New chapter! Thanks for all the support!
x
Malfoy Manor.
The Malfoy family had just finished a beautiful breakfast. They wiped the corners of their mouths gently with napkins, always maintaining the most elegant and perfect appearance. That was the most basic quality of nobility.
Not far from the three of them, a phone snail was leisurely chewing strawberries on the dining table.
"Burp."
After eating an entire plate of strawberries, the phone snail gave a satisfied belch and found a comfortable spot in the strawberry basket to sprawl lazily.
The three at the table clearly heard it.
Narcissa looked at the phone snail with some disgust.
Both Lucius and Narcissa had opinions about the strange thing their son had brought home.
Its large eyes protruded like feelers. Its patterns were gaudy. Its whole body was covered in sticky slime. It clearly was not some precious magical creature.
Keeping such a strange thing at home would embarrass the Malfoy family if word got out.
Because Draco had brought it back and clearly valued it, Narcissa had not thrown it away.
She comforted herself by treating it as a lowly pet. Once Draco grew tired of it, he would abandon it himself, and she would not even need to act.
Suddenly, the phone snail, which had been sleeping in the basket, shot upright. Its eyes seemed to lose focus as it stared blankly.
Just as Narcissa and Lucius wondered whether it had eaten something wrong, its toothy mouth actually spoke.
"You have a call, Mr. Draco."
"You have a call, Mr. Draco. Please answer as soon as possible."
Lucius froze.
Narcissa nearly choked.
Draco, however, walked over unhurriedly and naturally picked up the receiver.
"Hello, this is Draco."
The moment Draco heard Dudley's voice, his face lit up.
Narcissa looked puzzled.
Draco seemed to be speaking with someone?
Lucius knew more than the average wizard because he had briefly interacted with the Queen and members of the British royal family.
Draco's current behavior looked very much like using a Muggle communication machine.
Telephone, perhaps.
But that thing seemed to have a wire connected to it. Without the wire, it could not communicate. It was also not a bug.
Lucius's understanding of telephones stopped at knowing they existed. Out of disdain for Muggle objects, he had never used one.
While Lucius was thinking, Draco finished the call.
After hanging up, he still had a smile on his face.
"Draco, what is that?" Lucius asked after receiving Narcissa's signal with her eyes.
His gaze remained fixed on the basket where the phone snail lay. After the call ended, it returned to its lazy, listless state and sprawled there again.
"Nothing, Father. Only an ordinary phone snail."
Draco's tone was casual, as if he were describing something completely normal.
"A Muggle object?" Lucius asked.
"No. Brother D made it. It is similar to a Muggle telephone, but not the same thing."
Draco explained again, "It is not for sale. It is encrypted. For now, it can only contact Brother D and the others."
"It can carry conversations?"
"Yes."
Lucius nodded and did not ask further.
He knew that even if he continued asking, Draco might not tell him.
"Father, Mother, Brother D and the others will arrive at our manor the morning after next."
Draco briefly explained the contents of the call.
"The Malfoy family will receive them with the highest standards of etiquette."
"The manor is large, and there are enough rooms. If you need anything else, tell Dobby. He will prepare everything for you."
"But I hope you remember that you are the master of Malfoy Manor."
Lucius did not believe his own words as he said them.
Three years at Hogwarts had changed Draco greatly.
More accurately, it was not only Draco. Parkinson, Crabbe, Goyle, and the other young Slytherins of this year had all changed greatly.
Without exception, they were all admirers of the man called Dursley.
They followed his lead.
As far as Lucius knew, several Slytherin children would rather break with their families than stop following him.
Fortunately, Dursley's methods were extraordinary. Although he was still only a lower-year student at Hogwarts, he could arrange Ministry positions.
Even Lucius found that difficult to accomplish.
Playing Minister Fudge in the palm of his hand as if the man had been placed under the Imperius Curse and blindly obeyed his arrangements...
Fudge's recent moves against several high-ranking Ministry officials were the best proof.
That was terrifying.
Pure-blood wizarding families all knew what Dudley had done, but none would say it openly, much less provoke him.
No one could say whether he might become another one of those people.
If you could not defeat him, join him. That was what pure-blood wizards were best at. Aside from certain stubborn old families who still clung to their status and resisted, everyone else envied the Carrow family's accurate early investment beyond words.
In all honesty, Lucius had not felt it before, but now, when dealing with Dudley, he sometimes felt the illusion of facing that person again.
Especially since he had already suffered at Dudley's hands.
He had tried to remove Dumbledore, failed, and been kicked off the Board of Governors.
Compared with Lucius, Narcissa's thinking was much simpler.
Dursley benefited Draco.
Dursley made Draco better.
That was enough.
In some ways, the current Draco was already better than her husband.
For a mother, that was enough.
Early the morning after next, space twisted with several sharp cracks, and Dudley, Harry, and Hermione appeared punctually at the gate of Malfoy Manor.
"Apparition."
Sharp-eyed Narcissa recognized the magic immediately.
She was not good at combat, but she was still an adult witch who had passed her O.W.L.s and N.E.W.T.s with excellent results. Naturally, she recognized Apparition.
It was not magic young wizards were legally allowed to use. In Britain, one normally had to be seventeen and pass the Department of Magical Transportation's Apparition Test before Apparating without breaking the law.
It was essentially the wizarding world's version of teleportation.
The magic itself was not as rare as a corporeal Patronus, but using it safely required focus, precision, and control. Otherwise, a wizard risked Splinching and leaving part of the body behind.
Most trained adult wizards could Apparate, but few could do it calmly under pressure. That was what made the sight of three underage students arriving this way so absurd.
Pipilu and Luxixi had taught them the magic. The three learned quickly and could already use it normally.
"Brother D, you secretly studied behind our backs again," Draco complained.
They had only been apart for two or three weeks, yet the gap in spell level had widened so much.
No.
He had to study harder.
During the holiday after Hogwarts third year, they were learning magic normally taught only to sixth- and seventh-years.
The competition was absurd.
x
x
x
If you're enjoying the story so far, consider supporting me on Patreon ❤️
You'll get weekly early access to chapters, along with some exclusive content:
https://www.patreon.com/cw/TheDevotedReader