The Son of an Old Friend, Draco Seeks Education

"I remember Tom seemed to be short on money."

The Greengrass family could lack anything, but the one thing they never lacked was money.

If she used funding Tom as a pretext, could she get closer to him?

"Mother once said, men can never resist temptation..."

If she let Tom taste a little sweetness, perhaps in the future it wouldn't be her seeking Tom out, but Tom coming to her on his own.

At this moment, Daphne's heart was deeply conflicted.

She very much hoped Tom would seek her out for more conversations, but she also didn't want him to come to her solely for monetary gain.

"Building interpersonal relationships is really such a hassle..."

Though troubled, Daphne still got moving, starting by writing a letter home asking for money first.

But she had already asked her family for a broomstick before, and now she was asking for a large sum of money... she would have to carefully think about her wording.

Meanwhile.

The Potions Professor's Office.

Snape was fuming right now, standing before him a row of young Aurors.

"A whole day! An entire day! What have you lot been doing with yourselves?!"

So many Aurors had searched Hogwarts inside and out countless times, yet they hadn't found a single trace of the thief.

My potions, my Galleons!

Wolfsbane root, 1 Galleon per piece; peppermint, 4 for 1 Galleon...

These weren't just Galleons, and even more so, some ingredients were rarely seen on the market, essentially priceless but without a seller.

Even as a professor, he had to pull strings to buy them.

And then a thief instantly stole a large portion of his stock, and the key point was that many of them were poisons—who knew what that thief planned to do with them?

"W-we're terribly sorry." A young Auror bowed his head deeply, like a child who had made a mistake.

Suddenly, he came to his senses.

Wait, I've already graduated, why am I still afraid of this old bat?

He immediately wanted to step forward and clash with Snape.

"Sna—"

"What?" Snape's gloomy face instantly turned to him.

The young Auror's words, originally on the tip of his tongue, seemed caught in his throat, unable to force out a single syllable.

There was no helping it; having been disciplined by Snape for so long, the instinct of fear was already branded deep in his heart.

"A bunch of useless trash, get out of my sight! I really don't know how you lot managed to pass your N.E.W.T.s."

One by one, the Aurors filed out, not a single one looking back, without a hint of hesitation.

As they left, they even closed the door behind them.

The search had only lasted a day; if no clues were found today, they would have to go back and report tonight.

"Damn it!" Snape slammed his fist hard on the desk.

He felt his heart bleeding.

He swore to heaven that if he ever found out who stole his materials, he would take a vicious revenge.

He would personally force-feed that bastard an entire crate of Fat Tongue Potion.

Knock knock knock!!

A knock came at the door.

"Forgetful lot, did you leave something behind in my office?" Snape's voice was as stern as ever.

"It's me, Malfoy."

"?" Snape looked up. "Come in."

Soon, a small figure pushed open the door and entered the room.

"What is it?" Snape's demeanor had noticeably softened compared to before.

Among all the students, if he had to say who he liked the most, besides Harry Potter, it would be Draco Malfoy.

Not because of anything Draco had done, but because his father, Lucius Malfoy, had once helped him, repeatedly stopping James and the others from bullying him during his own student days.

Now that it was his turn to teach Lucius's son, Snape naturally intended to repay that debt of gratitude.

"I want to learn spells, please teach me!"

Draco clenched his small fists tightly, his face full of determination.

"Why?" Snape was curious.

Lucius's child seemed like a very assertive kid, often playing with the pure-blood noble scions on a daily basis, so there was no need to worry about bullying at all—though lately, he had been spending less time with his little friends.

And wasn't he the Potions professor himself?

"Because I want to defeat Tom."

"Oh~ Did he bully you?" A flicker of ruthlessness flashed in Snape's eyes.

"Well... not exactly..." Draco's hands dropped.

He had stood up his companions again recently, failing to ambush Tom at night, which had further strained his relationships with them.

Now, if he tried to propose another night raid, no one would listen to him anymore.

Even Crabbe and Goyle, who were closest to him, seemed to be distancing themselves.

Right—since they weren't in the same dormitory as him, it was easy for the neighboring room to sway them.

At this point, he could no longer rely on mere verbal finesse to re-enter the group. So... he would have to use strength.

As long as he was strong enough, everyone would praise him, and those who had distanced themselves would naturally come back to his side.

The Dueling Club was his best chance.

"I understand..." Snape, through eye contact, seemed to have more or less guessed the other's thoughts.

Like father, like son—Lucius and Draco were quite similar in temperament.

"If you want to defeat Tom in the Dueling Club, it's not actually difficult, because the rules clearly state that wizard duels cannot use fists."

He knew Tom had a monstrous physical strength, but that didn't mean his spells were as formidable as his body.

Draco, on the other hand, had the Malfoy family's inheritance; his foundation in spells was very solid, and learning a few offensive curses wouldn't be hard.

He could easily achieve excellent results in the club's practical duels.

"I... don't have much confidence."

The Train Battle had truly shaken Draco's faith in his own spells. He was very sure he had successfully cast the Leg-Locker Curse, but Tom had simply walked toward him anyway.

And during Flying Class, he had witnessed Tom's outstanding talent, coupled with that terrifyingly obsessive work ethic.

A month later...

Heaven knew how strong that guy would become.

To achieve his goal, he had to find a teacher and study properly.

And Snape had a good relationship with his family—he occasionally saw him come to the Malfoy manor for afternoon tea with his father.

"Alright." Snape nodded gently, agreeing.

Since it was the son of an old friend asking him for help, he naturally couldn't refuse.

Besides...

He also wanted to see Tom get taken down a peg.

That kid had nearly embarrassed him in the very first Potions class, showing no respect for his teacher—he needed to have his arrogance curbed.

And that guy even shared the same name as his nemesis.

Perfect timing—Draco was an excellent ally.

Dumbledore had warned him not to confront Tom directly, but Draco was different.

A classmate defeating a classmate in a formal match—that didn't break any rules at all.

"Really!" Draco was overjoyed.

"That's right. We'll start right now." Snape's mood suddenly improved considerably.

He stood up immediately, intending to lead Draco to the Charms classroom.

That room had plenty of teaching aids, suitable for spell training.