Hogwarts in the shadows

"After my father left, it was Professor Dumbledore who gave me shelter and arranged a job as a gamekeeper for me. And of course, there was you, Hephis, who found the evidence and cleared me of the charges."

Hagrid continued to ramble on for a long time until class was almost about to start, when Hermione reminded him.

"Hagrid, afternoon classes are about to start, so..."

Hagrid said apologetically as he looked at the untouched food on the table.

"Oh, oh, I'm so sorry. You guys didn't eat much."

"It's okay, Hagrid, we're really not hungry. Well, we should go."

Hephis stood up and returned the photo of Madame Maxime to Hagrid.

"By the way, although we don't mind, don't mention this to Madame Maxime."

Hagrid looked at Hephis in confusion, "Why? She should also be..."

Hefeth patiently explained: "Because she is, you should be able to imagine the prejudice and discrimination she has to endure."

He paused, and continued, "To be able to become the headmaster of Beauxbatons, she had to go through so many hardships. If her bloodline is exposed, all her efforts will be wasted."

Although Hagrid still didn't quite understand, his years of life experience gave him a deep understanding of discrimination.

And he had complete faith in Hephes's judgment.

He nodded vigorously, "I understand, Hephis, I will definitely not mention this matter."

Owing to time constraints.

Hermione hurriedly grabbed Hephis and ran towards the castle.

Hephis really wanted to say that there was no need to run, just Disapparate.

But he thought about it and decided to give up.

But something that looked like a badge popped out of Hermione's pocket.

Hephis waved his hand and the badge ran into his hand.

He was about to speak when Hermione let go of his hand.

Hermione just said "I'm going to the divination class" and ran towards the stairs.

Hephis looked at Hermione's back and shrugged.

He needed to go to History of Magic class, so he was not in a hurry at all and walked towards the classroom slowly.

He glanced at the badge in his hand, engraved with the letters "S. P. E. W."

Hephis was a little confused as to what this meant.

"Vomit"?

Ok!

This should be an abbreviation of some word.

They met in the Room of Requirement in the evening.

Hephis took out the badge and handed it to Hermione, "Hermione, your badge."

"Ah!" Hermione exclaimed, and almost reflexively snatched the badge from Hephis.

There was a hint of nervousness and embarrassment on her face. "How come this... is in your possession?"

"Uh...you were running too fast at noon and it accidentally fell out." Hephis looked at Hermione in some confusion.

Hermione lowered her head and said in a voice as thin as a mosquito: "Actually, I was planning to throw it away."

"Throw it away? Why?" Hephis' curiosity was completely aroused.

Hermione said awkwardly, "House-Elf Rights Association."

"House elves? Rights?" Hephis thought about it and it did seem like something Hermione could do.

"Then why don't you continue?"

"Actually, I've been researching this since last year, and originally planned to officially establish it and recruit members this semester." Hermione took a deep breath and continued.

"But... I studied too much history about the war this summer, so I'm going to give up."

Hephis rubbed the little girl's head and said nothing more.

The contract of the house-elf is deeply engraved in the blood.

Unless the contract itself is liberated, there is no way to improve their treatment.

As long as their minds don't change, everything will be in vain.

The next two days were uneventful.

But it can be seen that Snape's mood has improved a lot.

Even Neville melted his sixth cauldron in Potions class.

Snape simply wrote a "T" on his report card and ignored it.

On Thursday afternoon, Hephis and Draco came to the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom together.

Preparing for their first Defense Against the Dark Arts class of the new school year.

Nowadays, Moody's class has become popular throughout Hogwarts.

What the young wizards discuss most now is no longer the Triwizard Tournament, but the Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Hephaestus had naturally heard of these discussions.

But he was familiar with those three magics, so it didn't matter.

However, the surrounding eaglets were very excited and were eager to scramble for seats in the front.

But no one dared to sit in the seat that belonged to Hephes.

Just as they sat down, they heard Moody's signature clattering footsteps coming from the end of the corridor.

"Put these things away," Moody said gruffly as he entered the classroom.

He walked to the edge of the podium with difficulty using a cane and sat down slowly. “You don’t need these textbooks.”

The little wizards excitedly put the books into their backpacks.

Moody held the roster and shook his head, moving his silver hair away from his twisted and scarred face.

He began to call the roll, his normal eye moving slowly across the list.

Although Moody's has been calling out names at a steady pace.

But Hephis could feel that his magic eye was always staring at him.

"Very good," Moody continued as the last student responded.

"I received a letter from Professor Lupin introducing your course. You have already mastered a lot of basic knowledge on how to deal with dark magical animals."

The little snake was silent, and the young eagles murmured their approval.

"But when it comes to spell-fighting," Moody's voice suddenly became serious.

"Your knowledge is far from enough—far from enough."

He paused and continued, "So in the next year, I will let you know what the battle between wizards is and how to deal with the dark magic."

"Okay, let's get back to the topic." He looked at the little wizard below and smiled.

"So... do any of you know which spells, if cast, would be punished by the strictest laws of wizarding society?"

The little snakes didn't move, but several of the little eagles raised their hands high.

Moody's mouth curled up a little. "How surprising! No one in Slytherin knew about this?"

A trace of anger appeared on the faces of the little snakes, but no one raised their hands.

"Malfoy, come here," Moody said in a mocking tone.

"I think you should be very familiar with how your father used lies to escape the punishment of the Ministry of Magic."

Draco's face flushed instantly, but the shadow of his childhood still had an impact on him.

He was so angry that he dared not say anything and could only stare at Moody with fire in his eyes.