- They beat us!
Lucius was angry. He asked:
"What about your wands? There were four of you, and three of them. Didn't anyone think of using magic?"
"Dad, we just didn't make it in time... Those bastards... They moved so fast we couldn't keep up. They snatched our wands and beat us up like they were Muggles!"
"Dracokins," Narcissa, in a fit of emotion, hugged her son and pressed him to herself, "how is this possible? Didn't the teachers punish them?"
"Not for that," Draco sobbed. "They beat us so badly it hurt, but there wasn't a single mark left. We couldn't even prove there was a fight. And then..."
The boy became violently hysterical. He began smearing tears across his cheeks. His mother tried to calm him down.
Lucius Malfoy clenched his fists in rage. He hissed angrily:
"And this is my son? You're crying like a girl! You picked a fight and then you dared to lose... Draco, you're a disgrace to our family name!"
- Well, d-d-d-d...
"What, 'Well, Dad?'" Lucius looked at the child with a haughty gaze. "This summer, you'll be training. I'll hire the best wizarding duelists so you can challenge your opponent to a magical duel and defeat them, rather than lose shamefully to Muggle punches."
"But..." Draco drawled, wiping tears from his cheeks. "Those three are so brazen! Ron, Harry, and Richie... They stole my owl and performed cruel experiments on it. And then they set the owl on me, and it shat all over me. So much so that I had to throw away my cloak."
"Was that before or after the fight?" Lucius asked dryly.
- After.
"Mmm... I see," the man said.
"Lucius, they're hurting our son!" Narcissa declared. "Do something."
"Okay, I'll try..." Lucius let out a heavy sigh. "But Potter and Rich will be difficult to get close to... Especially the latter. If the boy is capable of spending seven years worth of our income on utter nonsense..."
"Dad, but he's a Mudblood!" Draco exclaimed.
"Um..." A crooked smile crept across Lucius's face, trying to hide his embarrassment. "Draco, I hope you're smart enough not to talk about this in public."
- But why?
"Son, you see," Lucius closed his eyes for a moment, collecting his thoughts, "Rich may be a Mudblood, but he's incredibly rich and an Earl and the heir to a Duke. Plus, he has a ton of British wizards working for him. So he could confidently claim to be, at the very least, a half-blood, and everyone would believe him. And anyone who doubts it could, at the very least, be cursed. I'm afraid after so many curses, it'll be impossible for us to revive you."
***
Lucius Malfoy sat in a wicker rattan chair, drinking Ogden's whiskey relentlessly. The view from the carved gazebo in the garden was anything but pleasing to the Baron. He was irritated by the bushes and trees, and irritated by the white peacocks of which he was so proud. Lucius was irritated by absolutely everything.
Narcissa Malfoy approached her husband. With a heavy sigh, she asked:
- Are you drinking?
- I'm drinking.
"Darling, don't be upset. Well, you couldn't win that race for the minister's seat, you'll try again."
"It won't work," Lucius shook his head from side to side. "No, Narcy, can you imagine, Bagnold got a whopping eighty-three out of one hundred and thirty-seven percent of the votes!"
"Is that even possible?!" Narcissa's eyebrows shot up in surprise.
"Imagine, it turns out that yes," Lucius frowned, his skin a pale gray. "One hundred thirty-seven percent of those who voted!!! And you know what I managed to find out?"
- What then?
"It's all that boy, Rich!" Lucius said, his voice as sharp as if he were spitting. "First, Fudge suddenly fell ill with an incurable disease. I learned from Fudge himself that he had previously tried to arrest Rich, and now Fudge is no longer Minister, and the boy is free."
"Lucius, but could a child really do something like that?" Narcissa asked in surprise.
"That's not a child," Lucius hissed angrily. "Oh, no... That's the devil incarnate! Moreover, I've learned from wizarding acquaintances that this, as you call it, "child" managed to push through a law in the International Confederation of Wizards relaxing the Statute of Secrecy. If only you knew the sums involved..."
"About which ones?" Narcissa showed serious curiosity.
- By rough estimates, this brat spent no less than three million Galleons to pass the necessary law!
Narcissa Malfoy began to resemble an antique monument erected by a garden designer. Her skin was pale as marble, motionless, with an expression of overwhelming amazement on her face. She even forgot to breathe. Only when the air became insufficient did she open her mouth and gasp for the precious oxygen.
- HOW MANY?!
"THREE FUCKING MILLION!" the husband exclaimed loudly. "It took my ancestors four hundred years of saving every knut to accumulate such a fortune, and this..." the man began to choke with indignation. "This..."
Lucius slumped in his chair as if all the air had been let out of him at once.
"No, dear," he shook his head. "No, I won't become Minister with a rival like that. And if I do... I'd better not. Fudge's example has made it clear to anyone with any brains that they shouldn't cross that little badger. I don't want you to lose your husband, or Draco his father."
"Oh!" Narcissa's chest heaved with excitement. "Merlin Almighty! If this boy really is so dangerous, maybe there's some way to put him in his place?"
"Yes," Lucius said, looking very sad as he answered. "But I learned from an Auror I know that if we lay a finger on that little bastard, the entire wizarding community would be better off digging our own graves. Merlin, if we can just drop everything and flee to another country. Rich is like a giant pile of toxic manure, covered in a crust. As long as you leave it alone, it doesn't stink, but once you chip away at the crust, the toxic fumes will reach everyone around."
"But, Lucius, something must be done. This bastard hurt our son!"
"I'm thinking about it..." Lucius drawled slowly. "I'm thinking... I have an idea. We can't touch Rich himself, but we can easily undermine him through his closest allies."
"Closest allies?" Narcissus looked questioningly at her husband.
"Weasley!" Lucius spat contemptuously. "Those red-haired, vile Weasleys! I will definitely have my revenge!"
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