bacchusnovels Chapter 479 It's you I choose, Dobby!
Chapter 479 It's you I choose, Dobby!
Chapter 479 It's you I choose, Dobby!
For the three little ones, what happened after class today was even more hilarious than Hagrid's magical animal protection class.
Harry and Ron have been predicting their terrible deaths, and Professor Trelawney is quite pleased with their "predictions."
But today, when she explained in detail how Pluto influences daily life, they couldn't help but laugh out loud, and soon Trelawney's patience finally ran out.
“I think,” her deep voice held a mystery, yet barely concealed anger, “some of us,”—she glanced meaningfully at Harry—“would probably not be so frivolous if we had seen what I saw in the crystal ball last night.”
She paused, a mysterious expression on her face: "Last night, I was sitting here, doing my needlework..."
Suddenly, a strong urge compelled me to look into my crystal ball. I stood up, sat down in front of it, and gazed into the depths of the crystal—guess what I saw staring back at me?
"It's an ugly old bat, wearing huge glasses?" Ron muttered to himself.
Harry tried his best to suppress his laughter and maintain a serious expression.
"It is death, my dear."
Parvati and Lavender's faces changed, they covered their mouths, their expressions horrified.
"Yes," Professor Trelawney nodded mysteriously, her tone growing increasingly grave, "it's coming, getting closer and closer, like a vulture circling overhead, lower and lower—lower and lower, right above the castle—"
As soon as she finished speaking, her gaze swept over Harry, who then let out a wide yawn without any attempt to hide it.
"She's used this trick about eighty times already. If she could really predict death, that would be pretty scary," Harry muttered. They finally reached the bottom of the stairs, where fresh air greeted them. "But if I collapsed every time she said I was going to die, I'd probably be considered a medical miracle."
"You'll become a super-condensed ghost," Ron chuckled, adding, "At least we don't have homework today. Hopefully, Hermione's coming back from Professor Victor with a mountain of assignments, and ideally, she'll be swamped with them, so we can have an easier time—"
They were just passing by Barrow, the blood-soaked man, whose large eyes were staring at them menacingly.
However, Hermione did not appear at the dinner table.
Several people went to the library to look for her, but found that she wasn't there either.
"That's strange, where did she go?" Ron said as he walked with Harry toward the Gryffindor Tower.
"I don't know—anyway, she should be alright."
Harry didn't care much, thinking that Hermione was always very reliable.
Just then, the fat lady turned around to close the door when she heard hurried footsteps behind her, and Hermione rushed over, panting.
"Harry!" she cried, stopping abruptly beside him. "Harry, you have to come with me—the strangest thing has happened—quick, please, come with me!"
She grabbed Harry's arm and pulled him toward the other end of the corridor.
"What happened?" Harry, infected by her urgency, immediately asked.
"You'll see when we get there, hurry, hurry—" Hermione quickened her pace again almost before he could finish speaking.
Harry turned to look at Ron, who also looked confused, completely bewildered as to what Hermione was up to.
"Okay," Harry replied somewhat helplessly, and walked back with Hermione. Ron followed closely behind.
"Hey, are you just going to leave me like this?!" the fat lady shouted from behind them, clearly annoyed. "You've kept me so busy, and you haven't even apologized! Am I supposed to stand here waiting for you to come back?"
"Thanks!" Ron replied casually as he turned around.
"Hermione, where are we going?" Harry couldn't help but ask. By then, she had led them down six floors.
They were walking down the marble staircase towards the foyer below.
"You'll see soon enough!" Hermione exclaimed excitedly.
When they finally reached the bottom of the stairs, Hermione suddenly turned to the left and quickly walked towards a door.
They continued down the stone steps and entered a completely different place.
This is not a dark, gloomy underground passage, but a spacious stone corridor, brightly lit by torches, with decorative paintings hanging on the walls, most of which depict various tempting and delicious foods.
Hermione grabbed Harry's arm again and pulled him to the painting, which depicted a huge silver bowl filled with fruit.
She stretched out her index finger and gently scratched a large, bright green pear in the painting.
The pear began to wriggle slightly and suddenly transformed into a giant green doorknob.
Hermione quickly grabbed it, gently turned the doorknob, pushed open the door, and at the same time gave Harry a hard shove in the back.
They pushed him inside.
Harry didn't have time to see his surroundings clearly. He only glanced around and saw a large room with a high ceiling, almost as big as the Great Hall upstairs. There were many gleaming copper pots and pans piled up along the stone walls, and a large brick fireplace at the other end of the room.
Before he could even get a good look at it, a small creature suddenly darted out from the center of the room, shrieking, "Harry Potter, sir! Harry Potter!"
Immediately afterwards, the elf slammed into Harry's upper abdomen and hugged him tightly.
Harry could barely breathe; his ribs felt like they were about to break, and the air in his chest was almost squeezed out.
"Do-Dobby?" Harry asked, struggling to breathe.
"It's Dobby, sir, it's Dobby!" the shrill voice rang out from near Harry's navel. "Dobby has been waiting and waiting, and finally he's met Harry Potter! Sir, Harry Potter himself has come to see Dobby!"
Dobby loosened his tight embrace, took a few steps back, smiled broadly, and looked up at Harry, his green, table tennis-ball-like eyes glistening with tears.
They all recognized him; his appearance was exactly the same as they remembered.
Its nose was as thin as a pencil, its ears were like a bat's, and its fingers and feet were long—
Everything was the same, except that his clothes were completely different from usual.
As a house-elf of the Malfoys, Dobby wore that tattered pillowcase all year round.
And now, his clothes were the strangest combination Harry had ever seen, worse than the outlandish costumes at the World Cup. He wore a teapot-shaped heat pack on his head, covered with a bunch of colorful badges; a horseshoe-patterned tie hung on his bare chest; he wore something that looked like children's soccer shorts; and on his feet were a pair of completely mismatched socks.
"Dobby, what are you doing here?" Harry asked in surprise.
"Dobby's here to work at Hogwarts, sir!" Dobby squealed excitedly. "Professor Dumbledore has given Dobby and Gilgamesh jobs, sir!"
"Blink?" Harry paused, surprised. "She's here too?"
“Yes, sir, it’s true!” Dobby replied excitedly, grabbing Harry’s hand and pulling him through four long wooden tables into the depths of the kitchen—tables positioned exactly like the four house tables in the Great Hall above.
Dinner is over now, and there is no food on the table, but an hour ago it must have been piled high with delicious dishes, which were then transported to the tables above via a ceiling conveyor system.
There are at least a hundred little elves busy in the kitchen.
As Dobby led the group past, the elves stopped what they were doing, beaming with smiles, and bowed and curtsied.
They were all wearing the same uniform, a tea towel printed with the Hogwarts crest, which they wrapped around their bodies like a robe, just like Gilgamesh used to.
Besides these little sprites, there was another unexpected figure.
Miss Qiu Zhang.
Qiu Zhang was standing in front of the pot, stirring something as if no one else was around, seemingly completely unaware of their arrival.
When she heard footsteps, she whirled around and saw Harry, Ron, and Hermione standing there, her face showing obvious surprise. "You guys?" she exclaimed, her eyes wide as she looked at them. "What are you all doing here?"
"Um—we came with Dobby," Harry explained, feeling a little embarrassed. "I didn't expect you to be here too."
Qiu Zhang still looked somewhat surprised, but she quickly adjusted her expression, smiled, and nodded. "Oh, I see." She turned back to look at the contents of the pot, seemingly trying to change the subject. "I'm just doing some—research." Her voice was somewhat muffled, as if she didn't want anyone to delve into it.
Hermione took a step closer, somewhat curious. "Research?" She frowned. "Miss Cho Chang, what are you doing here? This doesn't seem like something from Potions class."
Qiu Zhang's eyes flashed, then she smiled and said, "Oh, it's just some personal experiments, it has nothing to do with you." She lowered her head again, as if she was eager to end the conversation.
Dobby suddenly jumped up excitedly, saying, "Miss Cho Chang is researching how to make the most delicious nut cookies, sir! She's tried so many times. The first few times, the cookies were burnt, and the taste—oh, it's indescribable! But now, her cookies are almost as delicious as any pastry in the magical world!"
"Dobby!" Cho Chang whirled around, her expression changing, but she quickly regained her composure, pursing her lips as if trying to hide something. "Alright, alright, Dobby, stop talking." She turned to Harry and the others, "Just pretend nothing happened, whatever you saw."
Harry and Ron exchanged a glance, both somewhat puzzled, but neither pressed for answers. Hermione, however, seemed more interested, watching Cho Chang's reaction intently.
Cho Chang's face instantly turned bright red, and Hermione's eyes sharpened.
She seemed to sense something from Qiu Zhang's expression, but she didn't speak immediately; a bad feeling lingered in her heart.
"Who are you giving this to?" Hermione asked casually.
Qiu Zhang lowered her head in a panic, her face turning even redder, almost burning her ears.
Hermione's doubts deepened upon seeing this, but she didn't press the matter further, simply observing silently.
Meanwhile, Dobby led Harry to the other side of the kitchen and began to introduce more elves and their work.
"These elves are busy every day, preparing dinner and brunch, and then sending them up there via the teleportation system," he whispered to Harry. "Professor Dumbledore once praised their cooking skills, saying they were truly first-rate."
They walked to the brick fireplace, and Harry's gaze fell on Brilliant, who was sitting by the fire.
"Sparkle, sir, look!" Dobby pointed excitedly at Sparkle.
Shining sat on a stool by the fire, quite unlike Dobby.
Her clothes weren't casual; she wore a neat little skirt and a short top, and a small blue hat with two holes punched in it, revealing her big ears.
But unlike Dobby's flawless, brand-new clothes, Sparkle's clothes were covered in oil and soup stains, and one corner of the skirt was even scorched, making her look rather disheveled.
"Hello, Sparkle," Harry greeted with a smile.
Shining lips trembled, and then she suddenly burst into tears, which streamed from her large brown eyes and soaked her clothes.
The scene was exactly the same as what they had seen at the Quidditch World Cup.
"Oh my God." Hermione sighed and quickly stepped forward. "Blink, don't cry, please—"
However, Shan Shan's crying grew louder and louder.
In contrast, Dobby seemed unaffected, instead looking at Harry with excitement.
"Would Harry Potter like a cup of tea?" he asked in a high-pitched voice, almost drowning out Sparkle's sobs.
"Okay, sure," Harry agreed.
A few seconds later, six elves came running over, carrying a large silver tray with a teapot on it, next to Harry, Ron, and Hermione's teacups, a pot of hot milk, and a large plate of fragrant biscuits.
"What a feast!" Ron exclaimed.
Meanwhile, Hermione walked over from Cho Chang—she had just run into a snub while dealing with Cho Chang's reaction.
She frowned, looking at the pile of cookies, seemingly a little uneasy.
But the little elves were very happy, bowed slightly, and then quietly retreated.
"How long have you been here, Dobby?" Harry asked, taking the teacup.
"Just a week, Harry Potter, sir!" Dobby replied cheerfully. "Dobby's here to see Professor Dumbledore, sir. You know, sir, it's really hard for a fired house-elf to find a new job, almost impossible, sir—"
Upon hearing this, Shan Shan's crying grew even louder. Snot dripped from her nose, which looked like a flattened tomato, and snot dripped onto her chest, but she showed no intention of stopping.
"Dobby has been wandering around for two years, sir, just looking for a job!" Dobby shrieked. "But Dobby hasn't found a job, sir, because Dobby wants his wages now!"
The house-elves in the kitchen had been watching them curiously and listening to their conversation, but upon hearing these words, their gazes quietly shifted away, as if Dobby had said something inappropriate or embarrassing.
Hermione encouraged him, saying, "Well done, Dobby!"
Without a doubt, considering Professor Phillips's suggestion yesterday, there is no elf more suitable to infiltrate the ranks than Dobby.
I've chosen you, Dobby... and Gilgamesh too!