She looks very horrified by the thought, and a couple of other House Elves nearby stop to stare at him in shock. "Elves aren't being paid for working!"

"Why are elves not paid but wizards are?"

This discussion is visibly distressing her. "Good elves are working! We are doing good work and being good elves and not being freed, sir!"

"You don't want to be free because you would be a bad elf? I don't want you to be sad."

She nods vigorously, which causes her ears to flap a lot. "Tinky is being a good elf and working very much and doing desserts for the students, sir."

"Have you ever...known a bad elf?"

Her eyes go very wide but she nods, twice.

"Why did the bad elf want to be free? Is it...bad to talk about bad elves?"

She looks down at her bare feet. "No, sir, but..." Then looks up at him again. "He was a bad elf and he left his family and he was paid in Galleons."

"What if the family was bad?"

"It was his family, Mister Scott. Good elves aren't running from their families," she explains as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"That's sad, to wizards. Maybe not to elves."

"It is not being sad. Dobby was being a bad elf when he was running away."

Nod.

"What happened to Dobby? Where is he now?"

She looks down at her feet again. "Dobby was helping against the Dark Lord when he—"

"I'm sorry."

A moment of silence.

"I'm not sure I understand something. Is Hogwarts your family?"

She takes a few seconds to reply, trying to come up with an explanation. "Hogwarts is being to Tinky what Dobby's family was being to Dobby," she settles on.

"What happens if students want different things? Do you ask the professors, or the Headmaster?"

"We is giving each student what they want, Mister Scott."

"That's good. Um. I had a question about the food. Do you make it? Is there meat in any of the sauce?"

Now she lights right up. "Oh, yes, we is making all the food! Some sauces have meat and some don't, we have lots of things, Mister Scott!"

"Is there a way to find out which foods have meat in them?"

"We can be marking them with magic for Mister Scott."

"Thank you so much, Tinky. And thanks for answering all of my questions, I'm sorry if they were too much for you." 

"Tinky is being happy to help, Mister Scott!"