit, united together in a community. It was fantastic.
"This… this is amazing!" she said. Hermione loved Christmas. It was something Harry knew ever since the first Christmas holidays they spent together back in their first year. Seeing the awe on her face as she looked at everything around her was very endearing.
To Harry, Santa's village reminded him of both Diagon Alley and Hogsmeade. The architecture was very similar to Hogsmeade, but the layout was reminiscent of Diagon Alley. A long road of stone going through the village, with a tall building standing at the end, overlooking all the others. In Diagon Alley, it was Gringotts. Here, it was the famous workshop of Santa Claus.
After fifteen minutes of slow walking to give Hermione as many opportunities to look at every detail of the village as they could, the trio arrived at the workshop. There were two large wooden doors standing in front of them, bigger than those of the Great Hall. Harry brought his hand up to knock on them. He was surprised when they opened by themselves before he had a chance to.
"Dobby must leave you here. When sir and ma'am want to go back to Hogwarts, call for Dobby! He will appear to you." their little friend said.
"Okay. Thank you, Dobby." Harry answered on their behalf, knowing Hermione was too excited to speak. She was practically shaking in his arms. Dobby soon vanished, leaving the two of them together. "Ready to go inside?" he asked her. Hermione nodded quickly.
The couple entered the workshop. Everything inside was dark, meaning they could see little but the ground directly in front of them.
"Isn't there any light somewhere?" Harry asked.
At his words, a spotlight lit up, pointed toward the other end of the workshop where a large, comfortable throne was located. And, on this throne sat a burly man with a long white beard who wore round glasses, a red bonnet and an equally red coat and pants. Hermione started hyperventilating again.
"It's- It's-" she tried to say.
"Santa Claus!" Harry finished for her, himself looking at the mythical figure in awe.
"Ho ho ho," the man chuckled upon seeing them. "I have been expecting you." Santa Claus spoke.
The couple gave a start upon hearing his words. "You know about us?" Hermione asked.
The man chuckled again. "I know every child in the world, my dear Hermione." he said, making her inhale in surprise.
"How did you know we were coming?" Harry asked Santa.
Santa chuckled a third time. "I am Santa Claus, young Harry. I have certain powers other witches and wizards could only dream of-" He suddenly stopped in the middle of his explanation when he was slapped in the back of the head. An old woman walked out of the shadows.
"Stop messing with the children, Nicholas." the woman said, looking at him with narrowed eyes. The man looked very sheepish at her words. The woman then took out her wand and waved it toward the ceiling. At once, various light bulbs lit up everywhere until the room was completely lit.
She then turned toward Harry and Hermione. She wore very similar clothes as Santa did. There was little doubt who she was. "Hello, dears." she said. "Don't mind my husband. He likes his flair for the dramatic. I am Mrs. Jessica Claus, and this is my husband, Nicholas."
"Nice to meet you!" Hermione squeaked. She couldn't believe she was standing in front of Santa Claus and his wife!
"I'm Harry, and this is Hermione."
"I know, my dear, for I have foretold it." she said with a warm chuckle of her own.
"What do you mean, Ma'am?" he asked.
"I am a seer, Harry. I am able to see the future. This is how my husband and I knew you would come today, no matter what Nicholas might like to pretend." she said, sending another small glare at the man, who grinned, amused. "Now, why don't you come with us, my dears?" she asked. "I made dinner for four."
"Dinner? At three in the afternoon?" Harry asked, surprised. Mrs. Claus grinned.
"It is three-o-clock in Britain. But here, it is six in the evening. Now, would you like to attend dinner with us?"
"You- you're inviting us to eat with you?" Hermione squeaked, her eyes wide.
"Of course." Santa spoke for the first time since his wife slapped him in the head. "You are our guests."
"I- thank you." she said, swallowing. At this point, Hermione was convinced she was dreaming. It was a much better dream than when she dreamed that the school suddenly needed to call exterminators to kill a bunch of thermite bugs which were slowly eating all the wood in her dorm room.
No, she had no idea where the dream came from either.
Santa stood up from his throne. "Follow my wife, she will show you the way." the man said.
The young couple nodded and did as the bearded man said.
Half an hour later, the two couples were sitting together around a square table, eating a succulent meal of turkey, meat pie, green peas, gravy and bread.
"You said earlier that you knew every child in the world. Is that true?" Hermione asked. After thirty minutes, her shocked silence had vanished, leaving place to loud curiosity.
"Of course." Santa answered, taking a sip of butterbeer, a beverage they imported from Britain. "It is the same way your school knows when future students are born. We have a magical book that records the names, ages and addresses of children."
"This is fascinating." Hermione said, awed. "And do you travel to every child's house with your sleigh? That seems impossible!"
Santa chuckled. "You are right, my dear. It is impossible to visit every household in one day."
"Then how-?" Harry asked.
"Magic, my dear Harry. Magic ." Mrs. Claus said.
"Of course. How did I miss it?" he asked sarcastically, rolling his eyes.
"Harry!" Hermione chastised while the others chuckled.
"It's quite alright, my dear." Santa said to Hermione. He then turned to Harry. "In reality, about 95% of all gifts are sent to homes either with portkeys or - if impossible - through the Floo. The last 5%, which can't be delivered magically for one reason or another, are the gifts I deliver myself on Christmas night. And even with the help of a time-turner, it nearly takes an entire Earth's rotation to complete." he said.
"Damn." he said.
Santa smiled. "It is a lot of work. But it is always worth it, in the end. Sometimes, I like to visit households on Christmas morning dressed as a regular man and observe how children react to their presents. Their beaming smiles always make everything worth it."
Hermione was smiling in happiness. However, Harry was looking down at his plate with a frown. Mrs. Claus noticed this, and her eyes dropped in sadness, knowing the reason why.
"Santa?" Hermione said, suddenly remembering the reason for their visit. "Harry and I, we're came here for a reason."
Santa leaned back in his chair, a knowing look in his eyes. "You want to know how to free the house-elves."
Hermione nodded. "Can you tell us?" she asked.
Santa let out a sigh. "Do you know how house-elves came to be enslaved in the first place, Hermione?" he asked her.
Hermione shook her head. "No. There are some theories on how it happened. Most believe a war between wizards and elves took place and the elves were enslaved as a result. Others think that it was actually two groups of wizards that fought each other to enslave the elves for themselves. All the details are vague or non-existent, but everyone seems to believe a war took place and the elves were enslaved as a result."
Santa was silent for a moment, looking like he was thinking what to say. Mrs. Claus sat next to him, offering him silent comfort. Harry could tell something though, Santa looked awfully ashamed of himself. He couldn't figure out why.
"All I will say for now is that no war took place." he said, surprising both. "Let's finish dinner. I will tell you once we are sitting more comfortably."
The rest of the dinner was eaten in relative silence. Once they were done, the two couples moved to sit on couches in front of the fireplace.
"Now, there is something you have to know beforehand, Hermione, Harry." Santa began, running a hand through his hair. "The Santa Claus you know, the Santa the entire world knows, is not a real person."
"What do you mean?" Harry asked, standing straighter.
"I think he means that there is more to his life than simply giving gifts." Hermione said. Santa nodded.
"I wasn't always Santa Claus." he began. "For the first twenty-years of my life, I was simply Nicholas, the village boy, who fell in love with Jessica, a girl from the village." There was a pause where he looked like he was trying to get the words out. "What I am trying to say is that I wasn't always a good person. Santa, the man with the life mission to bring joy to children, was built on the back of a number of awful mistakes Nicholas the village boy made in his early days."
"What you need to know about the elves is that they are a relatively recent discovery," he said. "When I grew up, elves were as much a legend to us witches and wizards as they are to muggles nowadays. They simply did not exist back then. At least as far as we were aware."
"When were they discovered?" Harry asked.
"It happened when I was twenty years of age. I remember this time…" Santa said, closing his eyes in regret. "I was friends with a bunch of boys from our village. All sons of farmers, of millers, of shoemakers. Children of parents who had low trades and could only gather enough food and money to survive the winter. We didn't like this life. We wanted a way out. We didn't go to Hogwarts, you see. We knew magic, but only what our parents could teach us. It meant we really weren't qualified for any type of work in the magical world. Yet, all of us believed we were destined for a greater purpose. Following in our parents' footsteps, we found it demeaning. We were stuck.
"One day, my friends and I were exploring the forest near our village. It was a forest we were forbidden from visiting, for we were told it was filled with unimaginable dangers. Every year, something dangerous came out of the forest. Some danger came out to mess with us. One year, it was acromentulas. Another year, it was werewolves. We were living on the edge of a dead trap, and we all knew it."
"Why didn't you move?" Hermione asked quietly.
"Because of money, of course." Santa said. "We didn't have the resources and money to fund a relocation of the village. Not only that, but it wasn't guaranteed we would find a new place to settle. Our village had a dangerous forest nearby, but we could at least make ends meet, and protect ourselves from the dangers of the forest.
"You might wonder why my friends and I decided to explore the forest. Well, I said that every year, something dangerous came out of the forest to toy with us. But it wasn't true that year. Or the year before. Nobody could understand what changed but, one day, the dangers simply stopped. So, we decided to find out for ourselves."
"But that's dangerous!" Hermione exclaimed. Santa smiled.
"I am aware of that, my dear. However, I didn't care back then. I was stupid. Arrogant. I thought I could handle myself, that no danger was greater than I could protect myself from. As it turned out, I was right. All the dangers that plagued our village, they were all gone. The forest was silent. And there was a good reason for it. We made an amazing discovery that day."
"The house-elves." Harry said. Hermione's eyes went wide.
"Exactly. That's the day we discovered the elves." he said with a tiny smile.
"You… you discovered them?" Hermione gawked.
"Me and my friends did, yes. We were quite surprised. There was no tale of such creatures in living or written memory." he said. "Yes, here, in the middle of the forest, stood a group of elves. It was a miracle."
"Did someone create them?" Hermione asked.
Santa started laughing. "No… no… They manifested. Like a flame. They weren't really from anywhere. The conditions were right, and they came into being. Wizard-kind forever dreamed of elves with power living in woods. We were the ones to find them, in our local forest. Profoundly naive. Unimaginably kind." He chuckled. "It was spectacular."
"For so long, my friends and I looked for a purpose in our lives, something to take us away from the monotony and shame of soiling ourselves to grow enough food not to starve during the winter. The elves gave it to us. They could do with the snap of their fingers what would take us hours to do with our limited magic. And they did it better."
He suddenly stood up to walk in front of the fireplace. He looked into the fire. "They changed our world. The elves had the power to take over the world. Yet, all they wanted was to help us. Soon, the elves were taking care of most of the work in the village, in exchange for a warm place to stay and a cut of the food. It satisfied most of everyone. Elves had supplies of food and warm shelter and our village gained more money and had more free time to spend on themselves rather than their work. Everything seemed perfect." he finished morosely.
"Then what happened?" Harry asked.
"We did. We happened." Santa said bitterly, not looking at them. "I told you my friends and I looked for a greater purpose in life. Meeting the elves helped remove some of the responsibility we did not like off our shoulders. However, it wasn't enough for us. The elves had immense power. An immense potential. They had the power to take over the world if they wanted to. Do things witches and wizards could only dream of. We wanted that power for ourselves." he said, sounding more and more ashamed with each sentence.
It was Harry who got it first. " You enslaved them." he muttered in shock. Hermione gasped and looked at Santa, pleading with her eyes to tell her it wasn't true, that the great Santa Claus had nothing to do with the enslavement of an entire race. But the way the man's shoulders dropped in guilt was enough of an answer.
"No…" Hermione said, shaking her head. "It can't be true. It can't be!"
"I told you, Hermione." he said quietly. "Santa Claus is built on the back of terrible mistakes Nicholas the village boy made. This is my largest mistake."
"I can't believe it." she whispered, tears in her eyes. "The elves here, are they-?"
"Enslaved? No. They are all free. All here because they chose to." Mrs. Claus answered for her husband.
"But why?!" Hermione exclaimed. "Why would they willingly follow a man who enslaved their species?!"
Santa sighed. "This is the second part of the story I want to tell you," he said. "I didn't realise how terrible our actions were at the time. I only say in the elves a way to improve our lives. Not theirs. Not until it was too late. I doubt I would even have realised the horror of my actions if it wasn't for Jessica." Said woman gave him a small smile. "I told you how I was in love with Jessica when I was young. Well, before we met the elves, I was courting her with the permission of her father. I was so in love with her, it was mental. When we discovered the elves, Jessica was in the mind that they should be paid for their work.
"I thought like you, Hermione." Mrs. Claus spoke, gaining the attention of the young woman. "I thought the elves deserved to be remunerated for their own work. That they deserved more than food and shelter when we ourselves got more out of it. With money, they would be able to buy resources we didn't produce to improve their own lives. It was what I thought at the time, and I was sure Nicholas thought the same. So colour me surprised when he and his friends appeared one day announcing they placed a curse on the house-elves to make them our servants." she said.
For a brief moment, Mrs. Claus' expression was terribly reminiscent of the one Professor McGonagall wore whenever something a student did angered her.
"Yes…" Santa sighed. "Jessica was furious with me. She publicly denounced our love and broke off our relationship. Worse, when I returned home that day, it was to hear my parents were kicking me out. They too thought like Jessica. They were honest people who wanted to do honest work. They couldn't understand why their son was willing to enslave an entire race. They couldn't look me in the eye and wanted nothing to do with me. It's ironic, really. In wanting to gain ultimate power, I lost everyone who was dear to me. Jessica and my family. Now, all I had were friends, and my house-elves.
"Through the months that followed, I helped my friends set up shop and sell house-elves into servitude to rich witches and wizards." he said with a sad tone. "But, it wasn't something I enjoyed doing. Every time I saw the resignation in an elf's eyes, every time I saw families being separated from one another, my guilt grew. Eventually, I couldn't take it any longer. I needed to correct my mistake. I needed to give the elves their freedom back. I needed to earn my loved ones' love back. Even if it meant stabbing my loyal friends in the back.
"I was one of the creators of the curse that forced elves to do our bindings, you see? So, I created a counter-curse, one which would free them from their affliction. The counter-curse is not giving clothes to them, as you might believe it. That only ruptures the connection between master and servant, without which the curse will slowly drain the life out of the elf until they are dead. No, I developed a counter-curse which gave elves their lives back. Then, one night, I acted.
"While my friends were all home sleeping, I cast the counter-curse on all the elves in our possessions and freed them. Then, I stole all the money we'd gained selling them. I thought it would be better used to give elves new lives than to pay for my former friends' luxuries. I'd already planned to build a village for them. One where they could live into without worrying about serving anyone.
"That night, I snuck in Jessica's home and told her everything I did and everything I was going to do. I wanted to open my heart to her, be completely honest and truthful to her, if only so we could both have closure. I didn't expect her to really understand. I thought she'd yell at me and order me to leave her life. To tell me it was too late. It was what I deserved, after all."
"But I didn't." Mrs. Claus spoke. "I could see how much self-loathing he held. I could see he terribly regretted his actions and wanted to make amends. And I decided to help him." she said with a smile.
"And what a surprise it was. Jessica wanted to come with me. Wanted to help me. I think I fell in love all over again." Santa said with a smile. "I didn't have as much luck with my parents. They still refused to talk to me, and I decided not to bother them any longer. So, we left."
"Where did you go?" Hermione asked. Her tears stopped flowing once Santa spoke of his regret and his actions to amend.
"I needed to find a place for the elves to settle first. It needed to be far away from our village, or my former friends could find us and enslave the elves again. It was Jessica's idea to come here to the North Pole. Nobody would think to look for us here in the cold and ice, especially since it was known in our village that the reason the elves helped us was to find warm shelter. With magic, it wasn't that hard to build our own small village. Jessica was a much more proficient witch than I was. She was the only one of us who attended Hogwarts, the tuition fee was paid by her grandfather, I believe."
"It was." Mrs. Claus said with a smile. "His family descended from old money. My great-uncle didn't approve of my mother's marriage to a muggle and disowned her for it. My grandfather did not mind though and continued to visit my parents until his dying days. When I was born, he gave them enough to ensure I could go to Hogwarts."
"Which house were you in?" Harry asked, interested.
"Hufflepuff." she said with a smile.
"Oh. Cool." he said.
"Indeed. Thus, with the help of Jessica and the elves, we were able to export a bunch of materials from Britain to build our village. Wood, stone and such. We also built greenhouses to grow plants, an idea Jessica got from Hogwarts. With the stolen money, I bought what we couldn't gather ourselves. Tools, animals for farming, etc.
"Within a few years, this small village was built. Everyone here lived happily. The terrors of slavery were long behind us. We were all healing and happy. At least, most of us were." Santa said, looking down at the ground.
"Despite everything, Nicholas still carried a lot of guilt. He did not free all the elves the day he betrayed his friends. Most of them had already been sold into slavery."
"I knew I couldn't let them suffer because of my mistakes." He then smiled. "That's when I came up with the idea of Santa Claus. Not only would it allow me to assuage my guilt, to offset the horrors I caused by bringing joy to so many young lives, but it gave me the perfect opportunity to sneak into homes with house-elves and free them from the curse. The elves were happy to help once I shared my idea. I didn't force them, of course. The mere thought made me sick. It was their choice to join. And most wanted to. Turns out our small village didn't leave work for everyone, and house-elves like to do work. It's the reason why they were so happy to help us for mere warmth and food when we discovered them.
"For my first few years as Santa Claus, I focused entirely on Britain. The elves fabricated the toys, and I delivered them to families with young children. When I met elves, I freed them and told them to seek the North Pole if they wanted a place to live free from slavery. Most accepted the offer, though I believe a few others went to work at Hogwarts like your friend Dobby.
"However, I soon discovered that servicing Britain wasn't enough. Communities of house-elves didn't appear just in our village, but all across the world, and it didn't take long for my former friends to discover that fact. They used it to their advantage and captured thousands of them, giving them a constant source of house-elves to sell. Soon enough, they weren't simply in Britain, but across the entire world. It seemed like every magical family had them. It was insane.
"So, I started servicing every family across the world. Muggles and those I knew didn't have house-elves received their gift by portkey or the floo. Magical families with elves, I either flooed there directly if I could, or used the sleigh to go there. With my greedy friends dying to the hands of other greedy people who wanted to appropriate their businesses for themselves, the curse that enslaved the elves was lost, and no new elves could be enchanted. Soon, the free elves found ways to adapt human magic for themselves, allowing them to protect their own homes against slavers. With my freeing of the elves I encountered, the number of slaves quickly diminished until only few remained. Elves became a luxurious commodity only rich families owned.
"Now, the only elves that are yet to be liberated are those hidden behind powerful wards that keep me and other intruders out. Since it means we can't deliver Christmas presents either, they came to believe they were placed on Santa's Naughty List, which wasn't true for most of them.
"I feel like I finally made amends for my mistakes." he smiled. "After everything I did, I'm happy to know that 99% of the elves in the world now live freely in their own little communities. I visit them often and some even come here to help in December when they want to. I believe it became a pilgrimage for them. The place where their freedom started. Where Santa Claus was born."
He then sat back down on the couch next to his wife. "This is my story, Hermione, Harry. This is how the house-elves were enslaved, and how the majority of them were since freed from slavery. Not all of them are yet, something I intend to see done before I pass to the afterlife. But I like to think I'm getting close."
"This is… amazing." Harry finished after listening to the man's tale. Who knew there was such complexity to the life story of Santa Claus?
"Can you teach us the spell?" Hermione asked. The Clauses smiled.
"Of course, my dear." Mrs. Claus said. She took out her wand. "The incantation is…"
It took nearly an hour before Harry and Hermione were familiar enough with the spell to do it in their sleep. However, with no cursed elf around, they wouldn't know for sure if they learned it properly until they had a proper chance to test it on one. Still, it did not stop Hermione's excitement. She now knew how to properly free an elf. It was amazing for her.
They were soon ready to return to Hogwarts when Harry suddenly asked a question. "You spoke of a Naughty List earlier today."
Mrs. Claus smiled sadly while Santa looked down. "You want to know why you never received gifts for Christmas, do you?"
Harry nodded while Hermione's eyes widened. She didn't know that Harry never got gifts before!
"You aren't on the Naughty List, if that's what you're wondering." she said.
"Then why-?"
The Clauses sighed. "Because of your family." Mrs. Claus said.
"What? You mean the Dursleys?"
"Exactly." the elderly woman said. "I told you when we first met, I am a seer. Before you were born, I had visions of a young boy who would grow up unhappy. I saw visions of the way your relatives treated you. I saw the horrors of your childhood."
Harry was stiff at that point, his face lacking any emotion. Hermione was very concerned. She grabbed his arm and hugged it to her chest to offer him some comfort.
"The thing you need to understand about these kinds of visions, is that you cannot change them. What you see will happen no matter what. It is like a time-turner. You can go back in time, but you can't change what you already know happened."
Harry slowly nodded in understanding. He remembered his own trip to the past and how many consequences of their actions on their second go around were noticed the first time, though were never linked to them until they travelled back in time. The patronus was a perfect example. He knew it was going to happen no matter what, having seen it himself. He simply did not know he was the one to cast it. Not until he was standing there on the other side of the lake, waiting for the shade of his father. He hadn't know he could cast it. But he remembered seeing himself do so. So, he did it.
"However, we can change things. Just not what I saw. One of these ideas was to give you Christmas gifts. Of course, as you know, you never received any. Your relatives can be blamed for that. On your second Christmas - your first with them - the presents we gave you were given by your relatives to your cousin. We tried a second time the following year, hoping it was only a one-off, that they got confused. But they did the same thing. They took your presents and gave them to their son."
Harry closed his eyes, feeling angry at his relatives. Apparently, they found new ways to screw with him he wasn't even aware of.
"We had a second idea to circumvent the horrors of your vision without changing the events I saw. In fact, it will be a present for you today. The visions I had of you have now all taken place in the past. The events of this evening were the last thing I foretold about you. Which means that I am now free to reveal a surprise to you, knowing the future can be altered again. It is an early present, if you will." She then called an elf and asked her to bring 'Harry's gift' to them. It took a few minutes but, eventually, one of the doors leading to the parlour opened, revealing-
Harry collapsed on his knees. Hermione gasped loudly. "Mum? Dad? What ?!" he exclaimed, tears forming in his eyes. James and Lily Potter had entered the room.
"Oh, Harry, my sweet boy!" Lily cried. She ran forward and hugged Harry, who sobbed in her shoulder. James quickly came behind, wrapping his hands.
"What? How?" Hermione asked, utterly shocked. Mrs. Claus decided to continue her explanation, even if the Potters were too busy to hear them.
"I saw visions of an orphan boy suffer at the hands of his relatives. But never once did I see a vision of his parents dying. I knew it meant I could save them. However, the visions also meant I couldn't simply leave them with Harry after saving them. What I saw was going to happen no matter what. I was afraid that if I left the Potters with Harry, fate would end-up killing them to ensure the visions I saw were still going to happen. I couldn't allow it. I wanted Harry to have his family. It was a choice between letting them die, ensuring they would never be with their son again, or fake their deaths and give them a chance to reunite in the future. I chose the latter.
"So, I brought James and Lily here. I explained the situation to them. For years, we waited for the visions to stop, for we knew it would mean James and Lily could finally be reunited with their son without the risk of them dying soon after. When I stopped receiving visions after the one on today's meeting, I realised the time had come, and that the Potters would finally have a chance to be reunited for good. No longer are there visions of Harry being an orphan. Now, he gets to live his life like he always should have. With his parents.
"This is amazing." Hermione said, tears of joy in her eyes. She knew how much James and Lily meant to their son. That they finally got to be reunited was heartwarming.
"It is a Christmas miracle." Santa said with his famous chuckle. Hermione joined in.
The Potters were finally reunited.