v4 Chapter 176： We will pay the price

Noon lunch was made by Tom and Hermione. They went into the kitchen together and made a modest but perfectly safe lunch.

Tom was really worried about Kreacher's mental state and the hygiene of the kitchen at Blake's house. With the blessing of these two unstable factors, this lunch is likely to be cleaner and hygienic than the street food stalls in India.

Sirius saw right through Tom's mind.

He couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed: he clearly planned to invite them to dinner, but it was okay for the guests to cook by themselves!

So he tried to help while saying that the kitchen was clean. But the eldest young master of the Blakes didn't cook by himself - there were house-elves in the house when he was a child, Hogwarts took care of the meals when he was in school, and the Ministry of Magic provided room and board after graduation. How could Sirius have the opportunity to learn to cook? Woolen cloth?

As a result, he didn't help as much as he did.

But fortunately, Lupin and Tom are reliable, so this lunch was made without any risk.

What reassured Tom was that at least the kitchen was clean, free of undeserved insects or magical creatures, and all the kitchen utensils were clean and shiny.

This is a bit out of tune with the surrounding environment, very abnormal.

Lupin explained: The first day they moved in, they focused on cleaning two places: the bedroom and the dining room, and they didn't move in until they were clean and spotless.

Tom suddenly realized. Yes, Sirius and Lupin have lived here for a while, and the hygiene of key locations can still be guaranteed.

rice ball reading

Eventually, Tom brought a pot of curry to the table.

A steaming pot of curry, perfect for a group dinner. And curry, the magical seasoning, has a very surprising feature, that is, as long as the meat added inside is changed, it is a brand new dish: chicken curry, beef curry, seafood curry, vegetarian curry.

Tom picked up four dishes at once!

As for the main food, it is rice, pancakes and bread.

"It's quite rich." Sirius looked at the food on the table with relief and smiled.

While everyone was having a good time, Tom suddenly said something like this: "Regulus, he's a Gryffindor."

Sirius:?

A question mark popped up in his head.

"Tom, we didn't drink, how do you say such a slur?" Sirius took the silver teapot in front of Tom, checked it, and made sure that there was only black tea in it.

"He is indeed a Gryffindor." Hermione echoed Tom, and then gave her own explanation: "If I remember correctly, the name Regulus is the same as the name of Sirius, derived from a star ... Regulus is the brightest star in the constellation Leo, and it is also the star located at the "heart" of the constellation Leo, so from this point of view, he is indeed a Gryffindor."

Sirius smiled and shook his head, "I didn't expect you to say this, it sounds reasonable, but I think he's still not a Gryffindor, he's a real Slytherin."

The tradition of Slytherin is not pure blood supremacy. The tradition of this academy is to be ambitious, shrewd, attach importance to honor, judge the situation, be wise and protect oneself, and win first. It's just that after Voldemort came out, the real Slytherin spirit was on the verge of being lost.

The good traditions are gone, leaving only the infamous pure-bloodism.

It can only be said that bad money drives out good money.

After the meal, everyone reclined on the chairs and reminisced about the food they had just eaten.

"Yordle, your craftsmanship is really good!" Sirius said contentedly: "By the way, do you have any clues on how to destroy that thing?"

Tom brought the locket on the table to him. He didn't wear it with him, because he could feel that the locket was exerting an influence on his emotions, amplifying some negative emotions, making him more irritable, and easily depressed.

It has such power without being "activated", and it can only be said that it is a Horcrux made in Voldemort's heyday. If this Horcrux absorbed the power of a wizard's soul like a diary, it might cause a big mess.

Taking a closer look, Tom noticed the special feature of the locket - countless tiny runes could be faintly seen on the surface of the box, and these runes constituted a powerful protective spell, making the surface of the Horcrux extremely difficult to damage.

"Kreacher said he tried almost everything, like throwing him in the stove, hitting him with a hammer, and not even a house elf's destructive spell could hurt him, so what are you going to do?" Sirius looked at the Horcrux, a little worried.

Tom naturally intends to give it to Dumbledore and let him use Gryffindor's sword to give it a sword.

"Sword? Does it work?" Sirius frowned, remembering Kreacher saying that the surface of the locket was indestructible.

"Just open the box, the parts inside are definitely not that strong."

"However, it doesn't seem to be able to open." Sirius tried it, but he couldn't open the locket.

"This thing is Slytherin's relic. If he wants to open it, he probably needs a snake's old tongue. This is his routine operation." Speaking of which, Tom sighed about Voldemort's means of protecting his Horcrux.

He has tried his best.

Slytherin's locket was hidden in a cave, surrounded by strict magic spell protection, and the locket itself was indestructible, only those who knew how to speak snakes could open it. With so many protective measures, in theory, the locket should be foolproof. It's a pity that people are not as good as God, and there are many accidents.

The Hufflepuff Gold Cup was placed in Gringotts. Gringotts claims to be the safest place in the world, and if the goblins can really live up to their bragging rights, there really isn't any problem with Voldemort's choice. However, he encountered false propaganda.

Ravenclaw's crown is hidden in the Room of Requirement. The House of Requirement itself is very hidden, and with the clutter accumulated over the centuries, trying to find the crown inside is really a needle in a haystack. As a result, I ran into the enemy of Harry Potter...

Possibly because of Voldemort's soul fragments, Harry was always able to meet Voldemort's Horcruxes in all sorts of incredible situations.

In the original world line, he saw Hufflepuff's gold cup at a glance; Ravenclaw's crown he accidentally saw in sixth grade - he also hid Snape's textbook beside the crown; Tring's locket, which he also picked up while cleaning out the clutter at Blake's mansion...

It can't be explained by coincidence anymore!

It can only be said that the Horcrux will attract each other.

Sirius didn't know the twists and turns inside, and he was already anxious.

"How can there be anyone who knows the old tongue now? The descendants of Slytherin are extinct!"

"Trust Dumbledore, he can definitely solve it." Tom moved Dumbledore out and comforted Sirius.

"Hopefully." Sirius frowned and said dubiously.

After a few chats, Tom and Hermione left 12 Grimmauld Place, preparing to return to Hogwarts.

After leaving Sirius' house, Tom and Hermione chose to take the subway back to the Leaky Cauldron.

On the subway, Hermione's brows did not open.

"What's the matter? Baby~" Tom wrapped his arms around Hermione's shoulders and whispered in her ear, "Frowning every day will cause wrinkles on your forehead."

Hermione simply put her head directly on Tom's shoulder and said faintly, "What do you think Kreacher is in Sirius' eyes?"

Tom thought about it and felt that before today, Sirius definitely didn't see Kreacher as a "human". After today, it's hard to say.

But this is no wonder Sirius, because this is determined by the environment he grew up in, and it is also the consensus of the magic world. Few wizards in the wizarding world feel that house-elves have personalities. In public perception, they are just useful, loyal, and noble tools that can reflect family background.

It's possible that Dumbledore and Hermione treat house-elves as human beings.

"I hope the story Kreacher tells today can touch Sirius, his attitude towards Kreacher is really not friendly." Thinking of how Sirius had just taken the locket from Kreacher, Tom felt hopeless.

In his eyes, everything at 12 Grimmauld Place is the origin of his hated family of origin, and Kreacher is no exception. He didn't sweep it out because it knew too many secrets.

"Sirius will pay the price, not only for him, but also for all the wizards who enslaved house-elves. They never regarded house-elves as creatures with the same sensitive emotions as humans." Hermione said worriedly. "They're going to pay for the way they treat the house-elves. Voldemort has paid the price. Who's next? Sirius? Or us?"

"You're thinking too much." Tom teased Hermione by flicking the tip of Hermione's upturned nose.

He feels that the countermeasures left by the ancestors of the wizards are almost perfect, and the theoretical basis is comparable to the caste system of "suffering in this world, and people in the next world".

The best shackles are never physical chains, but shackles in the heart.

Can house elves fight? Very capable. If the house-elves are now revolting, can the wizards suppress it? With the current level of wizards, it is estimated that they can't beat them.

The fact that Lucius Malfoy can be killed by his own house-elf in a single stroke can explain a lot of problems. The hundreds of house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen were treated as if they were hundreds of grown-up wizards.

It can only be said that there are capable people in the ancestors of wizards!

The "prohibition of magical creatures other than wizards from possessing wands" in the Wand Management and Use Regulations must have caused a **** storm back then. These ancient wizards stunned all non-wizard magical creatures with **** means, making them afraid to touch their wands.

Come to think of it, house-elves are so good at wandless wands, if they had a wand... wizards better pray that house-elves don't use wands made by wizards.

If the ancient wizards chose to use violence to keep house-elves in captivity, I am afraid that the house-elves have already achieved their freedom through continuous struggle.

It's just that the wisdom of the ancients is really beyond imagination, and they have successfully tamed these powerful magical creatures by distorting the values ​​of house elf.

Behaviors that are unacceptable in the eyes of many wizards are in their eyes justified. "No vacation, no salary, and absolute obedience to the wizard's orders" is just as natural in their minds as "annual leave, five social insurances and one housing fund, and wages paid on time"!

Staggering.

Muggles have done similar things. It is also a colonial empire. The influence of Great Britain in its colonies is far less than that of France in the former colonies. Why is this?

One is conquest by force, dispatching shackles, the other is cultural assimilation, that's all. It is easy to break the shackles in the hands, but difficult to break the shackles in the heart. This is the truth.

"What?" Hermione stared at Tom solemnly until he looked away. "America was segregated until the 1960s, but it's not equal now? I feel like those people will pay the price in the future - the wizard. Could it be an exception?"

The girl's voice is crisp and sweet, and it makes people's heart rippling. Hermione was like that, exuding her own charm all over her body.

Tom looked at her serious face and sweet voice, and his heart sank.

"So what do you want to do?" he asked gently.

"Free the house-elves and set them free. You can help me, Tom, right? As long as we join forces—"

"Sorry, I can't agree on this."

"That's, I-what? What did you say?" Hermione looked at Tom in astonishment, her eyes full of surprise, she never expected that Tom would not agree with her on this matter.

"So you're going to enjoy those slave labor in peace?" Her voice cooled.

Tom:…

It seems to have stabbed a basket?

"That was not what I meant-"

"Then what do you mean?"

Tom felt cold sweat slipping across his forehead. UU reading This is the first time the two have had a feud since they were together, and he just feels a little big.

He has tasted the sweetness of love, and now he will taste the bitterness.

Dumbledore, save me!

Tom's mind went fast, and then a name came to his mind.

"Do you think Professor Dumbledore doesn't know about the living conditions of the house-elves in the Hogwarts kitchen?" Tom stroked Hermione's hair to calm her down, "Of course I support you, I I've always supported you, but we have to figure out a question in advance why Professor Dumbledore didn't make the same choice as you."

Hermione was relieved to hear Tom say he would support her, and she was attracted by Tom's question.

Yeah, why didn't Professor Dumbledore choose to give those house-elves their freedom?

Dumbledore definitely knew the existence of these house elves, so his attitude was very questionable.

Because in Hermione's eyes, Dumbledore did nothing!

Is he not kind enough? Hermione shook her head, denying the possibility.

Then why?

——

The four thousand-character chapter is here, good night.