"Sparkling?"
Harry repeated with confused eyes.
"The house-elf that was driven away by Crouch at the World Cup." Hermione was too lazy to even use the honorific, which showed how dissatisfied she was with Crouch's behavior. "When I was looking through the Daily Prophet to collect intelligence today, I found that Sirius mentioned that Crouch's house-elf proved that Barty Crouch Jr. was still alive. To be honest, I'm a little worried about Winky's situation..."
"Why are you worried..." Ron was interrupted by Hermione before he could finish his words.
"When I got there, I found the poor house-elf in a complete state of collapse."
Hermione felt sorry for Winky and felt sorry for her.
"Hasn't she been kicked out of the house by Crouch?" Ron was even more confused.
"Winky still can't forget that man. Anyway, follow me first." Hermione led the two to the kitchen below the hall.
"Then what do you want to ask Albert for?" Ron did not forget that Hermione originally wanted to ask Albert for help.
"Dobby told me that Albert is very popular with the house elves. Maybe he can help with Winky's problem."
Because of the House-Elf Liberation Front, Hermione has now become almost one of the most unpopular people among the house-elves. Although they have not driven her out of the kitchen, Hermione can feel the house-elves' disdainful looks.
"Albert is popular with the house-elves?" Harry felt that the house-elves were very enthusiastic towards everyone.
"Yes, he is very popular." Hermione nodded and said, "Albert is very friendly to the house-elves. He gives the house-elves some Christmas gifts every Christmas holiday, so many house-elves serve him."
"Christmas presents for house elves?"
Even though Harry had done it himself, he still felt that Albert was a little... hypocritical.
"Albert has a cat, and sometimes the house-elves help take care of it..." Hermione said to herself, "I heard from Dobby that the house-elves would help Albert cook a midnight snack and deliver it to the dormitory. Of course, Albert has no prejudice against house-elves and is quite friendly. He takes care of them like his own family. The Christmas gift is just to express his gratitude to the house-elves for their usual care."
Hermione really admired Albert. Most wizards never took house-elves seriously, and there were very few who could do what Albert did. He was even willing to patiently help Hermione write a touching story about the harmonious coexistence of house-elves and wizards to promote friendly relations between the two sides.
The two looked at each other. To be honest, they envied the treatment Albert received from the house-elf.
"By the way, Albert gave Dobby a job." Hermione said suddenly. Apart from Dumbledore, he was the first to do so. You know, almost no wizards were willing to do so.
"He hired Dobby?" Harry and Ron were surprised.
"What did he hire Dobby for?"
"That guy is really a weirdo." Ron muttered.
"It seems that we will need manpower to open a store in the future, and we can also take care of the lives of Fred, George and Lee Jordan." Hermione had learned the whole thing from Dobby. Although Hermione was not very satisfied with the salary given by Albert, he was at least willing to give Dobby a job, which was a good start.
Some things need to be done step by step, and you can't be impatient.
"He's prepared everything."
Harry thought this was very much like Albert's style, always preparing for everything in advance, which was not like a Gryffindor at all.
At least, not many Gryffindors would think about these issues in advance.
"Believe me, if Anderson was a pure-blood, he would have been admired, worshipped and envied by countless pure-bloods." Ron seemed to remember something and said self-deprecatingly, "He's the type that even Malfoy would have to bow down and fawn over. And with his ability and reputation as a pure-blood, he would definitely become the Minister of Magic within ten years and become another legend in the wizarding world."
(The Minister of Magic is elected every seven years and can be re-elected)
Harry and Hermione looked at Ron in surprise.
"Don't look at me like that. Albert is more famous in the wizarding world than you think." Ron muttered, "So famous that even a guy like Malfoy can't do anything to him. Even Mum respects him very much. Fred and George used Albert to convince our family."
"Is the magical world very hostile to Muggle wizards?" Harry suddenly asked.
"My dad just likes Muggles, and he never gets a promotion," Ron muttered. "He doesn't care about it, but Percy does. He's very ambitious."
"Exclusion is not uncommon anywhere."
Hermione pushed open the kitchen door and took Harry and Ron into the kitchen again. This was their second time in the Hogwarts kitchen.
"Long time no see sir." Dobby hugged Harry tightly.
"Thank you for your Christmas present." Harry forced a smile on his face. He was still not used to the enthusiasm of the house-elves.
"How is Winky now?" Hermione asked anxiously.
"Not very good. She has had an emotional breakdown since she learned of Mr. Crouch's death. She has been crying and drinking a lot recently. She is still unable to adapt to her own identity." Dobby said sharply.
"Is it because Sirius forced Winky to tell us about Barty Crouch Jr?" Hermione asked warily.
"Hermione?" Harry frowned.
"No, Mr. Black has never come to see Winky." Dobby shook his head and said, "However, Professor Dumbledore called Winky over to ask some questions a while ago."
"Dumbledore?"
The three of them looked at each other and followed Dobby to visit Winky. The house-elves around them avoided them, as if Dobby had some terrible infectious disease.
"She seems fine now," said Ron, observing Winky.
"I just gave Winky a tranquilizer." Dobby said helplessly, "When Mr. Anderson and his friends came here for a midnight snack a few days ago, he happened to notice Winky's condition and gave me a large bottle of tranquilizer and euphoria. Sometimes I give Winky the tranquilizer when she has a breakdown."
Harry looked at the house-elf, then at Hermione, and for a moment he didn't know what to do. He had absolutely no good idea.
"Can we use the Oblivion Charm, Hermione? Do you know that spell?" Harry pulled Hermione to the side and muttered softly, "I remember Lockhart was very good at this spell. Maybe we can make Winky forget some of his not-so-pleasant memories."
"No, although I know the principle of the Oblivion Spell, but..."
Hermione actually thought about using the Oblivion Charm to make Winky forget about Crouch, but she felt that she couldn't make the decision on her own, otherwise something bad might happen.
Of course, she couldn't do that.
This is actually the reason why Hermione wanted to find Albert. Perhaps Albert's charm only required him to gently touch Twinkle's head and say to the house-elf: If you have nowhere to go, you can come to my house.
Maybe, all problems can be solved.
In Hermione's opinion, since Albert was willing to hire Dobby, it would definitely not be a problem for him to accept a house-elf. This would benefit both parties. Following Albert, Winky's life would definitely be much better in the future.
"Sparkling, are you willing to follow Albert?"
Hermione hesitated for a long time, but still came to Winky and whispered, "If you're willing, I'll ask Albert for you. When he graduates from school, he will definitely be willing to have a house elf to help take care of his daily life."
Winky raised her head and looked at Hermione with disbelief. Her expression looked a little awkward. She seemed to want to cry but couldn't.
"That's a good idea, Winky. Mr. Anderson is a good man, and a very remarkable one at that. He's kind to everyone. He'll definitely become a great wizard like Dumbledore in the future." Dobby also thought Hermione's suggestion was great, and they could all work for Mr. Anderson by then.
"No, Winky doesn't want to. Winky doesn't want to. Winky will never betray her master." The house-elf shook his head frantically.
"Mr. Crouch is no longer your master. He drove you away." Dobby reminded in a shrill voice, "Besides, he is dead. He was killed by Peter Pettigrew."
"Shut up Dobby." Winky covered his ears and curled up.
"Do you want to go back to Barty Crouch Jr?" Harry asked. "I know Barty Crouch Jr. is still alive. He even took my wand and released the Dark Mark at the World Cup. Now he has returned to his master. Do you plan to follow Voldemort in the future?"
The atmosphere in the kitchen suddenly became very strange, and there was even a small-scale chaos. The name Voldemort still had a strong deterrent effect on the house-elves.
"Harry..."
Hermione forcibly dragged Harry out of the kitchen under the uneasy gaze of the house elf.
"You shouldn't mention the You-Know-Who's name again, you're scaring them all." Hermione looked at Harry reproachfully, as if he had just done something very excessive.
"Is Barty Crouch Jr. really still alive?" Ron suddenly asked.
"It seems he's still alive. I heard from Sirius that Barty Jr. is in hiding, and seems to be trying to resurrect Voldemort." Harry muttered.
Ron shuddered all over and gritted his teeth and said, "Harry, could you please not mention that name?"
"Come on Ron."
Under Ron's gaze, Harry finally compromised reluctantly.
"Oh, okay." He spread his hands and said, "They are looking for Barty Crouch Jr. Sirius said that if they can catch Peter, they should be able to find out the specific whereabouts of Barty Crouch Jr."
"Can't we ask Anderson to do some divination?" Ron asked in confusion. "With Anderson's ability, I think he might be able to find out where Barty Crouch Jr. is hiding. After all, all the clues he gave Sirius about Peter came true, even though they didn't come in handy."
"Don't be too superstitious about Divination Weasley."
Moody, who had just come out of the hall, said to the three people, "If that thing really works, many things in this world will become much easier. Even Dumbledore doesn't believe in that thing because it's usually inaccurate."
"Is that so?" Harry murmured doubtfully, "But Anderson is really accurate, even though he charges a large sum of Galleons every time he does divination."
Harry wasn't sure about other fortune tellers, but Albert Anderson's predictions were certainly very accurate.
As for Professor Trelawney, although this professor had made several predictions, Harry still believed in his heart that she was a liar.
"I've also heard that he can tell fortunes. If Mr. Anderson is really that good, I should suggest that Dumbledore ask him for divination." Moody muttered, "At least, we don't have to worry about not being able to find Peter Pettigrew and Barty Crouch Jr."
Moody limped away on his crutches, looking as if he was going to talk to Dumbledore about the matter.
"Um... Professor Moody."
Hermione hesitated for a moment, but still stepped forward and said, "Can you help me ask Professor Dumbledore? Tell him that the house-elf Winky has a breakdown because of Mr. Crouch's death. The question is whether he can use the Oblivion Charm to help Winky forget those unpleasant memories."
Moody stopped, turned his head and stared at Hermione with the potion for a moment, and whispered, "To be honest, this is not a pleasant topic, especially tampering with other people's memories. This kind of thing is generally taboo for wizards. If you can avoid it, it's best not to do it. Also, if you want to erase the important memories of other people in the head of the house-elf, you also need a very strong forgetfulness spell. Once used, it will cause permanent damage to the brain of the house-elf."
Hermione's face turned extremely pale, and the corners of her mouth trembled as she said, "I didn't know it would be like this."
"You still have a lot to learn, and I suggest you focus on helping Potter pass the second task." Moody looked up at Harry and said, "The situation is getting a little weird now, you'd better learn more ways to protect yourself, and don't go to the battlefield unprepared, as it's easy to lose your life. It's hard for me to imagine that Dumbledore didn't teach you these things."
As the three watched, Moody limped away with his cane.
"I don't think it's a good idea for you to ask Professor Moody for help," Ron muttered.
Harry also agreed with Ron. Moody was obviously more interested in capturing dark wizards. If forcing Winky to tell him the whereabouts of Barty Jr., Moody would definitely do that.
However, the three of them didn't know that their previous conversation had caused a ripple in Moody's heart.
Divination
To be honest, little Batty actually doesn't believe this nonsense.
Even though little Barty got an excellent grade in O.W.L.S. divination. No, maybe it was precisely because he got an excellent grade in the divination exam that he knew more clearly what divination was like.
There are actually very few real fortune tellers, and most of them are scammers. Even if they are not scammers, their abilities are usually very limited and they cannot predict accurately. Basically, what they get are some mysterious and inexplicable things.
Of course, this Anderson guy is really weird. There must be a reason why Potter and Weasley admire him so much.
That guy is really a nuisance.
Little Barty felt that he needed to be vigilant, lest he be exposed because of the divination that day, although he felt that such a thing was very likely.
Sometimes he really wanted to kill the Mudblood.
In fact, what Batty thought was right.
If Albert wanted, Little Batty flipped over.