No Longer

Political Acumen

Era Damon White/Harry Potter**

When he exited his trunk, there was a house elf in his dorm. Era covered his mouth to stop a curse from escaping. Gosh dash it all! He'd been so careless. Blowing out a breath, he ran his hand up tiredly over his face and tugged it through his hair.

With an upset look, he stared at the house elf, who was frozen, giant eyes bulging and wide with surprise. Her hands were still neatening the sheets on the bed, and Era silently apologized for what he was about to do.

Tipsy was frozen with fear. It was an adult. This was supposed to be a place only for children! The children had never hurt her, not in her old house, and not here either. She didn't know whether it was simply because they didn't know enough magic yet to catch her or if it was because they hadn't been wizards long enough to be corrupted.

She hated wizards, but in her soul, if she wasn't bound to them, there was terrible pain and unhappiness. Most house elves, she knew, didn't feel the deep compulsions of magic that she did, but they were definitely there. Her magic wasn't one that could resist the power though, so year after year, punishment after punishment, she'd been stuck serving the wizards. 

Tipsy knew she had to tell the Headmaster that there was an adult on the property who wasn't permitted, but she loathed him more than any other wizard. He was the one who'd made her break both her legs her first year working at Hogwarts when a tea cup had shattered and disturbed the ritual he was performing. She'd never told a soul what had happened, but the other house elves knew about it and also tried to stay away from the wretched man.

Era pulled back from Tipsy's mind, horror stricken and said, "My dear, I'm so sorry to have disturbed you from your work. I've never met a house elf in person before, so I suppose I just hadn't expected to meet one.

"Pleasure to make your acquaintance, miss. I'm Era White, Prince of Natural Life. What might your name be?" he continued, incredibly polite, giving her a courtly bow and stretching his hand out for her's.

She dazedly placed her hand on his, and Era kissed it, "I am Tipsy, Sir," the house elf said politely, with perfect grammar.

Era was impressed that her speech was so good, house elves, in the general course of things, spoke rather less elegantly than humans, mainly because their minds were hardwired for their own tongue, and English uses very different structuring.

"I'm enchanted to meet you Tipsy," he said, smiling gently, "I've heard very little about house elves, I fear. Could you tell me about yourself?"

"I-I shouldn't Sir. I'm supposed to report you for being on school grounds."

He paused contemplatively before saying, "Well, house elves are allowed to choose the family they serve, correct?"

"No Sir. They have to be released."

"Are students able to release house elves? Being that they can give you official orders?"

"Yes Sir."

Era transformed into Harry fearlessly and transfigured a tidy selection of clothes for Tipsy. There were pants, skirts, tops, dresses, and a few accessories thrown into the mix. The house elf had wide eyes, pale blue like ice in her brown wrinkled face, and she tentatively ran her hands over the garments. 

She chose a dark green dress, a matching bow, and sensible flats. Harry snapped his fingers, the other clothes disappearing and the chosen outfit replacing Tipsy's previous pillowcase, using the same method he had on the train to change into his school robes.

"I, Tipsy, bind my service to the house of Era White," she said, a faint shimmer of magic passing over her skin, invisible to the average person, but clear as day to his own eyes.