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Chapter 295: An Exception Among House-Elves
Chapter 295: An Exception Among House-Elves
But the more one understands, the more it isn't necessarily a good thing.
Once a person's mind gets stuck in a rut, it's easy to make mistakes. The most evil villains in stories were once idealistic and ambitious young people.
Sherlock looked forward to Hermione's maturity, hoping that in the future, she would become a pioneer of thought, bringing benefits to the British magical community. However, he was very much against the idea of her straying from the path and becoming a dark lord.
Of course, history is written by the victors, and defaming the defeated is the right of the winners.
If Grindelwald had won in the end, the dark lord hindering the progress of history might have been Dumbledore, and the title of the greatest white wizard of the 20th century might have been bestowed upon him.
However, from any perspective, this was not what Sherlock hoped for.
"Eliminating inequality is an almost unsolvable problem, Hermione. Throughout history, countless great minds have pondered this issue, but none have found the answer."
Sherlock spoke softly.
"It's good that you are reading these books and thinking about these questions on your own. This proves that you are indeed giving them serious thought. However, the more knowledge one has, the more questions one has about the world, and the more humble and bewildered one becomes. This isn't your problem; it's a common issue for all seekers of knowledge."
"By reading enough, you can understand the wisdom of your predecessors and stand on the shoulders of giants to view the issues of today. But you must also understand where these ideas came from."
"Practice is the source of true knowledge. Just reading books will keep you within the framework of others. If your questions multiply and you become increasingly uncertain about your own thoughts, then you must go and see for yourself."
"Go and see the problems you want to solve. Look at other ideas. Don't blindly impose your thoughts on others. First, understand how they think."
Hermione's eyes were filled with determination.
"I have already found out where the kitchen is, Professor. I will go and see the house-elves for myself."
Sherlock picked up his cup of black tea and took a sip.
"Remember one more thing. No matter what ideas you encounter or how your understanding of the world changes, never forget your original intention: to make everyone better. If your actions in the future contradict this intention, you will no longer be yourself. I don't want to see that kind of Hermione Granger."
All he could do now was to patch up Hermione's still unformed thoughts.
Seeing Hermione nod solemnly, he felt that this patch might indeed have some effect.
After their conversation with Sherlock that day, Hermione, in the evening, pulled Harry and Ron along to the corridor leading to the Hufflepuff common room entrance, as George had mentioned.
"I think we should try not to disturb their lives", Harry said hesitantly, trying not to dampen Hermione's enthusiasm while also expressing his concerns.
"I won't do what you think and rush into the kitchen to persuade them to go on strike", Hermione said earnestly. "I know that would be bad for them and for us."
Ron's eyes widened. Because of the recent fallout with Harry, he was unaware of the changes in Hermione. His face was filled with surprise.
“Why are you taking us to the kitchen?”
“To see how the house-elves live and chat with them, to understand their thoughts on working without pay.”
As Hermione spoke, she had already walked over to the fruit painting. Following George’s instructions, she gently tickled the pear.
The pear giggled and suddenly transformed into a doorknob, appearing before them.
Hermione grabbed the green doorknob, opened the door, and then grabbed Harry and Ron by the arms, pulling them both into the kitchen.
Harry only had a moment to see that this was a room as large as the Great Hall, with about a hundred house-elves working inside, before a familiar shrill voice rang out from a distance.
“Harry Potter! It’s Harry Potter!”
A small figure then sprinted over, leaping up to hug Harry.
Harry finally got a good look at the house-elf.
“Dobby!”
Dobby, with large, tear-filled eyes, looked incredibly happy.
“Dobby is working at Hogwarts, sir!” Dobby exclaimed excitedly. “Professor Dumbledore gave Dobby and Winky jobs, sir!”
Winky and Dobby were the only two house-elves Harry and the others knew.
Dobby had revealed Lucius’s plot in Harry’s second year, preventing Harry from returning to Hogwarts and facing danger. Winky, on the other hand, was a house-elf they met at the Quidditch World Cup during the summer before the school year started, belonging to the Crouch family.
She was fired mercilessly by Crouch for illegally possessing Harry’s wand.
Harry hadn’t expected that both of them would come to work at Hogwarts this year.
Dobby led them to Winky in the kitchen. Winky seemed unhappy here, and she burst into tears as soon as she saw Harry, as if remembering some unpleasant past.
They were clearly two very different types of house-elves.
Winky embodied the most traditional house-elf mindset, where the master was everything, and she was born to work for the family without pay. Even after being dismissed, she wouldn’t allow anyone to speak ill of the Crouch family.
Dobby, on the other hand, was a clear anomaly among house-elves. While in the Malfoy family, he had greatly admired Harry, whose legendary deeds were well-known. After overhearing his master’s plan to disrupt Hogwarts, Dobby became a double agent, determined to stop Harry from returning to Hogwarts.
Later, he became the only house-elf to advocate for freedom, asking Dumbledore for wages and rest time when he started working at Hogwarts.
However, despite being an anomaly, Dobby still carried the guilt of over a decade of domestication. Dumbledore initially offered him ten Galleons a week, but Dobby refused, settling for one Galleon a week and one day off a month.
This seemed disproportionately low compared to the value of his labor, but it was a groundbreaking achievement for a house-elf.
Because of this, the other house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen viewed him as an anomaly, and even Winky didn’t like him.
(End of Chapter)
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