I've already become a Hogwarts professor, and the system only just appeared.

Lupin nodded: "Of course!"

Finally, Su Yu took out a necklace and said, "This is the last one. It's one of my alchemical gadgets. If you accidentally transform while wearing it, it will knock you unconscious."

Lupin took the necklace and joked, "You're just going to knock me out, not kill me?"

"Don't worry, you're more useful to me alive than dead!" Su Yu said with a smile.

The two then discussed Lupin's salary. His base salary was 20 Galleons per week, plus 1% of the net profit. This number may not seem like much, but it would definitely be substantial once the Magic Phone's sales increased.

The two quickly signed a formal magical contract. Unlike contracts in the Muggle world, in the wizarding world, there is no need to go to court to break a contract; the magic itself will punish you.

After everything settled down, Su Yu said, "Alright, Remus, you'll be staying here from now on. I need your help with my first job."

"Please give your instructions, boss." Lupin had already changed his identity.

“There’s actually a little problem with our shop. There’s a basement underneath, and there’s probably a little mouse hiding there. We have to catch it first…” Su Yu explained the strange phenomenon of the shop to Lu Ping.

Ever since Su Yu mentioned that possibility to him, Lupin had become particularly sensitive to rats. Although Su Yu was only using a metaphor, Lupin couldn't help but associate it with Peter.

He said excitedly, "Then what are we waiting for? Let's hurry up and catch that rat!"

Su Yu led Lu Ping to one of the bedrooms. According to the magic scanner Su Yu created, there was a basement beneath this room, and the passage should be under this bed.

Judging from its appearance, this bed is made of bricks and would be called a kang (heated brick bed) in rural China, so it cannot be moved directly.

If that's the case, then there must be some mechanism in the house that can open a secret door leading underground. As a veteran undercover agent, Lu Ping is obviously very skilled at this.

He drew his wand and said, "Quickly appear!"

As the incantation was uttered, silvery-white powder shot out from Lupin's wand, scattering into every corner of the room as he continued to wave his wand.

Two minutes later, all the light powder disappeared, and the room remained unchanged. Lu Ping smiled somewhat awkwardly and said, "Looks like this trick didn't work. No problem, let's use the secret move!"

The spellcasting steps were repeated again, but this time Lupin's wand emitted golden threads. However, after two minutes, it seemed to be no different from before.

Lu Ping was feeling a little embarrassed. Was he really going to say he couldn't do the first task assigned by his boss? He kept going through the knowledge in his mind, and suddenly a flash of inspiration struck him.

Lupin continued waving his wand, chanting the spell: "Move!"

After saying that, Lupin raised his wand above his head, and the wand emitted a dazzling yellow light. Then, everything in the room that was not fixed in place began to move.

A fixed object will swing left and right or up and down along its fixed object.

Upon hearing this curse, Su Yu rolled his eyes, thinking to himself, "Move? What do you mean, move? Do you think you're Aaron Kwok?"

Su Yu was completely dumbfounded when he saw this effect. A brick that was originally tightly fitted on the wall slowly protruded, and the kang (a heated brick bed) in the room was opened, revealing a dark passage.

"Really... you succeeded! How did you do that?" Su Yu asked in surprise. He could sense that it wasn't some profound magic, and the magic fluctuations weren't particularly strong.

Lupin said, “This is a little magic trick I learned in Liechtenstein. Local wizards use it to find things that have been left for a long time and whose whereabouts have been forgotten.”

"Since we can't find any trace of magic, is it possible that the other party used some non-magical methods?"

Su Yu gave Lupin a thumbs up. It has to be said that, many times, a spell is not necessarily better the stronger it is. Choosing the most suitable spell according to different situations is also a skill of a wizard.

Now that the passage was open, the two naturally wanted to go down and take a look. As an employee, Lu Ping consciously led the way and used fluorescent flashing lights to illuminate the passage.

Su Yu held a magic wand in one hand and a magic pistol in the other, remaining vigilant. The staircase was spiral and very long; it took them a full minute to walk down before the view opened up below.

Suddenly, a red spell shot out from the dark corner, trailing a long flame as it rushed towards Lupin.

Lupin reacted extremely quickly, using his Iron Armor to deflect the red spell, while simultaneously firing a Binding Spell in the direction from which the spell had been emitted.

However, Lupin's Fluorescent Spell was interrupted by the release of other magic, and the entire basement went dark again.

Lupin's binding spell also failed to have the desired effect. At that moment, another red spell shot out from another corner of the basement, heading straight for Lupin.

In just five or six seconds, Lupin and the unknown entity clashed seven or eight times. The unknown entity kept changing its position, trying to catch Lupin off guard.

Lupin was also extremely experienced in combat. While protecting Su Yu behind him, he also exchanged magical arrows with the unknown entity in the darkness.

But in fact, all of this was extremely clear to Su Yu, who had already activated the thermal imaging and night vision functions of his glasses.

With the help of these two functions, he saw that the one exchanging magical attacks with Lupin was a tiny guy who was only one meter tall.

It wasn't moving; it was using Apparition to constantly change its position, and judging from its outline, it was actually a house-elf.

Su Yu pulled a magic lantern from the seamless stretcher, illuminating the entire basement. The figure appeared before them, and Su Yu shouted:

"Wait a minute, wait a minute. I think there must be some misunderstanding between us. How about we talk about it first?"

It's not that Su Yu is kind, but according to the underlying logic of house-elves, they will only carry out their master's orders and will not attack wizards unless necessary.

If this house-elf belonged to the original owner of the house, then the owner is dead, and it should be an ownerless elf, so it has no reason to attack itself and Lupin. Therefore, there must be something wrong here.

The next moment, the little elf stopped Apparition and used its body to block in front of a skeleton, looking at Su Yu and Lu Ping with a wary expression.

Su Yu and Lu Ping finally got a clear look at the creature. It was a male, around forty years old, dressed in tattered bedsheets, and most importantly, it was holding a magic wand.

Upon seeing the wand, Su Yu and Lu Ping both felt a chill, not because the wand was particularly powerful, but because the Ministry of Magic's "Guidelines for the Use of Wands" explicitly stipulated that it was not a powerful weapon.

No non-human creature (including house-elves) may carry or use a wand, and house-elves, unless under special circumstances, would not even dare to touch a wand.

"What's your name?" Su Yu didn't directly question the wand. Judging from what this little elf had done in the past, it shouldn't have any deep malice towards wizards, at least it had never hurt anyone.

"I...I'm called Teemo..." The house-elf hesitated for a moment before speaking weakly. Its voice was clear and crisp. Forty years old was indeed still considered a teenager for a house-elf.

Upon hearing the name, Su Yu couldn't help but take another look. To be honest, if he wore a green flying hat and replaced his wand with a blowgun, he would actually look quite similar.

Seeing that Timo was still holding his wand and remaining on guard, Su Yu put away his magic pistol and wand, and said, "Is that your master behind you? He's dead, isn't he?"

Teemo glanced back at the skeletons behind him, a hint of sadness in his eyes, but he quickly puffed out his chest and said proudly:

"Master... Before Master died, he asked Timo to protect this home, and Timo has been trying his best to fulfill Master's last wish!"

Su Yu and Lu Ping exchanged a glance, both seeing a hint of understanding in each other's eyes. At this moment, they had almost guessed the whole story.

Su Yu said, "That's right, you did very well. Your master will definitely be proud of you, but do you understand what a home is?"

"Home is this house, the house where Teemo and his master lived together. If anyone wants to take it, Teemo will never allow it!" Teemo said righteously.

"Wrong, Timo, a house is not a home. A house is just a place to live. There can be a house here, and there can be houses in other places. Only a place with an owner is called a home!" Su Yu retorted with a sorrowful expression.

Upon hearing Su Yu's words, Timo was immediately touched in the softest part of his heart, and tears streamed down his face as those past memories flooded back.

It turned around and pounced into the pile of bones. It was clear that the area was much cleaner than the rest of the place, indicating that Timo had been sleeping there for the past thirty years.

"But, but Master is dead. Master was poisoned by a terrible voodoo, and his health is getting worse and worse. Timo wanted to help him, but Timo was useless and couldn't save Master..." As Timo spoke, he cried even more sadly.

Su Yu and Lu Ping remained silent, watching the little creature release its emotions. Clearly, this house-elf loved its owner very much.

Lupin was also somewhat moved, and couldn't help but think of Sirius Black and Peter Pettigrew again. In any case, one of these two must have betrayed James Potter.

“Sometimes, the feelings between people are not even as genuine as those between humans and house-elves,” Lupin said softly with a touch of melancholy.

Su Yu didn't speak, and waited for Timo to calm down before saying, "A house-elves with owners have a home, and house-elves without owners have no home."

"Teemo, what your master really wanted to see before he died was for you to live a good life, find a loving master again, and build a new home."

Upon hearing Su Yu's words, Lu Ping quietly gave him a thumbs up.

Timo cried for a while longer before raising his head. He seemed to agree with Su Yu's words and said, "But... but my master is dead. Where am I supposed to find a new master?"

Chapter 38 Factory Completion

Lupin looked at Su Yu, assuming Su Yu was about to persuade the house-elf named Teemo to acknowledge him as its master. However, Su Yu said instead:

"Teemo, we can put the matter of finding a new master aside for now. Your old master has already turned to bones here. We should bury him first and let his soul rest in peace."

"Then I'd like to know what exactly happened back then that caused the quality of the wands made by your former master to decline so drastically."

“Now, outside, your old master’s family can be said to have a bad reputation. They are not only a representative of businesses that cut corners, but also have a criminal record for fleeing from justice.”

“I think your old master certainly wouldn’t want to see this situation. If he has some unspeakable difficulties, we should tell the public the truth and not let him continue to be misunderstood like this.”

Su Yu's words were entirely from the perspective of Teemo's old master, and they struck a chord with Teemo.

He hesitated only slightly, touched his master's jawbone again with his dirty hand, and then nodded in agreement with Su Yu's suggestion.

Things went smoothly. Su Yu and Lu Ping buried the remains of the staff maker in the cemetery and erected a tombstone for him. Little Timo cried for a long time in front of the tombstone before finally taking out a diary and handing it to Su Yu:

“Professor Su, you are a good person. The master’s name was Anthony, Cato Anthony. In the last period of his life, he spent a lot of money to treat the curse on his body, so he had no choice but to reduce the materials used in his wand.”

"He didn't run away afterward. He couldn't face the customers, he couldn't face the family's honor. He fainted in the basement, and then... he never got up again..."

Su Yu flipped through the diary from back to front and finally found the reason why the cane maker was cursed.

It turns out that during his travels with his friends, Anthony discovered a secret place that seemed to contain the bouncy pot mentioned in the Tales of Beedle the Bard.

They were all very curious about this, so they wanted to go in and find out, but in the end only Anthony came out, and he had completely forgotten what happened in the secret realm.

Anthony was terrified and fled back to Hogsmeade. At first, nothing seemed amiss, but he soon discovered he was cursed. He tried many methods and spent all of his family's savings, but still could not break the curse.

After that, Su Yu finished talking to the little elf Teemo and asked Teemo, "Did your old master leave anything else behind? Like a map?"

Timo shook his head: "There are some miscellaneous items, but the map is gone."

Su Yu wasn't in a hurry and said, "Okay, let's go back first. Tomorrow I will invite a reporter from the Daily Prophet to come and make your old master's matter public."

"Even if we don't clear his name, we should at least let those victims from back then understand the whole story. I believe they will all forgive him."

Upon hearing Su Yu's arrangement, Timo was so moved that he burst into tears. He lay down on the ground, straightened Su Yu's trouser leg, and wiped his snot on it.

"Thank you, thank you Professor Su. You are the kindest person to Timo in the world besides his master. Thank you... *sobs*"

The house-elf cried whenever he was moved, a behavior that Su Yu found a bit hard to accept. He said, "Alright, alright, hide your wand for now. I'll take you to Madam Malkin's shop to order an outfit."

"Clothes? Oh, no, no, no... Teemo can't have new clothes. Teemo's current clothes are fine." The little guy looked up and said with some fear.

"Relax, Teemo, relax. You're a free sprite now. Your master is gone. You can accept the new clothes."

Seeing that Timo was about to refuse, Su Yu added, "You're going to be interviewed by the Daily Prophet tomorrow. You don't want to wear this to the newspaper, do you?"

"Me? I'm to be interviewed? Isn't it you?" Timo pointed at himself incredulously.

Su Yu, however, left no room for denial: "That's right, it's you. You were there in person, so of course you should tell this story to make it sincere and convincing."

"But, but I've never been interviewed before, I'm afraid I'll mess up your arrangements..." Timo said hesitantly, looking down at Su Yu with her big eyes.

Su Yu said, "It's okay, buddy. I haven't been interviewed before. Just say what you told me before. By the way, don't mention the wand. You know the Ministry of Magic is very sensitive about that."

Perhaps it was Su Yu's sincerity that moved Little Timo, and in the end Timo followed him to Madam Morkin's shop, where he saw a middle-aged, plump lady.

The plump lady was delighted to see Su Yu. Just two days ago, this professor had bought four sets of new wizard robes from the shop, allowing her to make a small profit. So she immediately said enthusiastically:

"Professor Su, are you looking to buy yourself a new robe today? We happen to have a few new men's garments here, you can take a look."