Chapter 331 Cake and Elves

"Professor Anthony..." Coco said softly, fiddling with his long fingers nervously.

Anthony stretched out his arm to catch the flying chicken, and awkwardly closed the door behind him with his other hand.

"Good evening, Chicken." Anthony said, "Good evening, Coco, you're not hurt, are you?"

"No, Professor Anthony." Coco shook her head guiltily, shaking her big bat-like ears vigorously, "But Coco made the professor's pet angry and almost caused a disaster..."

Anthony said: "Don't worry, they often do this." He raised his arm and brought the Wraith Chicken in front of him, "right, chicken?"

The chicken gave him a quick and precise peck with his nose.

"Oh!" Anthony moved the chicken further away from him. "Look, that's it. I often make them angry, as long as it doesn't hurt - ah, almond cake. Thank you, Coco."

Coco opened her bulging eyes: "Really? Professor Anthony doesn't mind that his pet is angry? Professor Anthony doesn't mind that his office almost becomes a mess?"

Anthony looked at the pets around him. The wraith chicken was still on his arm, and the cat was lying on the ground, head raised, watching intently as the mouse climbed up the chair legs. All the furniture was exactly where it should be, not even the cups were broken.

"It would be nice not to be angry, but since it's just as chaotic, I guess I'm used to it." Anthony said, pulling out his chair and picking up the mouse and putting it on the table. "On the other hand, I think it's done now This house has looked the neatest it has looked in twenty-four hours.”

Coco took a breath: "Coco didn't clean Professor Anthony's office! Coco made Professor Anthony's office dirty!" Tears even began to appear in his eyes.

"This is not dirty!" Anthony said hurriedly, "I beg you not to come to my office every day, remember? Don't be sad, Coco, you have already given me a lot of help."

Coco said sadly: "Coco is a lazy and careless bad elf... If Coco does better, Professor Anthony will be willing to let Coco help him tidy up the room..."

"Okay, okay," Anthony said, "Listen, Coco, I need you to do me a favor."

Coco immediately stopped blaming herself, raised her face and asked, "What, Professor Anthony?"

"Uh..." Anthony looked around.

The shelves were in order, the drawers were all intact, the tables and floors were clear of dust, and the blinds and curtains were properly closed.

"Professor Anthony?" Coco asked expectantly.

"Oh, by the way. Coco, do you remember Dobby? He should still be in school now, right?"

Coco frowned: "Coco remember! Dobby is a bad elf!"

"I want to talk to him, can you help me find him? Secretly, without disturbing anyone else."

Coco bowed quickly to him and disappeared. Anthony waited a short moment, but there was no more crackling in the room, so he sat down and pulled the almond cake in front of him. The Wraith Chicken landed nearby and looked at the cake sideways.

"Do you want to eat too, chicken?" Anthony pushed the plate in its direction, "I don't understand why you guys started fighting again... Can chickens eat almonds?"

The Wraith Chicken pecked off a small piece of almond slice, tilted his head and watched it fall on the table, then stretched out a paw and fiddled with it back and forth.

"You're not eating at all." Anthony pointed out, pulled the plate back, forked a piece and put it in his mouth, "Oh, it's really good." The moist and porous cake base was soft and elastic, with icing sugar and almond slices sprinkled on top. It’s also just right, the perfect simple dessert for late at night.

The mouse poked his head out from behind the tea cup. Anthony picked another slice of almond from the cake and handed it to it. The mouse held the almond slices and sat down across from the plate. Then he was startled by the sound of the air tearing and jumped off the table and jumped into Anthony's lap.

"Let go! Let go Dobby!" a voice screamed.

Two elves appeared in front of Anthony's desk. Coco lay on Dobby's back, her thin limbs twisting Dobby's even more bony arms and legs, her fingers tightly pulling on the tattered things Dobby was wearing, panting and proudly saying: "Coco Bring Dobby here, Professor Anthony!"

Anthony stood up quickly: "Oh my God."

"Let go of Dobby!" Dobby struggled violently in the rags, making people worried that it would be torn.

"Thank you, Coco, you've been a big help. Let him go." Anthony said, "I'm so sorry, Dobby, I didn't mean to kidnap you."

Coco let go of his hand, slid off Dobby, and bowed to Anthony again: "Coco is happy, Professor Anthony!" With a snap, he apparated away.

Dobby turned over and stood up, looking up at Anthony carefully.

"Henry Anthony apologized to Dobby..." he trembled, rocking back and forth, "said 'I'm sorry' to Dobby..."

"Yes, I just want to chat with you, so if it scares you-"

Dobby didn't seem to pay attention to what he just said: "Dobby told Harry Potter that Anthony was actually a very evil dark wizard, but Harry Potter said that Anthony was a decent and good wizard... Dobby had never met a dark wizard who apologized to Dobby before, especially..." He suddenly interrupted his words, jumped up, rushed to the table, and banged his head against the table legs, "Bad Dobby! Bad Dobby!"

The mouse quickly got into Anthony's pocket, and the ghost chicken was also startled and flew up. The cat maintained the posture of licking its fur and turned its head to look at Dobby.

"Hey, hey, stop!" Anthony walked around the front of the table and blocked Dobby, "Are you okay?"

Dobby was panting, and his eyes were already filled with tears. He stared at Anthony with his tearful eyes, and suddenly announced in a loud and joyful voice: "Professor Anthony is just as good as Harry Potter said. Oh, Dobby knew it! Harry Potter is a kind and great man, and his favorite friends and professors are of course kind!"

"Not the words I would use to describe myself, but thank you." Anthony sat down on the ground opposite the emotional elf, motioning him to sit on the transformed small stool, "I know Minerva has talked to you, but a face-to-face private conversation may be more helpful. You see, I have always been curious, why do you think I would hurt Mr. Potter?"

Dobby's eyes widened and his voice lowered: "Dobby can't say, sir." After saying this, he jumped up from the stool with a choking sob and rushed to the foot of the table again.

Anthony reached out and grabbed him, comforting him: "It's okay, it's okay-let's talk about something else. Um... did you know that the crucible you threw down contained the water of life and death?"

Dobby sobbed and shook his head.

"Dobby didn't know what the water of life and death was. Dobby was helping other elves clean the classrooms and bathrooms. There were many old rooms in Hogwarts Castle that had not been cleaned. Dobby controlled the cauldron around him just to protect Harry Potter from danger."

Anthony said in confusion: "Away from... me?" He clearly remembered that the day the cauldron fell from the sky was Valentine's Day - a very memorable Valentine's Day - and he didn't meet Harry at all that day.

"No, sir, no!" Dobby shouted, "Since Harry Potter told Dobby that you are a good man, Dobby has been observing! Dobby has seen a lot! Professor Anthony is a dark wizard, but he doesn't want to hurt Harry Potter!"

"But you said stay away from danger..."

"It's that woman! That evil woman! Dobby thought Harry Potter could stay safely in school, with his friends... so brave, so happy... but that woman came!"

"Umbridge?" Anthony asked in surprise, "Are you talking about Ms. Umbridge?"

Dobby closed his mouth tightly, shook his body for a while, and then nodded sharply: "Yes."

"Is she also a dark wizard?" Anthony asked puzzled.

Dobby shook his head, nodded quickly, and then bit his skinny fingers hard, looking at Anthony with wide eyes expectantly, as if hoping that he could infer something from it.

"Is she also a dark creature?"

Dobby's ears drooped a little, and shook his head again.

"Death Eater?"

Shake his head.

"She... she won't be Voldemort again?"

Dobby trembled all over and screamed: "Don't say that name! Don't-don't-don't-don't say that name!" He covered his ears and shrank into a ball.

"Okay, okay, I won't guess." Anthony said, "Anyway, the danger to Hogwarts is no longer me, right?"

Dobby shook his head: "No, sir, not you."

"I'm glad to know that I'm innocent." Anthony said, "I will pay attention to Ms. Umbridge. But, Dobby-"

Dobby suddenly jumped up.

"Master Draco is awake." He said, "Dobby should go back. Master Draco may look for Dobby later."

"I hope he is not looking for you to help him with his night tour." Anthony said, "Anyway, thank you for chatting with me, Dobby. See you next time."

"Dobby is happy to answer Professor Anthony's questions!" Dobby said sharply, "If Professor Anthony has anything else he wants to know, Dobby will be happy to tell him!"

He stretched out his hand, snapped his fingers, and disappeared.