Re-align?
How to align!
Are we to openly and directly join the forces resisting the Dark Lord?!
Not to mention whether Dumbledore would shelter my family.
When the Dark Lord returns, he will probably personally remove the House of Malfoy.
For the House of Malfoy, this choice has always had only one option: to continue following the Dark Lord.
Thinking of this, Lucius reached out to wipe the sweat from his forehead, then loosened his collar, disregarding etiquette.
"Sebastian, thank you for your kind offer, but the House of Malfoy has no other choice."
Lucius took a deep breath and said calmly, "Even if the Dark Lord no longer trusts me, he still needs me."
"After all, most of the old pure-blood families now look to the House of Malfoy as their leader."
"He needs the reputation of the House of Malfoy, he needs the foundation of the House of Malfoy, and he needs the Galleons of the House of Malfoy even more."
"So, we can still cooperate as before, providing convenience for each other in our respective camps. Isn't that better?"
Hearing this, Sebastian extended a finger and waved it gently.
"Unfortunately, that method is outdated and not applicable to your current situation."
"How is that possible..." Lucius opened his mouth, about to refute something, but Sebastian interrupted him.
"Don't rush, senior," Sebastian chuckled softly, "I'll share another secret with you."
"The secret of the Dark Lord's immortality."
The secret of the Dark Lord's immortality?
What does this have to do with my situation?!
Lucius was curious and patiently listened to Sebastian.
"The reason the Dark Lord didn't die and became a disembodied wraith, neither human nor ghost, is because he refined a Dark Arts artifact for himself—a Horcrux."
"As an old pure-blood family, senior, I think you should have enough family heritage to understand what a Horcrux is and what its drawbacks are."
Upon hearing the word Horcrux, Lucius suddenly understood.
The family records indeed mentioned Horcruxes, and explicitly forbade descendants from creating them.
Such an evil artifact could indeed ensure that a person would not be killed.
However, did someone actually create such a thing?
One must know that the prerequisite for creating a Horcrux is to split one's soul.
Once the soul is split, that person is no longer whole, or rather, no longer themselves.
No wonder the Dark Lord's appearance became bizarre and his temper became incredibly volatile, completely different from his former wise and powerful self.
It turned out that the Horcrux was to blame.
But what does this have to do with the House of Malfoy?
As Lucius was puzzled, a sentence from Sebastian made him feel as if he had fallen into an ice cellar.
"Senior, do you remember an old, black leather notebook, the one with Tom Riddle's name on it?"
Could it be?
That notebook is...
Lucius dared not think further.
His face turned deathly pale again, and he trembled like a sieve.
"Sebastian, your... meaning is..."
"It's not what I think, is it?"
"Unfortunately," Sebastian directly shattered Lucius's last illusion, "that notebook is the Dark Lord's Horcrux."
At these words, Lucius felt all his strength drain away and he slumped onto the sofa.
He had actually put the Dark Lord's immortal artifact into a little girl's cauldron.
And then let the other party take it into Hogwarts.
Suddenly, his eyes lit up, and he jumped up, rushed to Sebastian's side, grabbed his hand tightly, and asked,
"Sebastian, since you've seen that notebook, that means you know where it is, right?"
At this moment, Lucius threw all decorum and etiquette aside, pleading bitterly,
"As long as you help me get that notebook back, I'll agree to any condition you have."
"It's too late, senior," Sebastian said with a face full of regret, "How do you think I discovered the notebook was a Horcrux?"
"That notebook controlled a student, then opened the Chamber of Secrets, and released the Basilisk."
Basilisk?!
Lucius jolted.
The matter of the Basilisk and the Chamber of Secrets had been broadcast in the news for several days.
He had even lamented that Sebastian had gotten incredibly lucky, leading a group of students to solve a thousand-year-old mystery.
Now it seemed, everything was related to the notebook.
"Then... what about that notebook?" Lucius stammered.
"Do you think Dumbledore wouldn't pay attention to such a big thing happening at school?"
Sebastian curled his lips: "After catching the Basilisk, we followed the trail and found that notebook without alarming any students."
"It was from Dumbledore that I learned that notebook was the Dark Lord's Horcrux."
"As for the notebook, it was naturally destroyed."
Hearing this answer, Lucius went limp, stumbling back onto his sofa.
"There's one more thing you need to know, it's about Draco," Sebastian said slowly.
Lucius's heart tightened, and he looked up at Sebastian: "Go on, I can take it."
"Senior, Draco unknowingly offended the Dark Lord during his first year."
How could that be?
How could Draco offend the Dark Lord?
Looking at Lucius's disbelieving eyes, Sebastian explained.
"Do you remember me saying that the Dark Lord infiltrated Hogwarts to steal the Philosopher's Stone?"
"As a remnant soul, the Dark Lord didn't have the ability to directly steal the Philosopher's Stone, so he possessed someone else and controlled that person to steal the Philosopher's Stone."
"Draco and a few friends discovered the sneaking thief."
"Then, a few righteous little guys tried to stop the thief."
Sebastian said, avoiding the crucial points: "As for the result, I can only tell you that the Dark Lord failed."
"You tell me, isn't this indirectly offending the Dark Lord?"
"Of course," Sebastian changed the subject, "the Dark Lord might not remember Draco, but who can say for sure about such things."
Hearing Sebastian's words, Lucius's heart was like dead ash, and he sat there with empty eyes, unable to utter a word.
It's over!
The House of Malfoy is completely finished.
He and Draco, father and son, had thoroughly offended the Dark Lord, and with the Dark Lord's narrow-mindedness, he would never let the two of them off the hook.
"Senior," Sebastian said gently, "you said something very true just now, the House of Malfoy has no other choice."
"What do you think?"
Lucius moved his lips, and said with a desolate voice,
"What can I do, turn to Dumbledore?"
"Will he trust me, will he shelter the House of Malfoy?"
"Unfortunately, I don't trust him either. In the last Wizarding War, he couldn't even protect his own Order of the Phoenix. His methods are too weak."
"If he had been tougher, directly taken over the Ministry of Magic, and used the power of the entire Wizarding World to fight the Dark Lord, the outcome might have been different last time."
"Senior," Sebastian stood up, walked to Lucius's side, and looked down at him, "You've fallen into a misconception."
"No one said to make you side with Dumbledore."
"For the House of Malfoy, there is someone who is a better choice than Dumbledore."
"That's me!"
...