Chapter 684: You Must, You Can't (Edited)

"Tom, what do you think?" Hermione reflected for a few minutes, and a conclusion began to form in her mind. However, she was no longer so sure of herself and needed Tom's support.

"Darling, the reason is very simple, it's not that he doesn't want to, it's that he can't. Does Dumbledore have the power to free all the house-elves? Of course, but can he actually free them? Certainly not."

"Because after gaining their freedom, no one would do the laundry, cook, or clean for Hogwarts students?" Hermione's voice faltered as she realized she had been enjoying the slave-like service she received with complete naturalness.

While she slept at night, house-elves washed the clothes she had dirtied during the day, added firewood to her bedroom's fireplace, and left the hallways spotless. While she enjoyed delicious dishes, countless house-elves in the dark kitchen worked tirelessly to prepare a variety of dishes, only to eat the cold leftovers and crumbs after she was satisfied...

Thinking about this, Hermione felt as if someone were squeezing her throat, making it hard to breathe.

"Of course not, Professor Dumbledore could choose to hire them... if it's feasible."

Hermione felt relieved that Tom had mentioned that the situation of enslaved house-elves didn't have much to do with their relationship.

"In fact, I admit that wizards treat house-elves like slaves, but hastily freeing them and granting them freedom is also not a reliable solution."

"Why?" Hermione asked curiously.

"Because house-elves don't want freedom, they truly need a master, it's something ingrained in their souls."

Seeing Hermione lost in thought, Tom said with a hint of helplessness, "Many times we must act based on reality. Once there was an emperor who felt sorry for the servants of wealthy families, so he wished for those servants to be freed. Do you see any similarity between his orders and your idea?"

Abolishing slavery? That intrigued Hermione; that idea really aligned with her way of thinking. To her, that emperor had done something great and would surely build a great empire.

"And what happened next?"

"The emperor was highly respected, so many wealthy families freed their servants. However, what could those servants who only knew how to serve others do? Many starved to death on the streets, and many chose to sell themselves again."

Hermione: !!!

That was a perspective she had never considered.

"But house-elves are powerful in magic..."

"That doesn't stop them from selling themselves to other wizarding families."

"So, do you understand now?" Tom touched Hermione's upturned forehead with his index finger. "We can't rush into this; otherwise, we might do good deeds with bad results, like that emperor I mentioned, who also enacted some absurd orders, and in the end, his kingdom collapsed."

Listening to Tom's lesson, Hermione pursed her lips in disagreement, as if saying, "I'm not listening, I'm not listening."

But after a while, she looked at him shyly, seeking some helpful advice from him.

"In fact, Professor Dumbledore has already been aware of this issue and has been improving the relationship between house-elves and wizards." Tom wasn't lying; Dumbledore had definitely noticed the distortion in the relationship between house-elves and wizards.

Being a compassionate person, he didn't want to see a group of beings with human-level intelligence enslaved in this way, but he also understood the difficulties and risks of reform.

A mistake in freeing house-elves would be much more harmful than what Grindelwald did.

So he didn't hastily free all the house-elves; instead, he provided them with the best treatment possible within his capabilities.

The house-elves at Hogwarts didn't have clothing, but the towels they wore were the closest thing to garments, much better than the rags of other house-elves. Although they didn't have vacations, during the summer and Christmas holidays, when the students returned to their homes, the house-elves also received a kind of break: their workload was significantly reduced, and they only needed to keep the castle in order.

Even during the school semester, house-elves had opportunities to rest because the Hogwarts staff didn't want them to be discovered by young witches and wizards. During the day, when young witches and wizards often went out to play, house-elves waited in the kitchen. During this time, they didn't have much work apart from preparing the three daily meals. They waited until nightfall to clean the castle, which meant they weren't working non-stop all day.

It could be said that Hogwarts, through the reasonable use of these rules, allowed the house-elves at the school to be in a relatively relaxed state, and this was almost the best solution in the wizarding world at present.

Hearing Tom talk about Dumbledore's countermeasures, Hermione was surprised by the idea of "being able to do it this way."

"In the future, we could push for legislation to ensure the basic rights of house-elves through the Ministry of Magic statutes." Tom didn't say it, but he believed that the issue of house-elves would likely be resolved in the coming decades because when he and Hermione were older, it wouldn't be known how many wizarding families still had house-elves.

At that time, the total number of house-elves from all wizarding families in the wizarding world might not even be comparable to the number of house-elves in Hogwarts' kitchen.

This was directly related to the decline of pure-blood families. The wizarding families known to have house-elves were the Black family, the Crouch family, and the Malfoy family.

Of these three families, only the Malfoy family had a direct heir.

The Black family's house-elf, Kreacher, was elderly and possibly wouldn't outlive Sirius. The Crouch family's house-elf, Winky, was young, but the Crouch family no longer had an heir, so after the elder Crouch's death, she would probably also join Hogwarts. This meant that in the future, it was very possible that only the Malfoy family would have house-elves.

Considering the fertility rate of three generations of the Malfoy family, this problem might disappear on its own in the future.

So as long as the Hogwarts house-elves were kept in check, it wouldn't be a problem.

"With the law in place, I suppose Sirius and Kreacher will be able to smooth out their relationship," Hermione said optimistically.

The conversation finally returned to Sirius and Kreacher.

"Sirius is still kind; if he were someone more ruthless, he would probably have had Kreacher accompany his ancestors and serve his former master," Tom reflected with a hint of sentiment. If he were a villain, how could he allow a house-elf who knew too much to continue living?

Hermione froze for a moment under Tom's serious gaze and cautiously asked, "So, if you were Sirius, would you kill Kreacher?"

Seeing Tom's serious expression, Hermione was taken aback for a moment. Then, with caution, she asked, "So, if you were Sirius, would you kill Kreacher?"

Her heart raced faster; she hoped to hear the answer, but she also feared hearing something she didn't want to.

She was afraid that the boy she liked would change.

Once the question came out of her mouth, she regretted it a little. She even thought, Tom, even if you lie to me...

"I, personally, would choose to kill Kreacher," Tom considered, weighing the pros and cons, as he believed that leaving that threat would be unwise.

The light in Hermione's eyes gradually dimmed as she heard the answer she least wanted to hear. She understood Tom; he was right to do so, but...

"But I will definitely talk to you; if you disagree, I will look for another solution, there are always alternatives," Tom said, drawing Hermione's attention with his next sentence. He didn't expect the conversation to take this direction.

"You would talk to me?"

"Of course, house-elves can also be considered shared property in a couple, right? The way we handle our property must definitely take the partner's opinion into account," Tom said seriously.

Hermione: ???!!!

A slight blush quickly rose on her cheeks as she heard Tom's unexpected words. Her mind was a little dazed, and she didn't even correct Tom's idea of considering Kreacher as property.

"I, I, we...," she almost ran out of words, not knowing what to say. "Don't suddenly say such strange things; we're just... we're just..."

"Just what?" Tom looked into Hermione's eyes, and then this adorable girl averted her gaze.

"You got it wrong, if you want to marry me, you still need to work hard; I'll have to observe you closely!" Hermione spoke firmly, but her heart was beating rapidly.

Marriage? Just thinking about that word made her blush. It seemed like something far off, but at the same time, not so far off. When they both became adults, could they put that on their to-do list? Marriage is for a lifetime, and spending a lifetime with Tom... Hehe. Hermione thought up to that point, and her heart was filled with sweet happiness.

She pushed aside her thoughts and changed the subject again.

"So, if I'm not here, what would you do?"

"I would decide when you return."

"And if I don't come back, let's say... if, if I died?" Hermione persisted, wanting to get an answer from Tom.

2 / 2

Tom stroked Hermione's head but didn't reply.

"We've arrived," Tom took Hermione's arm, and they exited the subway station like an ordinary couple, arriving on the outskirts of the Leaky Cauldron.

The Leaky Cauldron was the same as ever, but here, Tom and Hermione encountered a familiar face: Ludo Bagman.

At that moment, he was surrounded by several goblins, and it was clear that the face of the Director of the Department of Magical Games and Sports was not at its best.

"Yodel?" Ludo was surprised to see Tom, then he agilely freed himself from the group of goblins and approached Tom.

"If I'm not mistaken, isn't Hogwarts still in session?" he spoke quickly as if he had found a lifeline. "That's not right, it's not good to skip school. Let me take you both back to school."

As he spoke, Ludo grabbed Tom's arm; he seemed like a headmaster catching students sneaking out in the middle of the night.

Tom, who was suddenly attacked, felt confused, and Hermione quickly explained, "Mr. Bagman, it's not what you think; we've got permission from Headmaster Dumbledore..."

Ludo shook his head, determined to take the two "weak and defenseless boys" back to school. It was his duty, and if he didn't fulfill it, his conscience would torment him.

Ludo Bagman became so serious and responsible not because he suddenly discovered his conscience, but because he was being pursued by his creditors.

He had found his lenders!

Bagman was also in trouble; he thought his debts would be wiped out due to the arrests of high-ranking Gringotts officials, but it turned out that the goblin executive in prison, to secure a generous deal and regain his freedom soon, decided to reveal many riches, including that debt.

The goblin executive sold him to a Ministry of Magic official at a practically giveaway price. That official was known and had some influence, and that official was the current Head of the Department of Magical Law Enforcement at the Ministry of Magic, Pius Thicknesse.

Before him, Ludo Bagman was nothing, and besides, wasn't it common practice to pay debts? So, following his instructions, the goblins resumed chasing Bagman's debt. Now, Bagman was in a big bind.

To avoid his creditors, he didn't even dare to go home; he could only hide in the Leaky Cauldron. But even so, he was eventually cornered by the goblins, and the scene Tom witnessed happened. At that moment, the goblins planned to take Bagman back to Gringotts and squeeze the last penny out of his savings.

Bagman, of course, disagreed.

Those savings wouldn't fill the hole of his debt. If he chose to pay, he would end up bankrupt, but if he remained a debtor, he could lead a comfortable life. Why did he need to think about his choice? Bagman, of course, chose to evade that debt.

When Bagman saw Tom, he planned to use him as an excuse to escape to Hogwarts and get rid of the goblins, but he didn't expect Tom and Hermione not to cooperate.

When the goblins seemed to realize, Bagman panicked. He shook Tom's arm, looked desperately at the two of them, and made pleading gestures, begging them with an almost begging voice to accompany him back to Hogwarts.

Faced with Bagman's request, Tom, of course...

He refused!

Please, he wasn't a betting house pet!

Why should he help Bagman? Was he some kind of gambling expert?

So, he stood there, playing dumb, until the goblins regained control of Bagman.

At that moment, the goblins didn't dare to offend the wizards, so when they saw Bagman and Tom "chatting," they didn't dare to interrupt hastily.

But when they noticed that Tom wasn't very interested in Bagman, they immediately changed their expression.

"Dear sir, miss, I'm very sorry for bothering you. We will leave now," said the leader of the goblins respectfully bowing to Tom and then waving his hand to take Bagman out of the Leaky Cauldron.

In the face of Bagman's desperate cries, this strange combination disappeared into the backyard of the pub. Tom and Hermione returned to Hogwarts from the Leaky Cauldron.