Lucius returned pretty late to their tent. Hermione was already in bed. He put the duiker under a stasis-charm before joining her. Walking by Narcissa's and Draco's rooms, he paused. He still had the shrunken case with his share of the gold and diamonds in his robes. It would be better if Hermione didn't know about that.
Not wanting her to stumble upon it, that might raise questions, his eyes jumped back and forth between Narcissa's and Draco's door. Hermione wasn't overly noisy, but still curious. He wondered which room she was less likely to enter.
Opening that door to his son's room, he immediately spotted his briefs lying on the floor. The House Elves must have forgotten about them when packing. Now he was sure that this room was a good hiding place. No one would willingly enter a teenage boy's room, Draco's underwear should be more than enough of a deterrent.
Still half asleep, Hermione walked down the stairs. She stopped in front of the long table and inhaled sharply. There was the dead body of a big animal lying on her table. It still had it's fur and looked otherwise pretty complete.
Lucius looked at her with a raised brow.
"I take it, your hunting trip was successful." Hermione tried her best not to lose her temper. She knew it would be ridiculous as she was hardly a vegetarian and had done quite a bit of hunting herself. But that was on the run, and there was a dead animal on her table and she had not been prepared for that. "What is your plan with this?"
"This is some sort of duiker, or so I was told. We will skin it and then grill it over the open fire. I am certain it will make for a great meal."
Hermione took a deep breath. "You'll skin it."
She watched him handle the knife and pull the fir of the creature. Hermione flinched as he tugged on the skin more forcefully, but it was in an odd way also fascinating to watch.
"Is any of your elves familiar with he tanning process?" Lucius held the skin with an outstretched arm away from his body.
"You want to keep it?" she asked with a raised brow.
"The hide is too good to be wasted."
"Mottainai." Hermione scratched her head. "But put it under a charm. I don't want anything rotting in our tent.
He handed her the knife and stepped away from the duiker. Now it was up to her to leave the animal. She slowly reached out and touched the body. It was cold and moist, and awkward feeling.
Hermione couldn't understand it. How was Lucius capable of handling a dead animal without doing as little as batting an eye. Technically, she had done something similar to that before, but she had never gotten her hand on something bigger than a rabbit. And it had been much easier starving to death.
"Are there proper cuts for duikers like for beef or pork?"
"How would I know? We could ask Desta for help."
Hermione grumbled. "I guess, I could just follow the muscles and cut where it wants to fall apart naturally."
Once she had gotten somewhat used to the sensation, Hermione found cleaving up the duiker rather interesting. She learned so much about anatomy doing it.
They brought the meat over to Desta's tent. She took it upon herself to place it over the fire she had prepared.
"Are you going to do something with the Japanese delegation?" Hermione asked as they walked back to their tent. She secretly hoped that he would be busy the entire day negotiation something and she could study as much as she wanted.
"No, I am not. I was thinking we could attend the Abraxan Winged Horse Show this afternoon."
"What kind of event is this Horse Show?" Hermione tried her best to not sound annoyed. Somehow she had assumed that Lucius would have more responsibilities and she could bury her nose in textbooks.
"The Abraxan Winged Horse Show is the event were families and breeders gather to show off the Abraxans. There are also competitions held and bets placed. It is a great occasion to socialize."
She rolled her eyes. "For the likes of you."
"What is bothering you?"
"Nothing, it's just that I thought you would spend more time with the Japanese. I thought you took Monsieur Fukiu's place, yet you look more like a tag-along then a full replacement for him."
Lucius chuckled. "You are right. I deliberately make myself scarce. Aianhaundo is rumored to be one of the Seven Samurai. Fukui is careful not to draw any unnecessary attention and I think it is wise to follow his example. Afterall we are going to be in Japan for another year."
"I heard of the Seven Samurai. Aren't they some kind of religion with exactly seven monks or so?"
Lucius took a deep breath. "Yes, they are like a cult in many ways. National traditionalists, extremely conservative, with significant support in the general population."
"Are they-," Hermione stopped. "Are they like Death Eater?" she almost whispered.
"No," Lucius said. "The Seven Samurai have a very strict ideology they uphold to. To this day, they absolutely reject wands or foreign herbs even if it would cost their lives."
"So they are extreme. Are they dangerous?"
"Not really, Unlike Death Eater the Seven Samurai abide by their own rules which earns them a lot of respect but also prevents them from actually doing something."
Hermione spent the rest of the morning studying. Knowing that she once again had to deal with extremists dampened her mood. Although this time her nationality seemed to be the problem rather than her blood-status, probably because there were no muggleborns in Japan according to official numbers.
Would this nonsense never end? Lucius had said that the Seven Samurai didn't pose a risk, but that didn't make her feel any better. The ideology was still horrid.
Hermione got dressed but before she could leave, Lucius put a huge hat on her head.
"Why?"
"People would stare at you."
Hermione had never been to an event where people would even notice that someone wasn't wearing a hat let alone where it was necessary. Snobs.
The black hat looked a lot like the one Professor McGonagall was earing, but the brim was much wider and Hermione could hide her face completely behind it. It actually felt quite nice to wear and she could get used to it. Looking a bit like her former Head of House did a lot for her.
Next to the arena, there was a big round tent. A goblin guarded the entrance, scrutinizing them before he let them inside. For a moment Hermione had been worried that Lucius would lose his tamper, knowing how difficult goblins can be, but he wasn't Ron and they were able to enter the tent without a scene.
It was much cooler inside. Hermione was struck about the sheer size of the tent. It was gigantic inside, at least as big as the arena. She had perfect, soft, green grass beneath her feet. The ceiling looked like the blue sky, similar to Hogwart's Great Hall. A big golden hoop was dangling in the center of the heigh tent.
It wasn't crowded. The few people who were present spread out nicely. Wizards of all sized and colors tended to their Abraxans. Hermione had never seen so many horses, and those giant ones were hard to miss.
An international committee of witches and wizards that even included a goblin walked though the rows where the Abraxans were tied to there posts. They walked form Abraxan to Abraxan taking measurements and notes onto their clipboards.
Hermione failed to understand what the fuss was all about. They were nothing but oversized horses with wings.
"What exactly is going on here?" She wasn't convinced that she liked that event.
"The jury is going around to evaluate the appearance of the Abraxans. Then there is a round of polo played, meanwhile the jury evaluates the Abraxans. And bets are placed before the racing begins," Lucius explained.
"So basically all the normal things snobs do," she noted. "Is that why there are so few people here?"
He chuckled. "The official reason is that you need to own at least one Abraxan to enter."
So rich wizards and witches found there own creative ways to keep poor people out. How many people could even afford to have a giant horse? And why horses? Sportscars, she could understand, they didn't make a mess as they collect dust standing uselessly in the garage, but horses need to be fed and stuff.
"Do you have Abraxans as well?"
"My grandmother breeds them. I can not say that I adore them. I always found Thestrals far more interesting, but Draco might continue the line or his wife."
He walked her through the tent by all the Abraxans. "See that one over there?" Lucius pointed at a white Abraxan with en endlessly long mane. "I would bet this is one of the ones my grandmothers'."
Hermione stopped in front of it. The Abraxan did indeed look very Malfoy and very arrogant, even for a horse.
The owner of the Abraxan started a conversation with Lucius, not paying much attention to Hermione.
"Silver is not getting younger, tell Katharina, I'm interested in acquiring a foal.
"What hinders you from talking to her directly?" Lucius asked.
"I've not seen her at the show this year."
"My grandmother is not a young witch anymore."
"Everything alright?" Hermione asked as they walked away from the that Abraxan.
"Apparently, my grandmother has failed to make it to this year's Abraxan Winged Horse Show," he said dryly.
"And that's a problem?"
"Why would someone not do something they have always done? And this the year of the war?"
"Maybe, she isn't well. I mean, your grandmother can't be young," Hermione trailed off. "Is that Madame Maxime?"
The giantess was surrounded by Abraxans.
"Hercules, the biggest one has repeatedly scored well in the contest," Lucius explained.
"You know an awful lot about horses."
"Unfortunately."
Wizarding polo was an interesting spot. There were a number of balls, similar to buldgers, just less dangerous, flying through the tent. The players were seated on Abraxans with bats that looked similar to the ones used for lacrosse. The goal was to shoot as many balls as possible through the big hoop in the middle.
Lucius and Hermione sat down in with cloth-covered chairs in the pavilion. She hoped that the white structure out od delicately woven iron could actually withstand the force of those balls and was not merely there for decoration.
He didn't have a hard time finding someone to have a conversation with. Annoyed Hermione stood up to organize something to drink. Walking by a couple of older witches, she saw them clot together even more closely from the corner of her eyes.
They immediately started gossiping. The ladies didn't even attempt to be discreet about it and didn't care that she was able to hear them.
"She's here with the infamous Lucius Malfoy."
"I've heard he tortured, raped, and murdered a few dozen people. His wife ran away from him."
"Poor girl, I've seen dozens of her. Family impoverished, father drinking away the money, and now she has to sell her body until he gets bored of her and throws her away."
Hermione took a deep breath. Don't listen to them, they don't deserve your attention, she told herself. She had to get used to that, people talked especially those who didn't have to work for a living.
She grabbed two glasses of lemonade and returned to her chair. Lucius was still talking to the Mexican broom manufacturer. Biting her tongue, she handed him the glass. It turned out that one of the lovely ladies was the manufacture's wife, hilarious.
Madame Maxime smiled proudly as she accepted the golden rosette. It perfectly matched the fur of her Abraxan and so did Silver's who came in second. Hermione couldn't see the difference winged horse that came in 3rd and Hercules, the winner of the beauty contest, but then she also couldn't see the point in having them at all.
They were handed the line-up for the upcoming races. Lucius brushed over the plan, making notes as to where he was going to place his bets.
"I don't get it, statistically only the goblins win. Isn't this whole betting just a money drain?"
"I always win," Lucius said stubbornly.
"That's impossible."
"Maybe, I have the gift of seeing."
Hermione rolled her eyes. "You don't believe in divination and that nonsense?"
"Where are you going to place your bet?"
"Wait." Hermione took her time calculation the win margins. Once she was finished she sat a couple of Galleons on Zorro crossing the finishing line before Buster in the 3rd race.
Lucius looked at her with a raised brow. "I have heard that you left your divination class rather dramatically."
"Trelawney was doing nothing but talking nonsense."
"Is that so? I always found Dumbledore's hiring practices lacking. Try to see divination more like educated guessing rather than predicting the future."
"But there are books and procedures to follow," Hermione protested.
"They have to use something as a guide to assign marks to the student fairly."
She looked at him through narrowed eyes. "Do you actually have a NEWT in divination?"
"No, I dropped it after the OWLs. Archiving an Outstanding would have been close to impossible and I did not want to risk my perfect score."
Hermione huffed. That man was impossible.
They watched the Abraxans race, jumping and flying through burning hoops. Having placed a bet with actual money, made it almost interesting. Hermione could barely keep her eyes open the first two races, but now she almost didn't dare to breathe.
Transfixed, she watched hoping that Zorro wouldn't be passed by Buster. The Abraxan was so close to crossing the finishing line and then it stopped. She was furious. Hermione was short of jumping up and carrying the giant horse over the line herself. Powerless she had to watch Buster cross the line first.
Never again. She was done with horseracing and betting. But Lucius had actually won a few bets. Not all of them, as he had wanted to make her believe, but also more than just one. He argued with the goblin for ages until it finally handed her husband the money.
Leaving the tent, she found that the sun had set in the meantime. Silently they walked towards their tent. Loud buzzing noises were coming from the stadium and little fires were burning in front of a few tents.
Desta and her clan were sitting around the fire. The duiker was still being roasted. Aiko and her mother had joined them. Sitting down, Hermione did the math. Lucius had made bets worth 35 Galleons in total and he won 57 and 3 knuckles. That made a profit of more than 22 Galleons or 63%. She tried not to think too hard about it, he had just gotten lucky.
Desta handed them a plate with meat and they ate. The duiker was a little dry but not bad at all.
