HP meets at Hogwarts

"Okay, now, let me, who has been in the kitchen since the first grade, introduce the kitchen to you?" Ann looked at Hermione and said humorously.

Hermione grinned and nodded.

"Okay, as you can see, the Hogwarts kitchen is directly below the auditorium, and the food for each long table is sent to the long tables of each house through the ceiling here. There are 112 domestic children in the kitchen. The elves are mainly responsible for three meals a day, the sanitation and cleaning of each college dormitory and the fireplace, and they often participate in the sanitation and cleaning work in the castle. Otherwise, Mr. Filch will be exhausted. How can he have so much time to patrol and catch people every day? student…"

"What about their working hours and intensity?"

"That's right, this is an important issue. To be honest, they don't have vacations, and they have to work almost every day." After Ann finished speaking, Hermione's face showed obvious dissatisfaction and anger.

"Don't rush to get angry...Although they don't have an accurate vacation time, their work intensity and time are greatly reduced when we are on vacation. Generally speaking, they can move freely in the castle at that time. Actual In fact, they probably know Hogwarts Castle better than we do, because there are many house-elves here who have served Hogwarts for generations."

"In other words, they are very loyal to Hogwarts..." An Rao said meaningfully, "You know the history of house elves, generally speaking, they will always be in the same family, or serve a family. organization services."

"Normal? Ann, are there any exceptions?"

"Yes, there are. There's something special about every creature, isn't there? The house-elves I told you about later are a special case. In fact, a month ago, Hogwarts had There's only 110 house-elves. Ah, here's your dinner..."

Four house-elves brought a silver tray with a cup of tea and a plate of wholemeal bread, some croissants, and a plate of cut mutton.

Ann pulled Hermione to sit down on a long table. Hermione thanked the four house elves, and the four house elves bowed to her and then looked at Ann.

"It's very rich, thank you. You can go to your own affairs and call you later." An waved to them, and the four house elves ran away with a smile.

Eating the bread, Hermione looked at Ann strangely, as if she wanted Ann to explain why the two were treated differently.

"Hey! I was just like you when I first came, and everyone bowed to me, but don't forget, I've been in the kitchen for over 3 years, and we've been talking to each other a lot."

"Exchange and exchange?" Hermione was very interested in the word Ann used.

"I know! It's cooking! Ann Roland Stoke will cook with the house-elves in the kitchen! They love cooking, and Stoke!" said a shrill voice.

Two house-elves approached Ann and Hermione, and the one in front, unlike the other house-elves in the kitchen, had a teapot warmer on his head with a bunch of sticks pinned to it. Colorful badges; a horseshoe-patterned tie dangled from his chest, what looked like children's football shorts, and two mismatched socks on his feet.

"Ah, Dobby, you're here. Gugu, thank you." Ann said with a smile.

"Googoo would love to help Stoke..." Then the house-elf laughed and ran away.

"Dobby heard that Ann Roland Stoke is looking for Dobby! Dobby is very happy." Dobby said excitedly.

"Well, Dobby, you can call me Stoke like any other house-elf, the full name is too long, and it's too formal..."

"Can Dobby?" Dobby's eyes the size of ping-pong balls widened.

Ann nodded, "Of course!"

"Miss...Miss Stocker?" Dobby called tentatively.

"Uh..." The smile on Ann's face froze for a moment, "Can you delete the word "Miss"?"

"Sto... Sto...Miss Stoker? No... No... Bad Dobby... Bad Dobby..." Dobby shook his big head and wanted to hit the long table.

Ann quickly grabbed Dobby's arm, in fact he held it tightly, "Dobby, I don't blame you, you can shout whatever you like..."

"Miss Stocker..." Dobby said emotionally.

Ann's helpless expression made Hermione laugh.

"Let's get down to business, Hermione, have you eaten yet?" Ann asked.

Hermione nodded, "Yes." But then Hermione asked inexplicably, "What's the business?"

"..." So why did you pull me here, who is the one who founded the House-Elf Liberation Front?Wait, it seems to be agreed tonight that I am in charge, and I seem to have made it clear that Dobby is the only elf who gets paid, so I have to explain it carefully.

After figuring it out, Anli immediately corrected his attitude.

"Let's introduce each other first. Dobby, do you know her?" Ann pointed to Hermione. She knew that Hermione knew Dobby. In the second grade, Harry and Ron, Hermione and Ann Tell Fanny about part of Dobby.

"Oh, Miss Granger, Dobby knows! Knows! Mr Harry Potter's first love! Dobby saw it in the Daily Prophet! Dobby follows Mr Harry Potter! Miss Hermione Granger was born Muggle Family, she, like Harry, is one of the top students in the school! Dobby can recite it!" Dobby said excitedly in a high-pitched voice.

As soon as Dobby finished speaking, Hermione stood up directly from her seat. She blushed and said firmly, "That's a baseless report full of lies! Dobby, I'm not Harry's first love! Not before, not now, and certainly not in the future!"

Dobby's big ears seemed to be frozen in an instant, he froze on the spot, while Ann was taken aback by Hermione's reaction, she subconsciously looked at Hermione suspiciously.

Hermione stood, watching Ann explain to her, "Ann... I just... Harry and I are good friends..."

"Eh? Well! I know..." An pulled Hermione to sit down again, still puzzled by Hermione's strange reaction, and finally attributed it to nervousness, "Really, I believe, you and Harry are on good terms Friend. The Daily Prophet report is false. Take it easy..."

Dobby was stunned for a while before he could react, but his reaction was much stronger than Hermione's. His two big ears began to slap his face, and at the same time his eyes were filled with tears, and he wanted to put Banging his head on the table, screaming, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby spoke ill of Mr. Harry Potter! Bad Dobby made Harry Potter's best friend angry! Harry Mr. Potter will surely be mad at Dobby too...bad Dobby!"

Seeing the bewildered expression of Hermione sitting next to her, Ann quickly grabbed Dobby's arm, and supported Dobby's head with the other hand. "Stop, stop! Dobby, Harry won't be angry if you didn't speak ill of him! Really! I'm not kidding you!"

"Really?" Dobby didn't intend to hit his head anymore, but his ears still slapped his face. Ann's hand was pulled, and she quickly retracted it.

"Really! Harry will come to see you in a few days!" Ann said, turning back to Hermione, "Isn't Harry a member of SPEW? Then you must have plans to bring him and Ron over Right?"

Hermione nodded in acknowledgment.

"Dobby, look! Harry will be here in a few days, and Harry will be very happy to hear you are here!" Ann said sincerely.

Dobby stopped the punitive action of slapping his face with his ears, his big eyes were no longer filled with tears but sparkled with excitement, "Mr. Harry Potter will come to see Dobby?"

Ann nodded affirmatively. Seeing that Dobby almost jumped up, she quickly changed the subject, "Dobby! Let's talk about Professor Dumbledore, shall we?"

"Ah! Professor Dumbledore! Miss Stoke! It was Professor Dumbledore who took us! You know, Miss Stoke, it's hard for an expelled house-elf to find a new job, miss, really Very hard—”

My God, it's finally time to get down to business, An can't help thinking.

Hermione suddenly became serious. She instantly understood what Ann was talking about. She didn't understand why Ann had to call Dobby here and why Dobby was a special case.

"Dobby wandered around for two years, miss, just looking for a job!" said Dobby shrilly, "but Dobby didn't get a job, miss, because Dobby wants a wage now."

Some of the house-elves in the kitchen, who had been watching and listening to them with interest, all looked away at this, as if Dobby had said something rude and embarrassing.

"Well done, Dobby!" said Hermione excitedly.

"Thank you, miss!" said Dobby, grinning at Hermione, showing a lot of teeth, "but most wizards don't want a house-elf for a wage, miss. 'That's not the quality of a house-elf.' They said, and then slammed the door on Dobby! Dobby likes to work, but he also wants to get dressed and get paid... Dobby likes to be free!"

Hermione looked at Dobby encouragingly.

"Later, Miss Stocker, Dobby went to visit Winky and found that Winky had also been released!" said Dobby cheerfully.

"Winky? You mean Winky is here too?" Hermione cheered up, looking around as if trying to spot Winky from among the hundred or so house-elves.

For a moment, Ann only felt her heart sink, it's over!Forgot to remind Dobby not to say Winky!

Don't panic, calm down!It's time to change the subject.

"Hermione, let's let Dobby finish talking first?" Ann said soothingly to Hermione, "It's okay to go to Winky later! Dobby, hurry up and continue talking..."

But Hermione obviously didn't listen to Ann's words. Winky was the first real house-elf she had ever seen, and she was also the key figure in her original intention of starting SPEW.

"Winky in the kitchen? Dobby, can you take us to her?" Hermione said, standing up.

Ann intends to make a last effort, winking at Dobby and mouthing NO, but house elves are almost creatures that will not refuse human requests, and Dobby will not refuse requests from Harry Potter friends up.He immediately started walking across the room, saying, "Yeah, miss! Yes, Winky is in the kitchen!"

Hermione pulled An Ye up and said excitedly, "Quick, Ann, let's catch up!"

Dobby stopped in front of the brick fireplace and pointed it out to Ann and Hermione.

"Winky, look, miss!" he said.

Winky sat on a stool by the fire.Unlike Dobby, she doesn't seem to just wear whatever clothes she finds casually.She was wearing a neat little skirt and blouse, and a matching blue hat with two holes cut out to show her large ears.However, Dobby's strange combination of clothes was kept immaculate, and Winky obviously didn't care about his own clothes.Her jacket was spattered with soup, and her skirt was burnt in one spot.

"Hello, Winky," said Hermione.

But Winky, with trembling lips, said nothing, just stared blankly at the floor.

"Miss! Winky hasn't been very happy since she was released, she's not like Dobby!" Dobby explained.

As soon as Winky heard the word release, she began to cry loudly. Tears rolled out of her big brown eyes and fell on her chest, making her clothes look even more dirty.

"Oh, my God," said Hermione, crouching down in front of Winky, and began to comfort Winky, "Winky, don't cry..."

"What is Dobby going to do next? Yes! Dobby! Dobby should continue talking about Professor Dumbledore!" Dobby didn't care about Winky's crying at all, and Ann had reason to think that he was used to it, because since a month ago At first, Ann was crying most of the time when she came to the kitchen and saw Winky, and Ann also expressed helplessness about comforting a house-elf who kept crying.

"After meeting Winky, Miss Stock! Dobby had an idea! 'Why can't Dobby and Winky get a job together?' said Dobby. 'Where's there enough work for two house-elves?' Winky asked. Dobby thought and thought and remembered, Miss! Hogwarts! Dobby and Winky came to find Professor Dumbledore, Miss! Professor Dumbledore took us all in!"

Dobby had a very big smile on his face, and tears of joy filled his eyes again.

"Professor Dumbledore said that since Dobby wanted wages, he could pay Dobby! So, ah, Dobby is a free elf, and Dobby gets a Galleon every week and one day off every month! "

"That's not a lot!" Hermione replied suddenly angrily, and her voice was accompanied by the continuous crying of Winky, who had slipped from her chair and cried on the floor.

"Professor Dumbledore was going to give Dobby ten Galleons a week, with weekends off," Dobby said, shuddering suddenly, as if so much wealth and leisure time were terrible, "but Dobby told him Bargaining, miss... Dobby likes freedom, miss, but he doesn't want too much freedom, he prefers work!"

"So…"

"Hey..." When Ann realized what Hermione was going to say, it was already too late, and she didn't say the words "Don't ask me later."

"So, what about you, Winky? How much does Professor Dumbledore pay you?" Hermione asked kindly.

Hermione had thought this would cheer up Winky, but she was wrong.Winky had indeed stopped crying, but she sat up, her huge brown eyes staring fiercely at Hermione, her wet face suddenly turning angry.

"Winky's a house-elf who's been kicked out, but Winky hasn't gotten paid yet!" she shrieked, "Winky hasn't fallen that far! Winky is ashamed of being free!"

"Ashamed?" said Hermione blankly. "But - Winky, listen to me! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You've done nothing wrong, he was so cruel to you -"

But Winky, on hearing this, put her hands over the holes in her bonnet, squashed her ears so that she could not hear, and then she screamed, "Don't you insult my master, miss! Don't you Abusing my Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, miss! Mr. Crouch fired Bad Winky, he did the right thing!"

"Winky hasn't adjusted yet, Miss Granger," Dobby told Hermione shrilly, "Winky forgot that she's done with Mr. Crouch, she can say what she wants now, but she can't. arrive."

"Can't house-elves say what they think when they say something about their master?" Hermione asked.

"Oh, no, miss, absolutely not," said Dobby, looking suddenly serious. "It's a house-elf slave, miss. We keep our master's secrets and silence, miss. We uphold the honor of the family, Never speak ill of the master—though Dumbledore told Dobby that he didn't insist that we do it. Professor Dumbledore said we could do as we please - as we please -"

Dobby looked suddenly embarrassed, and whispered in a voice not much louder than a mosquito, "He said we could call him a fool if we wanted!"

Dobby let out a terrified dry laugh.

"But Dobby doesn't want to do that, Miss Granger," he said, his voice normal again now—he shook his head and his ears were flapping. "Dobby likes Professor Dumbledore very much, miss. Willing to keep a secret for him, keep silent for him, and be proud of it."

Winky on the side seemed to have collapsed suddenly, and she began to mutter, "Bad Winky, what will poor Mr. Crouch do without Winky... Bad Winky, what will poor Mr. Crouch do without Winky ..."

This time, Hermione tried many ways but failed to comfort Winky.

"Miss Granger! It's all right, wait for Winky to cry for an hour or two, and she won't cry, because we have to clean the Gryffindor tower tonight! Winky will be back to normal when she works! "Dobby explained to Hermione, but Ann felt that this explanation was better than not explaining, because Hermione's expression seemed much more angry and dissatisfied than before.

"Well, Hermione, it's 08:30, should we go back to the dormitory?" Ann planned to end this trip to the kitchen quickly.

Hermione still didn't get up, she squatted down, looked at Winky, then at Ann.

"Okay, okay, I understand, shall we go back to the dormitory after Winky stopped crying?" Ann really couldn't ignore Hermione's pleading eyes.

Hermione nodded, eyes wide.

Ann knelt down and said to Winky, "Hey! Winky, do you know that Mr. Crouch is also in the castle? If Mr. Crouch knows that he used to rely on the trusty house-elf Winky has become an irresponsible , Winky, who loves to cry, I think he will be upset? Mr. Crouch must hope that his house-elf is as capable as before, and he can't disgrace him, right?"

Winky stopped crying and just sobbed. She lifted her tear-stained face from under her skirt, stared at Ann with wide eyes, "You said the master is in the castle?"

Ann nodded seriously, "Yes, I saw him in the auditorium not long ago."

Winky wiped away her tears, and stood up, "So Winky! So Winky must work hard, yes! Winky can't lose the face of the master's family!"

Dobby looked at Ann with admiration, "Dobby didn't expect Miss Stocker to be so powerful! No one can do anything about crying Winky!"

"I just found her seven inches and used it, but this method can only treat the symptoms, not the root cause. Alright, Hermione, shall we go back to the dormitory now?"

Hermione nodded and was about to stand up, but her feet were numb from squatting for too long, but fortunately Ann was beside her, and quickly supported Hermione.

"I really... don't know what to say about you..."

Ann helped Hermione to the head of the kitchen, and then the two of them waved to the house-elves who had gathered together again, said goodbye, and pushed the door out of the kitchen.

"Are your feet still numb? Why don't you jump twice?" An asked with concern after leaving the kitchen.

Hermione moved a little, and said in a thin voice, "It's all right!"

Letting go of Hermione's hand, Ann said aloud, "Take a few steps and see if it's all right."

Hermione took two steps, no problem.

"It's okay, let's go."

The two walked through the brightly lit stone corridor, went up the steps, and up the steps, and finally stopped in front of a long and steep stone staircase.

The two said goodbye, and when they tightened their scarves and were about to run back to the dormitory, Hermione called to stop them.

"Ann! What does seven inches mean?"

Ann turned her head, and under the dim candle light, she could see that Hermione had just climbed three steps.

"There is a proverb in the East, which is called hitting a snake and hitting seven inches. Seven inches are usually used to describe the key points, weaknesses, and vital parts of things. In other words, if you master the seven inches of a thing, you have mastered that thing. .”

"That's it. What's your seven inches?" Hermione said jokingly.

"I think my seven inches should be transfiguration class, hahaha, I think this is my only weakness! Okay, let's not talk about it, the castle is too cold at night, hurry back to the dormitory! Don't catch a cold! Tomorrow See you!" Ann replied with a smile, tightened the scarf, put on the hat of the robe, turned and ran to the Slytherin dormitory.

"Transfiguration class?" Hermione whispered, and turned to start climbing the stairs.

The author has something to say:

The author himself is quite satisfied with the writing of this chapter...

Tomorrow is the beginning of the prom chapter, and today the author has to type well at home...