"But--"
Hermione looked flustered and helpless, as if she had completely lost her bearings. This was not surprising, as Hogwarts had never taught any of its students how to deal with such situations.
Professor Brayne had regained his composure, and with a screech of the hinges, he pushed open the door.
A thick, almost suffocating smell of rotting wood greeted them, and Hermoine, choking and coughing, quickly clapped a hand over her mouth. Professor Brayne had already stepped into the classroom first, and seeing this, Hermoine took a deep breath to calm her nerves before following after.
The room was pitch black, with no light source visible. The moonlight, which had filtered through the curtains and was now incredibly thin, provided just enough illumination for Hermione to see by. She squinted, taking a moment to adjust to the darkness. She observed that the room was semi-circular in shape, which was different from their usual classrooms.
In the center of the classroom, a pile of decaying wood was stacked. It seemed that these were the remains of the desks and chairs after they had decayed.
For centuries, Hogwarts has had many classrooms like this one, which were once in use but then abandoned for mysterious reasons. These rooms often fall into disuse for centuries. She estimated that the classroom they were currently in had been neglected for quite some time. Even with poor visibility, Hermione concluded this by stepping on the floor and feeling the softness of the dust that accumulated on it.
Unfamiliar surroundings can be unsettling, and Hermoine wanted some comfort. She instinctively reached out to pull Professor Brayne's sleeve, but she quickly dropped her hand in a huff — thinking about how the school could be so indifferent to house-elves' rights that an expectant one had to hide and give birth in such a place made Hermoine clench her teeth with anger.
Amora took out her wand and made the tip emit a gentle white light. She aimed her gaze at the raised curtains, which were also where the intermittent whimpers and cries originated from.
"Come out, little one—"
With the light from the wand, Hermione noticed a distinct dark stain on the floor from the decayed wood shavings to where the curtains were. She squinted and looked closely, and upon understanding what it was, Hermoine's expression instantly turned heartbreaking.
It was blood!
The blood from the house-elf mixed with the traces left by dust that had accumulated on the floor, indicating that before they entered, the house-elf had crawled out from its nest made of decayed wood and pieces of rags and hid behind the curtains.
House-elves are unable to resist their master's commands. At Hogwarts, wizards and the school staff are the masters of house-elves.
So, the decaying curtains shook slightly, and a weak little creature emerged from behind the curtains on all fours.
At the sight of the little creature, Hermoine immediately covered her mouth to stop herself from crying out, but her eyes filled with tears instantly.
This house-elf was wearing a thin, resemble a apron-like dress, which was the only clothing it had on. Now, this dress was soaked and stained with blood. There was something protruding from the house-elf's lower body, and Hermione immediately knew what it was.
"Great Professor Brayne. Esteemed Miss Witch—"
Even in this condition, the house-elf trembled as it leaned against the wall, trying to climb up to salute them.
"What can I do for you, Miss Riggaconda?"
The house-elf, who had lost a lot of blood and was now pale as a ghost, gasped, "I am at your service."
"Lie down quickly!"
Hermione's tears burst out instantly, and she screamed with all her might, "Quickly lie down!"
"What can we do, Professor Brayne? We must help it!"
"Calm down, Miss Granger--"
Amora looked at Hermione and changed into a serious tone that was commonly used in class. He looked at the house-elf and unconsciously furrowed his brow.
"Are you called Riggaconda?"
Riggaconda nervously nodded, but when it saw the great Professor Brayne moving towards it, it suddenly became flustered.
"Oh, Riggaconda is so dirty, great Professor Brayne--"
Riggaconda sobbed.
"Riggaconda is not just a passable house-elf; Riggaconda has caused trouble for the great Professor Brayne and Miss Witch."
"What are you saying?"
Hermione was on the verge of losing her patience with Riggaconda. She really wanted to ask this little elf what it was thinking, not understanding that it was facing a crisis and still apologizing for its actions!
"Lie down, move slowly. This is my command, Riggaconda--"
Amora looked at the emotionally agitated Hermione, with a steady voice,
"And you, Miss Granger, if you cannot control your emotions, then I'm afraid I will have to ask you to leave here."
Hermione's sobbing was abruptly cut off, and she turned her head to glare at Professor Brayne, her eyes filled with disbelief and anger.
Couldn't Professor Brayne, seeing this scene, feel any empathy? He was no different from those wizards who believed it was reasonable to command house-elves.
Riggaconda was still quietly sobbing, apologizing for the trouble it had caused Great Professor Brayne, acknowledging that it was an unqualified and disgraceful house-elf, while on the other side, it had to listen to Professor Brayne's instructions and slowly lie down on a clean and soft mat that suddenly appeared behind it.
"Shut your mouth and don't waste any more of your strength--"
Amora issued a second command to Riggaconda. He squatted down beside the house-elf and looked at it for a moment with a slightly grave expression.
Hermione heaved heavily, taking a moment to compose herself before managing her emotions. She was well aware that it was only Professor Brayne who could make a difference here.
"What exactly happened, Professor--"
Hermione clenched her lips tightly together, too terrified to look at the bloody scene. She could only focus on Professor Brayne's serious profile and Riggaconda's pained face, her voice trembling.
"Hmm—Judging by my assessment--"
"Delayed for a moment, Amora said--"
"To put it simply, its baby is too large, causing it to be stuck."
"What should we do now?"
As it turned out, no one was a master of all things, and there would always be things that you were not good at.
Amora scratched his head, looking quite distressed.
Which proper wizard has ever done something like this?
This house-elf's baby was born feet first, and it wanted to pull out the baby directly. However, it might be too rough and might cause both babies to die.
The soft mat made by Amora was already stained with blood. It seemed that the house-elf couldn't hold on for much longer, so there was no time for hesitation.
"Miss Granger—"
Professor Brayne's voice was still steady, which helped calm Hermione down a bit. She gasped, "Professor Brayne--"
"What can I do, Professor?"
"This--"
Amora reached into his pouch and searched for a while before pulling out a bottle that was shining with a blue halo. He handed it to Hermione.
"Feed this potion to the house-elf. It should help it regain some energy--"
Hermione quickly unscrewed the bottle's stopper after taking the potion. She carefully held it beneath Riggaconda's head with one hand, gently lifting it, while with her other hand, she offered the potion to the house-elf's mouth below. The little elf seemed to know what Professor Brayne and the young witch were about to do, looking exceedingly nervous as if she thought it was a shame for a house-elf to drink a wizard's potion.
However, Hermione did not give it the chance to refuse. She force-fed the potion into the house-elf's mouth without a second thought.
Meanwhile, Amora stood up and drew his wand in the air, tracing intricate and mysterious patterns. The magical lights emanating from the wand's tip fluttered down like snow, cascading over Riggaconda and quickly merging into its struggling body.
Hermione didn't know what kind of magic Professor Brayne was casting, but it was clearly a healing spell. She noticed that Riggaconda's furry, pale body was visibly regaining color at a visible rate. The eyes, as large as lanterns, were shedding their grayish look and beginning to glow with vitality.
"Oh, it seems to be effective, Professor!"
Hermione exclaimed in joy, her palm pressed against Riggaconda's back, feeling the house-elf's body, which had been cooling down due to blood loss, gradually warm up again. She could even sense the burgeoning vitality quickly returning to its tiny body.
"You'll have to pull through, little one--"
Professor Brayne didn't interrupt the spell. He looked into Riggaconda's eyes and said.
Finally, after five minutes--
With a loud, sharp, and painful wail, a small creature slipped off the cushion onto the floor.
(This chapter is completed)
