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Chapter 532: Push Her Down Again
🕑 Added 2019-06-28 10:32:33 +0000 UTC
Now, there were only Evan and Hermione in the Common Room.
Hermione was still looking angry, and her eyes were a bit red. Obviously, Ron’s reaction was very irritating to her. Despite her usual strong character, in some cases, she was particularly vulnerable.
“Don't take it to heart, Hermione. Harry's right. Ron's just stressed out. He doesn't mean that." said Evan, patting Hermione gently on the shoulder. "You know, Malfoy's insult to his parents the other day made him feel bad."
"I’m not angry, but I’m shocked. He actually thinks that the house-elves like being slaves to others!" said Hermione, taking a deep breath. "It’s precisely because everyone has this wrong conception that the interests of the house-elves cannot be protected."
"Ron's thoughts represents the conviction of the majority of pure-blood wizards. This has been the case for several years in the wizarding world. The relationship between wizards and house-elves has been going on like this for a long time. Everyone is accepting it. They don't think it's wrong, and nobody will try to change anything."
"So, this is our duty, and it is also the meaning of the existence of the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare!" Hermione turned and looked at Evan, her beautiful brown eyes re-brightened, "House-elves have been enslaved for too long. They have forgotten to fight for their rights. Under the control of the Department for the Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures, they dare not do so either; I have studied the existing laws. The background of promulgation of these laws was completely different from that of today, and there is no value in continuing to implement them."
Hermione apparently conducted in-depth research and found a lot of information. It was impossible to convince her in this regard.
And apart from all the emotional factors and the inherent concept, Evan thought that Hermione’s thoughts were reasonable. It was really unfair to squeeze and enslave house-elves by the wizards and bind them with magic.
As for Ron's remark that house-elves liked to be slaves to wizards, it made no sense at all.
Ron’s idea was purely a pure blood theory and were like what Voldemort and Death Eaters had always preached.
They believed that pure blood wizards were born noble and extremely rejected Muggles, Muggle-born wizards and other non-human intelligent creatures. They believed that they were all inferior races and should be enslaved by pure blood wizards. They did not hesitate to wage war for this.
Although most wizards mostly opposed Voldemort and they did not agree with his pure blood concept, no one might have thought how similar they were to Voldemort and the Death Eaters in their treatment of house-elves.
To say it frankly, it was terrible.
From the previous magic historical data, it could be seen that the relationship between house-elves and wizards had not been as abnormal as it was now.
For centuries, wizards had waged wars against house-elves, conquering and enslaving them.
In the end, they completely destroyed the living environment of the house-elves and made them subordinate races of wizards and slaves of pure blood wizards.
From that time on, every house-elf was trained in servility after birth. Slaves had to serve their masters for generations; they must not disobey their masters' orders casually. If they disobeyed, they had to punish themselves.
For the house-elves, their supreme right was to obey their masters’ orders. They regarded serving their master for life as their greatest glory. A look at Kreacher showed that his greatest dream was to let his master cut off his head and hang it side on the side by the wall of the Black family’s house as decoration, just like what happened to his ancestors when they grew too old to seve.
This was absolutely incorrect and a deformed concept.
When Evan returned to Hogwarts a thousand years ago, the relationship between Helga Hufflepuff and her large family of elves was not nearly the same.
The relationship between them was not that of master and slaves; they were mostly Hufflepuff’s assistants and friends.
They were also the first house-elves to be in Hogwarts, the ancestors of all house-elves.
It was not Hogwarts’s tradition to enslave house-elves.
Hermione's concept was not wrong, and indeed someone had to stand up and do something for the house-elves.
In particular, Muggle-born wizards such as Evan could understand this unnoticed discrimination that existed in the wizarding world. He thought Hermione's approach was correct, but it was undoubtedly very difficult.
Relying on the power of a few young wizards, it was tantamount to stone-smashing to try to reverse the mainstream deformities formed in wizarding communities over the centuries.
This was especially difficult when wizards and house-elves took it for a matter of course.
Not all wizards were as responsible as Hermione, and not all house-elves wanted freedom like Dobby.
"We cannot stop doing it because it’s very difficult!" Hermione looked at Evan, as if she knew what he was thinking. "We have to make a stand. Evan, think about the current situation of the house-elves. Someone must do something for them!"
"But you should know that it's all self-inflicting!" said Evan. "Looking at Ron's reaction, I know it’s almost impossible to persuade those pure-blood wizards to change their minds. House-elves won’t necessarily accept it; they are used to it, and you may be opposed by everyone..."
"Someone has to do it, isn’t it?!" Hermione whispered, staring at Evan with burning eyes.
She had an unprecedented persistence and seriousness on her face; she had made up her mind go through with this to the end.
She would not hesitate even if the entire wizarding world was to become her enemy, and all the pure-blood wizards were to oppose her. Because Hermione firmly believed she was right, and everyone else was wrong, she had to stop this unfair slavery.
Evan felt that it was foolish to inexplicably help the house-elves to do what they didn’t want, and to be against the mainstream concept of the wizarding world.
But Hermione didn’t. If she didn’t, she wouldn’t be Hermione!
This was not a matter of success or folly, but a matter of following one’s own beliefs and ideals.
Evan knew that she had spent so much effort and time to set up the Society for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare. It wasn’t just the house-elves, cherishing that effort and bringing happiness to her heart was worthy of his own efforts.
Hermione, as she was now, was undoubtedly very attractive. This wasn’t just her appearance; it was her pure heart. This was the most precious of treasures in the world.
Under the candlelight, Evan looked at Hermione sitting beside him, her pretty little face full of persistence.
A strange feeling rose in the depths of his heart, and Evan had a wicked thought: he wanted to push Hermione down again!
