 Happy House-elvesYAY! // House-elves that are happy with the way things are <3 ♥ Mrs. Itachi Uchiha™ & MAJNOO! : Bleach & Kyo & Natsume ♥ [ Maxh!Jesh ]
Public speaking?
Let's admit it, Fyodor Balouch was still an undeniable part of what he called his shy!shell. In other words - you guessed it - he could NOT speak in public. The third year blinked, wondering what he was even doing here, before the thought that there was a final to be not failed brought him back from Planet Shyness, to Hogwarts Castle.
Here went nothing. Or, hopefully, something.
Fyo cleared his throat before he began, telling himself he could do this. "Hello, my name is Fyodor Balouch, and I'm speaking on behalf of house-elves who are happy with the way things are. I believe that, before they take the matter of house-elves in their own hands, humans need to understand the house-elves themselves. We need to come to terms with the fact that house-elves, no matter what the similarities, are not humans."
He paused, before continuing. "I know there are a lot of people who wish all house-elves were treated fairly, but treating an "employee" justly is already the duty of the person in charge of him or her. If an unfortunate house-elf is not treated correctly, that is the fault of the people the elf is serving. To say that, to uplift the lives of a specific group of elves, we need to change our set-up altogether would not be correct, because things can not work out that way: When all is said and done, house-elf rights are not the same as human rights."
"In my opinion, before we take any drastic measures, we humans need to understand who a house-elf is. I am pretty sure no one will argue that house-elves are happy to serve - it is their nature, and to try to change it with notions of "wages and clothes" would only be a torment for them. House-elves don't want fancy clothing, house-elves don't want to be paid. I know that there are many of us - including me - who wished they could be better-dressed and better-returned for their services, but house-elves do not think the same way as humans do. They want love and kindness in return for what they do, not material rewards like humans."
Where has his shy!shell gone? No time to think about that now, or he would probably start stuttering. "Anna, you just said that "It's possible that there are elves out there, like the great Dobby, who wish for a way out." I would like to stress that Dobby was an exception, and not the norm," he said politely. "One can not base one's treatment of an entire race on a single exception - that would be unfair towards the majority."
Breathe. Breathe. Breathe.
He needed to slow down. REALLY slow down.
OOC: To be continued. =] |