House elves

There are those who might tell you that the mark of a good house elf is that you don't know that it's there. My family doesn't have one, so I was pretty excited when I found out that Hogwarts has so many working here. They're fascinating creatures. It's unfortunate that the saying about house elves is somewhat true--you really don't know they are here.

I caught a glimpse of one yesterday, though. I'd forgotten one of my books in my trunk, and I'd gone back to find it. She was cleaning up our dormroom, I think because we might be getting a new roommate. She had on a clean green tea towel, worn kind of like a toga, and she was very, very shy. She darted under the bed as soon as I saw her. I could hear her whimpering and muttering to herself down there, so I sat down on the floor and waited for her to come out.

She cried with fear again when she saw that I was still there:

"Oh-oh. You is not to be here, you is not."

"I know," I said. "I forgot my book. I'm sorry that I startled you."

"Nippy is just working, she is," she squeaked. "She is cleaning up after young wizards who are playing in the mud. She knows that they are going too close to the Forbidden Forest, but she does not tell, because she likes the tall wizard. He leaves her snacks sometimes, under his pillowcase."

"The tall wizard?" I asked blankly. A second later, it clicked in. "The tall wizard? You mean Michael, Nippy?" Michael has shot up easily a good ten centimetres over the break.

"Yes, yes, the tall wizard, who is too big for his robes already, he worries that his mother will be angry if he asks for new ones. Nippy wants to fix them but she must wait to ask Professor Dumbledore first." While we'd been talking, she'd gotten up, and started cleaning again, as though it were automatic to her. Which, I suppose, it is.

"And the smaller wizard, he is missing his family...and you, you is liking that girl. Nippy knows all the secrets, even about the Head Girl and the pretty teacher, and tries to help her wizards and her witches when she can, but she is only one elf, and is not doing enough." At this, she seemed to get upset, tears leaking out of her eyes, the shining liquid highlighting their beautiful green.

I wasn't sure what to say, so I muttered, "It's alright, Nippy." She sniffed some more, but kept sweeping the same pile of dirt around on the floor. My eye caught the open lid to my trunk, and a small pile of candy.

"Here, Nippy," I said. "Have a Fizzing Whizzbee. Please?"

She didn't say anything, so I put the candy on my bed, and ran back down to the grounds. The candy was gone when I came back, though, and I can't say for sure, but I think the area around my bed was extra clean.