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

He handed Harry the napkin and the empty bottle. "I'll walk with you to the edge of the village," Sirius said, "and see if I can steal another newspaper or two."

He transformed himself into the big black dog again, and they all left the cave and walked with him down the hill, across the gravel field, back to the fence.

Here, he asked each of them to pat him on the head, then turned and ran along the outskirts of the village. Lamia and Harry returned to Hogsmeade along the same route and walked towards Hogwarts.

"I wonder if Percy knows about Crouch's affairs," Ron said as they walked up the drive to the castle. "But maybe he doesn't care. He admires Crouch more than anyone in the world, and he's always been a fan of rules. He'd say Crouch just doesn't want to break them for his own son."

"Percy would never leave his family to the Dementors," said Hermione sternly.

"I can't say for sure," said Ron. "If he thinks we're getting in the way of his career... Percy's really ambitious, you know..."

They walked up the stone steps into the foyer and were greeted by the enticing aroma of dinner wafting from the auditorium.

……

On Sunday morning, Lamia had just arrived at the Great Hall when Hermione and the others dragged her to the Owlery.

They were to send a letter to Percy, as Sirius had suggested, asking him if he had seen Mr. Crouch lately.

They chose Hedwig because she had been out of work for so long, and they watched her disappear through the shed window, then went downstairs to the kitchen and gave Dobby his new socks.

After all these things were done, Lamia still didn't understand why these three people insisted on dragging her along.

"Of course it's because we are good friends now and we have to act together, otherwise people will think we are having a quarrel," said Hermione.

The house elves welcomed them cheerfully, bowing and curtsying, and busily preparing refreshments for them.

Dobby was ecstatic when he saw the gift.

"Harry Potter is so good to Dobby!" he squeaked, wiping away huge tears that welled up in his large eyes.

"It's nothing, Dobby, really," said Harry.

"Do you still have those finger biscuits?" Ron asked, looking at the house-elves around him who were smiling and bowing repeatedly.

"You just had breakfast!" said Hermione angrily.

However, a large silver plate filled with ladyfingers was carried by four elves and brought to them like a whirlwind.

"Let's get some extra food and take it to Cold," Harry whispered.

"That's a good idea," said Ron. "It'll keep the pigs busy. Can you give us some more food?" he asked the elves around him. They bowed happily and rushed off to get the food.

"Dobby, where's Winky?" Hermione asked, looking around.

"Winky's by the fire, miss," said Dobby softly, his ears drooping a little.

"Oh my god," Hermione exclaimed when she saw Winky.

Lamia also looked toward the fireplace.

Shanshan was still sitting on the same small stool as last time, but she had made herself so dirty that she almost blended in with the smoke-blackened brick wall behind her, making it difficult to distinguish her.

Her clothes were unwashed, dirty, and torn, and she was swaying slightly on the stool, a bottle of Butterbeer clutched in her hand, her eyes fixed on the fire. As they watched her, she belched loudly.

"Winky is drinking six bottles a day now," Dobby whispered to them.

"Oh, this beer isn't very strong," said Harry.

Dobby shook his head. "Quite impressive for a house-elf, sir," he said.

Shanshan burped again, and the elves who came in with fingers gave her an unhappy look and went back to their work.

"Winky is very haggard now, Harry Potter," Dobby whispered sadly, "Winky wants to go home. Winky still thinks Mr. Crouch is her master, sir. Dobby has repeatedly told her that her current master is Dumbledore, but she just won't listen."

"Hey, Winky," Harry said, suddenly having an idea. He walked over to her and bent down. "Do you know what Mr. Crouch might be doing? He's not judging the Triwizard Tournament anymore."

Her eyes flickered, her two huge pupils fixed on Harry, and she began to sway slightly again. She said, "Master, you're not coming—uh—not coming?"

"Yeah," said Harry, "we haven't seen him since the first task, and the Daily Prophet said he was ill."

Winky staggered a few more times, staring at Harry with blurry eyes.

"Master—er—is ill?"

Her lower lip trembled.

"We're not sure it's true yet," Hermione said quickly.

Lamia secretly held Hermione's hand. She knew that Hermione was feeling very uncomfortable, but what Harry did was right and they had to do it.

"Master needs his--er--Twinkle now!" the elf sobbed. "Master--er--how--er--can he handle it all by himself..."

"Other people can do their own chores, Winky," Hermione said seriously.

"Winky—er—doesn't just—er—do chores for Mr. Crouch!" shrieked Winky angrily, swaying even more and spilling butterbeer on her already stained shirt. "Master—er—trusts Winky with the most important—er—secret things—"

"What is it?" said Harry.

Lamia already had a guess in her mind, it was nothing more than related to Tom. Speaking of Tom, Lamia suddenly realized that he had not contacted her for a long time, and she didn't know what he was doing.

But Winky shook his head vigorously and spilled some more beer on himself.

"Winky can't—er—reveal the Master's secrets." She was completely unable to control herself. She was shaking violently, frowning, staring at Harry with blank eyes. "You—er—you are meddling."

"Winky, don't talk to Harry Potter like that!" Dobby said angrily. "Harry Potter is brave and noble, and Harry Potter never meddles in other people's business!"

"He's prying into—er—my master's—er—private affairs—er—Winky is a good house-elf—er—Winky knows how to keep silent—er—people try all sorts of ways—er—to pry—er—"

Twinkle's eyelids drooped, and she suddenly slid off the stool onto the hearth rug and began to snore loudly.

Empty bottles of butterbeer rolled across the cobblestones as half a dozen house-elves hurried over, disgusted expressions on their faces.

One of them picked up the bottle, and the others covered Winky with a large checkered tablecloth, tucking the corners carefully so that no one could see her.

"I'm so sorry you had to see this, sir and ma'am!" squeaked a nearby elf, shaking her head in a look of shame. "I really hope you won't judge us all by Winky Winky, sir and ma'am!"