Chapter 532: Pushing It Down Again

Now there were only Ivan and Hermione in the Common Room.

Hermione was still looking angry, and her eyes were a little red. Obviously, Ron's reaction irritated her a lot. Despite his usual strong character, in some cases, he was especially vulnerable.

"Don't take it to heart, Hermione. Harry's right. Ron is just stressed out. He doesn't mean it," Ivan said, patting Hermione gently on the shoulder. "You know, Malfoy's insult to his parents the other day made him feel bad."

"I'm not angry, but I am surprised. He really thinks house elves like to be slaves to others!" said Hermione, taking a deep breath. "Precisely because everyone has that misconception, you can't protect the interests of house elves."

"Ron's thinking represents the conviction of most pureblood wizards. It has been that way for several years in the wizarding world. The relationship between wizards and house elves has been that way for a long time. Everyone accepts it. They don't think it's wrong, and no one will try to change anything" Ivan said.

"Then this is our duty, and it is also the meaning of the existence of the Society for the Promotion of Elven Welfare!" Hermione turned and looked at Ivan, her beautiful brown eyes sparkled again, "The house elves have been enslaved for too long. They have forgotten to fight for their rights. Under the control of the Department of Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they dare not do so either; I have studied the existing laws. The background of the enactment of these laws was completely different from today, and there is no point in continuing to enforce them."

Hermione apparently researched thoroughly and found a lot of information. It was impossible to convince her in this regard.

And apart from all the emotional factors and the inherent concept, Ivan thought Hermione's thoughts were reasonable. It was really unfair for wizards to squeeze and enslave house elves and bind them with magic.

As for Ron's comment that house elves liked being slaves to wizards, it made no sense at all.

Ron's idea was purely a pureblood theory and was like what Voldemort and the Death Eaters had always preached.

They believed that pureblood wizards were born noble and were extremely rejecting of Muggles, Muggle-born wizards and other intelligent non-human creatures. They believed that they were all inferior races and should be enslaved by pure-blooded wizards. They did not hesitate to wage war over it.

Although most wizards opposed Voldemort and disagreed with his concept of purebloods, no one could have thought how similar they were to Voldemort and the Death Eaters in their treatment of house elves.

To put it frankly, it was terrible.

From the historical data of previous magic, one could see that the relationship between house elves and wizards had not been as abnormal as it was now.

For centuries, the wizards had waged wars against the house elves, conquering and enslaving them.

In the end, they completely destroyed the living environment of the house elves and turned them into subordinate races of the wizards and slaves of the pure-blooded wizards.

Since then, all house elves were trained in servitude after birth.

Slaves had to serve their masters for generations; they were not to disobey their masters' orders casually. If they disobeyed, they were to punish themselves.

For the house elves, their supreme right was to obey their masters' orders.

They considered serving their master for life to be their highest glory. One look at Kreacher showed that his greatest dream was to have his master cut off his head and hang it on the side of the wall of the Black family home as decoration, just like what happened to their ancestors when they became too old to live.

This was absolutely wrong and a warped concept.

When Ivan returned to Hogwarts a thousand years ago, the relationship between Helga Hufflepuff and her large elven family was far from the same.

The relationship between them was not that of master and slaves; they were mostly Hufflepuff's helpers and friends.

Moreover, they were the first house elves to be at Hogwarts, the ancestors of all house elves.

It was not Hogwarts tradition to enslave house elves.

Hermione's concept was not wrong and, in fact, someone had to stand up and do something for the house elves.

In particular, Muggle-born wizards, like Ivan, could understand this inadvertent discrimination that existed in the wizarding world. He thought Hermione's approach was correct, but it was certainly very difficult.

Relying on the power of a few young wizards, it was tantamount to pounding stone to try to reverse the widespread deformities that had formed in wizarding communities over the centuries.

This was especially difficult when wizards and house elves took it for granted.

Not all wizards were as responsible as Hermione, and not all elves wanted freedom like Dobby.

"We can't just stop doing it because it's too hard!" Hermione looked at Ivan, as if she knew what he was thinking. "We have to make an opposition. Ivan, think about the current situation of the house elves. Someone must do something for them!"

"But you must know that it's all self-inflicted!" said Ivan. "Seeing Ron's reaction, I know it's almost impossible to persuade those pureblood wizards to change their minds. The house elves won't necessarily accept it; they're used to it, and they may all object..."

"Someone has to do it, right?" whispered Hermione, looking at Ivan with burning eyes.

He had an unprecedented persistence and earnestness on his face; he had made up his mind to see this through to the end.

She would not hesitate even if the entire magical world became her enemy and all pureblood wizards opposed her. Since Hermione firmly believed that she was right and everyone else was wrong, she had to put an end to this unjust enslavement.

Ivan believed it was foolish to inexplicably help house elves do what they didn't want to do, and to be against the main concept of the wizarding world.

But Hermione didn't. If she didn't, she wouldn't be Hermione.

It wasn't a matter of success or insanity, it was a matter of following one's beliefs and ideals.

Ivan knew that she had put so much effort and time into creating the Elven Platform for the Defense of Workers' Rights. It wasn't just about house elves, valuing that effort and bringing happiness to her heart was worthy of her own effort.

Hermione, as she was now, was undoubtedly very attractive. It was not just her appearance, but her pure heart. This was the most precious of treasures in the world.

Under the candlelight, Ivan looked at Hermione sitting beside him, her pretty little face full of persistence.

A strange feeling arose in the depths of his heart, and Ivan had a perverse thought: he wanted to push Hermione away again!