"Alchemical creatures?"
The first thing that came to Wade's mind was a walking tin can, then he recalled what he'd learned from books. "Like the Sorting Hat and Wizard's Chess?"
Professor Murray smiled.
"Wizard's Chess and the Sorting Hat may look similar, but they are actually quite different."
He lifted a finger, and the lid of a box on the table opened. Black and white chess pieces lined up, and noisily clamored as they took their places on the chessboard.
The white queen glared at Wade with displeasure. "Hurry up and make a move, will you? Are you going to give us any commands?"
On the other side, a knight shouted, "Let me charge! I'll crush the opposing army!"
Professor Murray gestured, and the chess pieces immediately fell silent.
"This is Wizard's Chess," Professor Murray said. "It may give people the illusion that it has life and thought, but in reality, it does not. Do you know why?"
Wade thought carefully.
He hadn't played chess much, but because he found these chess pieces amusing, he had collected a set. When he was bored, he would let them battle on the board on their own.
After observing them for a while, he noticed that these seemingly lively chess pieces actually behaved in a rather rigid manner.
"They always exhibit similar personalities, and say almost the same things... Occasionally, there are some variations, but they don't grow or learn from their failures."
"Exactly. So, these are just toys that merely pretend to have thoughts."
Professor Murray had the chess pieces return to the box and continued:
"Imbuing inanimate objects with a semblance of thought—like mirrors, tape measures, or flying broomsticks—so they appear to have minds of their own is a basic form of alchemical creatures."
"But the Sorting Hat is different. If you talk to it a few times, you'll realize that it actually does have a mind of its own."
"It truly thinks independently and makes its own judgments, rather than rigidly following the intentions of the four founders to choose students."
Wade couldn't help but grit his teeth when he remembered being rejected by the Sorting Hat.
—Exactly! That thing not only has a mind of its own, but it also knows how to be sarcastic.
"But the Sorting Hat doesn't count as a true life form... It has a mind, but it can't reproduce or carry out metabolism."
"True biological alchemy—known as 'life alchemy' in ancient times—involves creating actual living beings, and you're not unfamiliar with the most successful creation. Guess what it is, Wade...?"
Wade lowered his head in thought.
Biological alchemy... real living beings... capable of reproducing... a successful creation...
He had learned about many magical creatures from books, but had encountered very few in person.
After a moment, Wade looked up and confidently said, "House-elves."
Professor Murray smiled with satisfaction. "Correct, it's house-elves."
"According to legend, ancient wizards, feeling inconvenienced by their isolation from people, caused various types of elves to emerge from nature."
"Gorlan elves helped craftsmen improve their skills and craft tools;"
"Dwarven elves assisted on farms, and some even helped make shoes;"
"Cellar elves managed food and wine for people, but they would also sneak wine for themselves;"
"Kob elves helped with milking cows, collecting eggs, and cleaning yards;"
"Gray elves performed household chores with extraordinary speed and efficiency, but if you gave them a reward, they would disappear forever."
"At the same time, due to the wickedness in some wizards' hearts, many troublesome elves were born—from swamps, from under tree roots, from the dark forests."
"Goblins caused misfortune, Redcaps hunted for blood, Imps made animals sick, Pixies led people astray, and Boggarts frightened children at night."
"Some of these elves have become mere legends, and we don't know if they really exist. But some of them... you'll learn about them in Defense Against the Dark Arts."
Wade nodded. "Redcaps are mentioned in the third-year textbook... Are house-elves descendants of those elves?"
Setting aside the wizard-centric view of the world, even if the magical world's legends sound unbelievable... they are likely true.
"Calling them 'descendants' is too mild, Wade," Professor Murray said. "To be precise, ancient wizards used extreme methods to strip away the parts of those elves that weren't useful to humans—"
"Things like laziness, theft, mischief... and dignity."
"The first house-elves were born from these experiments."
"But their magical power was too weak, and their work efficiency was greatly reduced. They were even often harmed by livestock."
"So the ancient wizards made further modifications—infusing them with goblin blood to grant house-elves greater magical abilities."
"But goblins don't seem to consider house-elves part of their kin?" Wade asked.
"Of course not," Professor Murray said slowly. "Goblins are extremely proud. In their eyes, house-elves are lowly creatures, unworthy of being called kin."
"After gaining stronger magic, house-elves no longer wanted to be enslaved by wizards either."
"Their predecessors—like gray elves and dwarven elves—enjoyed working for wizards, but they were proud beings. If they felt insulted, they would even harbor ill will toward their masters."
Wade nodded and said, "That's why the History of Magic records the house-elf rebellions."
More than half of the conflicts between wizards and non-human races in the History of Magic involved goblins, leading many students to overlook the subtle differences in phrasing and mistakenly lump goblin rebellions and house-elf rebellions together.
"Yes," Professor Murray sighed. "Although it didn't happen often, house-elves did rebel a few times."
"Wizards were unwilling to completely destroy these creatures, so they kept altering their minds, erasing their personalities, and imprinting them with an instinct for absolute obedience, making them eager to be enslaved by wizards."
"In this way, the perfect servant was bred."
"But there's one thing, deeply embedded in the soul of these beings, that wizards could never erase—it's the innate desire for freedom."
"Thus, there's an unbreakable contract between wizards and house-elves—when a master gives them clothes, they gain their freedom."
"But..."
Wade remembered the original story's plot, where house-elves had a disdain for freedom, and especially the freed elf named "Winky."
"The house-elves I know all seem to detest freedom. If their master expels them, they feel a great sense of shame and unbearable sorrow."
"Yes—unbearable sorrow."
Professor Murray's smile had a hint of sarcasm.
"All freed house-elves are free, and they can go anywhere—even back to their former master's house."
"But tell me, have you ever seen a single freed house-elf return?"
--------------------------------
🙏🙏Please consider supporting this translation project by becoming a P@treon member!!!
Your support is greatly appreciated!
Available on my P@treon page for just $4!!
Early access to the following translations:-
⭐Harry Potter: Becoming a Study God (HP:BSG)- +94 Chapters & 2 Chapters/Day
⭐MCU: Druid's Adventures (MCUDA)(⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 460
⭐Famous Police Detective in Detective World (FPDDW)- +165 advance chapters
⭐Marvel: Little Genius (MLG) (⭐COMPLETE⭐) - Total Chapter 450
p@treon.com/Lightreaper457
--------------------------------