alchemical blurb

[mswoods]

The following day, Sadde has Transfiguration in the morning.

She is all over it at lunch.

"Okay, so, Transfig is just about the coolest thing," she says first thing to the Ravenclaws as soon as she sits at the table.

Comments

[alicornucopia]

Winky promptly starts bawling. There are intelligible words in it. "Mr. Crouch was needing Winky! He was trusting Winky to look after Master Barty and W-Winky was a bad elf and now they is both dead and Winky cannot ever ever go home! Should have been trying harder and not been afraid of heights, should have been keeping Master Barty safe all along from those bad wizards, Winky failed Mistress and Mr. Crouch and Master Barty all three!"

[mrwoods]

Sadde looks over his shoulder to make sure no one's gonna walk into his room to see the whole... thing.

"It's okay, Winky! Erm. Can you tell me about what you're feeling, though? Like, less what you did, more what's actually going on inside?"

[alicornucopia]

Sob! "W-winky was not good enough! Winky loved her family and was not good enough for them!"

[mrwoods]

"Okay, and why weren't you good enough? I mean, er, actually can you tell me what actually happened there? That might be relevant."

This is definitely not going as expected.

...well, that suggests he'd expected something, which he hadn't, not in so many words, but still, if he'd thought about it long enough to form an expectation this would not have been it.

[alicornucopia]

"Winky is keeping her masters' silence," sniffs Winky. "But - but Winky is having to do a difficult task and it was so high and Winky was afraid and did not pay good attention and Master Barty got into such terrible trouble and Mr. Crouch sacked Winky and - and he was right to do it because Winky was a bad elf."

[mrwoods]

Okay, that first part was interesting. "Didn't you say they had, erm, passed away? Why are you still keeping their silence?"

[alicornucopia]

"Winky tries to be good. And does not want to be embarrassing her masters."

[mrwoods]

"But her masters can't be embarrassed anymore, can they? If they're... not around anymore?"

He's pretty sure the moment he says they're dead with as many words she's going to start bawling again and he really doesn't want that.

[alicornucopia]

"Mr. Crouch was caring about their reputations," Winky sniffs, more haughty than weepy in this moment.

[mrwoods]

"Yes, but is he caring about them now?"

[alicornucopia]

"No, but he was! Winky is still loyal even though she is being a Hogwarts elf now."

[mrwoods]

"And why are you still loyal even though he's no longer around to be loyal to?"

[alicornucopia]

"Winky loves her family!" says Winky, wringing her hands.

[mrwoods]

"Why do you love them?"

[alicornucopia]

"They were - they were mine!" she exclaims, crying again, probably more from emotion than because she used an unauthorized possessive pronoun. "Winky served them as her mother and her mother before her - Winky was for looking after Crouches - Winky tried to be good for them -"

[mrwoods]

"I mean, I get that, but why did you love them? I mean, what caused you to feel love for them? Was it just... was the fact that you worked for them enough?"

[alicornucopia]

"Winky always loved them," blinks the elf. "Oh, when Master Barty was born Winky loved him at once, when Winky was born she loved Mr. Crouch right away and when he married Mistress Winky loved her too..."

[mrwoods]

Innnnnnnnteresting.

"So it was automatic? Just, you just had to look at them and know they were in your family and you loved them? Your parents didn't have to tell you that you should love them and such, you just... did."

[alicornucopia]

"Well, Winky does not remember being a baby but certainly does not remember not loving Mr. Crouch," says Winky primly.

[mrwoods]

Hm.

"Did your parents teach you that you should love Mr. Crouch and his family?"

[alicornucopia]

"Winky's mother loved them too of course and taught Winky to be a good elf."

[mrwoods]

Be a good elf.

That... starts making a pattern.

"Good elf? What's a good elf?" he decides do ask.

[alicornucopia]

"A good elf minds her masters and does not embarrass or disobey them and makes them comfortable and is not seen when she is not wanted and always works for their good and does not shirk her chores and hones all of the talents she needs to support and care for them and does not gossip or complain," Winky says.

[mrwoods]

"Oh."

He takes a few seconds to recover.

"Why is that what a good elf is?" he asks, tentatively.

[alicornucopia]

Winky blinks. "Elves who are not that are bad elves," she says, not quite understanding the question.