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mu ask about the house elves foolish
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and yet if you're to understand anything
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of magic anything real at all you must
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begin in the dark beneath your great
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hall where laughter and roast chicken
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abound their lie chains not made of iron
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b steel no much worse chains of silence
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chains of obedience of magic cast long
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ago by hands far cruer than your soft
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idle generation could stomach come
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closer you won't like this tale but then
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the truth rarely concerns itself with
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before the chains long before Hogwarts
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opened its hallowed gates before the
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Ministry of Magic corrupted every
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parchment with bureaucracy before even
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the founders etched their legacies into
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stone there were the elves not slaves
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not servants but beings of raw wild
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as they called themselves in a tongue
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now lost once lived hidden deep in
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enchanted forests across highland glenns
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and beneath the roots of ancient trees
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their magic was instinctive
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not taught not calculated like ours but
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felt they sang spells whispered to wind
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and flame they needed no wonder they
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were not weak not by any stretchome even
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say the Elevara taught the earliest
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humans how to harness magic but we
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humans wizards do not like to remember
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our debts we rewrite them the first sign
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of betrayal came when the humans founded
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their great cities magic became
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something to own to register to measure
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the Ministry of Magic didn't exist then
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but greed did fear followed close behind
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then the elves too free too
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unpredictable too powerful as the great
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binding we don't teach it in history of
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magic professor Bin's insufferable even
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in death drones on about goblin
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but not this secret meeting was held
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among the most powerful wizarding
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families pure bloods naturally the name
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Malfoy was there long before Lucius
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sullied it further so to the Carrows the
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NS and the Elder Blacks they saw the
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elves not as threats but as
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opportunities wizards knew they could
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not destroy them not without great loss
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so they found another path they would
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enslave them not with chains no that
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would be too obvious too easy to resist
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instead they created a spell a binding
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oath old magic forbidden magic they
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twisted the elves own instincts loyalty
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honor servitude to family into traps
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went bound the elf could never disobey
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the more loyal they became the deeper
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the bond etched into their magic and
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here's the final cruelty over
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generations the elves forgot the binding
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became part both who they were the
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chains passed down in blood memory magic
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they stopped longing for freedom they
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the gift of clothes yes the clothes too
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give a house elf an item of clothing is
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to set it free that's what the law says
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but who do you think made that Lor same
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families who bound them it's a trick a
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loophole a mockery the elf bound to
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serve cannot ask for release it may only
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hope its master grows careless drops a
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sock tosses a coat due you see the
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indignity not only must they serve but
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they must wait in silence praying for
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the clumsiness of their oppressor you
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call that Mercedi was one of the few who
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ever dared speak openly of freedom brave
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yes but damaged they called him mad for
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wanting what was already stolen
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hogwarts enjoy your feasts don't you
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roast lamb trickle tart pumpkin juice on
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tap dew you know who makes it who
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prepares every meal every dish every
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single night without fail house elves
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they dwell in the kitchens below dozens
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of them unseen unpaid unthanto
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yes they smile they giggle when you
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visit they bow even when you beg them
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not tube they are not happy they are
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programmed conditioned trained to smile
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so you won't notice the chains professor
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yes I know what you think of him he
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tried he gave them choice but even he
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could not undo centuries of bondage with
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kindness and lemonrops hering granger
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formed that pitiful little group spew
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and do you know what happened laughter
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they laughed at her the students the
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staff even the elves that's how deep it
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goes the wound is so ancient that they
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can't even see it bleeds as
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rebellion there was once an uprising few
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know of it fewer still speak of it the
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year was 1320 a clan of house elves from
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Wales led by a defector named Brethther
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fled the estate of a pure blood family
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they did not go quietly the binding was
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strong but Bretha had learned to bend it
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not break it but weaken it she taught
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the others and they ran for one full
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season they lived free in the black
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mountains hidden hunted hated thee
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ministry sent wizards after them not
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the event was buried disguised as a
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goblin dispute bretha was never captured
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but the elves she saved were re play
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enslaved a punishment was severe not
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death something worse memory charms
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powerful ones the elves forgot breath of
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forgot the rebellion forgot freedom
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aster a mirror in the dark i once met a
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house elf who served in the department
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of mysteries yes even they use them he
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had no name or rather he had forgotten E
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polished prophecy orbs all day every day
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for 50 years i asked him once whether he
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had ever wanted to leave he stared at me
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blankly leave what sir that was his
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answer not defiance not fear ignorant
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willed ignorance instilled so deeply
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that he could not imagine the concept of
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estor chains had reached his soul and
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now the world changes yes but not evenly
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not kindly we tell tales of Dobby and
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creature we say see they can be free but
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how many more are still hidden still
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working in pure blood homes afraid to
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speak how many more dream of liberty but
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dare not name the dream you students
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think Voldemort was the only darkness
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but the real evil the subtle one it
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lives in comfort in inheritance by in
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ancient houses with silver crests and
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velvet wars it doesn't shout it whispers
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you are meant to serve as the truth
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beneath the floorboards so How you know
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the next time you sit in the great hall
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spare a thought for the hands that lit
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the torches that cooked your feast that
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washed the floor they are not ghosts
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they are not vermin they are victims of
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a spell too powerful too ancient too
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deep for wands to undo but remember this
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the mind is a wand to end sometimes
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sometimes it only takes one voice one
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sock one foolish brave idea to break a
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cursot all chains are made of metalland
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not all saviors wear cloaks wear pillow