It was the beginning of Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts. Harry was currently sitting on a cot in the Hospital wing waiting for Madam Pomfrey to come back with the results of his blood test. When the witch learned that Harry hadn’t had a physical exam in years she took it upon herself to give him one. She’d already checked his blood pressure, his ears, eyes, breathing, etc. All that was left was a simple blood test.
Harry was counting the tiles on the floor when he heard a loud, demanding knock at the door to the hospital wing. The Midiwitch stormed out of her back room and opened the door. Harry didn’t bother turning around to see the guest, he knew that snobby voice instantly.
“Ma’am, Goyle’s banged up his hand again, can you look at it?” Harry heard a large boy grunt in pain.
“Alright, alright, bring him in. Honestly, what has he done this time?” Harry heard the three walk toward his cot.
“I believe he was trying to see if he could punch a hole in the dungeon wall,” Malfoy droned.
“But it’s made of stone!”
“Yes well, Goyle’s learned his lesson, haven’t you Goyle?” The boy just grunted in pain again.
“Have a seat on the cot next to Mr. Potter so I can examine your hand.”
“Potter?” That’s when Malfoy noticed him. “Why are you here, Potty?”
“Mr. Malfoy, be civil,” Madam Pomfrey said, looking at Goyle’s hand.
“None of your business, Malfoy.”
“Same to you, Mr. Potter. Civility please,” She said.
“Fine, don’t tell me. I’m sure Professor Umbridge would know.”
“It’s none of her business!”
“Quiet down you two,” she said, finally looking at the pair. “Mr. Potter is only here for a simple check-up.”
“A check-up? What, are your filthy muggle relatives so poor that they can’t even afford to take you to a mediwitch over summer vacation?”
“Hush Mr. Malfoy or I’ll escort you out.”
“Sorry Ma’am,” he said grudgingly.
Then all four of them heard a ringing sound coming from the back room. “That’ll be the results of your blood test,” she said as she handed Goyle a potion. “Drink this Mr. Goyle. It’ll heal you up in about an hour. Now no punching walls, understand?”
“Yes, Ma’am,” he said, looking downtrodden.
“Alright, you two can leave now.”
“Thanks Ma’am,” Malfoy said. He gave Harry a sneer as he and Goyle walked past. When the door closed behind them, Madam Pomfrey strode into the back room to get the results of the blood test. Harry waited a few minutes, but she didn’t come back out. He waited another few minutes before calling out to her.
“Madam Pomfrey?”
Harry waited some more. The mediwitch finally walked out with an odd expression on her face. She held a small piece of parchment in her hand. The woman gave a big sigh before sitting down on the cot that Goyle had just vacated. She stared down at the bit of parchment. Overall she looked…unhappy.
“Um…what does it say? Am I okay?”
The woman slowly made eye contact with him, looked back at the parchment, then looked back at him again. Then she looked away. She looked toward the window that was between the two cots.
Harry started panicking. He’d never seen the woman like this. She was usually so blunt. “Am I okay?” he asked again. Now he was worried.
She looked back at him again, but this time she didn’t look away. This time her gaze was focused. She looked him up and down. She looked at his eyes, his ears, his nose, his mouth…all with such focus. She slowly reached toward him and took the glasses off his face. She looked at his eyes again. Then she put his glasses back on him and stood up. She walked past him without saying a word.
What the hell was going on? “Madam Pomfrey!” he yelled, watching her walk past cot after cot. “What’s wrong with me?”
He saw her suddenly stop when she got to the door. She didn’t turn around to look at him. She placed the bit of parchment in her pocket and finally spoke. “Don’t move. Just stay where you are. I’m going to get the Headmaster.” Then she left, closing the door behind her.
The Headmaster? Why? There must be something wrong with him. Was he so sick that even the Headmaster had to be informed? Harry waited a long time. He looked at the clock on the wall. A whole hour had gone by before Madam Pomfrey came back with the Headmaster.
When Harry saw the man, he immediately stood up. “Headmaster!”
“Harry, have a seat,” the man said, not as kindly as Harry was used to.
Harry sat back down, more worried than ever. “Sir, what’s going on? Madam Pomfrey won’t tell me anything.”
Harry noticed Dumbledore staring at him the same way the mediwitch had, then he turned to her. “Yes Poppy, I see it now. It would be very easy to miss, but it’s definitely there in the shape of his ears and nose. And his eyes are a little larger than normal. Yes he gets it from his father. Harry’s ears are smaller than his were though. With each generation they’ll look more and more human.”
“I’ve never seen one before,” Madam Pomfrey said in a shocked whisper. “It’s disturbing to think that any witch or wizard would willingly partake in…in well…that with one of them.”
“Yes, it doesn’t happen often. I’ve only ever seen one other. A female. She was a third generation so she looked much less human than this one. She was serving a family in Lithuania.” The Headmaster paused and brought his wrinkled hand to Harry’s face. The Headmaster felt his ears then pulled back. “I’ve never heard of one with only faint traces in their blood, one that looks so human nobody would be able to tell, one that was living as a human and studying magic at a school.” The man turned back to the mediwitch. “It’s a good thing you decided to give him a check-up.”
“Yes,” she said nodding her head. “Can you imagine what would happen if it continued to live like a human?”
“I believe we’ve already witnessed it in its father. James Potter lived life as a human.”
“We need to register him with the Ministry.”
“Yes and soon.”
Harry couldn’t take it anymore. They were talking about him like he wasn’t even there, like he wasn’t human. “What’s going on, Headmaster?”
Madam Pomfrey left the room then. The Headmaster sat on the cot across from Harry. “Harry,” the man began. The boy just looked at him, waiting. “What do you know about elves?”
“Elves? What do you mean, I thought this was about my blood test?”
“It is. Poppy found traces of elf DNA is your bloodstream. They are very faint traces, but they’re still there. Harry, you’re part elf.”
“I’m part elf? What do you mean?”
“Harry, somewhere down the line an ancestor of yours, probably many, many generations ago, conceived a child with a house-elf. That’s what I mean.”
“Oh, eww,” Harry made a face. House elves were not the prettiest of creatures. Why would a human want to… wait. “I’m part elf?”
“That’s what I said, Harry.”
“…okay. Weird, but okay. Now what? Can I uh…go back to my dorm?”
The Headmaster looked away. “No. You need to stay here until the Ministry officials arrive.”
“What, why?”
“You need to be registered as a house-elf.”
“A house-elf? What are you talking about? You said the elf DNA in me was really low, right? I’m pretty much human.”
“That’s true, but it is law that all half-elves, or those with even a small amount of elf blood, are seen as house elves under Wizarding law. You are legally a house-elf.”
“But that’s insane! I’m still human. What’s going to happen to me? They can’t make me serve a family like a real house-elf.”
“That’s exactly what they’re going to do. They are going to do a thorough check of your blood to see which family you belong to. Or at least which family your ancestors belonged to, and place you with that family.”
“But that’s- they can’t…I’m not- I don’t act like an elf at all.”
“Yes, that’s true. House elves have man-made instincts that force them to behave a certain way. These instincts were not originally part of their species. A long time ago, when wizards first discovered elves, we forced them to obey us with dark curses. They were forced to become our slaves. The curses made it so the creatures received compulsions to do as they were told and to feel guilt when they did not. Wizards even made it so the elves would harm themselves when they did not carry out an order. Lastly, the curses made the elves content with their fate. The wizards of the past named these small elves they forced into being their slaves: house-elves, for they were the servants to the house of man.”
“But I don’t feel anything like that.”
“Yes, your elf blood has been diluted over many generations to the point where the curses doesn’t affect you. The wizards of today no longer know the curses used on the original house elves so they’ll be casting a different curse on you. It should do mainly the same thing. The only difference is that they don’t know how to make a half-elf content, to want to serve. You’ll still feel a compulsion to serve your master and you’ll still feel guilt when you don’t, but that’s about it.”
“No, they can’t! Like I said, I’m not an elf. The blood test was wrong!”
“Harry, I can see elf traits in you. If one isn’t looking for them, you simply look like a human, but if you know what to look for, well…”
“No.”
“Your ears are a bit pointy at the very tops, just slightly. Your nose is a bit on the thin side. Your eyes are slightly larger than the average human’s.
“No. No, I’m human. I’m a wizard!”
“You were never a wizard, Harry.” The man stood up and cast a petrification spell on the boy. He knew the boy was just about ready to make a run for it. The man reached into Harry’s robes and pulled out his wand. Harry was still conscious, was still watching him. Dumbledore knew it was cruel, but Harry needed to get used to not being a wizard. He was just a house-elf now, and house elves were not permitted to have wands. The Headmaster snapped the boy’s wand in two and threw the pieces in the bin. Then he undressed the boy. House elves were also not allowed to wear clothes. Harry’s master would be the one to give him the customary pillowcase that all house elves wore. Then Dumbledore sat back on the cot and waited for the ministry officials to arrive.
Finnian Siog 