Harry Potter and the Candy Factory

After listening to Dobby's explanation, Charlie was momentarily speechless.

Even though he had encountered thousands of different house-elves, this was truly the first time he had met one with such a uniquely peculiar thought process as Dobby.

It seemed he was a rare oddity in the house-elf world.

Thinking this, Charlie couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

After shaking his head, he had no choice but to order the house-elves around him to untie him.

It was clear that Dobby's behavior had really frightened his security guards at first, otherwise, they wouldn't have tied him up so tightly.

The ropes were wound around and around, leaving no gaps, and crisscrossed so tightly that even an elephant would have difficulty breaking free, let alone a malnourished house-elf like him.

Hearing Charlie's words, a strange sense of joy and pride appeared on Dobby's face, as if being personally ordered by Mr. Black to be untied was a very honorable thing.

"You see! Dobby told you, Dobby is already a free house-elf, Dobby knows Mr. Black... You didn't believe me just now, ah ha, how about now, do you believe me!"

While the two security guards were untying him, Dobby's mouth wasn't idle either, speaking to the two house-elves in an almost arrogant tone, taking advantage of his connection.

Fortunately, as house-elves who had received ideological education in the factory, the two security guards were obviously much better mannered.

Faced with Dobby's words, they didn't respond in any way, but simply untied him honestly and retreated to the side in an orderly manner.

Charlie was speechless, so he simply ignored him and focused his attention on the box placed on the ground.

"Is this the gift Lucius sent me?"

He slowly lowered his body, squinting his eyes, examining the old and ordinary wooden box in front of him with barely suppressed curiosity, and asked Dobby.

"Yes! Mr. Black."

Hearing Charlie's question, Dobby couldn't care about anything else, nodding hastily, then jumped up from the sofa and flashed to his side with a "whoosh," continuing to say.

"Mr. Malfoy specifically instructed me before leaving to personally deliver it to your hands."

Charlie didn't speak, and after hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and gently brushed it over the wooden box.

As his fingertips moved, they brought up a layer of magical light.

With the movement of his hand, the dust and dirt originally attached to the surface of the box seemed to come to life, scattering and disappearing into the air without a trace.

And only then did the original old and ordinary box finally reveal its original appearance—a symbol composed of a skull and a snake was prominently branded in the center of the box.

When that mark appeared, the entire office suddenly became silent, as if a silencing charm had been cast.

Even Charlie's heart couldn't help but skip a beat, and in his slightly narrowed eyes, his pupils involuntarily shrank to the size of pinholes with his thoughts.

Duru, who had been sitting quietly on the sofa with his eyes closed, as if asleep, since Charlie came in, finally deigned to open his eyes.

In the originally cloudy gaze under his eyelids, an unprecedented surge and ripple suddenly erupted.

"This is… Voldemort's thing."

The cane stuck on the ground rolled a few times with Duru's movements.

The seemingly subconscious action left a faint small pit on the granite floor.

The small arm, even more shriveled than Dobby's, also bulged with veins for a moment, as if recalling some unpleasant memories.

After a long while, he finally shook his head and closed his eyes again, as if nothing had happened just now, continuing his indifference.

"Russell…"

Suddenly, just when everyone was becoming more and more breathless in this terrible silence and atmosphere, Charlie suddenly stood up and called out to Russell beside him, also breaking the silent atmosphere.

"Yes! Master Charlie."

Russell also quickly came back to his senses and hurried back to Charlie's side, looking up and responding.

"Help me send it to my office."

"Yes, Master."

Although the Dark Mark on the box made him feel disgusted and repulsed from the bottom of his heart, after hearing his master's instructions, Russell didn't hesitate.

After nodding in agreement, he walked forward without hesitation, grabbed the box with both hands, and disappeared with it in a flash of light in front of everyone.

Until the box and Russell left together, the oppressive atmosphere seemed to finally ease, and Charlie could even hear several house-elves secretly breathing a deep sigh of relief.

Putting the matter of the box aside for the time being, planning to study it alone after returning to the office.

At this moment, Charlie's attention returned to Dobby once again.

His expression then returned to the gentleness he had at the beginning, and he asked.

"Thank you for helping me deliver such an important thing, Dobby."

"It's nothing, it's all I should do, Mr. Black!"

Dobby puffed out his chest, which had hardly any flesh and you could almost see the bones, and patted it proudly.

Although he said so, his two fan-like ears, raised high and flapping, revealed his joy at being thanked by Charlie at this moment.

Charlie still smiled unchanged, and then continued to ask, "Now that the thing has been delivered, where do you plan to go next?"

"Of course it's—"

Just as Dobby was about to answer without hesitation, the next second, he seemed to be stuck, and his words suddenly stopped in mid-sentence.

That's right, he almost forgot that he was no longer the Malfoy family's house-elf.

Mr. Malfoy had given himself freedom, which also meant that he could no longer return to the Malfoy family's manor in the future.

An unprecedented sense of confusion appeared in Dobby's eyes for a moment.

Even the ears that had just been raised drooped down again because of the confusion at this moment.

As a house-elf who had lived in the Malfoy manor since he was a child, even though he had always longed for freedom, when freedom really came, he lost his mind to the vast future ahead.

The joy of gaining freedom seemed to be diluted at this moment, replaced by a fear and anxiety about the unknown.

Just as Dobby faced this question blankly, not knowing how to answer for a moment, Charlie said softly.

"I can understand how you feel at this moment… But don't worry, you have just gained freedom, and you have plenty of time to decide what you should do.

If you are willing, you can temporarily stay in the factory, and I will arrange for someone to prepare a room for you.

Until you have truly planned everything, what do you think?"