The next goal set by my best friend Hermione, on behalf of the "House-Elf Welfare Promotion Association," was to convince the professors.
"Now then, Hermione, what do you think is necessary to persuade the experts?"
"I suppose it's the logical consistency of our argument and the evidence supporting it?"
"Exactly."
Elaina advised that to present evidence, Hermione should first gather similar cases as examples.
"Evidence speaks louder than words. Once you collect cases that support your claims, the conclusions and challenges will naturally become clear."
"Is that really how it works?"
"Never underestimate the value of literature research and case verification. By the way, I've already figured out what the second challenge is using that method."
While Harry, sitting next to her, blinked in surprise, Hermione clenched her fists and exclaimed, "Got it!"
On Sunday, in the Great Hall, the session titled "Special Lecture, 1994 Winter Research Presentation, British House-Elf Society" began, with Hermione delivering a lecture that lasted about an hour.
"A Study on the Labor Relations Between Wizards and House-Elves: The Case of Hogwarts"
That was the gist of the title. Drawing from dozens of books and prior studies, combined with interviews and surveys, Hermione presented a monumental research project.
"Considering this historical path dependency, this study aims to test the hypothesis that house-elves are brainwashed to selflessly serve under social pressure and forced into slave labor…"
The audience was diverse: students like Ernie Macmillan, who were very earnest; cynics like Zacharias Smith, attending for mockery; Ravenclaws attending out of pure academic interest; friends like Harry and me; and, for some reason, Viktor Krum, which instantly filled the hall with students eager to see him.
"Then why do house-elves consider lifelong unpaid servitude an honor, swear absolute loyalty to their masters, and see demanding fair compensation or freedom as dishonorable?"
Many in the audience, myself included, were confused, thinking, Isn't that just how they are? But what Hermione projected on the screen was surprising.
A nighttime cityscape clearly past midnight appeared, showing Muggles in suits silently working at desks cluttered with stacks of paperwork and suspicious drinks, their faces hollow.
"Unfortunately, as far as I know, there's no accumulated research in the wizarding world on voluntary unpaid labor by house-elves. So, I looked into similar cases in the Muggle world regarding labor issues."
Several Slytherins, like Pansy Parkinson, who had probably come to mock, leaned in with genuine interest, their giggles stilled by the unexpected turn.
"Surprisingly, work patterns similar to house-elves occasionally appear among Muggles, and some even work themselves to death."
Hermione added, "Of course, not all Muggles are like this," but Pansy and other pure-blood students still looked slightly taken aback.
"They sometimes accept long hours, overtime, weekend work, and client entertainment without pay. Speaking out against such treatment is seen as dishonorable. They devote themselves wholeheartedly, ignoring their own health and family, working voluntarily to the point of exhaustion."
Zacharias Smith muttered, "Are they crazy…?" likely voicing the thoughts of the pure-blood students. Meanwhile, Harry and other students with Muggle relatives grimaced, confirming Hermione's claims were not fabricated.
"In the diverse Muggle world, some regions consider labor inherently bad, while others prioritize work over family. Are these differences truly because only some Muggles are 'strange creatures who find joy in serving like slaves'?"
Here, Hermione reiterated her original hypothesis: that house-elves, under social pressure, are brainwashed to selflessly serve and are subjected to slave labor, similar to workaholic Muggles, overwork deaths, and exploitation.
"In Muggle cases, one common issue is the identification of self with work."
For example, cutting off relationships outside work or tying one's family to the company to instill the belief that "the company is my only place," or denigrating attention to personal life as "unprofessional or irresponsible," essentially brainwashing them to selfless labor.
"Next, please take a look at the results of our interviews with house-elves."
—It's difficult for a dismissed house-elf to find a new job.—I am needed by my master. My help is required!
After the first challenge, Dobby and Winky's remarks (names anonymized) in the kitchen were interpreted by Hermione as follows:
"Employers exploit the difficulty of finding other work—'If you quit here, you won't make it elsewhere'—or manipulate responsibility—'If you don't do it, others will suffer.' I believe similar cases of labor exploitation occur between house-elves and wizards, as seen in the Muggle world."
Why are they so easily exploited?
"I speculate it's because house-elves generally serve the same family from birth to death, limiting their exposure to others or education."
Wizards interact with many others at Hogwarts or work, gaining exposure to diverse values. But if house-elves have no connections outside the family they serve and no opportunity to learn knowledge beyond what their servitude requires…
—Employees are family. Because they are family, one must sacrifice oneself for them. And no one else should interfere in household matters.
House-elves may have been brainwashed in the same way as Muggles by unscrupulous companies. This was Hermione's hypothesis.
"Next, we will examine empirical data. The survey results are on page 4 of your handouts…"
"Thank you. That concludes my presentation."
At the end, Hermione gave a slight bow, and a slide reading Thank You! appeared. Elaina then spoke:
"Now, we will move on to questions. Please raise your hand if you have one."
Hands immediately went up across the hall. The first question came from our house head, the strict and renowned Professor McGonagall.
"I am Minerva McGonagall, Deputy Headmistress of Hogwarts. Miss Granger, thank you for your fascinating presentation. May I ask one question?"
McGonagall stood and looked at Hermione.
"I may have missed it, but could you clarify your definition of 'brainwashing'?"
I thought, Isn't brainwashing just brainwashing? But when asked to explain formally, even I would hesitate. Hermione paused briefly, then replied:
"Yes. 'Brainwashing' generally refers to forcibly altering someone's thoughts, changing them from one ideology to another."
"Miss Granger, how can you prove that house-elves were brainwashed? What kind of 'force' was used on them?"
Faced with McGonagall's rapid-fire questioning, Hermione initially opened her mouth in surprise, then found her voice:
"Please see page 3 on the right of your handout! Here is a case of a house-elf, D, who worked for the M family. The surveys indicate that repeated abuse by the master led the elf to train itself to self-punish."
She then explained in detail. McGonagall's expression softened slightly, intrigued.
"Thank you. I understand that such cases exist."
She added:
"House-elves, like us, differ individually. To know how widely D's case applies to other house-elves, we need a larger sample."
Hermione blushed slightly.
"Yes, next—"
Elaina pointed, and several more hands went up.
"Professor Fran Bierra, please proceed."
Elaina handed the floating microphone to Professor Fran of Ilvermorny. Fran cleared their throat and, with unreadable eyes, asked:
"A basic question: why choose Hogwarts as your research site?"
Our thoughts: Wait, you're asking that? Isn't it just because it's nearby? Fran added:
"For instance, if you want to study where many house-elves work, the Ministry could suffice."
True… that had been overlooked.
"One more thing: most house-elves work in noble households. If you want general results, surveying multiple noble families might be more appropriate."
With a smile, Fran hit Hermione with a crushingly logical argument.
I was starting to get a little scared…
"Well, yes. I think your point is valid."
Hermione answered firmly:
"For the second question, we requested cooperation from noble families, including the Saint 28 family, via owl post. Unfortunately, we received no positive responses. Due to privacy concerns, publishing such results here would remain difficult."
She read her prepared lines, likely anticipating Fran's question.
"So, I limited the study to public sites. Hogwarts was selected over the Ministry because many elves there perform highly specialized work. Focusing on Hogwarts, where domestic labor is more typical, is more appropriate to test my hypothesis that house-elves are brainwashed under social pressure and forced into slave labor."
"That sounds like you chose Hogwarts by process of elimination?"
Eek…
"No, not exactly—"
Hermione flustered.
"Since house-elves only began working at the Ministry in modern times… yes, to maintain consistency with prior studies and literature, I considered it more appropriate to study Hogwarts, which has employed house-elves for a long time, to support my hypothesis."
Though partly flustered, she managed to get through it.
"Anyone else with a question? Ah—Dumbledore, please."
The microphone floated to Dumbledore. With a grandfatherly chuckle, he began:
"Thank you. Forgive me for this layperson's question…"
I knew by now—when someone calls themselves a layperson, they never are.
"Did you conduct interviews with the house-elves actually working at Hogwarts?"
Dumbledore struck directly at the gap in research even McGonagall and Fran avoided mentioning.
"Indeed, your literature research is excellent, and drawing parallels with Muggle labor studies is unique. Yet, I'm naturally curious."
"Well, we did, but…"
Hermione mumbled, clearly hesitant to address it. Harry and I exchanged glances.
(I was there, so I know—when we actually conducted interviews, the elves all answered, "I'm satisfied with my current situation!" Publishing those results would undermine the slave-labor hypothesis…)
However, it seemed that she hadn't become the second-ranked student in her year (last year and the year before, Elaina had been first) without reason. Even as she presented supplementary materials showing survey results that might be unfavorable to her argument, Hermione responded calmly:
"In this study, we start with the assumption that house-elves are being brainwashed. Therefore, their responses to interviews may be influenced by that brainwashing, and the use of those results requires careful consideration."
Even if it's just a hypothesis, it was a clever way to shield herself theoretically: the testimony of a brainwashed individual cannot be entirely trusted.
"Additionally, I believe we need to carefully assess the reliability of these interviews. For instance, while testimony can be important evidence in trials, it's been pointed out that the content may change depending on the audience."
Hermione was pointing out the possibility that the minority of house-elves, out of deference, might give answers convenient for the majority of wizards. To put it bluntly, if you asked a Muggle-born under the control of that certain person, "Do you believe pure-blood supremacy is wonderful?" all one hundred would answer "yes." That was the logic.
Dumbledore nodded slowly.
"Indeed, that is a difficult issue. Research in this field is rare in Britain, but on the Continent, there was extensive study, until recently, on how Gellert Grindelwald controlled minds and used social pressure to expand his influence. I will introduce some useful papers to you later."
Rather than simply trying to tear her down, Dumbledore even offered advice on how to tackle the new challenges her points had raised. That's the gravitas you expect from a master like him.
But before Hermione could even breathe a sigh of relief, Snape raised his hand.
"I suppose this is due to my own lack of knowledge," Snape began, his voice dripping with malice, "but regarding your awareness survey of Hogwarts students concerning house-elves—"
"Yes?"
"I cannot help but notice a bias in your sample. A disproportionately large number of respondents are your friends from Gryffindor, while fewer than ten percent are Slytherin students. Moreover, in terms of gender and age, you mostly surveyed female students of the same age whom you could approach easily, or younger students who could not refuse an annoying questionnaire."
Snape smirked maliciously, and this time Hermione's eyes welled up with tears.
"Granger, I trust that you are familiar with the concept of bias," he continued.
"…Yes, I am."
"How did you handle the sample bias?"
"Well, um—"
"If you followed a new method or theory unknown to me, I would very much like you to explain it here."
Hermione ground her teeth in frustration.
"…I will take your comments seriously and address them as a challenge for future work…"
Her voice was barely audible.
"Miss Granger, I'm not an expert, so forgive me if I lack details—"
And so it went. One teacher after another peppered her with questions.
"Regarding your hypothesis, Miss Granger, there are concerns about the objectivity of your indicators—""You should consider doing more comparative studies—""The law cited on page 7 of your materials was actually drafted by me—"
This barrage of questions and answers continued for about an hour. It felt like a walk through hell.
Occasionally, Harry and I would exchange glances, but all we could think was, "This is unbearable."
Watching Hermione endure this relentless questioning without fleeing, I genuinely admired her.
"Alright, I'm sure there are still more questions and comments, but time is up. This concludes today's session. If you have further questions, please send them via owl post."
Elaina's voice, as she concluded while glancing at the clock, sounded almost like the salvation of an angel.
"Thank you all for coming today despite your busy schedules."
When the grueling, almost public-execution-like Q&A ended, the teachers erupted into applause.
As Flitwick and Sprout chatted, "There's a student with some real backbone this year," "Indeed, it's delightful," McGonagall approached Hermione.
"Miss Granger, well done. That must have been difficult."
She smiled warmly.
"I may have been harsh earlier, but few witches your age could conduct research to this extent. I have high expectations for you."
"Th-Thank you!"
Once Hermione was freed from the teachers' scrutiny, Harry and I rushed over.
"Hermione!""Are you okay!?"
As we reached her, Hermione finally seemed to relax and burst into tears. Harry and I, unsure what to do, awkwardly patted her head and rubbed her back.
"Ah, Elaina made Granger cry.""That's not right, not right♪""We'll tell the teacher♪"
"Well, the real reason she's crying is the teachers, actually…"
Ignoring the usual teasing from the three Slytherin girls, Elaina complained to Professor Viera.
"Honestly, that's a bit childish… she's only fourteen. You should go easier on her."
"No, Elaina, that's not correct," Viera said, raising an index finger and shaking it.
"Kids your age will rebel even more if you treat them like children."
"Is that so?""It is so."
I'm not sure why, but those two seem to get along surprisingly well. And why is Elaina acting like she's one of the guardians…?
"Hermy Own."
Unexpectedly, Viktor Krum approached Hermione.
"Um, may I ask you something?"
"Your presentation was very interesting. May I ask a few questions?"
Hermione looked momentarily stunned; she hadn't expected Krum to inquire about house-elf labor issues. Then her cheeks flushed as she replied happily, "Yes, of course!"
"Hermy Own, you started this activity… um, for money?"
Harry snickered at the unexpected question. Krum probably assumed Hermione was selling collaboration goods through S.P.E.W. with Elaina and her friends.
Hermione shook her head.
"Some people might be, but not me.""Then, what for?""Because I want to do what I believe is right."
Her eyes were still a little swollen from crying, but she spoke firmly.
"Today's presentation highlighted many problems, so I plan to think about how to improve things going forward.""Hermy Own… will you continue?""Yes. If anything, I feel even more determined."
Seeing Hermione get up unbroken after being so ruthlessly challenged left me speechless—half in awe, half in disbelief.
Krum, however, stared at her intently and spoke seriously.
"It may not change. It may get worse.""Maybe. But I want to change it."
Hermione looked up at the towering Krum with a defiant gaze. He spoke again.
"It may be more trouble than it's worth.""I plan to proceed gradually so it won't be."
She continued:
"Even British democracy wasn't accepted immediately. Giving medieval peasants the vote would have been more trouble than it was worth. But times change, and people's values shift slowly."
Of course, establishing rights like voting and human rights required sacrifice and bloodshed. Problems remain even today, and some regions still reject democracy. Hermione was keenly aware of this.
"Even so, I cannot help wishing for a better tomorrow."
Heroes of the past may have caused unnecessary sacrifices. Legendary athletes lost many times. Great inventors failed repeatedly. Yet they kept trying. Hermione spoke with a hint of pride.
"The great Muggle inventor Thomas Edison said:
'I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work.'"
"Through countless challenges and failures, Muggles developed technology and systems without magic. Professor Babbage said the same in Muggle studies."
Hermione glanced at Elaina chatting with Daphne, perhaps recalling her own repeated failures inventing magical devices at GM Corp over summer.
She returned her gaze to Krum.
"Krum, during the World Cup, you chased the Snitch because you believed it was the right thing to do, right?"
Caught off guard, Krum looked momentarily stunned, then grimaced.
"I… I didn't really want to take the Snitch."
He explained that he had wanted to gamble on the possibility of a comeback.
"But I had to… I'm a professional. I cannot indulge myself. I had to face reality."
Despite claiming to be a professional, he looked no different from any young man wrestling with doubt and uncertainty.
Hermione said to him:
"…You are an adult."
Krum looked up sharply.
"I think you did the right thing. Not for yourself, but for your team. Not because you wanted to, but because it was necessary."
Being an adult, being a professional, meant choosing the practical solution over chasing big dreams. Every action comes with responsibility.
"I guess when I graduate from Hogwarts, I'll have to give up some things, face reality, and learn compromise. I'll have to become an adult like you."
But Hermione smiled gently.
"That's why… for now, I want to be a child who dreams and chases those dreams. So that when I become an adult, I can face reality without regret."
She had grown taller, learned to dress well. Some had jobs or even experienced a kiss.
But we were still hopelessly young and idealistic, running full speed down a path that adults would see as roundabout.
"You… are strong," Krum murmured, gazing at Hermione, feverish with admiration. Then, suddenly, he knelt on one knee.
Startled, Hermione, Harry, the teachers, and the Slytherin girls all stared as Krum spoke clearly:
"Will you dance with me?"
"Wha—!?"
"EEEEEEHHHHHH!?"
(End of chapter)
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