The Childhood Sweetheart Can't Beat the Newcomer

Harry stared blankly at the envelope in his hand, speechless for a long time.

His throat bobbed, and his throat felt incredibly sore.

If this were a message from Cassandra, filled with insults directed at him, he wouldn't be so upset.

but...

In his memory, Cassandra had always been a proud girl.

She is a proud young lady who is well protected by her father and brothers.

He had never seen Cassandra sad, much less shed Cassandra tear. She was always as dazzling as the sun, making it impossible for anyone to look directly at her.

However...

Harry remained silent for a long time, then took the envelope and walked to the window.

The night breeze gently caressed his disheveled black hair, and the moonlight was as soft as water. Harry looked up, trying to see Cassandra's shadow through the bright moon.

Through the bright moon, Harry seemed to see the girl whose pride had been shattered, helplessly hugging her legs, holding the letter and reading it over and over again until tears soaked the entire sheet of paper.

Why...

Harry felt a sharp, throbbing pain in his heart.

The portraits of Draco and Septimus watched Harry's retreating figure without making a sound to disturb him.

Draco had no idea what had happened, but Septimus knew the whole story.

Standing by the window, Harry gazed intently at the bright moon in the sky.

He recalled every moment he spent with Cassandra at school, and no matter what, he couldn't imagine that such a proud and confident young lady would one day be hiding in her room and crying secretly.

Suddenly, he felt very sad.

If he hadn't been careless and been hit by Runcorn, he wouldn't have returned to 1991.

In that case, would Cassandra still be that proud girl who was protected by her family?

Veratia will not be frozen in time, but will witness her brother's growth in Nurmengard Castle.

Perhaps, he can also prevent Pabbie from becoming Unicorn.

"Potter."

Septimus spoke.

Harry snapped out of his daze and turned to look at the portrait.

"I remember besides Cass, you also knew another girl at school, right?" Septimus said. "If I'm not mistaken, it was Miss Grindelwald from the Austro-Hungarian Empire..."

Upon hearing this, Draco once again let out a "Wow!" expression, clearly enjoying the spectacle.

Draco knew all too well what the surname Grindelwald represented.

In his view, Gellert Grindelwald, despite only having the title of "Dark Wizard," was far more powerful than the Dark Lord "Dark Lord"—this power was not reflected in personal strength, but in his comprehensive qualities, including personal charisma.

The Dark Lord unites his Death Eater through fear and intimidation, while Grindelwald uses "For the Greater Good."

Now it seems... Harry actually knew that Dark Wizard's sister or sister?

Draco felt like a badger in a melon patch, flitting about, eating melons.

"It's Verathea Grindelwald, Gellert's sister," Harry replied. "You know her?"

"Yes, that's the name. I've heard Cass mention it," Mr. Septimus scoffed.

But he twitched his lips twice, and ultimately didn't say anything.

Every Christmas, Cassandra would tell Harry that her father and brothers were too busy to stay at school, leaving her little sidekick Harry to keep her company.

Especially during the summer vacation of fifth grade, Mr. Septimus thought that his daughter would be with the Muggle boy as in previous years, but he did not expect her to come back.

After careful questioning, Cassandra's brother Ignatius learned that the boy his sister had raised for five years had been abducted by a young girl she had just met.

Upon hearing the news, Mr. Septimus, unusually, did not offer any comment, but simply kept drinking his beer.

"I heard from Cass that after you disappeared, Miss Grindelwald hid in your ' Love Nest ' and studied Time Magic, and I haven't heard from her since—"

"I think that silly girl must have tried to travel through time, just like Cass... Maybe you can find her in that ' Love Nest '."

At this point, Mr. Septimus remained silent for a long time before saying to Harry, "I hope Cass is with her. If you see her, bring her here, even if it's just her belongings, so I can see them."

Harry opened his mouth, but didn't dare tell Mr. Septimus that Cassandra wasn't in the Map Chamber or Slytherin's Study.

"Cassandra will be alright," Harry said, though he wasn't entirely sure. "Don't worry, Mr. Malfoy."

Septimus chuckled and said to Harry, "Is there anything else? If not, then get out of here."

This was a dismissal of Harry. Septimus saw that Harry hadn't let out a sharp bang, which showed he had excellent composure.

He couldn't help but recall that summer vacation when he was in third grade...

The messy-haired little boy in front of me, riding the broom Cassandra gave him, landed in the Malfoy Manor and asked if it was safe to leave the broom there.

Even though he was now a portrait, he still felt a tightness in his chest.

Quick! Where's my heart-saving Potions?!

Harry carefully folded the letter, cast a protective spell on it, and put it back behind the picture frame.

As they reached the door, Harry suddenly said, "Oh, right, Mr. Malfoy."

"Speak," Septimus said succinctly.

Harry patted Draco on the shoulder. "You go out first."

"Yes, Harry," Draco said readily.

After Draco left, Harry whispered to the portrait, "I hope you'll keep this a secret..."

"Why?" Septimus asked, squinting.

"You know, it's always troublesome to have your true identity discovered. Rather than being investigated and scrutinized, I'd rather spend my time finding your daughter," Harry said with a shrug.

Septimus glanced at him and nodded in agreement.

"Alright, I'll keep this secret for you for now. I won't even tell my descendants—"

Harry smiled with satisfaction; this was part of his quirky sense of humor.

Actually, he didn't really care that his secret was discovered; he just wanted to persecute Draco.

As Harry walked out the door, he remembered what the letter had said.

Wiltshire... Malfoy Manor is in Wiltshire. It seems that Cassandra returned to the manor before being dismissed by Trelawney, and then stole the treasure from the family treasury.

However, judging from Mr. Malfoy's behavior, he did not seem to harbor any resentment towards his daughter for stealing the treasure; on the contrary, he loved her as always.

Harry didn't intend to ask any further questions. After all, it was someone else's family matter, and he and his daughter could resolve it themselves when Cassandra returned.

well...

Cassandra.

Where is she now?

Harry felt completely lost, with no information other than knowing that she had returned to the Malfoy Manor once.

We should inquire from multiple sources.

With that thought in mind, he walked out the door.

"Harry, what did you and my great-great-grandfather talk about?" Draco asked curiously.

"It's best not to pry into the affairs of your elders."

"An elder?" Draco repeated, still unaware of the gravity of the situation.

Even though they were in the same year of junior wizarding, Harry was, after all, a classmate of his great-aunt a hundred years ago, and they were very close...

"Yeah," Harry glanced at Draco, a mischievous grin spreading across his face. "If you hadn't mentioned it, I would have forgotten—it's one thing for you to call me Harry when we're outside, but when it's just the two of us, don't you ever think about what you should call me?"

Draco's mind started racing, and he began to carefully sort out the relationships generation by generation.

Um... Cassandra is my grandfather's aunt, my father's great-aunt, and my great-great-aunt...

She and Harry have such a good relationship, and it seems she likes him.

It seems Harry is quite fond of his great-aunt...

With this thought in mind, Draco had a sudden inspiration and decided to try to please Harry.

"Great-uncle?" Draco asked tentatively.

Harry ruffled his blond hair and said, "If she hears you say that, you're in big trouble..."

"Why?" Draco asked curiously.

"We're just friends, good friends," Harry sighed.

He didn't know how to deal with his relationship with Cassandra. He sensed that Cassandra had always disliked him, and Harry had always wished that they were just friends, somewhere between good friends and friends.

But now that Cassandra has chosen to travel through time for his sake, he wonders... maybe Cassandra really considers him a good friend?

He didn't consider Draco's "liking" in that sense, and even denied it—he never thought that such a proud young lady would be interested in him.

On the other hand, he felt that thinking this way was somewhat unfair to Veratia —even though Veratia wasn't his girlfriend.

Even before he transmigrated, Harry was just a seventeen-year-old boy, which would be considered a high school student in the Muggle world.

... Well, the most important thing right now is to rescue them, Harry thought.

He didn't want to let Veratia down, and he especially didn't want to let Cassandra down.

Draco secretly gave a look of disgust.

A legendary wizard? That's all?

He's so skilled in Charms, yet he's like an idiot when it comes to emotions?

Despite his thoughts, Draco ultimately chose to remain silent.

Some things are better left unsaid; being Legilimency is a truly unpleasant experience, making your head feel like it's about to explode.

After they left Mr. Septimus's room, Draco led Harry on a two-way tour of the mansion.

Draco is clearly still a child at heart; he even tries to chase after the white peacocks in the manor.

"This is my flying broomstick from when I was a kid," Draco said to Harry, pointing to a small broom. "I'm planning to join the Quidditch team next year, but I definitely can't fly as well as you. You're amazing—hey, were you Quidditch star a hundred years ago?"

"No, the Headmaster back then was Phineas Black." Harry's expression turned complicated when he mentioned Phineas. "Headmaster Black didn't allow Quidditch Match to be held on campus."

"That's really terrible of him," Draco said angrily.

Despite being from Pure-blood families, Draco is passionately devoted to Quidditch.

Now that he heard that Headmaster Black actually wouldn't allow Quidditch matches to be held, he immediately disliked him.

Wow, this young man has a bright future ahead of him!

Harry reached out his hand.

"What's wrong?" Draco reached out and shook it twice.

"Back in our day, there was a saying—" Harry laughed, "If you hate Headmaster Black, you're our friend!"

"Indeed!" Draco nodded emphatically. "My God, I thought Dumbledore Headmaster, but I never imagined there could be Headmaster even worse..."

"Otherwise, why do you think Slytherin could get along with the other three houses back then?" Harry said with a smile. "Because we all had a common enemy, and that was Headmaster Black."

Draco smiled when he heard Harry's words.

"I think if I were Slytherin back then, I would definitely Gryffindor for the same reason."

"The Slytherin of that time was completely different from the Slytherin of today," Harry with some emotion. "Back then, Slytherin valued honor more than bloodline, and the pursuit of excellence was their goal—but now? Besides Miss Farley, how many normal people are left in Slytherin? Including you."

If Potter, a first-year student, had said those words, Draco would have argued with him fiercely.

But it was the legendary wizard Potter who said those words, Draco had almost no intention of refuting them.

"You're right." He nodded in agreement.

"So change starts with you, Draco." Harry patted him on the shoulder. "When we have time, I'll tell you about my good friends I made in Slytherin — Sebastian Saru and Ominis Gaunt."

"Alright," Harry interrupted Draco, who was about to say something more. "It's getting late, and I have a friend waiting for me to feed him at the Leaky Cauldron."

Seeing Harry's reaction, Draco could only suppress his curiosity.

"Okay, but don't forget," he said.

"Don't worry," Harry said.

After saying goodbye to the Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy, Harry used Apparition to leave Malfoy Manor.

"He truly is the Savior, isn't he?" Narcissa said softly, looking at the spot where Harry had disappeared.

Lucius nodded slightly, acknowledging Narcissa's words.

"Dad, Mom," Draco suddenly said, "He's not only the Savior, but also a legendary wizard from a hundred years ago!"

Upon hearing this, Lucius felt a surge of anger rising from nowhere.

"I think you should..."

Before he could finish speaking, Draco interrupted him.

"We just went to the room with the portrait of Great-Grandfather hanging on the wall, and he recognized him," Draco said quickly. "If you don't believe me, Mom and Dad, you can come with me and ask Great-Grandfather."

Upon hearing this, Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a glance.

Could it be... really as Little Dragon said?

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