Chapter 10. elven defensive squod
Hogwarts school of witchcraft and wizardry, September 1st 1994
Albus Dumbledor slumped heavily into one of his overstuffed office chairs. The start of term feast had just ended, but the wizard had more than full stomach to worry about. Neither was it the strange wizard with a double patronus, who's daring actions had caught the attention of the Prophet back in August. It has been a year, a damn whole year since Hogwarts started slipping out of his capable hands, taken by a house elf. Fully clothed, intelligent, paper waving, letter writing house elf, no less. Throughout last year, the school had undergone a transformation of proportions unheard of in at least a century. every nook and cranny inside the castle, as well as even the most obscured corners of all the courtyards, shone with impossible amounts of elven magic; students and professors alike dropped their rivalries, focusing instead on learning and teaching. The elven choir, disbanded after Helga Hufflepuff's death, was reestablished with roaring success, making the creatures healthier and happier, let alone more hardworking. Even if at the beginning the headmaster was taken aback by the lack of his direct control it brought, by the end of year he had to admit not being capable of such achange himself. But a house elf, mere servant (sorry, assistant), questioning his choice of professors before the start of term? This was too much for the wisened old Dumbledor.
Sighing deeply more in frustration than anything else, the wizard tried to gather his wits, not unlike the last time Alexa (what a terrible name for a servant!) left him with no choice but to agree to her demands (polite requests!). this time though things were different, concerning the elf's apparent dislike of the new Defense against the dark arts teacher, retired auror Alastor Moody. In spite his less than attractive appearance (in fact, that spinning blue orb he called an eye, along with half of his nose and a whole leg missing, sent shivers down everyone's spine) but no one dared even think of showing the outright distrust of the man. No one except the now head elf, possibly with a say so from Sirius I don't trust even my own mother Black. Dumbledor was well aware of how great a distance did Moody hold between himself and his students (in truth, Black listed this a the sole reason for dropping out of the academy), but having been retired for at least five years should have let it been forgotten. Unfortunately, from what the feast showed, it wasn't going to happen any time soon. Instead the elf, after making sure the food was enough for everyone, fixed her gaise on the teacher, or more precisely on his flask. An ordinary flask of firewhiskey, Ogdens if he wasn't mistaken, made the creature pop every now and then behind Moody's chair, invisible of course, and stare intently at the contents. To top it all, upon returning to his quarters Dumbledor found a note from the blasted elf: "he's not who you think he is. Check his firewhiskey, which is not firewhiskey at all." either the creature was bluffing for some reason, or Black did really know something the headmaster did not. Either way, a quick patronus message should set everything right. With this thought, Dumbledor retrieved his wand and conjured a messenger phoenix, muttering a short message before sending the bird on its way.
Meanwhile down in the kitchen…
"Alexa!" – Marcus' booming voice echoed through the cavernous expanse of the elf domain. After receiving Dumbledor's summons, the wizard decided to give his assistant a piece of his mind. "Aleeeexaaaa! You little rascal, come here this instant!" several house elves dropped the pots and pans they were cleaning, and two timid creatures hid under the table. With a pop reminiscent of a shotgun fire, an elf clad in full Hogwarts uniform appeared. "don't Alexa me!" – she shouted with a thunderous expression. "Granger's house elf liberation party wasn't my idea!"
Marcus froze, unable to speak. Memories of one Hermione Granger, apparently from Sirius, flooded his mind. The fourth year Gryffindor, as he could recall, was the only one capable of such shenanigans. If he wasn't mistaken, this year she would try to create the so called society for the promotion of elfish welfare, S.P.E.W for short. Perhaps this time the absurdity of the abbreviation forced the girl to change it, but house elf liberation party? Really? The elves will never forgive her if this little project continues, badges and all. having only one choice, Marcus fained ignorance: "house elf what?" Alexa though bought none of it. "house elf liberation party. Oh never mind, I had no part in this scheme. Dumbledor's games though…" she stopped suddenly, spotting two spoons hurled at her, just in time to duck and scold Dobby and Winky, two die hard supporters of Dumbledor. "Dobby! Winky! Stop at once! The students are in danger!" at this proclamation more than half of the elves perked up and gathered round, even Dobby and Winky stopped in midstep not to miss anything important. Outsiders or not, if the school is threatened, the invisible little servants would stand as first line of protection. To their disappointment, Alexa just chuckled and raised her hands as if stopping a pack of overexcited children: "no no no, this won't do. I need just three of you to watch over our new Defense professor. Come fourth you delinquents", - she pointed at two guilty looking creatures, who had just moments ago tried to hurt her for discrediting Dumbledor, "and you Tilly", - another wave of her hand brought fourth the former head elf. "lessons start tomorrow, and I want you to take shifts looking after the students. intervene if necessary, use whatever force is needed if things go wrong." The trio nodded silently before resuming their work.
Having finished her instructions, Alexa turned to stunned Marcus: "did you visit the headmaster?" too confused to speak, the wizard just shook his head. "good then. No word of this to Dumbledor. He failed again, and it's time to reform the elven defensive squod to correct his mistakes." Marcus just stared dumbly at the four creatures, not trusting his own mouth. House elves were dangerous if they decided to be so, and four of them against a wizard would be the same as four cats against a boarhound, small and fragile at first but cunning enough to eventually subdue their foe. no matter who that foe was, a death eater posing as the most respected auror in Britain, or a fourth year muggleborn revolutionist trying to free the elves of Hogwarts, the wizard couldn't help but feel sympathy for the poor soul. then again, if the headmaster caught wind of this, Goldcrest perch would be accepting two jobless elves by the end of the week, and Alexa would fall under Longhurst rule once more. Feeling defeated, the wizard decided on the best course of action, that is to leave the "elven defensive squod", as his ever creative assistant named their gang of four, to their own devices. Surely, he had to pay a visit to Albus I am too confident in my decisions Dumbledor, but it could wait til morning, the hour being too late for trudging all the way up to the headmasters office. Of course no word of Alexas shenanigans will spread further than the kitchen, the creature will surely take care of that, but a suttle remark or three couldn't hurt, could they? No mentioning of foe Moody, of course, but some hints at Dumbledor's duty of protecting Harry Potter might help; also, alerting the authority figure about the House elf liberation party, whatever it was, was necessary. Then maybe, just maybe some future events could be prevented?.. only the morning, and the inevitable meeting with the headmaster, will show. Now though wasn't the time to worry. With nearly nonexistent pang of guilt for ignoring Dumbledor's patronus earlier, Marcus inclined his head to the four determined elves, before transforming into his trusty animagus form and disappearing into the narrow tunnel leading outwards.