Professor McGonagall was excited for a while before calming down.
When she was excited, she was full of praise for Scott’s breakthrough in transfiguration, and she wanted Scott to publish an amazing paper to win honor for Hogwarts.
But after calming down, she finally noticed the other side of the matter.
“I want to know how you got this lizard into the Ministry of Magic, Mr. Trollope,” she asked, “and into the secluded offices of the Department of Mysteries.”
Her expression was a little awkward, as if she was trying to maintain a serious posture, but she also unconsciously wanted to protect her students.
“I memorized the route,” Scott said, “and asked a crow to carry the lizard there.”
“Crows?” Professor McGonagall was a little confused, “Those crows that you summoned to fight for you?”
“Are birds like crows that smart?” Professor Flitwick was also a little confused.
“It’s not those ordinary crows.” Scott said, “It’s the product of transfiguration, just like before…”
He glanced at Professor Flitwick.
“The method was similar to the previous secret filming of the battle in Little Hangleton Village.”
He didn’t mention Rimbaud.
Rimbaud was his most important companion, and he was not prepared to reveal its peculiarities.
Professor Flitwick and Dumbledore both nodded in understanding.
Professor McGonagall was the only one who didn’t know about this. She turned to look at Dumbledore and Professor Flitwick with questioning eyes.
Professor Flitwick helped Scott explain a few words.
“Students did this, and you didn’t tell me? Moreover, two Gryffindor students were also involved!” Professor McGonagall complained unhappily after hearing this.
Facing her gaze, Professor Flitwick and Dumbledore both pretended to be casual and turned their heads to look out the window.
Professor McGonagall snorted and looked at Scott again.
This time, the way she looked at Scott was no longer awkward, only serious.
“How dare you do this? Are you brave enough to get involved in such a dangerous battle? Do you still want to make money with such news?” She began to criticize Scott again, “It’s so stupid! Fortunately, Filius stopped him Got you!”
Scott lowered his head again.
“However, since you already told Filius and Albus about it afterwards, I will not pursue it further.”
Professor McGonagall’s voice sounded again.
“I have to say that your talent for transformation is rare. At this age, it is really rare to be able to implant a memory into the transformation product while transforming.”
Her tone softened again, unable to maintain her stern stance.
“Thank you for your compliment, Professor McGonagall.” Scott said gratefully, “Every bit of progress I have made in transfiguration is inseparable from your teachings, and of course, Professor Dumbledore’s tips to me.”
Hearing him say this, Professor McGonagall’s expression became much softer, and even the two intimidating nasolabial folds on her face became much lighter.
“Hint?” Dumbledore’s face showed confusion.
Scott said: “It was you who told me that magic is the power of belief. Although it was just a short sentence, this sentence broke my inherent knowledge and made me take a big step forward in the art of transformation.”
“Oh, this is not worthy of thanks, I just mentioned it in passing.” Dumbledore also smiled happily.
Professor Flitwick coughed, “Let’s get back to Mr. Bode.”
He asked the other two professors, “What do you think his purpose is?”
Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall both shook their heads.
“I don’t know what Mr. Bode wanted me to do,” said Scott, “because I have been ignoring him and Miss Grapeland.”
After a pause, he continued: “When the Carlo brothers and sisters attacked me, I briefly sensed Mr. Bode’s magic power. I suspect that he has his shadow behind many things, such as that weird trial.”
“Magic perception? But this cannot be used as evidence.” Dumbledore shook his head.
Scott nodded, “On the surface, he didn’t do anything. He just made some moves to win over and threaten me as a senior of the Scholars Alliance. And this threat only blocked some of my permissions within the Scholars Alliance. This It’s nothing.”
Dumbledore thought for a moment.
“Now I can only ask my acquaintances who work in the Ministry of Magic to pay more attention to him.”
“That’s all.” Professor McGonagall said.
She stared at Scott again, “And you, Mr. Trollope, please remember to pay attention to safety, don’t cause trouble again, and notify your professor in time if anything happens!”
“I know, professor.” Scott agreed obediently.
Dumbledore laughed, “Do you need help, Scott? I can talk to Broderick personally and ask him to open permissions within the Scholars Union for you.”
Professor Flitwick also laughed, “Oh, I believe he will restrain himself a lot this way. He even becomes panicked because he doesn’t know why Albus knows about him. Moreover, being targeted by Albus Wizards are always nervous.”
“Will this make him more cautious?” Scott said, “Besides, I don’t want to open any permissions. Just like what I said to Miss Grappland, I don’t think there is any authority within the Scholars Union. A better professor than Hogwarts.”
Now, even Professor McGonagall smiled.
“Although I would like to say that you should not look down on other wizards.” She smiled and said, “But, of course, Hogwarts is the best magic school in the world.”
Professor Flitwick nodded, “Although it would be a bit immodest to say so, obviously, I think so too.”
“Then let someone keep an eye on Broderick first.” Dumbledore said, “A person can only do some unknown things conveniently when no one is watching.”
After the conversation, Scott said goodbye to the three professors and left Professor McGonagall’s office.
“Scott!”
Scott looked in the direction of the voice and found that his three roommates and Luna were standing at the other end of the corridor waiting for him.
Scott strode to his companions.
“Are you okay, Scott?” Luna looked up at him and asked with concern.
“I’m fine.” Scott said.
“Did the professors deduct points from us?” Milton asked anxiously, “The semester is about to end, and Ravenclaw can’t lose the house cup because of us.”
Hearing him say this, Roger and Eddie also became nervous.
Scott understood their thoughts.
In this school year, due to the sabotage of Snape and Sirius, Gryffindor and Slytherin were deducted too many points and lost the qualification to compete for the House Cup.
With such a good opportunity, even the Hufflepuffs who never like to compete for the first place also worked hard.
Although Ravenclaw ranks first in the current house score ranking, the difference between its score and Hufflepuff is not too big.
If Ravenclaw loses the House Cup this year because of the deduction of points for the five of them, they will probably be blamed by many people in the house.
Scott did not answer Milton’s question immediately, but looked at their expressions again.
His three roommates looked at him nervously, only Luna, after knowing that he was fine, began to daydream, obviously not caring about the House Cup.
Scott finally spoke when his three roommates were about to fight.
He smiled and said, “Don’t worry, no points were deducted.”
“Great!”
“We are still the champions!”
“Thank Merlin, thank the professor!”
“Because you guys were making a lot of noise in the corridor, Ravenclaw will be deducted 5 points.”
A voice that did not belong to them suddenly sounded.
The unique accent ruthlessly revealed the identity of the person who came.
Scott’s three roommates who were cheering immediately fell silent.
Snape, who appeared from the corner of the corridor, sneered, his black robe fluttered, and strode past them.
It was not until he pushed open Professor McGonagall’s office and walked into it that the three frightened people breathed a sigh of relief.
“Scott!” Eddie stared and lowered his voice, “Why didn’t you remind us?”
Roger stepped forward and hugged Scott’s neck with his strong arms.
“Eddie is right. I believe you have sensed Snape’s magic a long time ago, but you didn’t say anything.”
“It’s not my fault.” Scott said, “Who would have thought that he would be deducted points for this reason? You know, today is the weekend.”
Snape was just in a bad mood and was looking for an opportunity to ignore them.
But he was still sensible. A mere 5 points was just a small pain for Ravenclaw.
“Humph.” Eddie said a little unhappy, “I haven’t thought about the fact that he suddenly spoke and let the two gangsters escape. Who knows if he did it on purpose.”
“Shh, don’t talk about this.” Roger let go of Scott’s neck and looked around. “Let the professors handle this matter.”
Eddie glanced at the door of Professor McGonagall’s office and closed his mouth.
“Let’s go, let’s make up for the missed lunch.”
Several people walked towards the stairs together.
Scott thought Snape must have done it on purpose.
This would allow him to better gain Voldemort’s trust.
This is also the performance he should have as a double agent.
On the way to the kitchen, Eddie kept pouting and looked unhappy.
Scott asked him, “Did you say that other colleges also wanted to shoot promotional videos, and you took the job of post-editing? Now I am helping Fred and George with post-production, and you haven’t asked me to borrow the [magic mirror].”
“Oh, that was the case, but they didn’t ask me again later, probably because they haven’t finished shooting the material yet.” Eddie shrugged his shoulders, “This is normal, not everyone can be a director…”
Speaking of business, Eddie began to talk endlessly, forgetting the unpleasantness just now.
Chatting about more pleasant topics, several people came to the kitchen in the basement and had a delicious meal.
In the kitchen, Scott, who saw Lulu, suddenly remembered the house elf Tata who sneaked into Hogwarts with Carlo.
“Lulu.”
He just called out, and Lulu ran to him at the fastest speed.
“Dear little wizard, Lulu is here. Do you need anything else? If you want to eat something else, I can make it for you right away!”
“There is enough food, Lulu.” Scott said, “What I want to ask is, the house elf Tata brought by Carlo that night…”
“Tata!” Lulu immediately widened his eyes and screamed, “Tata, the bad elf!”
“Yes, where is it now?” Scott asked.
Lulu turned around and ran away. After a while, it ran back with another house elf in a rough manner.
“Here, Tata is here!” Lulu said loudly, “This bad elf attacked the students of Hogwarts. The respected principal asked Lulu to look at her. Lulu and her companions have been staring at her. , didn’t let her escape!”
Scott looked at Tata who was being pulled by Lulu.
Tata looked a little miserable.
There is a scar on his forehead that has not yet healed, and there are some purple scars on his body, and the tea towel around him has turned into a dirty rag.
“It’s you!”
Tata glared at Scott with hatred, and his eyes the size of tennis balls were about to pop out.
“It was you, it was you who let my little master be captured!” It raised its skinny fingers towards Scott.
“how dare you!”
Lulu screamed and punched Tata in the chest, knocking it to the ground.
Tata cried loudly, “My poor little master, Tata is useless!”
As he said that, he got up and bumped his head against the table leg.
Clang.
The food on the table was knocked out and Tata added another injury to his forehead.
“You bad elf!”
Lulu yelled angrily, rushed up and threw Tata to the ground, beating it hard.
“Bad Tata!”
“You did something bad again, Tata!”
“How dare you attack our little wizard from Hogwarts!”
The other house elves in the kitchen were stunned.
After a while, they also dropped what they were doing and rushed over, starting to beat Tata crazily.
The kitchen was in complete chaos, and Tata’s wails continued to sound.
At this moment, the kitchen door was pushed open, and Harry walked in with Ron and Hermione, looking at the chaotic scene in shock.
“What are you doing!” Hermione screamed and rushed forward, “Stop it! Stop it!”
The house elves all obeyed and stopped.
Looking at Tata lying on the ground covered with scars, Hermione exclaimed and covered her mouth.
“How could this happen?” She looked at the miserable Tata in disbelief.
“what happened?”
“So house elves fight with each other?”
Harry and Ron walked over to Scott and the others and asked softly.
At this time, Hermione turned her head and glared at Scott and the others.
“It’s really unbelievable. You are actually watching this happen?”
Scott glanced at her and continued to eat calmly.
“Oh, it’s a misunderstanding,” Milton said.
“What misunderstanding?” Hermione asked a little aggressively, “I only saw you enjoying the delicious food while watching a poor house elf being beaten!”
Eddie shrugged, “It’s not pathetic, to be honest.”
Hermione became even more angry, “Do you have to watch her being beaten to death to be called pitiful?”
Eddie shook his head, curled his lips again, and imitated Scott and continued to eat calmly.
“Hermione!” Harry quickly ran over and grabbed her, “We should first ask what exactly happened.”
Hermione’s breathing hitched.
“It’s already clear that these poor little guys are working for free! No rest, no wages, not even a good pair of clothes!”
She glared at Scott and the others again.
“What’s even more frightening is that they are still bullying each other ignorantly. This is precisely because of the wizards’ cruel exploitation and cold watching!”
Her voice was loud and full of anger.
The group of house elves shook their heads crazily as they listened.
When Hermione finished speaking, they immediately began to scream.
“horrible!”
“terrible!”
“rest!”
“Wages!”
“clothes!”
“It’s so terrible!”
“How could there be such a scary little wizard!”
“This is a crime!”
“A good house-elf never needs that!”
“We can’t have any more contact with her!”
They covered their ears and ran away, as if they were escaping from a terrible virus.
When Lulu escaped, she didn’t forget to drag Tata away with her.
Hermione looked at their reactions in a daze, trembling with anger.
“I just want to help them!”
She couldn’t understand the scene before her.
“Sit down first.” Scott raised his head and said calmly, “Let’s wait until you calm down.”
Hermione sat opposite Scott angrily, staring at him blankly.
“I can’t calm down!”
She was obviously very upset.
“Then let’s wait and see.”
Scott raised his hand to stop her next words.
He turned to Harry with a smile and said, “By the way, congratulations on winning the Quidditch championship, Harry.”
“Thank you.” Harry smiled.
“Aren’t you celebrating? Why are you here?” Roger asked sourly, “Didn’t you eat and drink enough at the celebration banquet?”
Ron didn’t notice Roger’s sourness at all. He said happily in a show-off tone: “Oh, the celebration is still going on. Everyone is going crazy with joy. We are responsible for calling the house elves here to deliver some more food.” and drinks over.”
“Do you still have time to be happy?”
Hermione on the side gasped in anger.
“If it weren’t for this, I wouldn’t have known that Hogwarts had such a group of house elves!”
She was in disbelief, as if her faith had collapsed.
“I mean, this is Hogwarts, the best magic school in the world, why would you tolerate such inhumane things!”
Everyone present looked at him with puzzled eyes.
“You just know?” Eddie couldn’t help but ask, “Then who do you think is helping you carry your luggage, wash your clothes, and clean your dormitory?”
“I…I always thought that was all Hogwarts magic.” Hermione said a little embarrassed.
“I don’t know what you are angry about.” Ron looked at her in confusion, “House elves like to work, and it is their nature to serve wizards. My mother wanted one, but it’s a pity that our family has no way. keep.”
Hermione retorted, “This is wrong! You must be paid for your work!”
Ron curled his lips, “You can’t go against the innate nature of a creature, although this nature sounds a bit strange.”
Hermione did not agree with his point of view, “I don’t believe this is nature. This is the enslavement of a race by wizards and magical transformation. This must be sinful!”
“Why do you think so?” Scott said slowly, “Human beings have tamed other animals to serve themselves since ancient times. Muggles also use cattle and horses to cultivate the land and carry goods, but no one will give Those cows and horses pay the wages.”
Hermione looked at Scott again with wide eyes and an expression of disbelief.
“This is different! House elves have the same intelligence as humans!” she said. “You should respect them and call them he or she, not it!”
Scott shrugged, “For me, they are not human, that’s enough.”
“This is arrogance! Complete arrogance!” Hermione’s face turned red, and her anger was about to burst out. “It’s hard to understand that you would have such an idea!”
Scott did not get angry with her, but said calmly: “Cows and horses also have intelligence and are alive, but their intelligence is not as good as that of humans.”
He looked up at Hermione.
“If you have the same intelligence as humans, you can be treated as equals as humans. If you don’t have the same intelligence as humans, you can be treated as livestock. Is this another kind of arrogance?”
“This is wrong…” Hermione said anxiously, “This is wrong…”
However, she seemed to have been wrapped up in Scott’s logic, and she was unable to refute it for a while.
Scott keeps up the good work.
“Since ancient times, humans have been fighting against the cruel nature for survival. Animals are part of nature, and of course, so are magical animals.”
“Whether the habits of today’s house elves are natural or tamed by wizards, these are the results of the cruel struggles of ancient wizards.”
“Survival is so cruel.”
“Human beings at the top of the food chain are the result of millions of years of evolutionary struggle.”
“We cannot waste the fruits of victory gained by our ancestors after their bloody battles, let alone betray their efforts for humanity.”
Hermione’s eyes flickered when she heard what he said.
Scott knew she was actually a little confused.
“But that’s not right.” She said stubbornly, her voice much softer.
“There is nothing wrong with that.” Scott said, “Our difference is that you equate alien races with humans, but I don’t recognize this equation. Human beings conquering them is the fruit of victory after human struggle, and there is no shame in enjoying this victory. ”
“Don’t you have sympathy or empathy?” Hermione looked at Scott as if she was meeting him for the first time.
Scott shook his head, “I’m sorry, my sympathy and empathy can be given to any human being, whether it’s a wizard or a Muggle. But non-human races are non-human beings, why should we treat them as humans?”
“They themselves don’t want to be regarded as humans.” Ron muttered. “The Ministry of Magic once wanted to classify centaurs as humans, but they refused. They firmly believed that they were animals.”
Scott shrugged at Hermione again.
“You are just making excuses! In today’s Muggle world, even animals have protection laws!” Hermione seemed to have recovered from Scott’s logic, “I just want to fight for some deserved rights for house elves. What’s wrong with this!”
With red eyes, she stood up suddenly and ran out of the kitchen crying.
