The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 493 Hermione Speaks Out for House-Elves!

Lilith's act of leaving her companions behind and walking away alone attracted a lot of attention. Among them, Gemma saw the look in Lilith's eyes, stood up on her own, and walked away with Lilith.

Moriarty gazed longingly at Lilith's retreating figure. He knew Lilith harbored great ambitions, and Gemma had always been Lilith's good assistant.

However, Moriarty did not expect that Lilith was not the only witch in Hogwarts who had begun to think about politics due to the influence of the Dementors; there was another one.

She is Hermione Granger.

Hermione's parents are both elite white-collar workers in the Muggle world. They are open-minded and have a harmonious family.

Hermione's little head is filled with a series of profound truths such as "the world is fair" and "hard work pays off."

Hermione's understanding of the magical world was that it was a fairy tale—a fairy tale about wizards and magic.

But when Hermione arrived at Hogwarts, she discovered that the magical world was not as wonderful as she had imagined; instead, it revealed a harsh reality in many ways.

Hermione soon discovered that she had an irreversible difference in mindset from the other young wizards!

The young wizard didn't treat house-elves, giants, fairies, succubi, and other humanoid creatures as human beings at all.

This is evident not only in purebloods but also in Muggle-born students.

The reason is simple: Muggle-born students, in order to integrate into the magical world, naturally need to conform to the mainstream.

What is mainstream?

They despise humanoid beings, exploit them, and squeeze every last drop of value from them.

At the Ravenclaw dining table, Hermione stared blankly at the table.

It was covered with all sorts of delicious food.

However, Hermione only ate a little bit of the lavish breakfast.

It wasn't that Hermione wasn't hungry; on the contrary, her stomach was growling with hunger.

Hermione rubbed her lower abdomen. Sigh, another day without milk. Without milk, she wouldn't feel full.

The reason she had no appetite was that she believed the house-elves were being treated unfairly.

Because breakfast was served at the originally scheduled time, the house-elves increased the speed and efficiency of serving food by more than three times in order to prevent students from being late for class!

This has forced many elderly and frail house-elves to take on the challenge themselves.

Their magic can no longer be used at will; in order to serve the food, they carry plates from the kitchen and pull food carts...

Seeing yet another elderly house-elf extend his trembling hands and serve a plate of dumplings, Hermione couldn't bear to watch any longer.

"Why do Dementors disappear en masse, but house-elves don't?"

Hermione brought up the question abruptly, and at the table of the thoughtful Ravenclaws.

The eaglets around them were busy stuffing food into their mouths—they didn't want to be late. When they heard Hermione's words, their mouths opened wide, and the food fell out of their mouths. They seemed unable to believe that these words came from Hermione's mouth.

Hermione said it on purpose; she wanted to attract more attention.

Zhang Qiu said doubtfully, "Of course not, house-elves have contracts with Hogwarts. You know that, right? I see you've read 'Hogwarts: A History of the School'."

"But?" Hermione pressed, "Didn't the Dementors have a contract with the Ministry of Magic? Yet they still disappeared."

A fourth-grade eagle said, "Dementors? Who knows what they are? House-elves can talk, and wizards obviously prefer to believe in creatures with heads on their necks."

The group burst into laughter.

Hermione was disappointed and pouted.

Okay, she has to admit that if wizards don't treat house-elves as human beings, then Dementors are even more despicable in wizarding society, so it's inappropriate for her to use Dementors as an example.

Cho Chang, ever observant, asked Hermione in a low voice, "What's wrong? You're acting strangely today?"

"I'm just deeply disturbed by how unfairly we treat house-elves!" Hermione emphasized, glancing at her classmates. "Please, think about it! The Dementors are a warning! If we continue to treat intelligent magical creatures unfairly, they'll eventually become like the Dementors, no longer at our mercy!"

A tense silence fell over the Ravenclaw table as many eaglets put down their breakfast and fell silent.

They were used to thinking things through when someone asked a question or offered a suggestion, so Hermione's words were naturally given serious consideration.

Then Roger Davis said to Hermione, "Granger, your statement is incorrect. House-elves and Dementors are different."

He paused, then explained, "As guards of Azkaban, Dementors can absorb the negative emotions of prisoners, which is a form of punishment for them. It's a win-win situation for both the Ministry of Magic and the Dementors."

"House-elves are different. They don't need favors. They are born to serve and work for wizards—and they'll only throw a tantrum if you don't make them serve or work."

As Roger spoke, the eagles joined in the laughter.

Roger was one of the more outstanding students at Ravenclaw, and what he said was indeed correct, but it was exactly what Hermione wanted to hear. She immediately said, "I suggest that we give the house-elves some benefits."

"benefit?"

The eaglets looked at Hermione as if they had heard the biggest joke in the world, finding it both funny and strange.

Unfazed by the stares of the crowd, Hermione spoke clearly, "Yes, the benefits. For example—"

She took action: she tried to take a plate of cherries from an elderly house-elf and put it on the table.

However, to Hermione's utter surprise...

When Hermione came to collect it, the house-elf was so anxious that he couldn't speak, foamed at the mouth, and actually knelt down and kowtowed to Hermione, begging her not to take away his job!

"Hahahaha..."

The eaglets laughed heartily, indicating that they were full of laughter before going to class.

They all stood up, Penelope and Cho Chang also stood up, and Hermione, feeling awkward, cast a pleading look at them: "Seniors~ don't you support me either?"

Cho Chang kindly comforted Hermione, while Penelope said nothing. She and Moriarty had established a relationship, and she was simply enjoying the services of house-elves, so why would she support Hermione?

However, Penelope, being intelligent and perceptive, realized Hermione's leadership potential and encouraged her to continue, assuring her that she would surely find like-minded friends.

Encouraged, Hermione spent an entire Potions class figuring it out.

Dementors are definitely not comparable to house-elves.

Their collective disappearance can be seen as a warning.

But there's no problem with treating house-elves well!

In the magical world, there are many vulnerable groups like house-elves!

"I want to speak up for the disadvantaged!"

Hermione excitedly shouted out what was on her mind.

But she forgot that this was Professor Snape interrupting the class!

"brush!"

Professor Snape cast a cold glance at him.

"Oh? Our Miss Granger seems to have turned this into a campaign rally. Ha, our female politician should figure out where she is before she speaks."

The eagle and the badger below were trying not to laugh. Abbott looked at her friend with concern; this was the first time Hermione had ever been distracted in class.

Professor Snape then deducted ten points from Ravenclaw's score, but Hermione didn't care and began a series of actions.

She founded a small group called the "House-Elf Rights Promotion Association".

Prepare to use house-pocket creatures to draw out vulnerable groups, because house-pocket creatures are easy for people to see.

Including Hermione herself, there are only two people—Hannah and Hermione.

"Hermione, are we really going to do this?" Hannah asked weakly, looking at the "badge" in her hand.

"Are we really going to give the badges to our classmates and try to persuade them to join us?"

Hannah couldn't help but ask another question.

Hermione exclaimed enthusiastically, "Of course! House-elves are treated so unfairly! They're practically slaves! Why doesn't anyone stand up to stop this?"

Hannah wanted to say that she also had house-elves at home, and they would commit suicide if she didn't let them work.

But seeing Hermione's excited, flushed face, Hannah didn't say anything.

Over the next week, Hermione took action, working tirelessly to improve the working conditions of the house-elves.

Hermione often walked around campus trying to persuade people to join. Most people refused.

A few students, though somewhat interested in Hermione's topic, were unwilling to participate more actively in the activities.

They were all members of the Spells Learning Group, and they hadn't forgotten that the group was organized by Hermione.

Ron also heard about it and thought Hermione was a complete idiot.

Many people shared his opinion, and they began to gossip and ridicule Hermione behind her back.

Eventually, the truth couldn't be kept forever, and these words reached Hermione's ears.

Heartbroken and dejected, Hermione found a quiet, secluded corridor, squatted down with her legs drawn up to her chest, and stared blankly at the ground.

Her eyes soon became red, and her beautiful, bright eyes sparkled.

Like an injured kitten, it makes you want to hold it in your arms and cherish it.

After a period of sadness, Hermione remembered what her brother Moriarty had said to her when she was drinking milk once.

That was the second time Hermione turned into a cat. While drinking milk, Moriarty said that it was fortunate Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw; if she had been sorted into Gryffindor, she probably would have had a long and unhappy life.

Hermione was too engrossed in swallowing to listen at the time, but she remembered it now.

"Fine, you're all laughing at me, I'm going to find my brother Moriarty!"

"Hmm, I'm actually hungry."

(End of this chapter)