NABC Chapter 95 The Dementors and Him Reappear
Chapter 95 The Dementors and Him Reappear
"Did you really spit shit on Professor Snape's head?"
After leaving the Potions classroom, Ron immediately ran to Harry's side to ask for confirmation.
When Ron first heard the rumor, he didn't really believe it. But when he saw that Professor Snape's black hair was no longer so greasy and sloppy, and even somewhat smooth and flowing, he couldn't help but start to wonder if his best friend had really secretly gotten a big one.
"Huh? What did you say?"
Harry didn't hear Ron's barely audible voice and turned around to ask loudly. This startled Ron, who, after turning back to make sure Professor Snape wasn't peeking out of the classroom, pushed Harry's back and ran all the way back to the Gryffindor common room.
"What exactly do you want? What is it that you're being so cautious about?"
Harry, even more puzzled by his friend's sudden unusual behavior, straightened his robes and asked.
"cautiously?"
Ron acted as if he had heard something funny and said:
"Shouldn't we? Snape deducted 100 points from Gryffindor, aren't you afraid he'll cause trouble again?"
Harry smiled and said:
"Ha, you mean that? I guess he won't lose any more points anytime soon. So, the question you just asked me was actually to find out if Professor Snape had any troll poop on his head, right?"
Harry's straightforwardness made Ron shrink back, but after a moment of apprehension, he nodded curiously.
"No."
"what?"
"You actually wish I had one?"
"Then why did he wash his hair... no, I mean, why did he deduct 100 points from Gryffindor?"
Harry shrugged, feigning ignorance, and said:
"Who knows, maybe my excellent grades upset him. Oh, by the way, Ron, why didn't Hermione come to Potions class today? She's so studious, it's impossible for her to skip class."
Upon hearing Harry's question, Ron pointed to his nose and replied with an even more incredulous expression than before:
"You're asking me..."
Harry, speechless after being rebuked by Ron's words, carefully reviewed Mo Ran's memories. However, after confirming that there were no scenes of Hermione in them, he felt a strange feeling in his heart.
"Is Hermione just sick? Or has she sensed something changing? Why do I have this subtle sense of unease? What has she been up to?"
Harry's thoughts weren't unfounded. Due to Moran's influence in the wizarding world, Dobby the house-elf, after gaining his freedom, arrived at Hogwarts Castle early to work. This led to a subplot that was cut from the film adaptation of *Harry Potter*.
Free your pet elves.
Hermione, who hadn't been seen much with her friends over the weekend, wasn't sick. After seeing Dobby with Harry at the castle, she suddenly realized that the automated cleaning of everything from the food in Hogwarts' first-floor banquet hall to the classrooms, dormitories, and common rooms wasn't due to any magical intervention by the founders.
All of this is because a group of house-elves are working silently behind the scenes for the entire school's teachers and students.
This really worried her!
......
"Can you imagine? Hundreds of house-elves, hundreds of them, tirelessly and diligently serving us."
"Ah, that's really hard to imagine."
Ron said with some envy:
"Their service is top-notch. My family has always wanted to have our own house-elf. My mom has to take care of so many kids all by herself. If there are really that many house-elves at Hogwarts, they might as well give one to our family. It's not a big deal to be one less."
"Ron, that's not what I meant!"
Hermione was so agitated she almost roared, but thankfully Harry was there to calm her down, otherwise all the young wizards in the Gryffindor common room would have witnessed her outburst.
"I think Hermione means..."
Harry pulled Hermione, who had jumped up, back onto the sofa, and said:
"She just thinks that the way house-elves work is very restrictive and inhumane, right?"
"Freedom? Humanity?"
Ron repeated in surprise.
In the mind of this pure-blooded wizard, the two words "house-elves" and "house-elves" had never crossed paths.
"Ronald!"
Hermione shouted angrily, but Harry quickly pulled her back.
"Cough cough!"
Harry pretended to cough and winked at Ron, saying:
"Ron, the Gryffindor Quidditch team is going to be completely reshuffled after Wood retires this year. I suggest you spend more time training, the competition is fierce!"
"Oh right, right right! I almost forgot! I'm going to train right now!"
Ron, having found an excuse to leave with Harry, immediately stood up from his chair and ran away. Hermione, gradually calming down, slowly realized that in her struggle, she had unknowingly been dragged very, very close to Harry.
"Are you calm now?"
"No."
“You’ve clearly calmed down. You’re not yelling like you were just now.”
"That's because... never mind that, why didn't you speak up for me just now? You know Muggle society, how could you not understand what I was trying to say?"
Harry, who had anticipated Hermione's response, nodded first and said:
“I don’t deny that. But Hermione, you’re a smart witch too, and you’ve read more about the history of magic and other similar literature than I have. Don’t you remember why wizards have the status they have in the magical world today?”
"Even if their ancestors lost to the wizards, now... wait, you mean?"
-
House-elf are considered a lowly race in modern magical society. They must serve their masters for generations, perform all household chores, and can never disobey their masters' orders.
If a house-elf disobeys its master's orders, the magical power etched into its soul will force it to punish itself.
This strict, even cruel, bondage stems from the history of house-elves' ancestors being conquered by wizards in ancient wars. Influenced by magic, every house-elf is born with an innate servility that forces them to become accustomed to obedience and devotion rather than resistance.
-
The words in historical records were like a dagger, cutting through the mental shackles that had been binding Hermione's mind.
Ultimately, it was ancient magic cast by wizards in the past that enslaved the house-elves. And unless that magic is broken, even if one or two Dobby appear in the colony, the other house-elves will not rise up in rebellion.
Thinking of this, Hermione, who had just been single-mindedly focused on liberating the elf race, couldn't help but feel somewhat frustrated.
Influenced by Mo Ran's arrival, she had the opportunity to experience the most profound magic in the wizarding world ahead of time, and she had already undergone some changes compared to her original self.
In that previous timeline, Hermione took a roundabout route to achieve her goal.
Since no one in the world knows ancient magic anymore, she decided to start with the wizards.
Establish a House-Elf Liberation Front, and have the wizards who are their owners take the initiative to improve the living rights of the elves. In this way, even if the elves are hard to change their servile nature, they will have no choice but to obey the demands of their owners.
But......
Is this really liberation?
Regardless of whether wizards would agree, most house-elves would experience physical discomfort due to the magic remaining in their blood after receiving so-called freedom and wages, and a few would even self-harm because of it.
In this context, attempting to use this method to seek benefits for the little elves is akin to unprincipled, self-righteous behavior driven by personal goodwill.
Is there really no other way?
"Well..."
Harry adjusted his expression, making himself look even more mature, and said:
"In this world, most of the choices we face are neither right nor wrong; the choices we truly face are either right or easy. If you try to solve problems with compromises and superficial solutions, you will not ultimately get what you want."
After saying that, Harry winked like Dumbledore, which immediately made Hermione laugh.
"Hahaha! How come you can imitate Professor Dumbledore so perfectly!"
"Who knows? Maybe I have a talent for it. Maybe I'm actually a disguise Magus!"
"I wish that were true."
"why?"
"If you are Disguised Magus, then even if Voldemort and her Death Eaters want to capture you, it won't be so easy."
Hermione's words warmed Harry's heart, and in an instant, the two seemed to return to the subtle atmosphere they had shared in the Pensieve.
Hermione.
"what happened?"
"I think I know what to do!"
"what?"
Hermione, who had just used the Pensieve with Harry a few days ago, seemed a little out of touch. Unlike her girlish thoughts, Harry, who had been experiencing the Pensieve repeatedly for more than half a year, was thinking about how to use it to study magic.
"Do you remember what Professor Dumbledore said to us before?"
“I remember… but haven’t we already seen that memory? And the memory you gave me before, it’s exactly the same as what you told Professor Dumbledore.”
Before Hermione could finish speaking, Harry had already stood up from the sofa.
He first pulled Hermione up from the sofa, then solemnly said to her:
"No, that's not important, Hermione. What's important is the perspective from which you view memories. If someone uses the Pensieve and stubbornly sticks to the same viewpoint, refusing to look at the problem from other perspectives, then no matter how many times they use it, they will not get the desired result."
"what do you mean?"
"Dumbledore once said that if we don't want to miss the details sealed in our minds, we must discard distractions and let go of our protection of personal privacy when choosing to add memories. In other words, the Pensieve was actually something he prepared for us to use in our study of magic."
"What kind of magic are you studying?"
"You'll know when it arrives!"
......
Time is a mysterious thing, even for those Muggles. It moves as slowly as a tortoise when people are doing nothing, and as swiftly as a white horse when people are focused.
Harry and Hermione's third year at Hogwarts flew by in the blink of an eye as they made their frequent trips to and from the Headmaster's office.
During this period, influenced by various forces such as Peter Pettigrew and Lucius Malfoy, the rumors of Voldemort's imminent return grew stronger in the European wizarding world.