bioinnovel Chapter 275 Wild Ideas
Chapter 275 Wild Ideas
Chapter 275 Wild Ideas
Hermione Granger sat up straight, head held high, and began to report her goals and plans in a serious and methodical manner.
The House-Elf Rights Promotion Association aims to protect house-elves.
We need to fight for the rights of house-elves in the short term, ensuring they have a good working environment and receive reasonable wages.
The association's long-term goals are even more ambitious: not only to abolish the law that prohibits house-elves from possessing wands, but also to allow house-elves to get involved in the Ministry of Magic and enter politics.
When Hermione finished explaining her goals and plans, Belvina fell silent. Was this something a human could come up with?
Seeing Belvina sitting there like a statue, neither moving nor speaking, Hermione, who had just been in high spirits, immediately panicked.
If even the usually open-minded Belvina cannot be persuaded, the path for the Rights Promotion Association will likely be far more difficult than anticipated.
Hermione was flustered and fidgety, while Harry and Ron were secretly delighted.
As long as Hermione fails to establish the House-Elf Rights Promotion Association, they won't have to suffer along with her.
After a long silence, Belvina slowly spoke, her tone serious: "Hermione, after graduating from Hogwarts, are you interested in working for the Ministry of Magic?"
With just one sentence, Hermione, Harry, and Ron, who had different stances, were all dumbfounded.
What does this mean? Why are you suddenly inviting Hermione (me) to work at the Ministry of Magic?
Belvina continued, "Your wild ideas are perfect for the Ministry of Magic; the Ministry needs people like you!"
Even though her dear, beloved Professor Black spoke with utmost seriousness, Hermione could still detect the sarcasm in his words. The sarcasm was so obvious that it couldn't be concealed.
"Hermione, you should have learned about goblin rebellion in your history of magic class, right?" Belvina asked, rubbing her temples. She had never seen anyone more outlandish than Hermione. Could laws be abolished just like that?
Although she didn't know why Belvina asked that question, Hermione answered honestly.
"The goblin rebellion was a series of rebellions launched by goblins against the prejudice and discrimination of wizards against them," Hermione said, emphasizing each word. "The goblin rebellion was particularly prevalent in the 17th and 18th centuries."
At this point, Hermione paused to think, then added, "In 1631, the Ministry of Magic passed a wand ban, strictly prohibiting goblins from possessing wands. Goblins were strongly dissatisfied with this, which is why there were so many rebellions in the 17th and 18th centuries."
Harry and Ron, standing nearby, were completely bewildered. Had this been covered in their History of Magic class? Had Professor Binns mentioned it?
Professor Binns's History of Magic class was extremely dry and boring; most students would fall asleep in his class, and even those with insomnia would sleep soundly.
"If you're going to repeal the law that forbids house-elves from possessing wands, what about fairies?" Belvina asked. "If fairies could legally possess wands, what do you think would be the first thing they do after getting one?"
Upon hearing this, Harry and Ron exchanged a glance. The two, who were complete idiots when it came to magical history, couldn't imagine it; they didn't know much about the goblin race.
"They might be secretly gathering strength, plotting a new rebellion—" Hermione said uncertainly, "Probably not—"
"Why not?" Belvina said. "Wizards have been lording it over goblins for centuries. Once goblins are legally allowed to possess wands, will they still tolerate wizards sitting on their heads?"
Harry and Ron were shocked. Wouldn't that mean a war would break out between wizards and goblins?
"Don't spout naive nonsense like peaceful coexistence. Wizards and fairies can't possibly live in peace," Belvina continued. "Wizards can't even tolerate their own kind, let alone fairies who aren't of their kind."
Hermione was speechless; she had to admit that the plan to abolish the ban on wands was indeed ill-considered.
Even if only part of the ban on wands is repealed, allowing only house-elves to possess wands, the fairies will still rebel.
Why should house-elves be allowed to have wands while fairies can't? Isn't this blatant discrimination and prejudice? In that case, the fairies' rebellion will become perfectly justified.
Aside from house-elves and fairies, what about other magical creatures? Should they be allowed to possess wands? Would they rebel?
She couldn't think any further. Hermione felt a throbbing pain in her head, a pain that was almost unbearable.
"It seems you've figured it out yourself, so let's talk about another long-term goal, about getting house-elves involved in politics," Belvina said slowly, intending to refute Hermione's plan point by point.
"No need, I know it's not realistic." Hermione abruptly raised her hand, declining Belvina's "kindness."
The same question remains: what about goblins, centaurs, and merfolk if house-elves are allowed to enter the Ministry of Magic and meddle in politics? More importantly, if Belvina continues to argue, Hermione worries that her head might explode.
Seeing Hermione's overloaded state, Belvina immediately abandoned her plan to refute point by point, no longer wanting to destroy the future of wizarding society.
With Belvina remaining silent, the warm and bright office fell silent once again.
Hermione lowered her head in thought, Belvina turned to look out the window, and Harry and Ron stared at each other, slurping their tea.
Both being fourth-year students at Hogwarts, Hermione was already contemplating grand topics like freeing house-elves, while Harry and Ron seemed like they hadn't grown up yet, living carefree lives.
After Harry and Ron each downed three cups of tea, Hermione, whose brain had been overloaded, finally regained her composure and her confidence in the House-Elf Rights Promotion Society.
Lifting the ban on wands and allowing house-elves to enter politics are indeed unrealistic and could easily lead to various problems, even irreversible consequences.
However, Hermione still felt that the House-Elf Rights Association was very necessary. House-elves are not fairies, and their situation was so miserable that it had to be improved!
"Professor, is there really nothing commendable about the House-Elf Rights Promotion Association?" Hermione asked tentatively.
Hermione thought for a moment and then added, "I just want to improve the living conditions of house-elves and I don't want to see wizards exploiting them so cruelly anymore."
"Since you mentioned the Department of Magical Creature Management and Control earlier, you should also know about the House-Elf Placement Office," Belvina said. "Do you know how people in the department describe this department?"
Before Hermione could answer, Belvina continued, "The most boring department. Every wizard who works in this department will try every means to transfer, either to another department or quit the Ministry of Magic altogether."
"Why?" Hermione asked, puzzled. "Shouldn't they be helping the house-children—"
"Because they have no work to do, and no house-elves need their help," Belvina interrupted Hermione's question.
She paused for a moment, then continued, "No matter how wizards treat house-elves, they will not complain to the Ministry of Magic, nor will they ask for relocation. Obedience is in their nature, and servility is ingrained in their bones."
"But," Hermione thought of Dobby, "Dobby longed for freedom. Dobby rebelled against Malfoy's enslavement and oppression of him—and didn't you pay him a salary?"
"My silly girl!" Belvina chuckled. "Besides Dobby, how many house-elves have you ever met? What makes you think Dobby represents all house-elves?"
Hermione was speechless again. She was a Muggle-born witch, and the only house-elves she had ever truly interacted with was Dobby.
The reason she wanted to establish a house-elf rights association was because she chatted with Harry at the Burrow during the summer vacation and learned that the Black family had a tradition of cutting off the heads of house-elves, which gave her the idea.
After Hogwarts started, Hermione learned from the nearly headless Nick that there were also house-elves at the school, and her desire to fight for the rights of house-elves grew stronger, which led to the ridiculous creation of SPEW.
Belvina stood up, picked up her coat from the hanger, and said, "Come on, I'll take you to see the house-elves and let you hear what they think."
As she spoke, Belvina put on her coat and opened the wooden door to her office.
Soon, the group of four arrived at the kitchen located in the castle's basement and stood in front of a painting depicting a large fruit bowl.
"Welcome to the Hogwarts kitchen. You will be warmly welcomed here," Belvina said, scratching the pear in the portrait with her finger.
The bright green pear began to wriggle, making a soft, laughing sound, and then transformed into a large green doorknob.
Belvina grabbed the doorknob, pulled the door open, and led the three naive girls into the kitchen.
Before Harry, Ron, and Hermione could even properly examine the kitchen, a large group of house-elves quickly gathered around, chattering incessantly.
These incredibly enthusiastic little ones chattered loudly as they pulled out a huge pile of snacks as a treat, and Harry and his friends' pockets were soon full.
The pockets of the three children's clothes were practically bursting, but the house-elves kept pulling out more snacks and stuffing them into their arms. Their enthusiasm made Harry, Ron, and the others feel incredibly burdened. Ron blushed and whispered to Harry, who was also blushing, "Every time Fred and George come to the kitchen looking for food, I think they've been to some hellhole, but all they have is this... Oh, thank you, don't take any more, I really can't hold any more... thank you..."
The trio kept thanking the house-elf; they had lost count of how many times they had said thank you, as the house-elf's enthusiasm was simply overwhelming.
Harry, Ron, and Hermione all looked to Belvina for help, hoping she could stop the enthusiastic house-elves from stuffing food into their arms!