HARRY POTTER Book 4: Chapter 28
Chapter 28
THE MADNESS OF MR. CROUCH
On Sunday morning, after breakfast, Harry, Ron, and Hermione go to the Owlery. They send a letter to Percy. Sirius has told them to ask Percy if he has seen Mr. Crouch recently. They use Hedwig, because she has not had any work for a long time.
After Hedwig flies away, they go down to the kitchen to give Dobby his new socks. The house-elves welcome them with many happy smiles. They hurry around and make tea. Dobby is very happy with the gift. “Harry Potter is too good to Dobby!” he says, with tears in his big eyes.
“You saved my life with that gillyweed, Dobby,” Harry says. “You really did.” “You don’t have more of those delicious cakes, do you?” Ron asks, looking around hopefully. “You’ve just had breakfast!” Hermione says. But at once, four elves carry a large plate of cakes toward them.
“We should get some food to send to Snuffles,” Harry says quietly. “Good idea,” Ron says. “You couldn’t give us a bit more food, could you?” The elves are pleased and hurry away. Hermione looks around. “Dobby, where’s Winky?” “Winky is over there by the fire, miss,” Dobby says sadly.
Harry looks. Winky sits on a stool near the fire, but she is very dirty. Harry almost does not see her in the dark corner. Her clothes are old and unwashed. She holds a bottle of butterbeer and moves slowly from side to side. Then she gives a loud hiccup. “Winky is drinking six bottles a day now,” Dobby whispers.
“It’s not very strong,” Harry says. But Dobby shakes his head. “It is strong for a house-elf, sir.” Harry walks over to Winky. “Hey, Winky,” he says. “Do you know where Mr. Crouch is? Have you seen him? He hasn’t been coming to judge the Tournament.” Winky blinks at him.
“M-Master is stopped coming?” she says. “Yeah,” Harry says. “We haven’t seen him since the first task. The Daily Prophet says he’s ill.” Winky stares at Harry. Her lips start to shake. “Master... ill?” “But we don’t know if that’s true,” Hermione says quickly. “Master is needing his Winky!” Winky cries. “Master cannot manage all by himself!”
“Other people do their own housework,” Hermione says. Winky sits up straight and looks angry. “Winky is not only doing housework for Mr. Crouch!” she cries. “Master is trusting Winky with the most important... the most secret...” “What?” Harry asks. But Winky shakes her head hard. “Winky keeps her master’s secrets,” she says. “You is nosy, you is.”
“Winky must not talk like that to Harry Potter!” Dobby says angrily. “Harry Potter is brave and noble!” But Winky’s eyes close. Suddenly she falls off the stool and lands in the fireplace. She is already asleep and snoring. The empty bottle rolls away. Several house-elves hurry forward. They look ashamed. One picks up the bottle. The others cover Winky with a cloth.
“We is sorry you had to see that,” one elf says. “Please do not judge us all by Winky.” “She’s unhappy!” Hermione says. “Why don’t you help her instead of hiding her?” “House-elves has no right to be unhappy when there is work to be done and masters to be served.” Hermione becomes angry.
“You have the same right as wizards to be unhappy!” she says. “You have the right to earn money and have holidays and proper clothes! Look at Dobby!” The smiles disappear from the elves’ faces. They look at Hermione as if she is dangerous. An elf pushes food into Harry’s arms. “We has your extra food! Good-bye!” Then the elves quickly push Harry, Ron, and Hermione out of the kitchen.
Outside, Ron is angry. “You couldn’t keep quiet, could you, Hermione?” he says. “Now they won’t want us there again! We could have learned more about Crouch from Winky!” “Oh, you don’t care about that,” Hermione says. “You just like the food!” The day is not pleasant after that.
Ron and Hermione keep arguing in the common room. In the evening, Harry takes Sirius’s food up to the Owlery by himself. Pigwidgeon is too small to carry it all, so Harry uses two school owls too. When the owls leave, Harry stands at the window and looks outside. He sees Hagrid working hard in front of his cabin, digging a large patch of earth.
After some time, Madame Maxime comes out of her carriage and talks to him, but Hagrid does not seem friendly. Soon she goes back inside. The next morning, Ron and Hermione are calm again. At breakfast Hermione keeps looking up at the owls. “Percy won’t answer that quickly,” Ron says.
“I’m not waiting for Percy’s answer,” Hermione says. “I’m waiting for the Daily Prophet. I have a subscription to it. I hate hearing news from the Slytherins.” Suddenly, many different owls land next to Hermione. “How many subscriptions do you have, Hermione?” asks Ron, confused. But the owls that arrive are not carrying newspapers. Each has a letter for Hermione. Hermione opens one and turns red. She gives it to Harry. It says:
YOU ARE A WICKED GIRL. HARRY POTTER DESERVES BETTER. GO BACK TO WHERE YOU CAME FROM, MUGGLE.
Hermione opens more. They are all horrible. Ron reads another letter and shakes his head. The hate mail is getting worse. “I hate that Skeeter woman!” Hermione cries. “I’ll get her back for this if it’s the last thing I do!”
Later, in Care of Magical Creatures, Hagrid is waiting for them with boxes. Harry is afraid there are more skrewts. But inside the boxes there are small black animals with long noses and flat front feet. “These’re nifflers,” Hagrid says. “They detect treasure and shiny things.”
