A month ago.
The four founders had come to a meeting with Auden to discuss the plans he had for the future.
"I understand that the undertaking would require a set of plans instead of just one," Rowena turned to Auden. "Do you have any plans, or should we help in making one?"
"Don't worry, I already have a few steps planned ahead on that one. But first of all, we need to make the wizards who are holding onto the conservative faction see the future of the world. The only way to do that is to push them outside of their comfort zones," Auden said, bringing all of their attention.
"Smart idea, my boy. I can see why you think that. The wizarding world had reached the equivalent of the Muggle world's 1500s in the early 1000 AD. This, in turn, made them think of themselves as superior to the Muggle world, and it did not change even when the Muggles had caught up to them within five hundred years.
After that, the wizards became comfortable in their lifestyles, and the Statute of Secrecy made it even more difficult for most wizards to realize that the Muggles had grown strong enough to kill the magical world entirely if a war happened between them," Salazar commented from the side.
"It makes me embarrassed that Hogwarts' Muggle Studies textbook is at least outdated by a hundred years. Even the idiot students are seen boasting that they had flown near helicopters on a broom. Even the ghosts have more knowledge about the world than they do," Rowena complained in an annoyed tone and turned to Auden. "So my guess is that you want to harass them so that they come out of the safety bubble they think they have around them."
"Yes, and my point is to start from the house elves. We need to free them," Auden said, which brought complete silence to the room. Helga looked like she wanted to cry. The others had thoughtful looks on their faces, but there was a slight tightening in their expressions.
"Auden," Godric spoke. "It's not that I don't want to do it, but… you do know about the condition of the current house elves, right? They are hardwired to punish themselves if they think that they are unable to go about the whims of their masters. It has become ingrained in them so much that they feel pain because of it."
"But what if I can prove that it has not become too late? What if I can prove that they have not gone so far that their own blood makes them submit to others?" he asked, earning silence from the four founders until finally Godric Gryffindor spoke.
"We already agreed that we support the plans you make. But if you can prove that there is still a chance for them to be saved, who are we to stand in the way of that?" Godric said, earning a nod from everyone as Helga wiped her tears while smiling.
Present day.
The spirits went to every house that had house elf families serving them, with a single message that could change the outcome on the next day.
They all asked the same question.
"Helga Hufflepuff's descendant has returned. Are you ready to come back from this life to live as you should?" the spirit asked the house elf.
This question was not a random one. After the ghosts went to a few houses and talked to a few house elves, they realized the reason for this complete obedience the elves had toward their owners.
It was reverence for Helga Hufflepuff.
The real story goes back to the history of house elves. Originally, house elves were a species that required contracts with magical creatures to sustain themselves. Normally, they contracted with giants and dragons, but it always ended in high mortality, as the dragons and giants ate them on a whim or to add flavor to their own food.
Helga Hufflepuff found out about it and invited them to get contracts with human wizards and take care of their families in return for the contract. Because of her kindness, the elves vowed to serve the families they were sent to wholeheartedly as a form of reverence for the kindness shown by Helga.
This was perverted by the arrogance of the pure-blood families, who decided to manipulate the gratitude the elves had for Helga into making them believe that serving the nobles without any doubt was the gratitude they were supposed to show to their savior.
The elves passed on these beliefs to their descendants as well. But the core idea still remained. They were doing it to be thankful for the kindness shown by Helga Hufflepuff.
Then everything became much easier. The earlier plan included abducting the elf children and raising them with a better mindset. It was in a bit of a gray area, but the founders had agreed to it as it guaranteed a good life for the next generation of house elves.
But now, the ghosts only needed to speak about Auden to convince the elves to come and seek asylum in Hogwarts without even a single person outside knowing about it.
Auden could easily prove that he was Helga's descendant by making a vow in front of the house elves who appeared in the castle to check the validity of the story.
After that, the ghosts, who currently could partially manifest due to the spell created by Helena Ravenclaw, could hide a piece of clothing in an everyday item that their master handed over to their elf servants, essentially breaking the magic contracts between the elf and the wizard.
The plan worked beautifully. On the first day the ghosts investigated, they realized the reason for the house elves' loyalty. On the second day, they brought all the house elves in Hogwarts in front of Auden to prove that he was Helga's descendant.
On the third day, the entire community of house elves vanished from the wizarding world, plunging the entire section of pure-blood families into panic at what had happened to their servants.
A/N — Hope you like it.