A Certain Magical Hogwarts

Chapter 456 Witch’s Delivery Service

Using Pokémon to deliver packages was widely accepted, but disagreements arose regarding compensation.

Hermione insisted that house-elves should be treated well, with wages, holidays, and sick leave.

Fred and George exchanged a glance and chuckled.

"Salary and vacation?" Fred shook his head. "House-elves don't need those!"

“That’s right, they love to work,” George chimed in. “We can have them deliver packages for free.”

"Who said that?" Hermione retorted. "Dobby needs it, doesn't he, Dobby?"

Hermione looked at Dobby with encouraging eyes. Dobby stood up shakily and said firmly, "That's right, Dobby needs a salary!"

"Okay." George raised his hand. "But, oddballs like Dobby... cough cough, I mean, unique little elves are rare."

"Yes, it's in their nature to work, they like it, you know?" Fred said.

"They feel uncomfortable if we don't let them work, and paying them wages is an insult to them."

"So you're prepared to continue enslaving them?" Hermione's eyes flashed dangerously.

The twins looked at William pleadingly.

William raised his hand, gesturing for Hermione to be quiet. He said calmly, "Of course we have to pay her."

Hermione raised her chin, a victorious look in her eyes.

"First, we need to recognize a very basic question: should we pay owls for delivering packages?" William asked.

"Of course I want it," Fred said.

Unless it's a pet owl, like a newspaper delivery owl or a gift delivery owl, they all need to be paid.

Occasionally, they will shamelessly beg for dried fish, and if you don't give them any, they will peck at your arm.

If they see a pretty head of hair, they'll forcibly pluck a few strands and take them back to use as bedding for their bird nests.

This varies from person to person; Professor Snape, for example, never had this kind of trouble.

The owl that attempted to do such a thing was suffocated the moment it tried to behead the owl.

"Since owls are paid, why don't we pay house-elves for delivering packages?" William asked.

The twins remained silent.

“You’ve got one more thing wrong,” William said. “Who says most house-elves don’t get paid?”

House-elves working in wizards' homes are provided with food and lodging.

Although this is not equivalent labor, it is still a form of exchange.

"We don't provide food and lodging for house-elves, so we have to pay them wages and let them find their own way to meet their survival needs."

To put it bluntly, in the matter of raising elves at home, wizards deliberately blurred the lines between compensation and labor.

But isn't providing food and lodging a form of compensation? It's just that this kind of compensation is far too cheap compared to the labor of house-elves.

William decided to leave the house-elves their own food and lodging. That way, wages wouldn't be an issue.

No wizard would ever say such outrageous things as, "I don't provide food or lodging, and I don't even pay you for your work!"

So, did William lose money? Of course not.

House-elves are a valuable resource; they can create more surplus value by using magic for other things than by doing housework!

"How are their salaries calculated?" Qiu asked after thinking for a moment. "It's a considerable expense."

"It's simple. Since it's a delivery service, let's just keep the price the same as Owl's for now," William said.

"That's not enough for house-elves to survive!" Hermione complained.

"Of course that's enough," William explained. "House-elves aren't like owls; they can only deliver packages once a day."

They can appear out of thin air; let's not talk about nearby places, let's just say they can deliver to London.

The base price in the market is five nits, and you'll have to pay extra for overloading.

A house-elf, using Apparition, can complete at least fifty orders a day.

That's 250 kronor, which is 3.54 Galleons a week...

"That's enough," Dobby said happily. "That's too much. One gallon a week is enough for me."

Hermione glared at Dobby speechlessly.

"Hermione, we can't immediately raise the status of house-elves to a very high level," William comforted her.

"But this is just the beginning; only by keeping prices low enough can we capture the market."

"Once everyone gets used to this logistics method, we'll definitely have to raise prices, understand?"

Only leeks that have grown up are good leeks!

That way it's easier to cut!

Hermione's problem is that she is determined to provide good treatment for the elves, wanting them to have wages, clothes, and a comfortable environment.

But they only had slogans, without any concrete plans.

Hermione even considered relying on donations from young wizards and persuading the elves to ask for their wages...

All of this was a waste of time. Neither the wizard nor the house-elves would respond to her.

But William has a simple way of solving this problem.

That is to rely on Akali's Mystery Shop to establish a new logistics system and liberate them from the role of domestic helpers.

This is a relatively mild approach to reform, which can prevent riots from occurring.

"And what about their holidays?" Cedric asked.

"Of course it's 996," William said matter-of-factly.

Is working 996 a blessing from a past life?

William made a big change compared to the house-elves who never took a break, year-round.

"That's too little. We need at least two days off a week," Hermione said.

"No! Too much!" Dobby shuddered, as if having so much free time was terrifying.

"Miss... Dobby likes freedom, Miss, but he doesn't want too much freedom; he prefers working!"

"..."

"And there's the issue of clothing." William tapped the table and said seriously, "Dobby, I don't care what you guys wear during your breaks."

However, during work hours, uniforms must be worn; they cannot be flashy and must be clean.

Dobby nodded quickly.

"I will have Mars, the little elf from the Nico family, come and give you two months of training."

William had even decided on the style of clothing: yellow overalls.

Wearing a helmet, he looked strangely approachable.

Ideally, there should also be a little elf equipped with a flying broom.

William is now working to transform the wizarding world into the way he knows it.

Perhaps in a few years, we'll see Ele.me, Meituan, and other similar companies recruiting merchants in Diagon Alley.

Since we can't change ourselves, let's change the world!

"What should we call our new shop?" Hermione asked eagerly.

"Let's call it..." William rested his chin on his hand, thought for a moment, and then smiled, "Kiki's Delivery Service!"

"Remember, we're not here to make money." He stood up and waved.

We are not interested in money!

Our goal is to ensure that house-elves receive reasonable wages and a good working environment.

We are not capitalists, we are true... philanthropists!

……

……

(End of this chapter)