After HP shared the dream, Lao Fu was conquered by me

"Winky, don't do that," Lamia said.

"Oh my God, Shanshan is a bad elf! Shanshan's master fired Shanshan! But Shanshan still can't tell it, absolutely not, this is the master's secret!" Shanshan's big eyes were filled with tears.

"Okay, Winky, it's all over. You are free now." Hermione patted the poor elf with heartache.

"No, the master will not let Winky go, because Winky knows his secret!" Winky buried herself in Hermione's hair in panic.

"No, Winky, this is Hogwarts, Dumbledore will protect you, Mr. Crouch won't do that." Lamia said, taking out a brand new handkerchief from her arms and handing it to Winky.

"Thank you, Miss Lamia, you are a good person." Shanshan blew his nose violently and wiped his eyes with his handkerchief.

Ron was disgusted to death, but he tried his best to control himself and said nothing.

"They are no longer my masters, Winky!" Dobby said defiantly. "Dobby doesn't care what they think anymore!"

"Oh, you are such a bad elf, Dobby!" Winky sobbed, tears rolling down her cheeks again. "My poor Mr. Crouch, what will he do without Winky? He needs me, he needs my help! I have been taking care of Mr. Crouch and his family since I was born. Before me, it was my mother, and before her, it was my grandmother... Oh, what will they say if they knew Winky was expelled? Oh, what a shame, what a shame!" She buried her face in her skirt and burst into tears.

"Winky," said Hermione firmly, "I'm sure Mr. Crouch is getting on just fine without you. You know, we've seen him—"

"Have you seen my Master?" Winky asked breathlessly, raising her tear-stained face from her skirt again and looking at Hermione with wide eyes. "You saw him here, at Hogwarts?"

"Yes," said Hermione, "he and Mr. Bagman are judges for the Triwizard Tournament."

"Mr. Bagman is here too?" shrieked Winky, suddenly furious. "Mr. Bagman is a bad wizard! A very bad, very bad wizard! My master doesn't like him, oh, not at all!"

"Why, Winky, Mr. Crouch and Mr. Bagman seem to be having a good time with each other. They should be good colleagues." Lamia said, although her tone was nonchalant, but her eyes were fixed on Winky, as if she wanted to see through the secret she was hiding.

"That's not true," said Winky, shaking her head angrily. "The master told Winky something! But Winky couldn't tell... Winky—Winky kept the master's secret..."

She burst into tears again, and they could hear her sobbing with her face buried in her skirts. "Poor master, poor master, there is no Winky to help him!"

Beyond that, they could not get any more clear words out of Winky, so they let her cry and drank their tea.

Dobby chattered away cheerfully about his life as a free elf and how he planned to spend his wages.

"Dobby's going to buy a jumper next, Harry Potter!" he said happily, holding his bare chest.

"Tell you what, Dobby," said Ron, who seemed to have taken a great liking to the elf, "I'm going to give you this Christmas sweater my mum knitted me. I get one from her every year. You don't mind the burgundy colour, do you?"

Dobby was very happy.

"We'll have to make it smaller for you," Ron told him. "It'll go perfectly with your teacoat."

When they were about to leave, many elves nearby gathered around them and handed them a lot of snacks to take upstairs.

Hermione refused to take it. She looked at the elves bowing and curtsying continuously, with a painful expression on her face. Lamia certainly knew what Hermione was sad about, but she could not help.

Harry and Ron, on the other hand, filled their pockets with cream cakes and pies.

"You know?" said Ron, as he, Hermione, and Harry had just left the kitchen and were heading up the stairs to the hall. "For all these years I've thought Fred and George were amazing, sneaking food out of the kitchen—but after all the fuss, it wasn't that hard, was it? The elves are so eager to give it to you!"

"Yes, they are really enthusiastic." Lamia nodded.

"I think it would be ideal for the house elves," Hermione said as she led the way up the marble stairs, "I mean Dobby coming here to work. Other elves would See how happy it is to see him free, and slowly they will realize that they would like that too!”

"Let's hope they don't look too closely at Winky," said Harry.

"Oh, she'll be glad to see it," said Hermione, though her tone was hesitant. "Once this shock is over and she gets used to life at Hogwarts, you'll see how much easier it will be for her without that Crouch fellow!"

"She seems very much in love with that man," Ron mumbled, his mouth full of cake.

"She doesn't think much of Bagman, though, does she?" said Harry. "I wonder what Crouch says about Bagman back home?"

"He's probably not a very competent director," said Hermione. "To be honest - he has a point, doesn't he?"

"I'd rather work for him than that old Crouch," said Ron. "At least Bagman has a sense of humor."

"Don't let Percy find out, he'll be mad," Lamia said, smiling faintly.

"Yeah, speaking of Percy, he wouldn't want to work for anyone with a sense of humour, would he?" said Ron - he was now back to eating a chocolate muffin. "He wouldn't recognise a joke even if it danced practically naked in front of him in Dobby's teacoat."

The next morning in Transfiguration class, Lamia had just transformed the last guinea fowl into a guinea pig when she heard Professor McGonagall loudly scolding Ron and Harry.

"Would Potter and Weasley be able to behave in a way that suits their age?" said Professor McGonagall, shooting them both an angry look as Harry's haddock head fell noiselessly to the floor—where Ron's parrot's beak had severed it. "I have a few words for you all."

"The Yule Ball is coming up—a traditional part of the Triwizard Tournament, and a great opportunity for us to socialize with our foreign guests. You see, the ball is only open to fourth-year students and up—though you can invite a junior if you like—"