HP: She married Malfoy after becoming an exchange student.

On their way to the Great Hall, Draco and Elias felt unprecedented attention, especially Elias, who was constantly being looked at with curiosity and admiration by the young wizards.

As several Ravenclaw girls passed by, their pace noticeably slowed. Draco could even hear words like "Slytherin" and "engagement," and he knew exactly what they were talking about; his worst fears had come true.

Draco felt like he wanted to die, cursing the culprit who had drugged him in his heart. He quickened his pace, his dragon-skin boots clattering loudly.

Elias, on the other hand, remained calm and shameless, as if the people were not talking about him. He even had the leisure to call out to Draco, "Slow down, why are you walking so fast?"

Draco was utterly speechless. "Do you know they're watching you?"

Elias, utterly shameless, replied, "Well, so what?"

Draco: ...

The two entered the Great Hall and sat down at the Slytherin table.

After Draco sat down, he lowered his face and focused intently on cutting the bacon into countless small pieces.

"Hmm!" Pansy cleared her throat. "Draco, you haven't been to class these past two days, you've missed a lot of things."

Draco didn't look up, his voice muffled: "What is it?"

"A transfer student has arrived," Pansy said slowly, stabbing a potato with her fork. "She's from Durmstrang, and she's exceptionally beautiful. Long platinum blonde hair and grey eyes."

Draco paused for a moment with his fork.

"She looks just like you," Daphne added casually from the side.

After a long silence, Draco finally spoke: "When did you find out?"

"You said you were Durmstrang when you came," Pansy said, putting down her cup and laughing sarcastically.

Daphne added, "Elijas is the only transfer student in the entire Hogwarts, Draco, you can't even come up with another reason."

Draco's cheeks flushed slightly. He glanced at Elias—the German was holding a coffee cup, looking straight ahead, clearly not intending to interrupt.

"Now..."

"Stop." Pansy raised her hand to interrupt him. "Nobody knows that you're the transfer student."

Draco paused for a moment.

Daphne put down her spoon and looked at him seriously: "We didn't say anything. The portrait only says that there was a girl wearing Elias's robe, but no one has connected that transfer student with you."

Pansy chimed in, her tone unusually serious: "You think we'd go around telling everyone? Malfoy, what do you take us for?"

Draco looked at her, his lips moved, but he didn't say anything.

Pansy sighed, lowering her voice even further: "Besides, who has the mind to care about these things right now? Granger's been in the infirmary for the past couple of days, Dumbledore's gone, and parents' rants are flying into the Great Hall every day. This little thing will be forgotten in a couple of days."

She paused, then added, "Just stay put and don't give yourself away."

"But..." Draco's heart hadn't settled down when the girl in front of him said, "Draco, you're really alluring when you turn into a girl. How do you do that? Can you turn into one again for me to see?"

Draco, seeing Pansy's lewd grin, blushed, then turned dark, then red again: "Get lost!"

……

The ending of the locked-room mystery came unexpectedly.

Lockhart led Harry Potter and Ron Weasley into the abandoned washroom on the second floor, where they successfully dealt with the treacherous basilisk. The petrified students woke up one by one in the infirmary, and Dumbledore was reinstated.

The only unlucky one was Lockhart, who lost all his memories and ended up in St. Mungo's for treatment.

Harry Potter has become a hero once again.

It was at this time that Draco learned from his father about a house-elf named Dobby who had been hiding everything the Malfoys had done since the previous summer—eavesdropping on Lucius’s conversation in his study, tipping off Harry Potter, blocking Platform Nine and Three-Quarters, and even trying to manipulate the ball in Quidditch.

This little elf almost used his "justice" to push the Malfoy family into the abyss.

Draco was so angry after hearing this that he couldn't sleep for several nights, and his eyes were now bluish-black.

"It's all that little elf's fault!" Draco gritted his teeth. "My father might lose his position as a school board member! Doesn't it know it's a Malfoy elf?!"

Elias glanced at him but did not answer immediately. A few days later, a letter bearing the Reinhard family crest arrived at Malfoy Estate from Germany.

The letter essentially stated that there were controversies surrounding the International Confederation of Wizards' oversight mechanisms at Hogwarts, and that the Board of Governors' decision to remove Hogwarts was open to debate; therefore, the matter would be temporarily suspended. It was signed by Albert Reinhardt.

Lucius Malfoy opened the letter in his study, read it, remained silent for a long time, and then wrote a letter to Draco.

A few days later, allegations within the Hogwarts Board of Governors that Lucius had threatened his colleagues were quietly suppressed.

Meanwhile, deep within Hogwarts Castle, the Malfoy family's owl quietly landed on the windowsill of the Slytherin boys' dormitory.

Draco opened the letter, read it, and handed it to Elias.

"Your father has made a move."

Elias took the letter, glanced at a few lines, folded it, and pushed it back to Draco.

"Malfoy is worth it," Elias said calmly.

Draco stared at him for two seconds, snorted, and said nothing more, putting the letter into the hidden compartment by the bedside.

Dealing with the school board's affairs and suppressing Lucius's illegal accusations could be left "behind the scenes," but Dobby, the disloyal house-elf, needed to be dealt with quickly, and as a form of training, Lucius entrusted the task to Draco.

If a contracted spirit wants to gain freedom, it needs clothing given by its master.

Draco didn't wait until the end of the term; before the holidays, he summoned Dobby to an empty classroom next to the Slytherin common room.

The house-elf stood on the cold stone floor, his tennis ball-sized green eyes watching the two boys with a weary yet wary gaze. Draco sat on the windowsill, one leg casually draped over his shoulder, while Elias leaned against the wall beside him, his long hair tied back, a silver-green scarf twirled between his fingers.

"I've heard that Dobby is a little elf who longs for freedom," Draco said sarcastically, looking at the nervous Dobby in front of him.

"Dobby...Dobby..."

"You've done a lot for Potter," Draco interrupted.

"Dobby... just wanted to..." The little elf began to tremble.

"What are you thinking?" Draco jumped down from the windowsill, his dragon-skin boots making a dull thud on the stone slabs. "Trying to protect Potter? Trying to tarnish the Malfoy family's reputation? Or wanting the entire wizarding world to know that the Malfoy family's house-elves are helping the Savior against their own masters?"

Dobby banged his head against the wall, punching himself repeatedly: "Dobby is a bad elf, Dobby should be punished—"

Draco stood before Dobby, looking down at the crazed boy. "Don't worry, I won't punish you," Draco's voice was as cold as ice water. "You don't deserve it."

Dobby looked up, his nervous eyes filled with disbelief.

"The Malfoy family's contract with you remains in effect, but that doesn't mean you're entitled to stay here." Draco's tone wasn't loud, but every word was weighty. "You betrayed the patriarch who trusted you, revealing family secrets to outsiders, and then packaged it all as 'protecting justice.' Do you think your petty cleverness can shake the Malfoy family's foundation in the wizarding world?"

Dobby opened his mouth, but no sound came out.

Draco snatched the scarf from Elias's hand and tossed it to Dobby: "Get lost, you're disgusting."