ALL NOVEL Chapter 96: Home Visit
Midsummer vacation.
Bright and early, Draco Malfoy sprang out of his soft bed, showing no signs of the laziness typical of summer break.
After quickly freshening up, he dashed downstairs to the living room.
"Dobby, are the ingredients for lunch ready?"
"Good morning, Master Malfoy." Dobby quickly tucked away his bandaged fingers. "Everything is prepared. Once I finish cooking breakfast for the masters, I'll start on lunch."
Draco wanted to insist on starting lunch preparations immediately, but his growling stomach couldn't tolerate going without breakfast until noon.
"Alright, just remember, it must be a lavish and delicious feast, understood?"
At that moment, his mother, Narcissa Malfoy, entered the living room, stifling a yawn.
"Draco, wasn't Fawley supposed to come closer to noon?"
Draco hesitated for a moment before finding a suitable excuse.
"Well... we need to be prepared in advance. Father said this is a formal meeting with another pure-blood heir and must be taken seriously!"
He nodded solemnly to lend credibility to his words.
"But the problem is," Narcissa pointed at his lower body, "your fly isn't done up properly."
Draco quickly looked down, hurriedly turned to fix his zipper, and returned, his face now flushed.
Narcissa sat at the dining table, patting the seat beside her.
"Don't be nervous. Come, tell me about this Professor Fawley. Ever since that Minister's tenure, the Fawley family members rarely appeared in public."
"The Minister of Magic?" Draco obediently took a seat, curious. "The Professor's relatives held such prominent positions?"
"Yes, in terms of relations, that Minister was his grandfather. However, due to his passive resistance against Grindelwald, he was ousted after only ten years in office. After that, the Fawley family seldom involved themselves in magical affairs. Even during the last Dark Lord's reign, they didn't explicitly declare allegiance to us."
Draco looked at his mother in astonishment.
"Doesn't that put us at odds with them?"
Narcissa nodded ambivalently.
"Not necessarily. I think it was after that Minister stepped down, out of resentment, that he prohibited future generations of the family from getting involved in such matters."
"Or perhaps it's because they hold a grudge against the pure-bloods, so they maintain neutrality?" Draco guessed optimistically.
"But regardless of the reason, the Dark Lord has disappeared." Lucius entered the living room, reminding them solemnly.
As they continued their conversation, lunchtime drew near, and Dobby, prompted by Draco, had already prepared lunch, awaiting Tver's arrival.
Just as Draco finished checking his outfit for the fourth time, Lucius suddenly spoke up: "Fawley is outside now, Draco. Bring him in."
The Malfoy Manor was quite large, and Tver's Apparition only brought him to the gate outside the estate. There was still quite a distance to the front door of the house. So, when Draco jogged over, he was a bit out of breath when he spoke.
"Professor... Professor," he wiped his forehead but managed to say politely, "Allow me to escort you inside."
"Thank you," Tver nodded with a smile.
To accommodate Draco's back-and-forth running, he purposely slowed his pace.
"How's the summer homework coming along?"
"Um," the image of his untouched schoolbag suddenly flashed in Draco's mind, "It's challenging. I've only completed about half of it."
Tver saw through his little scheme at a glance but didn't call him out, just smiled faintly.
In reality, he knew a cruel truth—professors never actually checked summer homework!
After briefly inquiring about the students' well-being, Tver spotted the Malfoy couple standing in front of the house.
Approaching with brisk strides, Tver greeted Lucius warmly, shaking his hand with enthusiasm.
"Thank you for having me."
This was the noble etiquette he had practiced since childhood. However, his parents were always lethargic, so he never saw the point in such formalities. Of course, that didn't mean he'd be impolite.
After a perfunctory exchange of pleasantries, they entered the grand mansion.
Compared to the Fawley family's restrained manner, the Malfoy family was clearly more illustrious. Or one could say, the Malfoy family was already the most prominent among the surviving wizarding families.
Tver found himself seated at the dining table without quite knowing how he got there. As a guest, he passively accepted the host's kind arrangements.
Amidst the clinking of glasses and cutlery, the conversation flowed ceaselessly.
"I rarely see your parents in the wizarding world. What do they usually do?" Lucius inquired curiously.
Tver's parents spent more time in the Muggle world than at home, let alone in the wizarding world.
"They, um, enjoy traveling. Even I rarely see them." He opted for a tactful response.
Narcissa expressed a tinge of envy. "I wish I had the time and mindset for that. Unfortunately, there are too many family matters to attend to."
Tver was curious about what ordinary pure-blood families had to attend to. Because in his view, with house-elves to take care of things and no job, what could she possibly be busy with?
Even someone as busy as Mrs. Weasley had enough free time to knit sweaters and read books on weekdays. But this question felt a bit intrusive, so he suppressed his curiosity.
"Speaking of which, I'm quite curious, why did you choose to become a professor at Hogwarts, and in Defense Against the Dark Arts of all subjects?" Lucius asked the question that had puzzled him for two months.
The curse on this subject had existed since his school days, and for decades, no professor had managed to break the curse lasting more than a year. This position was so perilous that it was generally pursued by thrill-seekers or individuals with ulterior motives. Someone like him, the head of a pure-blood family, wouldn't touch it.
"For learning, you know, the greatest wizards in the world are at Hogwarts. Being around them allows me to learn a lot," Tver replied, not entirely lying. His mastery of Transfiguration continued to improve thanks to Dumbledore's inspiration. As for the Chamber of Secrets, the Philosopher's Stone, and Horcruxes, those were just extra bonuses.
Even though they had been on opposing sides, Lucius had to admit that Dumbledore's power was unmatched in this world.
"So, you must have had many conversations with Dumbledore?"
"Quite a few," Tver answered truthfully. He had to endure Dumbledore's lectures every week. Wasn't that quite a lot?
"What do you usually talk about?"
Tver raised an eyebrow, pretending to be casual. "A variety of things, really. Transfiguration, powerful curses, classroom techniques, and the possibility of Voldemort's return—"
"Clang."
"What was that?"
Though he couldn't see, Tver was sure his smile was brilliant right now.