"As for me..."
Maki stood in the center of Vid's bedroom, puffed up his chest, patted it, and said with a serious expression:
"As an employee of the Ministry of Magic Construction and Repair Department, my purpose here is to conduct safety monitoring on the school's magical facilities, of course including the repair and maintenance of basic infrastructure."
"Especially in such an ancient castle, there may be many undocumented secret passages and protective loopholes that need special attention."
"Didn't Dumbledore tell you last time? The bathroom on the second floor of the castle is broken, and I'm planning to start from there..."
Then, he bent his mouth into a smile that seemed quite sinister and twisted.
On the opposite side, Zoe said softly: "But... that's the girls' bathroom, and no one can handle that crying Moaning Myrtle..."
Maki sneered: "That's because they haven't found a way. Don't worry, since I've proposed this plan, I naturally have a way to complete it."
"Get to work! Within three days, I hope you can give me some preliminary results."
As soon as he finished speaking, Phil, Zoe, and Habi started applauding with great gusto, all praising:
"Brilliant performance, Maki!"
"You're simply a genius!"
"Yes, that's exactly what Williams said! Exactly the same!"
Maki raised his mouth in a smile, pressed his right hand on his chest, and spun around gracefully to bow in thanks, saying: "Thank you, thank you, everyone!"
Vid couldn't help but laugh, also clapped a few times, and asked: "Truly a wonderful performance... But Maki, and you all..."
He looked at the House-Elves and asked: "Is it okay for you to tell me all this?"
He remembered, in the past, Maki wanted to hint at him about the Slytherin students' plans, and had to be quite secretive.
Yet now, they were completely re-enacting an indoor meeting of a few people from the Ministry of Magic.
"It's no problem."
Maki shook his head, his large ears shaking along with it: "Those guys are from the Ministry of Magic, not Hogwarts professors and students, they're not our masters and have no right to control us!"
"They're here to stir up trouble for the school." Habi also nodded and said, "The enemies of Hogwarts are our enemies."
Vid looked at them and smiled: "Alright, I understand – as long as it doesn't negatively affect you."
"Then... Mr. Vid Gray," Zoe whispered, "those people have ill intentions, we... what should we do?"
Her bulb-like eyes were full of worry.
The fact that Dumbledore was not at the school could be hidden from the students; most professors might not even know, but it couldn't be hidden from these House-Elves.
Vid chuckled and said: "No rush. Didn't he give Percy and the others three days' time? I want to see... what results they can produce after three days."
"Before that, I need to prepare something else."
Zoe did not press him on what he was preparing, just let out a sigh of relief and said: "That's great, I knew Mr. Vid Gray would have a plan."
"Mhm, don't worry, no matter what they plan, Hogwarts will always be here." Vid patted her head, looked kindly at the House-Elves, and said: "Thanks for today."
Maki's eyes brightened, Habi's ears twitched, Zoe smiled with pressed lips, and Phil shyly lowered his head.
Vid continued: "I have one more thing I'd like to ask for your help with..."
...
"Boo hoo... boo hoo hoo..."
In the girls' bathroom on the second floor, intermittent sobbing sounds were heard again; the sound was shrill and loud, accompanied by the dripping of a faucet.
Even in a magical world where ghosts roam the campus, this kind of environment would make people shun it.
Especially since once Moaning Myrtle throws a tantrum, she floods the bathroom with water.
But today, there was a sudden knocking at the door of the bathroom:
"Knock, knock, knock!"
The crying stopped.
Moaning Myrtle sniffled, lifted her head, and stared at the door that someone knocked on in surprise.
She had never met a visitor before, only students bursting in in urgency, disturbing her peace.
In the past, she would have rushed out and screamed at the visitor. However, today, she had cried for a whole two hours and was a bit tired.
So, Moaning Myrtle sniffled and floated through the wooden door to see who was outside knocking.
Then she froze.
Standing outside was a man with neatly combed pale blond hair. He had a high nose bridge, deep-set features, and wore a well-tailored black robe that was perfectly pressed without a crease.
He was a handsome, very impressive-looking man.
Moaning Myrtle's face turned crimson immediately, and she instinctively ran a hand through her wet hair, bashfully saying:
"You... who are you? This is the girls' bathroom, don't you know?"
The man smiled and said: "Sorry to disturb you, Miss Moaning Myrtle. I'm Wen Williams from the Ministry of Magic Construction and Repair Department. Hogwarts commissioned me to... uh... fix this bathroom."
"Fix?" Moaning Myrtle's eyebrows immediately knitted up, her voice rising sharply: "What do you mean??"
"It means..." Williams seemed a bit embarrassed as he touched his nose and explained: "Restoring this place to a condition where students can normally use it. That's why they sent me..."
"I knew it! Fix? No, this is a shameless plunder!"
Moaning Myrtle interrupted his sentence, suddenly screaming: "They're trying to drive me out! To force me out of here! This is the only place I can stay! I've lived here for fifty years! It's my home, how dare they—"
She flew around the room in a frenzy, water constantly spraying from the toilet, whooshing up to the ceiling, splashing in all directions; soon, there was a pool of water on the floor.
Williams quickly stepped back two paces to avoid the splashing water, his nose twitching briefly in disdain.
Soon, Williams regained his calm demeanor, raised his hand in a gesture of surrender:
"Miss Moaning Myrtle! Miss Moaning Myrtle! Please calm down, listen to me!"
Moaning Myrtle suddenly stopped, glaring malevolently at the blond man, her thick glasses skewed to one side.
"I don't intend to drive you away." Williams sighed, and somewhat helplessly said: "But the Ministry of Magic sent me here, I must... must do something to report back."
Moaning Myrtle screamed: "I'll never leave! Try to kill me again if you must!"
"Yes, yes, I understand."
Williams said in a conciliatory tone: "Maybe we can come up with another plan?"
"For example... you could temporarily move to another bathroom, one that's... more hidden, maybe only one or two students ever use it?"