Thank you so much for your continued support and reviews. This is a slightly different chapter to the others, but I felt it was important to do it this way. Betsy is fast becoming one of my favourite creatures! I hope you enjoy it!
Betsy the house-elf starts work at the Ministry of Magic and is keen to get started.
When Professor McGonagall first approached Betsy to see if she was interested in taking a job working at the Ministry of Magic, the house-elf had been sceptical. She really enjoyed her job working in the library with Madam Pince; books were her passion and there was nothing more she liked than helping the students find the right book to help them with their schoolwork. Madam Pince had even started allowing Betsy to take a book to read in her spare time. But Betsy had also been pivotal in helping Headmistress McGonagall implement the changes to how the house-elves did their work. She had been close to Dobby when he worked at the school and she had heard a lot about Mister Potter, Mister Weasley and Miss Granger so her curiosity had eventually pushed her to put herself forward as a potential candidate. It was scary; house-elves were only supposed to work to help around the house but doing something different might also be very good for Betsy. Throughout the meeting with Miss Granger and Mister Weasley, Betsy had grown very interested about the work Miss Granger was doing and she knew it would bring about the best changes for house-elves. Betsy had felt very proud when she had been picked to help with the very important work.
It felt to Betsy that the time after meeting Miss Granger had dragged but also rushed by in equal measures. After a few days, Betsy had received her first ever parcel delivered by owl as she got ready for her day at the library and she had unwrapped it excitedly; her elf friends crowded around her. She was astonished to see she had been gifted with a brand-new set of robes that seemed to have been made exactly to her size. They fitted like a glove. On the left-hand side, just over her heart sat a badge like the Hogwarts ones only this badge was the Ministry of Magic emblem. Betsy had been the talk of the castle that day and had apparated back regularly to their sleeping quarters to show the other elves her new clothes.
Her first day at the Ministry finally arrived and Betsy had dressed proudly in her new robes. She completed her outfit with a knitted hat that had been gifted to her by Dobby years ago. On her way out of the office, she had dropped by the library to promise Madam Pince she would help re-sort and clean the bookshelves over the weekend before apparating with a loud crack to the Magical Creature entrance of the Ministry.
Betsy joined the long queue of creatures waiting to be admitted entry to the Ministry. Directly in front of her was a Centaur holding a broken bow and a wizard pulling a reluctant Hippogriff behind him. When it finally got to her turn, she stretched up onto her tip toes to reach the desk.
"Uhm… hello. Betsy the House-Elf from Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Here to see Miss uhm Granger…" Betsy resisted the temptation to wring her new robes nervously as she watched the Welcome Witch.
"Betsy…" The witch dragged a long red fingernail down a parchment full of names. It seemed to Betsy to take a lifetime but the witch finally located her name. Betsy watched as she tapped her wand once on the desk, making a small badge appear.
"Make sure you wear the badge at all times. Follow the corridor to the left to get to the Atrium. Please note, the street level exit is not accessible to any magical creatures." The Welcome Witch shoved the badge towards her, before turning to the creature next in line.
The Welcome Witch's less than enthusiastic attitude did nothing to quell Betsy's pride. She took the badge and hurriedly pinned it to her chest before taking the left corridor towards the Atrium. The house-elf joined the throngs of Wizards, Witches and Creatures working their way to their offices and meetings. She tried her hardest to keep her eyes peeled for Miss Granger, but there were a lot of people and they were all very busy looking. She was starting to fear that Miss Granger had forgotten Betsy was starting today, or that it was all an elaborate prank like the children liked to play on each other back at the school but she finally heard her name being called. Betsy turned her head in the right direction and followed the voice to a small clearing, breathing a sigh of relief when she spotted Miss Granger waiting for her.
"Betsy, hi!" Miss Granger kneeled down to Betsy's level and held out a hand for her to shake. Betsy had only experienced this sort of treatment by the Professors at the school and she found it a little overwhelming. She stared at the offered hand briefly before she remembered she was supposed to take it. Betsy shook it enthusiastically.
"Betsy is so excited to be finally at work, Miss Granger."
"Please call me Hermione. I'm very excited to finally have you here!" Miss Granger started to lead the way through the busy Atrium towards a set of elevators. Betsy peered up at the grand looking gates; she had heard of this mode of transportation before, but she had never used one. She hopped excitedly from one foot to another as she waited for a set of ornate metal doors to open. The elf followed Miss Granger into the lift with a crowd of other humans, most of them chatting away busily and paying no attention to the small house-elf at their feet. Betsy watched amazed as Miss Granger pushed a button and the lift started to move. The motion caused Betsy's stomach to feel a little queasy. Luckily, the ride was short and Miss Granger soon stepped off again.
"Betsy has never ridden in a lift before, that was quite an unusual feeling…" The house-elf gulped up at the witch.
Miss Granger immediately looked aghast, dropping down once more to Betsy's level. "Oh, I'm so sorry Betsy I didn't even think about that. You're probably so used to apparating everywhere. Once I've given you the tour, you'll be able to move around the Ministry in whichever way is most comfortable to you…"
"Thank you Miss Granger, that is most preferable…"
Once Miss Granger had finished checking Betsy was okay, she stood once more and led her into a large office. Betsy noticed she was getting a lot more looks from the people working in the office, although these were mostly kind and curious looks. Miss Granger led her to a quiet corner.
"Here we are. I'm still fairly new to working here as well so I'm afraid we get the worst corner of the office. It's not much, but it's quiet here and people don't tend to both me. I've put some fresh quills, parchment and ink on your desk, but do let me know if you need anything else…"
Betsy stared up at her desk, amazed. She had never had anything like this to call her own. She worked hard to fight back a happy wail. She was placed exactly opposite Miss Granger so she could see her as she worked. Although it was the same height, Betsy could tell that the desk had been resized so that it wouldn't feel too large a space for her to work from. A set of steps had been put next to the chair and Betsy climbed them proudly, settling at her desk before testing the quills to work out which one was her favourite.
The morning passed by in a blur of paperwork and soon Betsy found her stomach was growling. She had been planning to apparate back to the castle to help with the lunch service, but Miss Granger wouldn't allow it.
"You work for the Ministry now, not Hogwarts Betsy…" Miss Granger had given her a kind smile. "It is completely up to you how you spend your lunch hour, of course, but I was rather hoping you'd join me for lunch with my friends?"
Betsy felt her eyes light up excitedly. She knew exactly who Miss Granger meant when she said her friends. She had already briefly met the Weasley boy, but it was Harry Potter she was most excited to meet. She followed Miss Granger tentatively back to the lifts and out into the Atrium where the two boys were waiting for them. Betsy crept forward to shake their hands, letting out an excitable squeak as she finally met Mr Potter.
"Mr. Potter. Dobby was one of Betsy's first friends. Betsy is very very proud to meet you!"
Harry looked amused as the house-elf held onto his hand, small tears appearing in her already watery eyes. "Dobby was a great friend of mine. He did great things. I'm sure you'll be just as great a friend Betsy!"
Lunch was amicable. The witches and wizards spoke to Betsy as if she were equal to them and she enjoyed their conversation. After lunch, Miss Granger gave her a tour around the Ministry. Betsy had been most excited to see the Ministry's grand library and Miss Granger had been happy for them to spend the rest of their day there. It was in the library, in a quiet corner among the bookshelves, that Miss Granger introduced her to her planned policy changes.
Betsy listened with great interest as Miss Granger talked. It was very obvious to the elf that she was very passionate with the changes she wanted to make. Once she finally stopped speaking, Betsy tried her hardest to digest everything she had been told.
"Miss Granger plans to make a lot of changes. Most of them sound very good for house elves. Betsy wondered if she could read Miss Granger's new policies and laws and see if there can be any improvements!"
Miss Granger's eyes lit up. "Absolutely Betsy, that is exactly why I wanted you on board. The only thing is I don't have a lot of time to turn things around. The changes are being presented to the Wizengamot in a fortnight. Do you think you'll have enough time?"
Betsy grinned up at the witch. "Betsy can do that!"
"Brilliant! Let's head back up to our office and I'll get you a copy!"