Chapter 555 Let’s start with the investigation, Hermione

Wade flipped through Hermione’s proposal and said, “I took a look. The short-term goal of your House-Elf Rights Promotion Association is to… allow house-elves to receive reasonable wages and a good working environment.”

The proposal detailed how much pay and vacation time the house-elves should receive for the various jobs they were responsible for.

“And your long-term goal,” Weed turned to the next page, “is to free all house-elves from slavery, improve their legal status, allow them to use wands, and also try to get an elf into the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures?”

“That’s right.” Hermione nodded vigorously and said, “Of course, I know this is difficult, so we can achieve short-term goals first! The first thing is to prohibit wizards from cruelly abusing house-elves!”

After a pause, Hermione stared at everyone and said, “I’ve noticed that there are still many wizards who abuse and beat their house-elves. Wasn’t that the case with Dobby when he was at the Malfoys’?”

“But Hermione…” Padma said in confusion, “This is not the first day you’ve known this. Why did you suddenly have… this idea?”

“Yes, yes, but I thought that was an isolated case!” Hermione frowned and said, “After all, that’s Malfoy, right? They would treat their elves like this, to be honest, I’m not surprised. Later I heard that Dobby was hired by Wade…”

She turned her gaze to Wade, her expression somewhat tangled and complicated: “I heard about the working conditions you gave it, and I thought that was normal. I didn’t expect…”

She took a deep breath and said angrily, “I didn’t expect that other house-elves don’t get this treatment! Even Hogwarts is the same! More than a hundred elves work day and night, without sick leave or allowances, and without any proper treatment!”

Hermione’s tone was full of disappointment and disdain, as if to say – Dumbledore is nothing more than that.

Everyone looked at each other.

Theo said, “But, Hermione, maybe you don’t quite understand… house-elves like to work for wizards. It’s just their nature.”

“They don’t need compensation or freedom. The elves think such things are insulting to them,” Michael also said.

Vader raised his hand and everyone else fell silent.

“Hermione, I think you are right. The slavery of house-elves by wizards is indeed a historical legacy, and most people turn a blind eye to the suffering of elves.”

“You are very brave and noble to put forward such an idea,” said Weed. “Even though many people will laugh at your idea, history will prove that you are right to fight for equality for other races, even ahead of our time.”

Everyone looked at Wade in surprise, only Michael curled his lips and whispered to Padma beside him: “I guess there must be a ‘but’ behind it.”

Hermione blushed at Wade’s praise, and said shyly and happily, “Actually, I just think… this is a serious social injustice, and wrong behavior should be corrected.”

“But I only saw the description of the current situation of house-elves and the two goals of the club in your proposal.” Wade put down the proposal, looked at Hermione, and asked softly: “What are you going to do specifically?”

Speaking of this, Hermione suddenly became energetic. She subconsciously imitated Professor McGonagall’s teaching and said seriously:
“Of course I’ve thought about it!”

“The first thing is to recruit members. Participants have to pay two silver Sickles, which we can use to print and distribute flyers.”

“Then, I plan to convince the house-elves at Hogwarts first and let them know that they are enslaved and should ask the school for compensation and holidays. This is what they deserve!”

“The next step is to free the house-elves of the school. I checked and we students can also be considered the masters of Hogwarts. If I give them clothes, they may be able to gain their freedom!”

Hearing this, everyone became uneasy – why was every knife aimed at Hogwarts?

Especially the last operation of releasing the elves, it sounds like it could really be done! They exchanged glances, and then Harry whispered, “Hermione, if there are no house-elves in the school, who will help us clean and cook?”

“We can do the work ourselves! Or we can pay someone to clean the common areas!” Hermione glared at Harry: “Harry, do you also think that we have to rely on oppressing house elves to make a living?”

“No, no.” Harry explained weakly: “You know, when I was at the Dursleys’, I was almost like a house elf.”

“That’s right!” Hermione slammed the table and said loudly, “So you should understand even more that we urgently need to change the miserable situation of the elves!”

“But releasing the house-elves directly is a bit too radical.” Wade said, “Hermione, have you ever thought about how the elves will survive after they are free?”

He gave an example to prove his point: “Dobby had a hard time finding a job at first and almost became homeless. If this was the case for just one elf, if more than a hundred elves were freed at the same time… have you ever thought about the consequences for them?”

Hermione was speechless. After thinking for a long time, she stammered, “The world is so big, I should be able to find a job…right? Didn’t you hire Dobby?”

“Yes. But it would be a bit presumptuous to assume that they can all find employers. Without their families, the elves may starve to death, or turn to crime and be killed by radical wizards – is that what you want?” said Wade.

Hermione stopped talking, she pursed her lips, but her face still showed disapproval.

“Look,” Weed said, “You think they should be free and not enslaved; I think releasing them rashly will make the elves’ situation worse. Most people think that house-elves like to be enslaved… But either way, it’s actually our own opinion.”

Hermione’s eyes moved and she looked up at Vader.

“This is still the arrogance of wizards, Hermione.” Wade said bluntly: “If you want to do something for them, you should first listen to the real needs of the elves instead of making decisions for them directly.”

“I suggest that you don’t rush to recruit members and force wizards to change their minds. Instead, you should do a questionnaire first to understand what the elves need.”

“Don’t ask them if they want freedom – this will make most elves very disgusted and affect your subsequent activities. You should ask them -“

“Do you feel tired from working every day? Do you have time to rest? How will you be treated if you make a mistake? Do you have enough food and shelter? Can you get medical treatment if you are injured?”

“Would you be happy if you were thanked by your master? If you were rewarded, what would you like to buy with it?”

“If you have the opportunity to try different jobs, would you like to change? What is your favorite job? What do you hate the most? What do you think of Dobby’s current life?”

“If they leave Hogwarts one day, will their lives improve? Will they want to change their current situation? If he can arrange his own life freely one day, what will he choose to do?”

“Only by understanding the elf’s true thoughts can you come up with a practical plan – do you think what I said makes sense, Hermione?” Wade asked.

Hermione looked into those grey eyes, the candlelight casting dappled colours in them, rendering the winter mist-like eyes a warm orange.

She was speechless for a moment, and a flush of shame crept up her face. But soon, Hermione’s face lit up again with the glow of an idealist.

“I see. I need real, reliable data so that I can think from the perspective of a house-elf!”

She immediately got into work mode, pulled out a roll of blank parchment from her schoolbag, and began to write the investigation report quickly and attentively.

(End of this chapter)