Summer of the first year

It's not SPEW, it's S.P.E.W.

A week passed, and Hermione was invited to stay in the castle with Harry and Dudley, an invitation which she quickly accepted. She marvelled at the size of the castle and smiled as Harry showed her her room. On the third evening of her visit, they decided to take a walk down to the lake. While they were there, a house elf popped over to them.

"Master Harry Potter sir, I is Nippy, and I brings good news! I is married to Tippy and she is having a baby sir! We is calling the baby Dilly, sir!"

"That is excellent news, Nippy, congratulations. Do you two have a house to yourself?"

"We has an apartment, sir. We is making buildings similar to muggle flats, sir, which families like to live in. It is most cosy, sir! But I must go now, to make sure Tippy is okay!" and with that, Tippy popped away.

"Harry, what was that?" Hermione asked.

"A house elf..." Harry began, but before he could continue, Hermione explaoded.

"House elf, I've read about those, they are just slaves with a posh name. They are forced to work for years on end with no pay. Harry James Potter, I cannot believe that you could own a house elf- or apparently now three! How could you?" By this point, she was crying.

"'Mione, I promise that my house elves are not forced to stay here. They first thing I did was set them free, they live here because they love to work, and if a house elf has no master, it can begin to go mad, as they love to work. I gave them the ability to marry and breed, and to live on their own accord, if they don't want to work, they can still live here, and I have no problem if they do want to leave. However, all of them decided to stay."

"All of them?" Hermione asked.

"About 400." Harry muttered, expecting a slap.

Hermione hugged him instead. "You freed 400 elves?"

"Yes, 'Mione. I'm just worried about elves who aren't free, and who get abused by their masters. I know from my books that it happens on a regular basis."

"Why don't we start a protest group?" Hermione suggested.

Harry grinned at her.

"I think that's a great idea. Should we head up to the library and discuss it there? It's getting cold out here. We'll fetch Dudley too, on route."

The pair of them tracked down Dudley, who was reading a book about star wars in his room. They headed to the library and sat in the cosy corner by the fire with blankets around their shoulders, discussing the idea of a house elf freedom movement.

"We should have badges." Dudley said, suddenly, "And make posters."
"Good idea... but we need a name first." Harry pointed out, thoughtfully.
"S.P.E.W." Hermione intoned, "Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare."
"You want us to call ourselves spew..." Dudley snorted.

"It's not spew, its S.P.E.W." she muttered

Seeing Hermione's hurt face, Harry suggested an alternative.

"Well, Hermione, while SPEW is catchy, I think Dudley is right, people would tease. But the idea is good. How about H.E.L.P. :House Elf Liberation Party. It isn't great, but it is slightly less teaseable."

Hermione thought for a minute, then nodded her agreement.

"But I think we need to think of a strategy. If we just go up to people, they'll think we're crazy."

"We'll invite Ron and Neville to stay over on Saturday night, and discuss it with them to, we need their opinions too. We don't want to leave them out. They're our best friends."

For half an hour, they chatted, before Hermione looked at them and said quietly,

"Guys, I need to tell you something that I've been hiding this last year. I hope you won't hate me for it..."