Hermione was nervous. She was due to give her speech in 10 minutes. 'Just breathe', she thought to herself. She had prepared for this. She was ready to do this. She could do this.

"Miss Granger", a small man in a suit that seemed far too big on him addressed her. When she nodded at him in reply, he added. "They are ready for you now."

Hermione took one final breath before she went in. This was it. This was what she had been working so hard for. She took one glance at her audience: All high-ranking ministry officials who had the power to change the laws concerning house-elves. She just had to convince them first. And hell, she would do that.

"Ladies and gentlemen,

I am grateful that you are here today. The matter I want to discuss with you is one that has unfortunately been severely neglected in the past.

A long time ago, racism was banned and slavery abolished, not only in the muggle world, but in the

wizarding world also. Great relief did this bring to those it concerned, and the world has become somewhat fairer ever since then. Equal rights and equal opportunity were once the catchphrases in the campaigns that led to these changes, and today the people can proudly say that much of what has been demanded has indeed been fulfilled.

Today every child could tell you that a person that works for another will get paid and that he or she can quit the job if they – for whatever reason – decide to do so. No longer is anyone restricted to a certain field of activity, but is free to do whatever he or she wishes to do, of course somewhat bound by the rules of the ever-changing global economy.

So why do I ask you today, have the same rules never been applied to house-elves? We wizards often pretend that we would be superior to the muggles around us, laugh at their efforts to improve their world and yet in so many ways the muggles are so far ahead of us.

'Tolerance' and 'acceptance' are big words among both muggles and wizards, but I had had to painfully experience that they have different connotations in the two worlds. Why they are greatly applied to all areas among muggles, the wizarding world seems to restrict these to humans alone, and in many cases, only to the pureblood wizards among those. What they don't take into consideration is that there are so many other creatures out there, creatures who hold the same amount of intelligence as we do or at least come close to it. And yes, I say creatures 'who', for I won't be using derogatory terms as so many others do and want to express that I think they should be treated as equals, not as underlings. Why should they not receive the same treatment as we do after all? Is it because we don't completely understand them and are by nature afraid of the unknown? Is it simply because we make up the majority and therefore have the power to suppress them, a power we simply want to execute?

Ralph Sockman once said, that the test of courage comes when we are in the minority. But the test of tolerance comes when we are in the majority. And it is our tolerance that is being tested right now. The question we have to ask ourselves is whether we can accept that there are other intelligent beings out there who should have equal rights.

Many have asked me why I am so committed to this particular subject. Maybe experiencing racism of a kind myself has aroused this. 'Mudblood' I was called by many purebloods at school, who believed me not to be worth attending a wizarding schol. Superior they believed to be, and yet I outsmarted them all. This might have been the trigger for my interest, yet it is not my only and not my foremost reason and I do not intend to dwell on this matter, since it is not subject of this speech.

No, the reason I am so committed to this cause is that I am simply ashamed. Ashamed of the way we tend to treat house-elves and other creatures whom we believe to be superior to. Ashamed to be part of this community who constantly seems to feel the urge to suppress those outside of it. But I say that house-elves, and for that matter also werewolves, qwindolins and all of them should not be longer be excluded from this exclusive club of pureblood wizards that the wizarding world has lately become. They should be included, taken to the core. The same rights should apply to them, to all of them.

But I won't bore you with any more abstract concepts and generalizations any more, and instead focus on the matter at hand, which is the rights and the place of house-elves WITHIN our community.

House-elves have been around for as long as wizards have and for as far as our history books can tell us. They have magic of their own, that outmatches that of many less able witches and wizards.

I am not saying 'free all the house-elves', I am saying give them the choice to decide on their own. Make it possible for them to choose the family they want to serve. Allow them to wear regular clothes. Give them an allowance or pay them for their job if they want to. I am not saying pay them for their work no matter what, for I know for a fact that many of them wouldn't want them. Yet there are so many among them who are unhappy about the families they have to serve, and who would love to serve another family instead. But bound by stupid ties they cannot leave, cannot choose on their own.

I have done much research in the past few years and I have found out that these boundaries have not always existed. Back in the time of Ruwenda Ravenclaw and the other founders of Hogwarts, house-elves were still free, free to choose their family on their own. They didn't get paid back then either, yet they were happy to serve their respective family, as they were allowed to choose themselves. They were bound to that family for one generation only, and after that they were once again free to choose whether they wanted to stay with the family or look for another family instead. Meanwhile, if ever one of them was being abused in any kind or form, they were free to leave and all boundaries had disappeared immediately.

Paragraph 117 of our constitution goes as follows 'All house-elves are bound to serve their respective family and have to obey to the current head of the family at all times. They are not allowed to perform any magic which has not been previously approved by their master. The only way a house-elf can ever be freed is by receiving some part of clothing from their master. If this should be the case, the respective house-elf is to report to the Office of House-Elf Relocation immediately in order to find a new family.'

As I have made clear, I do not agree with this at all, and I demand for this paragraph to be changed and for the following law to be passed.

'House-elves are to be treated as equal beings, therefore having the same rights and privileges, but also the same duties as humans.'

Very short and simply, since they are to be treated as equals, the same laws apply to them and we don't have to specify any particular detail, considering that our constitution does cover all areas of employment and life necessary.

I know this law might not be the most popular once passed, and it might cause uproar among some parts of our community in the beginning. At the same time I am sure that the people will recognize this as an act of tolerance and acceptance and will take it as a sign that the ministry has indeed recovered from its dark past. After all, consider this: If there were more house-elves than wizards and witches, we would be the minority, and maybe then, the roles were completely reversed. If you were to serve house-elves every day of our life, wouldn't you then also like to get the chance at choosing yourself what you deem to be best? Don't you think they deserve the same opportunity?

Thank you for your attention, ladies and gentlemen, and I hope you will consider what I said, and come to a wise decision."

Hermione's voice had not once waivered, her every word full of the passion she felt for the topic. However, once she was finished, she felt completely nervous once again, but did not let it show on her features. She knew that she couldn't allow herself to display any kind of weakness in front of this group or else she'd fail.

She casted a curious glance at the ministry officials, trying to read their expressions. Some of them looked affirmative, some looked outright offended, others she could not read at all. Regardless of the outcome, it would be a close call.

A men sitting in the first row, whom she recognized as Mr. Patson, addressed her: "Thank you for your time, Miss Granger. We will consider this suggestion thoroughly and will notify you once we've come to a decision. Expect an owl in three days time."

Hermione nodded at the men and bid goodbye. After that, she left the room and finally gave in to her nervousness. She just couldn't wait to receive that owl.