Monday, Hogwarts returned to its normal hustle and bustle.

Although many students were still immersed in the wonderful and joyful activities of the previous weekend, the tight and busy academic pressure quickly brought them back to reality from their leisure time. Lucius Malfoy's letter arrived at the school on time in the morning. Dumbledore frowned and looked at it for a long time, and finally stopped Snape before the end of breakfast to give him a few extra instructions.

Compared to wasting time in the school board meeting, adjusting the classroom seating arrangement was obviously simpler and easier.

During Potions class that morning, Snape casually used the excuse of helping a classmate to break up the originally fixed two-person partnership between Draco and Harry. Harry was now paired with Neville, which undoubtedly greatly relieved Neville.

On the other hand, Dobby's return to Hogwarts was not so smooth.

"Mr. Burly, why was Dobby transferred from the castle service group—"

Dobby squeaked, he had just returned to the castle and was told that starting this week his main work area would be adjusted from the castle service group to the Hogwarts kitchen. "Did Dobby perform poorly or incompetently last week?"

If he couldn't join the castle service group, he would have fewer opportunities to contact Harry Potter afterwards.

"Oh, of course not. Walla, congratulations, you can also return to the kitchen."

Burly, the head of the Hogwarts house-elves, shook his head. He methodically arranged the Hogwarts house-elf positions for the new week according to the notebook in his hand, while explaining to Dobby with a smile on his face.

"In fact, your performance last week was impeccable—you completed the workload of two people alone. Everyone recognized you for your drive and attitude. The Hogwarts kitchen is the core area, where you can learn more knowledge. Castle maintenance, classroom cleaning...these things won't help you much when you go back to your job..."

"Uh—no, Dobby needs these! Be-because Dobby, Dobby hopes—"

Dobby widened his eyes, stuttered a few times, desperately searching for excuses in his little head.

Now Dobby knew the true identity of "that thing" and the "Half-Blood Prince", and he had to find a way to remind and protect Mr. Harry Potter, otherwise, if Mr. Potter was bewitched by the Dark Lord to open the Chamber of Secrets, the consequences would be disastrous.

"I understand, it's because of Mr. Draco Malfoy, right?"

Burly the house-elf smiled and nodded, put down his notebook, and looked knowing.

No matter what, they were house-elves serving generations of wizards. Burly could naturally understand Dobby's thoughts.

Perhaps from a rational and objective point of view, going to the Hogwarts kitchen to learn would bring more improvement to Dobby, but as a house-elf serving the Malfoy family, when there were members of the family studying at the school, taking care of, guarding, and serving Draco Malfoy was obviously Dobby's primary task—this was the glory and mission of every house-elf.

However, understanding Dobby's thoughts did not mean that Burly was willing to break Hogwarts' rules for Dobby.

As the head of the Hogwarts house-elves, his first consideration was how to allocate work most efficiently, and Dobby, who was full of energy and extremely efficient, was obviously more suitable for working in the busy kitchen than scrubbing and wiping in the castle.

"Hogwarts has its own laws, Dobby—"

Burly the house-elf raised his thin, long finger and said very seriously.

"Being able to serve and take care of Mr. Malfoy at any time may be your wish, but that cannot be a reason for you to leave the kitchen and go to the castle service group. Every student in our school is treated equally...in most cases."

"In...most cases?"

Dobby murmured, repeating Burly's words, looking at Burly hopefully.

"That's right, there is another special situation—"

Burly the house-elf said meaningfully in a low voice, puffing out his chest with some pride.

"Starting last year, an exceptional student appeared at Hogwarts, Head Chef, Ms. Elena Kaslana. Only the most outstanding, most discerning, smartest, and most energetic house-elves are qualified to serve as her shadow servant. Professor Dumbledore also instructed that when the Head Chef makes a request, we must respond immediately."

"Ms. Kaslana? But, what does this have to do with Dobby?"

Dobby said softly, his big eyes filled with confusion.

"Oh, the relationship is very wonderful—because Ms. Kaslana is now the head of the second-year A class."

Burly the house-elf said unhurriedly, tapping the notebook in his hand.

"And the second-year A class happens to be the class that Mr. Draco Malfoy is in. I have been personally in charge of this job last year, but this year Head Chef Kaslana has assigned me more tasks, so I must have a backup, and when I occasionally can't spare time, he must take over my work..."

"Dobby can, Dobby can serve as this backup 'shadow servant', Mr. Burly!?"

"This is just a possibility, but the decision is not in my hands—"

Burly corrected with a serious expression, looking at Dobby in front of him, who was full of energy.

"I can make a suggestion to Professor Dumbledore to see if the Headmaster agrees—after all, there has never been a special situation like yours as an 'outsider' before—and after that, Ms. Kaslana must not object either..."

"Thank you so much, Dobby, Dobby thanks you so much!"

"Don't rush to thank me, I'm just making the most appropriate assignment based on your previous work performance."

The head of the Hogwarts house-elves pointed to the busy kitchen behind him and said calmly.

"Before the final answer is given, your work content is still the previous arrangement, I hope you will not slack off or become complacent because of this...By the way, let me reiterate once again, if Professor Dumbledore and Ms. Kaslana refuse, then there are only two choices in front of you—obey the unified arrangement, or leave Hogwarts."

"No problem! No problem! Please rest assured! Dobby will try his best!"

Dobby waved his small fist vigorously and shouted earnestly in a high-pitched voice.

Compared to being beaten and scolded from time to time in the Malfoy house, and having to endure the torment of keeping their evil secrets, Hogwarts Castle was simply the legendary ideal paradise for Dobby, and he now had a more important task.

Even if he was just a humble house-elf, he could protect the savior of the wizarding world in his own way.

"...Mr. Burly, is this really okay?"

"What do you mean? Deputy Head Chef Rati...do you have any different ideas?"

Burly slowly turned around, frowned and looked at the house-elf beside him with half a feather pinned to his chest.

The Hogwarts kitchen has two deputy head chefs, responsible for coordinating and arranging the size of the Hogwarts kitchen when Ms. Kaslana is not there. Although they are slightly lower than Burly as the head chef in terms of rank, the two are on the same level in terms of the right to speak.

"It's not any different opinion, I just think there's no need to give that little guy a vain hope."

Rati shrugged, her eyes falling on Dobby, who was full of energy and taking on the work of three people not far away.

"There are too many secrets in Hogwarts Castle, even if Professor Dumbledore agrees, Ms. Kaslana will most likely not agree to an outsider serving as a 'shadow'—moreover, it may not pass the Headmaster's step. You might as well explain to him from the beginning that if he is not willing to do kitchen work, he should get out, why bother wasting so much words—"

"Rati, do you know why Mr. Dumbledore ultimately chose me in the head chef assessment?"

"Because when Ms. Kaslana first arrived at Hogwarts, I gave the opportunity to you, the lucky guy."

Rati's face stiffened, she pouted, her tone full of sourness.

Although Hogwarts had not previously established a head chef system or a foreman system, there were still divisions in the kitchen, and he, who had higher household magic and culinary magic, actually had a little more say than Burly.

Hogwarts house-elves only serve the students, faculty, and staff in the school.

At that time, Elena Kaslana's reputation among the Hogwarts elves was not very good—no one knew if the "owl killer" would suddenly want to taste what a house-elf tasted like, let alone that she was not even considered a student at that time.

Because of this, when Elena arrived at the school, it was Burly who took care of and guided her in the end.

"That's just one of the reasons, Rati—there's an even more important factor."

Burly the house-elf patted his shoulder and said softly.

"We are just house-elves, don't presume to speculate on the thoughts of wizards. Mr. Dumbledore also specifically told me before: unless it is an unambiguous order, do not arbitrarily speculate or understand other people's intentions. Especially on matters concerning Ms. Kaslana, never be smart and make a decision rashly."

…………

A quarter of an hour later, Headmaster's office.

"Well, it seems that Ms. Kaslana has given herself another problem."

Dumbledore rubbed his eyebrows and put down the neatly cut square parchment in his hand.

Obviously, this was one of the new changes that Elena had brought to Hogwarts. At least in Dumbledore's half-lifetime of teaching at Hogwarts, this was the first time he had received a job transfer recommendation from a house-elf.

As he had expected before, even Elena could not predict all the situations derived from the changes.

Perhaps the girl's initial purpose was to coordinate and manage the work of the Hogwarts house-elves, and maximize their abilities—and from the results learned before, she did achieve this:

The abandoned classrooms that had been accumulated over the years in Hogwarts were cleaned up; the magic torches in each corridor were also repaired; the maximum number of diners that the Hogwarts kitchen could handle was increased from the original one thousand people (usually still in a hurry) to the point where even five thousand people could dine at the same time with ease, and this was on the basis of a cuisine that was several times richer than before...

However, higher autonomy and rational allocation also mean more humane and bold demands.

"Isn't this the result you hinted at? Besides, you can also refuse—"

Grindelwald lazily reclined on the sofa in the corner of the office, reading the latest issue of *The Quibbler*, raised his eyes over the magazine and glanced at the frowning Dumbledore, and said casually in a light tone.

"But with your personality, you will definitely agree and throw the 'Quaffle' to that girl, right?"

"It's not appropriate for me to refuse directly, you know that..."

Dumbledore shook his head with a wry smile, and sighed helplessly.

"If you want to arouse the suspicion of the Ministry of Magic and the pure-blood families, the easiest way is for me to refuse directly—this matter can only be decided by Elena. If she really intends to completely hide and lie low, she will naturally agree..."

"Agree to what? Agree to have another informant from outside the school by her side?"

Grindelwald glanced at Dumbledore with a strange expression, and changed to a more comfortable position on the sofa.

"Anyway, let me say it in advance, I will not participate in this matter, go discuss the things yourself."

"Of course. Of course—"

Dumbledore glanced at the parchment on the desk and sighed again.

Even he himself was unwilling to have a monitor by his side.

This has nothing to do with having ulterior motives, it is purely the inherent nature of everyone's inner yearning for freedom.

In fact, Dumbledore has already begun to consider how to deal with the Ministry of Magic later.

"But this matter can at least slightly remind Elena. This is also a good thing."

Grindelwald shrugged, and added noncommittally.

"House-elves are servants after all, and if they are given too many rights and responsibilities, there will be trouble. Having experienced this accident, Elena will probably be cautious in managing the house-elves. The urgent task at hand is still to find the source of the leak—I don't believe these are all coincidences, that Mr. Malfoy must have known something..."

"Leak? Hmm, Malfoy and the Ministry of Magic have been a bit strange recently."

Dumbledore's expression became solemn, and he nodded slowly.

Lucius Malfoy was obviously just a scout pushed out.

But whether standing behind Lucius is the Ministry of Magic, the Hogwarts School Board, the International Confederation of Wizards... or other magical forces, as time goes by, they will always find some clues.

And the current time node is just a trial stage between the two sides.

…………

"Oh? Add a new 'shadow elf', did Burly take the initiative to propose it?"

Elena said curiously. At this time, she had just finished lunch and was preparing to return to the dormitory with Hermione.

However, before they could leave the table, Dumbledore called her aside alone and told her about the recommendation letter submitted by the Hogwarts kitchen this morning, and some analysis of the ins and outs of him and Grindelwald.

"That's right, the recommended person is the Malfoy family's house-elf—"

Dumbledore nodded, and said with a solemn expression, handing Elena the recommendation reasons submitted by Burly.

"It seems that the Ministry of Magic knows much more than we thought, or this is just a coincidence, but no matter what, if you are not willing, I can understand—I will think about how to reply to them later..."

"Oh, that's it—"

Elena glanced at the parchment in her hand and said indifferently.

"Dobby, right? Okay, I don't think there's any big problem."

"Huh?" Dumbledore was stunned for half a second.

"Is there anything else? If not, I'll go back to rest first—"

"Uh, there's nothing else..."

"Okay, then, goodbye Professor Dumbledore—"

Elena glanced at the old wizard who was stunned in place with a strange look, turned around and walked towards Hermione and the others.

Speaking of which, Professor Dumbledore seems to be one hundred and ten or one hundred and twelve years old this year? It seems that even the wizarding world cannot avoid the appearance of Alzheimer's disease? Dobby can't have any bad intentions, anyway, she is not Harry Potter...

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Yay!