Draco was nervous, but he did not look like it. He hasn't seen his father all the holidays. As fast they arrived home, he disappeared. At Christmas, he knew that Parkinson was going to measure the Suzuki family, and since then, they have not contacted back. The only information they told us is that they are busy due to some new business.
Today Narcissa Malfoy, Draco's mother, told him that his father had a request for him and needed to go to his office. He does not know what he wants to talk about, but he has an idea.
Before arriving at Hogwarts, his father asked him to befriend Harry Potter. No reasons were given, but Draco thought it was more for prestige. He is the Boy-Who-Live after all, and if the boy becomes friends with him it will help to clear their name.
Lucious Malfoy, Draco's father, declared that he was under the Imperious curse, and said that the war did nothing but problems to the economy of the Malfoy vaults. Which in a way was correct, since they were the richest family that supported the Dark Lord's cause, and a fortune was wasted on it.
Draco kept thinking about all of this until he arrived at the door of his father office. Suddenly he remembers a smile and a certain bushy-haired girl. His father told him that, when the time comes, he will have to marry a pure-blood girl, but he should not be against him befriending a half-blood. Servers Snape is a family friend, and he is a half-blood.
He patted the pocket inside his coat. After finally relaxing, Draco stood straight and knocked on the door and from inside a voice sounded saying, "Come in".
Draco opened the door and entered the room. His father was behind a desk signing some papers. Draco stood still at the door, and his father just looked at him from the position he was in. Lucious only shook his head slightly, and with his head, he pointed him to take sit in front of him.
Draco walked and took sit, and his father put the quill in his hand in its place. Lucious look at the eyes of Draco. "I hope you already know why you are here", Lucious said while leaning in the chair.
"I have an idea, father. Is it about my friendship with Harry Suzuki?" Draco wanted to please his father but did not realize he committed a mistake right away.
"Suzuki?" the Malfoy's patriarch looked at his son with a stern look. He looked irritated at the last name. "If my research is correct, that is the last name of the blood traitors. Now our community has International blood traitors."
The young Malfoy was uncomfortable, and when his father realized, he only sighed, "Yes, Draco is about him. The kid was born from blood traitors and he ended up with others that are the same. But tell me, is he redeemable?"
"I think so. He despite the Weasley's, except for their older one, Percy." Lucious snorted at the information, "hard not to despise them. But why do you think Percy is the exception?"
The young Slytherin remembered a small talk with Harry, "A Weasley with real aspiration, cunning enough to talk with the right person. If it weren't for your family, you might have ended up in Slytherin. His stand for blood status is debatable. It may say that he is against it only to appeal to the right people."
Lucious looked closely while his son was giving his answer. He may have not thought that information, but the information seemed valid. He has heard that the boy has tried to talk with people in the ministry every time he goes with his dad.
"Very well, but now, let's go back to our main point. Harry Potter," said Lucious and Malfoy nodded. "Well, from the beginning, he made a pact with me to prevent any problem with Professor Snape. And he was able to associate himself with the houses of the sacred forty-eight, and befriend upper classmates..."
"Stop", the older Malfoy was getting desperate for his son explanation. "I did not ask you if he is a good Slytherin, I am asking you if he can be redeemed".
Draco trembled a little. Lucious looked at his son scared expression and shook his head. Maybe his son did not understand the reason for all of this.
"Draco, do you know why I asked you to befriend him?" asked Lucious. The young Slytherin said, "To boost our prestige, and cover up our family past as followers of You-Know-Who."
"The Dark Lord, Draco. And not, that is not the reason", disappointed in the short sight of his son, the head of the Malfoy family shook his head and asked, "Remember why he is famous?"
"Because he survived the killing curse?" answered Draco somehow nervous.
"Correct. The only one who has survived the curse. Do you know how much magic is needed to can accomplish it? And not only that. The prophecy said that the boy was marked as the Dark Lord equal. Do you understand what it means?" asked Lucious to his son, which eyes were wide open.
"Tha-That he ca-can be the ne-next Dark Lord?" said shakingly Draco, and his father nodded to him.
Lucious stood up and started to walk inside the office. "Now, please think. Does he look like someone that wants to be gathered by powerful people? A person who wants to be looked up to? And especially, is he afraid of using the dark arts?"
The young Malfoy thought for a moment and answered, "I don't think he is against the dark arts. He and his family follow a tradition to worship dead".
At the statement, Lucious froze up. "The kid was dark, but not only the kid, the whole family? But they are blood traitors," thought the head of the Malfoy family while seating again in his chair behind the desk. After a few moments, a smirk drew on Lucious face.
Draco saw his father waving his hand, asking him to leave the office. But when he was standing up, her mother entered the office.
"Did you finish already?" asked Narcissa to both, but only Draco answered with a nod. "And did you discuss his selection of friends?" asked the matriarch of the family.
The young Slytherin frowned in confusion, but the question made Lucious wake up from his thoughts. "Correct. I was going to ask about some information we received from the parents of other students," said Lucious, and Draco narrowed the culprits to Pansy Parkinson or Daphne Greengrass.
"They told me that you befriend a Mud-blood", and the stern face of Draco's father was over him. Narcissa crossed her arms while looking at his son, but Draco was not intimidated. He has proved that she is not a Mud-blood. He felt bad for Hermione for being mistaken as one.
"If you are referring to the Gryffindor girl, she is…" said Draco, but was interrupted by his mother when she screamed, "a Gryffindor?"
"She is a half-blood," completed the young Malfoy. Incredulous his mother said, "Oh, really?"
The Malfoy head asked for any proof, and Draco took the Family Tree test and gave it to his father. His father took the paper and read it with a stern look, and while he was reading it Draco said, "Her family head is in Canada."
Narcissa was curious when her husband was looking in detail at the paper, and when she was near, he passed the document to her so she could see it. "So, she is related to William Granger", said Lucious and Draco explained. "It seems that Suzuki family made a marriage pact, but it seems that she does not like it. Only for the principals of her individuality."
Lucious nodded and said, "Very well, you can befriend her. But I do not want her parents, squib or not, in our home. Is that clear?" Draco only nodded and left the office.
.
Hagrid was walking with his dog Fang at his right. At his back were Professor Dumbledore and Severus Snape. It was the middle of the day, and they could see with no problem, but the January cold was strong. None of them wanted to be there, but they needed to investigate the scene that Hagrid found.
Hagrid stopped when they were in front of a space where the snow never touched. Thanks to a simple spell that Hagrid could do, the place remained without snow, but the animals and people were still able to pass throw it.
Hagrid, could not cast the proper spell due to his status in the ministry, but this kind of spell has helped him do his job, and Dumbledore has always backed him up about the usage.
In the space where the Half-Giant led the teachers, were the remaining traces of the unicorn's blood. Close to the blood traces were five black holes, that looked as if something was burned there, and in the middle of the five holes was the only place where the grass and some flowers grew as it was spring.
"Here its, Professors. An odd place I found. Not only plans ove ther but the hols around it", said Hagrid, and the professor attention was divided. Professor Snape went to the black holes in the ground, and Dumbledore went where the traces of the unicorn's blood was.
"Hagrid, can you tell me, what happened to the unicorn to which the blood belongs?" asked the headmaster.
"Don know, sir. Unicorns hav been attacked, but I hav not found this unicorn", said Hagrid and Dumbledore nodded while stroking his bear. "But no only the unicorns were missin. Two Centaurs disappear too", added Hagrid, and the Headmaster started to think. The potion teacher also heard what the keeper of keys said, and his eyes were wide open.
Dumbledore looked to a point in black. The area looked burned, but nothing else showed up. Albus resolved to take his wand and waved around the burned mark to check if a spell was used, but nothing showed up.
Before making the tracing charm to locate where the unicorn was taken, the Headmaster stood up and walked to the black-robed professor.
"What were you able to find?" asked Dumbledore to the potion teacher. Snape frowned, "two different spells, but nothing that I have ever seen, the spells looked foreign to me. But what I was able to find was that those are two spells are incompatible to each other, and still, they are together."
The headmaster looked at the area and waved his wand over the place to reveal the spells. But the information he saw was incompressible to him. Dumbledor looked at the scene again looked odd to him.
"Ar the blac hols dark magic?" asked the half-giant. "Correct, Hagrid. They were made with dark magic," said Snape.
"Well, it looks like the dark spells ar protecting the life inside," said Hagrid with a smile. Snape agreed with the half-giant but did not show any sign of it, maybe a slight smile that was removed as soon as it was drawn.
Dumbledore chuckled at the idea. "If the Dark magic could do that. It won't be Dark Magic, would it?" said the headmaster. Hagrid felt ashamed for what he said and answered, "Oh, righ, righ."
Snape looked that the headmaster was going to make the location spell and walked to the edge of the scene, and Hagrid did the same. Dumbledore waved his wand, and a small light showed up in front of them, but to their surprise, the light only drew a small line of 2 meters.
"What was the meaning of this?" was the question in the face of the three. Dumbledore cast the spell again, and the same result happened.
"Firs the troll, now this", said Hagrid. Dumbledore has to admit that the problems are getting bigger. He knew that there was a breach in Hogwarts security when the Troll entered, and the worst was that the Troll was strong enough to break the magically reinforced wall. Harry was lucky to be alive.
The headmaster nodded and then said goodbye to Hagrid and started to walk towards the castle. While he was walking, with Snape at his side, Dumbledore started to think.
He could not afford to lose him, he is needed to complete the prophecy, and maybe, he could become his successor. Dumbledore admitted that his life has been long, and he knows that sooner or later he will perish. But the wizarding world still needs him. for that reason, he needed to find a successor before that happened.
Dumbledore thought that due to the magical ability of Tom Riddle, he was the correct person to become the new guardian of the wizarding world, but now he regrets that decision. This time he will be more cautious around Harry.
The headmaster knows that it's difficult to become Harry's mentor and more when his family is magical. He should have investigated the family a little more, and not let himself believe that they were simple muggles.
Dumbledore wanted to use his advantage of knowing his birth parents and used the school's warnings to lure him to some troubles. Maybe his mother curiosity will take him to the mirror, or the mischievous personality of his father. But it did not happen.
"Without the threat of professor Quirrell, there is no reason to host the sorcerer stone anymore", said Snape to Dumbledor while they were walking to the castle. The headmaster only nodded and said, "I will send an owl to him. In the meantime, let the things as they are. We need to rest for the rest of the holidays."
.
Harry and Pandora Actor entered a room that was opened by one maid. The room is where the floor guardians talked about their reports about their missions with Albedo and Demiurge. The room was highly decorated with the finest furniture.
Once Harry and Pandora Actor entered, they bowed profoundly to Demiurge and Albedo who were sitting on a red couch. Albedo waved her hand to ask them to sit in front of them. Harry and Pandora Actor walked together and sat in front of them with elegancy, although Pandora Actor made his movements more exaggerated.
"First, let me congratulate you, Harry. For not only your scholar achievements in Hogwarts, but also for the information you are gathering for us", said Albedo, but Harry bowed. "Thank you but I should apologize. I feel that I have given nothing of importance".
"On the contrary. Not only did you help us by giving us information about the overview of the wizarding world in Great Britain, but you were also able to help us obtain live specimens to experiment with."
"May I ask a question?" said Harry, and Demiurge nodded. "Were you able to get more information about wands?"
"We are still experimenting on them. An idea came from Aura and Mare to help you. They wanted to go to your school using the wands produced by us. But due to the nature of their admission system, that won't be possible", Harry nodded. Demiurge proceeded, "But we should be able to get more details, it seems that they are completely different from the wands we already have."
Albedo smiled at Harry and ask him, "What can you tell us about the item inside the castle that is highly guarded?"
"By the information that the elemental monsters have told me, the security is pathetic, but judging by the students' level, it makes sense. And if we think that the spirit that possessed the teacher wanted, it should be strong enough to give him a body for its own, or at least gave him life again", answered Harry, but he frowned in the last part of the explanation.
Albedo, with her warm smile, asked him to share his thoughts. Harry nodded, "the wizarding world is against resurrection as it is considered taboo, dark, and malign. Why the headmaster, who is considered the protector what is good, saving this artefact?"
Albedo felt proud that Harry is becoming better. He was chosen by Momonga-sama, it was only natural that he will be of good use.
Harry was thinking and continued, "Unless, he already knew that the professor was possessed, and was luring him there. Knowing that he will need it, he will enter the school, so I can be close and he can attack me to get its vengeance. He would attack me in a place controlled by Dumbledore. He will look like my savour and…"
Demiurge and Albedo looked at each other and smiled. Harry was going to scream in anger, but he saw the face of Demiurge and Albedo. "You want me to fall in his trap?" asked Harry while calming himself.
Demiurge adjusted his glasses and said, "We will need you to take the items and keep recollecting specimens and items that can be of help in our investigations. And if you can go with his little plan, it may also help us. But do not forget about your other priorities".
Harry bowed, "It will be done".
Demiurge smiled widely, "Great! Now, for your mission that you will be doing next week before you go back to your school to study. You will go back to retrieve the Item. Please take Shalltear and Mare with you".
Harry bowed and said, "It will be done. I will talk to them regarding the 'obstacles'". Albedo and Demiurge nodded at him, and he left the room. Harry, in his mind, was glad that they did not ask him to work with Aura and Shalltear at the same time. He loves them, but he does not stand their silly fights.
