The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 356 The House-Elf Returns Home
If Anthony had imagined what he might see before pushing open the door to the headmaster's office, the situation before him would definitely not be among the first ten assumptions that popped into his mind. No, he did not expect Dumbledore not to be in the office, nor did he expect the huge suitcase next to Sirius, nor did he expect Harry and Ron to look helpless, and certainly not Hermione to point to the "SPEW" badge on her chest with an earnest look.

"Since you don't like him, why don't you set him free?" Hermione persuaded, "It's not complicated at all! I heard that all you have to do is give the house-elves a piece of clothing and they will be free!"

Sirius nodded slightly to Anthony who pushed the door open, and then said perfunctorily: "I don't like him, and he doesn't like me, so I sent him to help Harry. Speaking of which, Harry -" a genuine smile appeared on his face, "Did Kreacher come in handy? Does that Malfoy kid dare to let his house-elf interfere with you?"

Compared to the last time they met, Sirius looked more energetic. His cheeks were no longer so sunken, his hair was cut shorter, and the dull and crazy look that Azkaban had brought him was much less. When he looked at Harry, the smile in his eyes almost made him look very energetic.

Harry hesitated.

Hermione looked at Harry and Ron pleadingly, "He did try to tell Dobby to stop, didn't he?"

Ron commented: "Well, he has a pretty loud voice."

"That Dobby appears again?" Sirius asked with a frown, "Flying Bludger, Flying Cauldron, what is it this time? Flying Pumpkin?"

"Flying papers, but it's not a big deal." Harry grinned, "It's just that Malfoy was afraid that he couldn't beat Fred and George, so he asked his elf to help him fight. He didn't get any benefits, and Professor McGonagall deducted ten points."

"I thought fighting with house elves was no longer allowed at Hogwarts," Sirius said, turning his gaze towards Anthony.

Anthony said, "Well...Mr. Malfoy claimed that he was attacked first, so he summoned Dobby to 'protect' him. You know, this is the only reason private house-elves are allowed into the school, and the reason why Kreacher can stay in Hogwarts."

"Cowardly and cunning. Slytherin," Sirius snorted. "Listen to me, Harry, next time you see Malfoy, let Kreacher play a little prank on him - just to protect your own nose from the Slytherin stink on him. Let's see if he has the guts to use the house-elves on his classmates again."

Hermione frowned, but Ron seemed somewhat interested in the idea.

Harry shook his head: "No! And Kreacher has given Snape a handle... For a whole month, he has been hinting that I am trying to use Kreacher to plagiarize papers or deal with potion materials. Sirius, can you get Kreacher back - or like Hermione said, give him a piece of clothing? He is just making everyone unhappy."

"Tell him you're going to kick him out of the Black family, and then he can show you what 'upsetting' really is. He's pretty good at that part," said Sirius, and then he yelled, "Kreacher!"

With a crackle, Kreacher appeared in front of Sirius, hunched over, his nose pressed against the polished floor of the headmaster's office. Anthony stepped aside to make room for the new house-elf.

"What can Kreacher do for the young master?" Kreacher said, and then he murmured to his long, bare toes, "The young master is a disappointing loser. Without Kreacher's knowledge, the young master must have ruined the things at home. Oh, if Kreacher can do something..."

"That's enough. Stand up now," Sirius said impatiently. "That Dobby is here again, isn't he? Did you fight back? Or are you really just an old loser?"

Kreacher straightened up and looked around the headmaster's office with bloodshot, cloudy eyes until he saw Harry. Anthony was surprised that a more resentful look could appear on his old face.

"Kreacher followed the young master's orders and followed the boy Potter all the time. Kreacher did what the boy Potter asked Kreacher to do." Kreacher said, bowing to Sirius, "If the poor mistress saw that the young master asked Kreacher to serve someone other than Black, she would be so heartbroken... However, the young master has always been so ungrateful and shameless..."

Sirius said icily, "Really? What did you do to that Dobby?"

"Kreacher told him to stop." Kreacher bowed quickly again. "What else could Kreacher do? Kreacher saw Master Malfoy. He was well-spoken and elegant, worthy of being the grandson of the mistress. Dobby was honored to serve such a master. Kreacher didn't want to stop Master Malfoy at all. Compared with Master Malfoy, the boy Potter's behavior was vulgar..."

"Shut up!" said Sirius gruffly. Kreacher bowed low, shut his mouth, and said nothing more, though his cloudy, pale, bulging eyes were still fixed on Harry with a malicious glance.

Hermione advised, "Come on, Sirius, be patient with him."

Sirius exhaled, rubbing his forehead, "Easy for you to say."

"That Mudblood is actually bossing the young master around..." Kreacher muttered indignantly.

Sirius turned his head sharply and glared at Kreacher.

"If the mistress knew what the noble Black family had become like now, she would be so sad that she would cry..."

Just then, the door of the principal's office was pushed open.

"I hope you enjoy your conversation, but then..." Dumbledore walked in briskly, winked at everyone in the room, and said happily, "There are a few more people than I expected, but, of course, you are welcome."

"Dumbledore, I still feel that—" Snape followed Dumbledore into the office and stopped when he saw Sirius, "Oh."

Sirius almost immediately dropped his glare at Kreacher and frowned warily at Snape.

"Did I interrupt you teaching the house-elf some new tricks?" Snape sneered. "By the way, you're trying to please Potter, Black."

Sirius took a few steps forward, just blocking Harry.

"Still refusing to give up sticking your big nose around, Snape?" he asked in disgust. "What are you doing here?"

"If there's something wrong with your mind, that's nothing new," Snape said. "May I remind you that this is Hogwarts and I'm a professor at Hogwarts. So the more appropriate question is, what are you doing here?"

"I invited him here, Severus," said Dumbledore, as he walked around the table and took his seat. "Oh, by the way, Harry, I haven't congratulated you on winning the Quidditch Cup for Gryffindor yet."

Snape's expression suddenly turned grim.

"Harry flies brilliantly, doesn't he?" said Sirius complacently, "as long as no vile person interferes with it by some cheap trick, like having the house-elves cast a spell on the Bludgers." He paused very deliberately, "Oh, I almost forgot, this is a trick you Slytherins taught the house-elves, isn't it?"

"No one -" Snape said, his eyes suddenly narrowed, "Speaking of house-elves, I have heard some interesting rumors recently. After losing the house-elves, the old Black house seems to be uneasy..."

This time Sirius looked grim. "What's going on, Sirius?" said Harry. "You'd better take Kreacher back. He's of little use to me here, anyway."

Hermione protested, "Would you please stop talking about Kreacher as if he were an object, Harry?"

"Oh, yes." Snape raised his eyebrows. "As far as I know, Potter has also joined a strange organization called 'Vomiting', claiming to rescue all elves oppressed by wizards." He said sarcastically, glancing at Hermione's angry face, and then looking away indifferently. "But, of course, he must still bring his own private house-elf with him to help him bully his classmates and complete his homework... Celebrities always have some privileges, huh?"

"I didn't!" said Harry fiercely.

"Bullying classmates?" Sirius sneered, "If Malfoy hadn't brought his personal elf into the school first, who would have thought of such an opportunistic method?"

Anthony spoke up: "Why don't we just deny private elves access to the school?"

Sirius and Snape turned to look at him at the same time, as if they had just noticed his presence. Anthony looked at Dumbledore. Dumbledore put his ten fingertips together and looked at them with interest.

"I mean, Professor Snape doesn't want Kreacher to stay in Hogwarts, and Mr. Black... Sirius doesn't want Dobby to stay in Hogwarts." Anthony said, meeting Harry's eyes, "Mr. Potter doesn't want either Kreacher or Dobby to stay in Hogwarts, right?"

"That's what it sounds like," said Dumbledore.

"Kreacher is here because Dobby is here. Dobby is here because..." Words like himself, Snotlout and Lockhart flashed through Anthony's mind.

Ron muttered, "Because Malfoy wouldn't admit he deserved it. I should have cursed him harder."

"Five points from Gryffindor," said Snape, "for showing no remorse."

Sirius stood up straight and drew his wand from his cloak. Snape raised his wand almost immediately.

"It's because Mr. Malfoy didn't get the proper medical treatment in time." Anthony said loudly, standing between the two men - immediately felt the hatred in the air, fortunately he was dead - he stared at Snape, "But what Dobby has done now has proved that he is not suitable to continue to protect Mr. Malfoy. He has caused too much chaos, Professor Snape."

Dumbledore said calmly, "Please put your wand down. There are no enemies here."

Sirius glared at Snape fiercely (through Anthony) for a few seconds before reluctantly lowering his wand. Snape sneered and put his wand back into his wizard robe.

"Have you any further reasons, Henry?" asked Dumbledore.

"Hmm... Kreacher himself doesn't seem to like being around Mr. Potter," said Anthony. "Dobby, er, I don't know what he thinks. But overall, the simplest solution seems to be to deny private house-elves access to the castle. The castle's magic can do that, right?"

"Of course," said Dumbledore. "As for Dobby's opinion - Dobby, could you please come over here?"

Bang, another elf appeared in the office. Compared to Kreacher, he was obviously younger and his eyes were brighter, but the two house elves were both short and skinny.

"Professor Dumbledore has summoned Dobby!" Dobby said in a shrill, thin voice. "Dumbledore is the greatest headmaster since the founding of Hogwarts! Is there anything Dobby can do for Professor Dumbledore?"

"Hello, Dobby." Dumbledore smiled, "I was wondering if you would be willing to leave your master's side temporarily and return to the Malfoys? We are discussing banning private house-elves from entering Hogwarts."

Dobby gasped, and his big eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Professor Dumbledore wants to know Dobby's thoughts! Professor Dumbledore is so powerful, he can just kick Dobby out of Hogwarts, but he still wants to know Dobby's thoughts!" Dobby choked, "Oh, how Dobby wishes he could stay in Hogwarts, stay with Harry Potter! Dobby doesn't want to go back to--" He stopped abruptly, his eyes widened in horror, and pounced on a silver instrument on the table, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

Dumbledore stood up and walked around the table nimbly, grabbing the elf in time before Dobby hit his head against the sharp corner of the oddly shaped instrument. His face was serious, and his big hands tightly squeezed Dobby's thin shoulders: "I declare that you have punished yourself."

"Dobby," Dobby sobbed, "Dobby agreed to return to the master's house because this is Dobby's destiny... Dobby must serve the master's house forever, until Dobby dies..."

"You should feel honored!" Kreacher said hoarsely, "Your mistress was once a daughter of the Black family, and the Malfoy family you serve continues the noble tradition of a pure-blood wizard family! If Kreacher's poor mistress saw what the young master looks like now..."

Sirius said simply, "Shut up - not you, Dobby. But I guess I can't tell you to."

Dobby said tearfully, "In the master's house, no one would stop Dobby when he punished himself... Dobby would use an iron to burn Dobby's fingers, use an oven to roast Dobby's ears, and put his nose into boiling water... Yes, Dobby agreed to return to the master's house, although sometimes the master would think of some more novel ways of punishment and would remind Dobby to punish more severely..."

Hermione covered her mouth with her hand. "Oh my god."

"But Dobby will go back anyway..." Dobby said, "If Hogwarts refuses private house-elves after Dobby goes back, then Harry Potter will be safer! Yes, Dobby is willing to return to his master's home." He turned to Harry and stared at him intently with his terrifyingly large eyes, "Harry Potter... Hogwarts is already very safe, and the great Harry Potter can live here with peace of mind! Oh, Dobby only hopes to see Harry Potter again in the future!"

He stretched out his long, thin fingers, as if trying to touch Harry's hand. Sirius moved slightly, but Dobby's hand had already stopped in mid-air.

"Dobby is gone. Goodbye, Harry Potter!" Dobby snapped his fingers. He disappeared into thin air.

There was a moment of silence in the Headmaster's office. Anthony felt an uncomfortable sense of guilt, for it was he who had suggested that Dumbledore expel the private house-elves. Now he felt that he was also pushing Dobby into hell.

"So?" said Snape, looking at Sirius.

Sirius turned his head and ordered Kreacher: "Go back, back to the Black house!"

Kreacher bowed low to him, then, with his nose to the floor, disappeared.

"I, Albus Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts," Anthony felt vaguely that he heard some vibrations deep in the castle's bricks, but it seemed as if he heard nothing. "I hereby announce that from now on, all private house-elves are prohibited from entering the castle. Severus, can I trouble you to write a letter to tell Lucius about the new rules of Hogwarts?"

(End of this chapter)