Harry had walked down to the common room and approached Ginny and the twins; he sat with them and told them all that happened. Naturally the twins and Ginny did what they always do when Harry tells a story, fall on the floor laughing. Harry eventually helped them back on to the furniture.
"Harry! You actually took Dumbledore's Phoenix!"" Ginny wiped a tear away from her eyes
"Yep, it's not exactly a prank but consider it my Marauder introduction"
"You're what?" George asked
"My introduction into the group, each member must do at least one thing to prove their worth, you three don't need to bother as we all know about your pranks" Before anymore could be said, Ron and Hermione walked down.
"Harry" Ron spoke first "I can't believe it! You actually stole Dumbledore's Phoenix!"
"I did not" Harry responded "legally you cannot own a Phoenix so it's entirely up to the Phoenix itself as to who it stays with, I offered it the chance to bond with me and he took it. So the Phoenix willingly became mine and I broke no laws or rules"
"What about that house elf?" Hermione crossed her arms
"That was Stink, he was my very first house elf"
"You're first?!" Hermione dropped all illusions of calm "how many do you have?!"
"About fifty, what's your problem with me having house elves?"
"Are you kidding? That's slave labor!"
"Is it?" Harry calmly replied "you think I'm forcing them to work against their will or something like that? Stink, come here for a sec" The house elf appeared "Go ahead Hermione, ask him anything you like. Stink you can answer anything she asks except for personal questions like where I live and that sort"
"Fine then" Hermione turned to Stink "is Harry paying you?"
"No, Harry did offer to pay Stink and the other elves but we refused. We don't need or want money, and Harry said we can take his money if we ever want to buy anything as long as we tell him first."
"But you shouldn't work for free"
"Stink and the other elves like working miss, we don't need much of anything so we don't need money. Master Harry is most kind, he's given us a home and treats us nicer than others miss."
"But he's treating you like slaves!"
"Oh no miss" Stink looked shock at the very suggestion "Harry is nice and kind master, he forbids us from hurting ourselves and from working when we're sick. He also insists on each elf having days off, master has even helped the younger elves with their work. He is most kind, we elves love master Harry."
"But he's still forcing you to work for him"
"No. Miss must not talk bad about the master" Stink was getting quite defensive while the others seemed quite amused "master has offered each elf pay and offered each elf the chance to be free, we elves refused because we wished to work for our kind master"
"But it's still wrong!" Hermione shouted, Stink rushed towards Harry and hugged his leg he looked absolutely terrified. Hermione realized this, she tried to step closer but Stink just burrowed hid behind Harry's leg. He looked like he was about to cry, until Harry placed a hand on his head and gently spoke to him.
"It's alright Stink, it's alright. I'm here, no one is going to harm you okay"
"Thank you, master Harry" Stink sobbed into Harry's leg. The twins decided to join in and help calm the young elf
"It's alright stink" George reassured him
"We think Harry's brilliant"
"Master Harry is most kind" Stink dried his eyes "am I to assume you are his friends?"
"Yes they are" Harry spoke softly, before winking at the twins
"It's an honor to meet Harry's friends" Stink shook their hands "master Harry, Stink has work to do so Stink will leave for now"
"Okay bye stink" Harry petted him on the hand
"Bye Stink" The twins waved just before the young elf popped away.
"What's your problem?!" Ginny turned on Hermione
"My problem, he's a slave!"
"A slave is someone who's forced to work, did he look forced to you?! He's happy and Harry's treating him nicely so what's your problem?! You heard him say Harry offered to free him and pay him but he willingly refused"
"It's still not right!" Hermione shouted
"So Hermione" Fred rose to his feet
'You're saying" George did the same
"That his happiness"
"Doesn't matter"
"Because it's not the same"
"As your definition"
"Of right!" The twins yelled the last part, not many people have ever seen the twins angry, so needless to say everyone was a little bit shocked
"No but they're brainwashed!" Hermione argued
"So the obvious thing to do is tell them their entire way of life is wrong and then yell at them when they disagree" Harry retorted as he also stood up "you don't care about them, you're just upset that they don't fit into your ideal world. Grow up! The world isn't as simple as your books would have you believe" With that the four walked out of the common room, cursing under their breaths and leaving a confused Ron and a seething Hermione.
....
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