bacchusnovels Chapter 480 Hermione: The Meaning of Freedom
Chapter 480 Hermione: The Meaning of Freedom
Chapter 480 Hermione: The Meaning of Freedom
"Thank you, Miss Granger!" Dobby smiled, revealing a row of gleaming teeth, at Hermione's praise. "But most wizards don't want a house-elf who wants wages, miss. That's not a house-elf's quality." They always say that, then slam the door shut! Dobby likes to work, but he also wants clothes and wages, Harry Potter—Dobby likes freedom!
The house-elves of Hogwarts began to quietly move away from Dobby, as if he carried some kind of contagious disease.
Shanshan remained seated, her cries growing louder and louder, the piercing volume almost making the entire kitchen tremble.
Amidst the deafening cries, Hermione's smile grew even brighter—her eyes held no desire for success, only the appreciation and admiration of a sect elder for a prodigy.
What a profound idea! This is the kind of thinking a normal house-elves should have! In other words, the ability to think independently.
However, Dobby was completely oblivious to the strange look in Hermione's eyes and continued excitedly, "Later, Harry Potter, Dobby went to visit Blink and found that Blink had also been released, sir!"
Upon hearing this, Shan Shan suddenly collapsed to the ground, pounding her fists on the stone floor and screaming in pain.
Hermione immediately crouched down, trying to comfort her—in her eyes, Twinkle was also a great general.
Everyone else kept their distance from Dobby's words, but only Gilgamesh could truly connect with them.
This is a rare and valuable quality.
Besides, Gilgamesh is Dobby's friend.
Changing her mindset through subtle influence is relatively much easier than changing other house-elves.
That's right, Hermione has already set her sights on a target.
Sparkling.
Shining was her first breakthrough point.
But... no matter what she said, Shan Shan's mood didn't seem to improve at all.
Dobby continued his story, his voice growing louder and louder, almost drowning out Shining's cries.
"Then Dobby suddenly had an idea. 'Harry Potter, sir! Why can't Dobby and Sparkle go find work together?' Dobby said. 'Where can we find work that's enough for two house-elves?' Sparkle asked. Dobby thought for a moment, then suddenly remembered, 'Sir! Hogwarts!' So Dobby and Sparkle went to Professor Dumbledore, and 'Sir! Professor Dumbledore took us both in!'"
Dobby smiled.
"Professor Dumbledore said that since Dobby wanted wages, he could give Dobby wages! So, Dobby is a free elf, sir, one Galleon a week and one day off a month!"
"That's not much!" Hermione immediately stopped comforting Gilgamesh.
Rather than conquering the first breakthrough, it is more important to safeguard the existing base.
Her core support is in grave danger—they have a severely naive understanding of prices and wages in the wizarding world, to the point of being described as "naive," and they need her intervention.
“That’s not much!” Hermione repeated, stating firmly. “You know, one Galleon a week is barely enough for basic living expenses, especially since you also need to pay for your own clothes, food, and other costs.” She analyzed, “And with only one day off per month, it means you have almost no time to do anything else.”
Dobby paused, as if realizing something. "But, Miss, isn't this good enough?" he asked in a low voice.
Hermione's eyes were resolute. "This isn't good. This is just the beginning. You deserve so much more. True freedom is more than just having money and vacations. Freedom means choosing what you want to do, choosing when to rest..."
When to work. And these are things you deserve.
Then she continued to complain—
"Who on earth would only take one day off a month?"
"In the Muggle world, taking my parents as an example, they have two days off every week and work five days a week, from nine in the morning to five in the afternoon."
"Even so, the legislator is still pushing for a four-day work week followed by a three-day weekend!"
"I really can't imagine how someone could live if they only had one day off a month. I can't even imagine how someone who only has one day off a week could possibly live. Do they really have time to take care of their family or pursue their interests and hobbies?"
'
"Professor Dumbledore originally intended to give Dobby ten Galleons a week and weekends off," he suddenly shuddered, as if such wealth and leisure were an unbearable burden, "but Dobby bargained with him, Miss—Dobby likes freedom, Miss, but he doesn't want too much freedom; he prefers to work!"
Hermione was somewhat helpless after hearing this.
She changed the subject, looking at Sparkle and asking gently, "And what about you, Sparkle? How much does Professor Dumbledore pay you?"
If Hermione thought this question would cheer Gilgamesh up even slightly, she would be sorely mistaken.
Sparkle did stop crying, but she sat up, her two huge brown eyes glaring angrily at Hermione, the wet tear stains on her face quickly replaced by rage.
"Sparkle is a house-elf who was kicked out, but Sparkle isn't low enough to be paid!" she shrieked. "Sparkle isn't that low! Sparkle is ashamed of her freedom!"
"Ashamed?" Hermione was somewhat bewildered by her "second-in-command." "But Brilliant, listen to me! It's Mr. Crouch who should be ashamed, not you! You didn't do anything wrong, he was too cruel to you,"
However, upon hearing this, Gilgamesh abruptly covered the two holes in his hat with his hands and lowered his ears, as if trying to block out Hermione's words.
She shrieked, “You’re not allowed to insult my master, Miss! You’re not allowed to insult my Mr. Crouch! Mr. Crouch is a good wizard, Miss! Mr. Crouch fired Bad Sparkle, and he did the right thing!”
Hermione paused for a moment, wanting to say something more, but Gilgamesh had completely lost control.
Dobby quietly approached them and added in a low voice, "Blink hasn't quite adjusted yet, Harry Potter. Blink has forgotten that she and Mr. Crouch are no longer together. She can say whatever she wants now, but she can't." Dobby's voice was full of sympathy and understanding.
"What, can't house-elves just say whatever they want when they comment on their masters?" Harry couldn't help but ask.
“Oh, no, sir, absolutely not,” Dobby immediately became serious. “These are the rules of house-elves. We keep our masters’ secrets and remain silent, sir. We uphold the honor of our family and never speak ill of our masters—but Professor Dumbledore told me that he doesn’t insist we have to do that.” Dobby paused, his eyes brightening. “Professor Dumbledore said we can do whatever we want—”
'
Dobby suddenly became uneasy. He leaned closer to Harry and whispered, "He said we can call him a big idiot if we want, sir!"
After he finished speaking, Dobby next to him let out a dry laugh.
“But Dobby doesn’t want to do that, Harry Potter,” he suddenly regained his normal tone, shaking his head and slapping his large ears, “Dobby is very fond of Professor Dumbledore, sir, and is willing to keep his secret, to remain silent for him, and is proud of it.”
"And what about Malfoy? Are you saying whatever you want now?" Harry grinned and pressed on.
A flicker of fear crossed Dobby's eyes. "Dobby, Dobby can," he said uncertainly, puffing out his small chest, "Dobby can tell Harry Potter that Dobby's former master was—was—a very bad dark wizard!"
He stood there for a moment, seemingly frightened by his own bold actions, and his whole body began to tremble.
Then he lunged at the nearest table, slamming his head against it while screaming, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"
Harry quickly grabbed Dobby by the collar and pulled him away from the table.
"Thank you, Harry Potter, thank you," Dobby said breathlessly, rubbing his forehead with both hands.
"You just need to practice more," Harry said with a smile.
"Practice!" Sparkle shrieked angrily. "You should be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, for commenting on your master like that!"
"They're not my masters anymore, Sparkle!" Dobby said defiantly, his tone firm. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"
"Oh, you're such a bad elf, Dobby!" Sparkle sobbed, tears streaming down her face like broken pearls. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what will he do without Sparkle? He needs me, he needs my help! I've been taking care of Mr. Crouch's family since I was born, before me was my mother, before her was my grandmother—oh, what will they say if they know Sparkle has been released? Oh, what a disgrace, what a disgrace!" She buried her face in her skirt and wept bitterly.
"Blink," Hermione tried to comfort her "Second General," "I'm sure Mr. Crouch is doing just fine without you. You know, we've seen him—" "You've seen my master?" Sparkle asked breathlessly, lifting her tear-streaked face from under her skirt and staring wide-eyed at Hermione. "You saw him here, at Hogwarts?"
“Yes,” Hermione said, “he and Mr. Bagman are the referees for the Triwizard Tournament.”
"Mr. Bagman is here too?" Sparkle asked shrilly, then suddenly became furious, startling everyone. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very, very bad wizard! My master doesn't like him, oh, not at all!"
"Bagman—the evil wizard?" Harry asked, puzzled.
"Oh, yes," Sparkle said, nodding angrily, "Master told Sparkle something! But Sparkle can't tell—Sparkle will keep Master's secret—"
She burst into tears once again.
They could hear her burying her face in her skirt and sobbing, "Poor master, poor master, there's no one to help him anymore!"
Besides that, they couldn't get any more clear questions out of Shan Shan.
So they went with her to weep, while they quietly drank their tea. Dobby, meanwhile, chattered excitedly about how he lived as a free elf and how he planned to spend his wages.
"Dobby's next step is to buy a pullover, Harry Potter!" he exclaimed excitedly, patting his bare chest.
"I'll tell you something, Dobby," Ron seemed to have taken a great liking to the house-elf, "I'm going to give you the sweater my mother knitted for me this Christmas. I get one from her every year. You don't dislike burgundy, do you?"
Dobby was overjoyed, his eyes sparkling.
“We have to scale it down a bit to fit your size,” Ron continued. “It would be a perfect match for your teapot warmer.”
As they prepared to leave, many little elves gathered around them, offering them snacks to take upstairs.
Hermione refused to take it, her face contorted with pain as she watched the elves bow and curtsy repeatedly.
Harry and Ron, however, stuffed their pockets with lots of cream cakes and pies.
"Thank you so much!" Harry told the house-elves, who then crowded to the door to say goodnight to the three of them. "Goodbye, Dobby!"
"Harry Potter—may Dobby come to see you sometimes, sir?" Dobby asked tentatively.
"Of course," Harry said, and Dobby immediately beamed.
"Dobby will come to see you often, Harry Potter, sir!" He jumped up excitedly, almost bumping into the door frame.
Harry and Ron realized that someone was missing when they were halfway there.
"Where's Hermione?"
"Yeah, where's Hermione?"
"Well, what's done is done. Let's have dessert first."
As they spoke, the two had already entered the common room, sat on the sofa by the fireplace, and begun to struggle with the overflowing cream cakes and pies in their pockets.
In the kitchen.
Dobby looked somewhat confused as he watched Hermione, who hadn't left.
"Dobby, I'm glad you're free, but you have to understand that true freedom isn't just about getting a Galleon every week or buying a sweater."
"Freedom is not just about material independence."
"The most important thing about freedom is that you have the right to choose and to make decisions about your own future, instead of just living according to the wishes of others."
"Just like you can choose whether to wear clothes or accept wages, but that doesn't mean you're truly free."
'
"If you continue to be influenced by the old system, it will pull you back to your old ways at any time, giving you the illusion that this isn't freedom, understand?"
"...
_
Dobby fell into deep thought as he watched Hermione talking non-stop in front of him.
Meanwhile, the other contestants who had successfully passed the first challenge were already examining the golden eggs in their hands.