Master Xander

Chapter 27

The next day

An hour previously, Narcissa Malfoy received the latest letter from her son, Draco. The Hogwarts owl bringing the letter, took the offered snack and flew off. Draco's mother lost interest in the animal as soon as it performed its duty.

She did, however, looked forward to reading her son's latest letter concerning his classes and life at school. The woman secretly confessed each letter being more interesting than the last from her son. Yet, this one shocked her to the point that she found herself rereading it twice more, before she told her husband about it.

Naturally, Narcissa was interested in the latest developments concerning the Tournament. The ball was coming up and her son demanded a new set of dress robes for the dance. She didn't blame him and, in fact, agreed with the request. The heir apparently represented the family and had to look his best. There were a couple of girls in Slytherin who had caught his interest. He was thinking of asking one of them to the ball. Again, she was pleased that he trusted her enough to tell her about his intentions, especially at his age. The Malfoy's had several marriage contracts prepared for that eventuality, but he was allowed to have a little fun before his duties forced him into the role of family heir.

His mother couldn't help but notice the changes in her son this year. The changes were subtle, but n noticeable by his mother and by some miracle, he had asked his mother on more than one occasion for advice about the young women peaking his interests.

Without a second's thought, she first advised caution. The two girls in question were more interested in his status rather than in him and, although this was to be expected, the families of those young women were pushing a little too hard. At his tender age, she didn't want him hurt, and she was also determined to be the counterweight to his father's sometimes crude advice. A potential dance invitation wasn't a marriage proposal.\ and there were already a few contracts that he could choose from when he was older (with her and his father's consent). But he could enjoy himself now. Family responsibilities would come later.

To her distaste, her husband found the letters amusing, but mostly uninteresting. He barely glanced at the portions that had nothing to do with Dumbledore of the tournament. His quiet but growing public displays were becoming more disturbing. Purebred wizards and witches were slowly becoming more prejudiced against half-blood and muggle-b0rn witches, and she wasn't convinced if this was in their best interest, not anymore. His motives were suspect. He was a Death Earth, and his secret antics disturbed her and was a harbinger of things to come.

Her husband never told her what was really going on, but her doubts began with her son's recent letters. Lucius Malfoy didn't have an inkling of what was happening in the muggle studies/history classes, which she found very interesting herself. That he didn't even seem concerned about their son's other interests disgusted her. He didn't even respond to the letters unless it had something to do with Dumbledore, or the Potter child. It was well known he hated the child, especially because the boy was responsible for him losing his servant elf, Dobby. But after that initial incident, he never retaliated against the boy and that worried Narcissa for a variety of reasons. That wasn't his pattern when it came to someone besting him in such a public manner. He was playing a long game, and she wasn't privy to it.

Furthermore, he started acting strange, more isolated. He seemed excited and also worried. He dismissed her when she inquired what was disturbing him and didn't share anything with her. But Narcissa suspected and felt trapped. And Lucius's action was going to put her son in danger.

He-who-must-not-be-named was somehow involved and her husband, no matter how much he tried to hide it, was afraid, as was she. He wouldn't listen to her, and she didn't try to dissuade him. If the Dark Lord were alive, then was nothing she could do that wouldn't endanger herself and the life of her son. She had no doubt that Lucius would sacrifice her and her son to the Dark Lord if he had to. Sometimes a loveless marriage was more dangerous than disease. She had to do something to protect her son from but outside and internal threats. Narcissa was determined to worry about that in the future. For the moment, Draco's letter enraptured her.

This muggle moving story, a movie, complete with sound, was the muggle version of a wizarding newsletter but more lifelike. Her son's description hinted that his amazement and captivation of the story itself. It sounded similar to the magical pictures, was muggle-based and shouldn't be possible for them to create such things. Nevertheless. Her son's description of the movie couldn't be denied. which Draco insisted looked superior, although he seemed loathed to admit it.

Her son had written a much longer letter than usual, and for once, it didn't detail much about his rival, Harry Potter. It did detail his muggle studies teachers, Celine Delane, and Alexander Harris, both Americans. He had a slight crush on the female professor, which made her both smile and frown. He shouldn't have any interest in any American as far as Narcissa was concerned, even if she was of age. The woman was socially unacceptable by her standards.

Her precious colonial heritage forbade any real interests. One never knew if they were purebloods or some hideous muggle-born, witch, or wizard. They didn't care about such things, and that in and of itself demonstrated how crude they were. But boys would be boys. She would deal with it if it became a problem.

But what other lessons were the professors teaching in their classes that so captivated and irritated her so? Muggles were something to be dismissed, like distasteful, not-quite-real people. She compared them to things that you scrounged from one's shoes. However, according to her son, those people might be more interesting than she believed.

Professor Burbage was an acceptable instructor in muggle studies, if a little stiff, however Dumbledore shifted her to the new ancient history of magic classes recently set up. Her son hated that class and Narcissa understood why. That history was lacking. She recalled her muggle classes at Hogwarts. They were useless, and utterly boring, an absolute waste of her time. And she wasn't alone. Every other student felt the same way, including the muggle-born. Nonetheless, she wished these professors were around during her time. She most likely would have slept less in class.

The Americans were different, obviously not boring. They used muggle devices, called tablets, and computers, and things that didn't use magic to work. But used something called electricikey (the name her son used) or controlled bottled lightning. And the things those machines could do made her believe that he was stretching the truth more than a little. The stories he wrote about, the giants ants and grasshopper invasions, almost fifty years ago. Ants, two and three times the size of people, which had to be wiped out by a muggle defense force? Grasshoppers were so strong that the American army couldn't stop them when they attacked a large American city. Plus, there was a wealth of information, magical information encased in the muggle devices, which stunned him. There were dozens of magical incidents and items that she had no idea existed. And muggles knew about them, and she didn't. It was ludicrous, and of course, she initially dismissed it, as had Lucius.

It was absurd. Even if half the stories were true, then why didn't the wizarding community know about it? If those ants, and her son believed they were real, existed, then how could muggles stop them? Magical creatures were superior to mere muggles. But her son insisted they weren't magical and that muggle potions mistakenly created them in the first place as n her son clarified. Those muggle-derived and would have taken over the world if they hadn't been stopped. He wrote about that plant thing from another world that needed human blood, to grow an army, also stopped by the Americans at the artic circle. Her son suggested that the Statute of Secrecy, just as it protected the magical world from being known by Muggles, it also prevented the wizarding world from finding out critical information about muggles.

This disturbed her and made both her and her son think. Muggles, or no-mages, as he was starting to call them, much to her disapproval, "didn't know about wizards, but the law also blocked us from knowing about them." Both sides were being blocked, and he expressed doubts about not being in the know. It was another American slang she disapproved of. His doubt worried her, and this latest letter crystalized her concern. Muggles knew about magic and, more importantly, they knew of magical history unknown to the magical world. But the Americans knew, and so did muggles. It was appalling from both points of view.

Lucius hadn't reacted the way Narcissa thought he would. Instead, her husband practically dismissed his letters as American colonial foolishness which his wife recognized the attitude for what it was. He was worried about the tournament and what Dumbledore was doing to make sure everything went smoothly. This, in turn, meant that he might do something stupid if things went wrong, and he couldn't afford to worry about his son's meaningless classes. That worried her a lot more.

"The American wizards would have stopped it, my wife. If it were true, they were the ones who stopped the ants, not the muggles. They aren't capable of such feats," He dismissed. "They wiped the memories of the muggle filth and kept it secret from the Ministry. Embarrassment, you understand." He then promptly forgot about it.

"But what if it were true?" his wife insisted.

"We have dragons. They have ants. What more is there to say? The situation was handled, and the memories erased for all concerned. The statute is maintained," he growled.

Narcissa rolled her eyes. "If it were a problem, wouldn't the Ministry? Wouldn't they have notified someone?"

Her husband barely acknowledged her concern. "If true, then this happened decades ago, according to our son's letter."

"My dear, we are not privy to everything that the Ministry knows. Fudge is as incompetent as we all know, but he does keep matters of national importance. He's worried about his position and anything that might hurt his standing. He kept secret. He wouldn't bring to light anything that happened more than forty years ago unless it was in his political interests to do so. But enough, what does he say about Dumbledore?"

"Not much. The headmaster is focused on the tournament."

"Obviously," he sneered, but his wife knew his fake disdain when she saw it. "Merlin forbids if something happens to one of the contestants."

"I don't know how Potter did it."

"I am sure it will be all for the best." Those words shocked his wife. He hated the boy. "Who knows? Perhaps he will be injured. He barely contains his smirk. The boy cost him his servant, Dobby.

"Modern muggle history. Americans should not be allowed to teach in Hogwarts. After the tournament is over, I will correct this travesty."

The professors are having another movie night this Friday and I am curious. Draco didn't invite us, both directly, but perhaps we should go and evaluate this American couple and observe for ourselves exactly what is being taught:

The look of contempt on his face was magnificent. "If you wish, you may go, my dear. I have no interests in subjecting myself to that form of torture. I always hated Muggle studies and I have no wish to be reminded of my most hated class at Hogwarts."

"I think I shall make my presence known," she suggested. "It may well prove an interesting distraction. I will meet them as I have no intentions of going to that shop of theirs."

Her husband laughed at her. "I see you've heard the rumors as well."

"Minister Fudge and his wife love going to the muggle-like establishment. They've been there several times."

Now that perked his interest. "Really?"

"The gossip is true," the woman smiled graciously. "But it is not mere gossip. Several well-known members of Wizarding society have visited the store on several occasions. The word is that it is very exotic. And everyone knows about Fudge's wife and her, shall we say, tastes for French perfume and a few other things that I won't utter in our home."

"And Professors Harris and Delane have time to run their establishment and still teach?"

Malfoy was on the board at Hogwarts, and he didn't have a problem approving the two for the professorships at the school. Muggle studies and history were always a low priority, and the classes certainly had a small budget, which in no way required any more money than the previous professors required. Now, he began thinking about Dumbledore's reasons. The old goat was always planning and scheming., and he never did anything without having some convoluted reason. It was the reason the Dark Lord considered him a worthy adversary.

Lucius sat down for the first time and considered why the headmaster chose the Americans at this time. He knew the tri-wizard tournament would take place at Hogwarts. They might be there to provide some sort of distraction, or they were at Hogwarts, to provide support.

"according to Severus," he continued, "both of them seemed to be lesser wizards. He considered hem somewhat competent. High praise coming from him. Harris rarely used his wand. He also has a mouth on him. Severus' always in a foul mood and Harris is quick to retaliate." Lucius huffed, "Severus can be annoying, but at least he knows how to respond to his betters. Harris lacks this quality. It's being expected. As for the Delane woman, he didn't say much about her, except to acknowledge that she was acceptable. And that was high praise coming from the potions master. His assessment of the two of them was that they were uncivilized, but they weren't threats or servants of the headmaster. Lucius wasn't so sure. As for the circumstances. "Maybe Harris has more influence than I assumed, though I find it unlikely for a foreign store merchant to be pulled into his confidence.

His musings continued for a few moments. "Do as you wish, wife," he told her as he got up and walked off.

He had other things to occupy his mind. He resolved to look into the American's activities. Yes, his wife's presence Narcissa watched him go. As a dutiful wife, she would do as he said, but she had her own reasons for going as well. The visit would give her some respite from the oppressive ramblings of her husband's constant ranting about the Dark Lord and the fear that surrounded them all.