Hogwarts, a Scholar Becomes a God

"By the way, didn't you really teach Hagrid that trick?"

Hermione asked suddenly as she and Clark climbed the steps to the library.

Clark almost laughed when he heard the words, "To be honest, I was also surprised today that Hagrid has learned to play tricks. He has completely grasped Malfoy's weakness."

The two came to the library while talking and laughing, Hermione left for a while, and came back with a large stack of books in her arms.

"According to what you said, I have consulted some history books of the wizarding world, and I can see that the appearance of house-elves has something to do with the goblin rebellion."

Hermione put the History of Magic books on the table in front of her.

"But this rebellion has passed for so long, didn't those goblins who failed back then also pay the price?

Why continue to enslave their descendants? We must look forward and not be immersed in hatred all the time. "

Hermione looked at Clark sincerely. As a kind girl, she also fell into a deep entanglement after reading "A History of Magic".

On the one hand, as a human being and a wizard, she also felt very angry after knowing the crimes committed by the goblins when they rebelled.

But on the other hand, after seeing the tragic experience of the descendants of the defeated goblins-house elves, she couldn't bear it.

Does hatred really need to last forever? Do the mistakes made by the ancestors need to be borne by the descendants all the time?

Hermione didn't know the answer, so she could only resort to her usual method-turning the book.

However, in the books written by wizards, the meaning revealed between the lines is obvious:

House-elves are the offspring of losers, captives of wizards, slaves, private property, and they deserve what they have suffered.

"But house elves are also intelligent creatures!" Hermione looked at Clark distressedly, "They also have emotions, emotions, and desires. They are not tools, and they should also enjoy human rights, right?"

"If goblins were cruel in the past, isn't what wizards do to house-elves today an atrocity?

What is the difference between them and those rebellious goblins? "

However, facing Hermione's question, Clark just said coldly: "Forgetting history means betrayal!"

Clark's words shocked Hermione. She never expected that Clark, who had always shown himself to be gentle and refined, would be so tough on this matter.

However, she didn't know that the young man in front of her also had a Chinese soul.

He had heard countless times in his previous life about Hermione's white left remarks from the Holy Mother.

Perhaps some of them are indeed as simple and kind as Hermione, who have been misled by outside public opinion.

But in Clark's view, the so-called letting go of hatred is more because the knife didn't hit them themselves, so they don't know the pain.

"The house elves are the punishment for the rebellious goblins who defeated the wizards back then, but now we are not qualified to forgive them for our ancestors."

Clark said coldly, flipped through the book Hermione brought over, and found that all the content related to the goblin rebellion had been marked.

From this point of view, Hermione's behavior is not just the outbreak of the Virgin Mary, but that she has really grown up and started to have her own thinking about everything in the world.

"However, we are not qualified to punish house elves for our ancestors!"

Hermione was keen to point out the holes in his words.

"You are changing the concept secretly. I didn't say that we should forget history. Isn't the real history still written in "History of Magic"?

No one tampered with it, smeared it, and no one made TV or wrote novels to beautify or distort it.

We have never forgotten history, and we have never forgiven.

But one yard is one yard, this does not mean that we can always enslave the descendants of those mortals. "

She waved her hand to stop Clark who was about to speak.

"In my opinion, the enslavement of house-elves is more due to the fact that those vested interest groups in the wizarding world treat them as private property after enjoying the services of house-elves, and are unwilling to let them go.

Is this any different from those slave owners in the United States? "

Speaking of which, Hermione glanced at Clark suspiciously. She remembered that Harry once said that Clark also had several house elves in his family.

She was talking to a slave owner about how to free the slaves. Could it be because of Clark's opposition to the emancipation of the house-elves because of his position?

Of course Clark also saw her suspicion, so after Hermione finished speaking, he had to speak seriously.

"Hermione, I've said it before, don't look at magic with the eyes of ordinary people, this is a big taboo in occultism.

In fact, problems like yours are often encountered by many Muggle-born wizards.

This is the incompatibility caused by the collision between the values ​​and worldview of Muggles and the values ​​and worldview of wizards, and it is also one of the reasons why wizards and Muggles cannot understand each other. "

"But I have read all the materials related to house elves according to what you said." Hermione said.

"No," Clark shook his head. "You haven't read all of them. Remember my suggestion? You didn't look for folklore materials from the Muggle world."

"Folk material?" Hermione asked suspiciously, "Those are all Muggle stories, what's the use?"

"Knowledge, or information, doesn't distinguish between Muggles and wizards," Clark sighed, "As a mage who uses research and learning knowledge as his source of power, you have to establish a point of view, that is, no matter what information is, it is useful. of."

Seeing that Hermione still half understood, Clark had to explain this question to her bit by bit.

"Actually, in the Muggle world, there are also many folklore related to house elves."

Clark's words made Hermione's eyes widen, "But I've never heard of it, it doesn't meet the requirements of the International Act of Wizarding Secrecy..."

"That's just some legends, as if you were in the Muggle world, didn't you also hear about ghosts, vampires, werewolves and witches?

And those legendary witches also rode broomsticks. Could this also be considered a violation of the International Law of Wizarding Secrecy? "

Hermione was speechless.

"Actually, before the introduction of the International Act of Wizarding Secrecy, the connection between wizards and Muggles was not as distant as it is now.

Therefore, we can often get a glimpse of some real conditions in the wizarding world from myths and legends and rural folk customs around the world. "

As Clark said, he flipped through the "Histories of Magic" again.

"Just like these house elves, there are actually multiple versions of their stories in folklore across Europe.

It's usually about a craftsman in the garment industry (sometimes a tailor, sometimes a shoemaker) who one day is helped by a kind of dwarf/elf to make products for him for free.

In return, the craftsman sewed clothes/shoes for the elves, but the elves disappeared after receiving the gift. "

As he spoke, he began to give examples:

"For example, in Germany in 1857, the famous Brothers Grimm wrote a story called "The Elf: The First Fairy Tale", and the content of the story is also very simple.

A devout shoemaker family, elves who suddenly appeared one day began to help them make shoes. After discovering the existence of elves, the shoemaker presented some clothes to the elves, but these elves disappeared after singing a song.

Also, in Göttingen in 1855, in a book called "Legends and Fairy Tales of Lower Saxony: Collected from the People's Mouth", there is the same story.

In this version, the cobbler makes no prayers or mentions of God, but simply dumps leftovers in the kitchen each day.

As a result, the elves ate the leftovers and began to secretly help him make shoes, and after getting new clothes in return, the elves sang a song and disappeared.

Also, in the "Legends and Customs of the Hessen Region of Germany" released in 1854, there is a similar story. After praying to God, an elf appeared, and the elf sang and disappeared after getting the clothes.

In 1843, in The Little Laundrywoman in Bohemia, the story was mutated, in which the elf became a woman and her job was to wash clothes.

After being trapped by hunters, she was forced to put on boots and ran away crying.

1826, Scotland, in "Scottish Popular Rhythms".

There are similar variants that explicitly state that clothing goblins is offensive to them.

1812, Scotland, in The Bards of the Scottish Borders: Composed of Ballads of History and Romance.

An important story is recorded, as it tells of the aftermath of the elves who clothed themselves and joined the fairies.

..."

Without pausing, Clark told several folk tales about house-elves in one breath.

"In fact, if you read the stories I told carefully, you will find that the elves in these stories generally abide by the same few rules.

And the core point is that the labor of these goblins is not completely free.

In addition to the food that must be provided every day, the goblin will actually ask for something far more precious than money after serving for many years.

And this thing is likely to be the owner's child. "

"Children!" Hermione's exclamation drew a reproachful look from Mrs. Pince, "What do those house elves want their master's children for?"

"Hehe, in the magical world, the status of children is much higher than that of adults."

Clark said with some seriousness.

"If you have read any ghost stories, you should know that many demons often like to use the target's unborn child as a bargaining chip.

This is because the pure, unpolluted soul of a child is the alchemy material second only to saints, and it can play a very good role in many magical rituals.

Compared with Muggle children, wizard children who have awakened their magic power are even more precious.

This is one of the reasons why the four founders who established Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to recruit wizard children are so respected.

Under their protection, wizard children at that time could be protected from all kinds of magical creatures, demons and ghosts. "

"So the predecessor of the house-elf was also a part of the murder of wizard children?" Hermione asked in disbelief.

Clark nodded, "That's right, they signed a contract by secretly helping Muggles or wizards, and the final price they got was their master's children."

"How can this be!" Hermione felt that many of her concepts were on the verge of collapse.

She thought that those house elves were also the victims of the rebellion back then, but she didn't expect that there was such a secret hidden behind it.

If these house elves were freed because of her kindness, wouldn't more wizarding children be hurt because of her...

Hermione couldn't accept this for a while, and covered her face with her hands.

But she quickly came to her senses and asked, "If that's the case, why did the wizard let the goblins control Gringotts? And those house elves, don't they work in the wizard's house too?"

"That's because they were defeated by the wizard and cast magic, replacing the need for human children with other things."

Clark said.

"I have reminded you before that it is a big taboo in the field of mysticism to use the thinking of 'normal people' to judge the thinking of magical creatures.

A large number of books and materials have also confirmed that the ethics and worldview of magical creatures are very different from those of humans.

Many things that you consider valuable may not be worth anything to magical creatures.

And those things that you think are worthless are likely to be treasures involving some supernatural power in the eyes of magical creatures.

This is also one of the rules that can be realized in the transactions between humans and these magical creatures. "

"Take goblins as an example. Have you ever seen how they reproduce in books?"

Clark's question caught Hermione in a daze. She thought about it carefully, and found that the books she had read didn't seem to mention this aspect.

"Don't they need to reproduce?" Hermione asked curiously.

"How is it possible," Clark said, "If you have studied Muggle biology, you should know that the most important task of a creature is to survive and reproduce."

"Although goblins are spiritual creatures, most of them come from the natural generation of heaven and earth, but this does not mean that they do not have the ability to reproduce.

It's just that their reproduction is different from ours, and they don't need to rely on biological reproduction.

More often, they use a ritual called [spiritual enlightenment] to give birth to new fairies. "

"So... are human children the sacrifices of this ritual?" Hermione asked hesitantly.

She remembered what she had read in a book. In ancient times, in order to activate the spirituality of the totem pole, some primitive tribes would choose to hold a bloody ceremony and sacrifice their children to the gods they worshiped as sacrifices.

"Human children are of course more spiritual." Clark's words revealed a strong smell of blood.

"But it's okay now, since the wizards defeated these goblins, they no longer need human children to hold [spiritual enlightenment] rituals."