Bride of the HP Dragon

It took the whole school 10 minutes to assemble in the Great Hall, thanks to the efficiency of the prefects and professors who were constantly running around warning.The occasional drill over the past two years, at the request of the Minister for Magic, has enabled students to be fully prepared in the event of an emergency.

"Combat drills," was how Arthur Weasley described it, although Molly objected, as she found the name more intimidating than the actual practice it was.

The enchanted ceiling reflected mild fear, not to mention the pouring rain outside.It was raining so hard and fast that it seemed like a thousand house-elves were dancing on the roofs.People had to roar to be heard, and the ones who roared most were the deans of the colleges.

Except for Professor Snape who hadn't arrived yet, the other three deans were busy checking the students against the list to make sure that no one was forgotten in the bathroom or in the closed classroom.

Blaise Zabini, acting as Slytherin, looked rather annoyed as he yelled the names of his fellow students.A few minutes later, Snape suddenly appeared in the Great Hall, his black robes sweeping imposingly behind him, his face darker than ever.Black eyes quickly found Draco's golden head among the students, and across the hall, Harry noticed the head of Slytherin lifting his head slightly; and this almost imperceptible movement attracted Getting Draco's attention, Draco shrugged and ignored Pansy Parkinson's nagging questions and walked straight to the professor.

"What do you think happened to Malfoy?" Ron whispered to Harry.Professor McGonagall had just confirmed the names of the two of them, and was now shouting, "Is Xavier Catherine here?"

"If Lucius can manage to escape from home confinement, then I guess the Ministry of Magic will think Draco knows something." Harry bet that even he was a little surprised at how calm his voice sounded.His palms were wet and cold, and it wasn't every day someone was unlucky enough to see the Dark Mark at such close range.Twice in three years is enough, and Harry Potter should thank God for his kindness.

Ron squinted at Malfoy: "He looks like he swallowed a pint of castor oil..." (Note: This thing can be used for laxatives, which means that Ron thinks the young master's face is constipated...)

"How can you say that?" Seamus looked at Malfoy and asked, "Isn't he always so pale?"

"Oh, it hits the nail on the head." (Note: Gryffindor's poisonous tongue thinks that the young master is constipated all the year round...)

Hermione was trying to squeeze her way out of a group of first-year Ravenclaws, who were trying to hear what Professor Flitwick was saying, and Lupine followed closely behind her.

"Ron," she gestured towards him, "Dumbledore and your father want to see us!" She had to roar to be heard amidst the roar of the Great Hall.

Ron asked in surprise, "My dad is already here?"

Harry threw his schoolbag to Seamus: "Very well, I'm going too."

"You stay here," Lupine stopped him, and it seemed that there was no room for negotiation: "You two, take the lead to Dumbledore's office," he told Ron and Hermione: "You are waiting for the audience there, I would also like to inform Professor Snape that Millicent has also been asked to meet."

"If Dumbledore needs a witness, and I have seen the Dark Mark, I can go too." Harry insisted.

"You should stay here, it's none of your business at the moment, Harry."

Given Harry's exasperation at being left out, it was clearly misspoken, and he caught the loophole in Lupine's words right away.

"Of course it's about me! Don't you realize? I've been left out of everything about Voldemort, I've had enough of it since fifth grade. What are you still doing here? If we're going to find a way to defeat Voldemort, then What else are we doing here?"

"I'm here to take care of you, Harry," Lupine said, his amber eyes sweeping across the students, "to take care of all of you."

Harry resisted expressionlessly, and Hermione noticed that this expression of submission had been on Harry's face with disturbing frequency since that year.

"Huh? Look after me? Are you sure? Even Snape acted more useful than you when that happened at the end of fifth year. Everyone knows why you agreed to come to Hogwarts this year, and it was because there was no People are willing to touch the position and you can't find a job anywhere!"

"Harry!" Hermione yelled, shocked by his indiscretion.Beside her, Ron gaped.Snape and McGonagall had stopped talking, and then looked at both sides of the quarrel.Harry belatedly realized that the noise in the auditorium was only a few faint coughs, and even the bad weather outside seemed to have stopped.

All eyes were on Harry and Lupine.

"This is not the time or place to talk about this," Hermione said to Harry dissatisfied: "Come on, Ron, we should go."

Lupine nodded, as if Hermione's words were meant for him too, but his expression was pained: "We'll talk later. You stay in the Great Hall, or you'll take thirty points from Gryffindor. I'm not kidding , Harry." It was the first time they had heard Lupine approach matters in such a grim tone.

With that, Lupine left to find Snape.

After a while, Ginny walked up to Seamus and Harry.The three looked at each other in an uneasy silence, Snape negotiated quickly with Lupine, and then led Draco and the pale Millicent out of the auditorium.

"Can anyone tell me what the hell happened? We were in Charms class when Ernie Macmillan came running in, yelling that Lucius Malfoy attacked Draco in the Forbidden Forest, Ginny held her breath: "Because Ernie said it, I thought it was fake..."

Harry didn't answer, but pushed open the door of the Great Hall, and disappeared behind the door, frowning.

Seamus held Harry's schoolbag and gave Ginny a painful look. Then he sat heavily on the Gryffindor table and sighed a long time.

Snape hadn't given Draco any information, and Draco hadn't tried to test him.As Snape had often told Draco, there were only three places at Hogwarts where it was safe to talk.One is Dumbledore's office, one is Snape's private office, and the last one is the Room of Requirement.

The Potions Master waited with Draco at the entrance to Dumbledore's office on the second floor, where Hermione, Ron, and Millicent were already being questioned.

Draco found the school corridors eerily empty in broad daylight, and after seven years at Hogwarts he was used to seeing students walking from classroom to classroom, with whispers and slow footsteps in the corridors Voice.The movement of the great hall in the distance came through the ancient walls of the castle, and it sounded like the stones were awakened, whispering with interest in recent events.

Filch passed them once, looking for any students left alone on the lower levels of the castle.He nodded at Snape and sneered at Draco, but to be fair, it was hard to say whether it was a sneer or not, because Filch actually had a sour face all year round.

The prejudice against him by the Hogwarts administrators was nothing new, and Draco was used to people being unkind to him.As he always told Crabbe and Goyle, he couldn't damn well control what people thought of him, but at least he could get away from the crowd and do what he liked.There were perks to being a prefect - like a private room and solitary confinement for snotty students, if the way they looked at him offended him.

At this moment, the suspicion and loathing Draco had endured since Lucius' conviction had only made him realize immediately how dangerous he was in the wake of what had happened in fifth year.He has no reputation to maintain. For him, what is more important now is how to protect himself under the notoriety.

He felt very bad, belatedly reacting to his previous experience in the Forbidden Forest, no matter whether he fought or fled, it was of no avail in the end, leaving only some bitter and cold aftertaste of fear.

Draco glanced at his Headmaster, Snape was still scowl but calm.Nothing out of the ordinary, Draco was sure, and only if Snape lost his composure too would the end of the world really be upon us.

But Draco knew he was still scared, and the appearance of the Dark Mark was no small matter.In the past, the Mark had only been used to call an assembly; to cause disquiet, or to announce that Voldemort had recently sanctioned some heinous act.Generally speaking the message contains the following: Anonymous Death Eater Woods is here, relax the fuck.

But recently, the Dark Mark is always activated during the attack, as if it was a symbol of mystery and terror before, but now it will be released immediately before every action, and has become a mediocre Death Eater advertise.

Apparently Voldemort's public relations strategy is different from the past, and some younger Slytherin students have dared to say the Dark Lord's name out loud.And Draco and his cowardly classmates had to swallow that unmentionable name back in their throats when they were growing up.

Granger didn't know what to think of these conventional agreements?Maybe she thinks that "not even being able to say his name just makes Voldemort look scarier" or maybe she just thinks they're just useless rubbish?

Merlin's damn girl, like poison, has filled him every year, every month, every week, and made everything go wrong.

When Draco saw the Dark Mark strangely turned into the Malfoy family crest in the Forbidden Forest for the first time, his first reaction was to run back to the castle, and he must run faster than Millicent.

But thinking about it now, Draco realized that wasn't the truth, in fact, his first instinct was to grab Granger.When Draco realized this, there was already a thorny road in front of him that he didn't want to go on.His life was already more complicated, and he doubted he could handle more.

For all he knew, there might have been a top Death Eater assassination team hiding in the bushes, desperate to catch that unforgiving girl whom Harry Potter loved as a sister.It was also possible that what they were after was the son of the most notorious Death Eater traitor, the boy who had recently defiled the girl Harry Potter regarded as his sister.

It was obviously not due to heroism, he was the least likely person to burst out with courage that Granger could rely on.

And Weasley is the follower behind the hero. If the school decides to award an outstanding contribution award to fools who only know how to stand on the sidelines, Weasley will definitely be on the list, and he will be at the top.

Draco had a scene recurring in his mind, and although he blamed himself for such a perverted vision, it took some effort to get rid of such a nonsensical fantasy.He pictured Hermione's slender body lying on the damp grass, her large brown eyes gaping open from the Death Curse.Her plump lips were blue-purple, and her injured hand was limply on the side.But her face is still damn proud with the passing of life, as if with the same "don't envy me that I know it all" smug look.But in that expression, there was a trace of cold accusation.

You could have saved me...

Draco's stomach felt like lead, and his hands clutched nervously at his school tie.He kept pacing in front of the water drop stone beast for several minutes, and finally raised his head to look at his godfather, his eyes were mixed with anger, hope and faint despair.If Snape didn't say anything else, Draco swore he'd rush up and strangle him.

"That's not your father." Snape seemed to have sensed Draco's frustration before he said condescendingly.His dark eyes flickered at the faintly visible smudge on his godson's face, and he took out a neat, snow-white handkerchief from the inner pocket of his robes and handed it to Draco.

"Wipe your face." Snape stared at the mud spot.

Draco stopped his pacing and leaned heavily against the stone wall.A sudden great sense of relief exploded in him, and he absently wiped his face. "Who else is in Dumbledore's office? Weasley hasn't turned into a broken voice yet, so I guess the baritone I heard earlier was someone else..."

Snape nodded. "Kingsley Shacklebolt arrived earlier. I believe Nymphadora Tonks, Arthur Weasley, Alastor Moody and Horatio Cohn should also exist."

When Draco heard the last name, he raised his head, a gleam of light flashed in his silver eyes: "Korn is the legal counsel appointed by the Ministry of Magic with my consent."

"For this deal, you're exaggerating with the word agree." Snape retorted sarcastically, dripping with venom: "I'm not even surprised that they would claim rights to your eldest son."

"This is a deal to secure my title and property, and I can only agree." Draco replied with a smile, but no trace of a smile could be heard.He tried to look sarcastic, but Snape noticed the slightest tremor in his breathing.

Draco managed to trade 16 years of his life so that his father could be imprisoned in Malfoy Manor.In return, even though the property of well-documented Death Eaters was always confiscated, when his father was finally sentenced, Draco would be allowed to legally own the entire Malfoy family estate.The agreement came into effect when Draco was 16 years old. If it weren't for the introduction of Arthur's law, the agreement would be invalid under the framework of British wizarding law.

The entire agreement was full of hypocrisy and impetuousness, and finally got the stamp of approval from the Minister of Magic.And this minister may still have a conscience, but his mind is full of those adult wizards who have been tormented by the war, and they keep repeating blood and blood feuds in the war council.

Neither the Minister for Magic, past or present, can be said to be a model pacifist.They are just using the name of justice to deceive adult wizards, curry favor with minor wizards, and then brazenly call the so-called justice "the law."

Considering that the current Minister of Magic's nagging decrees require people from different walks of life in the magical society to unite as much as possible, so Arthur is asking a young man like Draco Malfoy to exert his potential influence, or Such a request is especially hypocritical for a young man isolated from the crowd and subject to trumped-up charges.

It can be said that this boy is considered very useful by the Ministry of Magic.

"It's been too long," Draco muttered.But in fact they only waited 7 minutes, and it felt like an hour had passed.

"You must know what's going on outside, right?" Draco asked quietly.He had long been used to Snape's omniscience, but that didn't mean Snape would answer every question.Draco was no fool, he knew that sometimes ignorance meant safety.

Snape didn't say anything, but his slightly narrowed eyes were full of meaning: Of course I know, you brazen little bastard, but that doesn't mean I'm going to tell you.

All Slytherins at Hogwarts knew that their Headmaster had a dubious reputation.His image may not be as innocent as Minova McGonagall or Flitwick, but it is darker and more personal.His theories tend to be heretical, but when students come to Snape with serious problems, he is usually very helpful.

"Then can you please at least explain to me, in the name of magic, how the reappearance of the corpse becomes the dragon emblem of the damned Malfoy family?" Draco asked stubbornly.

Unfortunately, as Ron and Hermione eventually emerged from the entrance to Dumbledore's headmaster's office, he had to be left where he was, wondering if his godfather knew little about it, either.Lupine followed them down the steps, supporting Millicent, who was tottering.

Millicent burst into loud sobs when he saw Draco.

"M..." Draco said with a reproachful tone. The girl lost an aunt, an uncle and two cousins ​​in a failed Death Eater roundup last year, and never got back her past Unbreakable composure.

"Severus, I'll take Millicent downstairs," Lupine said calmly, "You follow Draco in, they're asking about him."

Granger had forgotten by this point that it was rude to stare at someone, and Draco glanced at her disheveled head pointedly.

I'm not your poor lost duckling, you'd better be a mother to a Weasley duckling.

But she was still looking at him, the originally smooth skin between her brows furrowed and became more obvious.Draco looked down at her injured hand and realized that someone had given her a handkerchief to bandage it.Maybe it was from Lupine, or it could be from Dumbledore.It wasn't like Weasley anyway, who always had no brains.

Weasley grabbed her arm and tried to drag her away, and Draco could hardly blame him for the way he wanted to leave.

"Come on, Hermione," he urged Hermione anxiously, and Draco noticed that Granger wasn't too happy and was being dragged away like an unresponsive mule, but she went anyway.

Maybe he was hallucinating again, but Draco thought there was something different this time, when Weasley looked at him, there was something in the eyes of the Gryffindor dork.There was obvious distaste and suspicion in his eyes, which was not unusual.Weasley always looked at him like that, as if Draco's wealth and fine dining manners were a deadly contagion.

But today, there was fear in his eyes.

But Draco was shocked to find that he didn't care at all.