"What did Professor Dumbledore talk to you about?"

Hermione asked as they left the Great Hall, climbing the stairs towards the Gryffindor common room.

Normally, as the Headmaster, Dumbledore rarely spoke to students individually, but Aileen was clearly not in the category of ordinary students. Since she started studying at the institute [Magic Science Preparatory Class], Hermione had become increasingly aware of the special nature of her best friend.

After all, normal students weren't qualified to arrange for professors like Quirrell and Lockhart to give them extra lessons.

Aileen glanced at the familiar-looking staircase, trying to figure out which way to go, and casually replied.

"Oh, nothing special, just informing me that I've been assigned a personal house-elf."

"A personal house-elf?"

"Yeah, like this..."

Aileen raised her right hand and snapped her fingers lightly, calmly saying.

"I'm lost—"

*Pop!*

Two house-elves suddenly appeared in front of them at the corner of the stairs.

Hermione was very familiar with one of them: Burpy, the "head" of the Hogwarts house-elves. After all, Burpy was mostly responsible for receiving and guiding them whenever they went to the kitchen for tastings and tours. As for the other younger elf...

"So, this must be Dobby, right? Professor Dumbledore already told me."

Aileen smiled slightly, squatted down, and offered her hand in a friendly gesture.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Aileen, Aileen Kaslana, and I'm very pleased to meet you, Mr. Dobby—"

Slightly different from how she remembered him, Dobby didn't have too many scars, and his signature old pillowcase had been replaced with a Hogwarts uniform, but his distinctive demeanor and the light in his eyes were still exactly the same.

If there was one word to distinguish him from other house-elves, the most appropriate word would be "hope".

"Y-You, hello—Miss Kaslana, just call me Dobby!"

Dobby instinctively took half a step back, paused for half a second, and then squeaked out in a flustered voice.

No wizard had ever squatted down to talk to a house-elf before. In Dobby's original imagination, the Head Chef whom the Hogwarts house-elves spoke of should be a very strict, rigid, and oppressive witch.

"Ahem—Dobby, Miss Kaslana's hand is still hanging in the air... it's a handshake..."

Dobby heard a faint voice in his ear, it was Burpy whispering a reminder.

One thing Dumbledore never understood was that the Hogwarts house-elves obeyed Aileen not only because of her status, although that was indeed an important factor... but most importantly, when this Head Chef was in the Hogwarts kitchen, her words and actions flowed not with the politeness of a superior, but with equality.

"H-Handshake—!"

Dobby's bulging green eyes widened even further, and he cautiously reached out to touch Aileen's fingertips.

Then, he suddenly burst into tears, startling Hermione.

"What's wrong with him? What's... Did we offend him somewhere..."

Hermione looked at the house-elf wailing in front of them in surprise, helplessly looking at Burpy.

"Uh—no, Dobby is just a little, um, emotional—"

Burpy had an embarrassed expression on his face, and inconspicuously kicked Dobby hard from behind.

Normally, Dobby was occasionally a little neurotic, but overall he was quite normal and capable at work. That's why Burpy had kindly recommended Dobby to be his backup, who knew such a big embarrassment would happen as soon as he took office!

It was really—too rude!

If Aileen and Hermione weren't still there, Burpy would have wanted to shove Dobby into the broom closet next to them right now.

"O-Offend?! Offend Dobby?!"

Dobby shook his head vigorously, his bat-like ears shaking, and he choked out in a squeaky voice.

"N-No wizard has ever treated Dobby like this, crouching down and shaking hands with Dobby—like an equal—"

"That should be normal, I mean... after all, you've been taking care of us in secret."

Hermione also squatted down like Aileen, and said cautiously.

"Without you, I can't imagine how much effort and time it would take to clean the dorms, wash the clothes, cook... I think any decent wizard would be grateful and kind to you."

Dobby shook his head, and then suddenly jumped up, banging his head against the railing next to him, shouting.

"Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

"Oh, please, don't do that—what are you doing—"

House-elf Burpy said anxiously in a low voice, jumping up to hold Dobby down tightly.

Burpy's face turned completely ashen, his wrinkled expression made it impossible to tell whether he wanted to cry or eat someone. He had not expected Dobby to act up in this situation. Burpy wished he could just throw this bastard out of the castle.

"M-Miss Kaslana, Dobby is not usually, not usually like this—he is actually—"

"Sorry, Dobby must punish himself, Mr. Burpy..."

Dobby was trembling all over, his eyes were already a little crossed.

"Dobby almost said bad things about the master's family again, Dobby has been too presumptuous, too bad—"

"Master's family? Wait—"

Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking at Dobby pinned to the floor by Burpy.

"What is... master's family? Aren't you a Hogwarts house-elf?"

House-elf Burpy quickly explained, while trying to cover Dobby's mouth to prevent him from continuing to talk nonsense.

"Dobby is different from the Hogwarts house-elves, Dobby came from outside, he originally served another wizarding family. House-elves cannot choose their work—they must always serve their native magical land."

"Then how did you end up at Hogwarts Castle? Did you run away?"

Hermione asked curiously, glanced at the struggling elf, and added an extra sentence.

"Let him go, Mr. Burpy—Dobby won't hurt us. Does your master's family know you're here?"

"Uh, if you insist, Miss. Really, very, very sorry—"

Under Aileen's slight nod, Burpy glared at Dobby fiercely and reluctantly released him.

Dobby shivered, seemingly finally controlling himself.

"Oh, yes, Miss. They know... Dobby was sent to Hogwarts by his master for training, to learn how to cook more delicious food, how to better serve wizards, and... take care of the little master, and much more..."

Dobby squeaked stutteringly, his expression extremely painful, as if someone was pinching his throat.

"Little master?"

"He's talking about Draco, Dobby is the Malfoy family's elf, Hermione."

Aileen casually explained, looking at Dobby with interest. She seemed to have guessed a little about Dobby's motives.

Perhaps in Dumbledore's and Burpy's eyes, taking care of the little master was a reasonable excuse, but Aileen knew very well that the logic of regular house-elves could not be applied to Dobby—Dobby simply did not like the Malfoy family.

But on the other hand, there was someone else in the school that Dobby cared about.

The savior who defeated a Dark Lord whose name could not be mentioned, Mr. Harry Potter.

"Well, Professor Dumbledore had already introduced me to the general situation before. I believe in Mr. Burpy and Professor Dumbledore's judgment. I'll have to trouble you a lot with campus life in the future—but I have a few small suggestions..."

Aileen thought for a few seconds, turned her head to look at the house-elf Burpy standing aside.

No matter why Dobby appeared, he was definitely not here for her.

Just as Dumbledore had guessed before, the problem was mostly with Lucius Malfoy and those magic society forces behind him. Dobby coming to Hogwarts was certainly a lucky result, but it was also a dangerous signal.

And when facing the probing of unknown enemies, the most correct approach was to accept everything and guide them to reveal more information.

"After the pilot programs last semester and this semester, the 'Shadow Elf' model can also be gradually promoted. Since Burpy you mentioned this, let's start a small-scale pilot program with you and Dobby—"

Aileen took out her timetable from her chest and glanced at it, confirming her upcoming schedule, and continued.

"In the next week, Burpy, you'll first take Dobby around to familiarize him with the work, and sort out the methodology. After Dobby is roughly familiar with the work process, start training at Hogwarts according to this methodology. If possible, try to train a batch of 'junior shadow' elves who can try to take up their posts after Christmas."

"Then, carry out schedule monitoring in Hogwarts Castle by class—"

Aileen pointed to the timetable in her hand, explaining to house-elf Burpy in a calm manner.

"For example, this afternoon I will go to the Muggle Studies classroom, while the other students in the second-year Class A will go to the Transfiguration classroom. In this case, you can split up—Dobby continues to guarantee and take care of the second-year Class A, while Burpy you accompany me... Of course, the specific allocation will be determined according to the situation later. Can you do it?"

"No problem! Rest assured, I will definitely be able to sort it out before Christmas!"

House-elf Burpy subconsciously puffed out his chest and said proudly.

Since Aileen arrived at Hogwarts, she had brought too many things to the house-elves, and the most important of these was endless tasks—compared to the once confused and repetitive labor, the current busyness was obviously more meaningful.

"Thank you for your hard work, see you this afternoon."

Aileen glanced over Dobby's thoughtful expression and nodded with satisfaction.

Undoubtedly, if used properly, Dobby was definitely a sharp blade no less than Gilderoy Lockhart.

And now she was taking the first step in practicing holding a knife—don't point the sharp end at yourself.

…………

A moment later, Aileen and Hermione returned to the Gryffindor common room.

Because they were delayed on the stairs for a while, by the time they walked through the passage into the common room, most of the Gryffindor students had already returned to their dormitory beds to rest, and only a few students who weren't sleepy were active in the crowded and warm hall.

That's right, even with only a few students active, the common room now looked a bit crowded.

"Hagrid? Why did you come back to Gryffindor Tower today?"

Hermione glanced at the huge figure sitting in front of the fireplace in a daze, and asked curiously.

Although he had completed the re-enrollment procedures, Hagrid usually went straight back to his hut on the edge of the Forbidden Forest to rest after class. In Hermione's memory, this seemed to be the first time she had seen Hagrid in the Gryffindor common room at noon.

"Don't bother Hagrid, let him have a good rest, today was terrible..."

Just then, the sofa next to the fireplace suddenly spoke, almost startling Hermione.

"Uh? What's wrong with you... George? Or Fred?"

Hermione calmed down and looked over, only to find that there were actually quite a few distraught students in the common room.

The quiet and empty appearance just now was just an illusion. Most of them were slumped on the floor, sofas, and armchairs like statues, as if they were clumps of wizard robes that had suddenly lost their dreams, extremely peaceful.

"I'm Fred, George should be on the Ravenclaw balcony relaxing—"

The Weasley slumped on the sofa said weakly, the usually agile and cunning gaze losing its luster.

"As for the reason, there's nothing much—Professor McGonagall just announced good news, a monumental change has occurred in the field of modern transfiguration theory, and all previous theories may be invalidated. In addition to this year's final exam, from next year, the textbooks and exam content for all grades at Hogwarts will be adjusted accordingly."

"Hmm? That sounds okay, doesn't it? There's still a year's buffer time, right?"

Hermione nodded in understanding. After returning from the institute on the weekend, she had roughly guessed this result.

The theoretical changes in Transfiguration would obviously change a lot. Once the new theory was determined, the incorrect and outdated old theories would obviously be immediately overturned and discarded. And judging from the current situation, Professor McGonagall's promotion was quite decisive.

"Sounds okay?! Maybe it's okay for you, Ginny, and the seventh graders..."

Fred raised his lifeless eyes and said hoarsely with a miserable expression.

"But, we're in fourth year this year—next year is the fifth-year O.W.L.s exam..."

"Uh—(⊙o⊙)..."

Hermione looked around the Gryffindor common room with infinite sympathy at those statues who had lost their dreams.

As Fred uttered the pronunciation of "O.W.L.s", many statues seemed to twitch reflexively, and Hagrid, who was sitting in front of the fireplace staring at the fire, did the same, as if it were a stinging hex.

Ordinary Wizarding Levels were different from Hogwarts internal exams.

This also meant that this year's fourth-year students would usher in the most terrible "pain" of Transfiguration reform:

Obviously, they were told that all the knowledge they had learned in the previous four years had been proven false. Next, they would have to make up for the content that future students might spend five years learning in one year, and then be rushed to take an unfamiliar exam.

Perhaps Fred, George, and other ordinary Hogwarts students were okay, at worst they would just fail one subject.

However, Hagrid, who was still talking about the future yesterday, placing all his hopes on Transfiguration...

Hermione carefully walked to Hagrid's side and patted him gently.

"Are you okay, Hagrid?"

————

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Hooray!