Hogwarts: Dumbledore reigned over the wizarding world.

Chapter 318 Draco: Harry, let's team up!

Unable to resist everyone's decision, he could only ramble on about everyone's "compensation" to Banban, hoping that the poor mouse could be encouraged and get through the darkest moment of its life.

In Ron's opinion, Scabbers should be quite satisfied, because as soon as he finished speaking, Scabbers, who was originally half dead, got up and barked loudly, full of energy!

Breakfast time is over, and the agonizing school day is about to begin.

Hogwarts seemed much more restless than usual today, partly because everyone was still focused on the Dueling Club issue.

Because Malfoy had been making a fuss about it everywhere these past two days, all the young wizards in the castle knew that the Duel Club had been targeted by the Board of Governors again, and that the Board of Governors had even convened in the castle. According to Malfoy, the situation was very bad.

Everyone was worried about the club's future.

On the other hand, the professors, especially the deans of the four colleges, also seem to have had little rest due to the board meeting.

During the first Charms class for second graders today, everyone noticed that Professor Flitwick had huge dark circles under his eyes and seemed extremely distracted.

While teaching everyone the incantation, he even accidentally swallowed a syllable and suddenly disappeared from the classroom.

Ten minutes later, he returned from outside, soaking wet. It is said that he was teleported into the toilet of the sanctuary by an out-of-control spell.

Professor McGonagall's Transfiguration class in the afternoon was about the same.

The already stern vice principal exuded an even more oppressive aura today. Although she didn't lash out at anyone, everyone could sense the anger accumulating within her thin frame, like a volcano about to erupt.

No one dared to mess with Professor McGonagall, not even the most mischievous twins.

"I bet she's really annoyed by those guys on the board of directors."

During dinner, Harry, Ron, and their three friends were gathered together, secretly discussing their plans for the evening, when Fred and George suddenly came over, plopped down next to Ron, and put their arms around his shoulders: "So, Harry, and our dear brother, what exactly happened last night?"

Harry feigned ignorance: "What do you mean, last night? I don't know what you're talking about."

"Ha!" one of the twins let out a short laugh. "Very good, Harry. You've grasped the essence of a nocturnal adventurer: even if caught, never admit it. But you don't need to hide it from us. Many people heard you discussing the board meeting at the dinner table, even Percy knows."

The group was startled by what they heard and instinctively looked at Percy at the end of the long table.

Sure enough, Percy, wearing the prefect's badge, was staring intently in their direction.

Merlin

Ron groaned in frustration. He wasn't afraid of Percy, of course, but he was afraid that Percy, that tattletale, would write it in a letter and tell his parents.

He could almost foresee that one week, two weeks at most, perhaps a red, roaring letter would be brought into the restaurant by Zhu Weiqiong one morning.

Then, accompanied by his mother's devastating roars, he had to hide from his classmates for at least two weeks.

Harry was also a little flustered. He liked Mrs. Molly very much and didn't want to leave any impression of himself as a bad kid in her eyes.

However, to his relief, not many others, including the twins and Percy, heard much about it.

All that is known is that he and Ron seemed to have overheard something, such as the Invisibility Cloak, Phoenix Fawkes, and Dumbledore, but these topics remain secrets.

After casually dismissing the curious twins, Harry and his four friends quickly finished their meal and left the Great Hall. At the corner of the stairs leading to the Gryffindor Tower, Harry said seriously, "From now on, we need to watch our mouths, especially you two, Dean and Seamus. Don't talk about sensitive topics in public anymore. If you have something to say, wait until we have a private space."

Dean and Seamus looked at the corner of the stairs they were on. "Are you sure this is a private space?"

Harry waved his hand: "I've checked, there's no one around—"

Before the words were even finished, a voice rang out from afar: "Scar—Potter!"

Harry was a little embarrassed.

But he hid his expression well. Turning around, he and his friends were somewhat surprised to see Draco Malfoy, with his platinum blonde hair slicked back, walking up from downstairs.

Malfoy's two henchmen, Goyle and Crabbe, were by his side as always, and today there was one more person.

She was a rather ugly Slytherin girl—forgive Harry for using such a word to describe a lady, but he simply couldn't betray his own aesthetic sense.

Especially when the other person arrogantly raises their head and looks at him with their huge nostrils.

Harry wasn't unfamiliar with this girl; her name was Pansy Parkinson, and they could be considered classmates, since they had taken classes together for two years.

The reason it's described as "barely" is because the other party is an even more extreme pureblood than Malfoy.

Harry forced himself to stop counting Pansy Parkinson's nose hairs, and instead stared at Draco Malfoy with a slightly wary gaze.

Malfoy still had that annoying, pretentious air about him.

But at this moment, he seemed less aggressive than usual.

He approached the five people, and amidst their surprised gazes, he nodded slightly, gesturing to Harry, Ron, and Neville.

Yes, he completely ignored Dean and Seamus, as if they didn't exist at all.

Dean and Seamus pursed their lips but didn't say anything. Anyway, those self-proclaimed pure-blood bastards from Slytherin looked down on them, and they looked down on each other in return.

Normally, everyone pretends that the other doesn't exist, which is fine.

"Potter, can we talk alone?" Although Malfoy's tone was calm, Harry noticed that his ears were red, like branding irons just taken out of a boiler.

No!

If he could, Harry would definitely answer like that.

But—recalling Lucius Malfoy's series of unusual actions at the board meeting in the early morning, Harry really wanted to know what the Malfoy family was up to.

Therefore, Harry glanced at his friends and silently walked deeper into the corridor.

This is the 4th floor. After exiting the stairs, the corridor on the left leads to the Charms classroom and further inside the prize display room.

The corridor on the right leads to an area that was previously off-limits to Dumbledore, which he had cleared out to hide the Philosopher's Stone. Of course, it has been reopened this semester.

Harry was very familiar with this floor because last semester, he couldn't even remember how many times he had been to the fourth floor in order to see the Mirror of Erised.

Harry and Draco Malfoy walked one after the other into the right-hand corridor. Making sure they were truly alone, Harry stopped beside a witch statue, his face tense, and asked Draco Malfoy, "What do you want to talk about?"

Draco hesitated, undecided.

Harry considered himself to have displayed "amazing patience." He didn't rush him or show any impatience, but instead waited patiently, despite the cold wind blowing in from the window, until Draco Malfoy finally spoke, albeit hesitantly: "You saw my father last night—did you?"

Harry was stunned.

Draco didn't wait for his answer, as if the question was only in his own mind, and quickly continued, "I heard you accidentally walked into a board meeting. Many people think you're bragging; a junior wizard couldn't just walk into a meeting of powerful wizards. But I know you actually have an invisibility cloak, don't you?"

"!"

"Don't be surprised, that thing is nothing special. My family has one (the invisibility cloak in the original story wasn't the only one). My dad told me that the Malfoy family hunted down more than ten invisible beasts for that cloak. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the number of invisible beasts is getting smaller and smaller, and they're not so hard to find, the family would have—"

Harry suddenly felt terrible. He thought of the invisible beast family he had encountered in the Practical Space.

Although they look like monkeys, they are just as intelligent as humans and have very rich emotions.

He couldn't help but interrupt Draco's incessant ramblings of superiority: "You called me here just to show off your family's blood-stained invisibility cloak?"

Draco's pale face flushed red for a moment, but he didn't get angry and yell "Damn Scarface" as usual.

Instead, she paused for a moment before asking in a calm voice, "Someone told me that you said my father abstained from voting, is that correct?"

Harry really wanted to ask: Where did you get that information?

But having been repeatedly proven wrong before, Harry had come to realize the extent of his and his friends' loose tongues, so he swallowed his doubts and nodded: "Yes, I saw it with my own eyes."

Upon hearing this, Harry was amazed by the complex expression that Draco displayed in that instant.

There was embarrassment and entanglement, yet there was also a sense of relaxation, as if the anxiety had finally been released and something had been confirmed.

After a long pause, Draco seemed to be talking to himself before saying, "You know, Potter, my father has never liked Dumbledore, nor has he liked Vaughn, who is so close to Dumbledore. He'll cling to anything that might hurt them, but this time, his behavior is very illogical—"

Harry, standing nearby, was stunned, staring wide-eyed at Draco Malfoy's dazzling platinum-gold head.

I couldn't help but wonder if there was some kind of malfunction inside.

Is this the kind of thing you should say?

Is this something you should have brought up in front of me?

Perhaps Harry's eyes were too full of emotion, because Draco finally noticed it, and a flush of anger rose again on his pale face: "Don't look at me like that. You should know very well that I like practical classes and clubs, and I don't want them to have problems because of adult prejudice or other reasons."

"All right!"

Harry shrugged dismissively.

There was no trust or affection between the two, and Draco didn't care. He just continued to ask about the situation at the board meeting.

Since the "secret" had already been leaked, these things weren't really anything to keep secret anymore. Harry told everyone he'd seen, and then casually asked, "What do you think?"

To his surprise, Draco pondered for a moment and then actually nodded in agreement, saying, "From your description, the only person on the board of trustees who truly opposes Vaughn and the club is Alecto Caro."

"Not necessarily?" Harry retorted instinctively. "I don't think voting can truly reflect people's stance anymore. Besides, purebloods haven't always been against Vaughn."

"No, you don't understand Vaughn's current weight and status within the pure-blood family, Potter."

Draco interrupted Harry, "It's complicated, but you just need to understand that the obsession of pure-blood families with pure-bloods comes from magic, from power itself. As long as a wizard's magic is strong enough, even if that wizard is full of flaws, it still won't stop pure-bloods from looking up to him."

As he said this, Draco subconsciously raised his head and said in a pretentious tone, "Even if he is a half-blood wizard or a Muggle, some pure-bloods can be disregarded for the sake of magic. Besides, Vaughn is a pure-blood, and Weasley and Prewitt are both among the 28 Holy Races."

"After Vaughn finished his trip to North America and gathered a large number of North American werewolves, after Vaughn made his first statement, preparing to hold an international potion exchange event, and after receiving responses from Busbarton and Castorbuscher—now, apart from fools like Carlo who studied dark magic and ended up burning their brains, more and more purebloods are noticing the power gathering around him and the power he himself possesses."

"A powerful, truly pure-blooded wizard—who could unite many forces—might have been a problem for many before, but now, that problem might just become a source of hope!"

Harry stared blankly at Draco for a long while before blurting out, "Whose speech did you steal?"

'

"Come on, Malfoy, these aren't words you'd normally say."

Draco blushed again, but this time he didn't avoid the topic. Instead, he grumbled, "In a letter my mother sent me a while ago, she mentioned—the person who said this is a relative of mine. My mother said that this kind of argument is quite popular among pure-blood families these days—"

Harry was somewhat at a loss for words.

In his past understanding, purebloods were all evil and ruthless, like the great demon kings in storybooks who would never stop destroying the world unless they were eliminated.

But today, Malfoy's words reminded him that a pureblood's physique could also be quite flexible.

This made Harry almost forget what expression to wear. He looked at Draco Malfoy, his face tense, and said sarcastically, "So, what are you trying to do by telling me all this? Show off your inside information? Or indirectly prove how farsighted you were by succumbing to Vaughn last semester through the pure-blood family's change in attitude towards Vaughn?"

He was satirizing a well-known fact—at the beginning of the first year, Vaughn attacked the Slytherin prefect. Such a blatant violation of school rules would be considered a violation in other houses, but in Slytherin, Vaughn not only went unpunished, but was also adored by the Slytherins.

During that time, many older students mocked the little snakes for bullying the weak and fearing the strong, calling them spineless.

"It seems this is genetic!"

Harry thought maliciously.

Across from him, Draco's face indeed grew even redder, but today he displayed astonishing restraint. After glaring fiercely at Harry a few times, Draco raised his head, looking down at Harry with his nostrils flared: "Someone as uncouth as you, I don't expect you to understand how much pure-bloods respect magic. In fact, you benefit from that respect, Potter. Many people are unhappy with your title of 'savior,' if it weren't for Vaughn protecting you—humph!"

Now it was Harry's turn to be a little overwhelmed.

He always felt that his title of "savior" was very shameful and embarrassing, but no one listened to him, and now he was being despised by the despicable Malfoy because of it!

Damn!

Seeing Harry's cold expression finally break down and contort, Draco's lips curled into a smile.

Of course, he hadn't come to see Harry today to provoke him into an argument or fight, so Draco didn't continue his humiliation: "Back to the point, Potter, as I said before, I enjoy practical classes and the dueling club, and like you, I don't want them to be abolished by the Board of Governors. There are many people in Slytherin who think the same way as me, you understand?"

Understand what? Who's like you?

Embarrassed and annoyed, Harry instinctively resisted Draco's words.

But he quickly suppressed the impulses arising from his emotions, calming his mind once more. A sudden realization flashed in his eyes: "You—no, you can influence the board of trustees to make a ruling in Vaughn's favor?"

"uh-huh!"

Draco replied dismissively, "Pure-bloods are widely related. What you find insurmountable may not be insurmountable for us—of course, I don't think you, having grown up in Muggle society, can understand this. Anyway, from what you've told me, the situation isn't too bad."

Malfoy's arrogant attitude is really annoying!

Childish and disgusting!

After the conversation, Harry became even more convinced of this.

But he managed to control his aversion well. Although somewhat reluctant, Malfoy was right; on the issue of practical lessons and the dueling club, they were on the same page.

Thinking it over, Harry's expression turned serious: "Why are you so sure that among the pure-blood family council members, only Carol is the most vehemently opposed to Vaughn?" "It's simple." Seemingly feeling somewhat embarrassed by being questioned, Draco's expression darkened, but he still patiently explained: "Vaughn is close to Muggle wizards, while the Carol family are staunch Muggle opponents, especially in the generation of Alecto and Amycus. They believe that Muggles are not human, but beasts, dirty and stupid."

"To be honest, such a concept seems extreme even among purebloods. We generally still consider Muggles to be human."

"————"

'

Harry, whose views were being challenged, was completely speechless. After a while, he managed to suppress his inner urge to complain and asked, "How can you be sure the other two aren't extreme?"

"Because I know them, Potter."

Draco was getting impatient. "The other two committee members, one of whom is named Greengrass, although he also believes in pure-blood supremacy, his family has long since fallen from grace and there is a curse in his bloodline. They are too busy taking care of themselves to provoke Vaughn."

"As for the other one—"