Chapter 204
As soon as they descended the marble staircase, Hermione headed towards that door that Fred and George had entered the previous night to announce the names of the champions participating in the Tournament, and Albert, Harry, and Ron followed her down a set of stone steps, which, instead of ending in a narrow underground passage, they found themselves in a stone corridor lit by a series of lamps and decorated with a set of paintings bearing images of various foods. Albert said while they were in the middle of the corridor, "Oh... wait... wait a minute, Hermione."
She turned to him, asking, "What?"
Albert said, "I know what you want."
Ron said, looking at a painting bearing the image of a large silver platter, "Hermione... you're trying to drag us into that group matter again."
But she said, "No."
He returned to say, "And what are you doing here then? I will not enter the kitchen to ask them to stop working... I won't do that."
Hermione said impatiently, "I didn't ask you to do that. I came down here to talk to them, but I found... oh my God... come, Albert... I want you to see."
She grabbed his arm again to lead him in front of the painting of the silver fruit platter and pressed the peach on it, causing the painting to turn into a green door that Hermione opened to push Albert inside.
As soon as he entered, he saw a spacious place with a high ceiling, exactly like the ceiling of the Great Hall, with a large fireplace and stone walls, and while he was inspecting the chamber, he found a small thing rushing towards him, shouting, "Albert Black... friend of Master Harry Potter!"
Within seconds, Albert recognized him, and the small house-elf rushed towards him to wrap his arms around his legs.
Dobby finally let go of him and backed up a few steps to look at Albert with his extremely wide green eyes, which were overflowing with tears of great happiness after seeing Harry appear behind Albert.
When Dobby was serving the Malfoy family, he only wore a ragged tunic made of light cloth, but now he was wearing the strangest clothes Harry had ever seen before. He was wearing a hat and a necktie shaped like a horseshoe on his exposed chest, something that looked like football shorts, and old socks, one of which was the sock with which he tricked Mr. Malfoy and made him give it to Dobby, which was the reason for his liberation from his service, and the second was covered with pink and orange stripes. Harry said in astonishment, "Dobby, what are you doing here?"
Dobby said in his sharp voice, "Dobby came to work at Hogwarts, sir. Professor Dumbledore offered two jobs to me and Winky."
Harry asked again, "Winky?! Who is she?!"
Dobby wanted to answer, but Albert spoke first, saying, "Winky is the house-elf of Mr. Barty Crouch, one of the founders of the Triwizard Tournament."
After Harry understood the matter, he said, "Oh, I know him now, Dobby, is she here too?!"
Dobby answered him while leading Harry and Albert into the kitchen, "Yes, sir, yes!"
They stood in the middle of four long tables that Harry noticed were situated exactly below the four tables upstairs in the Great Hall, and there was no food on them now, as dinner had ended, but he knew that only an hour ago they were overflowing with varieties of food that were sent through that ceiling for the students to eat.
In the kitchen, about a hundred small elves were working non-stop, and they were all wearing the same uniform, the same hat bearing the Hogwarts crest, and the same necktie. Dobby stopped in front of the stone fireplace and pointed, saying, "Here is Winky, sir."
Winky was sitting on a small chair next to the fireplace, and she had gotten rid of the clothes Albert had seen her in before at the Quidditch World Cup when she went with Mr. Crouch, and she was wearing a short skirt and a blue jacket with a hat of the same color that had two openings for her large ears to come out of. In any case, everyone's clothes were clean and looked new despite their strange style, except for Winky, whose clothes were stained and the edges of her skirt were burnt... Albert said, "Hello, Winky."
Winky's lips trembled before she burst into tears, and heavy tears fell from her two gigantic brown eyes, just as she did at the Quidditch World Cup. Hermione said as she rushed towards her with Ron, "Oh my God... don't cry, Winky... please."
But Winky did not respond; instead, she began to cry more, while Dobby looked at Harry, then said in a voice louder than Winky's crying, "Does Master Harry Potter wish for a cup of tea?"
Harry said, "Uh... yes... alright."
Suddenly, a group of six house-elves appeared with a small silver trolley carrying a teapot and cups for Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Albert, some milk, and a large plate of biscuits... Ron said, "What wonderful service."
Hermione glared at him, but the group that brought the tea seemed happy with this comment, so they bowed deeply, then retreated. Harry asked, "How long have you been here, Dobby?"
Dobby replied happily, "Only a week, Master Harry Potter. Dobby came to meet Professor Dumbledore, sir, and as you know, sir, getting a new job after being dismissed is not easy for a house-elf... it is very difficult, sir!"
Here Winky's shouting and crying rose even more, but Dobby continued, "Dobby had been wandering all over the country for two whole years, sir, trying to find work, but Dobby did not find work, sir, because Dobby wants a wage for his work."
All the kitchen workers turned their faces away when they heard Dobby's words, as if he were saying something rude and embarrassing, but Hermione said, "That is better, Dobby."
Dobby smiled at her, saying, "Thank you, Miss, but most wizards do not want to employ a house-elf who wants to get a wage. They say that this is not one of the qualities of a house-elf, and they close their doors in Dobby's face! Dobby loves work, but he also likes to wear clothes and get a wage, Master Harry Potter... Dobby loves freedom!"
The elves working in the kitchen this time began to move away from Dobby as if he was carrying something with a bad smell, while Winky remained as she was, although the sound of her crying rose even more than before.
However, Dobby returned to continue, "Then Dobby came to visit Winky and found that she had also been freed, Master Harry Potter."
Here Winky left her small seat and went down to hit the stone floor with her fist in clear pain as she continued her screaming, and Hermione knelt beside her in an attempt to calm her down, but all her attempts failed.
Dobby continued to tell his story, shouting, "And here Dobby had an idea, Master Harry Potter. Why don't Dobby and Winky look for work together?? And where would be the place that is big enough for both of us?? And the idea came to me... it's Hogwarts, and that's why Dobby and Winky came here to meet Professor Dumbledore, sir, and he allowed us to work here."
Tears of joy began to appear again in Dobby's eyes as he continued, "And Professor Dumbledore said that he would pay Dobby a wage if Dobby wanted it, and thus Dobby became free, sir, and Dobby gets one gold piece weekly and a day off every month."
Hermione shouted from her place next to Winky on the floor, "That's not much."
Dobby said, trembling, "Professor Dumbledore offered ten gold pieces weekly and a week off every month, but Dobby did not accept. Dobby loves freedom, Miss, but he does not want much... he loves work."
Hermione asked, "And how much does Professor Dumbledore pay you, Winky?!"
Hermione thought this would be a source of pleasure for her, but she was wrong. Winky did not stop crying, but as soon as she stood up, she began to glare at Hermione with her large eyes, then said, "Winky has not received a wage yet. Winky is not happy with her freedom... Winky feels shame for this freedom!"
Hermione asked in astonishment, "Shame? But... Winky... Mr. Crouch is the one who should feel this shame. You did not commit any mistake. His treatment of you was awful."
The only effect of these words on Winky was that she pushed her hands to her ears to cover them so she wouldn't hear anything, then she said, "Do not say that about my master, Miss, do not insult Mr. Crouch. He is a good wizard, Miss, and he had the right to punish Winky!!"
Dobby said, "Winky is having trouble adjusting, Master Potter. She forgets that she is no longer bound to Mr. Crouch and is allowed to say what she wants, but she will not do that."
Harry asked, "Can't a house-elf say what they feel towards their master?"
Dobby answered him with surprising seriousness, "No... no, sir. It is part of the slavery, sir! We keep their secrets and maintain the honor of the family and do not speak ill of any of them, and although Professor Dumbledore told Dobby that he does not insist on that and told us that we are free to... to..."
Dobby suddenly became nervous, then approached Harry, whispering, "He said we are free to call him... the loony old goat... if we wish, sir."
Then he moved away from him and began to speak normally again, saying, "But Dobby does not want that, Master Harry Potter, as Dobby loves Professor Dumbledore very much, sir, and he is proud because he keeps his secrets."
Harry asked, smiling, "But you can say whatever you want about Malfoy now?"
A fleeting look of fear appeared in Dobby's eyes, so he said, "Dobby... Dobby can... he can tell Harry Potter that his old master was... was an evil Dark wizard!"
Then Dobby stood for a minute, trembling in terror, before heading to the nearest table and hitting his head against it violently. "Dobby is bad, Dobby is bad!!"
Harry grabbed him and moved him away from the table before Dobby said in fragmented breaths, "Thank you... thank you, Harry Potter!"
Harry said, "You need some training."
Winky said sharply, "Training... you should be ashamed of yourself, Dobby, for speaking about your masters in this manner."
Dobby said, "They are no longer my masters, and Dobby does not care about them now."
Winky returned to saying, tears streaming from her eyes, "You are an evil elf, Dobby... What do you think Master Crouch is doing without Winky? He needs me... he needs my help, and all his family needs me, just as my mother needed me before, and my grandmother before her... What will they say if they know that Winky has been freed?" Then she buried her face in her hands, continuing, "What a shame... what a shame!!"
Hermione said sharply, "Winky... I am sure Mr. Crouch is fine without you. We saw him."
Winky said in gasping breaths, "Did you see my master? Is he here at Hogwarts?"
Hermione answered her, "Yes... he and Mr. Bagman are members of the judging committee in the Triwizard Tournament."
Winky said, anger appearing again, "And is Mr. Bagman also present? Mr. Bagman is an evil wizard, and my master does not like him... he does not like him at all!"
Albert said, "Bagman... evil?"
Winky said, nodding, "Yes... my master used to tell me things... but Winky does not say... because Winky keeps her master's secrets??"
Then her eyes welled up again, and she said, "Poor my master... Winky is not there to help him... she is no longer there."
They had nothing to say to her, so they left her crying and finished drinking their tea, while Dobby continued to talk about his happiness with his freedom and his plans for spending his salary. He said, "Dobby will buy new shoes, Harry Potter!"
Albert intervened, saying, "Listen, Dobby... I will give you my shoes, which I have in abundance at my house. You don't mind that."
Joy appeared on Dobby, and Albert continued, "And maybe we will reduce their size to fit you, but they will be suitable with this hat!"
While they were getting ready to leave the place, some of the house-elves working there approached them to offer some food for them to take upstairs. Hermione and Albert refused, while Ron and Harry carried as much as their pockets could hold before thanking them and Harry bidding Dobby farewell, then heading to the door. Dobby asked, "Harry Potter... can Dobby come to visit you sometime, sir?"
Harry answered him, "Of course... of course, Dobby."
As soon as they left the kitchen, Ron said, "Do you know? I was surprised by the food that Fred and George get all the previous two years, but today I realized that it is not difficult... they cannot resist offering everything they have!"
Albert said, "I think this is the best thing that can happen to them. I mean, seeing the happiness Dobby feels after coming to work here will make them strive to be like him!"
Harry said, "Well... but let's hope they don't look at Winky too much."
Hermione said, "I think she will cheer up soon... when the effect of that shock wears off, and she gets used to staying at Hogwarts, she will know how her life will be better away from that person called Crouch."
Ron, who had just started eating one of the cakes, said, "But she seems to love him."
Harry said, "But she doesn't like Bagman... I wonder what Crouch told her about him?"
Hermione replied, "Maybe he told her that he is not doing his job properly... and if he did, he is right, isn't he?"
Ron said, "But I prefer working with him to working with Crouch... at least Bagman has a sense of humor."
Albert teased him, saying, "Don't let Percy hear you say that."
Ron said, as he began to eat a piece of candy, "Yes... Percy will not work with anyone who has a sense of humor, will he? He wouldn't understand any joke even if it stood in front of him clearly wearing Dobby's hat?"
To be continued....