not an elf!

### A Lesson in Proper Elvish Etiquette Draco Malfoy had always believed that if one wanted to humiliate Harry Potter, one should do it with style. And so, the young Slytherin witch had devised a particularly elaborate demonstration. Standing in the Hogwarts corridor, Draco displayed her newly acquired long, pointed elven ears with an air of aristocratic superiority. Beside her stood a small house-elf, its forehead bearing a conspicuous mark that Draco had insisted was part of an educational exercise. Naturally, she had chosen the location carefully. Harry Potter and her Gryffindor companions were bound to pass by sooner or later. When they finally appeared, Draco's lips curled into a practiced smirk. “Ah, Potter! How wonderful. I've been studying the distinctions between magical beings lately.” She gestured grandly toward her own ears, then pointed down at the house-elf. “Apparently, having pointed ears doesn't make you an elf. Just as having a famous scar doesn't make you intelligent.” A few Slytherins snickered. Draco tilted her head, silver-blond hair falling perfectly over one shoulder. “Though I suppose you would know all about being mistaken for something you're not, Potter.” Harry narrowed her eyes. Hermione looked ready to launch into a lecture about the mistreatment of house-elves. The little house-elf, meanwhile, tugged nervously at Draco's robe. It wasn't entirely sure why it had been made part of this performance, but it knew better than to interrupt a Malfoy delivering a particularly vicious insult. Draco merely smiled wider. After all, the point wasn't to win an argument. It was to make sure Potter remembered losing one. And if the house-elf's uncomfortable expression suggested that Draco's little lesson had gone too far, well… A Malfoy never admitted that her joke had missed its mark.