Chapter 90
During the time Soren was staying at the Green Manor, many events unfolded in other corners of Great Britain.
Let's first talk about the situation at Malfoy Manor.
On the day Soren went to Diagon Alley (August 11), Lucius stopped Draco, who was about to go out to practice Quidditch, at the entrance of the hall. "Draco, come here for a moment, your father has something important to discuss with you."
The father and son left the hall quietly, walking down a long corridor into Lucius's study, where he usually worked.
Lucius took out a pure silver Malfoy family crest from a hidden drawer and said, "Drop a drop of your blood on it."
Seeing his father's serious expression, Draco dared not ask any questions and could only comply. He used his wand to prick a small hole in his left index finger, squeezed out a drop of blood, and let it fall onto the crest. The crest emitted a faint magical fluctuation as if it had been activated.
"This crest is a special key that can only be activated with the blood of a direct descendant of the Malfoy family. Now I will count to three, and we will touch the crest together. One, two, three!" The hands of both father and son touched the crest simultaneously, and they were drawn in by a powerful suction.
They arrived in a dimly lit small room, with a round orb embedded in the ceiling, emitting a faint green glow.
Lucius stood straight on the ground, but his hair was blown wildly, disheveled. Draco, however, lost his balance and collapsed onto the floor.
Draco couldn't help but ask, "Father, why don't we use the anti-dizziness bracelet invented by Soren?"
Lucius: "..."
Draco did not know that at this moment, Lucius was thinking—Damn it, can I tell you that I forgot?
Looking around, they were surrounded by four grayish stone walls, covered with portraits, and the figures in the portraits were watching the two whispering.
A man dressed in medieval clothing, with a very imposing demeanor, spoke up: "Are you two the current head of the family and the heir?"
The usually proud Lucius did not dare to be disrespectful even to a portrait. He bowed and performed an ancient noble salute, "Yes, I am Lucius II, son of Abraxas, the thirteenth head of the Malfoy family, paying my respects to Lord Nicholas."
"Draco, this is our fourth-generation ancestor of the Malfoy family. He is the highest-ranking figure in these portraits, who, under the guise of the Black Death, massacred a large number of Muggles and plundered vast lands and wealth for the family," Lucius introduced to Draco.
Upon hearing this, Draco eagerly bowed to the portrait as well. "I am Draco, son of Lucius II, paying my respects to Lord Nicholas."
Then Lucius pointed to the next portrait, "This is our fifth-generation ancestor, Lord Artemis. He participated in the Vampire War and ultimately established an unequal treaty with the remaining vampire nobility, allowing them to serve our family."
"This is the sixth-generation ancestor, Lord Lucius I. One of our three family maxims—'Never put all your eggs in one basket'—comes from him. This ancestor was very powerful; it is said that he cursed the queen of the Muggle world to remain unmarried for life."
"This is the seventh-generation ancestor, Lord Artemis II. He took part in the Wizarding Civil War in Italy and collaborated with the Peverell family to annihilate the opposing family, allowing our family's business to extend into Europe outside of Britain for the first time and gaining the friendship of the Peverell family."
"This is the eighth-generation ancestor, Lord Brutus. He founded the anti-Muggle publication 'Wizards in War' and attracted a large number of followers for the Malfoy family. Many of the current illegitimate offspring in our family are descendants of his followers."
"This is..."
With each introduction of the figures in the portraits, Draco had to bow and pay respects to each ancestor, while secretly wondering what purpose his father had in bringing him to meet these ancestors.
After a lengthy introduction, they finally arrived at the last portrait—the twelfth head of the family, Abraxas Malfoy, Lucius's father, and Draco and Soren's grandfather.
After introducing all the portraits, Lucius bowed once more, "Dear ancestors, the wizarding world is about to undergo another major upheaval. My eldest son Draco is still young and lacks power, so I hope all of you can assist me in helping him grow his strength quickly to cope with the impending turmoil."
Abraxas couldn't help but interject, "Wait a minute, Lucius, don't you have two sons? Why haven't I seen my other grandson, Soren?"
Lucius replied, "I was just about to discuss this with our ancestors. Soren's ideas are different from ours; he believes that pure-blood ideology is outdated, and he wants to..." He then explained the contents of the family meeting that had taken place last week in the Malfoy family.
Abraxas angrily said, "That brat, I've spoiled him for nothing! He actually wants to stand with the Muggle-born wizards!" Abraxas had seen the Malfoy brothers and had loved them dearly until they passed away from dragon pox when they were nearly four years old.
Other figures in the portraits, such as Brutus and the tenth family head, Setimus, were also whispering among themselves. From their expressions, it was clear they agreed with Abraxas's view.
Lucius I, however, disagreed with him: "That boy sounds quite opinionated and intelligent; I think his views have some merit! Besides, everything he does ultimately serves the family. Are you old fools too rigid in your thinking?"
Abraxas retorted, "That boy is just blinded by temporary achievements. Although pure-blood families have weakened somewhat in recent years, they are not that fragile. Don't forget—the existence of the Knights of Walpurgis..."
Lucius I seemed determined to argue with Abraxas and scoffed, "The Knights of Walpurgis? So what? They were indeed powerful back then, and our Malfoy family had to submit to them and become part of them, but after two failures—Grindelwald and Voldemort—those two investments have surely left them crippled, right?"
Artemis II spoke up, supporting Lucius I's view, "Our Malfoy family doesn't need to be beneath them anymore. Don't forget, we have allies—the Vampire Royal Family has been recuperating for over four hundred years; do you think they've just been idle all this time? And the Pengele family in Italy, while they appeared severely wounded after that civil war, their foundation still remains. Even though they haven't been able to recover to their peak over the years, I doubt they're far off."
Abraxas was very averse to Muggle wizards. In 1968, when the Ministry of Magic finally welcomed its first Muggle-born Minister of Magic, Nobby Leach, it was due to his methods that he had to step down.
At that time, the Ministry publicly stated that Leach had to resign due to a mysterious illness, but in reality, he faced severe internal exclusion, with his subordinates paying lip service while deliberately causing trouble within the rules.
It can be said that the reason Lucius and Draco hold such disdain and hatred for Muggle blood largely stems from him.
He quietly said, "You haven't forgotten about... that person in Knockturn Alley, have you? If he were to be drawn out, would we have any good outcomes?"
Lucius I seemed somewhat apprehensive about "that person," his tone no longer as confident, "That person... has not emerged for so many years. During the upheavals of Grindelwald and Voldemort, he didn't take any action... Could it be that he has died? Or perhaps for some reason, he is restricted from appearing at will?"
"That person" seemed to be a taboo topic; after mentioning him, every portrait fell silent.
Finally, the highest-ranking ancestor, Nicolas, spoke. As soon as he began, everyone else quieted down to listen intently, "Lucius II, it seems you have already come to a conclusion—wanting to let the two heirs place their bets in two camps. We are all dead, and aside from giving some advice, we can't do anything practical. What is your purpose in telling us this?"
"The situation is like this. Betting on both sides was originally a good idea, but back then... how should I put it, I was anxious and performed the family head inheritance ceremony for my two sons. Now Draco has been designated as the next family head..." Lucius stammered.
"What?" Draco shouted, "I'm the next head of the family? Why have you never mentioned this to us, Father?"
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