"Harry Potter should have listened to Dobby. When Harry Potter missed the train, he should have gone home. It was Dobby who sealed the platform—at least that way, Harry Potter would have left this place. Harry Potter must go home. Dobby thought the rogue Bludger would make Harry Potter understand. Dobby wasn't trying to kill you. Dobby still remembers what life was like for us before Harry Potter defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named. Life for house elves was worse than for pigs or dogs. Of course, Dobby's life now is still worse than pigs or dogs.
Dobby dresses like this because house elves are slaves, that's why we dress this way. Only when our masters give us clothes can we be free. Listen to me, terrible things are going to happen at Hogwarts. Harry Potter must not stay here, because history will repeat itself. Dobby cannot say more. Dobby just hopes Harry Potter stays safe."
Dobby had been to the infirmary, and under Harry Potter's questioning, he revealed everything he could.
It was Dobby who sealed the platform, almost getting Harry and Ron expelled.It was Dobby who bewitched the rogue Bludger to relentlessly chase Harry, causing Harry to get injured.It was Dobby—it was all Dobby, and that made Harry Potter furious. What had he ever done to offend him?
When Harry Potter threatened to strangle him, Dobby didn't care. He was used to threats—he received them at least five times a day at home. But Dobby would self-harm. He had even burned his own hands with an iron.
Looking at the house elf's injured hands, Harry Potter didn't know how to continue the conversation.
In the first-floor hall, outside of mealtime, students from all houses were free to use the space.
"Ron! Do you know about house elves?"
"House elves are... a very strange kind of creature. They usually serve a wizarding family. But... they have three deeply ingrained instincts."
As someone from a wizarding family, Ron knew more about this than Harry did.
"Hmm! What instincts?" Hermione, who had been sitting elsewhere, overheard and curiously came over to join the conversation.
"First, house elves cannot kill humans, nor can they stand by and watch a human life be taken."
Ron rubbed his nose. Being able to educate others like a professor felt amazing.
"Isn't that a good thing? They can't kill, and they have a life-saving instinct, like dolphins," Hermione said softly.
"No... it's actually pretty bad. Because killing and harming aren't the same. If beating you until you're completely paralyzed would save your life, a house elf would do it without hesitation..."
Ron shuddered at the thought and scratched his head as he continued.
"The second rule is that, without violating the first, house elves must obey a wizard's command—specifically, the commands of their master's family. Of course, you can't order a house elf to kill someone, but if it's the family head giving the command, then almost anything goes—even ordering them to die…"
"Are you sure this is an instinct?" Harry asked, sounding unsure.
"This is evil slave labor!" Hermione, usually quiet in Ravenclaw, suddenly roared in anger. "No naturally evolved species would have such absurd instincts! This must be the result of some twisted, evil magic!" She looked truly furious.
"Huh? What's evolution?" Ron scratched his head. "The third rule is that, so long as it doesn't violate the first two, house elves can't stand by when others are being harmed either."
"Hmph, well, at least that one makes some sense," Hermione huffed indignantly.
"But... if it's the master ordering them to commit suicide, they really can do it. Generally, though, house elf masters also command them to ignore any other commands that might harm them. That way... no one else can give them orders that go against the second rule," Ron explained.
"Then..." Harry thought of Dobby's situation. "Is there any way I can order a house elf to do something?"
"Um... not sure. If you're certain your command won't conflict with the elf's master's orders, then your command could be valid. But generally, house elves from wizarding families are ordered by their masters not to obey others. Because of this priority system, they only follow their master's commands. Of course, if you use other means—like asking nicely or persuasion—and they're willing, they can still do things for you. But that's not called 'ordering'."
"Then... why would a house elf beat themselves up?"
Thinking of Dobby's strange self-punishment, Harry Potter had never imagined house elves were such creatures, and asked, a bit distressed.
"Um… it's because of those three instincts, along with the personalities of the elves themselves, that they sometimes end up in really bizarre situations," Ron said uncertainly. "I think that's probably it..."
"Then what exactly is the deal with house-elves? Those strange instincts—they're weird even by the standards of the wizarding world," Hermione asked, glaring at Ron as if it were all his fault.
"Actually, there's nothing strange about it!"
Ron decided to ignore Hermione's attitude. He yawned and then slumped over the table to sleep. He really couldn't understand why Ravenclaws had so much energy.
"It's very simple! There are probably two explanations for this. Either they became slaves because of their hopeless instincts, or they were given those bizarre instincts because they were treated as slaves. Clearly, either is possible."
Zhang Qiu sat down next to Hermione. As an older student in Ravenclaw, she saw it as her duty to help her younger peers understand things.
"Can magic really change the instincts of an entire species and make them this absurd?" Hermione said through gritted teeth. "That's… just too much..."
"Why not? Take the moon and werewolves, for example. I'm sure you know about that, Hermione. That's one of the simplest examples. Furthermore, if manipulated correctly and combined with the power of the stars, it's even possible to drive all the dragons in the world—such powerful creatures—insane at the same time. That's just how magic is! If you put your mind to it, you can accomplish almost anything."
"Hmm, I don't want to see house-elves getting hurt," Hermione said painfully after thinking for a moment. "I have to do something… think of a way!"
From that moment on, Hermione was determined to fight for the freedom of house-elves—a path that would eventually lead her to become Minister for Magic.
Christmas was approaching, and decorations were going up everywhere, but there were always some troublemakers around.
Peeves the Poltergeist wrote the words to open the Chamber of Secrets on a corridor wall with red paint while no one was around:
"The Chamber of Secrets has been opened. Enemies of the heir, beware!"
As luck would have it, just after Peeves finished writing, Harry Potter happened to walk by alone and look up—right as Filch appeared from the other end.
"Harry Potter! You'll pay for this! Do you even know what you're doing? Do you think I don't already have enough work to do?"
Filch's roar echoed down the corridor. Hearing the commotion, students came running to see what was going on.
"Harry Potter, do you really think you're the Heir of Slytherin?"
Draco laughed at Harry with a mocking tone, and the Slytherin students around him burst into laughter.
The scene made Harry think he had been framed by Malfoy—he was sure Malfoy was the Heir of Slytherin.
"It must be your doing, right? I challenge you to a duel!"
Ron stepped forward, raising his broken wand and issuing a challenge to Draco.
It seemed that the recent training from the Dueling Club had instilled a habit in the students: solve disputes through duels.
"Looks like you haven't had enough slugs, Weasley!"
Draco drew his wand as well. Seeing that a duel was about to start, the surrounding students quickly backed away to form a circle.
"Enough, all of you!"
Dumbledore approached, accompanied by other professors—and Regulus Black.
Looking at the writing on the wall, the large letters made it impossible to tell who had written them, and the content was highly sensitive.
"Regulus, what do you think?"
"It was definitely Peeves."
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