Chapter Text
Hilda Berg always made a lot of noise when it came to magical creatures. Her whole first year at Hogwarts was nothing compared to the second, which held so be called “the Elven Affair”.
It all began in the middle of October when she had seen an elf, dusting a fireplace in the second-floor corridor.
….
“What’s your name?” Hilda spoke softly kneeling down to see the tiny elf in red hat closer.
The elf looked up, blinking few times, his eyes wide open, or at least Hilda guessed they were, she couldn’t see his features that well since he was only a few centimeters tall after all.
”Huh?? You-you can see me? Oh silly me, of course she can see you Alfur, she would not be talking to you if she didn’t.“ The tiny man immediately stops talking, his high but not loud voice cracking. He looks even more shocked than before. “Oh goodness, I am babbling now. I am terribly sorry Miss Hilda.”
“Don't you apologize. It's a pleasure to meet you Alfur. How do you know my name?”
“It is my duty to remember all the residents of the castle. We elves take our obligations very seriously.”
“So, you are really brainy."
“You are being most gracious Miss Hilda, but I'm just a simple elf. Memorizing is one of the few things we are good at.”
Hilda frowned, she just didn't like the way this was beginning to sound.
“If I may be so bold to ask, how is it that you can see me, Miss Hilda?”
“It's just Hilda, everyone calls me that.”
“Oh, my apologies, Miss Hil- Hilda the Just.”
Hilda couldn’t help it but giggle.
“I mean you don't need to call me ‘Miss’.”
Alfur looked as shocked and starry-eyed as his little face could be.
“Look what got here; a freak talking to her imaginary friends.” A mocking voice shouts from across the corridor, joined by a wave of laughter.
Hilda scowls, picking up the elf against his protests and set him on her shoulder. Turning around she sees Trevor, one of those Gryffindor boys that she can’t stand, along with some of her other fellow second year students.
“Just because a troll-brain like you can't see it doesn't mean it isn’t real. Oh, I’m terribly sorry,” Hilda takes a very dramatic pause, “I just insulted all the poor trolls out there by comparing them to you, you doofus.” She turns around and walks out of the corridor and onto the stairs before Trevor gets a chance to think of a comeback or something worse.
....
She rushed to the Hufflepuff basement, then through the common room and into her dorm room. It's empty, except for her Deerfox, which startles awake, basically leaping up with fright when she storms in.
“I'm so sorry for waking you, Twig"
He looks as annoyed as a Deerfox can.
“I know, I always do that. But now I got a good reason; we have a new friend!"
The Deerfox turns his head to the side as if to ask where.
“Oh, you can't see him from there, right."
Hilda holds her outstretched palm by her shoulder. It only takes few moments for the elf to stop clinging to her neck and hesitantly jump on the palm. Hilda sat on the bed and let Alfur sit between her and Twig. When the Deerfox begins to snarl at the elf, Hilda snarls back until he stops.
“Alfur this is Twig, my pet Deerfox. Twig this is Alfur. He is an elf. Like those that lived around our house, you know, the ones that wanted to evict us.”
“You’re met elves before?” Alfur blurted out excitedly, his pale complexion getting almost as red as his hat.
“We have!” Hilda just smiled back at him “Before Hogwarts my mum and I lived all by ourselves, out in the wilderness. But we were never alone...”
So, she told the story. One that began with an eviction note, continued with lots of paperwork, almost war, and ended with their house getting smashed by a giant foot.
....
With Alfur sitting on her ear—a place he deemed most comfortable, yet inconspicuous—Hilda stormed through the Great Hall, decisively heading towards the High Table. Alfur, however, had none of her certainty.
“Miss Hilda… I mean Hilda. This is truly not a good idea. I was lucky to get a permission to act as an emissary to students since the only student who can see us elves is yourself. We should not do something so harsh and unprepared. You follow none of the protocols I spoke about and...”
Hilda stubbornly ignored him, instead choosing to stop right in front of headmaster's omelet.
“Good morning, Professor.”
All professors just stared at her, as did most of the students.
“Good morning to you too, Miss Berg.” Dumbledore looked completely stunned for a fraction of a moment, but he managed to cover it well with a jovial smile. “What is so urgent that it couldn't wait until after I enjoy these exclusively made eggs?”
“It, as a matter of fact, is rather urgent. I don't know if you are aware, but there are Elves in this castle.”
“I am well aware Miss Berg,” Dumbledore replied, unmoved by the statement.
Half of the staff looked very much ready to give her a detention right then and there, but Hilda didn't let it scare her off.
“Well, then I must sadly inform you that elves—those intelligent creatures with a magnificent culture—are used as unpaid slave labor in this very castle,” Hilda announced, probably a lot louder than she needed to.
A murmur broke out at the High table, most of the professors giving Hilda incredulous looks. Alfur’s shocked gasp was so loud it made Hilda’s head jerk, but the most vocal of all was definitely, Professor McGonagall.
“Miss Berg!” Her voice steadily rising, “It’s not your place to –“ She was silenced by headmaster’s risen hand.
“It’s no bother Minerva,” Dumbledore said, as serene as always, “it’s just a little misunderstanding, nothing more. As your little friend can tell you, elves are no slaves of ours.”
He made it sound so reassuring, but it wasn’t enough for Hilda, who had spent the whole night preparing what she would say. However, before she could begin, Dumbledore continued.
“Now, I understand there is a lot you want to know, but why don’t you first ask your elven friend, maybe go to the library. Then you are welcome to ask me anything you’d like.”
Hilda opened her mouth to protest, but a dismissive wave of Dumbledore’s fork and McGonagall’s scowl discouraged her from it. So instead she just turned around with most of her dignity still intact. While walking towards the Hufflepuff table, she felt them all watching her.
….
“You confronted the headmaster, are you insane?” Frida whispered as loud as possible. She probably would have yelled, if it wasn’t for Madam Pince giving their table hard stares since they arrived at the library.
“That’s what I told her,” David commented. Hilda had spent most of Gryffindor-Hufflepuff Herbology class telling David all about the elves and occasionally fighting with the elf on her shoulder. At least she said it was an elf because to David it seemed as if she had finally lost her mind and was talking to empty air. Well, at least until the elf spoke right into his ear and made him almost get strangled by a Devil’s Snare.
“I must agree with your friends, Miss Hilda,” A squeaky voice with no visible owner said. Both Frida and David jumped up a bit.
“That is seriously creepy Hilda,” Frida said, “Can’t he un-invisible himself or something like that?”
Hilda stopped browsing through the four giant books in front of her to think.
“Well back then, elves made themselves visible after I signed some paperwork. So maybe that could work.” She looked at a fifth— smaller, but still giant—book on the table, whose pages were creasing slightly as if tiny feet were walking on them. “Could you do that for them Alfur?”
The squeaky voice was back, “It may be possible. Although my clan has not mastered the sacred art of paperwork, we should still be able to do this. However, to get a hold of that form you must apply for permission, and for that, you must fill a form of stating the requirement, but for that, there is a sixteen-day waiting period, and to get that you must…”
“So, it’s possible?” Hilda cut off his train of thought.
There was a short pause.
“It should be.”
David already knew this would get really complicated, and he knew it wasn’t just paranoia speaking.