The car lay crookedly off to one side, its doors flapping feebly and letting out the occasional creak, as though it were groaning in pain.
The old car looked as though it had survived a horrific crash. Its once-gleaming paint was covered in haphazard scratches, and dents marred its body everywhere.
All its windows had shattered, and two wheels had fallen off.
The car had given everything it had.
Zhang Xiao walked over, patted its door, and said softly:
"Thank you. Rest here for now. I promise I'll get you fixed up!"
The car managed to give his back a gentle pat with its battered door, then its headlights slowly went out.
Zhang Xiao's heart clenched. Only when he heard something like snoring coming from the radio did he relax a little.
Thanks to the Golden Light Spell and his knack for protecting himself, his injuries weren't serious. In fact, apart from some bruises, he was more or less fine.
Zhang Xiao crouched down and carefully checked Harry and Ron. Both had been knocked unconscious in the impact.
They were now lying on stretchers Zhang Xiao had conjured. Ron's right arm was bent at an unnatural angle, probably broken.
Harry had a long cut across his face that was streaming blood. Fortunately, his eyes were unharmed, or Professor Snape might have chopped Dobby up and brewed him into potions.
Thinking of Dobby gave Zhang Xiao a headache. Someone who used "it's for your own good" as an excuse to do whatever he pleased, regardless of whether others could accept it, was incredibly difficult to deal with.
But calling him wicked would be going too far. He was simply an utterly naive house-elf with no mature understanding of right and wrong.
Even asking Malfoy to rein Dobby in wouldn't work. This