Quote:
Originally Posted by
TakemetotheBurrow 
House elves? Hm.
"They have very powerful magic, Sir, and they're extremely loyal and obedient. " They are also good cooks. Or well, some are. Yeah. She was hungry, okay.
"True..." Erik answered slowly, wondering if the Hufflepuff had anything else to add aloud.
"Who are they loyal to?" This was important to note.
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Originally Posted by
hpfan18 "House Elves are known to work in the kitchens here, they are good cooks, but i know they do not have many rights. For example they do not have the right to speak ill of their masters." Kace nodded. His aunt had one and Kace always found him quite odd. His aunt always hid him from his father. But Kace ran into Twinky one day and he didn't mind him at all. He seemed sweet really...
"Were known to work in vhe kitchens here," Erik kindly corrected the Hufflepuff. He was young, so he would be forgiven the mistake.
"You are correct to say vhat vhey have limited rights; however, speaking ill of vheir masters is more of a...cultural custom amongst house-elves vhan it is a 'right' by law. Most house elves know vhat to speak ill of vheir master is to tempt vheir master to give vhem clothes." And he would elaborate more on that later.
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Originally Posted by
AlwaysSnapesGirl "Most of them usually seem to like cooking and cleaning and stuff. They can sometimes get offended if you tell them they shouldn't do it or anything like that." At least, a couple at her grandparents' house had been offended when she'd said that once.
"Vhey can be offended vhen a wizard tries to keep vhem from vheir work, yes, correct." House elves were indeed hard-working creatures.
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Originally Posted by
DaniDiNardo Oh? House elves? She knew lots about them. Nodnodnod. Her hand shot up. "They don't like being tackled to the ground by first years and may resort to crying in order for you to get off of them." She hadn't meant to upset it...it was cute...they should have come with a 'Do Not Pounce' sign--not that she'd have read it or listened to it.
"And they have a strong sense of duty and all that. Like if you tell them to do something they'll stay on task no matter what--so long as they answer to you that is. If they can't get it done they may resort to hurting themselves."
Erm...and there was Alexa's answer...different, as always. Erik put all of his focus on the girl as he tried to sort out her answer. He hadn't ever made a house elf cry
as far as he knew but her...well that was some sort of accomplishment, wasn't it?
"Good," he replied eventually.
"House elves have vhe tendency to self-punish vhen vhey feel vhey are disappointing vheir master." Quote:
Originally Posted by
jrtpuplvr House elves. He really didn't know much about House Elves. "I know they cook and clean and stuff." Asher thought a bit more. "They also like pudding. Yes, pudding." He really didn't have any idea, but he was thinking about how they were little and when he was little he liked pudding.
He tilted his head at this Hufflepuff's response. Elves liked pudding...really...
"Vhey do perform household chores for wizards, yes." He wouldn't address the pudding rumour. It seemed made-up by the lad.
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Originally Posted by
Danielle_Daughn OOH house elves. Mack's grandparents had about five of those that worked on the estate. [b]"Sir, they clean, cook, sew, and do anything you tell them to.. and they never back talk my gran if they do they get in trouble. She got along with the elves wonderfully, they and taught her to cook well them and one of the maids... Mackenzie didn't understand why her grandparents needed both house elves and maids but alas they had both and they weren't very nice to either of them.
"Vhat kind of trouble or punishment vould your gran give one of her house elves who misbehaved?" Erik asked curiously.
"Please, share vith vhe class." This information was part of the house-elf identity.
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Originally Posted by
lemon Oh! Oh, she knew this one. Hand up. "Um, their status is 'being'. They're only freed if their master presents them with clothes." And.. Alice knew more, right? There had to be at least one extra fact she could name. The fifth year rubbed her chin thoughtfully before tossing her hand up again. "And they deliver dangerous man-eating plants to the Headmistress." Deathly delivery service for the win.
Odin be kind today...was the Gryffindor captain really
grinning at him and mentioning man-eating plants in the same sentence?
Erik didn't like that at all. He winced but made himself make eye contact with the girl... she did have a good response to his question...
"Very good, Ms. Fischer. House elves do as vheir masters command them." Which apparently included doing dangerous tasks.
"Can you tell us vhat house elves wear, if clothing is vhat frees them?" Quote:
Originally Posted by
Govoni "They used to wash my clothes..." Yep, he remembered that fondly... "They're also classified as Beings...according to the Ministry.".....What else.....Hmmmm. Oh..."...and they have to do whatever their masters command of them." He'd read about that stuff....and when he said 'Whatever' their masters commanded of them...he meant 'whatever'...
The poor Slytherin captain almost sounded wistful about the missing Hogwarts elves...hah. One would think an almost-graduate of this school would know how to wash his own clothing by now.
"Can you tell us more about vhat a 'being' classification means, Mister Montmorency?" Erik asked quietly.
"And yes, yes vhey do." He could tell that the boy understood the power behind the word 'anything' in his own sentence. Goooood.
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Originally Posted by
MaverickMagpie "They have funny names. They're really nice, too."
True story.
"Do you haff any examples of 'funny names'?" Erik prodded the boy, though not literally. He remained quite content to stay where he was at his desk.
"Perhaps your name is funny to vhe elves." Just pointing that out.
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Originally Posted by
DecemberMoon She raised her hand and said, "Professor, they're magical beings that have a little different magic than ours, though I'm not entirely sure how it's different or what all they can do, since so many of them are so oppressed - they don't get to show it off much. But I do know that they're pretty cute and good at helping!" She figured that was enough for now. Is he going to tell us how to get the house elves back? Or how to become better friends with them? Maybe what kind of magic they use or how?! That would be awesome!! She sat very still, ready to learn.
Good, good, he remembered this Ravenclaw's thought-provoking answers from his previous lesson.
"House elves are good helpers," he nodded to her, as he
would know.
"We vill discuss vheir specific powers later on...are vhere any examples of house elf magic you can vhink of?" To share with the class?
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Originally Posted by
Meizzner "They obey their masters. They cook, clean, or whatever else they are told to do. They can be freed though."
Always so straightforward, this one was.
"Correct." Erik found himself answering just as simply to the boy.
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Originally Posted by
the fastest seeker Raising her hand she spoke, "Like the others said they are loyal and obedient to their masters whom they serve without complaining," They have a pretty hardworking life. "They are sensitive. I found that out after personal encounter with many of them," Here in the castle. "They can also preform magic without a wand," Wicked huh!
That was her answer...But...But..
She couldn't help it so she blurted out the next words, "And there's something stuck to your jacket, professor," Cassia would've wanted people to tell her if something was stuck to her jacket. The blond sent a bright smile towards the man. Could happen to any history of magic professor, no big deal!
Here was another good answer.
"Excellent points," Erik gave the Slytherin a solid nod of approval. But...oh, he had something on his back? Erik reached back to see what it was, but he didn't have eyes back there and didn't feel anything immediately so he put his arm back down. Hmm...
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Originally Posted by
Bazinga Finally when it was her turn, "Professor, I think Eliza said it best. As everyone has said something about them, but the house elf is a very unappreciated creature. I think many students this term have come to find how important they are to our everyday life. House elves are very loyal and can be great protectors of their masters. They can only be freed by being given clothing from their master." She beamed towards the professor, because he was super amazing hero professor now in her eyes.
He was unsurprised to hear such a kindly answer from Wheatborn.
"Vhis is a good point, Minerva," he acknowledged her with a small smile back.
"And perhaps vhy I chose vhem as vhe subject of our last class." Hint.
"You summed vhem up well." Quote:
Originally Posted by
Tegz House elves. Hmmmm.
West put his hand up, eyeing the leaf on the man's back. "There's a leaf on your back, sir." Pause. As for elves, "The Dark Wizard Santa Claus has a whole lot of them enslaved because they work for free and tirelessly according to the whim of their master."
It was a leaf on his back, oh, oh.......
oops. Erik reached back to his suit jacket with a small frown and felt around for longer this time, finally plucking the leaf and setting it down on the desk beside him. Never mind that dumb thing.
"Vhank you," he said simply, then refocused on the boy for the rest of his answer.
Aha, he had been wondering if this story would come up. A small smile twitched at the corner of the professor's lips.
"Vhey do...usually....vork for free, and vhey are hardworkers. However, let's keep today's lesson on vhe topic of local house elves, not mass slaves as Mister Claus vould use them." IF Mr. Claus was even real.
"Does anyone in here haff a house elf in his/her family? Or more vhan one elf?" He was curious to see a show of hands...and the responses to his follow-up questions. Surely the students could tell them more about the creatures that lived in their own homes and up until this year, had taken care of them in this very castle...