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Draco welcomed Dudley and the others into Malfoy Manor and ordered Dobby to keep waiting at the gate. Ron and Neville still had to arrive.
They certainly would not be arriving by Apparition.
When Mr. Weasley first learned that Ron wanted to visit Malfoy Manor, the home of his old enemy Lucius, he had refused. For the first time in his life, Ron argued with his father over it.
During the second-year holiday, the entire Weasley family had gone to Egypt, causing Ron to fall far behind. He had become the lowest-ranked member of the group of six. This time, no matter what anyone said, he was going.
Besides, Arthur and Lucius having a grudge had nothing to do with Ron and Draco.
The adults could fight their fights.
The children could play their games.
There was no conflict.
Perhaps Arthur had spoken all night with Molly. Perhaps he had heard that Longbottom, Potter, and the others were also going. In the end, he agreed.
Almost at the same time, Neville and Ron arrived at the gate of Malfoy Manor.
When Lucius saw Mr. Weasley, his expression changed slightly despite having known about this in advance. In the end, he said nothing.
Mr. Weasley said nothing either.
What did the grudges of the previous generation have to do with the next?
They were all wizards.
British wizards.
Compared with Muggles, there were truly too few wizards.
Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire was slightly larger overall than Dudley's old castle in Godric's Hollow. Its style could be summed up as extremely gorgeous. After passing through the elaborate wrought-iron gate, one had the feeling of walking through mist.
Carefully designed gardens surrounded the manor, complete with fountains and white peacocks wandering freely.
Together with the luxurious mansion and lavish decorations, the whole place could be described with one word:
Expensive.
For the Malfoys, expensive was an attitude.
Expensive meant good.
Expensive meant excellent.
The Malfoys' reputation for wealth had not come from nowhere.
Even in decline, the Malfoys were still wealthier than most wizarding families could ever hope to be.
Many people said the Weasleys were poor because they had too many children. In truth, that statement was biased and could only be taken as a joke. If the Malfoys had twenty or thirty children, they could still maintain a noble and dignified life.
The only flaw was that Malfoy Manor only looked beautiful. Once someone invaded, it had almost no defensive strength.
As they followed Draco into the manor, Ron was somewhat stunned by the luxury inside. Gilded decorations were everywhere. The walls were filled with portraits of Malfoys from different eras. The stone floor tiles were covered by splendid carpets.
In Ron's home, such things were almost impossible to imagine.
A vase or a chair might cost the Weasley family a month of expenses, perhaps more.
Living in this sort of environment, it was no wonder Lucius had said what he had when he saw Hagrid's hut.
"You call this a house?"
Although the actual value of many things in Hagrid's hut was higher than the expensive furniture in Malfoy Manor. No one else would be extravagant enough to weave unicorn hair into a dog bed.
Compared with Malfoy Manor, the homes of ninety-nine point nine percent of wizards in the wizarding world barely counted as houses.
As Ron looked around, a strange sense of inferiority rose inside him.
On the surface, Ron often seemed careless, as if nothing bothered him. In truth, he was a sensitive child.
Draco noticed his change and deliberately said, "Hey, Robio. Are you jealous of me? These were passed down by the Malfoy ancestors. Not bad, right?"
Then he changed tactics and patted Ron on the shoulder.
"Follow Brother D, and we can earn everything we want through our own effort."
It sounded like bragging, but he was actually comforting Ron.
Sure enough, Ron immediately remembered the modest account he had opened at Gringotts and the number of Galleons inside.
Motivation returned to his heart.
"Who is jealous of you? I will have a big house sooner or later. And my name is Ron."
"Of course, Romeo."
Seeing Ron recover, Draco smiled.
"Duel me. This time I will show you how powerful my new deck is."
Hearing someone show so little self-awareness, Draco answered without backing down.
"It seems someone is ready to lose to me for the three hundred and first time."
While they played around, Draco led Ron and Neville to the rooms prepared for them.
Dudley had been placed in the first guest room. Hermione was next, then Harry, Neville, and Ron, in that order.
After putting away their luggage, they followed Dobby to the drawing room to meet Narcissa and Lucius as the hosts.
Although Lucius was not very willing to see Dudley, he still came. After a few brief greetings, their conversation was fairly pleasant. Of course, neither mentioned the Board of Governors incident.
Compared with Lucius's wariness of Dudley, Narcissa was more curious. She wondered what kind of person could have such charm that her son mentioned Brother D every three sentences, and why the younger Slytherins of the same year were the same.
After meeting him, however, aside from feeling that he was extremely sturdy, she found nothing especially unusual and soon lost interest.
That evening, someone knocked on the door of Lucius's study in Malfoy Manor.
Lucius looked in surprise at Dudley outside the door, unsure why he had come so late.
"Mr. Lucius, I have information I believe will interest you."
Dudley's gaze fell on Lucius's left arm and moved back and forth, his meaning clear.
"You have been feeling something there lately, haven't you?"
Perhaps it was an illusion, but the moment Dudley's gaze landed there, Lucius felt the mark on his left arm grow faintly warm.
Voldemort's followers were called Death Eaters. Each of them bore the Dark Mark on the left arm: a skull with a serpent protruding from its mouth like a tongue.
When Voldemort summoned them, the mark would burn.
Lucius had not felt that sensation for twelve years. He had thought that man was dead and that those matters had passed with time. Because of the Ministry's repeated surprise inspections for Dark objects, which had become unbearable, he had put the diary Voldemort had specially left behind into the hands of the Weasley girl nearly two years earlier.
It had been meant to frame the other side.
Everyone knew what happened afterward.
Lucius failed and lost his seat on the Board of Governors.
He had thought the matter ended there.
Recently, however, Lucius had faintly sensed something different from the mark.
'How does he know?'
Lucius shivered despite himself. Forgetting noble composure, he looked around quickly, then hurriedly said to Dudley, "Come in."
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