Lunchtime had already passed, but the house-elves had not stopped their busy work.
They weren't washing dishes; the wizarding world possessed convenient spells like Scourgify, meaning cleaning tableware was just a matter of snapping their fingers.
Instead, they were preparing the next meal for the entire student body and staff of Hogwarts.
"Are those... house-elves?" Hermione's surprised voice drifted in from outside the kitchen door.
Speaking of which, this was Hermione's first time visiting the kitchens. She had never heard Kyle mention it before.
Her tone was filled with utter shock. "There are actually this many house-elves at Hogwarts?"
There were nearly a hundred house-elves within her line of sight alone.
Furthermore, these house-elves were barely clothed, their bodies wrapped simply in tea towels bearing the Hogwarts crest.
This discovery caused Hermione to furrow her brow tightly.
It wasn't that Hermione had never seen a house-elf before.
Back at Nurmengard Castle, Kyle's family had plenty of them—their numbers were no less than those in the Hogwarts kitchens.
But the house-elves at Kyle's home all wore proper valet uniforms, rather than being practically naked like the ones here.
Aside from that, they also had plenty of rest time outside of work and had lives of their own.
Granted, a large part of this was likely because ragged elves didn't match the luxurious decor of the ancient castle.
That was why Alfred, who was in charge of everything in the castle, made them wear valet uniforms and keep themselves clean and tidy.
Moreover, the number of house-elves at Nurmengard was far too large, while the vast castle housed only a handful of people for them to serve.
If all the house-elves were thrown into full-time work, there would be a massive surplus of labor.
Therefore, they implemented an eight-hour workday.
They worked in three shifts, and though they didn't get weekends off, they still had a massive amount of free time.
With free time came spiritual and mental needs, which naturally required some activities for recreation.
And recreation cost money.
So, the wealthy and powerful Alfred, out of the goodness of his heart, began paying them wages.
The wages weren't much—only a few copper Knuts a day—but it was enough to make the house-elves weep tears of gratitude, vowing to accumulate blessings for the Grindelwald family for generations to come.
Compared to the house-elves at Hogwarts who effectively worked a brutal 24/7 grueling schedule, the elves at Nurmengard Castle were far happier.
After getting a rough understanding of the living conditions of the elves in the kitchen, Hermione's eyebrows flared with anger.
"How are these house-elves? This is complete slavery!" she said furiously.
Facing the delicious meal brought over by a trembling house-elf, Hermione had absolutely no appetite. She even felt that the food was filled with the blood and tears of the house-elves.
It made her feel sick to her stomach.
She glanced at her food-loving boyfriend beside her, who was completely unfazed and devouring his meal. Silently, she pulled a book over a thousand pages thick from her Undetectable Extension Charmed schoolbag and slammed it right down on the arm Kyle was using to hold his chopsticks.
"How can you still eat! This is exploitation!"
Forced to stop eating, Kyle turned his head to look at Hermione.
"There's really nothing that can be done about it," he shrugged helplessly. "It's not that I haven't thought about improving the living conditions of these elves in the kitchen, but they refuse to accept it at all."
He was telling the truth.
The recipes Kyle had given the elves had, to some extent, actually increased their workload.
Originally, they just needed to be like assembly-line workers in a McDonald's kitchen, following a fixed process to produce homogenized food.
However, in the recipes Kyle provided, things like how much water to pour or how much seasoning to add were written as "a pinch" or "a suitable amount"...
It had nearly driven the house-elves crazy.
After visiting the kitchen so many times and constantly troubling the house-elves to make extra meals for him individually, Kyle had felt deeply embarrassed.
He wanted to repay these hospitable elves.
However, the house-elves refused to accept his kindness.
He still remembered that day when he had brought out a valet uniform identical to the ones worn by the house-elves at Nurmengard, intending to give it to them. The expression of utter terror on their faces was unforgettable.
Giving clothes to a house-elf meant firing them.
"Firing" wasn't entirely accurate; "banishing" was a more appropriate word.
For house-elves who took pride in serving wizards, this was a fate worse than death, which was why they had reacted with such horror.
Kyle understood this, so he tried other methods.
For instance, arranging holidays for them, giving them wages...
Without exception, every single offer was rejected.
They felt that their current life was wonderful and happy, and they didn't need Kyle to do anything for them.
Hearing Kyle's words, Hermione was left dumbfounded.
"Is there really no other way?" the young witch asked, unwilling to give up.
Kyle shook his head. "Hermione, you have to understand that if a race is unwilling to stand up and strive for themselves, you cannot wake them up."
"There has never been any savior. If the house-elves want to create their own happiness, they have to rely entirely on themselves."
The history of Muggle civilization's development demonstrated this not-so-profound truth over and over again.
But the servility carried by the house-elves had already been deeply carved into their very bloodlines.
Without undergoing a transformation that would take several generations, it would be impossible to erase the submissiveness engraved in their genes.
Even the group of house-elves at Kyle's home, though seemingly living freely, were fundamentally no different from the ones in this kitchen.
"And Hermione, have you ever thought about the fact that you are just a student? An ordinary Hogwarts student."
Kyle gazed at Hermione. "Even if you want to work hard to change all this, what can you really do for them with the strength of a single student?"
Granted, Kyle was also a student, but he had another identity: he was the Headmaster's son.
Coupled with Kyle's immense skill at using Dumbledore's name as a shield, rounding it up meant Kyle practically equaled the Headmaster.
Yet even when he had tried to push forward measures to improve the kitchen elves' living conditions in the Headmaster's name, he had failed due to unanimous resistance from the elves. What could Hermione do as a mere student?
She wasn't even a prefect yet.
The young witch bit her lip, turning over every possible solution in her mind.
"Kyle, do you think..." she hesitated, carefully choosing her words, "do you think if I became the Minister for Magic, it would be possible to introduce and pass legislation to improve the current living conditions of house-elves?"
Blimey, she's already setting her sights on Cornelius Fudge's ministerial throne?
"If you want," a smirk appeared on Kyle's face, "I can find someone to take out Fudge right now, and then you can use Polyjuice Potion to impersonate him and take over his position."
Hermione punched Kyle's arm with her small fist. "I'm being serious!"
"Alright," Kyle immediately straightened his posture, "this method is highly feasible."
Hearing Kyle's words, the girl, whose brow had been furrowed ever since she stepped into the kitchen, finally showed a smile.
"Let's eat first." Kyle ruffled Hermione's bushy hair, making it even messier. "I'll help you."
"Okay."
————
Supporting me on Pa-treon to gain early access to advanced chapters and enjoy expedited updates. Your support is greatly appreciated.
pat-reon .c-om/Dragonhair
(Just remove the hyphen - and space, to access Pa-treon normally.)