The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 28 Factory Conversation and Malfoy Manor

The house-elves all fell silent, and only a few sobs gradually subsided in the crowd.

They made way for Cragg, who then walked up to Lynch.

He looked up at Lin Qi, his only remaining eye filled with expectation and a hint of trepidation.

Until he saw the figure in front of him extend his left hand to him.

Kragg grinned, revealing a wide smile, and his ears, which had been drooping to either side, lifted slightly.

He reached his left hand towards Lynch's left hand.

Her fingers were long and slender with prominent knuckles, and she gently clasped Lynch's hand, which was gloved with black leather.

But instead of holding Lynch's palm, he held Lynch's fingers.

That's right, the so-called token is not a physical object.

It was a handshake, though it wasn't a real handshake; it was merely holding Lynch's fingers.

This was the agreed-upon action that Lynch and Cragg made when Lynch gathered them together.

Kragg is tasked with finding the house-elves who are hiding in the shadow of war, telling them that someone is hiring house-elves, and then meeting them at the agreed time and place.

Lynch was worried that he might be tied up with other matters and unable to arrive at the agreed location on time, so he and Cragg agreed on a special confirmation signal.

The signal that both parties confirm their agreement is this special handshake.

This is an action that a human wizard would never do to a house-elves.

So if Lynch couldn't arrive on time, all he had to do was shake hands with Cragg, and Cragg would know that this person represented Lynch and could be trusted.

There is one particularly noteworthy point.

If the person extends their right hand, it means that this person has been sent on behalf of someone else.

But if the left hand is extended, then it means it is the person's intention.

When Reggie came to meet the house-elves in Lynch's place, he extended his right hand.

At this moment, the person in front of me is extending their left hand.

How could this not make Krag happy?

Ten years had passed, and he finally saw the wizard who had saved him from hell once again.

"Your Excellency the Hangman!"

Krag's one eye welled up with tears again, large teardrops falling from his eye socket.

A large hand covered Kragg's head.

"Your loyalty has been proven." Lynch patted his head. "My name is Jim Lynch. You can call me Lynch."

Krag was so excited that he almost jumped for joy that his long-standing loyalty and dedication had been recognized.

But he wasn't the kind of restless young elf; he had already experienced enough ups and downs in his life.

So he simply stood up abruptly and roared, "It is Krag's honor to serve you, sir!"

Thanks to Tots’s frequent yelling, Lynch is now quite used to the house-elves’ startled behavior.

He turned and looked around. There wasn't a single stool in sight in the factory, only a few wooden crates used for packing cards in the corner.

Lynch raised his hand.

But before he could make a move, two boxes flew towards him and landed behind him.

The two boxes stacked together were just the right height for Lynch to sit comfortably.

He looked at the house-elves in front of him.

Kragg lowered his hand from the spell and bowed to Lynch: "Krag hasn't served in a long time, but he hasn't forgotten how to serve."

"Some things aren't so easy to change," Lin Qi thought to himself.

Then, addressing all the house-elves, he said, "Sit down, everyone."

The house-elves immediately sat down on the ground.

His gaze swept around, looking at each and every house-elves.

Lin Qi asked, "Have you been dissatisfied with anything while working in the factory all these years?"

A chaotic cacophony of replies immediately followed.

"Stop!" Lin Qi's voice wasn't loud.

But the moment the words left their mouths, all the house-elves stopped talking.

He randomly pointed to a house-elf that looked quite old.

The chosen house-elf was Groop, who excitedly stood up and, without even seeing Reggie, stood outside the crowd and began to complain to his face.

"Not good, sir, not good," Gropp said. "At first it was fine, Lord Reggie always made us work."

Later, Lord Reggie changed his ways. He made us sleep for ten hours a day, eat for two hours, and only have twelve hours to work.

Lord Reggie also gave us one day off each week.

This is absolutely shameful!

We can't work all day, and we don't know what to do!

No house-elves are so lacking in self-respect.

Lord Reggie even considered paying us wages once!

Thanks to Grop and Cragg constantly banging their heads against the wall, Lord Reggie finally gave up the idea.

That's absolutely terrifying!

Gropp looked around at the house-elves, who all nodded in agreement.

So he continued, "Grop isn't saying anything bad about Lord Reggie, but you really have to do something about him, sir!"

We are the house-elves of adults, and it is only natural for us to work for them.

Lord Reggie always wants us to work less, which is absolutely outrageous!

He glanced at Reggie, who was standing motionless not far away on the perimeter, and gestured for the old elf Grop to sit down.

Then I ordered a sprite that looked relatively young.

"Tell me about how the food and accommodations are."

"It's not dirty vegetable leaves and rotten food that Bobo has ever eaten before! He has never eaten anything so delicious before!"

The adults even gave Bobo a bed, and Bobo was so happy!

Bobo just wants to work for adults forever!

Seeing that the house-elf was trying to steer the conversation toward work again, Lin Qi had no choice but to reach out and stop him.

He waved for him to sit down, then asked a few house-elves to answer some questions, and Lin Qi gained a basic understanding of the lives of these house-elves in the factory over the past ten years.

He began by saying, "All of Reggie's orders to you were given to me through him."

You only think about work, but you ignore the fact that a balance between work and rest is the most efficient way to work.

Like a kitchen knife, it needs to be sharpened regularly to keep it sharp.

The same applies to you. If I want you to work efficiently and accurately, you need to get enough rest.

The magic attached to the Wizard Battle cards is the kind of magic that only your pet elves can cast quickly.

I don't want the cards to be damaged because some of you haven't rested well; that would be a huge waste of my assets.

The Chamber of Commerce has compiled statistics showing that the number of cards produced in the factory has increased since your rest was guaranteed.

This proves that giving you a rest was the right and effective thing to do.

This also proves that my decision was correct.

You don't need to think, just obediently follow my orders.

Do you understand?

"Yes, sir!"

The house-elves answered in unison.

Lynch continued, "From now on, you must respect Reggie as you would me, and execute all his orders without question, understand?"

"Yes, sir!"

The house-elves stood up from the ground, bowed to Lynch, and answered loudly.

Beneath the mask, Lin Qi revealed a satisfied smile.

......

A pitch-black night in the countryside of Wiltshire, England.

Within a vast, meticulously maintained estate, stands a majestic, imposing, and coldly white luxury castle.

A carriage passed through the manor's towering iron gates and traveled along the long driveway, heading towards the castle through the thin mist.

Lucius Malfoy sat in the carriage, constantly wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.

These damn arrogant idiots!

He was roaring with rage in his heart.

He confidently claimed that the hangman was a lie released by Reggie, and even gathered men to forcibly take over the factory and expose Reggie's lie.

Now it's all good!

Of the more than thirty carefully selected combat experts, not one of them was able to return!

They're all trapped in that damn factory!

Reggie should have given up on the factory when he revealed that the house-elves were hangmen.

Lucius felt a pang of regret.

How could it be true?!

I recalled the fog that had enveloped several city blocks in the intelligence that had been sent back.

Fear gleamed in his eyes.

Is it really that person?

He then thought of the Glencoe Valley, which had been almost completely leveled.

No!

We can't take the risk!

Even if it's not that person, it's already confirmed that Reggie has secret military power.

The situation has already turned ugly, and the manor may be attacked. We should take Narcissa and Draco out to lay low for a while and wait and see what really happens.

Let's wait until everything becomes clear before deciding whether to come back!

Lucius made up his mind.

He jumped off the carriage before it had come to a complete stop and rushed into the castle hall.

He was too anxious to notice that the white peacocks on the lawn had disappeared, nor that the entire castle was unusually quiet.

Lucius flung open the door and strode into the castle hall, shouting as he went, "Narcissa! Draco! Get up! We have to get out of here!"

The next moment, he realized something was wrong: there were hardly any candles lit in the castle!

He listened intently and finally realized that the castle was too quiet.

Lucius instinctively turned around, wanting to run away.

The door slammed shut the moment he turned around.

He felt as if he had not walked into his own home, but into the mouth of a prehistoric behemoth, about to be chewed up and devoured in the next second.

A tremendous panic gripped him, stiffening his muscles and raising the hairs on his back.

At that moment, he heard a voice.

The voice emanated from the darkness in the center of the hall; it was calm and hollow, with a slight echo, as if it came from a distant abyss.

The voice said, "Lucius, Lucius, what have I done to deserve such disrespect?"

Lucius Malfoy slowly turned around, and a candle flame lit up the wall, faintly illuminating the figure sitting in the darkness.

The metal bird-beak mask gleamed dimly in the candlelight.

His heart was pounding.

It's him!

it's him!

That damned hangman!

He hasn't changed at all!

It's exactly the same as it was ten years ago!

For a fleeting moment, he wanted to kill Avery, who had dragged him into this predicament, but his mind quickly returned to the figure in front of him.

A hollow voice came from beneath the bird-beak mask: "You and your accomplices knew those house-elves were mine, yet you still tried to steal them."

Tonight, they even have wizards lying in ambush around the factory.

"My dear Lucius, please tell me, do you want to kill me?"

The continuous screams of thought broke through the stiffness in the muscles.

Lucius looked down at the ground and stammered, "No...no, Your Excellency...it's them! They're the ones who want to control the house-elves...I'm against it!"

The hollow voice changed slightly, its tone rising a little, revealing a mocking undertone: "So, you're a good person, huh?"

Sweat dripped incessantly from his forehead, and one drop slid into his eye. Lucius blinked, not daring to raise his hand to wipe it away.

He dared not answer the hangman's question.

As a core member of the Death Eaters who had personally experienced the battle in Glencoe Valley, he stood by before the Dark Lord made his move. Unfortunately, because of the Dark Lord's confidence, none of them wore masks.

Therefore, the executioner had seen his true face.

The executioners showed no mercy to Death Eaters, treating them all equally and granting them death.

Therefore, he cannot answer that he is a bad person.

But if the answer is "good person," then he is deceiving the executioner. Years of wisdom and experience have taught him one thing: what those in power hate most is deception.

Therefore, he cannot answer that he is a good person.

Unable to answer the question, he could only stand there, head bowed, barely daring to breathe, his body trembling like a leaf.

Fortunately, the voice didn't wait for his reply, but continued on its own: "Taking everything you want without any regard for the consequences, you scum and maggots are as unscrupulous as ever... It seems that Voldemort's downfall hasn't affected you much; you can still stand on high and lord it over others..."

Lucius lowered his head even further.

He strained his eyes, trying to catch the movement of the figure at the edge of his vision.

He had been in this dim environment for a while, and his eyes had gradually adjusted to the darkness.

He saw the figure sitting about six or seven steps away from him, one hand clenched into a fist, propping up his head, while the other hand rested on his lap, toying with a card.

He heard the figure say with a touch of wistfulness, "You're really lucky, Lucius."

With a large sum of gold, you escaped the Ministry of Magic's trial and had the warrant on your head removed.

"This is peacetime now; I can't leave you hanging in mid-air."

His fingers traced the cards in his hand, a hint of regret in his voice.

But Lucius felt his heart, which was about to leap out of his throat, suddenly return to its place.

He started breathing again, and the oxygen rushed into his lungs, bringing him back to some of his senses.

He immediately realized that the executioner had not come simply to intimidate him.

"If you need anything, please feel free to ask..."

Lucius slowly and cautiously uttered a sentence.

The card in his hand stopped spinning. Lin Qi glanced approvingly at the wizard in front of him, who was practically burying his head in the ground. He was bad, but not stupid.

So he said to Lucius Malfoy, "I want you to take over ownership of the house-elves in the factory."