Ron swallowed another bite of baked chicken and said, "So what are the steps for prepping the case?"

Hermione tapped the tip of her fork against her lip as she considered. It amused Ron that she often did that with a quill too. "I guess I need to read as much as I can about all the species of elves."

"Why?"

"I need to make the case that an Erkling is not a wild house elf, so—"

"Yeah, I know that, but surely there's the equivalent of Charlie for elves instead of dragons."

Hermione raised her eyebrows. "That's true. There has to be an elf expert out there somewhere, right?"

"You should ask Hagrid."

"That's a good idea." She looked at the clock on the wall. "He should be done with classes."

"What? You want to go now?" Ron said, alarmed that he might not get to finish his dinner. He could smell that Purdy had made mince pies for dessert.

"We can finish dinner," Hermione said, rolling her eyes at his distress. "Although, Purdy?"

The little elf appeared in her sparkling white tea towel. "Yes, Miss?"

"Do you know who the foremost human expert on elves is?"

Purdy's ears drooped. "No, Miss. Elves is experts on elves, Miss."

"Quite," Hermione said. "But with prejudices being what they are, I think I better have a witch or a wizard give testimony to the Wizengamut instead of an elf. Although, if you would be willing to testify too, that would only strengthen our case."

Purdy's ears drooped almost to her shoulders. "Do I have to, Miss?"

"No, of course not. You don't have to do anything you don't want to do."

"Then I don't want to, Miss."

"All right then. Do you mind if we take the mince pies you made with us when we go see Hagrid?"

Purdy's ears perked back up. "Take all you like, Miss."

"Thank you, Purdy. I appreciate that. Hagrid loves sweets."

"And monsters," Ron grunted.

"Yes." Hermione shook her head. "I suppose his ideal evening is eating sweets while feeding some monster."

"No doubt," Ron said around a mouthful of roll.

xXx

A little while later, Ron and Hermione Apparated to the gate outside of Hogwarts and rang the bell. The rod iron of the gate shifted into a face. Who goes?

"Ron and Hermione Weasley, former students, to see Hagrid."

A full minute passed before a wizard, who didn't seem much older than them, opened the gate. His eyes widened. "I thought you were a couple of 7th years, late for curfew, and taking the piss."

"Nah, mate," Ron said. "We didn't even have our seventh year."

The wizard's eyes grew rounder. "Right. Come on in. Is Hagrid expecting you?"

"No. We just thought we'd pop round." She frowned at Ron. "And for the record, I did have my seventh year, I just did it as an extension student."

Ron smirked, tickled at her annoyance, and held up the box of mince pies. "We brought Hagrid some pies."

"He'll love that," the wizard said. "I assume you know how to get to his hut."

"Unless you've moved it," Hermione said, smiling.

"No. It's still in the same place."

"We're good then. Cheers," Ron said.

As they walked the path through the grounds, Ron commented, "The school looks good. The grounds too."

Hermione nodded. "They've gotten so much done since Como's funeral."

"I know. Back then I didn't think they'd ever get it looking right again."

"Me neither."

As they crested the hill and took the path down to Hagrid's hut, they could see the warm glow from the window. "Do you reckon we should have sent an owl first?" Ron asked.

"What if he's busy counseling wayward students?"

"Or clearing up a bucket of slugs?" Hermione asked with a wink.

"Right," Ron said, smiling.

"I think we'll be all right. If he's busy, we'll leave the pies and arrange to talk to him later."

"Smart."

When they reached the hut, Ron knocked on the door. Prior to burning, the hut had a battered oak door, but the hut had been rebuilt and everything looked new and a bit bigger. Hagrid opened the massive door and looked down.

"Ron and Hermione? What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong," Hermione said.

"We brought pies." Ron held up the box.

"Well, that's just lovely, that is." Hagrid stepped back from the door so they could come in. "I just made a pot of tea. What brings you out?"

"I'm hoping you know an expert on elf species," Hermione said.

"Hmm." Hagrid sat down at the table and poured them each a cup of tea. "I know a couple of wizards who would fit that bill, but old Professor Walton is…well…really old. I reckon you're better off talking to Flynn Ulster. Why? What do you need? I know a fair piece about elves."

Hermione smiled. "I know you do, but I need someone to testify in front of the Wizengamut as a subject matter expert."

"Then talk to Flynn. He's your man."

"And where would I find him."

"Well, Ireland has most of the remaining wild elves these days, so I reckon you'll find him somewhere over there."

"Perfect, I'll send an owl and find out if he's willing to talk to me."

"I'm sure he will be. Typical Irishman, he loves to talk."

Ron chuckled and slid the box of pies over to Hagrid.

"Ooh, don't mind if I do." Hagrid opened the box and took a pie and then offered the box to Ron and Hermione who each took a pie.

"So, Hagrid," Ron said. "How have you been?"

xXx

When they arrived back home, a couple of hours later, Harry was standing in the kitchen eating an apple. "Where have you two been?"

"To see Hagrid," Hermione answered.

"I'm sorry I missed that. How is he?"

"Good," Ron said. "It seems like things at the school have finally returned to normal."

"How's it look?"

"What we saw of it looked good as new," Hermione said as the three of them walked into the living room and sat on the sofas.

"Yeah," Ron agreed. "Even the grounds look right, no evidence of all the burning."

"That's great then," Harry said. "I'm glad to hear it. You guys just felt like seeing Hagrid? Did you have a craving for rock cakes or something?"

"Yeah," Ron said. "I was in the mood to crack a tooth."

Harry and Hermione chuckled.

"I went to ask him if he knew anyone who was an expert in elf species," Hermione said.

"Oh, for the trial?"

"Yes, and not surprisingly, he did know someone, so I'm going to write a letter to a wizard in Ireland and ask if he'll see me."

"Ireland sounds nice."

Ron nodded. "We thought we'd make a little holiday out of it."

"That is, if he agrees to see us," Hermione clarified.

"I'm sure he will," Harry said. "And if he seems reluctant, feel free to throw my name around."

"I hate to do that," Hermione said.

"Why?" Ron asked. "Everyone else does. Anything we do that makes the papers, they always include Harry whether he was involved or not. Might as well get something out of it, if they're going to add him anyway."

Harry took another bite of apple and nodded his agreement.

"Well, I really need to talk to this wizard and hopefully get him to testify, so if using your name helps make that happen, consider yourself invoked." She stood. "Which reminds me, I should send the letter tonight."

Ron watched her walk into the office and close the door behind her. He looked at Harry. "Did you read the article in The Daily Prophet about those trick wands I make."

"Yeah," Harry said. "I got two paragraphs and had fuck-all to do with it."

Ron let out a soft snort and shook his head. "Right? With crap like that, I'd bloody drop your name for free ice cream."

Harry laughed. He knew Ron would never actually do that, but it was funny to think about. He understood their frustration. He would never understand why all the newspapers and magazines insisted on tying them together even when it wasn't relevant, but there didn't appear to be anything he could do about it. "Up for a game of chess?"

"A quick one yeah, I want to listen to the match at eight."

"Sounds good."