Vid was stunned.
As he was in a daze, he only felt a tingling sensation on his scalp, as if he had returned to that moment outside the terrace, holding his breath, hiding for his life.
But Relf's meaning was... when he and Voldemort were only separated by a wall, was there actually a house-elf nearby?
Seeing Vid not speaking, Relf continued to explain, "Many years ago, when Dumbledore was still a student at Hogwarts, Relf was in charge of cleaning the Gryffindor Tower and taking care of the children there."
"And then Dumbledore, like you, started to notice the house-elves hidden in the school and found ways to find them. He treated Relf kindly and strictly stopped other children when they caused trouble."
"You... you were Dumbledore's friend?" Vid asked.
"No?" The elderly house-elf shook his head, "Dumbledore was Relf's master."
"After Dumbledore allowed werewolves into the school, Relf had to ensure he wouldn't harm other students on the days around the full moon."
"Vampires were no different. The little ones in the Gryffindor Tower always paid attention to that little bat as well."
"What about Voldemort? You monitored him too?" Vid asked in disbelief.
Relf nodded slightly.
"In that person's eyes, house-elves were like pests, like spiders crawling from the corner; he never particularly paid attention to us. But in fact, it was us who first noticed when Professor Quirrell behaved abnormally."
Vid recalled the extremely sensitive hearing of house-elves, and how Quirrell would seem to be talking to himself when communicating with the Voldemort at the back of his head.
He even remembered from the original plot, when the Basilisk was roaming around Hogwarts, it only petrified a few people and killed no one.
Every time, the students encountering the Basilisk would "coincidentally" avoid direct eye contact, some using mirrors or water surfaces, others utilizing camera lenses.
If all this wasn't "coincidence," perhaps during that plot, Relf was always protecting the students?
He didn't entirely stop every harmful incident; only when students were facing a deadly crisis did he lightly intervene, pulling them back from death.
Of course, in this world, that plot didn't happen, and Vid had no way to verify his guess.
He simply asked, "Then do you also know... about James Potter and the others becoming Animagi?"
Sirius and Lupin always thought Dumbledore knew nothing about this.
"Of course." Relf seemed to understand Vid's thoughts. He said, "But I don't report everything to Dumbledore—especially matters involving students' privacy."
"...But you said Dumbledore was your master."
"Yes, but the students at this school are also… I am a house-elf of Hogwarts."
"You've never told anyone these things before, have you? Why are you telling me?" Vid asked in confusion.
Relf slightly raised his head, looked at him, and said, "Dumbledore believes that Vid Gray would worry about his friends getting hurt, and might take rash actions due to that worry, so it was necessary to clarify."
—What do you mean by rash actions? This is clearly rightful and reasonable concern for classmates.
Vid retorted in his heart, but indeed felt more at ease.
He thanked Relf, also for the earlier help, and returned to the dormitory after Relf vanished before his eyes.
Everything in the dormitory was still just right, the room warm and comfortable, the bedding fluffy and soft, the tables, chairs, and miscellaneous items all neatly organized.
Vid looked at the pot of hot water on the table, imagining the day when Zoe and the others would become as wise and stable as Relf, and felt it was quite incredible.
By then, he would probably be as old as a dried tree trunk... if he could live that long...
As he held the water cup, Vid thought of the shy Zoe, the talkative and cheerful Habi... Relf's wrinkled face and his tennis-ball-sized eyes...
Suddenly, Vid froze as if the pause button was pressed, with Relf's voice echoing in his ears—
"It is I."
"I am the guardian of you children."
House-elves rarely refer to themselves as "I," but use their names in self-reference, like Zoe would always say "Zoe this, Zoe that," as if talking about someone else.
But Relf… he naturally said "I"…
Vid pondered for a while, shook his head, and put down that strange feeling in his heart.
—The older you get, the more you can see the essence of the world... And Relf might be influenced by Dumbledore, so his self-awareness is a bit stronger than other house-elves.
...
Carrel entered Hogwarts, yet to finish flipping through his textbooks, first experienced the complex schedule of a third-year Hogwarts student.
Students with fewer elective courses weren't that busy, but every class required quite a walk to the corresponding classroom, and in between, they had to deal with the school's moving staircases and the mischievous Peeves, making everyone seem busy.
Vid found himself gradually starting to like Divination class.
Trelawney still babbled ominously and nonsensically, but very few students could see through her facade; most were in awe of the professor.
Trelawney loved students crafting all sorts of obviously fake, tragic predictions. But Vid's interpretations, even if they were as bland as water, were never denied by Professor Trelawney.
Arithmancy also began to become more interesting—of course, other students didn't really think so—after the calculation difficulty increased, the accuracy of predictions increased too.
Even Care of Magical Creatures lessons became great.
Hagrid brought in various harmless or low-danger magical creatures, teaching students how to take care of them.
Occasionally, a few beasts would appear in his classes, and each time, Hagrid would stay by the creature's side, watching as students approached, greeted, and interacted with the monster in turn, preventing any accidents.
Time quietly glided into October.
Carrel's academic performance was rather polarized—some subjects he learned far ahead, while in others, he slept from beginning to end, waking up only to say:
"I'm serious, Gray, how do you resist not being hypnotized by that old man?"
Vid said, "By doing homework."
Carrel immediately perked up: "Really? You finished it all? Let me copy it!"
Vid freely tossed his homework to Carrel, but as soon as Carrel opened it, he was dumbfounded.
"What is this you wrote? 'Analysis of the Disappearing Spell's Key Points'? Did we learn this spell?"