"Her entire sense of self-worth seemed wrapped up in how much work she could do," Hermione explained as she walked along beside him. "And she seemed really enthused at the thought of having more to do, but I can't say if that's their normal way of thinking or it's something she picked up somehow because she's never seen another of her own kind."
"She's never seen another house-elf?" Harry asked, wondering how that could be.
"I think so," Hermione admitted as they made their way down the street. "She said she didn't know what any other ones were like, but it was difficult to understand exactly what she meant sometimes. She really didn't seem to know anything about her kind at all, but she could've meant she's never interacted with them on a regular basis. But you can see what I mean about it possibly being cultural; how she thought of herself was very different to what Dobby thought of himself."
"You mean how excited he was at being worth more than shoes," he nodded.
"Exactly," she said, "I'd be interested in seeing what else I can find out about them, but anything I do find would probably be unreliable at best."
Hermione paused by the door to Madam Malkin's.
"Did you start here and then go to the bank, or vice versa? With the bank being closed yesterday there might be a line."
"As much as I feel out of place in this," he said, picking at shirt again, "I don't know if I have enough money for all the clothes I need. And it shouldn't take long; I'm just going to grab a sack of money and leave as fast as I can."
"If I didn't know how frustrated you were with all things Gringotts, I'd think you were bragging," she said, nudging him as they started off again.
"I swear, if Barchoke or Lichfield mention investments again I think I might scream," Harry said earnestly.
"If they talk about business at all today, I may just join you," she agreed.
"I still feel bad about your dad having to spend so much money on your things this year," Harry admitted as they continued. "It's not right."
"It's not your fault, Harry," she said from beside him. "While I agree it's excessive, my father made a horribly offensive joke and he's learned his lesson. I'll be doing my own banking from now on."
"Still," Harry pressed, "if it wasn't for me, he never would've been in a position to make the joke to begin with, so I should shoulder some of the blame."
"You can't hold yourself responsible for his actions," she said with a shake of her head.
"But I can for Barchoke and Lichfield," he countered. "They're looking after my finances, so that means they work for me and they were there to meet me. If it wasn't for that, you and your dad would've been at a teller and he would've spent a third of what he did. The least I can do is make up the difference."
Hermione's eyes popped. "I can't take that much money from you."
"Why not?" Harry shrugged. "Better for you to use it for robes and books than for it to just sit there waiting for them to add more to it."
"Grangers can pay their own way," she said, her face set stubbornly.
"It lets me pay you back for breakfast then," he said, trying to come up with a reason she might accept.
"That breakfast was free," she said primly. "And if it wasn't, there's no way it would've been that expensive. Besides, you invited me to the meeting with the Hopefuls later, so there's a free lunch to repay the free breakfast."
"Well the whole point of your dad meeting Barchoke was to get a better exchange rate," Harry reminded her. "But it turned into five for the galleon, five for the insult, and five to keep doing his banking with them. He's not doing his banking with them anymore and you are, so let me reimburse you for that part at least."
"It's still too much," she said, shaking her head. "While I don't agree to the extent they took it to, it was my father's mistake and my father's lesson to learn."
"And I learned my own lesson from it," he told her.
"What's that?" she asked, looking at him curiously.
"If you want to keep your sanity, use a teller."
In spite of herself, Hermione cracked a grin.
"Fine," she said, with an exasperated look and a bit of an eye roll it didn't look like she really meant. "But just this once."
Harry smiled.
As they got closer to the bank the crowd got thicker, and soon people were standing still. Harry took her hand and guided her along, making use of their small stature to wriggle through areas on the edges to get a better look.
The wide steps in front of the bank had been roped off, channeling the crowd into the one break in the line. The steps themselves had changed too, the first three or four being merged together at the same height to form a platform with tellers; in front of it was a broken line of guards in scarlet and gold to keep things orderly. They were wearing something which looked like the heavy duty protective gear Ron had showed him in Quidditch Through the Ages the Gryffindor captain, Oliver Wood, hated using because he said it slowed them down.
No one was at the tellers though; all eyes seemed to be on the short squat woman in a pink cardigan and the suited goblin she was addressing. Harry remembered seeing him at the questioning the day before but had never gotten his name. The one he was more concerned about was the goblin whose name he did know, Gutripper, who was standing by the doors and surveying the scene with his one good eye.