Chapter Six
**Ser Jorah's POV**
After a while, the Khalasar entered the tent and started relaxing, the wonderment of the inside of the tent being far larger than the outside boggled the mind, further verifying Jorah's thoughts of this girl being far more than some woods witch as food magically appeared before everyone.
"What magic is this?" Jorah exclaimed, shocked at its sudden appearance, the sudden appearance shocking everyone at first but hunger and the smell of the morsels on obviously expensive plate ware. it didn't take moments before food started disappearing with gusto
"That's just Winky," Lady Granger said, not looking up as she cooed and scratched Viserion under its jaw, the little dragonling looking relaxed with its eyes closed.
The little dragonling was... wagging its tail like a dog, he would swear it to his dying day this girl was treating a Dragon, baby or not as if it were a mere cat.
The other two dragons in the princess's lap were getting much the same treatment, perhaps this was just the way with woman and adorably small animals, but they would not stay that way for long.
After a bit cooked meat appeared before Lady Granger and the Princess and they started feeding the hungry beasts, they'd eaten pounds of cooked meat, that even Jorah was jealous of. The smell alone, intoxicating he could tell it made the princess happy to be able to see her people and her Dragons feed, and treated well.
"Can you tell us a bit more about just what Miss Winky is?" the princess asked.
Thinking it over Lady Granger responded, "I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
Lady Granger simply held out her hand, and a large tome flew towards her at breakneck speed, almost knocking the poor cream and gold dragon off her lap with an *oomph*.
She then examined it wiping a small amount of dust from the cover and read the title aloud.
"*A Brief History of House Elves* by Rufus P. Dumbledore," Lady Granger then went on. "He was one of my old headmaster's ancestors, I was borrowing from the current headmaster because I wanted to see if I could help Winky, and I never got around to returning it."
She paused, looking sad and contemplative for a moment, but only a moment, she then looked back up, with determination returning to her gaze, as she carried on with whatever pain she had, hidden but not forgotten.
"You see, on my world, house-elves have had a run of bad luck for a while." She took a drink from a Elaborately designed goblet made of a strange silvery metal that almost seemed to glow, then she continued. "You see Elves are magical, immortal beings that left my world a very long time ago, no one is absolutely certain when." She opened the book to a beautiful moving illustration of a group of people sailing into a bright light on the horizon. The beings portraited looked to beautiful for words and ethereal, he found it difficult to compared Winky to these people. Lady granger then continued, "But before that, there was a war started by some great evil, the book doesn't say what or who, but it is clear that at some point, at least some elves were corrupted by this great evil and turned into something called orcs."
She turned a to a different chapter with a new illustration this one looking like a slightly shorter evil version with grey slimy skin sharp rotten teeth claws like hands wearing patched work armor holding a rusted vile looking sword. The movements in the illustration adding a feeling of something unnatural. The worry in his head, loud and repetitive, what could warp such a beautiful people into something so vile and twisted? Lady Granger continued.
"Then, at some point somehow, this great evil was defeated, you see records and tales give many different accounts, but we found this one to be the most accurate. Even the records that were recovered after a few thousand years didn't age well." She turned the book to one of the middle chapters and continued. " Not long after this great evil was defeated, that's when the elves left. Over the centuries, magic started to flourish, humans started learning and experimenting with magic, but unfortunately yet another war between the orcs and man started. You see, the orcs simply could not stand being what they were and knowing what they lost and couldn't gain back most wished to just stop existing altogether. And since they had no magic of their own to fix themselves, they chose to go out as warriors I suppose."
Hermione took a breath.
"At the end, man had won and made a deal with the very few surviving orcs, to finally end the bloodshed." The final Illustration of a ceremony where only a few hundred Orcs survived, in some kind of ritual. "The witches and wizards of the day would tie their magic to them, allowing them to use it, but they would have to be servants. Seeing no choice at the time, the orcs agreed, during the ceremony a hundred generations later the surviving Orcs transformed into what we see today as house-elves."
She paused to take a drink of water.
"That's a brief summary; the information is secondhand from an ancient manuscript that described a godlike wizard befriending the author. The full name was worn off, but the last name, I believe—"
She paused as she started scrolling through the pages.
"Ah, yes. Right here it says the "only name visible from the brave adventurer was *Baggins*, for he was a true inspiration of those with a knack for adventure."" She looked up with a smile as she finished reading and closed the book with a *pop*.
She all of our faces looking at her in amazement of this completely foreign history of absolute amazement, he was even more sure now that he was living in a new age of Hero's.
"Do I have something on my face?" she asked quickly, taking a fine silk napkin and dabbing at her reddening face.
"Hermione, that godlike wizard you described sounds much like you," the princess stated, getting many nods, his included.
Hermione just laughed. "Oh, I'm not even close, you see, I was born on the planet with normal parents. I wasn't born in some cosmic light or fall to the earth as a baby in a meteor like this, this half-god if the book is correct. I suppose the closest my people have ever gotten would be someone like Merlin or Dumbledore, but you would have to be a—"
At that moment, she was cut off by Winky.
"Mistress, it's well past your time for bed! You have had a long day, and you needs your rest. Lots to do in the morning. Off, off, to bed now! You gets cranky in the morning, and it takes all day to tame that mane of yours," Winky complained.
Hermione just smiled. "You're right, Winky, I suppose I am a bit tired, now that I think about it. Winky, can you settle everyone in, and set up a standard ward for me? I'll take it down in the morning but alert me if anyone arrives."
"Princess, Ser Jorah, I need to rest now, but Winky will set you both up in one of the rooms upstairs. The basement is forbidden unless you wish to die a horrible death."
She paused.
"Well, goodnight."
And with that, she walked to the door downstairs.
At this point, even Ser Jorah's mind was tired and needed rest.
It had been a while since he'd had a full belly, and after everything, he decided he needed sleep as well.
But as he followed Winky upstairs, he couldn't help but glance back at the door to the basement.
*Die a horrible death. *
She'd said it so casually. Like a warning about stepping on loose floorboards.
What in the Seven Hells did she keep down there?
He decided he didn't want to know.
Not tonight, anyway.