The Pacifist Necromancer of Hogwarts

Chapter 331 Cake and Elves
"Professor Anthony..." Coco said softly, fiddling with his long fingers nervously.

Anthony stretched out his arm to catch the ghost chicken that was flying towards him, and awkwardly closed the door behind him with his other hand.

"Good evening, Chicken," Anthony said. "Good evening, Coco, are you okay?"

"No, Professor Anthony." Coco shook her head guiltily, shaking her big bat-like ears vigorously, "But Coco made the professor's pet angry and almost caused a disaster..."

Anthony said, "Don't worry, they do this all the time." He raised his arm and brought the ghost chicken in front of him. "Right, chicken?"

The chicken gave him a quick, accurate peck on the nose.

"Oh!" Anthony moved the chicken a little further away from him. "See, that's it. I get mad at them all the time, too, but it's okay as long as no one gets hurt - ah, almond cake. Thank you, Coco."

Coco opened her bulging eyes wide, "Really? Professor Anthony doesn't mind that his pet is angry? Professor Anthony doesn't mind that his office is almost a mess?"

Anthony looked around at the pets. The ghost chicken was still on his arm, and the cat was lying on the ground, looking up, concentrating on watching the mouse climb up the chair leg. All the furniture was in its proper place, not even the cup was broken.

"It would be nice if you could stop being angry, but seeing as it was just as messy, I guess I'm used to it," Anthony said, pulling out a chair and scooping up the mouse and putting it on the table. "On the other hand, I think this is the tidiest the house has been in twenty-four hours."

Coco gasped: "Coco didn't clean Professor Anthony's office well! Coco made Professor Anthony's office dirty!" Tears even began to appear in his eyes.

"It's not dirty!" Anthony said hurriedly, "I asked you not to come to my office every day, remember? Don't be sad, Coco, you have helped me a lot."

Coco said sadly: "Coco is a lazy and careless elf... If Coco does better, Professor Anthony will be willing to let Coco help him clean the room..."

"Okay, okay," Anthony said. "Listen, Coco, I need you to do me a favor."

Coco immediately stopped blaming herself, raised her head and asked, "What, Professor Anthony?"

"Uh..." Anthony looked around.

The shelves were neat, the drawers were all in good condition, there was no dust on the table and floor, and the blinds and curtains were all closed.

"Professor Anthony?" Coco asked expectantly.

"Oh, right. Coco, do you still remember Dobby? He should still be in school now, right?"

Coco frowned, "Coco remember! Dobby is a bad elf!"

"I want to talk to him. Can you help me find him? Secretly, don't disturb others."

Coco bowed quickly to him and disappeared. Anthony waited for a while, and when there was no more popping sound in the room, he sat down and pulled the almond cake in front of him. The ghost chicken landed nearby and tilted its head to look at the cake.

"You want some too, chicken?" Anthony pushed the plate towards it. "I don't understand why you two are fighting again... Can chickens eat almonds?"

The ghost chicken pecked off a small piece of almond slice, tilted its head, watched it fall on the table, then stretched out a claw and fiddled with it back and forth.

"You're not eating at all," Anthony pointed out, pulling the plate back and forking a piece into his mouth. "Oh, it's really good." The moist and porous cake base was soft and elastic, and the icing sugar and almond slices on it were just right. It was the perfect simple dessert for late night.

The mouse poked its head out from behind the teacup. Anthony picked another almond slice from the cake and handed it to it. The mouse sat down across from the plate with the almond slice in his hand, and then was startled by a sound of air tearing and jumped off the table and onto Anthony's legs.

"Let go! Let go of Dobby!" a voice screamed.

Two elves appeared in front of Anthony's desk. Coco, lying on Dobby's back, her skinny limbs wrapped around Dobby's even skinnier arms and legs, her fingers tightly grasping the tattered things Dobby was wearing, panting and saying proudly, "Coco brought Dobby here, Professor Anthony!"

Anthony stood up quickly: "Oh my God."

"Let Dobby go!" Dobby struggled violently in the rag, making people worry that it would be torn.

"Thank you, Coco, you've been very helpful. Let him go," Anthony said. "I'm so sorry, Dobby, I didn't mean to kidnap you."

Coco loosened her hand, slid off Dobby, and bowed to Anthony again: "Coco is happy to, Professor Anthony!" With a snap, he Apparated away.

Dobby turned over and stood up, looking up at Anthony carefully.

"Henry Anthony apologizes to Dobby..." he trembled, rocking back and forth. "Say 'I'm sorry' to Dobby..."

"Yes, I just want to chat with you, so if I scared you--" Dobby didn't seem to pay attention to what he just said: "Dobby told Harry Potter that Anthony was actually a very evil dark wizard, but Harry Potter said that Anthony was a decent and good wizard... Dobby had never met a dark wizard who apologized to Dobby before, especially..." He suddenly interrupted his words, he jumped up, rushed to the table, and banged his head against the table leg, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

The mouse quickly slipped into Anthony's pocket, and the ghost chicken was startled and flew away. The cat continued to lick its fur and turned its head to look at Dobby.

"Hey, hey, stop!" Anthony walked around the table and blocked Dobby. "Are you okay?"

Dobby was panting, his eyes were already filled with tears. He stared at Anthony with his tearful eyes, and suddenly announced in a loud and joyful voice: "Professor Anthony is just as good as Harry Potter said. Oh, Dobby knew it! Harry Potter is a kind and great man, and his favorite friends and professors are of course kind!"

"Not a word I would use to describe myself, but thank you." Anthony sat down on the floor opposite the emotional elf and motioned for him to sit on the transformed stool. "I know Minerva has already talked to you, but a face-to-face private conversation might be more helpful. You see, I've actually been curious as to why you thought I would hurt Mr. Potter?"

Dobby's eyes widened and he lowered his voice: "Dobby can't say, sir." After saying this, accompanied by a choking sob, he jumped up from the stool and rushed to the foot of the table again.

Anthony reached out and grabbed him, soothing him: "It's okay, it's okay, it's okay - let's talk about something else. Um... did you know that the crucible you threw down contained the water of life and death?"

Dobby sniffled and shook his head.

"Dobby didn't know what the water of life and death was. Dobby was helping other elves clean the classrooms and bathrooms. There were many old rooms in Hogwarts Castle that had not been cleaned. Dobby controlled the cauldron around him just to protect Harry Potter from danger."

Anthony said in confusion: "Stay away from... me?" He clearly remembered that the day the Crucible fell from the sky was Valentine's Day - a very memorable Valentine's Day - and he did not meet Harry that day at all.

"No, sir, no!" Dobby shouted, "Ever since Harry Potter told Dobby that you were a good man, Dobby has been observing! Dobby has seen a lot! Professor Anthony is a dark wizard, but he doesn't want to hurt Harry Potter!"

"But you said stay away from danger..."

"It's that woman! That evil woman! Dobby thought Harry Potter could stay safely in school, with his friends... so brave, so happy... but that woman came!"

"Umbridge?" Anthony asked in surprise. "Are you talking about Madam Umbridge?"

Dobby closed his mouth tightly, shook his body for a while, and then nodded sharply: "Yes."

"Is she also a dark wizard?" Anthony asked puzzled.

Dobby shook his head, then nodded quickly, then bit his skinny fingers hard, looking at Anthony expectantly with wide eyes, as if hoping that he could guess something from it.

"Is she also a dark creature?"

Dobby's ears drooped a little and he shook his head again.

"Death Eaters?"

Shake his head.

"She...she won't be Voldemort again, will she?"

Dobby trembled all over and screamed, "Don't say that name! Don't - don't - don't - don't say that name!" He covered his ears and huddled up in a ball.

"Okay, okay, I won't guess anymore," Anthony said. "Anyway, I'm no longer the one in danger at Hogwarts, am I?"

Dobby shook his head, "No sir, not you."

"I'm glad to know I'm innocent," said Anthony. "I'll keep an eye on Madam Umbridge. But Dobby -"

Dobby suddenly jumped up.

"Master Draco is awake." He said, "Dobby should be back. Master Draco may look for Dobby later."

"I hope he's not looking for you to help him with his nighttime wandering," Anthony said. "Anyway, thanks for talking to me, Dobby. Until next time."

"Dobby is happy to answer Professor Anthony's questions!" Dobby said sharply. "If there is anything else Professor Anthony wants to know, Dobby will be happy to tell him!"

He held out his hand, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.

(End of this chapter)