Chapter 332: Change
Chapter 332: Change (Request for Subscriptions, Favorites, and Votes)
"I think we should change our plan. At least until this war is over, and the world remains unchanged, the movement to liberate House-Elves is meaningless", Hermione said suddenly as they climbed the stairs back to the Common Room.
"You noticed too?" "I only realized it after our conversation today. After all, I never had much interaction with them before", Hermione raised an eyebrow. "It will take a long time to change the mindset of creatures who have become so accustomed to servitude, even finding satisfaction in their current lives. Our plan simply doesn't have the time and resources for that."
"You're right. Besides the House-Elves' own issues, the overall environment isn't friendly either. House-Elves are mostly owned by Pureblood Families, and the Ministry of Magic, dominated by Purebloods, won't pass any laws to free slaves. Even if such laws were passed, enforcement would be a major issue. We can't liberate House-Elves if they don't want freedom themselves."
Hermione glanced at Liam, paused, and then continued, "Moreover, House-Elves have a monopoly on the Wizarding World's service and simple manufacturing industries. Contrary to what I thought, this hasn't taken jobs away from Muggle-born wizards. I was mistaken about that."
"It's not just that", Liam added. "If you free them, many House-Elves will lose their jobs and struggle to survive. If free Pixies enter the market and take Wizard jobs, it could lead to severe conflict."
"Exactly. My investigation showed that most Wizarding families don't abuse their House-Elves. After all, House-Elves are their slaves and property. Few would destroy their own assets. So, freeing House-Elves isn't as urgent as I thought. That's why I abandoned that part of the plan. I realized my approach was flawed and would have harmed everyone, including the House-Elves", Hermione concluded.
"So, let's focus on building our strength. In the Wizarding World, that's what truly matters", Liam said, ending the discussion on House-Elves.
Although the House-Elves issue was disheartening, there were some good news recently. For example, the Daily Prophet now focused on the Ministry of Magic, thanks to the gossipy Rita Skeeter. Hogwarts was finally getting a break from those fabricated, eye-rolling stories.
In last week's Care of Magical Creatures class, Hagrid finished discussing the Golden Snidget, so he introduced a new magical creature this week. As they walked to the field, everyone worried he would show them another dangerous creature, especially when they saw Hagrid carrying several cardboard boxes. The unease reached its peak, remembering the Flobberworms that came in similar boxes.
Fortunately, as they got closer, Liam saw a group of fluffy black creatures in the boxes, with long noses and flat, shovel-like front paws. They stared at the students with their small eyes.
"Nifflers!" Liam couldn't mistake these creatures. They were the stars of the movie "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them" from his previous life, absolute celebrities.
"These are Nifflers", Hagrid said once the students gathered around. "They're usually found in mines and love shiny objects. Look!" A Niffler suddenly leaped to bite Hagrid's pocket watch chain but was quickly caught and returned to the box.
"Legend has it that the author of 'Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them,' Newt Scamander, once kept a nest of Nifflers. They helped him a lot during his adventures", Hagrid added some extra information.
After introducing the magical creatures, Hagrid had the students each take a Niffler and search the overturned ground for 100 Goblin Gold Coins he had buried earlier.
Clearly, these Nifflers were well-trained. They would rush to the student who released them and spit out the coins into their hands once they found something. Unlike Scamander's Nifflers, these didn't try to stuff every shiny object into their pouches.
In the end, Ron's Niffler won the championship, bringing back so many Gold Coins that they filled Ron's lap. As a reward, Hagrid gave him a large piece of Honeydukes Chocolate.
During the next Defense Against the Dark Arts class, Liam was called out to practice with Mad-Eye Moody. Fortunately, Liam managed to hold his own for five minutes, despite looking a bit disheveled. Naturally, after class, Mad-Eye Moody encouraged him to become an Auror after graduation. Even after Liam politely declined, Moody didn't get upset. Instead, he sincerely invited Liam to visit his office whenever he had free time, offering to share his years of experience as an Auror.
Mad-Eye Moody was indeed a person who had fought for justice all his life, and that was very admirable. However, becoming an Auror wasn't something Liam was interested in. After all, he didn't see himself as someone willing to dedicate his entire life to a cause.
Since Voldemort's return, Headmaster Dumbledore often disappeared from the school, and his old friend Mad-Eye Moody would vanish with him. In the past month, Mad-Eye Moody had rescheduled his classes a couple of times. The only good news was that their recent progress seemed to be going well, judging by their expressions.
A week before Halloween, Liam was reading in the Library when he mysteriously received a note from Dumbledore, asking him to visit the Headmaster's office on Saturday. The note included the password: Fizzing Whizbees.
"What does the Headmaster want with you?" Hermione frowned, concerned. As someone who knew about Voldemort's resurrection, she felt that Dumbledore must have a specific task for Liam, and she was worried about his safety.
"Don't worry", Liam reassured her, patting her hand. "Even if there is something, I'll be with Headmaster Dumbledore. In a dangerous situation, Professor Dumbledore would be there to protect me."
On Saturday morning, after completing his practice and having lunch, Liam arrived at the Headmaster's office at the appointed time. As he climbed the stairs, he noticed that besides Headmaster Dumbledore, Professor Mad-Eye Moody was also there. The two were sitting across the desk, drinking tea and looking relaxed.
"Headmaster Dumbledore, what do you need me for?" Liam asked as he entered the office.
"We've discovered something, and we need your help", Dumbledore told him.
"But I'm just a student! How could I possibly help you?" Liam was puzzled. He didn't think that two people who were nearly two hundred years old combined would need his assistance.
"Ah, don't say that. For one, some of your suggestions last time were quite good, and I value your input. Additionally, we need an Alchemist, and there are very few people who understand Alchemy. To ensure that the news of Voldemort's resurrection doesn't leak, this person must be reliable and inconspicuous. That's why we chose you."
"Or perhaps you just want to tie me to your plans to prevent any interference", Liam thought to himself. After all, a Muggle-born student with no connections in the magical world mastering Alchemy was already unusual, and becoming a person of interest was inevitable.
Fortunately, while rare, there were still cases in the magical world where someone achieved great success after a stroke of luck. Given that Alchemy was a neutral subject, Professor Dumbledore had few suspicions about Liam, especially since he was a Muggle-born wizard, which ruled out any connection to Voldemort. So, while Dumbledore had his own reasons for wanting to involve Liam, his intentions were at least friendly.
In Dumbledore's mind, Liam was a scholar, albeit one with the passion of a young person, such as his participation in the Triwizard Tournament. As a mentor, Dumbledore felt it was his duty to guide Liam to avoid any missteps. Liam, of course, hoped that Dumbledore would continue to see him in this light.
With this in mind, Liam said to Dumbledore, "I'm glad to be of help, so please tell me what you need."
(End of Chapter)
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