Having taken care of Voldemort's problems and returning to the regular school life, the extremely bored vampire Lord Count has recently found a new pleasure-

That is to remotely observe Dobby's movements through the Hogwarts Title Deeds monitoring function. Watch him preach the beauty of freedom to other elves, and guess he'll be chased away by his house-elf fellow in a few minutes.

According to Dracula's observations, Dobby has been in the Hogwarts kitchen for quite a long time in comparison.

In order to work, this progressive-minded house-elf has gone to the Hogwarts school infirmary, the Astronomy Tower, the Owl Tower, the castle dungeon, Professor Sprout's greenhouse and other places to participate in the work of house-elves, and help his own kind at Hogwarts.

But Dobby often doesn't work for a day before being kicked out by the house-elf supervisor on duty.

Dobby's record for being the fastest to be chased away was achieved while cleaning up the Slytherin common room - it only took him two minutes before the conservative elves loyal to the Slytherin House noticed that something was wrong and kicked him out......

There was a "bang".

It's the signature sound that represents phantom shifting.

Dracula's gaze lifted from the Hogwarts title deed on his desk to look at a lonely Dobby.

"Excluded by other house-elves?" He asked with interest.

"The other house-elves don't want to work with Dobby, they think Dobby is a fallen elf......" Dobby said in a sad tone, wiping tears from his eyes, "they ...... They consider house-elves without masters to be evil and incomprehensible heretical."

"That's normal, after all, you're the first house-elf to eat tomatoes." Dracula chuckled and peeled off a blood-flavored lollipop and leaned back in the soft chair behind him, "The first person to try something new will always be taboo from his peers."

"Mr. Dracula, but Dobby doesn't eat tomatoes...... Dobby wiped his eyes and said with some confusion, "and...... Why is the elf who eats tomatoes taboo by his peers?"

Dracula's words stuck in his throat, and he almost swallowed the lollipop in one gulp.

"Ahem...... Tomatoes are just a metaphor, and it doesn't matter." Dracula coughed up the lollipop and glanced at Dobby helplessly, "'The first person to eat tomatoes, is an idiomatic term used to describe the first person who dares to do something."

"But is there anyone who doesn't dare to eat something as normal as tomatoes? The first person to dare to eat tomatoes shouldn't be that great, right?" Dobby asked, surprised.

Then, as if suddenly thinking of something, the elf began to wipe away tears again, "Dobby knows, Mr. Dracula must also think that Dobby is a depraved and evil house-elf, so he uses something like tomatoes to describe Dobby......

「……」

Dracula's words were once again stagnant.

"If you think so much, I'll give you a raise, Dobby!" He gritted his teeth and used his sharp teeth to bite the candy cube into pieces, then glared at Dobby coldly, "I told you, it's just a idiom, it doesn't mean anything!" ….

Dobby was so frightened that he couldn't stop crying at once.

He hurriedly wiped his hands on his big eyes a few times, wiped away his tears, and subconsciously wanted to rub his wet hands dry on his clothes.

However, he then found that he was no longer the dirty old pillowcase he had before, but a delicate small dress suit.

Dobby immediately took his wet hand back and carried it behind his back in confusion.

"Mr. Dracula, you can scold me, but don't give me a raise!" Dobby said pitifully, "It's terrible to get a raise!"

Dracula rubbed his brow and sighed.

"Forget it, I'm sorry for you, after all, these sayings are not commonly used in the wizarding world in the first place." He explained, "On this side of Europe, a lot of Muggles and a small number of wizards used tomatoes

to be the first to act."

"In addition, as far as I know, unlike the European terminology, the East prefers to use 'the first person to eat crabs.'"

"Well, I'll tell you a story about the first man who ate tomatoes—"

Dobby hurriedly moved a small stool and sat down at Dracula's desk and began to listen attentively.

"If I'm not mistaken, three or four hundred years ago, probably in the sixteenth century...... There was a knight in England who went on a trip to South America, and I can't remember the name of that knight, but he saw the tomato plant."

Dracula reminisces about what happened over the millennia and tells Dobby the story of "the first man to eat tomatoes".

Just three or four hundred years ago, Dracula had a whimsical attendance at a council—the first joint meeting of the great nobles he had attended since he had been offered the title of earl by the Grand Duke of England.

It was also at that meeting that he met the knight who had seen the tomatoes.

In fact, tomatoes were originally a wild plant native to South America, and their original name was "wolf peach".

The wolf peach was an ornamental plant at the time, and humans did not find its edible value.

Because people at that time learned a lesson from fungi, they all knew that the brighter the color, the more toxic the plant, such as poisonous crops such as poisonous mushrooms, and colorful poisonous spiders......

So there is a local saying -

Wolf peaches, that is, tomatoes, were considered poisonous by experts at the time.

According to the locals, people who eat wolf peaches will soon have bumps, tumors, and even more serious ones will be life-threatening!

Although the wolf peach is bright red when ripe, and the red fruits with green leaves are very beautiful and attractive, just as the delicate mushroom is highly poisonous, people are still very afraid of it, and no one has ever dared to try to eat it, but only as an ornamental plant.

"I still have a little impression of that sir." Dracula scraped the last taste of the lollipop candy stick on his fangs as he said to Dobby, "I remember he wasn't just a nobleman, he was a wizard who used magic quite well—"....

"In that case of no reasonable preservation, the knight used his magic to bring tomatoes into England."

"Because the tomatoes were bright and shiny, Sir gave them to the reigning queen...... Well, it seems that the queen at that time was little Elizabeth."

"Anyway, the sir took the tomato as a gift of love, and expressed his love to little Elizabeth...... Since then, tomatoes have been known as the 'Love Fruit,' and the 'Lover's Fruit,'" as the people of the time."

"It's just that even though the popularity of this fruit has been popularized, no one still wants to eat tomatoes, they just continue to grow tomatoes on the estate as a plant for ornamentation, or as a gift to their loved ones as a symbol of love."

"As for using it as a food? I'm sorry, no one has ever dared to eat it......

Listening to Dracula's story, Dobby was amused and burst into laughter.

"I don't even dare to eat tomatoes, those people are even more stupid than Dobby!" Dobby's spirits recovered, and he exclaimed happily, "So did they get the tomatoes at the end?"

"Hmm...... It must have been nearly two or three hundred years before tomatoes actually became food." Dracula said thoughtfully, "There is a person who thinks tomatoes are so beautiful, bright, and fresh, that they look so delicious that they don't control their desire to eat......

"So the man tasted the first tomato in the world." Dracula shrugged.

The first person to eat tomatoes was a French painter who had painted tomatoes with his brush many times, and he couldn't resist such a beautiful and lovely but "poisonous" fruit as tomatoes

The temptation of it gave me the idea of tasting it for myself.

It can only be said that the painter from France belongs to the typical foodie who wants to eat and does not want to die.

He risked his life to eat the first tomato, but after eating it, he tasted only a sour, sweet taste and no discomfort.

But he still believed in the poison of tomatoes, and after eating them, he lay in bed and waited for death to come.

It is also easy to guess what happened next, the painter lay quietly in bed, and after a long time he did not die, until he was really hungry and ate another tomato......

It turns out that tomatoes, a red plant, are non-toxic and harmless, and can be eaten as a fairly delicious fruit or vegetable.

The French painter recalled the rather delicious feeling of chewing tomatoes, and told his friends the news that tomatoes are non-toxic and can be eaten. Soon after, the news that tomatoes were non-toxic shook many places and quickly spread all over the world......

"Since then, hundreds of millions of people around the world have enjoyed the blessings of this brave man who dared to be the first to eat tomatoes and risked his life."

Dracula slowly finished telling the story, his expression slightly dazed.

He tells Dobby the story of "the first man to eat tomatoes" just to comfort Dobby's wounded little heart and cheer Dobby so that he can continue to maintain his title of progressive free elf. ….

But halfway through Dracula's speech, he spoke of the knight who brought tomatoes from South America, and of the French painter who was the first to taste them...... It suddenly occurred to him that the friends he had met hundreds of years ago had all returned to dust and dust.

Now, only Dracula himself, and Nicol Lemay, who has the elixir of life, are still bored living in this boring world.

Throughout, Dracula had no real enemies.

Even so many wizards who once had amazing talents, magical creatures who saw him as mortal enemies, the light of justice who wanted to sweep away the darkness...... Dracula didn't really care.

Because he knows that these figures who lead an era will eventually disappear in the long river of history with the passage of time.

Even wizards as powerful as the four founders of Hogwarts have faded into a pale symbol over the course of a thousand years, and no one else remembers their voices and smiles.

When it comes to Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin, wizards think only of the four houses of Hogwarts, not of the four amazing wizards.

Dracula's enemies are only time.

「…… Mr...... Mr. Dracula!"

Dobby's voice interrupted Dracula's thoughts.

Dracula's eyes regained focus, and he saw that Dobby's large green eyeballs were blocking his face without blinking, looking inexplicably a little scary......

"What are you doing here, Dobby?" Dracula angrily pressed his index finger against Dobby's forehead and pushed him out of front of him.

"Mr. Dracula, you just scared the hell out of me!" Dobby was pushed aside by Dracula's fingers, but his mood became happy, "Sir, your expression just now was so cold, I almost thought you were going to turn into a devil in the next second!"

Dobby shuddered as he spoke.

"Mr. Dracula, are you really okay?" Even though he was still a little scared, Dobby said with concern, "Why don't I go and see Madam Pomfrey in the school infirmary, she took good care of me while I was helping in the infirmary......

"I'm fine, don't worry about me." Dracula shook his head and shook off the indifference in his heart.

He got up from his office chair and walked to the window of this office.

Today, Dobby has placed a very delicate and beautiful black porcelain tiles on the windowsill, and the smooth porcelain tiles reflect the silent moonlight outside the window, adding a sense of tranquility to the office.

window

At the edge of the table, close to the side, there is a pot of bright red flowers blooming in the moonlight, which is particularly enchanting.

Looking at the bright flowers in front of him, Dracula suddenly thought of another guy in his long life who could be called a friend besides Lemay.

"If that guy is alive, he must be alive."

Dracula stared thoughtfully at the flowers in front of him, then suddenly turned to look at Dobby, who looked concerned.

"Dobby, I'm going out for a few days, and you can stay here by yourself." Dracula said, "You go talk to Riddle in a moment, and let him do it for me in the Defence Against the Dark Arts class for the past few days."

"This ...... Isn't that not good......" Dobby hesitated.

"I remember Riddle had been looking forward to this for a long time, and he wrote it, no problem." Dracula chuckled, "If Dumbledore asks, you say I'm bored like this any longer, and maybe I'll blow up Hogwarts." He'll understand me."

So saying, he stepped on the porcelain tiles on the windowsill, leaped out, spread his wings, and disappeared into the silence of the night.

……

…….

Ripples of dust