The next day, Harry, Amy, Susan, Hannah, and Heather started their morning with an enjoyable breakfast of pancakes, sausage patties, and Heineken before Heather addressed the group.

"When I was a student at Hogwarts, " explained Heather, "Potions and Defense Against the Dark Arts had much more competent teachers. But even then, the useless ghost teacher, Professor Binns, taught History of Magic."

"Why is he a useless teacher?" asked Harry curiously.

"It's hard to explain to someone who's never sat through one of his classes, " answered Heather honestly, "But the long and the short of it is that he drones on in such a way that he makes the most interesting and exciting subjects more boring than watching paint dry. The whole class is almost always in a stupor. Most students give up even trying to listen to him. In my day it wasn't uncommon to see students playing hangman and tic tac toe in Binns's class. Because the bored students never asked any questions in his classes and because he never asked them any, he never even learns his student's names."

"Why has he been able to retain his job for so long if he's such a useless teacher?" inquired Amy.

"The answer to that question is precisely what pisses me off about the Binns situation, " said Heather fretfully, "You see, a long line of Hogwarts headmasters has simply not considered History of Magic to be a particularly important subject. The headmasters have allowed Binns to keep his job as long as he shows up for work every day because they haven't considered History of Magic that big of a deal as a subject."

"I couldn't disagree more, " piped up Susan fiercely, "It is of the utmost importance that witches, and wizards understand how the customs, lifestyles, and circumstances of their world came to be."

"And, " realized Hannah, "If students don't learn History of Magic properly, many witches and wizards will grow up to be adults and have a quite insufficient understanding or even awareness of many aspects of their world. Even some purebloods may suffer from this."

"Exactly, " beamed Heather, nodding at Susan and Hannah, "Fortunately for me, I had a strong natural interest in History of Magic and studied the subject extensively on my own. The point now is, while I am responsible for teaching the four of you, I'm going to emphasize History of Magic just as much as Charms or Defense Against the Dark Arts. Today's History of Magic lesson will cover house elves. Topsy!"

Topsy appeared a nanosecond later, "Yes, Mistress Heather?" asked Topsy.

"Topsy, I am going to be teaching Harry, Amy, Susan, and Hannah all about house elves today. I've brought you out so that you can correct me if I say something that is wildly inaccurate."

"Yes, Mistress Heather, " said Topsy, giving her a small bow, "But Topsy is sure Mistress Heather will do a fine job."

"Thank you, Topsy, " smiled Heather, "Now, how the species known as house elves came into existence is unknown. For time out of mind, the wealthiest wizarding families in Great Britain have lived in large manors. In the 15th century, that was a single woman who lived by herself in such a manor. Her name was Sally Soar. She had a passion for animals, being particularly interested in creatures with the power of flight. Sally Soar wrote a popular bestiary on creatures with the power of flight called Wonderous Winged World that was first published in 1414. Anyway, a family of house elves lived near Sally Soar's manor. This family of house elves volunteered to serve Sally. It has always been the passion of house elves to serve humans and this family of house elves saw a natural opportunity. Sally's family of house elves consisted of four house elves named Blinky, Pinky, Inky, and Clyde. These house elves helped her by cooking for her and so forth."

" And, " mused Harry, "That began the origin of house elves being tied to manors."

"Exactly, " said Heather matter of factly, " After her bestiary was published, Sally Soar became well known in wizarding Britain at the time. During an interview with the Wizard's Council, which preceded the Ministry of Magic, Sally Soar was asked about her day to day life. When she explained about her house elves, the Wizard's Council arranged for individual house elves and families thereof to be tied to specific manors, buildings, and people. Most house elves serve either a manor or a building, though a few serve individuals. If a manor is inherited or purchased, the new owner then also owns any house elves that are tied to it."

"So are house elves bound to a manor for life?" inquired Amy.

"Usually, yes, however, in some cases, a master or mistress will be displeased with a house elf's work. In such cases, a house elf can be freed by giving it clothes, " explained Heather.

"Would any house elf actually want to be free?" asked Harry.

"It was discovered that house elves get a magical boost from being bonded to a manor or building or witch or wizard, " said Heather matter of factly. "If a house elf is not bonded to a manor or similar building or to a witch or wizard, his or her life is shortened by at least half. Some purebloods wizards abuse their house elves."

"And some house elves in a such a position would want to be freed, preferring a shorter life if that what it takes to leave the abuse behind, "realized Susan.

"That's right, " said Heather briskly, "But the only way a house elf can be set free is to give it clothes. Witches and Wizards have to be careful not to do so accidently."

"If a house elf has been dismissed, can it bond again?" asked Hannah.

"Absolutely, " answered Heather, "That is a how a house elf becomes bound to a person rather than a building. In cases where a house elf is dismissed, it will often bond to an individual instead of a building. A small number of wizards who are not wealthy enough to afford a manor but could be helped out in some way by a house elf's work have been bonded with house elves. In some cases, a strong emotional bond between the house elf and it's individual owner may occur."

"Do house elves have freedom of speech?" asked Harry.

"No, " said Heather firmly, "They are magically bound to keep the secrets of their masters and mistresses, well, secret."

"Doesn't matter, " piped up Topsy, "Most of our kind aren't chatterboxes anyways, "We prefer to work and work quietly as much as possible."

"One last note of interest, " said Heather, "Is that Hogwarts holds the largest contingent of house elves in Britain with over a thousand."