Hermoine looked back at Harry, and this time, Harry finally cleared his thoughts. He slipped his wand back into his pocket and nodded at Dobby.
"Show us around, Dobby—"
Dobby immediately grabbed Harry's hand and led them through four long wooden tables, walking towards the very back of the kitchen.
"At last, I understand how the food just suddenly appears when we're having our meals," said Hermione with a grateful smile. "This is incredible, Dobby."
Ron muttered to himself under his breath as he looked at the long wooden tables that were just like the ones in the Great Hall for the four houses.
There are at least one hundred small house-elves in this kitchen currently. When Harry, Ron, and Hermione passed through, these small creatures stopped what they were doing and looked at them with wide grins, bowing and curtsying gracefully. They were very polite but the sight of so many small creatures all smiling and bowing at once made Ron and Hermione feel a bit uneasy.
The three of them avoided eye contact with the house-elves and Harry whispered to his friends,
"Are all the school's house-elves here, Dobby?"
"Not just these ones, master!"
Dobby exclaimed happily,
"Many more are busy around the castle -- washing dirty clothes for the young witches and wizards, cleaning the classrooms used during the day, boiling water, cleaning and unblocking lavatories. In short, we have endless work to do, sir!" Dobby said enthusiastically.
Hermione made a discontented humming sound and felt that Dobby's happy expression when he said this was very noticeable.
Dobby stopped in front of the large fireplace where they first saw him, only to show them,
"Shiny, look here, sir!"
"Oh, my goodness!"
Hermione gasped in shock, quickly covering her mouth with her hands. Tears shimmered in the clarity of her brown eyes, while Harry and Ron stared at Shiny with wide eyes.
Shiny was sitting on a stool next to the fireplace. Unlike Dobby, it was not dressed in an array of odd outfits; instead, it wore a neat little dress and a short blouse, with a matching blue hat on its head that had two holes for its large ears to peek through. However, despite the tidy attire, its blouse was stained and there was a burn mark on one part of its dress.
Of course, Hermione and her friends were not concerned about Shiny's dirty clothes, but rather the wounds on its body.
Almost all of Shiny's body, except its face, was covered in severe burns that were not caused by whipping but by scorching heat. These untreated burns had healed naturally, leaving Shiny's skin twisted and charred, making it look terrifying!
"What the..."
Hermione gasped rapidly, her fists tightly clenched around her lips, but they trembled uncontrollably.
"What exactly happened to you, Shiny?"
Unlike Dobby, Shiny showed no excitement upon seeing the 'old acquaintance'. It dropped the wood it had been about to throw into the fire, covering its face and bursting into tears without even answering Harry's question.
"I think it was Professor Black--"
Of the three, Ron, who had grown up in the magical world, was the one who viewed the situation of house-elves as most normal. However, upon seeing Shiny's burns, his voice also became muffled.
"That night, it fainted in the top box and couldn't dodge Professor Black's magic. So, after the Ministry questioned it, they weren't able to treat it..."
"You're right, sir--"
Dobby looked sorrowfully at Shiny,
"That was a serious injury, Dobby. When I visited Shiny, it was near death. St. Mungo's won't treat a house-elf, so I had to go into the forest to find herbs. For two months, Shiny couldn't move at all--"
Dobby's voice became shrill,
"House-elves have a very strong life force, and Shiny finally pulled through!"
Then, Dobby took Shiny to look for work. House-elves have to work for their food, but where can two house-elves find enough work? Dobby searched for a long time and couldn't find any. Then one day, Dobby noticed that many wizards had gathered in a field in Diagon Alley, so Dobby thought he would go there to find some food!
As Dobby said this, his eyes shone brightly.
"Dobby discovered that the wizards were watching the Triwizard Tournament. From a strange screen, Dobby saw Hogwarts Castle, and then Dobby and Shiny came to find Professor Dumbledore! Sir, Professor Dumbledore took us all in!"
Dobby's face broke into a very bright smile, and joyful tears filled its eyes again.
"Not only does Professor Dumbledore willingly hire Dobby and Shiny, but he is also willing to pay them! Sir, Dobby can get a gold piece every week and one day off per month!"
Well, now Harry and his friends finally understand why Dobby and Shiny are at Hogwarts.
Harry was very happy to unexpectedly see Dobby in the Hogwarts kitchen, but the sight of Shiny lying on the ground, wailing loudly, weighed heavily on his heart.
"Someone has to take responsibility for your injuries, Shiny!"
Hermione's fists remained clenched, and she angrily exclaimed.
"It's easy for you to say," Ron glanced at Hermione and said rationally, "Who do you intend to hold responsible, Hermione? Professor Black, Barty Crouch, or the entire Ministry?"
It was indeed a practical issue, and Hermione would not be naive enough to believe that Barty Crouch and the Ministry would willingly take responsibility for Shiny's injuries. As for Professor Black, he might be easy to deal with, but the key issue was that it was not his fault. The Quidditch match situation was very critical at the time, and Professor Black was fully focused on preventing the dark witch from committing a crime. He could not have paid attention to a house-elf.
"You needn't worry, Miss Granger," Dobby was somewhat reserved in front of Hermione, "Shiny doesn't want an apology or compensation. It just wants... it just wants to be back with Mr. Crouch--"
Shiny suddenly burst into tears, wailing loudly and punching the floor with its fists over and over again, as if it was heartbroken.
"Back to Crouch?!"
Fury shot from Hermione's eyes, "Back to Crouch?! Why would you want to go back to him, Shiny? You served him, but he knew you were innocent and still sacked you. He didn't treat your injuries even though he saw you were hurt. He's not a fit--"
"Don't you dare insult my master, miss!"
Shiny's sobs suddenly stopped as if the 'pause' button had been pressed. It started up again, but its two enormous brown eyes glared fiercely at Hermione, and its wet face suddenly became furious.
"You're not allowed to insult my Mr. Crouch, miss! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard. He was right to sack the bad Shiny!"
"But--" Hermione wanted to argue, but Ron interrupted her.
"Oh, come on, Hermione, give it up. These creatures are like that; they're absolutely obedient to wizards, take all the blame on themselves, and enjoy it. You can't change them."
"Not like that--" Harry suddenly said, turning to Dobby and raising his chin, "Don't you see, right in front of us, there is an exception?"
Harry squatted down, positioning himself to have a better conversation with Dobby, and he said with a smile,
"Dobby tried to resist Lord Voldemort's evil commands not long ago, didn't he?"
"Dobby's old master was someone Dobby did not want to listen to or take orders from," a hint of fear crossed Dobby's large eyes, "They were... very bad wizards!"
It was clear that speaking of this was difficult for Dobby; he stood still for a moment, shaking all over and stunned by his own boldness. Suddenly, he darted towards the nearest table. Hermione, accustomed to this scene, was quick to grab the clothes and pull him back.
"You were right to resist, Dobby!" Hermione said firmly, her eyes determined, "Without you, Lord Voldemort's vile actions would have killed many people!"
"Oh, thank you, Miss Granger, thank you!"
Dobby rubbed his forehead with his hands, panting heavily.
"Oh, right!"
"Well, I'll be!"
"You just told us that you get paid for your work here, right?"
"Yes, Miss Granger, Dobby is paid!"
Dobby became happier when this topic was mentioned,
"Dobby also has holidays, and Professor Dumbledore is a great wizard who is willing to give Dobby more holidays and pay. However, Dobby negotiated with him. Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he doesn't want too much freedom yet. He prefers work!"
"That's it!"
"That's it!" shouted Hermione happily, under the gaze of Harry and Ron.
"Wom, come here!"
(End of chapter)
