[HP] End of Death

A wizard or two nodded at Harry as they passed, and a few, including Ms. Burns, said to Mr. Weasley, "Good morning, Arthur." But most looked away.

Fudge and a toad-toad-like witch were almost the last to leave the courtroom, but he only saw Harry and Mr. Weasley as part of the air.Last to pass was Percy, who, like the Minister, completely ignored his father and Harry.Holding a large roll of parchment and a large handful of spare quills, he straightened his back and strode over with his head held high.

"I want to send you back directly, and you can tell everyone the good news." Mr. Weasley said, and when Percy's back disappeared on the stairs leading to the ninth floor, he motioned for Harry to move forward , "I have to go to work, and take you back by the way. Let's go..."

They were chatting all the way up, and when they reached the corridor on the ninth floor, Mr. Weasley suddenly stopped talking. Harry followed his gaze, and Cornelius Fudge was standing just a few steps away from them. Talking to a tall man a few steps away.The man had long, shiny blond hair, fair cheeks, and a sharp chin.

Hearing their footsteps, the man turned his face. He seemed to have stopped before he finished speaking, his light gray eyes narrowed deeply, staring firmly at Harry's.

"Yes, yes, yes... Patronus Potter!" Lucius Malfoy said coldly.

Suddenly Harry felt breathless.The last time he had seen those cold gray eyes, they had been concealed under the narrow slit of the Death Eater's hood; the last time he had heard the mocking voice, it had been in the jeers of that gloomy cemetery, and Voldemort was torturing him then.

He couldn't imagine that Lucius would dare to appear in front of him, and after he had witnessed his true face with his own eyes, he still swaggered and talked with Fudge as if nothing had happened.

And those gray eyes and cold voice seemed so much like someone else, someone he would never forget, which made his chest swell, anger and pain stuck in his throat and unable to vent.

But to Harry's surprise, Lucius also looked quite angry - even hateful, and he didn't know where his emotions were coming from.

"Mr. Minister just told me about your narrow escape, Potter," the hateful eyes quickly disappeared, as if it was just Harry's illusion, and Lucius resumed his usual posturing, "It's amazing, You can keep coming out of very narrow holes... Seriously, like a snake."

Mr. Weasley held Harry tightly by the shoulder, warning him not to act rashly.

"Yeah," Harry said, looking at him, "Yeah, I'm pretty good at getting away."

Lucius Malfoy's icy gaze moved to Mr. Weasley's face.

"And Arthur Weasley. What are you doing here, Arthur?"

"I work here," Mr. Weasley replied grimly.

"Surely not here?" Lucius said, raising his eyebrows, and glanced at the door behind Mr. Weasley, "I think you seem to be on the second floor... Your job involves Stealing Muggle items into your home and then enchanting them?"

"No," said Mr. Weasley firmly, his fingers already digging deep into Harry's shoulders.

"And you, what are you doing here?" Harry asked suddenly.

"I don't think you need to intervene in some private matters between myself and the minister, Potter." Lucius strode towards him as he spoke, and Harry heard a faint sound as he walked. In a tinkling voice, it seemed that his pockets were full of gold, "Honestly, just because you are Dumbledore's favorite, you can't expect the rest of us to indulge in what you do..."

He walked up to Harry, and Mr. Weasley stared at him warily, looking as though he was about to draw his wand.Lucius ignored him, but slowly lowered his head, with long golden hair hanging on the side of his face, his voice was tense and low: "Stay away from my son, Potter."

Harry froze for a moment, straightening his body.

Lucius didn't say anything more, turned around and walked towards Fudge with big strides: "Okay, Mr. Minister, shall we go to your office now?"

"Of course." Fudge said and walked forward with him, "This way, Lucius."

They chatted in low tones and quickly disappeared around the corner.Mr. Weasley finally let go of Harry's shoulders, and Harry moved his arms a little more easily.

"...What is he doing down here?" Harry concealed, he wondered if Mr. Weasley had heard Lucius' words, his hands were still shaking, "If they want to talk about things together, Why isn't he waiting outside Fudge's office?"

"The way I see it, he's trying to sneak into the courtroom." Mr. Weasley looked very distraught, he kept turning his head to see if anyone was overhearing, "to find out if you've been expelled after all. I When sending you back, leave a message for Dumbledore, he should know what Malfoy was talking to Fudge again."

"What's the matter between them?"

"Gold, I suppose," said Mr. Weasley furiously. "Over the years Malfoy has been generous to all sorts of people...so that he can make friends with powerful people...and then To ask for special favors... to delay laws he doesn't want to pass... Oh, Lucius Malfoy, he's got a lot of energy and a lot of power."

Harry was silent for a moment, forcing himself to ignore all superfluous thoughts.

"Mr. Weasley, if Fudge hangs out with Death Eaters like...Malfoy, how do we know if he's under the Imperius Curse?"

"Don't think we haven't thought of it, Harry. But Dumbledore thinks that Mr. Fudge is doing what he wants for the moment—but, in Dumbledore's words, that's not much comfort. Better not talk about it, Harry."

Harry knew what he meant.Now the Ministry of Magic was unanimous in disbelief in his claims that Voldemort had returned, which just happened to give Voldemort and his Death Eaters a golden opportunity to achieve their goal.Sirius and they had told Harry that Voldemort was currently looking for a powerful weapon, and they didn't know what this weapon was.

Speaking of Sirius, Harry remembered that when he was helping to clean the ancestral home of Black at No. 12 Grimmauld Place, he had seen a tapestry hanging on the wall. It was very old and dim in color, but The gold thread embroidered on it still gleamed, and they could clearly see a family tree dating back to the Middle Ages.

Harry looked at the tapestry carefully at the time, and Sirius' name wasn't on it—his mother burned his name into a scorched hole when he ran away from home when he was 16.

He saw a double strand of gold connecting Narcissa Black and Lucius Malfoy, and then a single vertical strand of gold connecting their names to Draco's.

At that moment, his heart trembled suddenly, and his breathing was a little short.

"You are related to the Malfoy family!"

"Pure-blood families are related to each other," said Sirius. "If you only want your children to marry pure-bloods, you have very limited options. There are only a few of us left." Not much. Mollie and I are cousins ​​by marriage, and Arthur is probably all my great-uncle's great-grandson. But it's no use looking for them on this—if any family is a bunch of filthy Blood scum, that must be the Weasleys."

Harry stared at the golden name in silence for a while, he seemed to have found a kind of credential, but it was not what he wanted - it only made him feel farther and farther away from that person, they The distance between them is not just a tapestry, but the walls that have been built since birth.

He sighed.How close they were before, how far away they are now.