The Prisoners of Hogwarts

Chapter 18 House-Elf Dress Up

"My clothes?"

Totz looked down at the clothes he was wearing.

It was a standard house-elf cloth bag, clean and tidy, without any decorations, just like the other house-elves at Hogwarts. The only difference was that it had been worn for a long time and was slightly faded from washing.

Totz blinked his tennis ball-sized eyes in confusion: "Is there something wrong with Totz's clothes?"

"It's a problem in itself," Lynch said. "From today onwards, you're my personal little sprite."

I not only need you to help me with basic tasks like laundry, cooking, and cleaning, but I also need you to help me deliver letters and even pass on messages to other professors or students.

In short, sometimes I need you to deal with other people on my behalf.

At that time, in that setting, you, a house-elf dressed in a sackcloth, would not have seemed so respectable.

So I need to make some alterations to your clothes. Don't worry, it's still the same outfit, just some personalized changes.

"But sir..." Thortz's voice was no longer loud, sounding timid and hesitant, "If you need to deliver letters, you have an owl... you don't need Thortz..."

Lynch patiently explained to Torts, "I'm different, Torts. You'll understand in a while. One or two owls aren't enough for me."

Therefore, I will use the communal owl from the owl hut.

You, who have lived at Hogwarts for over a hundred years, should know better than I what kind of place Owlshaw is.

Do you think I should be there, standing amidst feathers and bird droppings, personally mailing my letter?

The image of Lynch in a sharp suit standing amidst bird droppings, feathers still clinging to his clothes sent a shiver down Thortz's spine.

"Sir, you mustn't go to a place like that!"

"So what should I do?"

"Leave it to Totz!"

"That's right, this job will be assigned to you."

Having secured a job, Totz seemed quite pleased, but he quickly recalled the earlier topic, "This job doesn't require Totz to change clothes."

He continued to resist Lynch's attempt to change his clothes.

He respected Mr. Lynch because his mother had said that Mr. Lynch was a respectable wizard.

But the clothes he was wearing had been with him since birth, and he was used to them, so he resisted the idea of ​​changing them from the bottom of his heart.

"What if I need you to deliver a message for me?" Lynch continued. "If I'm busy with something and can't get away, and I ask you to deliver the message, you go, knock on the door, and all they see is a house-elf standing at the door. How are they supposed to know what you're there for?"

"Toltz can tell him!"

"What if others don't believe me? What if they think you're not my personal Pokémon, but some other house-pokémon, and that you were instructed by someone to lie?"

"Tortz...Tortz..." Tortz stood there, anxiously stamping his feet. Just as he raised his hands to hit his head, he suddenly remembered, "Tortz can ask the master for proof! Proof that Tortz is the master's personal sprite!"

A smile bloomed on Lynch's face as he calmly lowered his outstretched right hand: "That's right, so you need proof. The best proof is a distinctive outfit, like a mail carrier in the Muggle world. Wearing special clothes, anyone who sees them will know they are mail carriers. You need the same thing, so that the people in Hogwarts can see you from afar and know that you are my personal elf, and that you are my messenger."

"That's right!" Thortz nodded vigorously, his idea confirmed.

With a gentle smile on his face, Lynch knelt down on one knee in front of Totz.

He held up a finger, hovering it in the air in front of Totz's chest. "Ready?"

"Ready!...Ready..."

Totz's voice went from high to low. Although Lynch's explanation had temporarily convinced him, he still resisted the change from the bottom of his heart.

But he had no choice but to give up, and Lin Qi gently pointed his finger forward.

As the silver light flowed from her fingertips, the whitish linen receded like the tide.

A white shirt hugged his slender frame, a black silk bow tie formed in front of his thin neck, and the black lines of his tuxedo clung to his body.

A house-elf dressed in a black tuxedo appeared before Lynch.

Totz lowered his head and looked at his black tuxedo.

His body began to tremble, which then turned into shaking, and the shaking in an instant turned into trembling.

He raised his head, gripping his cheeks tightly with both hands, pulling at his skin, his enormous eyes looking particularly terrifying.

"Ah~~~"

Totz let out a startled scream, completely surprised that such a loud sound could come from his small body.

Lynch felt a strong attack on his eardrums, and he immediately raised an index finger and pointed it in the air.

The next instant, Totz's scream disappeared.

In fact, all the sound in the room was cut off.

Totz opened his mouth wide and shouted a few more times, completely unaware that no sound had come out of his mouth. His silent performance made Lynch's smile deepen.

Until he saw Totz run towards the dining table with his eyes closed, looking as if he was about to smash his head against the corner of the table and die.

Lynch held up two fingers and hooked them toward Tots.

Totz's body then left the ground.

The little elf's body continued to run through the air, but the direction of its movement was no longer determined by itself. Instead, it slowly floated towards Lin Qi from the air and finally stopped in front of him.

After running around in the air with his eyes closed for a while, Totz finally realized that his condition was abnormal.

He opened his eyes and saw Lin Qi standing in front of him, looking at him with a gentle smile on his face.

Totz's movements gradually came to a standstill.

Lin Qi waved his hand and put him down.

Seeing that Thors couldn't help but reach out and pull at his clothes, he said to Thors, "I know the taboos house-elves have about clothing, so I want to tell you two things."

Lynch held up a finger, drawing Thors' attention. "First, as I said before, you're still wearing your own clothes. I just used a shapeshifting spell on them to temporarily change their appearance. Once the shapeshifting is off, they'll revert to their original state."

Lynch raised his second finger: "Secondly, you've forgotten a fact. Although you are now my personal elf, this was assigned by Headmaster Dumbledore. You are only my elf during my time teaching at Hogwarts. You still belong to Hogwarts. Even if I give you a garment, it cannot break your contract with Hogwarts."

After listening to Lynch's words, Totz finally stopped being hysterical.

"Is Toth still a house-elf at Hogwarts?"

"Yes, you are still a house-elf of Hogwarts."

Realizing he hadn't been fired, Totz managed to quiet down.

But he still couldn't help twisting and turning in place, as if a caterpillar had crawled into his clothes, and he couldn't sit still.

"Alright." Lin Qi lowered his voice, sounding somewhat stern.

Totz immediately stopped twisting and turning.

"Now for your first task," Lynch said. "Go to the castle and find Professor Snape. Tell him I will be visiting before four o'clock this afternoon. Return immediately after delivering the message, without delay."

"Toltz understands!"

Work allowed Thors to temporarily forget about his clothes. He responded and went out, running along the stone path towards Hogwarts Castle.