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Resets Weekly! [Monday]
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Jane carried her cauldron, tucked the Elixir to Induce Euphoria into her robe, but didn't return to her dormitory.
Instead, she headed to Moaning Myrtle's bathroom.
When she arrived at this familiar place, she was stunned speechless.
The once-abandoned bathroom had been completely transformed. The formerly peeling walls were now snow-white, the once grimy, cracked mirrors were bright and new, and the dirty sinks and taps had been meticulously polished and cleaned until they gleamed.
The previously damp, musty air now smelled fresh and pleasant, as if air freshener had been sprayed.
As soon as Jane arrived, Myrtle happily spiraled out of her toilet.
"You're finally here!" She wore a smile at last. "Thank goodness you're alright!"
"I'm fine," Jane smiled tiredly. "But how did this bathroom suddenly change like this?"
Myrtle grew even more excited, proudly gesturing for Jane to look at the toilet in her stall:
"Look, I got my iridescent black! With our names engraved on it - a custom commemorative edition!"
Jane felt her eyesight being polluted, but she managed to respond:
"Um... nice... nice idea."
Myrtle wore a smug expression as she proudly announced:
"The headmaster said as a reward for my contribution in the Chamber incident, he specially had the bathroom renovated!"
She gave Jane a tour of each stall, claiming she designed them all - red and green toilets, transparent four-sided partitions, gold and silver interwoven toilet paper...
After the ghost and human had seen everything, Myrtle's mood dropped again.
"I know why you've come to find me," she floated above the sink, starting to cry again. "You all think I have the right to know how I died - it was Tom Riddle who killed me."
"But I hate how you all keep reminding me that I'm dead - even though you're my best friend." Her crying grew louder. "I'd rather not know - then I could still hold onto some illusions about him!"
She cried for quite a while before slowly stopping, beginning to thank Jane between sobs:
"But... still... thank you... He killed me, and you killed him... You avenged me."
Then she seemed to think of something and began advising Jane:
"Jane, remember!" she said earnestly. "Never trust handsome men!"
Thinking of Tom Riddle's handsome face and what he'd done, she wanted to spit in disgust.
"The more handsome they are, the more poisonous!"
Fifty years after her death, she finally understood what a romance scam was.
Myrtle was still rambling on about life lessons when suddenly there was a crack in the air.
A small house-elf with bat-like ears and a long nose appeared before them, its protruding green eyes as large as tennis balls.
It was Dobby, the house-elf she had seen in Lockhart's office!
"Jane Yu!" it squeaked, seeming even more sensitive than Myrtle. "Dobby has been wanting to meet you, ma'am... miss... such an honor..."
Before Jane could speak, Myrtle screamed first, as if competing with it:
"No, no, it's too ugly! How can such a creature be worthy of my magnificent bathroom?"
A ghost and a house-elf began arguing, their shrill voices nearly piercing Jane's eardrums.
"Stop, stop, if you keep arguing, I'm leaving."
She gave her final ultimatum, unable to bear it anymore.
Myrtle and Dobby fell silent like chickens with their necks wrung, and Dobby finally had the chance to explain why he came to find Jane:
"Dobby, Dobby has come to thank you!" He wiped his tears with his dirty pillowcase. "Miss Yu saved Harry Potter, defeated He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named - and Harry Potter freed me!"
He began stuttering through the story of him and Harry, explaining how Harry had slipped a sock into the diary to free him from his former master, Lucius Malfoy.
"Dobby is free!"
He raised his thin arms to the sky, eyes widened impossibly large, tears covering his reddish-brown face.
"No, you're not free," Jane interrupted ruthlessly. "Since you're an independent elf now, we need to calculate the damages you've caused."
She began calculating the damage Dobby had done to her work - referring to the pile of hand-written letters he had torn up in Lockhart's office.
"What would be an appropriate price per thousand words?" she mused.
Dobby froze.
He suddenly realized he had no money to compensate, with nothing but ragged clothes and a sticky sock to his name.
"Dobby, Dobby has no money!" he screamed, starting to bang his head against the wall, making white plaster fall, causing Myrtle to join in the screaming.
"Having caused damage, you surely don't plan to just walk away?" Jane narrowed her eyes, questioning him.
"Dobby, Dobby is a good elf, Dobby would never!" He finally stopped hitting the wall and began twisting his ears. "Dobby will work to pay back Miss Yu and Harry Potter!"
The fish had taken the bait.
Jane had heard about how hardworking house-elves were - they worked for their masters without wages or holidays, even 24 hours non-stop, handling all household chores, proud to serve their masters for life, and couldn't easily disobey orders, having to punish themselves if they did.
They were naturally skilled at self-punishment and overwork - even 996 or 007 work schedules paled in comparison.
She could hardly resist such a lone elf.
"I understand your difficulties," Jane sighed. "It must be hard to find work and support yourself as a free house-elf."
At these words, Dobby cried even harder.
"Understand... understand..." he sobbed. "Never... never has... a wizard... understood..."
"Dobby wandered for two days, miss, just to find work!" His shrill voice echoed in the bathroom. "But no wizard wants Dobby, because Dobby was dismissed! And Dobby wants paying!"
"In that case," Jane smiled slightly, "I have a job here - 8 hours per day, 8 Galleons per week, weekends off, with a contract in duplicate. Would you like to do it?"
Dobby listened to all this in disbelief, his round eyes bulging like brass bells, both hands covering his mouth.
"Dobby, Dobby would love to!" he shouted excitedly, his voice becoming even shriller. "It would be Dobby's honor to work for Miss Yu!"
Then the house-elf's nature showed itself again as he shuddered, as if too much wealth and leisure time were terrifying things:
"But... miss... though Dobby likes freedom, you're giving too much... he prefers work!"
This shocked even Jane, and she hesitantly asked:
"What do you mean?"
Dobby held up one finger on each hand:
"Only 1 Galleon per week, only 1 day off per month!"
"And Dobby can work 18 hours straight!"
Jane's conscience began to trouble her.
She suddenly felt like an evil capitalist.
"4 Galleons, 4 days off per month," she bargained.
But Dobby was horrified, repeatedly refusing:
"No! No! 2 Galleons, 2 days off, no more!"
After intense discussion, Dobby held his fresh employment contract with joy, his large ears flapping against his head:
"Miss Yu is the best witch in the whole world! Dobby is willing to serve her, keep her secrets, and be proud of it!"
"Dobby will spread Miss Yu's glory... to every corner of Britain!"