Harry Potter and the Secret Treasures - H.P.S.T Chapter 1654: Poor Dobby

“Was that whole speech just your way of kicking me out?” Elaine asked, narrowing her eyes.

Caught?!

Even Elaine wouldn’t buy the nonsense that “reading comprehension” counted as some sort of high-level magic.

However, Evan wasn’t just spouting nonsense. At least from what he knew, in the far Eastern Wizarding world, magic schools did systematically train students to master reading comprehension skills. They had even researched and invented many spells in this field — supposedly because their wizarding qualifications relied heavily on written exams, with papers full of long, theoretical analysis questions far beyond practical application. If you couldn’t quickly decipher what the examiner was even asking, it was nearly impossible to pass.

Therefore, reading comprehension skills played a significant role in such purely theoretical exams.

Another reason was that the Eastern magical civilizations were usually too ancient.

The magical books and documents they left behind were recorded in ancient spellcasting and writing styles, and were extremely profound and difficult to understand. Only wizards who were proficient in ancient spellcasting, ancient history, classical Chinese studies, and reading comprehension could understand the true meaning expressed in those ancient magic books.

Therefore, reading comprehension was indeed a very important skill, whether for Muggles or wizards.

As for Elaine’s question, Evan wanted to nod and answer yes, he really did want to kick the child out right now.

But he suspected that if he dared admit that, he’d never get rid of this troublemaker for the entire day.

“Elaine, I’d be more than happy to have your help,” said Evan insincerely, “Hermione and I both think so.”

Behind him, Hermione, curled up on the sofa, snorted heavily, seemingly protesting Evan’s words.

Evan pretended not to hear and quickly steered the conversation back on track. “You can stay. If you’re willing, I’ll teach you reading comprehension. Like Occlumency, this magic skill first requires concentration. You need to read a book carefully and have enough patience.”

“Even if the book is very boring?”

“That’s right. Even if the book is very boring, you have to try your best to read it,” Evan nodded. “This is the first step to mastering reading comprehension. If you agree to stay, you must do this: no disruptive behavior, no making noise, no using the magic again, and sitting quietly in your seat reading. Can you do that?”

“I’m not sure!” Elaine thought seriously for a moment before answering. “If you can give me five blood–lollipops, I think I might be able to keep that patience.”

“I can only give you one. Too much candy is bad for your teeth.”

“No, at least five! You haven’t given me any since the day before yesterday!”

“Because you said your teeth hurt,” said Evan.

“This is a very dangerous sign,” Hermione interjected without looking up. “Evan is right, Elaine. You have to control how much sugar you eat. By Merlin’s name, you’ve been eating way too much! I haven’t seen you stop all summer. My father always says that if you don’t clean your teeth properly after eating sweets, the sugar turns into acidic substances in your mouth and corrodes your teeth, so I think —”

As Hermione spoke, Evan nodded at Elaine in solemn agreement.

Elaine opened her mouth, but seemed unable to come up with a counterargument. She didn’t even know what an “acidic substance” was.

Experience had taught her many times that arguing with Hermione at moments like this never ended well.

So Elaine said nothing. Instead, she simply stretched out a small, open hand toward Evan, making a five-finger gesture with a fierce expression.

“No!” Evan mouthed silently, pressing her fingers down one by one.   

That was difficult because Elaine looked at Evan with teary eyes, silently resisting as if he had done something cruel.

Then, after Evan painstakingly managed to fold her small hand into a fist, she finally gave in.

Then she held up three fingers again, making a pleading gesture.

Completely ignoring Elaine’s heartbroken expression, Evan firmly pressed her fingers down once more.

“You have to listen to Hermione, Elaine. Her father is a dentist, he’s an expert in this field,” said Evan.

“What’s a dentist?” Elaine asked, bewildered.

“It’s a Muggle profession, kind of like a healer at St Mungo’s. They specialize in treating teeth; they’re experts in that area,” Evan explained. “And do you know what Muggle healers do when you get a cavity? They usually pull the teeth out. One by one .”

“Pull them out?!” Elaine’s eyes widened. “Why would they do that?”

“Because dentists believe it’s the most effective way to treat a damaged tooth,” said Hermione.

“That’s horrible!”

“You definitely don’t want to have your teeth pulled, right?” After receiving an affirmative answer, Evan continued, “So, I can only give you one blood-lollipop. It’s for your own good. You can eat it here, and use this — er — The Quibbler to practice your reading comprehension.”

“Aren’t we looking for information about the house-elves’ homeland? What’s in The Quibbler? Slugs?”

“Mr. Lovegood collects all sorts of odd information. Something useful might be in there,” said Evan, pushing the magazine into her hands. He didn’t actually believe The Quibbler contained anything about the house-elves’ homeland, but at least it wouldn’t bore her senseless — it might keep her quiet for a while.

“Fine. Thanks for The Quibbler,” said Elaine with a tone of resignation as she took the magazine. “Give me the candy.”

Just then, the voice of the house-elf Dobby rang out from above; he seemed to be running down the stairs.

“Master Evan, Master Evan!”

Elaine’s eyes lit up at the sound of Dobby’s voice. “I think I can go upstairs and finish reading this magazine, and Dobby can come with me.”

“No, Elaine!” Evan shook his head immediately. “You’re staying here. You’re not going anywhere. Don’t think I don’t know what you’re thinking. I already know about how you secretly sent Dobby to Hogsmeade to buy you candy last term. You’re not allowed to do that again. And you have to return the money you spent on the candy to Dobby. That was his wages.”

Hearing Evan’s words, Elaine’s smile froze. She looked truly shocked. “How did you know about that? This was just between Dobby and me.”

“Dobby is an honest house-elf. He never lies,” Evan praised, looking at the house-elf Dobby who appeared at the entrance.

“Hmph, but he promised me he wouldn’t tell anyone,” said Elaine angrily. She snapped her wand, and the floating books above lost control, crashing down in a great heap, burying poor Dobby the moment he stepped inside. “I’ll pay back that treacherous house-elf. My uncle was right, those creatures are completely untrustworthy, with no integrity whatsoever. It’s not like I wasn’t going to pay him — I just owed him a few days.”

Translating_Wizard

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