In this short span of time, Draco came to understand just how important the news was that the Werewolf leader, Fenrir Greyback, had joined the Dark Lord's camp. At the same time, he gained a much clearer understanding of how much the Dark Lord's forces had grown.
As for the reason...
Infection.
Secrecy.
Ordinary wizards had no easy way of identifying the Werewolves hidden among the crowd. Just like Lupin, who had once served as the Defence Against the Dark Arts professor, you would never discover their true identity unless you were already on guard.
And it was not only that their movements were hard to detect. If you were careless enough to be wounded by a Werewolf's bite, you would contract the terrifying curse the Ministry of Magic called lycanthropy.
No one knew whether Fenrir Greyback had been born that way or bitten by another Werewolf. All that was known for certain was that this curse known as lycanthropy could not be cured.
Wizards afflicted with it would lose their minds, transform under the full moon, and attack others without reason. It was nearly impossible to reverse, and the Wolfsbane Potion that could suppress it was by no means some simple brew anyone could make.
Simply put, with the help of the Werewolves, Voldemort's threat to the wizarding world had become truly terrifying, and the overall strength of his side had increased dramatically.
No wonder Fenrir Greyback's name had been specifically bolded and emphasized on the parchment.
In short, the cooperation between those two was absolutely not good news for any wizard...
...
Come to think of it, the intelligence in Draco's hands not only showed that the outside world was in utter chaos, it also indirectly revealed just how frightening Lucius's faction's information network really was.
There was no way to know whether the other factions possessed the same intelligence, but that still did nothing to diminish how formidable Lucius's side was at gathering information.
As for whether the source was reliable.
What Draco could guarantee was that, at least when it came to the analysis regarding the Giants, there was a ninety percent chance it was completely accurate...
Because Draco had long suspected as much.
"So it really was like that. It seems Hagrid's injuries, his conversation with Maxime, and that unknown giant in the Forbidden Forest are all closely tied to this matter."
After connecting all those clues, the final conclusion pointed faintly but unmistakably toward the contents written on the parchment in his hand.
Dumbledore wanted to unite the power of the Giants, and the bridge for that was Hagrid and Maxime, the two half giants...
"First, there was the conversation I overheard in the Three Broomsticks."
Draco recalled the scene he had witnessed in the pub.
At Hagrid's request, Maxime, who was also a half giant, had gone with him to the place where the Giants lived.
Then something must have happened there. Some sort of conflict, most likely, one that left Hagrid injured by an attack from the Giants. And because of that incident, Maxime had refused Hagrid's second invitation.
That was why the two of them had parted on bad terms back in the pub...
"So the unknown giant in the Forbidden Forest should be a member of the tribe Hagrid and the others visited?"
"So... the cause of the conflict was that they kidnapped a Giant? No... this is not the time to make enemies everywhere. Dumbledore would not fail to see that. So was it Hagrid acting on his own?"
Shaking his head, Draco stopped dwelling on it. He could not make sense of it, and in any case, while Giants were known as war machines on the battlefield, they were not what Draco feared most.
Compared with those dim witted Giants, what Draco cared about far more was that Werewolf leader...
Just as Draco was thinking, Narcissa's voice called out by his ear.
"Darling, is tonight's dinner not to your liking?"
"...No, I was just thinking."
Coming back to himself, Draco finally turned his attention to the food on the table.
But Narcissa was not the only one watching him with concern. There was also another gaze studying him, probing and unreadable, and its owner was Lucius, whom he had not seen properly in quite some time.
To be fair, aside from Draco's first day home, this was only the second time he had seen Lucius actually sit down and eat a meal properly with his family.
'Have things outside come to a temporary stop?'
That was Draco's guess as he picked up his knife and fork.
Lost in thought, he failed to notice that Lucius, seated opposite him, was looking over with a rather strange expression...
...
No talking while eating, no speaking while sleeping.
Lucius, who presented himself outside as the perfect aristocrat, did not seem to care quite so much about those rules when he was with his family.
Or perhaps, under Narcissa's influence, he had found it impossible to force the same strict standards onto his wife and child. Over time, Lucius had simply grown used to talking and conversing during meals.
Of course, that was only when no one else was present...
"Yesterday, Severus sent me a letter."
The sudden remark made Draco pause.
From that form of address alone, it was clear that his father's relationship with his godfather had not soured because of their different positions. If anything, they were still in contact in private.
Though Draco had no idea what his father's intention was in bringing it up, he still looked up at once. To his surprise, Lucius seemed to be looking directly at him.
In other words, those words had been meant for him.
But... what was his father trying to say?
Just as Draco was wondering that, Narcissa spoke up first in curiosity.
"Snape? What did he write to you about? Was it something about our Little Dragon at school?"
Cough.
Hearing that unusual nickname from his mother made Draco's expression turn rather awkward.
He really did love beautiful creatures like dragons, but that did not mean he could accept such an embarrassing pet name.
Fortunately, his mother would never call him that in front of other people. Otherwise, Draco truly had no idea how he would explain it, or what expression he would even make...
In any case.
At Narcissa's question, Lucius gave a solemn shake of the head. "Snape seems to have something he wants to say to Draco."
"To our Little Dragon?"
"..."
Ignoring those two words, Draco suddenly remembered what Snape had said to him before.
He had assumed it was just something Snape had said to interrupt his conversation with Harry Potter, but it now seemed that was not the case at all. Snape had meant it seriously.
As for whether he had also been trying to help Harry Potter out of an awkward situation at the time, only Snape himself would know.
Still.
A home visit?
It seemed this Head of Slytherin was serious...