Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 368 Dobby's Three Tasks
Jon looked at Dobby with a strange expression.
"Observation? Is it open observation or covert observation?"
Dobby finally revealed his face completely from behind the leaves, his face full of pride as he said this.
"The master asked Dobby to secretly observe Mr. Green, but Dobby certainly won't do that. Dobby knows that Dumbledore and Green are great wizards. Dobby has no way to disobey the task assigned to me by the master, but he can also tell Mr. Green about this!"
After Dobby finished saying this, his face, which was originally full of pride, suddenly turned hideous . He began to bang his head against the tree trunk beside him in a self-mutilating manner, while screaming continuously.
"Bad elf! Dobby is a bad elf!"
It's not that he can't control this self-harming behavior, but the slave mentality that has been integrated into his instinct makes him subconsciously unable to accept any behavior that betrays his master.
Jon looked at Dobby, who, after hitting his forehead a few times, stopped breathing and hugged the tree trunk with both hands, and couldn't help but think of his deeds in the original book.
This house-elf from the Malfoy family is completely an outlier among the elves.
Although he also has the most basic master-servant concept between elves and wizards, this concept is subordinate to his own concept of good and evil.
In other words, it was true that he was serving the Malfoy family, but he strongly disagreed with what the Malfoy family did. In addition, the Malfoy family's attitude towards elves could be said to be quite harsh, which made this outlier among the elves not like his master at all, and even hated him.
It's just that in the original book, Dobby admired Harry Potter because he knew that it was Harry Potter who defeated the Dark Lord and regarded him as a hero.
Now that Harry Potter is no longer around, Dobby naturally has no one to admire, but he still respects Dumbledore and has a good impression of John.
So when he said that he took advantage of a loophole in Malfoy's orders and told what he observed, it was highly credible.
If another house-elf had come here, Jon would definitely be very wary. Of course, no normal person would let a house-elf do this.
"Can you come down so we can talk?"
Jon invited him.
It was getting dark and the castle's curfew was not long away. There were no students from Hogwarts Castle on the Black Lake side, only Jon was left there.
Dobby took this in stride, climbing down the tree trunk and coming over to Jon.
"How long have you been watching me from that tree?"
"Today is the first day, Mr. Green!" Dobby said, "The master just called Dobby out of the house yesterday and assigned the task this morning."
"So, you were already there when I arrived at the Black Lake this afternoon?"
"Yes!"
After hearing his answer, Jon understood why Lucius was willing to let Dobby spy on him.
House-elves are a special magical race. Even without wands, they can use their fingers to perform magic that is completely different from wizards. If Dobby wants to hide, it will be difficult for Jon to find him, unless he walks out of the tree like he is now and wants Jon to find him.
Dobby seemed to realize at this moment that Jon might mind that he had been peeping for an entire afternoon, and he waved his hand hurriedly.
"But Dobby didn't mean to stay in the tree and watch Mr. Green. There are many of the young master's classmates in the castle by the lake. Dobby couldn't show up in front of them, otherwise the young master would definitely know about it."
"I certainly don't blame you for this, Dobby, and don't call me Mr. Green, just call me Jon."
Jon said casually, then sat down on the grass.
Dobby stared at him blankly, as if he had heard something shocking.
"Mr. Green... Sir, let Dobby call his name!"
Hearing him subconsciously raise the volume, Jon couldn't help but speak.
"Don't get too excited, okay, Dobby? I'm just calling out a name. Maybe this is really shocking to a bad wizard like your master, but you know that I'm a good wizard who knows how to respect others and is civilized and well-mannered. 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 and seemed to have calmed down a lot, but his big eyes were still looking at Jon excitedly.
"Okay, okay, Jon, Jon!"
"Yes, that's right. Just call me Jon. Since you are willing to help me, even at the cost of disobeying 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, can I ask you something about your master?"
Dobby seemed to have made a great effort and finally sat down opposite Jon, but even though he was sitting on the grass, he still looked so cramped.
"There are some things about my master that I cannot tell you. There is no way for an elf to betray his master unless he is abandoned."
Jon thought for a moment, then suddenly smiled and said.
"But it's reasonable for an elf to hide something for his master, right? Then we can do this. I'll ask you some questions that only require a yes or no answer, and you will of course lie to me to protect your master's secret, right?"
Dobby's face showed a blank look for a few seconds, as if he didn't understand what Jon said, but soon his already smart brain reacted and he nodded vigorously.
"Yes! Dobby wanted to hide the password from his master and couldn't tell the truth to Jon!"
After determining the next communication mode with Dobby, Jon quickly asked the first question.
"Dobby's master asked Dobby to come to Hogwarts to observe Jon. Dobby's master's master also knew about this, right?"
The next moment, Dobby shook his head like a rattle, and the action was very natural, without a trace of guilt.
"No! Master Dobby's master doesn't know about this!"
That's it.
John understood 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, he was not the real owner of the castle. He would definitely make all the elves here loyal to him, otherwise it would definitely be a hidden danger.
And now Dobby suddenly appeared in the castle, there was no way Voldemort didn't know about it, or Lucius didn't have the courage not to report it to Voldemort.
In other words, after the first game, the ones who wanted to observe and spy on him were not the Malfoys, but Voldemort?
"Then Dobby has no other mission after coming to Hogwarts except to observe me, right?"
Dobby nodded happily.
"Yeah, no, Dobby's only job is to watch Jon!"
Jon tapped his chin with his fingers, thinking before continuing to ask.
"The person who gave Dobby other tasks was Dobby's master's master, right?"
"right!"
Hearing this answer, Jon's brows frowned involuntarily.
Not Voldemort?
Then there's only Lucius left. What else can he get Dobby to do?
Thinking in his mind, Jon then asked tentatively.
"Dobby also has a mission to protect the young master?"
"No!"
"Are these the only two tasks Dobby has?"
"Yes!"
"Are there other tasks?" Jon was a little confused.
Dobby was the house-elf of the Malfoy family. It should have been Lucius who took the initiative to ask him to observe himself, and Voldemort agreed to it. As for secretly protecting Draco, it must have been Lucius who gave Dobby the order privately.
So what else would they let Dobby do?
Voldemort probably has nothing more to explain. With his arrogant character, he even looks down on the Muggles, so how could he entrust such important matters to the house-elf?
Besides, even if he really needed an elf to do something for him, there were so many candidates in Hogwarts Castle, and there was no need to go to such a waste by borrowing from the Malfoy family.
That means Lucius could only have other things planned for Dobby.
As Jon was thinking, he looked up and happened to meet Dobby's big, shining eyes. He could feel that Dobby was looking at him expectantly.
Suddenly Jon had an idea and asked.
"Dobby has another mission that is related to me, and it was Dobby's master who ordered him to do this?"
"wrong!"
Dobby said firmly.
This made Jon even more certain of certain things.
"Dobby's master asked Dobby to see if he could find an opportunity to meet me quietly, but he did not allow Dobby to meet me, nor did he tell Dobby why he had to do this, right?"
"no!"
Dobby answered louder, more excited and agitated.
At this time, Jon finally understood what kind of mission Dobby was responsible for.
After hearing all this, he couldn't help but sneer in his heart, but he didn't show it on his face. Instead, he expressed his gratitude to Dobby from the bottom of his heart.
"Thank you so much for telling me this, Dobby."
"You're welcome. Dobby didn't do anything. Dobby just lied to Jon." Dobby said this without any guilt in his tone, because only now did he tell the truth. He had indeed lied to Jon before.
A deception that both the man and the elf knew about.
After learning from Dobby about some of Lucius's dirty thoughts, Jon stood up from the grass again.
"It's getting late. I have to go back to the carriage. Dobby, don't hide anything about today. If your master asks, tell him everything I did this afternoon, but keep the conversation we just had secret."
"Understood! Dobby knows that he cannot disobey his master's orders, but he can tell him some things later for his master's good!"
"Yes, that's right, that's it."
Jon praised that Dobby was indeed different from all the house-elves he had seen before.
"Goodbye then, Jon. Dobby will be going back too."
Dobby said this and disappeared into the air right in front of Jon.
House-elves can of course use Apparition freely within the school, but the anti-Apparition here also places restrictions on their magic, so that although they can teleport freely, they cannot take others with them.
In addition, all the elves in the castle have pledged allegiance to Voldemort himself, which means that there is no possibility for Dumbledore and others to take advantage of the loophole of the house-elves.
In fact, Jon privately felt that the reason why Voldemort was so wary of the magic of house-elves might be related to a betrayal he had experienced.
A young man from a pure-blood family named Black, whom he once trusted very much, used the magic of the house-elf to set a trap for him in such a critical matter.
Now that Voldemort has recovered the split soul in the Horcrux, he must have discovered the trap, so he can basically guess who did it and how they did it.
Having made a mistake once, a smart person like him would definitely not make the same mistake a second time.
After Dobby left, Jon did not stay by the Black Lake any longer.
He went straight back to the horse farm which was still parked at the edge of the Forbidden Forest, entered the carriage and walked directly towards Dumbledore's office.
After knocking on the door and walking in, he spoke to Dumbledore with a somewhat sarcastic smile on his face.
"Professor, we haven't even won completely yet, but some people are already unable to hold back."
…
Hermione's dormitory. After Mrs. Grey and Hermione reached an agreement at the beginning, she kept her promise and never left the carriage.
And Hermione did not hide from her that she had conducted a search in the castle, but she did not say clearly what she was looking for.
"So 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, in case someone treats me as a fool!"
Mrs. Grey looked very angry, as if she was very dissatisfied with Hermione's words that she got nothing.
"Did you not gain anything, or did you just make a promise to me at the beginning to perfunctorily accept it, and you actually had no intention of helping me find the crown!"
Faced with her questioning, Hermione's expression did not change, she just spoke calmly.
"I seldom make promises to anyone, Ms. Grey. Since I promised you, I will do my best to do it. You don't have to doubt it. I didn't lie. When I entered the castle, I didn't find what you asked me to find."
"But I heard some clues from another person. He said he once saw a tiara in the headmaster's room in Hogwarts Castle."
