Have You Heard You're Dumbledore's Favorite Student?

"Good morning," Lucius smiled at him. "Are you here to buy books too?"

There was no need for him and Arthur to break off their relationship, since there was no conflict between them, so they maintained a harmonious facade.

In addition, Harry had a good relationship with the Weasley family, so Lucius forgot about the "shame of Pure-blood".

Hey, the Malfoy family ' bottom line is flexibility.

"Yes." Arthur's reply was clearly somewhat awkward.

He and Lucius were just colleagues at the Ministry of Magic; they weren't particularly close, just nodding to each other when they met.

He was really... not used to Lucius making him awkward conversation.

Fortunately, although Lucius didn't particularly like the Weasley family' treatment of Muggle, he didn't show it outwardly, so Arthur and Lucius were getting along for the time being.

"Hey, Weasley." Draco approached Ron with a cheeky grin when he saw Ron. "Look, we meet again."

"Want to eat Clean-up, huh, Malfoy?" Ron retorted, not to be outdone.

"Draco..." Lucius tapped his son with his wand again, "Be polite."

"Oh," Draco reluctantly replied, remembering the instructions his ancestor had given him before he left.

The old man said that Harry was taken care of the most by the Weasley family back then, so out of love for them, he will have a good relationship with the current Weasley family.

The wisest choice is to avoid conflict with the Weasley family as much as possible.

Our ancestors also pointed out, why must conflict occur? Why must we cling to the so-called pride of Pure-blood?

Wouldn't the best approach be to make more friends and fewer enemies?

It should be said that Draco is a child who listens to advice, especially from his own ancestors.

Coupled with the threat of beatings from his father Lucius, Draco quickly chose to follow his heart.

So what if I just want to be a little friendly with Weasley? No problem!

"Let's go, Hermione's still waiting for us," Ron said, patting Harry's hand.

"Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Yes, Hermione should be withdrawing money over at Gringotts," Ron said.

"Then..." Harry turned to Lucius, "Mr. Malfoy, shall we go together?"

He swore he was just being polite to Lucius.

But to his utter surprise, Lucius actually agreed.

"That's fine," he said.

They followed the hole in the Leaky Cauldron and disappeared into Diagon Alley.

Malfoy and his father followed behind, and Draco, looking at his father, had a strange feeling about him.

He seemed to see envy in his father's gaze as he looked at the Weasley family.

Yes, that's right, he saw envy...

He certainly wouldn't know why his father envied this family that "had so many children they couldn't afford to raise them all."

Lucius, of course, wouldn't tell him that he could afford to raise as many children as he wanted—but unfortunately, he only had one.

After walking for a while, they finally arrived at Gringotts.

Harry saw Hermione's parents standing awkwardly by the counter that spanned the entire marble hall, seemingly waiting for Hermione to introduce them.

"Hermione! Askin! Aunt Claire!" Ron happily raised his hand to greet them.

Upon seeing Ron's family, Askin Granger and his wife showed expressions of relief.

"Ron, my goodness." Askin rubbed his chest. "Is this the magical world? It's amazing—aren't you going to introduce me to your family?"

After they introduced themselves, Mr. Weasley said happily, "Ah, you're Muggle —we must have a drink! What's that you're holding? Oh, you're exchanging Muggle currency."

"Molly, look!" He turned around and Molly pointed to the ten- Pound Sterling note in Mr. Granger's hand.

"Arthur!" Aunt Molly scolded, feeling that her husband was being too unrestrained.

"Granger, we meet again." Draco, still looking like a villain, suddenly appeared in front of Hermione.

Hermione gave him a disdainful look. "Want to eat Clean-up, Malfoy?"

Draco paused for a moment upon hearing Hermione's words.

Wait a minute, why are you saying the same thing as Ron?

Lucius wore a pained expression; he could imagine just how foul-mouthed and annoying his son must be at school.

Fortunately, we didn't offend Mr. Potter.

"Miss Granger, hello." Lucius had to push Draco aside as if his son were in the way. "I am Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, and I apologize for his rudeness to you at school."

"Oh..." Hermione was a little at a loss. If Lucius had taken it too seriously, she could have retorted a bit—but Lucius apologized right away, which left her unsure of what to say.

"It's okay, it's okay," she said. "It's all in the past, and I've already... um."

"Are these your parents?" Lucius asked with interest, looking at the well-dressed Mr. and Mrs. Granger. "They're Muggle, aren't they?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy," Hermione nodded.

"I think Arthur is right, we should go to the bar with your dad for a drink later," he said with a smile.

Arthur opened his mouth behind him, wanting Lucius to go somewhere cool and stay there, but he didn't know how to say it.

As the saying goes, one doesn't hit a smiling face, especially since the two sides haven't really fallen out yet...

"Oh well, "Arthur thought dejectedly, "Let him do whatever he wants."

Harry didn't need to withdraw money, so he waited in the main hall of Gringotts.

Upon seeing Harry, Griphook was clearly stunned for a moment, but he shook his head and left, returning to sit at the counter.

Soon everyone got their money back, but Ron didn't seem too excited about the upcoming shopping trip.

They discussed it and decided to go about their own business first. Percy muttered that he wanted to buy a new Quill, while Molly and Ginny went to a store that sold old robes.

As for Arthur, he insisted on taking the Granger family and Lucius to the Leaky Cauldron for a drink.

His curiosity about the Muggle world outweighed his dislike for Lucius, so he had no reason to resist having Lucius sitting next to him.

Hey, it's just one more person.

After Lucius offered to treat him, Arthur became noticeably more enthusiastic.

After everyone else left, Draco joined Harry's trio.

Draco, Ron, and Hermione stared at each other, none of them willing to give in.

"What trick are you up to now?" Hermione asked Draco with disdain.

"Granger, I need to correct you. I wasn't playing any tricks." Draco reached up and smoothed his slicked-back hair. "I admit, I was a bit unfriendly last school year, so I've decided to turn over a new leaf."

"Really?" Ron asked.

"Of course it's true, besides, I can't beat you guys." Draco sighed.

The power that Miss Merope had given him had expired. He spent almost a week at home recovering a few days ago, and he's still a bit unsteady on his feet.

To be honest, he regrets it now, he regrets it so much.

How could I have fallen for Miss Merope's trick in the first place? Letting her absorb Life Force —now look what happened!

Fortunately, I turned back in time, otherwise...

Draco grew increasingly frightened. What if he really did get sucked to death? His mother would be heartbroken.

"Then you'll just stay behind us quietly and not say a word." Hermione was still a little skeptical. "Okay, let's go buy some ice cream first."

"I'll pay," Draco said quickly.

Such an opportunity to impress my great-uncle is rare. What if he gets pleased and teaches me a few of his signature Charms? That would be...

The wealthy Draco bought four chocolate, raspberry, and nut ice creams at Florin Fosco Ice Cream Shop, which immediately lessened Ron and Hermione's hostility towards him.

Of course, Draco was just a smart aleck and was always the one who got beaten up, so in terms of the degree of hatred between them, it wasn't that deep.

When they passed the Quidditch broom shop, Draco and Ron were so engrossed in their work that they couldn't move.

This is one of their few shared hobbies.

"That broom is really nice— Nimbus 2001," Draco exclaimed. "Harry, do you think if I got my dad to donate a Nimbus 2001 to every member of the Slytherin team, Captain Flint would let me join the team?"

"You're crazy," Ron retorted sarcastically. "Isn't it better to rely on your own abilities? Why do you have to pay to get into the school team? I think you're just wasting your money, Malfoy."

"What else? That's just the spirit of Slytherin." Draco shrugged and said helplessly, "To get into the school team, individual ability alone isn't enough; you also need some off-field factors."

"I suggest you give up on that idea, Drama-K," Hermione called out Draco's nickname again. "Money should be spent on useful things, not meaningless ones..."

"Don't call me Drama-K!" Draco snapped, his defenses crumbling.

"Alright, alright, we won't call them then." Hermione shrugged, pulling Ron, who was still looking at the Charlie's Cannons uniforms, up. "Come on, Ron, you've been watching here for half an hour!"

Ron reluctantly stood up and followed Hermione sheepishly forward.

As they passed a Second-hand Bookshop, they saw Percy sitting at the entrance, holding a worn-out book that read "How Prefects Gain Power".

"The Prefect of Hogwarts and the professions they pursue after leaving school," Ron read aloud from the back cover, "Sounds intriguing, but—just one book?"

"Get out of here!" Percy shooed Ron away impatiently, like herding a duck.

"Actually, I think watching TV series is better than reading this book, Percy." Hermione looked at Percy with a complicated expression. She didn't think this Prefect's book could have any substance. "If I were you, I would study a few Muggle TV series—like 'Yes, Minister' or 'Yes, Prime Minister.' I think those two shows perfectly capture the political landscape of our country, and they would be just as good even in the Magical World."

"Really?" Percy put down his book with suspicion.

After all, Hermione was Academic Bully, and based on the principle that Academic Bully appreciate each other, he was still willing to believe Hermione's words.

"Of course, if you're interested, I'll find you two memoirs—well, the ones Bernard wrote—which I think will be very helpful for your understanding of politics," Hermione said to Percy.

Percy was overjoyed and quickly thanked Hermione.

After they left, Ron whispered, "I think Percy has always wanted to be Minister for Magic; he's just too obsessed with being in power."

"There's nothing wrong with pursuing power, it's just a matter of knowing how to do it," Harry said with a rather meaningful tone.

"That makes a lot of sense. Who said that?" Draco asked, trying to be the straight man.

"Your ancestors," Harry said.

He wasn't lying to Draco, after all, it was indeed Mr. Septimus who said those words.

Well... that was during the summer after fourth grade, when Septimus was educating his son Ignatius Malfoy, Harry was fortunate enough to sit next to him and Cassandra to listen in.

"Alright, we need to go to Flourish and Blotts." Hermione glanced at her watch. "It's almost time."

A large crowd had gathered outside Flourish and Blotts, some carrying books and others empty-handed, all seemingly trying to squeeze into the store.

A long banner was hanging upstairs that read, "[Gilderoy Lockhart's autobiography, 'Magical Me,' for sale today from 12:30 PM to 4:30 PM]"

"It's him! He's signing books!" Hermione exclaimed, her hands clasped in a gesture of excitement.

Taking advantage of their size, they squeezed through the crowd.

Most of the people in the crowd were witches of Molly's age, probably Lockhart's "mommy fans".

As I squeezed through, Lockhart was in front of me, posing for photos, his white teeth flashing as he smiled.

To be honest, he is indeed quite handsome, I have to admit.

"You've finally arrived—" Molly spotted the children.

But before she could call the children over, Lockhart, with his sharp eyes, spotted Harry in the crowd.

"Good heavens, look who's here!" Lockhart stood up, his eyes gleaming. "Isn't that Harry Potter?"

He parted the crowd, walked over, grabbed Harry's arm, and pulled him up without saying a word.

"Smile, Harry, why don't you smile?" Lockhart whispered in his ear.

For some reason, Harry felt that Lockhart in front of him... didn't seem so friendly to him?

Harry thought about it carefully several times, but he couldn't remember when he had ever had a falling out with Lockhart.

"I think we can be on the front page of the photoshoot, Harry," Lockhart said with a chuckle. "But before that, I have one more question for you."

"You mean, Mr. Lockhart?" Harry asked politely, subtly trying to break free from Lockhart's control.

But Lockhart was an adult and much stronger. He didn't give Harry a chance to escape, and instead whispered something in his ear.

"I heard... you're Dumbledore's favorite student?"

(The next chapter will be in a little while, it's not finished yet.)