Ever since the house-elves lost their war against wizards, they had been trained by wizards for generations to be servile. They had even been classified as magical creatures, and in Britain, they were subject to the Ministry of Magic's Department for Regulation and Control of Magical Creatures.
They did not allow house-elves to remain idle. In the Ministry of Magic's eyes, once a house-elf had nothing to do, they could pose a danger to wizards or the human world, with consequences potentially more serious than those caused by some fantastic beasts.
After all, house-elves could use magic. Though they had been slaves for centuries, wizards had never lowered their guard against these creatures.
Adopting a house-elf was also rather expensive. First, it required a deposit of five thousand Galleons. When many wizards complained about the expense, it was this deposit they meant.
After all, house-elves did not require wages. Once they acknowledged a master, barring any accidents, they would serve that household for the rest of their lives. That meant the only expense involved in keeping a house-elf came at the time of adoption.
House-elves were very useful, after all. At least to someone as lazy as Karn, having someone wait on him was better than doing things himself.
Hermione went along when he visited the Ministry of Magic. At this point, Voldemort had not returned, and all the Death Eaters were lying low. Apart from Knockturn Alley and deserted places, the British Wizarding World was relatively safe. Hermione wanted to see more of the Wizarding World, so Karn agreed.
Apart from the rather strange way of entering the Ministry of Magic, everything else was an eye-opener for Hermione. This was her first time seeing so many wizards outside Diagon Alley, and this was also the governing body of the