Harry had enjoyed catching up with the people he'd run into throughout the day; he should have known his luck wouldn't last. When he reached the top box of the stands, he found Draco Malfoy sitting in the front row with his parents. They scowled when they saw him, but he barely noticed, as his attention locked onto a figure seated in the row behind them.

"Dobby!" he cried, rushing past the Malfoys. "You're free. What are you doing with–Oh, excuse me. I thought you were someone else."

The house-elf he'd taken for Dobby turned out to be a different elf, by the name of Winky. She told him she was familiar with Dobby, though hastened to clarify she didn't approve of his radical ideas.

The Malfoys' faces had grown even more sour at Harry ignoring them in favor of a mere house-elf, but before they could voice their displeasure, Sirius arrived.

"Ah, Narcissa, my long-lost cousin!" Sirius exclaimed. "How long has it been?"

"Not nearly so long as I expected," she replied.

"Yeah, funny how things turn out. Ah, and Lucius. You of course remember my godson, Harry. I understand that not too long ago, he cost you something of great value."

Lucius stiffened. "I'm sure I have no idea what you mean."

"No? You've forgotten the loss of your house-elf?"

"Ah. Of course."

"Did you think I meant something else? Some item you'd rather not discuss in public, perhaps?"

"I'm sure I don't know you mean. I'd simply dismissed the matter of the elf from my mind entirely."

Sirius gave a slow shake of his head. "The loss of a house-elf is no small thing. Not to mention the utter humiliation you must have felt at getting outwitted by a second-year student, and a Gryffindor at that. So much for Slytherin cunning, eh?"

"See here, Black–" Malfoy began.

"Now, now. No offense intended. In fact, I mean to make it up to you."

"Indeed? And how do you propose to do that?"

"Kreacher!"

An elderly house-elf popped into the top box, and began muttering, "Filthy blood traitor master summons–"

Sirius cut him off. "Kreacher, I'm sure you remember dear cousin Narcissa?"

The elf looked up at her, then threw himself into a deep bow. "Kreacher is honored to at last find himself once more in the presence of a proper Black."

Sirius gave Narcissa a grin as he gestured at Kreacher. "Cousin, I would like to offer you a gift, from one Black to another. It's the least I could do after my godson made such a complete fool of your husband. Again, no offense."

The Malfoys were too stunned to respond to the insult. After a pause, Narcissa asked, "You wish to give us a house-elf? Without any form of recompense?"

"More or less. I intend to free him. What he does afterward is up to him, but I expect he's far too set in his ways to go off on his own, or to ask Dumbledore to take him in."

Harry tugged on Sirius' arm. "Sirius, you can't. I know Kreacher is awful, but after the way they treated Dobby…"

Narcissa gave Harry a disdainful look. "Whatever slander you may have heard from a disaffected former servant, we do not torment house-elves for sport. If an elf in our service felt the need to punish itself, it could only have been due to genuine disobedience and disloyalty. Such an unfortunate situation would never arise with a proper elf like Kreacher here."

"Kreacher will serve most loyally if given the chance," Kreacher assured her, trembling in eagerness.

Sirius gave Harry a pained look. "If I don't get rid of him, one of us is going to wind up murdering the other. Everyone will be much happier this way. Even the wretched elf."

The others in their group had joined them, and Hermione said, "You should set him free when there's no one around to take advantage of him in a moment of weakness."

"No!" Kreacher howled. "Kreacher is a good elf. Kreacher has been loyal to proper members of the Black family for generations."

Hermione frowned. "Kreacher, you've been conditioned to–"

"No! Why does this nasty child seek to ruin poor, forsaken Kreacher's chance at regaining his dignity?"

"Don't worry, Kreacher," Narcissa said in a soothing tone. "We would not hold the unconventional company your current master keeps against you."

"Well, there you have it then," Sirius declared. "Everybody's happy."

He conjured a sock, but Remus put a hand on his shoulder to stop him. "At least do this properly."

Sirius blinked. "What?"

"Final orders," Remus reminded him, which brought a wince from Lucius Malfoy.

"Oh, right," Sirius said. "Kreacher, here are your final orders. You will not disclose any secrets you learned while in service to me or my family. And you will never return to Grimmauld Place." He looked at Remus. "Does that cover it?"

"I believe so," Remus confirmed.

Sirius turned back to Kreacher. "Well? What are you waiting for? Swear to obey, and we can be free of each other for good."

The elf answered, "Kreacher needs to return to his old home for one thing which belongs to Kreacher. Then Kreacher will obey."

"What one thing?"

"A gift to Kreacher from good master Regulus."

Sirius gave an exasperated sigh. "Fine. One last visit, but then never again. Go and get this gift from Regulus and bring it to me. Take nothing else from the house. In fact, don't touch or otherwise tamper with anything else."

Kreacher popped away. Hermione began to object again, but Kreacher popped right back, holding something clutched to his chest.

Sirius held out his hand. Kreacher peered up at him distrustfully, but when Sirius snapped his fingers, the elf extended his hand to reveal a locket.

Sirius snatched the locket away from him. He looked it over and tried to pry it open, but failed. He shrugged and held it out to Narcissa. "Do you care if he brings this with him? There's a good chance it's cursed. A lot of stuff in that house is, so fair warning."

"Perhaps I should inspect it first," Remus said.

"Perhaps I should as well," added Arthur Weasley, who had been observing without comment until then.

"No!" Sirius nearly shouted. "Sorry. You know I respect your opinion, both of you, but I need this done and sorted now."

Lucius said, "We are quite capable of dealing with any Dark magic attached to the object."

"I don't doubt your experience in that area," Arthur said.

Lucius didn't reply, as the two exchanged a hostile look.

Narcissa had accepted the locket from Sirius and was examining it. "It's a lovely piece. You're sure you're willing to part with a family heirloom? In addition to the house-elf?"

Sirius said, "I'd just wind up throwing it in the bin. The locket I mean, not the house-elf, though don't think I haven't been tempted. I have very little sentimentality for Black family heirlooms. Or loyal servants," he added with a sneer at Kreacher. "It'll be good riddance to both."

She handed the locket back to Kreacher, who once more cradled it protectively. To Sirius, she replied, "I have no objection. I accept both your generous gifts. Thank you."

Sirius threw the sock he'd conjured earlier at Kreacher, who snatched it out of the air with surprising speed.

Sirius told him, "There. You're free. You can go with her, or go jump in a lake for all I care."

Kreacher fell to his knees before Narcissa. "Kreacher offers his humble and devoted service."

"Kreacher–" Hermione tried to cut in, but found herself ignored.

"I accept your service," Narcissa said. "Do you know the location of Malfoy Manor?"

"Kreacher knows, Mistress."

"Go there and familiarize yourself with whatever work needs to be done."

Kreacher scrambled to his feet, then bowed and popped away without even a parting glance at Sirius.

Sirius let out a relieved breath. "That's one less problem in my life. Pleasure doing business with you, cousin."

"Likewise, cousin," she replied, in a far warmer tone than the one she'd greeted him with.

After exchanging a nod with her and a brief, hard stare with her husband, Sirius put his hand on Harry's shoulder to guide him away. The other members of the group followed, the students trading their own unfriendly looks with Draco.

Hermione couldn't help turning back to make one last attempt. "The right thing to do would be to set him free, but I know you won't. I just hope you remember what happened with Dobby, and the possible consequences of mistreating someone you allow into your home. For your own sake, if not for Kreacher's."

"Thank you for the advice," Narcissa said coolly, "but you would do well to leave the management of magical affairs to those born to it, and keep your ignorance to yourself. For your own sake. Do be a dear and run along after your little friends now."

Hermione shook her head and turned away. Ginny had stopped to wait for her, glaring at the Malfoys with distrust. Beyond Ginny stood Mr Weasley, keeping an eye on both girls.

Hermione and Ginny walked away together.

The students found a place to cluster together while the older members of the group went to greet people they knew, or take in the view of the field.

Hermione said, "Harry, that wasn't right."

"I wasn't in favor of it at first, but Kreacher made his choice," he told her. "Besides, you don't know what that elf is like. He's honestly a nightmare."

"I expect I'd have a bad attitude too, if someone forced me to be a slave for my entire life. How can you be okay with this, knowing how the Malfoys treated Dobby?"

"I hate to admit it, but I think Draco's mother was telling the truth about one thing. Kreacher's experience will be totally different from Dobby's, because he won't fight them. Kreacher thought so at least. You saw how eager he was. He loves the Black family, aside from Sirius. And he sure wasn't enjoying his life before. He was always muttering vile things I'm not going to repeat, which Sirius would shout at him for, which would set off the painting of Sirius' mother, and it would explode into this whole thing."

Ginny added, "It sounded like Kreacher agreed to serve Narcissa Malfoy, rather than the whole family. She'll take care of him for that reason alone. You can tell just by looking at her and listening to the way she talks that she needs everything that's hers to be pristine and perfect."

Harry nodded. "I think Sirius expected that. He didn't do this on the spur of the moment. He has a plan."

"What plan?" Hermione asked.

Harry glanced around. They stood towards the back of the box, while everyone else had gathered towards the front, which offered a better view of the field. The noise from the stadium crowd gave them even more privacy.

He said, "He didn't tell me everything. I didn't know what he was planning with Kreacher, I swear. He said he was going to give Narcissa a gift, but I thought he meant something like the locket. He's throwing out a lot of old stuff anyway. I guess she got a two-for-one deal though, thanks to Kreacher."

George said, "We're trying to raise money. If Sirius is clearing out a bunch of valuable antiques, we'd be happy to come 'round and shift everything for him."

"Not as happy as you think. Not for long, at least. Sirius thought about donating the lot to charity, but when he and Remus started going through it and finding all the curses, they agreed they couldn't take the risk of any curses they might miss."

In a quiet voice, Ginny said, "It can be hard to tell sometimes. At least at first."

Harry put a comforting hand on her back, as Ron remarked, "Sure would be a shame if a cursed locket made its way to the Malfoys without them realizing. No telling what damage it might do."

"Yeah," she agreed in the same tone as Ron. "A real shame."

Hermione asked, "Was that the plan?"

Harry said, "Even if the locket is cursed, Kreacher would've had to be in on it, and there's just no way. No, Sirius wants to drive a wedge between the Malfoys by poking at Lucius, while acting friendly with Narcissa. Maybe even win her back to our side eventually. He says she wasn't so bad when they were kids."

"Of course not. Children aren't born with terrible prejudices."

Ron said, "I'm not so sure. Remember what Draco was like already in first year?"

Harry continued, "Anyway, Sirius is hoping to start trouble between them, while also making himself look like someone she can turn to for a way out." He shrugged. "If nothing else, maybe she'll slip our side useful information now and then."

"How would anyone ever be able to trust her?" Ron wondered.

"Yeah, I guess that's always the problem with spies. You can never be sure. Can't hurt to try though, if all it takes is an old locket that was headed for the bin, and a house-elf who was dying to escape anyway."

"He didn't escape!" Hermione reminded him. "He went right back into slavery, but this time with known abusers."

"I might agree with you if Sirius had just given or sold Kreacher to them, but you saw what happened. Sirius gave him the freedom to do whatever he wanted, and he made his choice."

"It wasn't a properly informed choice," she insisted. "Kreacher must be a victim of brainwashing. They all must be. Somehow Dobby managed to break through it."

"Brainwashing?" Ron asked.

"It means… if you repeat something to a person often enough, under the right conditions, they'll start to believe it. Kind of like a Confundus Charm, but without magic."

"That actually works?"

"Apparently, under the right conditions."

Ron considered this, then said, "Hermione, you want to write all my essays from now on."

"Shut up."

"No problem. Just don't forget, you want to write all my essays."

"It doesn't work like that! They also use–I don't know, isolation and torture and drugs and such. Oh! That must be why people treat house-elves so poorly."

"They're not all treated poorly," chimed in George.

"Yeah, the ones at Hogwarts seem happy enough," agreed Fred.

"At Hogwarts?" Hermione gasped.

"Well, yeah," Fred replied. "Who do you think does the cooking and cleaning? You didn't think Filch took care of the whole castle by himself?"

"I assumed it was–well, magic."

"It is. House-elves use magic to do their work."

"Right, then. I'll just have to pack food from home to bring with me, and have my parents send more throughout the year. I hope you'll all do the same."

George told her, "It wouldn't make any real difference in the amount of work they have."

Fred added, "All it'll do is insult them."

"I won't benefit from slave labor," she insisted. "At least at Hogwarts, I'll have the whole school year to try to deprogram them."

The Weasleys gave her blank looks.

"Deprogramming is like… casting Finite to counter a Confundus. But for brainwashing," she explained.

Harry asked, "Are you sure that's what's going on?"

"Not you too! You must have learned about slavery in Muggle school, the same as I did."

"Yeah, but brainwashing? Isn't that just in movies and on the telly? I thought the main thing keeping human slaves from running away was the fear they might get caught and brought back and punished. I don't think an elf would need to worry about that."

"I don't know. It must be different with elves. Maybe because it's all they've ever known."

Harry grimaced. "I grew up not remembering life before the Dursleys, but I was always pretty clear on them being complete jerks."

Ginny leaned against him, and he felt a flare of heat from her.

He went on, "But never mind that. The point is, when we talked about slavery in school, I don't remember anything about convincing slaves to be happy about it. People tried to justify it, but I always thought that was more the owners trying to convince themselves."

Hermione had looked sympathetic at the mention of his home life before Sirius, but returned to the argument when he did. "House-elves may accept their status, but that doesn't mean they're happy," she insisted. "Dobby wasn't happy with the Malfoys. Kreacher wasn't happy with Sirius. What happens if he isn't happy with the Malfoys either?"

"I don't think that'll happen though. It's like the houses at Hogwarts. Kreacher believes the same crap that snakes like the Malfoys believe, but Dobby is brave and decent. Of course neither would be happy where they were. It's like they were sorted wrong."

"That's a terrible analogy. Dobby wanted to be free, not just a slave with a different master. Kreacher would have seen that as a better option too, if I'd gotten a chance to explain it to him. At least I can help the elves at Hogwarts."

Ron said, "Maybe they're like children. The schemes Dobby came up with to try to keep Harry safe were like something a child would think of. You don't solve child abuse by tossing every child out on the streets, even the ones in good families."

"That doesn't work either. Children grow up, but elves are never allowed to. And you're on shaky ground talking about sloppy plans."

"I come up with most of my plans with you and Harry!"

"That just shows we all need to do better."

Harry admitted, "I don't know the perfect analogy, but I don't think slavery is it. Maybe the relationship between humans and elves doesn't fit any human pattern. You know, on account of elves not being human."

Remus had come over while they were talking, and cleared his throat. "If I may add another perspective…"

Hermione said, "Of course, sir. I mean Remus."

"While elves are sometimes treated deplorably, and we should condemn that in the harshest terms, I recommend you observe the situation further before you decide how to intervene. Can you really see Albus Dumbledore employing slave labor?"

"No, of course not. I mean, I wouldn't have thought so, but if Hogwarts has house-elves, then…"

"You're thinking of elves as short people with long ears. They are not. They have their own system of values. Consider that to them, being of service may mean something quite different from what it means to you. By all appearances, they find it tremendously rewarding in itself."

"What about everything you said this morning about magic's potential to disrupt existing power relations?"

"I encourage you to do so, whenever you can be reasonably confident of making a positive difference. Just be sure whatever change you seek is an improvement for the elves by their standards, not merely your own."

Bill and Charlie had drifted over to see what everyone was discussing. Bill said, "You're going to have a hard time in the wizarding world if you treat every Being you meet as a human in a different body. I work with goblins. If you expect them to think of agreements and property rights the way we do, sooner or later you're going to run into trouble with them."

George offered, "We can introduce you to the Hogwarts elves, so you can hear what they think."

"On the condition that you actually listen to what they want," added Fred.

Hermione nodded. "Alright, I'll take you up on that. Thank you. How did they wind up there anyway?"

"I can answer that," Charlie said. "I used to visit the kitchens with a friend from Hufflepuff. Helga Hufflepuff established Hogwarts as a sanctuary for house-elves with nowhere else to go. The badgers take it as a point of pride–you know, their whole thing with welcoming anyone who doesn't fit in anywhere else."

"Then the ones at Hogwarts are actually free?" she asked in a hopeful voice.

"Maybe when they arrive, but as far as I know, they all insist on pledging formal service to Hogwarts. It has some special significance to them. It's tradition for the Hogwarts headmaster to release an elf from service if they ever ask, but I don't think many ever do."

Hermione said, "Having at least the option should be the law for all house-elves. It shouldn't depend on whether they're lucky enough to end up with someone who chooses to offer it."

Remus said, "That sounds obvious to us, but can you be certain it would sound the same to a house-elf? Such a law could make them feel insecure in their positions, depending on its exact wording. I admit I have no idea. But you have the opportunity to ask them, and try to avoid unintended consequences."

Hermione sighed. "I still don't see how the whole arrangement can be anything but wrong, but I'll try to find out more about how they feel about it."

The discussion seemed to have run its course, and with fortunate timing, as the increased volume of cheers from the crowd let them know the opening ceremonies were commencing.