hotmtlnovel Chapter 278 Died a miserable death
Chapter 278 Died a miserable death
"A 'house-elf' named Dobby..."
Patiently guiding Harry to extract information from his erratic topics, I gradually concluded that his description was basically the same as the "Dobby" I knew (it seemed that it was indeed "Dobby" rather than "Toby"). The difference was that this time he appeared at the Weasleys' house instead of the Dursleys'.
"Who is he anyway? What is a 'house-elf'?"
"House-elves are magical creatures that serve pure-blood families or similar wizarding families that have been passed down from generation to generation. I don't know much about it, but in the wizarding world, owning them is a symbol of status. Basically, only noble families have house-elves, and Hogwarts has some too."
"Hogwarts too?!"
Harry's eyes widened in surprise when he heard that there were house-elves at Hogwarts.
"They are responsible for Hogwarts' daily meals and laundry, don't you know?"
"I don't know... I always thought it was done by magic."
"With thousands of students and teachers, it's impossible to do it with magic alone."
I added, looking at Harry's somewhat dazed expression.
"House elves are extremely loyal to their wizard masters, and it is their greatest honor to work for free. The house elves at Hogwarts have some special contracts. They are also very friendly to us, but their duty is to obey the headmasters of all generations. I heard this from Bill."
This is true. When I was a child, my eldest brother Bill often told us, my younger brothers and sisters who stayed at home, about various things in Hogwarts through letters or oral stories.
"So is Dobby also a house-elf at Hogwarts?"
"Um... Dobby said he was 'serving a family of wizards', right?"
"right."
"That's not the case. He is most likely serving a pure-blood family. The house-elves at Hogwarts mainly follow the orders of the headmaster. If Dumbledore wanted you to leave the school, you would have been expelled long ago."
I explained with a shrug, and Harry nodded in agreement.
"Isn't it possible that this is a house-elf serving a non-pure-blood family?"
"I heard from Bill that house-elves can only serve pure-blood or similar wizard families. As I said before, the reason they work for free is that they can only feel satisfied around powerful magicians and need to absorb the magic of their masters to survive. Although they also eat normal food, if they do not absorb magic around wizards, they will gradually become weak and die. Therefore, they only appear in pure-blood families or places like Hogwarts. They are satisfied with serving wizards because they instinctively need to absorb more high-quality magic."
"What does it mean?"
Although I don't quite remember the description in the "original book", this seems to be the ecology of house-elves in this world.
"Well... according to Bill, the coexistence between house-elves and wizards can be traced back to a long time ago, because they need the magic of wizards just like we need air. Although they also eat food, they cannot survive without magic. Therefore, they only serve pure-blood families or places with abundant magic such as Hogwarts. They say that they are satisfied with serving wizards because it is an instinctive reaction for them to obtain more high-quality magic."
I don't remember all the details, but the gist of it goes something like this. Looking back, the relationship between wizards and house-elves is a bit like the relationship between a natural dragon trainer and his dragon.
"I see……."
"If you think about it this way, Dobby is either a very peculiar house-elf, or he has a very bad relationship with his master. Because ordinary house-elves would never disobey their masters, and even just disobeying orders would cause them mental pain."
At this point, Harry's expression became a little subtle.
"... Could it be that Dobby was sent by someone to deceive me?"
"I heard that Dobby prevented me from receiving your letters. Could it be that he really wanted to prevent me from returning to Hogwarts?"
I was somewhat relieved to see Harry questioning himself. In the past, Harry always believed what he saw without question, but now he is beginning to question it. This is a sign of growth.
Perhaps it was during the chaos at the end of the semester that Harry discovered his father and Professor Snape's old "pranks" that gave him a new perspective on things. After that incident, he looked pale and wanted to apologize to Snape again, but was persuaded by Hermione and I.
However, these things have nothing to do with the present.
"Perhaps it is possible, but we have no way of knowing now. The magic of house elves is completely different from ours, and even adult wizards find it difficult to decipher it. Besides, Harry, do you have any doubts about who would want you to leave school?"
"No……."
"Since there isn't any, don't think too much about it. If you are really worried, you can write to Dumbledore and tell him what happened."
"Well... But I don't think this is enough to bother Dumbledore. If anything happens again, I will go to him."
Harry calmed down immediately at the mention of Dumbledore.
Dumbledore may seem a little senile to us, but to the outside world, he is still a famous and great wizard.
"That's good. If that's okay with you, I'll go to bed too. Good night, Harry."
"Good night, Ronnie. Thank you for bothering you."
"It's okay, we are friends. See you tomorrow."
"See you tomorrow."
Looking at Harry's shy smile, I waved goodbye. That night, the topic of Dobby came to an end.
Although I felt a little uneasy, thinking that the plot of the "original book" was about to begin again, I didn't hate Harry, so helping him was not a problem (and if I tried to stay out of it, I might be caught in an accident and die miserably).