"Mm..."
Strictly speaking, Sirius hadn't wanted to greet him. After all, he truly disliked the Malfoy family and had no feelings for his own sister either.
But nothing could be taken too strictly. For instance, although the Malfoy family hadn't said so openly, they had secretly defected to Dumbledore's side. That meant the Malfoy family and he were, in a sense... allies now.
With that connection in place, even if he didn't want to say hello, he had to.
Sirius pursed his lips awkwardly and nodded.
Lucius said nothing upon seeing Sirius and didn't bother making things awkward. He led his family to their seats.
Kayson, meanwhile, successfully snuffed out his urge to watch the drama. His eyelid twitched, and he smoothed his eye mask back into place before returning to his self-imposed hibernation.
Soon, another familiar voice rang out. Percy was lavishly praising an official named Barty Crouch, even though Barty Crouch didn't seem to have arrived yet...
Kayson was puzzled. Strictly speaking, Barty Crouch should have been Fudge's... political rival. Though things hadn't actually reached that point, whether it was their previous contest for Minister or other matters—even Sirius's exoneration—there had been plenty of friction between the two.
So why was Percy, Fudge's assistant, loudly singing Barty Crouch's praises at a time like this? Didn't he know about their relationship? Or had no senior at the Ministry of Magic warned him?
Who knew...
Kayson only knew that the opening performances by the two countries' mascots were extremely... spirited. Several young wizards in the box nearly took a running dive straight out of it—Harry, Neville, Ron, and Draco among them.
Draco had his father's teachings to keep him in line, but the other three weren't so fortunate. Hermione was lecturing them sternly. "Can't you show a little restraint? Be