Mysterious Journey
Chapter 880: Between a Rock and a Hard Place
"Excellent! Dobby, I never thought you could be so capable?!"
Lucius Malfoy narrowed his eyes and said softly, his voice seeming to be squeezed out from between his teeth.
Not far in front of him, the house-elf Dobby stood there in a panic, his face filled with desperate and helpless fear. His body would tremble with each word that Mr. Malfoy spoke.
"Young master, young master... Dobby can't disobey the young master's orders..."
Dobby trembled all over, saying humbly in a low voice.
"You damned, lowly thing!"
Bang!
Lucius Malfoy stood up and kicked him several feet away.
The house-elf's painful screams echoed in the living room, but this did not alleviate Lucius's anger.
On the contrary, the expression on Lucius Malfoy's face became even more sinister.
The middle-aged man's handsome face was almost twisted out of shape, his eyes spitting out chilling anger. He stomped heavily on Dobby's fingers and twisted them back and forth, gnashing his teeth and roaring in a low voice.
"How dare you—how dare you—you actually led Draco into my study—do you know who left that thing behind?! If Draco suffers even the slightest harm, I swear I will chop you into minced meat, little by little—I can't imagine what Narcissa would say if she knew Draco took something from the Dark Lord's student days to Hogwarts—"
"The worst thing is, if the Ministry of Magic confiscates it from Draco... No! I will never allow it!"
Lucius Malfoy kicked Dobby away and paced around the living room, agitated.
Since Voldemort's downfall, Lucius had tried every means to erase his history as a Death Eater, so that the Malfoy family could return to the ranks of prominent and respected pure-blood wizarding families.
If people were to discover that Draco had some connection with the "Dark Lord"...
According to the Ministry of Magic's current strictness, at least one Malfoy would be sent to Azkaban wizard prison—whether it was Draco or himself, it would make no difference—this would completely bury Draco's originally bright future.
In any case, he absolutely could not let Draco be tainted by those dark things.
Lucius Malfoy stamped his feet heavily on the floor and looked at Dobby with a livid expression.
"Go to Hogwarts now and retrieve that thing from Draco!"
"Yes, Master."
The house-elf answered tremblingly.
...
Hogwarts Kitchen.
"Kenaz!"
A bright flash of fire momentarily illuminated the air.
With the magic blessing of the ancient runic symbol "ᚲ" and the three-headed dog Fluffy, Aileen can now freely summon temperatures of three thousand degrees Celsius, under which most metals would directly melt in daily life.
When paper touched it, it would directly sublimate into gas under ultra-high temperatures before melting or burning.
Ghosts cannot touch physical objects. Nick's semi-transparent [World] card was, in fact, an "accessory" condensed from his own will, which also meant that he had accepted this new contract.
According to ancient Eastern customs, Aileen chose to burn the "World" directly to complete the final ritual.
And only then did shock appear on Dumbledore's face.
"As a head chef, it's reasonable to master some simple fire-starting and temperature-control skills, right?"
As if anticipating Dumbledore's question, Aileen casually dispersed the dust in the air and said with a smile.
"Don't worry, Professor, I won't abuse this power—"
"..."
Dumbledore's gaze followed the wisp of smoke for a few seconds, falling into silence.
Unbeknownst to him, this little witch's magical lethality was gradually being revealed. If she was given some time to prepare, she should be able to easily burn down any undefended city, just like Grindelwald did back then, right?
What was most disturbing was that, just like back then, everything was happening under his watch.
"So, Miss Kaslana, what are your specific plans for the next step?"
Nearly Headless Nick put away the [World] card in his hand and looked at Aileen curiously.
"The first step? Of course, it's to comprehensively strengthen Hogwarts' security—"
Aileen answered without hesitation, waving her wand lightly in mid-air, and a shadow of the castle appeared.
"The news of the Ghost Feast will attract a large number of 'guests'. In order to ensure Hogwarts' teaching in the future, as well as the research work in the academy city area—that is an important project outside the castle where research magic and science intersect," Aileen glanced at Nick, added a sentence, and continued, "Therefore, we must recruit a special patrol team around the school."
"Patrol team? Similar to a ranger team..."
Nearly Headless Nick nodded thoughtfully, which was understandable.
In the wizarding world, ghosts have always been a headache—the law can hardly restrain the behavior of ghosts. Perhaps a small number of ghosts will politely write letters to ask, but more of them are more accustomed to wandering their own way.
"There may be some problems, Cornelius may not agree."
Dumbledore temporarily put down the unease in his heart, frowned, and thought seriously.
"Not to mention that the Ministry of Magic has always been in charge of ghost management. The most crucial thing is that this is not as simple as recruiting regular teaching staff for the school. If Hogwarts establishes a patrol team, it is very likely that it will first cause opposition from the Auror Office—exorcising and persuading ghosts all require a certain amount of combat ability, which is extremely sensitive."
"It's simple, it's fine if the patrol team is all ghosts. That's right, Miss Kaslana?"
Nearly Headless Nick waved his hand dismissively, and said with certainty.
"If I'm not mistaken, you're planning to directly invite the Headless Hunt to reside in the castle and become Hogwarts' ghost patrol team, responsible for dealing with the upcoming ghost wave and subsequent security, right?"
"Well, ghosts can patrol non-stop for twenty-four hours, which is a very huge advantage."
Aileen nodded frankly and turned to look at Dumbledore to explain.
"Mr. Patrick has a very cheerful personality. I think the Headless Hunt will be quite popular in Hogwarts. As the area around the castle is gradually developed, the school also needs a dedicated early warning team. On the other hand, the Ministry of Magic should not have too much opposition. There is an old saying in the ancient East—'honor the dead'."
"A ghost patrol team, this is indeed a good way to deal with ghosts..."
Nicolas Flamel raised his eyebrows with interest and asked curiously.
"Then, in addition to ghosts, if wizards or magical creatures break into Hogwarts in the future, are you planning to continue establishing more patrol teams? This is just the beginning, Hogwarts' attraction to the outside world will only increase."
As a magical treasure that can turn stones into gold and grant immortality, the allure of the Philosopher's Stone is no less than that of ghost cuisine.
If it weren't for Nicolas Flamel's and Dumbledore's strength, perhaps many wizards would have chosen to take the risk of breaking into Hogwarts long ago—and as time goes by, this kind of problem will happen one day.
"That's not necessary..."
Aileen waved her hand with a smile, her little cowlick swaying from side to side triumphantly.
"In fact, we can select some outstanding students to form the 'Hogwarts Disciplinary Committee' to maintain discipline and order—you should have heard something about the small conflict in the Quidditch stadium public trial last time..."
"Adult wizards can't get any advantage when facing a well-organized, cough, I mean students with good teamwork."
Aileen paused for half a second and corrected her statement without changing her expression.
Although she and Grindelwald were indeed trained according to military standards, this must not be admitted.
Whether it is the three-three system, the five-person team, or large-scale magical confrontation... not to mention those wizards who have abandoned their studies after graduation, even the Aurors of the Ministry of Magic may be killed by a wave of focused fire. The only way to break this tactic is to rely on top combat power to push through, but unfortunately, top combat power is precisely Hogwarts' strongest aspect.
"Besides, Hogwarts also has nearly a thousand house-elves."
Aileen said meaningfully, spreading her arms and looking around the cooking stations.
"Compared with wizards, they have unique advantages in fast casting, magical precision, and close-quarters combat. Before the students have fully grown up, the house-elves can temporarily fill part of this gap..."
"You're planning to train house-elves? That's absolutely not allowed!"
At this moment, Nicolas Flamel frowned and said firmly.
"What if it's for non-humans and magical creatures? Non-aggressive, mainly for expulsion and warning... I roughly understand the point you're worried about, but in my opinion, this does not constitute a sufficient threat and reason."
Aileen shrugged, unimpressed.
"At least in Hogwarts today, they can't possibly have any bad intentions."
Just like the difference in strength between wizards, there is also a difference in strength between house-elves.
Perhaps in terms of Apparition, manipulating objects, and household magic, house-elves who can successfully live to adulthood generally have considerable strength, but this does not mean that every one of them has extremely strong combat ability.
If you have to compare, then Dobby's combat power in the original book is equivalent to the house-elf version of Snape.
Even if it's not the top tier, it's at least a "hero unit" trying to touch the ceiling.
Unfortunately, because she changed too much of the plot, this special "double agent" house-elf of the Malfoy family cannot be contacted in advance for the time being, so she can only wait for Draco to inherit the family business and consider it separately.
"Ghost patrol team and student disciplinary committee, I don't think there's any problem..."
Nicolas Flamel said calmly, paused for half a second, and shook his head.
"However, I can't agree with the house-elf point—in fact, I think even as of now, their participation ratio is a bit too high. In the long run, this may be an extremely dangerous hidden danger."
Nicolas Flamel still sticks to his own ideas. No elves have ever appeared in his laboratory.
Even though Nicolas knows in his heart that having a house-elf would be of great help to his and his wife's daily life and experiments, they have adhered to the ancient tradition for so many years.
In the field of magical research, no non-human is allowed to participate.
"Okay, then Professor Dumbledore, what is your opinion?"
Aileen turned her head and looked at Albus Dumbledore sitting on the other side.
Due to the particularity of the Philosopher's Stone, she was not particularly surprised: If the house-elves were to master this knowledge, then humans would very likely fall into a tragic war—this is even more terrifying than non-magical biolabs.
However, she does not think that Nicolas's worries apply to the rapidly developing Hogwarts.
Not to mention the house-elves, even the wizards need to spend a lot of energy, and only the best can barely participate in the [Science-Magic] civilizational transformation process, but only she knows the future potential.
Compared to the possible risks, the labor of the house-elves is too tempting.
As the goblin queen of Gringotts Wizarding Bank, Aileen is well aware of an extremely fatal and crucial loophole in the "red ghost" theory in the wizarding world—the fastest way to eliminate exploitation is not moral evolution, but to transfer the target of exploitation.
Hogwarts has nearly a thousand house-elves, but it would be too wasteful to only have them cook and clean.
Fortunately, this is Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, not Flamel's alchemy lab.
"Regarding the ghost patrol team, you can first let Sir Nicholas try to invite them."
Dumbledore pondered for a few seconds, deliberating softly.
"If Mr. Patrick and others are willing to stay, then the follow-up arrangements and work are not a problem—the Ministry of Magic will not care too much in this regard, and the reason for 'Ghost Cuisine' is also very sufficient. In addition to Miss Kaslana, the other three potions professors can also sort out and improve the theory in this regard together... This is a very reasonable thing."
"As for the Hogwarts Student Disciplinary Committee, let's continue with a small-scale pilot program for the time being..."
Dumbledore glanced at Aileen, smiled peacefully, and said.
"Miss Hannah Abbott, Miss Hermione Granger, and Miss Luna Lovegood, I think these three ladies can be used as pilot personnel in the early stage. At the end of the semester, the heads of the houses and professors will judge the pilot effect—as for the specific standards, I am temporarily considering mainly referring to the number of conflicts and the handling of emergencies this semester."
"As for the last one, the house-elf aspect..."
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Yay!