The mastermind behind Hogwarts

Chapter 75 Malfoy Manor

On the evening of July 15th, darkness fell.

Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire was brightly lit. Lucius Malfoy and Narcissa Malfoy, both dressed in luxurious formal attire, stood ramrod straight at the gate, exchanging pleasantries with the guests with great elegance.

The heads of several pure-blood families, including Greengrass, Parkinson, and Travers, surrounded Lucius, exchanging hushed conversations with impeccable smiles.

A group of nine children walked past the adults. The little boy in the lead had neat, platinum-blonde hair, a pointed, thin chin, and silver-gray eyes.

He swaggered across the lawn, a little girl with a mushroom-shaped haircut following closely behind him. "Draco, are you taking us to see your flying broomstick? We promised at Christmas! Let us see that flying broomstick that almost got crashed by a Muggle plane? The one called a Muggle plane, right?"

"How many times have I told you, Pansy!" Draco shook his head impatiently. "I can't touch the flying broom today, my dad won't allow it! Just because that Slytherin descendant is coming over!"

Dad said if I behaved too naughtily, I would embarrass the Malfoy family. How awful! He's only a few years older than me, but we all have to wait for him!

"Yeah, that's what my dad said too. He even said we should make a good impression on the Slytherin descendants. It's really too much... Why are we waiting for a little kid?"

Pansy mimicked Draco's tone, nodding in agreement, completely forgetting that she was also a child.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief and gave himself a thumbs up—thankfully he steered the conversation toward the Slytherin lineage, otherwise it would have been embarrassing if Pansy had discovered he didn't actually have a real flying broom!

Draco felt a sense of accomplishment watching Pansy and Daphne Greengrass talk; kids are so easy to fool!

However, a cheerful voice rang out from behind Draco: "Pansy, did Draco tell you in his letter again about how he dodged planes in the Muggle world on his flying broomstick? Too bad, he told me that too, and in fact, he tells everyone that, but I suspect he just crashed into a tree on a toy broomstick."

"Soldaya Selwyn!" Draco turned around and glared angrily at the boy who was half a head taller than him. This guy was so annoying!

Draco blushed quickly upon being exposed, while Sordaya shook his head with a smile and said in a nonchalant tone, "Okay, I admit I was lying, Draco is right."

But his insincere tone made the girls laugh, and Draco's face turned ugly. His friend Theodore Nott came to his rescue, changing the subject: "Look, over there! Pure-blood traitors, members of the Weasley family!"

The remaining children—two chubby little boys, Crabbe and Goyle, and two blonde little girls, the Greengrass sisters—all looked to their right and saw a tall, thin adult wizard in an old robe standing with an old woman.

"That's Arthur Weasley!" Draco found his moment to shine, raising his chin. "I've heard my dad mention him at least two hundred times. He's a scumbag among purebloods—always hanging out with Mudbloods. I don't know why my dad invited him."

"This is a gathering of purebloods. As one of the Twenty-Eight Holy Races, the Weasleys naturally cannot be absent. In fact, apart from a few families with special circumstances, most of the purebloods are here." Soldaya looked at Augusta Longbottom and Mr. Macmillan standing with Arthur, and then at the group of purebloods surrounding Lucius Malfoy, and seemed to be deep in thought.

The pureblood family seems to have split into two groups, but no matter who they are, the topic of conversation revolves around only one person!

Cornelius Fudge, not a strong contender for Minister of Magic, was merely a boy not yet 13 years old.

Soldaya was only two years older than Draco, but the decline of the Selwyn family made him mature quickly, and he knew what it meant for all purebloods to wait for Moriarty.

Like the adults, he would glance towards the door from time to time. However, while the adults' eyes were mostly filled with expectation and curiosity, Soldaya's deep blue eyes revealed desire and ambition.

Just then, a high-pitched, soft cry came from the sky, and five unicorns pulled a silver luxury carriage from afar, flying to the entrance of Malfoy Manor.

The adults, seeing the coiled green snake printed on the luxurious carriage, already knew who this person was.

The children stared intently at the unicorn, and a few even ran excitedly towards it, their outstretched arms suggesting they wanted to touch its fur.

"Draco!" Lucius tapped his cane on the lawn, stopping Draco in his tracks, as did Pansy's father and the Greengrass sisters' father.

But Mr. Macmillan, standing with Arthur, laughed heartily: "Don't be so strict, Mr. Malfoy. Ernie! Go and see the unicorns with your companions; they are sacred magical creatures."

I don't think Mr. Moriarty would mind; after all, this is an adventure for children.

The somewhat short and chubby Ernie and his friend Hannah Abbott ran together toward the unicorn, Mrs. Abbott's eyes filled with affection: "Hannah~"

She called to her daughter, "Slow down. Unicorns are very intelligent magical creatures. You must learn to respect them and get along with them slowly."

"Haha, did I hear that right? The Abor family actually teaches their heir to respect unicorns? Why should purebloods need the respect of magical creatures? Those lowly races are only fit to pull our carts!"

A chorus of snickers rose from beside Lucius, and an old, yet steady and powerful voice immediately rang out, confronting them directly: "Neville! My good grandson, come here! Go touch those unicorns, they'll bring you good luck! There are plenty of people in this world who want to touch them but can't, especially those villains locked up in Azkaban!"

The purebloods on Lucius's side were like they had been choked, unable to utter a single word, glaring at Augusta Longbottom. Many of their relatives had been imprisoned in Azkaban!

"What an eyesore of an old woman!" Several pure-blooded family heads cursed inwardly.

However, the head of the Longbottom family was highly respected among purebloods, and more importantly, he was of a high generation—pureblood families are always related by blood.

And she was telling the truth: all the Death Eaters in Azkaban were pure-blooded members of the Twenty-Eight Holy Races, including the Lestrange family and the Roll family.

Given the unfortunate experiences of her son and daughter-in-law, the Longbottom family has gained a certain air of tragic heroism, attracting a great deal of sympathy and attention.

Therefore, the purebloods wisely chose not to antagonize the Longbottom family.

Neville Longbottom, oblivious to the scheming and intrigue of adults, timidly ran to his grandmother, crying, "Uncle Algier just took me to the big lake behind the manor. He tried to force me to show off my magic, and I almost drowned!"

The guests burst into laughter. It was no secret in the pure-blood circle that Neville had almost been mistaken for a Squib. Although Neville had shown a magical outburst when he was eight years old, the Longbottom family seemed to believe that as long as Neville was not accepted into Hogwarts, he would still be suspected of being a Squib.

At this moment, Moriarty stepped out of the carriage, accompanied by Luke and Ingo. He was dressed in a silver robe with a coiled green serpent printed on the back, and a Slytherin coat of arms pinned to his collar.

The retro clothing on Moriarty did not make him look ridiculous; instead, it exuded an ancient and mysterious charm, giving him a cool and aloof demeanor.

The guests put aside their reservations and stopped smiling. Everyone, regardless of who they were, adopted a polite demeanor, their eyes full of smiles and welcome.

(End of this chapter)