"You did explain the house elves but that is still weird to think about."

"We should probably come to some kind of arrangement just to avoid charges of hypocrisy when we topple the human slave trade and to avoid everyone hating us when we open contact with more civilized societies, but it really would be cruel to let them go."

"I don't immediately have a way to present the story that doesn't sound like potentially a self-serving lie."

"And 'oh, no, our slaves are better off this way, trust us' is in fact a fairly popular such lie. Maybe I can sell the elves on some sort of annual reaffirmation of their commitment to a family, in which they are symbolically offered clothes and wages and reject them..."

"Only looks convincing if sometimes one takes 'em and goes off to prove that the other option isn't coercive amounts of horrible."

"I assume there exists at least one Elf somewhere who'd rather be free, but I cannot say I've met them."

"How would you find 'em?"

"Maybe find people who are colossally terrible to their elves? It'd be a minority even there but there's probably where you're likeliest to find some."

"...if it's responsive to quality of life considerations like that, if that actually makes them want freedom and not, like, to be given to a nicer family, I wonder if it's not as permanently entrenched as it looks?"

"I don't know if it'd produce wanting to be free instead of wanting to be given to a nicer family, I haven't met elves who've expressed any dissatisfaction with their current one, and there might be a range of responses anyway. But - yeah, it'd be valuable to try and find someone who is open to being freed, and see what the other elves think of that..."

Nod.

"Or maybe check what happens if we aggressively indoctrinate the kids, if that won't upset their parents too badly."

"How are house elves normally brought up?"

"- out of the way? It'd be embarrassing to them if we notice they've had children until the children are of an age to be working, and then they'll tell us 'dinner was cooked by Nipsy tonight! Nipsy is knowing enough to be a good elf now! If Mr. Timothy is wanting to meet Nipsy -' because they know it drives me nuts not meeting them sooner..."

"...okay that's kinda creepy."

"Yes. I can ask a couple of ours over if you think you might have an angle on it which we wouldn't have thought of..."

"...the only thing I can actually think of is if they might be more candid with a fellow magical creature."

"Worth a shot. - don't ask random elves a lot of questions, you'll panic them, but ours are used to my father and brothers so used to very extended mildly rude lines of questioning."

"Okay; what else do I need to know to talk to a house-elf?"

"They have really powerful magic - no wands, it's very very illegal for an elf to touch a wand, but they can Apparate into places normally protected against it and at longer ranges, and they can do do about as much as a wanded wizard though they mostly won't in front of us -"

"...that's weird. They were somehow made and came out like that? To do household chores?"

"If there was a more exciting conspiracy it was a very very long time ago and I doubt the participants were kind enough to put it to non-enchanted text, but you're welcome to try to figure something out."

"Sometime when there are fewer immediately useful things to do I may attempt forensics on house elves."

"Sure. Let me know when you want to talk to one, too."

"Are there notes on the results of your family's extensive questioning I could read?"