Malfoy in Action

Voldemort was gone to greet Headmaster Sprout, and Malfoy Manor was bustling with activity.

The manor's owner, Lucius Malfoy, had decided on a grand banquet at the last minute, and within two days, over a dozen wizarding families had joined.

The beautiful, spacious manor gardens were covered in a golden-brown carpet, a long table was laden with warm food, and garlands adorned the trees.

Children, led by Draco Malfoy, ran and played between the gardens, woods, and castle, while the adults chatted in small groups.

And the manor's owner, Lucius Malfoy, stood before the manor's exquisite wrought-iron gates, awaiting his esteemed guests.

Behind the castle lay a series of low, dark terraced houses, containing stables and warehouses. The most spacious of these warehouses held seven silent adults.

"Old Goyle, why are we here?"

The only woman among the seven spoke, asking Old Goyle, who was fiddling with his wand, "Normally, when we come to Malfoy Manor, we're invited into the castle."

Old Goyle was taken aback by the question. He looked at Old Crabbe in confusion, but the latter's expression was equally bewildered.

"There must be a reason, Alecto. Just wait," Old Goyle replied coldly, seeing that his companion didn't know the reason either.

"And how long do we have to wait?" Alecto asked, still dissatisfied.

This was a question Old Goyle could answer. He coughed, drawing everyone's attention, before speaking again.

"After Mr. Malfoy has met with Minister Fudge."

"He's here too?" The speaker was a man with a hooked nose. He snorted disdainfully, "Malfoy always gets mixed up with them, but what's the point?"

"Watch your words, Young Avery," Old Goyle said sternly. "You should show Mr. Malfoy the respect he deserves."

Young Avery pouted and said nothing, but his expression said it all.

"Old Goyle, do you know why Malfoy wants us?" asked a person dressed as raggedly as Alecto.

He was Amicus Carrow, brother to Alecto Carrow. Both were escapees from Azkaban.

"No," Old Goyle said, choosing his words carefully.

"It's probably for something interesting," Young Avery, the youngest and most active among them, said. "We're all here, aren't we?"

As he spoke, he rolled up the sleeve of his left arm, revealing a dark, indistinct mark.

The others looked, but said nothing.

Silence fell again in the warehouse, and everyone waited quietly until, not long after, Lucius Malfoy, clad in a luxurious wizarding robe, walked in.

"My friends, thank you for waiting."

He waved his wand, conjuring a chair for himself and sitting down. "Goyle, Crabbe, Alecto, Amicus, Young Avery, Nott, Macnair—my most trusted companions."

He called each person's name, making eye contact and nodding. After naming everyone, he paused for a long moment, piquing everyone's curiosity.

"I have received orders from the Dark Lord."

A simple sentence caused all seven to rise in surprise.

"Really?" Alecto was the first to ask. "The Dark Lord is summoning us?"

"Calm down, sit,"

Malfoy said calmly. "We have two tasks. The first is easy to handle. I will assign it to the Carrow siblings later and provide them with enough Polyjuice Potion."

Everyone took a deep breath, trying to calm down, and sat down.

Only Alecto Carrow spoke excitedly, "If it is the Dark Lord's command, I will gladly give my life to complete it."

"I swear by Malfoy's honor, it is indeed the Dark Lord's command," Malfoy said earnestly. He then added to Alecto, "But you must speak more quietly. The banquet is a cover. I don't want them to know of the master's return."

Alecto was still excited but finally nodded, sitting down with restraint—though her body squirmed restlessly, making her look like she had ADHD.

"The second task is more difficult. We need to rob Gringotts."

The statement made all seven gasp.

"Will the master... be involved?" Young Avery voiced everyone's thoughts.

If Voldemort was involved, let alone robbing Gringotts, they wouldn't consider attacking the Ministry, Hogwarts, or Azkaban to be a problem.

But if Voldemort wasn't involved—they had to make such a guess, because the master's absence from the scene surely meant he hadn't truly returned yet.

"No, but we don't actually need to rob anything. Just put on a show."

Seeing the obvious relief on their faces, Malfoy suppressed the urge to laugh—he had been just as startled by Voldemort on the phone earlier.

Satisfying his mischievous impulse, Malfoy explained the task details more thoroughly and asked everyone who could enter Gringotts to familiarize themselves with it over the next two days.

The Carrow siblings definitely couldn't, so Malfoy kept them behind after the others left.

"Here is the Polyjuice Potion. Track those two drunks and erase their memories."

After assigning the task, Malfoy handed over two bottles of potions and instructed, "The master said not to pay attention to the content of their memories. Just modify them roughly, understand?"

"Understood," Alecto said, licking her lips with a hint of madness in her expression.

This made Malfoy look at her brother with concern. Compared to her, the Carrow elder brother appeared more normal, though still very different from ordinary people.

"There won't be any problems, Lucius. We're people who can escape from Azkaban," the Carrow elder brother said.

Only then did Malfoy nod in reassurance, then pointed behind the warehouse. "There's a small path back there. You can leave from there."

The two nodded, then left the warehouse and walked away down the path.

After dealing with everything, Malfoy also left. On his way to the garden, he encountered his son Draco and his friends.

"Father," Draco ran over with his friends and asked him, "What exactly is the Hogwarts admission ceremony? We all want to know."

Lucius's slightly heavy heart became lighter at this question.

"It's a secret."

He paused, tapping his serpent-headed wooden staff, and bent down mysteriously, saying, "But I can tell you, it's very dangerous."

A group of children, scared by him, swallowed in unison and then scattered and ran away.

"You're lying to me, Father," Draco said, his eyes wide. "You always squint when you lie."

Lucius was taken aback; he hadn't noticed this little habit of his.

"So smart, Draco. How should I reward you?" Lucius said, raising his wooden staff.

"You can't hit me," Draco shouted, turning and running towards his friends.

Lucius naturally didn't chase after him. He just stood in place, smiling as he watched his son's retreating back.

"This is the first time you've smiled happily since you received that letter."

A voice asked. Without looking back, Malfoy knew it was his wife:

Narcissa Malfoy.

"Seeing the children, you see hope, don't you?" He turned around, put his arm around his wife's waist, and walked towards the front yard.

"You should share secrets with me, not bear everything alone," Narcissa leaned her head slightly against her husband's body and whispered, "Those people gathering together, I know what it means."

"I knew I couldn't hide it from you, but I still don't want to tell you."

Malfoy stopped and held his wife in his arms, saying, "I'll handle things outside alone. You just need to take good care of this home."

Narcissa nodded in her husband's embrace, saying nothing more, only gently stroking his back twice with her hand.

This must have been very difficult, Lucius... Narcissa thought.