"So how much salary do you want?" Dracula was speechless and asked.
Dobby had a very bright smile on his face and tears of joy once again filled his eyes.
"Mr. Dracula, Dobby wants wages just to buy enough clothes for him to wear! Compared to wages, Dobby still prefers work!" Dobby said, "So, Dobby is a free elf, sir. Dobby only needs one Sickle every day and one day off every month!"
"One Sickle a day?" Dracula's eyes twitched. "Your monthly salary is less than two Galleons. You can't even afford a nice set of clothes."
How can there be such a conscientious workforce in this world? Even the black-hearted capitalists in the Muggle world would not dare to exploit their employees like this. If they dared to know that there are such employees, they would probably be moved to tears...
"It's okay, sir. The clothes Dobby has now are enough to wear for a long time!" Dobby said very contentedly, "Dobby has calculated that three sets of clothes are enough for each year! One set each for summer and winter, and one set for spring and autumn!"
"So what you call wearing clothes... is simply finding clothes to wear, rather than thinking about changing into better-looking new clothes?" After listening to Dobby's magical speech, Dracula became more helpless.
"Of course, house-elves don't need those nice clothes!" Dobby said confidently, "Dobby can even wear a pillowcase for several years!"
"I can't meet your request." Dracula shook his head. "What kind of salary is one silver coin a day? If this gets out, people might think I'm a stingy and evil capitalist... Where can I put my face?"
"How about this, according to your terms, I will exchange Sickles for Galleons, and pay you one gold Galleon per day." He did some calculations and changed the terms to one that he thought was not very good. "As for the days off, it will be the same as the students at Hogwarts, with two days off on weekends. Is this acceptable?"
"So... seven Galleons a week, two days off?" Dobby counted on his fingers for a long time, and suddenly shuddered, "So much money and vacation time... This is terrible!"
"That's more than seven Galleons a week..." Dracula was silent for a moment, then said, "Dobby, do you know that if your salary is lower and your vacation time is reduced, you will be no different from those free house elves?"
"But... Dobby is a free house-elf..." Dobby stared at Dracula in front of him with his big green eyes in confusion.
Dracula put his hand to his forehead.
Free and freedom are the same word, "free". Dobby understood Dracula's free house-elves as free house-elves.
"Mr. Dracula, it's not that Dobby wants to bargain, but you've given too much!" Dobby seemed to see that Dracula had nothing to say, and explained in a flattering way, "Sir... Dobby likes freedom, but Dobby doesn't want too much freedom. Dobby prefers work!"
It would have been better if Dobby hadn't explained, because his explanation made Dracula completely helpless.
It can only be said that even for a progressive elf in the wizarding world like Dobby, it would take time to escape the ideological shackles of house-elves.
Others bargain with their bosses to get a pay raise or more vacation time. But Dobi is the opposite. He pushes down his own pay and reduces his vacation time as much as possible. If you can't get what he wants, he will get angry with you...
"All right, it's up to you as to the treatment." Dracula waved his hand and drove the speechless house-elf out of the office. "You can go to the Gryffindor dormitory and apologize to the great Harry Potter whom you admire!"
…
Ever since the day of the first Quidditch match in November, Hogwarts has had a house-elf who needs to be paid.
Although the wages he needed meant nothing to Dracula...
Dracula directly threw a big bag of gold galleons to Dobby, which covered his wages for more than 20 years.
Dobby was horrified at the prospect of receiving so much wealth at once, and returned the coins to Dracula, keeping only two galleons for himself, which represented his monthly salary plus four days' wages.
The house-elf is indeed a good hand at housework and keeps Dracula's office in perfect order.
After becoming the professor of Defense Against the Dark Arts and getting such an office, Dracula was never too lazy to decorate and tidy it up. Basically, when he saw that it was a bit dirty, he would use a cleaning spell to remove the dust in the office and then continue to let it maintain that "messy beauty".
As for the decoration in the office, Dracula did not make much changes.
He simply used Transfiguration to transform the curtains into thick black curtains to block the sunlight that might shine in during the day; and hung a few bats that looked like specimens but were actually alive at the door of the office to provide a warning for the office and prevent people from sneaking in.
There wasn't much other furniture or anything like that - a desk, two soft armchairs, a comfortable sofa, a bookcase with few books on it, a wine rack for wine, a candy rack that was added later for lollipops, and a large bed.
After Dobby took over the management of the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor's office, there were earth-shaking changes here.
The desk and bookshelf became tidy, there was not a single wrinkle on the bed, and every corner of the office was spotless.
Dobby also specially added a lot of decorations to the unused space in the office according to Dracula's preferences, using the funds Dracula gave him to buy things.
Such as the black Gothic coffee table, the large vase with devil wings carved on it, the towering dark clock, the crystal lamp decorated like a moon...
After all the furniture was laid out, Dobby found a corner of the office that was still empty, so he planted a few bright red flowers watered with blood.
This is a flower that came from the ancient magical world in the Himalayas. Its Sanskrit name seems to be Lycoris radiata. It has no leaves when it blooms, and its petals are as bright red as blood, with a charming temperament all over its body.
Dobby has been taking care of Malfoy Manor for a long time and is very good at using magic to grow flowers. He thinks this strange flower is in line with Dracula's temperament, so he cultivates them very carefully.
As Dracula's new butler, Dobby has been managing Dracula's office very carefully and conscientiously.
But it only took him a week to completely tidy up Dracula's office, including shopping, cleaning, and decoration.
Then Dobby became idle.
In the past, he not only had to take care of the entire huge Malfoy Manor by himself as a house-elf, but also had to accept accusations and various temporary instructions from the Malfoys.
Even so, Dobby still found time to sneak out and "rescue" Harry Potter from the threat of the Dark Lord...
One can imagine how efficient his work efficiency is.
Now that it was just an office, Dobby still felt bored even with the added work of the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom and the Dueling Club.
When there was not enough work, Dobby felt a strong sense of guilt, thinking that such a lazy life was not what a qualified house-elf should enjoy.
So, he slipped into the kitchen on the basement floor of Hogwarts Castle to help other house-elves working at Hogwarts...
"Buddy, let me tell you, I am definitely the most successful house-elf now!" In the kitchen of Hogwarts, Dobby was washing dishes while holding his head high and showing off to the house-elf he had just met.
"Why do you say that?" Buddy, the house-elf working in the kitchen, asked curiously.
"Because I'm a house-elf with my own wages!" Dobby said proudly, "I can earn 30 silver Sickles a month, which means that in less than half a year, I can buy a set of clothes with my own money!"
"What?!" Buddy showed a horrified expression and took a few steps to the side, as if he didn't want to stand with Dobby. "Who on earth is your master to let you degenerate to the point of taking wages? Buddy is really ashamed of you!"
"Come on, Buddy, don't you want to wear new clothes?" Dobby asked, "Being able to earn wages means we can buy clothes with our own money!"
Dobby's topic about buying clothes finally aroused Buddy's curiosity. He suppressed the unreal feeling in his heart and asked:
"So why does your master pay you, Dobby?"
"Because Dobby has no master, Dobby is a free house-elf!" Dobby said, "Mr. Dracula hired me, and he paid me to work for him."
"Mr. Dracula is truly the greatest man I have ever met. He is willing to pay the house elves and even give them holidays!"
"What?!" Buddy was horrified, his hands shook violently, and he smashed the plate on the ground, "You said you don't have a master and are a free house-elf?!"
"And you even have holidays? How can you be the most successful house-elf? You are clearly a disgrace to house-elves!"
Buddy's piercing scream attracted the attention of all the house-elves in the kitchen.
The elf supervisor in the kitchen was cutting vegetables. When he heard Buddy's voice, his face darkened.
The elf supervisor, holding a bloody knife that had just been used to cut meat, walked up to Dobby, grabbed his arm, and pulled him out of the kitchen door.
"We don't need a depraved house-elf like you to help in the Hogwarts kitchen!" he said viciously.
The kitchen door slammed shut.
…
…