"Observation? Is it an aboveboard observation or a sneaky observation?"
Dobby finally revealed his face completely from behind the leaves, and said with pride on his face.
"The master asked Dobby to secretly observe Mr. Green, but of course Dobby would not do this. Dobby knew that Dumbledore and Green were great wizards. Dobby could not disobey the task assigned to me by the master, but he could also
Tell Mr. Green about this!"
After Dobby said this, his proud face suddenly turned ferocious, and he began to hit his head on the tree trunk next to him in a self-inflicted manner, and kept screaming at the same time.
"Bad elf! Dobby is a bad elf!"
It's not that he can't restrain this self-harming behavior, it's just that his instinctive slave mentality makes him subconsciously unable to accept any behavior that betrays his master.
Jon looked at Dobby, who after hitting his forehead a few times, hugged the tree trunk with both hands and stopped breathing, couldn't help but think of his deeds in the original book.
This house elf from the Malfoy family is completely an anomaly among elves.
Although he also has the most basic concept of master and servant between elves and wizards, this concept is under his own concept of good and evil.
In other words, he is serving the Malfoy family, but he does not agree with the things the Malfoy family does. In addition, the Malfoy family's attitude towards elves can be said to be harsh, which makes this elf among the
The alien doesn't like his master at all, it can even be said that he hates him.
It's just that in the original book, Dobby admires Harry Potter because he knows that it was Harry Potter who defeated the Dark Lord and regards him as a hero.
And now in this time without Harry Potter, Dobby naturally has no one to admire, but he still maintains respect for Dumbledore and has a very good impression of Jon.
So he said that he took advantage of Malfoy's order and told what he observed, which is very credible.
If another house elf came here, Jon would definitely be very wary. Of course, normal people would not let a house elf do this kind of thing.
"Can you come down and let's talk?"
Jon invited him.
It was starting to get dark at this time, and it was not long before the curfew started in the castle. There were no students in Hogwarts Castle on the Black Lake, and only Jon was left empty.
Dobby accepted this readily, climbed down from the tree trunk, and came to Jon's side.
"How long have you been watching me in that tree?"
"It's the first day today, Mr. Green!" Dobby said. "The master just called Dobby out of the house yesterday, and he just assigned the task this morning."
"That is to say, where have you been since I came to the Black Lake in the afternoon?"
"Yes!"
After hearing his answer, Jon understood why Lucius felt comfortable letting Dobby spy on him.
House elves are a special magical race. Even without a wand, they can use their fingers to use magic that is completely different from wizards. If Dobby wants to hide, it will be really difficult for Jon to find him, unless he is like himself now.
He walked out of the tree and wanted Jon to find him.
Dobby seemed to have thought at this moment that Jon might be minding that he had been peeping all afternoon, so he hurriedly waved his hand and said.
"But Dobby didn't mean to keep observing Mr. Green from the tree. There are many classmates of the little master in the castle by the lake. Dobby can't appear in front of them, otherwise the little master will definitely know about it."
"Of course I don't blame you for this, Dobby, and don't call me Mr. Green, just call me Jon."
Jon said casually, and then sat on the grass.
Dobby, on the other hand, looked at him blankly, as if he had heard something shocking.
"Mr. Green...Sir, let Dobby call his name!"
Hearing him subconsciously raise his voice, Jon couldn't help but say.
"Don't get too excited, okay, Dobby, it's just a name. Maybe this is really shocking to a bad wizard like your master, but you know, I am a civilized and respectful person who knows how to respect others.
A good wizard with good qualities, that’s why you’re willing to help me, isn’t it? So don’t be too surprised.”
Dobby obviously listened to what Jon said. He tried his best to calm his breathing. It seemed that he had indeed calmed down a lot, but his big eyes were still looking at Jon with excitement.
"Okay, okay, Joe, Jon!"
"Yes, that's it. Just call me Jon. Since you are willing to help me, even if you disobey your master's orders, then we are friends, right? So I can call you Dobby, and of course you can call me
Jon. Sit down, Dobby, may I ask you something about your master?"
Dobby seemed to have put in a lot of effort to finally sit down opposite Jon, but even sitting on the grass, he still looked so cramped.
"There are some things I can't say about my master. There is no way for an elf to betray his master unless he is abandoned."
Jon thought for a moment, then suddenly said with a smile.
"But it is reasonable for an elf to hide something for the master, right? Then we can do this. I will ask you some questions that only require a yes or no answer. Of course you have to lie to me in order to protect the master's secret, right?
?”
Dobby's face showed confusion for a few seconds at first, as if he didn't understand what Jon said, but soon his already smart brain reacted and he nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Dobby is hiding the master's password and cannot tell the truth to Jon!"
After determining the next communication mode with Dobby, Jon quickly asked the first thing.
"Dobby's master asked Dobby to come to Hogwarts to observe Jon. Dobby's master also knows about it, right?"
The next moment, Dobby was shaking his head like a rattle. The action was very natural and there was no trace of guilt.
"No! Master Dobby's master doesn't know about this!"
That's knowing it.
Jon knew in his heart that there were still a large number of house elves in Hogwarts Castle. The elves here were supposed to be loyal to the castle, but after Voldemort became the headmaster, they were not really loyal to the castle.
Master, then he will definitely make all the elves here loyal to him, otherwise it will definitely be a hidden danger.
And now that Dobby suddenly appeared in the castle, it was impossible for Voldemort not to know, or Lucius didn't have the guts not to report to Voldemort.
In other words, after the first game, the person who wanted to observe and spy on him was actually not the Malfoys and his son, but Voldemort?
"Then after Dobby comes to Hogwarts, he has no other mission except to observe me, right?"
Dobby nodded happily.
"Yes, no more. Dobby's only mission is to observe Jon!"
Jon tapped his chin with his finger and continued to ask thoughtfully.
"The person who gives Dobby other tasks is Dobby's master, right?"
"right!"
Hearing this answer, Jon's brows frowned involuntarily.
Not Voldemort?
Then there is only Lucius. What else can he ask Dobby to do?
Thinking in his mind, Jon then asked tentatively.
"Dobby also has a mission to protect his little master?"
"No!"
"Are these two tasks the only ones Dobby has?"
"Yes!"
"Are there any other tasks?" Jon was a little confused now.
Dobby is the house elf of the Malfoy family. Lucius should have taken the initiative to ask him to observe his task, and Voldemort agreed incidentally. The secret protection of Draco must have been an order given to Dobby privately by Lucius himself.
Then what else would they ask Dobby to do?
Voldemort probably has nothing more to explain. He has such a arrogant character that even hemp seeds look down on, so how can he trust some important matters to a house elf?
Besides, even if he really needs elves to do something for him, there are so many candidates in Hogwarts Castle that there is no need to borrow such unnecessary help from the Malfoy family.
That means it can only be Lucius who has other arrangements for Dobby.
While Jon was thinking, he raised his head and happened to look into Dobby's big shining eyes. He could feel that Dobby was looking at him expectantly.
Suddenly a thought came to Jon's mind and he asked.
"Dobby has another mission that is related to me, and was it ordered by Dobby's master to do this?"
"wrong!"
Dobby said firmly.
This made Jon even more certain of something.
"Dobby's master asked Dobby to see if he could find a chance to meet me secretly, but he didn't allow Dobby to meet me, nor did he tell Dobby why he did this, right?"
"no!"
Dobby answered louder, more excited and excited.
At this time, Jon finally understood what kind of mission Dobby was shouldering.
After talking about this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but he didn't express it on his face, but expressed his gratitude to Dobby from the bottom of his heart.
"Thank you very much for telling me this, Dobby."
"You're welcome, Dobby didn't do anything. Dobby just lied to Jon." Dobby said the words without feeling guilty at all, because it was only now that he told the truth. He was indeed cheating before.
Jon.
A deception that everyone and the little elf are aware of.
After learning some of the dirty thoughts in Lucius's heart from Dobby, Jon stood up from the grass again.
"It's getting late. I have to go back to the carriage. Dobby, don't hide what happened today. If your master asks, tell him everything I did this afternoon. But the conversation we just had
To hide it.”
"Understood! Dobby knows that he cannot disobey his master's orders, but he can tell him some things for the sake of his master's benefit later!"
"Yes, that's right, that's it."
Jon said with praise, Dobby was indeed different from the house elves he had seen before.
"Goodbye then, Jon, Dobby is going back too."
After Dobby finished speaking, he disappeared into the air in front of Jon.
Of course, house elves can freely use Apparition within the scope of the school, but the anti-Apparition here also limits their magic, so that although they can teleport freely, they have no way to do it.
Take others with you.
In addition, all the elves in the castle are loyal to Voldemort himself, which is equivalent to eliminating the possibility that Dumbledore and the others will use the loophole of house elves to take advantage of the loophole.
In fact, privately Jon felt that the reason why Voldemort was so wary of house elves' magic might have something to do with the betrayal he experienced.
A young man from a pure-blood family named Black whom he once trusted very much used the magic of a house elf to set a trap for him on an extremely critical matter.
And Voldemort, who has now recovered the split soul in the Horcrux, must have discovered this trap, so he can basically guess who did it and how it was done.
Having already made a mistake once, a smart person like him will definitely not make it a second time.
After Dobby left, Jon did not continue to stay at the Black Lake.
He went straight back to the racecourse, which was still parked at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. After entering the carriage, he walked directly towards Dumbledore's office.
He knocked on the door and walked in. He said to Dumbledore with a sarcastic smile on his face.
"Professor, we haven't completely won yet, but some people can't hold it anymore."
...
In Hermione's dormitory, after Mrs. Gray made an agreement with Hermione at the beginning, she kept her promise and never left the carriage.
And Hermione didn't hide from her that she had conducted a search in the castle, but she didn't tell her exactly what she was looking for.
"In other words, you didn't find anything at all? Well, I think I really shouldn't doubt you, Miss Granger! But there are some things I have to ask to prevent anyone from thinking me a fool!"
Mrs. Gray looked very angry, as if she was dissatisfied with what Hermione said was nothing.
"Did you gain nothing, or did you just make a promise to me in the beginning, but in fact you didn't want to help me find the crown at all?"
Facing her question, Hermione's face didn't change at all, she just said calmly.
"I rarely make promises to people, Ms. Gray. Since I promised you in the first place, I will try my best to do it. You don't have to doubt it. I did not lie. There was indeed nothing inside when I entered the castle.
Found what you asked me to find."
"But I heard some clues from another person. He said that he once saw a crown in the headmaster's room at Hogwarts Castle."