Chapter 9: Fealty with Love, Valour with Honour, Oath-breaking with Vengeance

After our negotiations with Draco, Harry brought up a minor point that had obviously occurred to him, but not to me. He now had two house elves that were going to give birth to kits that were going to serve his house and he did not need that many house elves.

I thought about this for a few minutes and then offered a solution, "what if Gabrielle and I take Winky's child to be our house elf; thus maintaining a familial connection to the Potter elves, and you take Stinker's child, maintaining the connection with Kreacher. That way, the elves of our families would be related just as we are, both elves being related to Dobby, they would be cousins or half brothers if you wanted to be completely accurate with it."

"Half-siblings, anyway, they could be girls or one of each."

"True, but now we have to break the news to Winky, that her child will not be serving the House of Potter, but be the first elf to serve the house of Dursley. How do you think she'll react to that? I only have to worry that Gabby and I will be getting a house elf sooner than expected."

(Slight time skip here.)

Gabrielle and I were seated in Harry's lounge, Winky was due to formally allow her kit to formally swear allegiance to the House of Dursley, she had been happier than we thought she would be about this, her child would be the first to serve a new noble family, a singular honour that had not happened for a long time."

Winky came into the room followed by her son, who now being three months old was of age to leave his mother and now take up honourable service with his new family. Winky bowed to myself and Gabrielle and ushered her son forwards, "Master Dursley, Mistress Dursley, may I present to you my kit, as yet he has no name, that is for new master and mistress to give him. He will give good and honourable service to your family."

Gabby and I had discussed the issue of names prior to this and we had no desire to name our house elf in the way that most wizarding families did with some nickname or derogatory name, the elf should have a proper name, one that it should choose for itself, and we had decided on how he should choose for himself. The young elf bowed before the both of us, "I is ready to swear service to your house, Master and Mistress, but first you must give me a name so I can swear in my name to serve you, thus binding me to your house and magic."

"We are not going to give you a name," there was a gasp from Winky, Kreacher, and the young elf at this, and a look of alarm from them all.

"Master Dudley must give name to elf or he cannot swear service, he must swear in his name, the power of the name is what binds elf to the house," said Kreacher; Winky nodded eagerly behind him.

"Hear me out, please. I know that Winky has taught you to read, I want you to read the books in my house and search for a name that you would like, this is the name we will call you by, so you can swear service to my family. We both feel that if you have a choice of what we name you, the name will be proper to you, not something chosen by us, which could be inappropriate, no disrespect to the two honourable elves serving the house of Potter, as Kreacher or Creature," I made the distinction between the two words in my tone, "or Winky and Winky," I winked my eye repeatedly as I said the name the second time. You are as much a member of this family as Myself and Gabrielle and deserve a proper name."

There was a collective gasp from the two older elves, and the young kit looked at them both, with obvious trepidation in his eyes. They both looked at him and nodded, both with an approving look in their eyes. "Very well, Master Dudley, Mistress Gabrielle, I will read the books in your library and decide on a name that I is wanting to be called by, if it being one you is liking."

"We only ask that it is a proper name, not a nick-name like Piggy, which is given to a character in one of the books."

"I understands, I will read the books and makes a list for your approval."

"We approve of that, we will speak when you have made your list, now I know we cannot order you to go to our house to read the books, but we would request you do so." He looked at Winky, who nominally was still his guardian and she gave him a nod of approval. With a bow to myself and Gabby, he disappeared with a crack.

"Blimey, Dudley, yet another wizarding tradition set on its ear, what will you do next?"

"No idea, but now that we have set the newest member of our family onto his first task; we will take our leave of you both, and retire for the night."

"Just one moment, Ginny and I have something to tell you, your daughter will have a cousin; that is about 4 months younger than she is. Ginny got confirmation from the healers this morning she is pregnant again, it's another boy."

I was just about to congratulate them both when there was a cough from a portrait on the wall behind us. "Excuse me Harry; did I just hear that your wife is pregnant with a boy? Asked the figure of Phineas Nigellus Black. "I would like to formally request that you name your son as a Black, so that he can claim the title of Lord Black so the name does not die out in Wizarding Britain."

"Ginny and I have discussed this, we understood that you may make this request after a comment you made when Dudley discovered he had the Mage Sight. I must respectfully decline to do as you have asked."

Professor Black looked visibly shaken by this announcement, "but why, young Harry, surely you do not wish the Noble family of Black to fade into history. There is a long tradition of the Black family and the family should not fade into obscurity."

"It won't, there is another son of the Blacks to inherit the title of Lord Black and I believe that he should have that honour."

"Surely you are not thinking of that scion of the Malfoy family. He is the only other person I know of with any Black blood in him. He will be Lord Malfoy, he cannot have two titles."

"No, I am referring to my godson, Teddy; he is the grandson of Cygnus Black, great-nephew to Sirius Black who was the last Lord Black."

"But his grandmother was disowned from the family for marrying a mudblood, and his father was a werewolf, surely you are not going to make a werewolf the next Lord Black, it would not be allowed by the Wizengamot."

"Teddy is not a werewolf, that would be genetically impossible," I said, getting me a stare from Harry, Ginny and Professor Black.

"Explain yourself, Dudley, how is the son of a werewolf not a werewolf?"

"If Teddy was a werewolf, he would have been subject to the influence of the moon from conception, during the first full moon of the pregnancy, he would have changed into a werewolf and his mother's body would have automatically terminated the pregnancy, because he was carried to full term and born, this means that he did not inherit the lycanthrope affliction from his father. Similarly if his mother had been a werewolf as well, he would have been aborted if he had not shown the lycanthrope affliction during her first transformation."

"Where did you learn all this, Dudley, you sound as if you have prior knowledge of this particular conundrum?"

"It came up in a conversation with Principal Abbot of the Salem Academy who was incidentally a werewolf and in complete control of his lycanthropy, they understand in the States that if a werewolf is allowed to change into their wolf form on a regular basis, they are able to control it, almost as if they were an animagus with a wolf form. It is only in mainland Europe that werewolves are forced to take the wolfsbane potion to suppress and incidentally poison the wolf during full moon transformations that werewolves are unable to achieve a type of balance with the inner wolf."

"Fascinating, but this aside, this still does not address the fact that Andromeda Black was disowned from the family by choosing to marry as she did."

"Professor Black, I believe you should check with the tapestry downstairs, one of the first things I did after I formally took over as the head of the Black family was re-instate Andromeda Black into the family. The fact that she had a Metamorphmagus child, the first in two hundred years to be born into the Black family should prove that she made a good marriage, metamorphmagi used to be fairly common in the Black family in the past."

"You make some good points for your decision, I will think on the matter and speak with Andromeda about it, if young Master Theodore is to inherit the mantle of the Black family; there are certain things he needs to be aware of as he is growing up."

Gabby and I offered our congratulations to Harry and Ginny and made our way next door to settle down for the night, for the first time there were three in our house, our new house elf being the newest member, who was avidly reading books as we passed the lounge.

Gabby and I went down to breakfast that next morning expecting to see our new house elf still reading away at the books in the lounge to try and find itself a name, however, he was standing almost at attention in the doorway of the lounge waiting for us. "I has made a list Master Dudley; of names I is liking to be called."

I glanced at Gabby wondering what choices he had made for us to choose from. "Very well, what are your choices?" I asked.

"I is liking Barliman, master."

"Why, that one, I asked," not recognising it from memory.

"It is someone who is innkeeper, in noble service to others."

"I remember the name now, from Lord of The Rings," I said, glancing at Gabby, "but why would you want to be called after a fat innkeeper who only remembers his own name because people yell it him all day? Are there any other choices, that name still speaks of servitude."

He looked at us with a sense of wonder in his eyes, and then cast his eyes to the floor, "I is liking Elrond, Master Dudley."

"Why Elrond? I said, again recognising the name of another character from Lord of The Rings?"

"He was a noble and respected elf in the books, master with long and honourable history to him…"

I liked his choice, it was fitting an elven name for an elf, Gabby looked bright eyed and approving beside me."

"Very well, if that is your choice, we approve. It is a name that is chosen for a good reason and has no connections with servitude; we will call you Elrond, if that is your choice."

The newly named elf nodded his head enthusiastically, his eyes bright and his large ears flapping madly on the sides of his head. "I, Elrond, son of Dobby do swear service to the Noble family of Dursley, to serve with my life, magic and strength to the end of my days." He looked at me, hopefully. "Master, now has to accept Elrond as his elf and his oath of service to the family to make the bond proper."

"And so I do," I took his hands between mine, I, Dudley, son of Vernon, first Lord Dursley, hear it, I will not forget it; nor fail to reward that which is given; fealty with love, valour with honour, oath-breaking with vengeance. Take your place in honour as the first house elf to be in service to my family."

Elrond looked at me with pride in his eyes as he proudly stood ready to do our bidding. Then I noticed something odd about him, my mage sight was seeing a glow around him, he was changing before our eyes magically. From a short comical looking figure with large eyes and huge bat like ears, he was growing, his ears and eyes were shrinking to normal proportions on his head and he was growing, hair was sprouting on his head, blonde hair. I glanced at Gabby, who shrugged to show her puzzlement at this unexpected turn of events. After a few seconds our new house elf looked like a teenage boy, if a little shorter than average, his eyes were bright blue and normal sized for his face; the only real distraction that made him different from a normal teenager was the fact that his ears were pointed rather like Mr Spock's from TV's Star Trek.

"What is wrong, Master Dudley, why is you and Mistress staring at me?" He looked puzzled, probably because his voice had changed as well, it now sounded like that of a boy on the cusp of manhood.

"Look at yourself in the mirror; I think you'll be surprised." He stood and ran to the mirror that was in the hallway at the bottom of the stairs. There was a gasp and he came running back in and knelt before Gabby and Myself.

"Master Dudley, you has broken a long time curse on the Elven race, because you have accepted me into your house as a vassal, and not a servant, this has set me free from bondage. Not since wizards finally beat the elves at the Battle of Dymchurch has an elf looked like this. Elves were bonded into servitude to wizard kind, forced to serve them as slaves, looking like a caricature of our real selves, bonded by magic to the magic of the house they serve. I am no longer cursed, to have to exist as a slave, I is free to offer my service as I will, and willingly do I do so. Again, I say, "I, Elrond, son of Dobby do swear service to the Noble family of Dursley, to serve with my life, magic and strength to the end of my days."

"And again, I accept, that which is freely given and again welcome you as the first elf to serve my family; as a member of my family, you are to call me Dudley, not Master Dudley, Gabrielle wishes the same, you are not to call her Mistress, we are your employers, not your masters."

"I understands and will obey; Dudley, Gabrielle. Now what would you like your servant Elrond to do first for you?"

"I think, first breakfast for three, and then your family and Harry's should be told of the news, Gabrielle and I will have porridge and coffee, and make breakfast for yourself as well, and then join us at the table."

We sat around the table, all three of us, porridge bowls empty in front of us and cups of coffee, waiting to be drunk. I looked at Elrond, "I believe it is now time for us to tell your and Harry's family of your new name and status." He nodded eagerly at me and I drew my wand, "Expecto Patronum Vocali," my patronus appeared and I told it to go next door to number 12, and ask if everyone could floo over to be introduced to the newest member of my household. The short eared owl that was my patronus dashed through the wall to number 12, and we awaited everyone to floo through.

There was a flash of green, Harry and Ginny appeared in the fireplace, and 2 cracks as Winky and Kreacher appeared beside them. "What's this about the newest member of your household and who is the young man sitting at the table with you?"

"Harry, Ginny, Winky, and Kreacher may I formally present to you the elf serving the House of Dursley. This is Elrond, who is not a servant to this house, but a vassal, an ally if you will. He informs me that the way I accepted him to service to my family has broken a curse on the elven race."

Harry turned to Kreacher and Winky, "do you know what he is talking about?"

Kreacher stood up and spoke for both of them, "it is told of in ancient times that house elves were a noble race who lived in this land alongside wizard kind. Great were the battles between the two races, until eventually in a battle near the village of Dymchurch, the elves were defeated. The wizards bound the elves into servitude, to serve themselves and their descendants. It was made that the curse could be dispelled if ever a wizard treated a house elf in their service as an equal, then the curse would be ended."

"Does this mean that yourself and Winky are no longer servants to the house of Potter?"

"No, Master Harry, we is still bonded to your house by our individual oaths, but any children of ours will be free, no longer relying on the bond of servitude to survive. They will be free elves, able to take a position in the world as noble descendants of the elven race, Eledhel was the name we gave ourselves, as much as you call yourself human."

"Bloody hell, Dudley, how many other ways are you going to affect our society, I don't know what the ramifications here could be? Wizards are particularly intolerant of other magical races and now you've put another into the mix, if all elves born refuse to take service with a house and choose to be free elves we could see an elven / human war not unlike the goblin wars of the past."

I was about to make a reply, when Kreacher spoke up, "that will not happen, Master Harry, the elven race sees honourable service as an honour in itself. Was only the greed of wizards for our magical knowledge that forced them to fight with us in the first place. Even though, all new-born elves will not have to take service with the family their parents currently serve, most will. There is honour to the servant in being the servant of a great man. Elrond will be the first among the new elven race, by being the first to be freed from the curse and serving a master who is responsible for this and who is related to someone whom owes a life debt to his sire will give him a status similar to a king amongst our people, one who will lead by example."

"What if an elven child does not wish to take service to a household or is born and is not required by the family of whom their parents are sworn to service?"

"An elf without a master to serve will dedicate themselves in service to the land, there is much that an elf can do to help the land. We is able to heal the land from things that has happened to it."

"So a free elf could help with dealing with ecological disasters, such as oil spills, volcanic eruptions, tidal waves, things such as that?"

"I don't see how anyone could object to that, but just another side point, Elrond know appears to be about thirteen or fourteen years of age, would any elf being born require that length of time to grow into maturity, some families may not wish to support an elf for such a long time before they are able to be of service to the family, the time it took for Elrond to be able to take service with Dudley's family seems exceptionally quick to attain that level of maturity?"

"An elf is learning all the time master, right from the moment of start of pregnancy, not conception. If house elf is conceived a kit, kit will not begin to learn until pregnancy actually start. It is our interaction with magic that brings us to quick maturity. An elf could take twelve or fourteen years to grow to full maturity, but this would be in a magic free environment, I is not knowing of anywhere in world that this is the case."

"So you are saying magic is everywhere?"

"Of course master! It is being like Master Dudley was saying to Professor Phineas Nigellus Black, back when his mage sight first manifested, magic is a field of energy that affects the whole world, a bit like this elclectomagetics or gravity he was speaking of."

I really seemed to have started something now, this just before I set another cat amongst the pigeons in a week's time, when Harry and I swore our oaths to the Wizengamot and became full members of the aforementioned body. There were going to be a few shocked faces in that body when they saw what we had in store for that day…

A/N 1) I hope you like this chapter; there is a story about how the elves left Britain in the Dymchurch flit, although I believe this is supposed to have happened about 300 or so years ago; indeed there is something in Puck of Pook's Hill by Rudyard Kipling about this; then again muggles are known for getting things about the magical community wrong, they still believe dragons don't exist, but we know better.

2) I remember hearing or possibly reading somewhere about there being honour in being in service to an honourable man, but for the life of me cannot remember where, the only references I can find to this online is about the bible and I'm pretty sure that is not what I was thinking of.

3) This update has happened quite quickly, although I am eager to carry on and finish this story, don't expect all updates this quickly. Happy reading.