Chapter 450: Things about house elves (Edited)

Ever since Fish kissed her in class that day, Hermione was the center of attention again... the last time she was the center of attention was when she was half human and half cat after drinking the multijugue potion.

Not only did her classmates often point her out when she walked around, but even the teachers would occasionally give her a meaningful smile when they saw her, and Dumbledore went so far as to refer to her as Miss Hermione McGonagall in jest.

There was very little of the effect Hermione had expected, just the occasional grimace from the Slytherin girls, and envy from the girls in the other three houses, but nothing too different from before.

The fact that Fish's girlfriend was already known was one thing, but the main thing was the "generosity" that.... Hermione had shown during this time.

As long as there was cat to pet, a lot of people didn't care who Fish's girlfriend was, except for a few who were still hostile to Hermione, but that was no longer a threat to Miss Know-it-all.

So, while it was embarrassing to kiss Fish on sight at first, but judging by the results, it was actually pretty good...at least it made some rivals give up.

With plenty of homework to do, it was October... and this year Fish was celebrating Professor McGonagall's birthday, but this time without the entire Gryffindor House as she had done last time.

Since Professor McGonagall had told Fish not to have such an extravagant birthday party, Fish ended up celebrating Professor McGonagall's birthday in the kitchen with Hermione and a group of elves....

Professor McGonagall, who had experienced it once before, was still very happy, but that was about it, and the group of kitchen elves that Fish had summoned to dine with him were very touched.

Even Dobby, who was a little afraid of Fish, and Winky, who often got drunk, were teary-faced as the house elves squealed and praised the three of them...for who knows how long if not for Fish, who had a headache to stop them.

"Minerva, can I take a moment of your time? I have something to ask you."

As the three finished their celebration and walked back out of the kitchen, Hermione hesitated for a moment before calling out to Professor McGonagall.

"Of course, dear."

A happy Professor McGonagall responded with a smile, but also with curiosity, "What did you want to ask? does it have anything to do with your studies?"

Despite the question, Professor McGonagall didn't think it likely, as Hermione would never have stuttered and lingered wondering if she really wanted to ask a question about her studies.

"No, it's about house elves."

Hermione shook her head, although she had been exposed to house elves early on thanks to Fish, and was used to them working for wizards, she had remained in Muggle society during the vacations.

As she grew older and became more influenced by her surroundings, Hermione's views on slavery and human rights were very much in line with the mainstream of Muggle society at this stage.

It's only because Fish and Professor McGonagall also have Comey in their family, and she also understands that magical society and Muggle society have different ideas about many things, so she has never delved into this topic.

But tonight she accidentally learned of Winky and Dobby's experience, and she could no longer suppress her sense of justice.

"The usual treatment of house elves seems... very bad?"

Hermione's words were restrained because Professor McGonagall had a house elf in her house.

"I see."

Professor McGonagall smiled sympathetically.

There weren't many wizards like Hermione, but every now and then a few would appear, and while most were Muggle-born, every now and then there were one or two outliers in the wizarding community who had really progressed over the years.

And Professor McGonagall knew that people like Hermione could easily do bad things with good intentions if not properly guided.

So she patiently explained to Hermione, "This happens to house elves for several reasons. First of all, it's in their nature to like to work, just like you like to read, and Fish is naughty..."

"Fish doesn't like to be naughty!"

?(?``?)?

Fish protested in exasperation when he was suddenly named.

But Professor McGonagall ignored him and continued, "Well, that's not entirely accurate, their attitude towards work is more than a pastime, it's closer to an instinct, and it's because of this strange nature that the ancient wizards trained them to be assistants and servants."

"But... that's no reason to squeeze them."

Hermione replied naively, "Muggles abolished slavery many years ago."

"Of course, in fact, there have been wizards like you, fighting for house elf rights for a long time,and even the Ministry of Magic issued guidelines for house elf rights."

Professor McGonagall squeezed her palm, gesturing for Hermione to calm down.

"But due to the nature of house elves and their ancient customs, the guidelines were not enforceable, and the old pureblood families didn't take it seriously, and then the persecution of Muggle wizards by You-Know-Who brought the work to a standstill."

She looked at Hermione gently and said earnestly, "If you want to improve the environment for house elves, it's best if you become an official in the Ministry of Magic in the future and change the perception of the wizarding community from the ground up, but in general it's enough to treat them well."

Hermione was silent for a few moments before nodding slowly, "I see, thank you, Minerva."

"What the hell are they talking about? why doesn't Fish understand?"

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

Fish finally waited until the two finished talking and immediately asked dissatisfied.

"We were talking about how Dobby and Winky's previous owners hadn't treated them well, so they had to be treated well."

Professor McGonagall knew it was too complicated for the cat to understand, so she simplified what Hermione and she had been talking about and told Fish in a nutshell.

"Although what you said is similar to what Fish heard... but I don't know why nya, I always feel like Minerva is cheating on Fish..."

(??ˇ?ˇ??)

The perceptive cat stared into Professor McGonagall's eyes and said earnestly.

But soon Fish shook his head, "Never mind, Fish isn't interested anyway nya.

The house elf thing sounded problematic, but it wasn't the first time he had been fooled by Professor McGonagall.

After skipping the subject, Fish turned to Professor McGonagall and invited her, "Minerva, would you like to patrol the territory with Fish?"

Professor McGonagall smiled and looked at the embarrassed Hermione, shook her head and said, "I won't, you and Hermione go together, remember to come back early, there's still class tomorrow."

"If it wasn't for signing up for that competition, Fish wouldn't have to work so hard! I can't believe they gave Fish so much homework."

?(?``?)?

Fish was furious at this, grimaced at Professor McGonagall and then ran off with Hermione.