"I couldn't find a House-elf breeding facility," Locke said regretfully, "but after contacting people through various channels, I've collected more than forty House-elves from sellers all over the world."
"Oh?!" Murphy was pleasantly surprised. "Excellent. Where are they?"
"I've already bought them all. They're at my home now. Would you like to take a look?"
"Good! Let's go!"
Locke's home was on a hillside in Devon.
It was a small house dug into the slope, almost entirely concealed amid the grass. If not for its bright windows and oak door, Murphy would have nearly overlooked it.
Standing before the cottage, they could look out over a vast stretch of wilderness, with woods and marshes in the distance.
"This place has a nice view," Murphy said as he surveyed the surroundings. "I'm even thinking of buying a house here."
"That's the village of Ottery St Catchpole up ahead, and Ottery St Mary is across the river. Wizards live in both places." As he spoke, Locke pointed at a strange-looking building in the wilderness. "Look, that belongs to the Weasley family. The Lovegood family lives on that mountain over there. They're all rather odd people. That taller mountain is Stoatshead Hill. It's very beautiful."
The Weasleys?
The Burrow?
Murphy looked over and vaguely made out one or two figures moving beside that crooked house.
As for the Lovegoods' house farther away, he could only see a peculiar spire.
For some reason, seeing those places gave Murphy a lazy, comfortable feeling. Maybe buying a house here to stay in whenever he wanted some rest really wouldn't be bad.
But for now, he needed to see those House-elves first.
Bending down, Murphy entered Locke's Hobbit-like home and found that it was surprisingly spacious inside.
The moment he entered, Murphy saw seven or eight