Days at Hogwarts

Chapter 147 Undercurrents

A ray with its flat wings spread is immersed in blue water. A towering glass curtain wall encloses the underwater world, and ice-blue xenon lamps emit crystal-clear light, which refracts and changes in the world composed of water and glass.

"What beautiful jellyfish!" Hermione pressed her face against the glass, her eyes sparkling as she tried to take in the entire underwater world.

The moon jellyfish spreads its transparent umbrella-like body, then quickly closes it to release water and propel its soft body through the water, gradually drifting away.

Above, hammerhead sharks leisurely sway their tail fins as they drift silently over the heads of tourists.

Loren felt a shadow block out the light, looked up to look, and muttered, "Shark..."

Hermione looked up when she heard this.

The two craned their necks, their eyes following the hammerhead shark, staring blankly until the shark disappeared behind the reefs and coral reefs.

These animals are not as magical as the Bowtruckle, nor as magnificent as the unicorn, but in this world of interwoven light and shadow in the water, the unnamed marine creatures move slowly, creating a scene comparable to daylight.

The Grangers and Bates walked behind, watching the two children from a distance. They also admired the view in the water, but the adults were more reserved, especially when looking at the two children's silly expressions, which were both endearing and funny.

"Is this Hermione's first time at an aquarium too?" Bates asked.

He had always thought Hermione was more mature than his son, but now they were both acting pretty much the same.

Wendell replied with a smile, "The last time I came was several years ago, I might have forgotten."

"I thought they were going to stay home and study until the end of the holidays." Bates lowered his rough voice in the quiet environment of the aquarium, but his toughness was still evident. "Honestly, I think Hermione is too hardworking. You guys should encourage her to go out and have fun more."

These words were only directed at Hermione. Recently, Loren had been studying with Hermione, but he didn't think Loren was working hard at all.

A few afternoons he came home early and saw Hermione reciting her lessons while Loren listened and fiddled with something. It was obvious who was studying hard and who was slacking off.

Wendell and Monica gave a wry smile upon hearing this. Monica said, "We also hope that Hermione can be like Loren, but Hermione rarely mentions it unless we bring her out."

Wendell added, "We should really thank Loren for persuading Hermione to come to the aquarium this weekend."

Bates laughed heartily: "Loren should be thanking Hermione. Without Hermione tutoring him, that kid would be causing trouble everywhere."

As the worldly-wise man exchanged pleasantries, Loren and Hermione huddled together again, making a noisy commotion.

"Look, this dolphin is blowing bubbles at me!" Loren exclaimed, patting Hermione on the shoulder.

Hermione moved a few steps to the side, expressionless. "That's a beluga whale."

……

Malfoy Estate, Wiltshire, England.

This is a sprawling manor surrounded by meticulously designed gardens where flowers of all seasons bloom simultaneously. Peacocks with long, white tail feathers roam freely, fountains continuously spout clear water, and white mist drifts from here, adding a mysterious atmosphere to the estate.

Walking through a corridor trimmed with green plants, you enter the manor. The white stone walls are in an elegant medieval aristocratic style, with Victorian patterns hanging on the walls. The solid wood tabletops are inlaid with dazzling silver-white vine patterns, and the dark green leather sofas are embroidered with dark gold patterns. Every decoration exudes sophistication and luxury.

Lucius Malfoy had just returned from outside, still wearing his dark green suit with thin silver trim. He sat upright on the sofa with his eyes closed, resting, his platinum blonde hair disheveled, showing signs of fatigue.

Crabbe angered Professor McGonagall at Hogwarts, and the school used this as an opportunity to limit the power of the Board of Governors. For a pure-blood family, Crabbe's troubles meant he had to pay compensation, but recently that troll had gone mad, spreading rumors that Voldemort was still alive and would return sooner or later.

He already had enough to deal with the Ministry of Magic and the school, and this rumor has exacerbated the turmoil within the purebloods. He needs to quiet these fools down.

After all, not everyone can realize that Voldemort not returning is the best outcome for them.

"Dad, you're back!" Draco's footsteps as he ran down the stairs were a rare sound of life in the vast manor.

"Hmm." A barely audible sound squeezed out of Lucius's nose.

The enthusiasm in Draco's eyes was dampened considerably by the cold, nasal tone. He slowly moved from the seat next to Lucius to sit down opposite him: "Are you going out again tomorrow?"

His voice was much softer, tinged with a cautious probing. Since the start of the holiday, Lucius had been going out every day, meeting all sorts of people.

Lucius slowly opened his eyes, the weariness in them completely disappearing after a few blinks. He didn't answer Draco's question, but instead questioned, "What are you looking at in your study all day? Don't tell me you're studying."

Draco felt uneasy at his father's stern tone: "I heard some news about the First Magical War at school, so I came back to look up some information from that time."

"This is not something you should be curious about!" Lucius snapped.

"What are you yelling about? He's just a child!" A clear voice came from under the candlestick, and a tall, blonde, blue-eyed woman rushed over, interrupting Lucius's reprimand.

Even though her son was already 12 years old, the woman was still beautiful, with fair skin and well-maintained appearance.

Draco felt relieved when he saw his mother come to his side; he felt safe as long as she was there.

Narcissa sat down next to Draco, put her hand on his shoulder, and complained to Lucius, "You didn't spend your vacation with Draco, and now you're yelling at him as soon as you get back. Look at you."

Faced with his wife's nagging, Lucius's frustration subsided somewhat, and his tone calmed down: "I don't want him to get involved in these things too early. He's too young, and I'm worried he'll idolize that person."

Narcissa was silent for a moment after hearing this, then sighed almost imperceptibly: "If we leave him alone in Slytherin, he'll become that person's idol. It's time for him to know something."

Draco knew that "that person" they were talking about was Voldemort, but why did his parents object to his worship of the Dark Lord? His father was a notorious Death Eater and a loyal follower of the Dark Lord.

"I don't worship Voldemort, I just want to know the truth about what happened back then," Draco said eagerly.

Lucius looked at his son, remained silent for a long time before speaking: "Draco, what do you think the Malfoy family is like in the eyes of outsiders?"

Draco didn't understand why his father asked that question, but without much thought, he answered, "Glory, nobility, wealth."

The fact that honor was placed at the top of the list dispelled Lucius's last shred of hope. He realized that he couldn't let Draco continue living in such a daze; he had to break his obsession with pure-blood honor.

Voldemort's theory of bloodlines was a deadly poison to young wizards obsessed with the glory of pure blood.

Lucius leaned forward slightly, his tone chilling: "No, we are insects."

"Insects?" Draco's eyes widened.

"In the eyes of Voldemort, Dumbledore, and their ilk, most people in the world are insects. Being an insect isn't scary; what's scary is that we are a fat, delicious insect."

Draco felt his mother's arm trembling slightly on his shoulder.

"We must be wary of other insects sharing the spoils, and we must also appease those important figures, because we are too conspicuous; they can spot us at a glance."

Lucius couldn't stop himself from talking, and he blurted out things he hadn't intended to say.

"Being the Dark Lord's servant, a Hogwarts school trustee, the Ministry of Magic's moneybags, and teaming up with those pure-blood fools, is all for the sake of ensuring the Malfoy family's survival."

Lucius couldn't help but get a little excited: "Do you understand?!"

Draco found his father like this terrifying, even more so than when he yelled at or scolded him. He was speechless for a moment.

Looking at the child's innocent face, Lucius realized he had misspoke. Seeing the bewildered expression on Draco's face, he waved for him to go upstairs and play.

Draco left absentmindedly.

Narcissa watched Draco's figure disappear into the distance and complained, "He's just a child, why are you saying all this?"

Lucius didn't want to talk about it anymore. He sighed and said, "Didn't he keep saying he wanted an invisibility cloak? Buy him one."

"So you're saying you won't be able to spend much time with the children for a while?" Narcissa asked.

"There are some things at home that need to be dealt with, and the school matters still need further discussion."

Other things were easier to sell, but thinking of that blank diary and the rumors of the Dark Lord's return from those idiots gave Lucius a headache.

Narcissa picked up the teacup from the table and poured him some tea: "Hasn't the Board of Governors been making concessions to Dumbledore all along? They can't interfere in school affairs anyway, so they might as well give the power to the professors. Dumbledore won't have any selfish motives, and Professor Snape can take care of Draco."

"The Board of Trustees has not been consistently yielding to Dumbledore; previous concessions were reached after much back and forth. Moreover, Professor McGonagall is leading this meeting, and barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will become the next Headmaster. If we allow her to succeed so easily, she will quickly kick the Board of Trustees out once she takes office. We cannot allow that to happen."

Lucius took the teacup, then put it down again, frowning. "Why is it cold?"

Narcissa's face also turned ugly: "That damned Dobby has been slacking off lately, he should be beheaded!"

……

Meanwhile, in the library of the Crabbe family estate.

Vincent Crabbe was tossing books around, trying to find some records about that era, but the texts made him dizzy and he couldn't help but start to get angry.

His father, the burly, muscular old Crabbe, walked over, looked at the messy library, and asked in surprise, "Reading?! Have you been controlled by a mind-controlling spell?"

Vincent Crabbe, not wanting to search himself, asked Old Crabbe directly, "How was our family doing when the Dark Lord was around?"

Old Crabbe gets a little angry when the Dark Lord is mentioned. The news he spreads was told to him by Little Crabbe, and as a result, he was scolded by Malfoy for many days.

He couldn't help but lightly kick Vincent's butt: "Stay away from the Dark Lord's business. Over the years, we've donated more than half of our family's wealth, which is why we haven't been imprisoned in Azkaban."

"I'm not involved, I just want to ask." Vincent pushed aside the book next to him, stood up, and his tall, fat figure was almost a miniature version of old Crabbe.

Old Crabbe felt a surge of pride in front of his son: "Back then, apart from the Dark Lord who instilled fear in us, everyone else had to bow down to us and lick my boots without anyone daring to resist."

"What about Malfoy? What about Potter's father?" Vincent's eyes lit up with eagerness.

"Ha, Malfoy is only a little closer to the Dark Lord than we are, but he's not as close as Bellatrix and the others. He's about the same as us. As for Potter—" Old Crabbe's smile turned sinister, "when they see me, they're like mice seeing a cat; they have to turn and run."

Vincent Crabbe was filled with longing for the era his father described. He believed that if the Dark Lord returned, he would make those Malfoys and Potters pay back a thousandfold for the humiliation and suffering they had endured.

He urged, "Why don't we bring the Dark Lord back?"

Old Crabbe shook his head dejectedly: "We are just ordinary servants. Doing unnecessary things will only bring trouble upon ourselves. That kind of thing should be done by Bella and the others."

"I heard Bella has gone mad. The Dementors' daily torment is a crueler punishment than death." Old Crabbe shuddered involuntarily.

Old Crabbe paused for a moment, reminding himself that even under Voldemort's command, he had to worry about being killed out of anger; that man was a terrifying figure even to the Death Eaters.

Although the Malfoys always had the upper hand, Lucius did possess some ability and could bring them benefits. While they weren't as prestigious as they once were, as a pure-blood family, they were already among the top figures in the magical world.

It's hard to say whether the past or the present was better or worse.

He kicked Vincent again: "This is not something you should be curious about."

After saying that, he turned and left.

"Bella, Azkaban..." Crabbe's eyes were filled with venom.

……

Inside the dolphin show hall of the aquarium.

The public performance had just ended, and the children in the exhibition hall, under the guidance of the keepers, got up close to the dolphins.

Near the shore, a smooth-skinned, adorable light gray dolphin swam in front of Loren, its head above the water and its tail fin creating ripples underwater.

Loren scooped up a chunk of ice with a small shovel and poured it into the dolphin's mouth. The little dolphin swallowed it in one gulp, and a burst of steam shot out of its blowhole, like a satisfied sigh from a person.

The little dolphin leaped gently, nuzzling Loren's cheek with its smooth, curved kiss, making a happy "Ah-ah-ah" sound.

Loren felt a wetness on his face, and was so happy because of the little guy that he scooped up a few more scoops of ice to feed it.

Hermione's eyes lit up, she looked on with envy, "I'll try! I'll try!"

She stepped forward, walked to Loren's position, took the small shovel, and fed him the ice.

The baby dolphin twisted its tail, swam to the side, and then stopped in front of Loren, floating excitedly and expectantly in front of him.

Hermione stood there dumbfounded. Not only did she not want to eat, but she also complained about her. That was too hurtful.

Loren couldn't help but chuckle, his shoulders shrug.

(End of this chapter)