Spring was beginning to peek over the fields of Hogwarts.
After the chaos of the basilisk, the school found itself in an unexpected calm. Kronk, for his part, had decided to embark on a mission he considered vital: returning lost socks to their rightful owners. He had set up a small table next to the corridor leading to the staff room, with a handmade sign that read: Sock Reunions. Adopt Your Lost Pair!
Each sock was perfectly folded, many shaped like little animals. Kronk insisted this helped them be found more quickly and defended his method firmly.
"If they look happy, they go home on their own," he said one day, very seriously, as he showed Professor Sprout a pair of socks with cat ears.
It was during one of those sock-reunion days that he was carrying a box full of recovered socks. He was walking down a wide hallway when, turning a corner, he bumped gently into a tall, blond, elegantly dressed figure.
"Watch it!" growled Lucius Malfoy, irritated, brushing his sleeve as if the very air had contaminated it. "This suit is worth more than you'll earn in your pathetic life."
Beside him, a small house-elf walked with quick, trembling steps.
Dobby looked even more nervous than usual.
"Oops! Sorry, Mr. Malfoy," said Kronk with a polite smile, stepping back half a step. "I'm on a humanitarian mission."
Lucius looked at him with disdain and said nothing. In his hand, he carried a heavy book: Selected Histories of the Malfoy Lineage, which he planned to leave in Dumbledore's office as part of a formal request.
Lucius opened the book, extracted a formal note rolled up with his seal, and closed it again.
At that moment, Kronk, adjusting his box, didn't notice how one of his socks—a navy-blue one with green stripes, folded in the shape of a bunny—slipped silently from the edge of the pile... and fell directly between the book's pages.
Lucius, unaware, closed the book over the sock.
"Dobby," he said, handing it over impatiently, "take this to the Headmaster and don't say anything ridiculous on the way. Actually, don't say anything at all."
The elf received it with both hands. The book was heavy...
And... fluffy?
"Y-yes, sir," he murmured, voice trembling.
As Lucius turned gracefully to leave, Dobby secretly opened the book away from his master's gaze, curiosity burning.
And then he saw it.
A sock.
Clean. Folded. Given by his master.
His huge green eyes widened even more.
"A... s-sock?" he trembled.
Lucius, hearing his elf's voice, turned around with annoyance.
"What is it now?"
"A sock, sir! You gave me a sock!" the house-elf cried, holding the evidence in his trembling hands as he dropped the valuable family book carelessly to the floor. "Dobby has received... clothing!"
Lucius blinked, his brow furrowed. He looked down at the book... where a small blue bunny ear was peeking out.
"What is this!?" he growled, trying to snatch the book back.
But it was too late.
Dobby raised both arms to the sky and shouted: "DOBBY IS FREEEEEEEEE!"
At that exact moment, Kronk had just bent down to pick up a sock he had dropped and, upon standing back up, found himself face to face with the elf celebrating in ecstasy.
"Huh? What happened?" he asked, confused.
"He gave me clothes!" Dobby shouted, tossing the bunny sock into the air with joy.
Lucius took a step back, livid.
"That was a mistake! An accident! I didn't mean to—!"
"But you gave it to him, right?" Kronk interrupted, looking at Lucius with a mix of innocence and irrefutable logic. "Technically, that little blue bunny's not yours anymore. It's his now."
"That sock wasn't mine!"
"Then you've got no proof, buddy. In my experience, if you don't know where the bunny came from, it means the bunny chose you."
Lucius clenched his fists, seemingly about to explode, but instead let out a long, dark, and elegant sigh. Then he turned and walked away, muttering curses about Hogwarts, elves, and textile rabbits.
Dobby ran to Kronk and hugged him around the waist.
"Dobby will never forget the Great Bunny-Folder! You have saved a life! Dobby will join your cause!"
"What cause?"
"The cause of free and comfy feet!"
"Oh. Sounds important."
"More than you know!"
Hours later, in Dumbledore's office, the Headmaster read the report Kronk had handed him—on crumpled paper covered with drawings of smiling socks.
"Interesting phrasing," he said, looking up to see Kronk smiling, holding a mug of hot chocolate. "And all this happened because of a… sock with ears?"
"Yeah. It was my favorite, but I think it found a better home."
Dumbledore nodded gravely.
"And Lucius Malfoy suspected nothing?"
"Nothing. I don't even think he likes rabbits."
"How do you know that?"
"I gave him a sock before. He didn't like it."
"...I don't want to know more."
"Want one shaped like a hippo?"
"No, thank you."
"But you always say one can never have too many socks…" said Kronk, eyes wide with innocence.
Dumbledore was stunned. He hadn't seen that one coming.
How dare a student use his own words against him?
And worst of all... he's right!
"...they're not wool."