~~ Chapter Three: Something's wrong with Malfoy ~~
"This is a very serious situation, Mr. Malfoy," Albus Dumbledore said to Lucius Malfoy as the two of them walked on a stone path through one of Hogwarts' many gardens. Lucius had just finished telling Dumbledore what happened to him and how the Ministry of Magic was unable to help him. "Are you certain it was Vol… him?"
"There is no doubt in my mind," Lucius returned. "Only he would be powerful and ruthless enough to break into my house and kill everyone."
"What did you do?" asked Dumbledore.
In truth, Lucius didn't know he had done anything that might provoke Voldemort into doing what he did. "I'm not sure. He said that I am no longer capable of doing what was entrusted to me."
"You were a Death Eater once," Dumbledore said. "Perhaps he thinks you are unable to support him anymore."
"It's possible." Of course it was possible. It was even likely. Lucius was getting sick of Voldemort and his inability to succeed in his schemes. He had no desire to support someone like that, but he never said that out loud. Could Voldemort have perceived his doubts and turned against him?
Dumbledore continued. "But regardless of the why, the what still remains. I will speak to the other staff members. I cannot promise you anything at this point, but I assure you that I will vote in favor of keeping you and Draco here until we are sure the danger has passed."
Lucius was taken aback. He hadn't expected Dumbledore to be so… well, supportive. "Thank you," he said, surprised to hear himself speak those words.
Just then, something caught Lucius's ear. It was the sweet, gentle sound of someone humming. "Do you hear that?" he asked, straining his ears to hear more. The sound was almost intoxicating, and he felt something tugging at his heart.
Dumbledore listened for a moment. Lucius's hearing was much better than his, but soon enough, he heard it, too. "Yes, I do."
"Where is it coming from?" Lucius asked. The voice seemed to be coming from all directions at once, surrounding them, engulfing them in its soothing tones.
"That way, I think," Dumbledore said, motioning toward a ring of willow trees about thirty feet off the path.
Lucius stepped off the path and walked over to the trees. He hid himself behind the trunk of one, then peered into the clearing. A pool of clear water was the highlight of the glade, but there was something – no, make that someone else there, too. It was a woman, and he guessed the humming came from her. He watched her, enraptured by what he heard and saw. Anyone could see that the woman herself was beautiful. Golden brown hair hung down to her mid-back, and sparkling, honey-colored eyes peered out from beneath perfectly arched eyebrows the same color as her hair. She wore robes of navy accented with gold. Slender hands were clasped at her waist. What was even more beautiful than her appearance, though, was her voice. It could shame the ringing of the finest silver bells and make mountains bow at her feet. Even he was having trouble keeping composure as he fell under the spell of her song.
Dumbledore smiled to himself and joined his companion under the shade of the willow tree. "Who is she?" inquired Lucius.
"Her name is Alina Terringer," Dumbledore answered. "She's the world's foremost expert on Musical Enchantment. She's also the newest member of our staff. Joined us a week ago."
A week. That explained why he didn't see anyone like her when he came to see Draco at the beginning of his business trip two weeks ago. "Terringer…" Lucius said thoughtfully. "I don't think I've heard of that family before."
Dumbledore almost didn't want to tell Lucius the truth about her, but he figured he might as well find out now. "I'm not surprised. Her parents are Muggles."
Lucius stopped breathing. Slowly, he turned his head away from Alina until he was looking Dumbledore in the eyes. "What?"
"Not so loud!" Dumbledore said, but it was too late. Alina heard them, and her humming stopped. She looked in their direction and, since the willow tree's trunk was too small to conceal both of them, saw her two observers.
"Hello?" she said.
"Come on," Dumbledore grumbled, and stepped out from behind the tree. He walked over to Alina. Lucius was close behind. "Professor Terringer!" he said. "Fancy meeting you here."
She looked relieved when she recognized Dumbledore. "It's you, sir," she said. Then, she saw Lucius. "Who is this?"
"Forgive me for not introducing you," Dumbledore said. "Lucius, this is Alina Terringer, Professor of Musical Enchantment. Alina, allow me to present Mr. Lucius Malfoy."
"Malfoy," Alina repeated, narrowing her eyes at Lucius. "You must be Draco's father."
Lucius didn't like the way she spoke to him. Her voice had an unmistakable undertone of irritation to it. "How could you tell?" he asked dryly.
"You have the same eyes," she answered. "The same cold, steely, aristocratic eyes."
If Lucius's cold, steely, aristocratic eyes had been daggers, Alina would be dead. Dumbledore spotted the look and put his hand on Lucius's arm, causing the other man to break his gaze with the Musical Enchantment professor. "Draco is one of her problem students," he explained in a low whisper.
The whisper wasn't low enough, and Alina heard him. "I hope he listens to you," she said. "He certainly doesn't listen to me, or anyone else, for that matter."
"That may change in light of what I came here to tell him," Lucius said.
A smug smile crossed Alina's face. "I knew it."
"You knew what?" Lucius asked. He was reaching the end of his patience with this woman.
"Oh, nothing. Just the confirmation of my opinions on 'well-bred' purebloods. You arrogant aristocrats are all the same." She tossed her head. Her hair shimmered like spun gold. "You only listen to each other."
"And you Muggle-borns are all the same," he retorted. "Whining half-wits who could never fully appreciate magic. If you'll excuse me, please." Without another word, he turned around and walked back toward the main building of Hogwarts.
"What a charming man," Alina said sarcastically as soon as Lucius was out of earshot. "He is most definitely Draco's father."
"Give him a chance," Dumbledore said. "It's possible, although highly unlikely, that he's not all bad."
Alina folded her arms across her chest. "Is it? I don't think so. Malfoy's reputation precedes him. They're all the same."
Dumbledore said nothing. It was true that the Malfoy family was one of the most evil he'd ever met, but for some reason, he had a feeling that this time, Lucius was to be trusted. He and Draco were the only ones left of their bloodline. Dumbledore respected the fact that Lucius wanted to protect his son, even if it was just for the sake of passing on the family name. If Draco was killed, Lucius could easily find another pureblood witch to marry and produce an heir from. It was too early to tell, but maybe Malfoy was changing.
"They might be all the same," Dumbledore said, "but we don't know everything about them."
"Something's wrong with Malfoy," Harry Potter said to Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley after classes that day.
"Something's always wrong with Malfoy," Hermione replied. "This shouldn't surprise you."
"No, something's really wrong with Malfoy," Harry said. "I haven't seen him in hours. His father's here and everything." The three Hogwarts student spotted their old friend Hagrid, the groundskeeper, passing by, and waved him down. "Hagrid!" Harry shouted, running over to the half-giant. "Hagrid, do you know what happened to Malfoy?"
"Maybe he got expelled and his father's here to pick him up," Ron offered, then started laughing. Hermione, too, couldn't help giggling a little bit. Harry felt a grin playing at his mouth, but managed to suppress it. He was concerned about the situation, and wouldn't be able to laugh about it until they knew for sure what it was.
"You shouldn't be laughing, young Weasley," Hagrid said. Ron immediately shut up. "I spoke with Headmaster Dumbledore not half an hour ago. That Malfoy, he's had terrible things befallin' him in the last few days."
"What happened?" asked Harry.
Hagrid's large head gave a sad shake. "It's terrible, kids. Shouldn't have happened to anyone, not even a Malfoy."
"Hagrid," Hermione said, "what happened?"
"They're dead," Hagrid answered. "His entire family. Slaughtered by You-know-who just days ago. Draco and Lucius are the only ones left… but I shouldn't have told you that."