Lucius's Confusion

"The Malfoy Family once stood on the side of Voldemort, so even though we are both pure-blood families in Slytherin, the relationship between our two houses is not particularly good, and we rarely interact. Besides, even without that history, I doubt we would get along—though it is unbecoming to gossip behind one's back, I must say, that family hasn't done many decent things throughout history..."

"Their manor primarily cultivates various herbs and magical woods; while the quality is generally not as good as the greenhouses at Hogwarts or the Ollivander family's stock, they do have their own unique strengths..."

Two days later at Shafiq Manor, Baron, dressed in a proper suit, was whispering to Avada to provide some background on the Malfoy Family. Mr. and Mrs. Shafiq were sitting upright in the living room, with old Charlie standing nearby alongside another house-elf Avada didn't recognize—although the two families rarely interacted, the relationship wasn't exactly "bad," and since they were coming with a business opportunity, they deserved the proper respect.

Finally, the doorbell chimed. Old Charlie waved his hand, and the two large doors swung outward, revealing three figures:

The middle-aged man in the lead was lean and pale, with long, pale-gold hair. He held a cane decorated with a snake head and wore a faint smile—it was Lucius Malfoy. Standing to his right was the tall Narcissa Malfoy, and the golden-haired boy with a slicked-back hairstyle that Narcissa was holding onto was, naturally, Draco Malfoy.

Avada sighed inwardly: the Malfoy couple were dressed formally, carried themselves with poise, and wore pleasant, gentle smiles, looking nothing like the detestable figures from the original story. Even Draco Malfoy stood straight and still, merely looking around at everything with curiosity.

This made him feel a bit absurd: in the original story, Lucius would glare at even Dumbledore and occasionally trip him up—and that was back when Voldemort hadn't even been resurrected yet.

While musing to himself, he stood up along with the Shafiq family, but he didn't go forward to greet them like the others, only taking two steps forward.

"Long time no see, Mr. Malfoy, truly a long time—when was the last time we met?" Mr. Shafiq walked forward with a smile and shook hands with Lucius.

"The last time we met... it was at the trial court. I was facing charges of being a Death Eater at the time, and you were a member of the jury, witnessing my innocence in the end."

Lucius responded gently, a look of reminiscence on his face: "Even now, I don't want to recall that time: being controlled by the Imperius Curse, living in a daze, with maddening whispers in my ears every single moment. And when I finally woke up, I was surrounded by Aurors, pointing their wands at me, calling me a Death Eater..."

"Oh, apologies, I've been rambling. Let me introduce you; this is my wife, Narcissa Malfoy; and this is my son..."

He patted Draco on the back, signaling him to step forward: "Draco Malfoy, he is about to enter Hogwarts this year... Draco, say hello to Mr. Shafiq."

"Hello, Mr. Shafiq!" Draco bowed somewhat stiffly, though his tone was very respectful.

"Good boy."

Mr. Shafiq patted his shoulder and turned to look at his own wife and son: "This is my wife, Joan Shafiq, and this is my son, Baron..."

"This Baron is the top of his grade; you should learn a thing or two from him."

Lucius said this to Draco, which earned a great deal of "you're too kind" back and forth.

"This is K, a friend of Baron's at Hogwarts. He's been staying at my house for the past few days and will be coming with us to Diagon Alley." Mr. Shafiq turned and beckoned to Avada, asking him to come forward and greet the Malfoy family as well.

"K?"

After Avada greeted them, a look of confusion appeared in Lucius's eyes: "Just a single name?"

"It is best not to ask for his real name, Mr. Malfoy."

Mr. Shafiq's expression suddenly turned serious, and Mrs. Shafiq and Baron behind him lowered their heads—afraid of being caught stifling a laugh.

"Why is that?" Lucius asked.

"His name is a taboo, a taboo that even Dumbledore avoids."

Mr. Shafiq frowned, his voice very low, as if afraid of disturbing something: "This name once stirred up a bloody storm in the magical world. At the time, Dumbledore personally oversaw K's enrollment process and strictly concealed his real name after he entered the school... Believe me, Mr. Malfoy, you would not want to hear that name."

"No one would want to hear that name."

Avada: ...

He processed these words in his mind for a long time, then was surprised to find that not a single word was a lie. Mr. Shafiq had perfectly adhered to the noble virtue of honesty.

Lucius took a deep look at Avada and, saying nothing more, resumed chatting freely with Mr. Shafiq.

Little did he know, his palms were already covered in cold sweat.

He knew very well that both Dumbledore and the Shafiq family were notoriously stubborn; there was almost nothing they would consider taboo—they could even mention the Dark Lord's name without a care!

A name that once stirred up a bloody storm in the magical world, a name that could make Dumbledore feel wary, a name no one wanted to hear...

No wonder...

Lucius sighed inwardly: I never expected that, besides Harry Potter, such a person would also come to Hogwarts...

I just wonder, when did that person have a descendant?

"So, this... K, which house are you in?" Lucius leaned down and asked kindly, his voice very soft.

"...Hufflepuff."

"Hufflepuff?" Lucius was very surprised—this was somewhat different from what he had imagined, but after a moment of thought, he found it reasonable.

Yes, that must be it. Dumbledore must have arranged his life from childhood to adulthood, twisting his personality to erase the traces of that person as much as possible...

"Hufflepuff, I see, that is a fine house..." Lucius desperately recalled everything he knew about Gryffindor before finally offering a compliment to Hufflepuff: "Then, do you find the academic pressure at Hogwarts to be high? Do you encounter any difficulties?"

"Uh... it's alright, everything is quite simple."

Avada watched the changes in Lucius's spiritual energy—a curve of "shock—realization—shock—realization—probing"—and combined with Mr. Shafiq's honest words, he could roughly guess what he was thinking.

Mr. Shafiq had tipped him off in advance, and Avada also believed that such a mysterious and suggestive statement would save him a lot of trouble—at the very least, Lucius would certainly warn his son not to provoke him, so that the ill-tempered Draco Malfoy wouldn't give him any trouble at school.

As for who Lucius might associate him with, whether it was Grindelwald or someone else... he could guess for himself.

"K almost took first place in his year."

Mr. Shafiq said with a smile: "He only unfortunately got one question wrong on his Astronomy exam and lost one point; otherwise, he would have been tied for first place with Baron."

As expected, it seems he inherited that person's talent. No wonder Dumbledore values him so much...

Lucius became even more certain of his guess and smiled kindly: "Truly remarkable. I am also very glad that Draco will have two such excellent seniors after he enrolls—Draco, you must learn well from Baron and K in the future."

"I understand, Father."

Draco nodded, feeling completely bewildered. Although he knew that being first in the grade or nearly first was impressive, he couldn't shake the feeling that his father's behavior just now had been rather strange.

For instance, he had always looked down on Hufflepuff, yet just now, he had offered a few words of praise, which was unprecedented; and then there was the way he had seemed somewhat nervous while asking that "K" questions...

What exactly was his background? Could he possibly be more noble than the prestigious Malfoy Family?

"Well then, Mr. Malfoy, it is about time. Shall we head to Diagon Alley together now? I could show you the display stand for the new broomsticks while we're there."

Mr. Shafiq asked with a smile, and Lucius nodded in agreement: "I can hardly wait."