The Day of the Draw at Hogwarts

Hermione's outlook was shattered. Before today, she had tried her best to imagine how wizards enslaved and exploited house elves. But when she truly understood how the pure-blood wizard family treated their house elves, she was shocked to find that she had thought too well of the elves' situation!

Hermione's original guess was that the house elves must have been forced to work overtime by wizards, and it was estimated that the five social insurances, one housing fund and labor laws could not be guaranteed. But it’s hard to imagine that this is not a problem of overtime and lack of five insurances and one housing fund. This is a matter of slavery that even American plantation owners in the 19th century were ashamed of!

To say that slavery is an exaltation of wizards, but the treatment of house elves is worse than that of slaves!

"This, this -" Hermione looked at the row of heads, her face was pale, and she was completely speechless. Finally, two lines of tears flowed from her beautiful eyes and dripped on the ground.

Sirius sighed and said to Hermione: "They are voluntary -"

"Voluntary?" Hermione interrupted angrily before Sirius could finish his words. She had never been so angry. Now there was a faint roar of blood in Hermione's ears, and the large blood vessels in her temples were hopping, "You're telling me that...all the creatures were beheaded voluntarily?! Are you kidding me!"

Tom came over, took her hand, held the angry Hermione in his arms, and asked her to calm down.

"They are indeed voluntary." But Tom's words made Hermione furious.

She turned her head and looked at Tom in disbelief. She knew that Tom would not lie to her at this time. When he said he was voluntary, he really meant it, not being voluntarily.

Hermione imagined an old and disfigured house elf lying on a dirty bed, holding a wizard's hand and begging him or her to chop off his or her head...

She shuddered.

"If you don't believe it, you can ask Kreacher." Sirius was also startled by Hermione's reaction. Now that he had recovered, he only felt a little aggrieved: These are all done by my annoying aunt, you yelled at me what? Is this what I was thinking? Isn’t it fun to watch a row of heads grow?

Kreacher didn't know when he also came to this wall.

"It would be Kreacher's honor to be part of this place," it whispered creepily. From its sincere, pious expression, Hermione could hardly think it was lying.

"This is brainwashing..." Hermione was shocked by Kreacher's words. She was stunned for a moment, and then immediately reacted, "It has not received the correct education since birth, and the wizards have distorted it-"

"No." It was Kreacher again. It refuted Hermione with its deep voice. It told the little witch with a firm voice that no one had brainwashed it and that its choices were all voluntary.

Only house elves who have dedicated themselves to the Black family can be offered here!

Hermione fell silent.

After a long silence, she looked at Kreacher and asked very seriously: "So you voluntarily accept a life without wages, no holidays, and even no clothes?"

"Of course!" Kreacher looked at Hermione with an idiot look, feeling as if she was saying something stupid.

"Then what kind of life do you want to live, or what is your ideal life like?" Hermione changed her perspective. She was really curious about the house elves now, and she couldn't wait to learn about them. heart.

"Protect the ancient and sacred Black family, protect this great and pure mansion, serve the good young master, and prevent dirty guys like you from setting foot in and changing everything here!"

Hermione: ...

She thought she would become the liberator of the house elves, but she never imagined that she would become a thorn in its side and a thorn in its flesh.

Hermione retreated in front of this distorted worldview. She closed her mouth and looked at the poor creature in front of her with pitiful eyes, feeling depressed.

Sensing Hermione's strangeness, Tom hugged her harder, hoping to make her feel better with his warm embrace. After feeling her boyfriend's kindness, Hermione also responded positively. She shrank into Tom's arms so that he could hold him tighter.

Lu Ping looked at the two people handing out dog food, rolled his eyes, and looked away. He's a werewolf, but he doesn't like eating dog food.

As for Sirius, he didn't feel much about the actions of Tom and Hermione. He cared more about Kreacher's words. Seeing that Kreacher had closed his mouth, he looked at Kreacher and mocked lightly: "Guarding this place? I didn't see that this place was being maintained when I came back. What are you protecting?"

Kreacher bowed and looked down at his toes: "Old Kreacher's mistress is dead and the young master has been sent to Azkaban. No one can give orders to Kreacher... The mistress's last order He wants to stay here and do what he wants to do, but old Kreacher has nothing to do... He just wants to stay here and not let strange people invade and occupy this place."

A sour taste lingered in everyone's hearts. To the Black family, Kreacher was either a useful minion or an eyesore. But to Kreacher, to the Black family, this mansion and the lovely and hateful people in it were the whole meaning of its life.

It was so pure that it didn't even know what to do after its mistress died.

If Mrs. Black's order before her death was to "maintain everything here," then when Sirius comes back, maybe this place will be spotless. But obviously, not even Sirius's mother had the extravagant expectation that anyone would come back here. Because the Black family is extinct: Sirius was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban.

The life sentence in Azkaban is a real life sentence. There is no commutation, medical parole, or parole. It is much longer than the punishments in the non-magical world.

In the non-magical world, as long as you are not stubborn, you will basically not die. Death gradually changed to indefinite, and indefinite became fixed. In the end, there are many people who were released after being locked up for more than ten or twenty years. It’s no wonder that some countries like to sentence prisoners to hundreds of years in prison – you can reduce the sentence as you wish! Can you still commute a sentence of several hundred years? This results in a de facto life sentence.

Of course, there are no such things in the wizarding world, and no one who was sentenced to life imprisonment in Azkaban came out alive. Sirius is the only exception in history. It is hard to say whether there will be others in the future, but it is definitely unprecedented.

From Mrs. Black's point of view, there is really no need to maintain this house. What's the point of cleaning it clean? Is it easier for a thief who comes through empty doors?

"Okay, okay, I'll take you to my brother's bedroom." Sirius really couldn't accept the current atmosphere, so he took the initiative to break the deadlock and prepared to take Hermione to his brother's bedroom.

"The prodigal son who was expelled from the family tree is going to steal the Black family's treasures with his filthy son... It's hard to guard against family thieves. If my poor mistress -" After hearing Sirius's words, Kreacher began to curse in a low voice again. .

It didn't seem to realize that it had said everything in its heart. Or... it knows what it's talking about, but it's just pretending to be stupid.

"Shut up!" Sirius was furious, "Remember, I am now the legal heir of the Black family, and I own everything here! How I handle my finances is my freedom, it's not my turn. You come to dictate. I swear to Merlin, if you say one more word, I will, I will..."

Sirius seriously considered how to give Kreacher the greatest shock, and then an idea appeared in his mind.

"I'll sell this house at a low price! Just one Nat!"

Kreacher raised his head in shock, unable to believe what he heard.

"This is the ancestral home of the Black family. It is the embodiment of the glory of the Black family. There are countless treasures inside. How can you sell it, and you only need one Nat!"

Seeing Kreacher's shock, Sirius was extremely proud. He said, "Because I am the master of this family and I have the final say. Yodel, do you want it? For one Nat, this house will be yours."

"No!!!" Kreacher fell to his knees on the floor, sobbing hoarsely, "Master, no! Please be kind -"

The combination of its hoarse voice and crying sound was particularly impressive, giving goosebumps to everyone who heard it. Combined with the content of its cry, it has the feeling of making those who hear it sad and those who see it cry.

"I'm serious, Tom, if you want to—"

"No need." Tom still couldn't do what Nat did to buy his ancestral home, even though it was Sirius's choice.

"If you want, just leave it to Harry." Tom said casually.

"What a great idea!" Sirius's eyes lit up. He had no descendants anyway, so who should he leave them to? As for what Harry should do with the things here, that's not a headache for him.

Seeing that the house sale incident seemed to have come to an end, Kreacher got up from the ground and bowed respectfully to Tom: "Master, you are a man of noble moral character——"

"Okay, okay," Sirius interrupted Kreacher impatiently, "If you dare to be disrespectful to my guests again, I will sell the house and give you a dress!"

Sirius finally found the most effective way to threaten Kreacher. Hearing this, Kreacher's body trembled. Selling the house and giving him clothes was simply the most terrifying thing for him!

It trembled and said: "Loyalty to the Black family is the only meaning of Kreacher's existence, and your orders are everything."

"In that case, then disappear before my eyes - go and prepare some food, I will leave my guests here for lunch!"

"Yes." Kreacher bowed low, then snapped his fingers and disappeared. Maybe it was Tom's misunderstanding. He always felt that Kreacher cursed silently before disappearing.

"So you understand why I don't like living in my own home, right?" Sirius looked at Tom and the three of them and kept complaining: "Its brain has been instilled with too many twisted thoughts by my mother - pure blood theory and so on. , This is really unlikable. I will educate it well, now let’s go to my brother’s bedroom.” As he said this, he walked upstairs.

Tom was pessimistic about what Sirius said about education. He didn't think Sirius could change Kreacher's outlook. This is something that has been implemented for a lifetime. How can it be so easy to change?

Sirius and his brother's bedrooms were located on the top floor of the mansion.

He led a few people to climb all the way up to the top of the stairs. There were two doors there. The door facing the stairs had a sign on it that said [Sirius]. This is Sirius's bedroom. . Opposite it is a door of the same style, with the door number saying:

[Entry is prohibited without my express permission. Regulus Arcturus Black]

Obviously, this sentence was of no use to his brother. Sirius ignored his brother's warning and opened the door with the Unlock Charm.

"Aren't you afraid of some magical curse?" Hermione looked worried at Sirius's reckless behavior. As far as she knew, many wizards would set up some magic traps in their houses. If they entered without following the rules, they might be attacked.

"Him?" Sirius despised his younger brother. "If he has the courage, I will change his name to Venus."

Sirius was aware of his brother's cowardice. He knew that Regulus was just being tough, and if he really wanted to do something, he wouldn't stop him.

The four of them crossed the threshold and entered the bedroom. Regulus's bedroom was extremely ornately decorated, and he looked like he belonged to a wealthy family. In his bedroom, Slytherin's silver and green colors were everywhere, covering the bed, walls and windows. Coming here is like coming to the dormitory of Slytherin House.

On his bedside was an elaborate depiction of the Black family crest and a motto written in French:

【Always pure】

There were many yellowed newspaper clippings under the motto, and Hermione walked over to look at them.

"They are all newspaper clippings about Voldemort. He should have become an admirer first and then a Death Eater..."

Tom clicked his tongue, and Sirius snorted loudly.

No wonder Tom looked down on Regulus, it was okay to become an admirer of Voldemort! This is too unstructured!

Even if you become a fan of Grindelwald?

Just like the same idiot fans, it is better to be a fan of Jaylen than to be an Ikun, right?

There is also a picture beside the bed, which shows a Slytherin House Quidditch team.

"He's Slytherin's Seeker." Sirius explained for Tom, pointing out his brother in the photo.

Regulus was also a black-haired boy, but slightly thinner and not as handsome as Sirius.

As if he sensed that someone was pointing at him, Regulus in the photo waved to the camera.

"Okay, let's look for clues! See if there's anything here that can help you." Sirius waved his hand, looked away from the photo, and started rummaging through the boxes.

————

This is a big chapter of 4,000 words. Good night, everyone.

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