Chapter 142

After solving the problem of Voldemort and returning to the regular school life, the extremely bored vampire lord has recently found a new hobby - that is, through the monitoring function of the Hogwarts title deed, remotely observe the actions of the house elf Dobby. Watching him preach the beauty of freedom to other elves everywhere, it is guessed that he will be driven away by his fellow house elves in a few minutes.

According to Dracula's observation, Dobby spent quite a long time in the Hogwarts kitchen in comparison.

In order to work, this progressive house elf went to the Hogwarts School Infirmary, Astronomy Tower, Owl Tower, Castle Dungeon, Professor Sprout's Greenhouse and other places to participate in the work of house elves and help his fellows in Hogwarts.

But Dobby would often be driven out by the house elf supervisor on duty before working for a day.

The fastest record of Dobby being kicked out was when he was cleaning the Slytherin common room - he only took two minutes, and as soon as he opened his mouth, the conservative elves loyal to Slytherin College noticed something was wrong and immediately kicked him out...

A "bang" sounded.

This is the iconic sound of Apparition.

Dracula looked up from the Hogwarts title deed on the desk and looked at Dobby, who looked lonely.

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

"Other house-elves don't want to work with Dobby. They think Dobby is a fallen elf..." Dobby wiped his tears and said sadly, "They...they think that house-elves without masters are evil and unreasonable heretics."

"That's normal. After all, you are the first house-elf to eat tomatoes." Dracula chuckled and peeled a bloody lollipop, leaning back on the soft chair behind him, "The first person to try new things will always be tabooed by his peers."

"Mr. Dracula, but Dobby doesn't eat tomatoes..." Dobby wiped his eyes and said in confusion, "And...why would an elf who eats tomatoes be tabooed by his peers?"

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

"Ahem... Tomato is just a metaphor, it's not important." Dracula coughed out the lollipop and looked at Dobby helplessly, "'The first person to eat tomatoes' is an idiom, used to describe the first person who dares to do something."

"But, but is there anyone who dares not eat something as normal as tomatoes? The first person who dares to eat tomatoes shouldn't be that great, right?" Dobby asked in surprise.

Then, the elf seemed to suddenly think of something and began to wipe his tears again, "Dobby knows that Mr. Dracula must also think that Dobby is a corrupt and evil house elf, so he uses something like tomatoes to describe Dobby..."

"..."

Dracula's words stagnated again.

"If you keep thinking so much, I will give you a raise, Dobby!" He gritted his teeth and bit the candy into pieces with his sharp teeth, then glared at Dobby coldly, "I told you, this is just an idiom, it doesn't have those meanings!"

Dobby was so scared that he couldn't cry immediately.

He hurriedly wiped his hands on his big eyes to wipe away the tears, and subconsciously wanted to dry his wet hands on his clothes.

However, he soon found that he was no longer wearing the dirty old pillowcase, but a delicate small dress suit.

Dobby immediately took back his wet hands and put them behind his back at a loss.

"Mr. Dracula, you can scold me, but don't give me a raise!" Dobby said pitifully, "A raise is terrible!"

Dracula rubbed his eyebrows and sighed.

"Forget it, it's embarrassing for you. After all, these idioms are not commonly used in the magic world." He explained, "In Europe, many Muggles and a small number of wizards often use tomatoes to describe the first warrior to take action."

"In addition, as far as I know, unlike the terms used in Europe, the East prefers to use "the first person to eat crabs" to describe it."

"Let me tell you the story about the first person to eat tomatoes--"

Dobby quickly moved a small stool and sat in front of Dracula's desk, and began to listen carefully.

"If I remember correctly, three or four hundred years ago, around the 16th century... there was a British knight who went to South America for a trip. I forgot the name of the knight, anyway, he saw the tomato plant."

Dracula recalled what interesting things he had experienced in the past thousand years, while telling Dobby the story of "the first person to eat tomatoes".

Just three or four hundred years ago, Dracula had a sudden idea to attend a meeting-that was the first time he participated in the joint meeting of great nobles after he received the earldom given by the Grand Duke of England.

It was also at that meeting that he met the knight who saw the tomato.

In fact, tomatoes were originally a wild plant native to South America, originally called "wolf peach".

At that time, wolf peach was an ornamental plant, and humans did not discover its edible value.

Because people at that time learned lessons 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 was a saying in the local area -

Wolf peach, that is, tomatoes, was considered poisonous by experts at the time.

According to local people, people who eat wolf peaches will soon develop bumps and tumors on their bodies, and in more serious cases, their lives will be endangered!

Although wolf peaches are bright red when ripe, and the red fruit with green leaves is very beautiful and attractive, just like the colorful mushrooms are highly toxic, people are still very afraid of it. No one has ever dared to try to eat a bite, and they just treat it as an ornamental plant.

"I seem to have a little impression of that knight." Dracula put the lollipop stick on his fangs to scrape out the last taste, and said to Dobby, "I remember that he was not only a noble, but also a wizard who was good at magic-"

"In that situation where there was no reasonable way to preserve it, the knight used magic to bring tomatoes to England."

"Because the color of tomatoes is very bright and shiny, the knight gave tomatoes to the queen who was in power at the time... Well, it seems that the queen at the time was little Elizabeth."

"In short, that knight He used tomatoes as a gift of love to express his love to little Yin Lisa Bai... Since then, tomatoes have been called "love fruit" and "lover fruit" by people at that time. "

"But even though the popularity of this fruit has been launched in one fell swoop, no one still wants to eat tomatoes. They just continue to plant tomatoes in the manor as ornamental plants, or give them to lovers as gifts symbolizing love."

"As for treating it as a food? Sorry, no one has ever dared to eat it..."

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

"They don't even dare to eat tomatoes. They are even dumber than Dobby!" Dobby's spirits really recovered, and he shouted happily, "So did they eat tomatoes in the end?"

"Well... tomatoes really became food about two or three hundred years ago." Dracula said thoughtfully, "There was a person who thought tomatoes were so beautiful, bright, and fresh, and looked delicious, and he couldn't control his desire to eat..."

"So that person tasted the first tomato in the world." Dracula shrugged.

The first person to eat tomatoes was a French painter. He had painted tomatoes with his brush many times. Faced with such a beautiful and lovely but "poisonous" fruit, he really couldn't resist its temptation, so he had the idea of ​​tasting it himself.

It can only be said that the French painter is a typical foodie who wants to eat without caring about his life.

He risked his life to eat the first tomato, but after eating it, he only tasted the sour and sweet delicious feeling, and did not feel any discomfort.

But he still believed in the toxicity of tomatoes. After eating tomatoes, he lay in bed waiting for the arrival of death.

It is easy to guess what happened next. The painter lay quietly in bed. He did not die for a long time until he could not bear it anymore and ate another tomato...

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

The French painter recalled the delicious feeling when chewing tomatoes, and told his friends the news that "tomatoes are non-toxic and can be eaten" with a smile on his face. Not long after, the news of tomatoes being non-toxic shocked many places and quickly spread all over the world...

"From then on, hundreds of millions of people around the world enjoyed the delicious food brought by the "first warrior who dared to eat tomatoes" at the risk of his life."

Dracula finished the story slowly, his expression a little dazed.

He told Dobby the story of "the first person to eat tomatoes" just to comfort Dobby's injured little heart and cheer Dobby up so that he could continue to maintain the title of progressive free elf.

But when Dracula was halfway through his story, he mentioned the knight who brought tomatoes from South America, and the French painter who first tasted tomatoes... He suddenly thought of the friends he had met hundreds of years ago, all of whom had returned to dust.

Now, only Dracula himself and Nicolas Flamel, who possessed the elixir of immortality, were still living in this boring world.

From beginning to end, Dracula had no real enemies.

Even the many brilliant wizards, the magical creatures who regarded him as their mortal enemy, and the light of justice that wanted to sweep away the darkness... Dracula never really cared.

Because he knew that these people who led an era would eventually disappear in the long river of history as time passed.

Even wizards as powerful as the four founders of Hogwarts, after a thousand years, gradually turned into a pale symbol, and no one else remembered their former voices and smiles.

Mentioning Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff and Slytherin, wizards will only think of the four colleges of Hogwarts, and will not think of the four amazing wizards at the first time.

Dracula's enemy, from beginning to end, is only time.

"...Sir... Mr. Dracula!"

Dobby's voice interrupted Dracula's thoughts.

Dracula's eye child regained focus and saw Dobby's big green eyeballs blocking his face without blinking, which looked a little scary inexplicably...

"What are you doing here, Dobby?" Dracula pushed Dobby's forehead with his index finger in annoyance and pushed him out from in front of him.

"Mr. Dracula, you just scared me!" Dobby was pushed aside by Dracula's finger, but his mood became happy, "Sir, your expression just now was too cold, I almost thought you would become 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 still said with concern, "Otherwise, go see Madam Pomfrey in the school infirmary. She took good care of me when I was helping in the infirmary..."

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

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

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

On the edge of the windowsill close to the side, there is a pot of bright red flowers blooming in the moonlight, which is particularly charming.

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

"If we're talking about that guy, he should still be alive."

Dracula stared at the flowers in front of him thoughtfully, then suddenly turned to look at Dobby with a concerned look on his face.

"Dobby, I'm going to be out for a few days, you stay here." Dracula said, "Go and tell Riddle later that he should take my place in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class these days."

"Isn't this... not good..." Dobby hesitated.

"I remember Riddle has been looking forward to this for a long time, and he also wrote the syllabus, it's okay." Dracula chuckled, "If Dumbledore asks, you can say that if I continue to be so bored, I might blow up Hogwarts. He will understand me."

As he said that, he stepped on the porcelain tile on the windowsill, leaped out, spread his wings, and disappeared into the silent night.