Harry Potter: From Muggle Cousin to Conceptual Wizard

Chapter 493 The Issue of Freeing House-Elves! Dudley's Rebuttal and Guidance!

“If house-elves are human and identify with the perspective of being human, then I might support your idea.”

Dudley answered seriously, "But it's obvious that house-elves are not human."

Therefore, Hermione, not only will I not support you, I will also prevent you from putting this idea into practice.

"What? Dali, you..."

Hermione was taken aback by Dudley's resolute rejection of her idea. She was even more agitated and indignant. "Dudley, I never thought you would be so narrow-minded."

"Are we not human beings, therefore we shouldn't be respected, and shouldn't we have the right to freedom and equality?"

"Am I narrow-minded?"

Dudley's expression became more serious, and his tone became stern. "Then let me ask you, cats, dogs, cows, horses, flowers, birds, fish, insects... all creatures that are raised by humans or kept as pets, should they all be liberated and given freedom and equality as you say?"

You call me narrow-minded? Don't you have pets yourself? Why don't you think about rescuing that ginger cat named Crookshanks?

The magical world is filled with flying owl messengers who deliver messages for wizards. Why don't you think about liberating them?

Haven't they lost a certain degree of freedom? Haven't they been enslaved by humans, worked for humans, and provided emotional value to humans?

Hermione, don't you yourself enjoy their services with a clear conscience? From this perspective, according to your own logic, aren't you being narrow-minded?

"This...this..."

Hermione felt a little flustered by Dudley's questioning, but she was still not convinced. "It's different. These animals you're talking about don't have higher intelligence or comprehensive consciousness. They can't understand what freedom and equality are."

"So you think that beings without higher intelligence can be enslaved and domesticated, and that this idea isn't narrow-minded? Does that make your thinking logically consistent?"

Dudley then asked a follow-up question, leaving Hermione speechless.

Dudley didn't wait for Hermione's response, but continued to ask:

"Furthermore, how do you define whether a non-human species possesses advanced intelligence? What level of intelligence can be considered advanced intelligence?"

Crookshanks has the blood of the magical creature cat-raccoon, and has its own cognition and judgment. Can you be sure that it doesn't understand even the slightest bit about the meaning of freedom and equality?

Owl messengers can accurately identify a wizard's name and have an impressive memory, so how can you be sure how comprehensive their cognitive abilities are?

Even ordinary domestic pets without magical animal lineage have many intelligent breeds, such as sheepdogs, whose intelligence is comparable to that of human children.

Okay, you can say that the level of intelligence of these pets is debatable.

Then let me ask you again: the proud centaurs in the Forbidden Forest, the ferocious eight-eyed giant spiders in the training labyrinth, the greedy goblins in Gringotts, and the native werewolves and vampires...

Surely you should admit that these things possess advanced intelligence? They can all speak human language and clearly express their meaning!

What is their current situation? Their living space has been squeezed out, and they are being monitored, managed, guarded against, and restricted by wizards. Some are even being enslaved.

According to your theory, shouldn't they be entitled to the same freedom and equality as humans?

If you think it's right, then why didn't you speak up before? Why didn't you speak up for them before?

You knew about and saw these highly intelligent and magical creatures I'm talking about long before you knew about house-elves, right?

“I… these magical creatures are different from house-elves; they are not friendly to wizards.”

Hermione has realized that her thinking is problematic, but she still hasn't completely changed her mind.

"You think house-elves were friendly to wizards from the beginning? Dogs were wolves before they were domesticated by humans! Are wolves friendly to humans?"

House-elves' absolute loyalty to their wizard masters is achieved through magical contracts made by ancient wizards.

Without the brainwashing and taming of ancient wizards, do you think you'd even be in the running to talk about the liberation of house-elves? They would have awakened long ago and actively rebelled against the wizards' enslavement!

Dudley's words struck Hermione's heart like a series of heavy hammer blows.

Harry and Ron, standing nearby, were also deeply shocked. Even with the opening of their wisdom gates, they had never thought so deeply about a question unrelated to magic.

"But this...this kind of enslavement...the ancient sorcerers were too evil..."

Hermione was no longer agitated. Dudley's words had made her flustered and confused. She muttered to herself, lost in thought, her mind in a strange loop.

Dudley immediately cast a controlled Stabilizing Charm on Hermione, then shouted:

"Right and wrong, good and evil, right and wrong, as well as equality and freedom, are discussed within human groups. Between species, where is there any good or evil, right or wrong? There are only their respective racial perspectives!"

Was the taming and enslavement of house-elves by ancient wizards evil? How do you know that house-elves didn't harm human populations before being tamed? And how would that be classified?

Ron loves chicken legs so much, he eats several at every meal. From the chicken's perspective, isn't Ron evil? He's practically a demon king!

But can we say that? Have you ever thought that way?

If such a statement or idea were to exist, everyone would simply think that the person who said or thought such a thing has mental problems!

Hermione, the core reason for your current troubles and struggles is that you haven't positioned yourself correctly. You've gone too far in your acts of kindness, wasting it on things that shouldn't be done!

Under the influence of the Calming Charm, and after hearing Dudley point out her core problem, Hermione finally broke free from her mental cycle and stopped getting stuck on her own thoughts.

Her expression calmed down, but her emotions fluctuated rapidly after the calming spell wore off.

The intense clash of ideas left her feeling unsettled.

Ron and Harry, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle at Dudley's earlier example of eating chicken legs.

But because of the seriousness of the topic, they quickly dismissed the urge to laugh and didn't actually laugh out loud.

"Hermione, your thinking has more problems than just that."

Dudley sighed, ignoring Harry and Ron, and continued to advise Hermione with a sense of disappointment, "You haven't even considered the serious consequences your idea might have."

Hearing Dudley say that, Hermione's eyes widened as she stared at him, nervously waiting for him to continue.

"Don't you understand? If you've put in a lot of effort and it's all for nothing, and it hasn't affected the house-elves' die-hard loyalty, then that's fine."

Have you ever thought about what terrible thoughts or actions might arise in house-elves if you truly liberate their minds and give them freedom and equality?

Then you will be a sinner against humanity!

Hermione was very clever and immediately understood Dudley's meaning. She was so terrified that she instinctively reached out to cover her gaping mouth:

"Dali, do you mean that house-elves will take revenge on wizards after they are freed?"

"Isn't this obvious? After being enslaved for thousands of years, who can swallow this insult once they have developed normal thinking and understanding?"

House-elves can apparite and cast spells without a wand, and their apparition is unaffected by the Anti-Apparition Charm.

If it were a one-on-one contest of combat strength, any house-elf could easily defeat more than 50% or 60% of the wizards in the magical world.

"If they were to launch an organized and planned campaign of revenge against humans and wizards, how many people would it take to suppress them? Have you considered that before?"

Dudley analyzed the brutal scenarios that were entirely possible.

Hermione was deeply hurt and remained silent with her head down.

Seeing this, Dudley slowly walked to Hermione's side, patted her shoulder, and said, half comforting and half advising:

"Hermione, I have always valued you highly and placed great hopes on you, hoping that you will become an important figure leading the British magical world in the future."

This is not only because you are naturally intelligent, brave and kind, but also because you, like me, come from a Muggle family.

You are able to analyze problems from the perspective of Muggles, and you are also able to take into account the perspective of wizards.

You should use your kindness and energy to maintain the relationship between Muggles and wizards, rather than considering other species.

On an individual level, we can befriend and treat kindly towards highly intelligent and magical animal groups such as house-elves, centaurs, and fairies.

However, at the group level, we must adhere to the humanistic standpoint. We should coexist in a mutually beneficial manner when appropriate, and suppress and restrict when necessary. We cannot indiscriminately show kindness, otherwise it would be a betrayal of the human race.

You need to understand that Muggles protect the natural environment and maintain biodiversity not out of a sense of good or evil, but because doing so is beneficial to the sustainable development of humankind.

Similarly, the Ministry of Magic established the Department of Magical Creatures Management and Control, with branch departments responsible for managing various magical creatures, controlling dangerous magical creatures, strengthening communication with highly intelligent magical animals, and making appropriate arrangements for them.

These have nothing to do with good or evil, morality; they are entirely based on considerations of human self-interest.

I advocate the spirit of equality, but that is from a human perspective, advocating relative equality, not absolute equality.

Absolute equality does not exist, nor should it exist.

There is no issue of equality or inequality between species. Cats eat fish, dogs eat meat, it's survival of the fittest, natural selection, and elimination of the inferior.

Throughout history, this world has been home to all sorts of dangerous and magical creatures. In harsh environments, human ancestors used various means to seize the magical qualities from these creatures, thus evolving into wizards, a form of extraordinary power within humanity.

Then, they battle dragons, tame goblins, and fight bravely against all sorts of magical creatures to claim territory, eventually becoming the overlord of this world and this planet.

Just thinking about it makes you realize how hard-won all of this is.

If this process had gone slightly wrong, it wouldn't be all sorts of magical creatures living in the jungle and being enslaved now, but us humans!

I've said my piece. Think about it carefully! Once you've figured it out, go ask the other students and professors at Hogwarts what their attitudes and thoughts are about house-elves.

If there are people with the same skewed thinking as you, it is your responsibility to help them correct it.

At the same time, I explained what I had said to Professor Binns of the History of Magic, Professor Bubbage of the Muggle Studies class, and Professor Dumbledore of the Great Wizarding Class.

Let them participate in the subsequent course content.

Dudley gave Hermione a long talk of advice and then assigned her a task.

Then, without waiting for Hermione's reply, he instantly opened a portal and went to the side of Hagrid's hut.