Chapter 270 Extra: The Secret of the House-Elves

It's August, and the big day is coming soon! Coco and his friends are happily busy in the kitchen, preparing food for the start-of-term feast.

This is the day that more than a hundred house-elves at Hogwarts are looking forward to the most. The students will be back soon, the castle will become lively, and what's even better is that new first-year students will enter Hogwarts. These new students will clumsily break things and mess up the dormitories - more work! Hooray!

Dozens of ovens are humming, and hundreds of Yorkshire puddings are puffing, puffing, and slightly browned in them - snap! Coco snaps his fingers, and all the oven doors open at the same time. His companion, Simmi, raises his arm and lets all the puddings fly into the huge golden tray waiting nearby.

Several other house-elves are carefully checking each pudding that flies into the tray, not allowing any pudding that doesn't look tempting to appear on the table for the start-of-term feast.

Coco remembered that at the opening banquet one year, they actually forgot to check if there were any broken mints. All the house elves were extremely anxious. Every minute, they had to quietly watch the long table in a place where teachers and students could not notice, trying to find a suitable time to replace all the mints.

They didn't find such a clever opportunity in the end, but fortunately, no one seemed to be dissatisfied with the mints. Despite this, the house elves still vowed never to make such a terrible mistake again. This is simply a shame for house elves!

Suddenly, there was a very light popping sound in the air. Gubby, the house elf who had served Hogwarts the longest, appeared in the middle of the kitchen.

All the elves stopped talking and looked at him. In the kitchen, there was only the clinking sound of the egg beater hitting the glass bowl when it automatically beat the eggs, the sizzling sound of the grilled meat, the sizzling sound of steam, and the thumping sound of several knives chopping meat on the cutting board.

"Professor Dumbledore has agreed—" Guppy announced sharply, taking a deep breath, "You can add another donut!"

"Donuts!" a house-elf cheered, "Dippy will prepare the jam!"

"Toot has made the dough!"

"Pimi is melting the chocolate!"

"Add some condensed milk!"

The kitchen was busy again. Guppy joined them, slicing lemon slices.

"The new students will be here next month!" Xinmi said beside Coco, with her big ears open happily, "Xinmi wants to help move the luggage!"

"Dudu will move the luggage." Coco said, "Dudu is the one who moves the luggage every year. She is quiet and quick, and even Professor McGonagall and Professor Dumbledore like to let her help move the luggage."

Xinmi's ears drooped: "Xinmi also wants to move the luggage. Xinmi also likes to pack the Hogwarts Express."

Dudu heard their conversation and turned around: "Xinmi can move the luggage with Dudu. Dudu will quietly move the students' luggage to their dormitories with Xinmi."

"Great!" Xinmi said happily, "Coco can make shepherd's pie, right?"

Coco said a little disappointedly: "There is no shepherd's pie on the menu for this year's banquet. Coco doesn't have as much work this year as last year."

"Oh, no." Xinmi said sympathetically, "Coco may be able to clean the students' dormitories."

"Pimi and Gubi will clean the students' dormitories." Coco said.

Pimmy directed a bunch of sausages to swim onto the plate like fish and joined their conversation: "Pimi heard the professors say that there will be Harry Potter among the freshmen this year."

Gubby asked: "Who is Harry Potter?"

"The boy who defeated He Who Must Not Be Named!" said Simi, "That's when Simi came to work at Hogwarts. Simi's master - Simi's previous master died, and Professor Dumbledore took Simi in." Her thin eyelids drooped, covering most of her tennis-like eyes.

"Hogwarts is safe, Simi, you won't lose your master again." Gubby comforted, "By the way, Professor Quirrell will be back this year."

"Is Professor Bubbage leaving?" Dippy was supervising the cookie cutters to press patterns on the dough while making apple pie. "Dippy likes Professor Bubbage. She sometimes eats potato chips at her desk."

"No, Professor Bubbage will not leave." Gubby said, "Gubby heard Professor Dumbledore tell Professor Snape that Professor Quirrell will come back to be the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor."

Simi took a breath and said excitedly: "But that position is not good! Professor Quirrell should not accept this position!"

"Professor Trelawney also thinks that the professor of Transfiguration, Potions and Muggle Studies are all prone to death. Xinmi shouldn't trust Professor Trelawney. "Toots shook his head and said shrilly, then lowered his head and muttered, "Oh, bad Toots, bad Toots, Toots said bad things about the professor - but that's because Professor Trelawney said bad things about other Hogwarts professors."

Gubby asked: "Professor Trelawney still doesn't let Xinmi clean the room?"

"Oh, no, Xinmi now often helps Professor Trelawney move the crystal ball." Xinmi said proudly, "Xinmi will also help Professor Trelawney polish her silver jewelry, pack her shawls, and bring her champagne, sandwiches and lamb chops when she doesn't want to get up - to her bed! Xinmi can also help her clean the window!"

The house elves exclaimed enviously.

Perhaps out of convenience and habit, wizards usually only call on one or two specific house-elves. Therefore, those elves whose names are remembered by professors can often get more work.

Although the frequent changes of Defense Against the Dark Arts professors do not seem to be a very pleasant thing for wizards - house-elves will hear from time to time that they are looking for a second-year Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, and the number of applicants seems to be getting fewer and fewer every year - but to be honest, for house-elves, the biggest new thing every school year is who will be remembered by the new Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

"Coco will have more work this year!" Dippy said enviously, "Professor Quirrell remembers Coco's name."

"Professor Quirrell also remembers Pimmie's name." Coco said, "Pimi has more work too!"

Coco said, and looked at Pimmie, feeling much happier. Although Professor Quirrell's office is usually very tidy, and there is not much that Coco needs to clean up, but he doesn't care. Besides, maybe after Professor Quirrell becomes the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, the office will become more messy.

...

To Coco's disappointment, Professor Quirrell never summoned him or Pimmy. When they were cleaning the castle, they heard the professors say that Professor Quirrell was stimulated by some vampire when he left Hogwarts, and since then he has become stuttering, timid, and suspicious.

They also heard the professors discussing whether Professor Quirrell should really be appointed as the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor.

Professor Sprout thought that the poor man should be allowed to go home and recuperate. Professor Flitwick said that Professor Quirrell had at least performed well in the O.W.L. and N.E.W.T. of Defense Against the Dark Arts, and now that he has practical experience, he might do unexpectedly well; Professor Snape questioned how much Professor Quirrell's stuttering would affect the class; Professor McGonagall told them that Professor Dumbledore had already made a decision.

For the house elves, they only care about one thing: will there be a day when Professor Quirrell is willing to give them his turban to clean. That will definitely be a wonderful day!

However, although Professor Quirrell did not return to serve as the professor of Muggle Studies, the house elves heard that there would be a new professor this year, Henry Anthony. He did not seem to be a former student of Hogwarts, so the house elves did not know his habits and preferences, and whether he would summon the house elves, and who he would summon.

Coco spent a week waiting for Professor Quirrell to summon and preparing for the start of term dinner. He and his companions have made more than ten flavors of sausages, and asked Professor Sprout to help pick out her five favorites for breakfast this month. They also made seven large barrels of ice cream, including chocolate, vanilla, lemon, yogurt, pistachio, caramel and strawberry flavors, all of which were recipes agreed by the professors.

They selected the best potatoes and made mashed potatoes that were smoother and more creamy than last year. Coco also learned a new magic trick that could make the fried French fries jump out of the frying pan by themselves, and ensure that the shell was crispy and the filling was soft, and would not become soft or hard over time.

At the same time, more information about the new professor was sent to the kitchen by the house elves scattered throughout Hogwarts. Amid the banging of pots and pans, Coco heard Toots say, "Toots doesn't want the new professor to remember his name."

The new professor hasn't officially moved into Hogwarts yet, so they can safely say bad things about him without blaming themselves for being "bad elves."

Even so, several elves were still so frightened by such a terrifying speech that they forgot what they were doing. Several fish fell to the ground, struggling on the floor and making a clattering sound. The elves quickly picked them up, quietly blaming themselves for being "bad elves."

"Why, Toot?" Dippy asked in horror, "Will the new professor want to give us clothes?"

"Oh, no." Toot said, trying to lower his shrill voice, "The new professor seems to be a very pure dark wizard. Professor Dumbledore told Professor McGonagall that the new professor has just left Azkaban."

"Dark wizard!" Sean, who was cutting lamb chops in the corner, suddenly raised his head excitedly, "Sean likes dark wizards! Sean likes pure-blooded dark wizards! Sean's previous master was a dark wizard! Sean wants the new professor, Professor Anthony, to remember his name!"

Xinmi screamed, "Xinmi doesn't want to see dark wizards! Xinmi doesn't want dark wizards to be professors at Hogwarts! Xinmi likes Hogwarts, there shouldn't be dark wizards in Hogwarts!"

Sian screamed in a voice higher than hers, "Sian likes dark wizards! Sean is willing to serve dark wizards!" More than a dozen knives for cutting lamb bones floated in the air, dripping with blood.

Pimmy also screamed: "Sean made the floor dirty! Sean is a bad elf!"

Sean quickly put down all the knives, snapped his fingers, and all the stains on the floor were gone. But Sean still knelt on the ground, wiping the tiles with the tea towel on his body, and banging his head against the cabinet: "Bad Sean! Bad Sean!"

Toot shouted: "Professor Dumbledore said he doesn't like to see us punishing ourselves like this!"

Sean stopped trembling.

"Sean can't serve dark wizards." Gubby said loudly, "Dark wizards will make Sean punish himself constantly."

Xinmi opened her eyes wide in fear and said tremblingly: "Yes, the dark wizard is like this." Tears rolled down from her eyes, "Xinmi didn't dare to see the dark wizard. What if the dark wizard remembers Xinmi's name... Oh, my God, Xinmi is a good elf! Xinmi will obey orders..."

Pimi stretched out his arms and hugged Xinmi.

"Pimi can go." Pimi whispered, with his ears drooping and fear in his eyes, "Pimi can ask the dark wizard if he called the wrong name... Pimi and Xinmi's names are a bit similar, Pimi She also looks very similar to Xinmi.”

Coco comforted: "Maybe the dark wizard doesn't want house elves at all, just like Professor Quirrell this year. He might use magic to protect his office and bedroom like Professor Quirrell."

Deep down, he couldn't imagine what he would do if the dark wizard remembered his own name.

…

A few days passed, but Professor Quirrell still didn't summon him or Pimi. Coco was busy in the kitchen, as he usually did, when suddenly all the elves stopped what they were doing and turned their heads to listen.

They heard Professor Dumbledore say: "...I thought I might also introduce you to our loyal and hard-working house elves, who maintain all aspects of daily life for all the teachers and students at Hogwarts - who are you? Would the house elf wish to be introduced to Henry?"

Gubi's thin hands firmly covered Sean's mouth, and his whole body almost hung on Sean's body. Sean fell to the ground and made a whining sound. Otherwise, the kitchen was eerily quiet.

Pimi said softly: "He's coming!"

Xinmi's eyes were filled with tears: "Xinmi doesn't want to go..."

Dippy said, "Dippy doesn't want to go either."

Dudu said: "Professor Dumbledore might call Dudu. He remembers Dudu's name."

Coco took a deep breath, puffed up her thin chest, mustered up her courage, and said with a trembling voice: "Coco is willing to go."

All the house elves felt the urge to respond disappear. Sean suddenly lost his strength and lay on the ground with Gubby. Xinmi looked at Coco gratefully, while showing an undisguised expression of worry.

Coco Apparates.

"Ah, Coco!" Professor Dumbledore said happily. Coco was surprised to find that he actually remembered his name.

He did not dare to raise his head, and had maintained a bowing posture since he appeared in front of Professor Dumbledore and the dark wizard. At this time, he lowered his body a little, and his nose almost touched the floor: "Coco is at your service."

"Nice to meet you, Coco." He heard a strange voice say, it should be the dark wizard.

He saw the dark wizard's shoes move in front of him, and then - wait, there is no robe, the dark wizard only wore pants and a top - the dark wizard's black trousers. The dark wizard's trouser legs moved... and the dark wizard squatted down.

Coco quietly raised her head and saw a young wizard squatting in front of him with a smile.

"Nice to meet you, Coco." Anthony repeated, "I am Henry Anthony, the new Muggle Studies professor this year."

Coco straightened up and felt her ears gradually relax and open. Serving Professor Anthony doesn't seem so bad.

…

Serving Professor Anthony is every house-elf's nightmare! His office is empty and he doesn’t want any decorations! He has a pet, but his pet doesn't shed hair!

Coco prepared more sandwiches for Anthony.