May 29th, 1888 - Muggle Studies Classroom

Ah, it was that time again. Woopy could finally start to relax. There was a palpable excitement in the air though it could have also been the sponge he was holding. It was new and that made the House Elf very happy. He liked new things; especially when he could clean with them.

Apparating to a classroom he knew would be empty, Woopy slammed his new sponge on one of the desks and jumped on it. Oh to be free of students! Soon, it would be summer and Woopy would be free to do what he wanted.

“Why people even study muggles? Woopy never seen not one muggle in here to study!” He contemplated to nobody in particular as he looked over the classroom. Where would he start?

Oh, he knew. He’d start from the teachers desk and make his way toward the back. It would be spotless by the time he was done.

He apparated to the back of the room where the desk was and began humming non-musically and in complete oblivion to any sort of tune he thought he was humming when he noticed someone standing by one of the shelves.

“Oh, you the muggle being studied?” He asked, “Woopy is an Elf and he is better than wizards.” He nodded confidently.

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Summer was close to being here, which meant it was almost time to get to see his family again. Jeremiah did miss the twins and his wife, and even his sister-in-law. What would summer bring this year?

Taking his time to go through his supplies, he knew he would be taking some home to study so that he had a fresh mind for the next year. His kids would be attending next year, and that was quite exciting. He was glad that his wife had her sister in their home, so that she wasn't all alone during the school year.

Hearing a little voice question his teachings, he raised an eyebrow and glanced over. A house elf. Well, he could hardly expect a house elf to understand muggles. Simply shrugging it off, he went back to what he was doing before.

Once the humming started, he couldn't help but look over to the noise. Turning away, he took one of the books he needed down, he then heard the house elf speak once more. And then he heard the voice once and turned to see that the house elf was talking to him! "No, I am the professor of said muggle studies. And I find your statement to be one of opinion, not fact." He replied.

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Pretties by Bee

Woopy scoffed and sauntered over to the teacher and looked up to him with furrowed brows, “And you is tall and not tall that is not weird. You is weird tall but you don’t see Woopy saying that do you?!”

Truth be told, he honestly had no idea what the teacher meant about his statement being of opinion and not of fact but if Woopy was to be honest, he also thought this teacher must have had a terrible childhood if he studied muggles.

Woopy just couldn’t fathom it. How does one even study a muggle? Do they hold them captive? Experiment on them? Observe? Woopy’s mind raced with ideas as to how someone might study a muggle.

“And anyway, why you study them? They boring and not magical. What is the fun? There is none!” He huffed once again.

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Watching the house elf as he wandered over and rambled on, Jeremy couldn't help but watch in fascination at this creature that was quite blunt... and not quite intelligent. Blinking once, he thought for a moment. "I must say, you must be mistaken. You have just said what you were saying you haven't said." He reasoned. Oh, at least his students were not here to watch this.

Searching through his memory, he was quite certain that he had met this house elf before. And said elf certainly had a reputation among his students and fellow staff. Unless multiple house elves were called Woopy and had such a personality.

Jeremy couldn't help but wonder if the Head Master knew about how poorly this house elf behaved towards professors and students. Not wanting to upset the man, he decided that it was not his business to go and ask personally. After all, he quite enjoyed his job.

Shaking his head slightly, he smiled. "Muggles are fascinating for the simple fact that they don't have magic. They must do their daily routine getting by on wit and creativity alone. While we can have our homes clean by a snap of our fingers, as well as travel from one place to another just as simply. They have to travel for a much longer time, with more effort. How would one born of magic fair without said advantages that we have with our gifts? Our daily lives are surrounded by magic that we take for granted. If one were to look at it that way, muggles are far more interesting than any magical being." He pointed out. A point to which he would make to his students whenever possible.

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Pretties by Bee

Woopy scoffed at the wizards words. What on earth was that kind of logic? Woopy was explaining how he wasn’t saying that. What an absolute fool this wizard was. The house elf was hardly surprised though; he didn’t really know many (if any) wizardkind who had any form of intellect. This one seemed to be no exception to that rule.

“Boring!” Woopy muttered more than once; at practically every sentence the wizard was saying. After the man had finished speaking, Woopy let out a long yawn and moved to stand on one of the tables.

“Well if Muggles so special, why they not do this?” Woopy raised his eyebrow and snapped his fingers, causing every book on one of the nearby bookshelves to float from the shelves and start floating around the room, “See, house elves far better!”

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It seemed obvious that this elf simply had no reason. Well, Jeremy has certainly met far more intelligent house elves in his life time! Perhaps he was raised badly. Or worse, one had let this creature act this way for so long that this so called 'Woopy' that that this was an OK thing to do.

With a sigh, he waited for a moment as he watched the house elf make more of a mess than actually cleaning anything. "Well, the house elf in front of me seems to want to add more to his work load. And perhaps get punished for disrespecting a staff member of the school." He said calmly. He truly did not know the reasoning that the head master had for keeping such a chaotic creature in the castle. Many of the other house elves behaved much better.

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Pretties by Bee

Woopy shrugged at the teacher. Did this studier of Muggles really think floating books were an inconvenience? If anything, it ensured the shelves were free to make his life easier!

The elf then moved to the shelving and began dusting it, dismissing the teacher almost; "You cannot punish me. You not Woopy's master and Woopy has not been told to respect silly teacher like you," The elf shrugged once again.

Truly, it astounded him sometimes. People seemed to think Woopy was owned by the entire school; the teachers seemed to think he was their servant and the student, theirs. In truth, he was a servant to the school and his master was Phineas - and even that was a stretch.

And Phineas didn't seem to care what Woopy did as long as he was good at his job and stayed out of most trouble. Which the elf was doing.

Once the shelves had been cleaned, the books moved back onto them and Woopy grunted toward the teacher, "And you look silly if you tell on Woopy anyway! Oh no, Woopy being mean to me!" The house elf mocked before turning to face some of the desks, "Is there anything sir want Woopy to clean specifically?"

Woopy was always polite, at least.
Not respectful, but polite.

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Merlin, this house elf was not very bright. Though not his direct master, Jeremiah still had authority over him. It was as though he was an employee, and Jeremiah was head of a 'department'. Perhaps the house elf certainly couldn't understand that kind of system. "Mean, no. Inappropriate and chaotic, yes. That is not tolerated, even for a house elf." He stated bluntly.

Jeremiah was tempted to have a different house elf sent in to replace this one at the moment. "You are dismissed. I will be speaking to the Headmaster regarding your behavior." He replied. Merlin, now Jeremiah was not in the best of moods. Hopefully it would pass soon.

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Pretties by Bee

Huffing at the stupid, mean, rude and downright disrespectful wizard, Woopy cross his arms and huffed, “Sir, your class is not even clean!” He retorted.

Woopy thought himself an absolute gem of an elf and why people did not take kindly to his blunt remarks, he did not know. Honesty was a good thing! And for everything that Woopy was, he was definitely honest – though people seemed to prefer it if he kept quiet and/or lie? Whatever it was, he hated it.

Stubbornly, and not one to disobey an order, Woopy apparated away; leaving the half clean room… half clean.

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Why the Headmaster kept that house elf around was something that Jeremiah could never understand. But reasoning with the Headmaster was harder than any lesson that he had ever given to his students. Part of this was likely due to the fact that Professor Black did not seem to be too fond of muggles, the topic of which Jeremiah chose to teach.

Jeremiah would have a different house elf summoned later. For now, he wished to do his own job. He watched as the house elf disappeared. Hopefully he wouldn't see the thing again anytime soon.

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Pretties by Bee