A Heavy Responsibility and a Long Road Ahead

Skylar knew he had achieved his goal. Lucius was always the head of the household, and the most important thing in the whole conversation was to get him to listen to him.

Skylar countered, "Father, what do you think was the biggest reason for the Dark Lord's defeat?"

Skylar's thoughts jumped too quickly, and Lucius wasn't quite sure what Skylar meant at that moment. He hesitated and said, "Too extreme? Too crazy?"

Skylar shook his head. "The Dark Lord only wants to rule by force and conquer people's hearts with terror. The biggest difference between him and Dumbledore is that Dumbledore, like him, possessed power, but Dumbledore chose to act within the rules, while the Dark Lord acted entirely on a whim, without any rhyme or reason, so—"

"Aside from Aunt Bellatrix, Lestrange, and a few other die-hards, the Death Eaters may seem powerful, but the Dark Lord doesn't actually have many truly loyal followers. Once he's gone, the Death Eaters just run away. No one is willing to carry on his will and continue the fight. Even knowing that the Dark Lord is not dead, no one is willing to go looking for him and help him make a comeback."

Seeing Lucius's noncommittal expression, Skylar paused, then raised his voice. "I believe that we, as a powerful Pure-blood families, have absolutely no need to follow a Half-blood wizard—"

Lucius and Narcissa showed no reaction, clearly already aware of Voldemort's Half-blood origins, while Draco looked utterly shocked, his face filled with disbelief.

"In my opinion, the Dark Lord is merely using the banner of Pure-blood Supremacy to exploit the power of Pure-blood families and achieve his dream of domination. As you all saw, the first war he instigated brought no benefit to the Pure-blood families -Pure-blood families; on the contrary, it almost wiped them out of history. I think the glory of the family can no longer be placed in the hands of this loser."

Skylar continued, "Actually, it's not just us who think this way; other Pure-blood families must think similarly. If we can unite the strength of the Pure-blood families, then—even if the Dark Lord returns, what great things can a lone commander accomplish?"

Lucius roughly guessed Skylar meant. "You mean... we should unite with the other Pure-blood families?"

A glint of light flashed in Skylar's eyes, and his voice suddenly turned cold, "Those who can be united, unite; those who can be subdued, subdued; the rest, eliminate! Only one voice is needed in Pure-blood families."

Lucius gasped. Good heavens, he had never imagined that the son he had watched grow up had been hiding so much all this time... This was the pattern of him becoming the third Demon King...

He glanced at Draco, sighing inwardly. Draco had always been his preferred successor, because Draco's personality was most like his own. So, when the children were still very young, he secretly performed a family ritual using a drop of blood from one of the children.

In this ceremony, Draco was confirmed as the first in line to the head of the family, while Skylar was the second in line.

Judging from the current situation, with the main family being weak and the secondary family strong, trouble is bound to happen to the family sooner or later!

Although the two brothers, still quite young, seem to have a very close bond, like brothers, Lucius knows the power of authority to corrupt, and there's no guarantee their relationship won't change as they grow up. The problem is, Lucius only has a superficial understanding of the profound magic involved in this family ritual, and he has no ability to reverse or alter it.

Lucius's expression was very complicated, and a series of thoughts that no one else knew flashed through his mind.

Skylar, unaware of Lucius's complex inner turmoil, continued, "This is a long-term goal. In the short term, what we need to do is to quickly uphold the House of Malfoy's banner and enhance our influence in politics, business, academia, and education. We need to establish ourselves as a worthy and trustworthy role model as soon as possible. Therefore, my investment in the Cultivated Fungus Trade is of utmost urgency."

Draco was stunned by this shocking family conversation. He was speechless for a long time before slowly interjecting, "Wait a minute! Aren't you underestimating the Dark Lord's power? If he returns and we refuse to submit, will he just kill us?"

Skylar laughed, "Don't worry, this isn't something we need to concern ourselves with. Let Dumbledore and Potter worry about it! The Dark Lord has returned; even if we do nothing, someone will naturally take the lead in dealing with him... Dumbledore probably knows more than we do..."

Draco still wanted to stick to his own opinion; in his heart, the Dark Lord was the most powerful, and he didn't think defying Dark Lord was a good idea. "But..."

Skylar abruptly interrupted Draco, "Brother, think about it. Since the House of Malfoy landed in Great Britain in 1066, what has allowed them to stand strong in the Britain wizarding world for over nine hundred years? Is it just because of Pure-blood Supremacy?"

Draco raised his eyebrows. "Isn't it true? Pure-blood bestows upon us nobility, status, position, and symbolism!"

Skylar sighed. Draco's current state was certainly Lucius and Narcissa's fault, but he himself hadn't fulfilled his responsibilities as a brother. Of course, this wasn't Skylar's fault either. In his previous life, he had no children and wasn't an educator. It's common knowledge that education is easier said than done, Muggle world is full of examples of academically gifted parents raising unruly children.

Skylar carefully chose his words: "I regret to inform you, brother, that you are wrong on this point!"

Skylar's eyes shone brightly, radiating absolute confidence. "Throughout the long history of the Malfoy, there are numerous examples of intermarriage with Muggle nobles. Many of our properties and deeds were acquired from the Muggle world. Our Lucius I even held a title and noble status in the Muggle World in the 16th century. Therefore, there is no such thing as the Malfoy becoming rich and powerful solely through Pure-blood."

(Note: Lucius I in Pottermore. He cursed Queen Elizabeth I after his failed attempt to woo her, causing her to develop an aversion to marriage.)

Skylar noticed that Lucius and Narcissa both had hesitant expressions, trying not to lash out, but their tightly pursed lips betrayed their inner anger.

Skylar then changed the subject, "Do you remember the three ancestral precepts of the House of Malfoy? Let me tell you, one of them is—never put all your eggs in one basket. That's the biggest reason why the House of Malfoy has survived to this day and remained so powerful! Supporting Pure-blood theory may have brought us too many benefits over the past few centuries, to the point that we've forgotten our ancestral precepts. Now—"

"Pure-blood theory is outdated. Open your eyes and see how many Pure-blood families still exist— Gaunt is gone; Abbott no longer insists on Pure-blood; Black, Crouch, and Shafiq are practically defunct; now it's the age of Half-blood. People are more accepting of Muggle, and there are more and more cases of wizards marrying Muggle. Take our class at Hogwarts, for example—there are more Half-blood wizards and Muggle-born wizard combined than Pure-blood wizard!"

(Note: According to the author's statistics, of the "original forty" in Rowling's manuscript, 3 were Muggle-born, 14 were Pure-blood, 12 were Half-blood, and 11 Muggle-born, but their exact numbers are unknown. This sample of data can represent all wizards born in the Britain between 1979 and 1980. This shows that the combination of Muggle-born wizard and Half-blood wizards has become the backbone of wizarding society.)

"It's not wrong to want to stand in the Pure-blood camp and insist on Pure-blood Supremacy, but -- shouldn't we also consider the other camp? Shouldn't we plan ahead for the future of the family?" Skylar's words were resounding, and even Lucius couldn't refute them.

After all, Skylar's words were reasonable and well-founded. Compared to the illusory glory of the Pure-blood ideology, the House of Malfoy valued practical interests, as well as the survival and continuation of the family.

Lucius spoke calmly, "Alright! Let's leave this topic at that. Skylar, go ahead and do whatever you're thinking! I'll support you, but I also want to try to stick to my beliefs. Pure-blood families aren't as bad as you think. Of course, we can do as you said and hedge our bets. The Muggle and Half-blood wizards are your responsibility."

Seeing that Lucius shared his stance, Draco felt emboldened and stepped forward to assert his presence, saying, "Listen up, Skylar, I will prove to you that Mom and Dad are right!"

This family meeting has now come to an end.

Skylar returned to his dorm room and took a locked folder from his suitcase. He gently pricked a small hole in his left index finger with his wand, squeezing out a bead of bright red blood. He pressed the bead of blood gently against the lock, and the folder clicked open.

The folder was divided into layers of categories, each with a label written in coded language— United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Peru ... Skylar's finger stopped on the Britain category label, and he pulled out a long piece of parchment. At the top of the parchment were the names of ancient Pure-blood families.

Death Eaters factions:

Black (crossed out)

Carrow (draws stars)

Lestrange

Avery

Selwyn

Yaxley

Burke (check mark)

Rosier

Rowle

Travers

Nott (check mark)

Neutral factions:

Flint

Bulstrode (drawing stars)

Parkinson's Parkinson (check the box)

Fawley

Shafiq (check the box)

Macmillan

Abbott

Greengrass (check the box)

Crouch (drawing stars)

Ollivander

Slughorn (drawing stars)

Order of the Phoenix Factions:

Weasley (crossed out)

Prewett (crossed out)

Longbottom (crossed out)

Shacklebolt (crossed out)

Seeing this, Skylar sighed softly. It seemed the road ahead was still long and arduous. "Alas, time waits for no one!"

If everything unfolds as depicted in the original story, Voldemort will officially return at the end of this semester. Although Malfoy Manor won't be immediately requisitioned as the Death Eaters' headquarters, it's certain that Death Eaters will be coming and going, which, in a sense, makes it practically the same as headquarters.

Skylar gently placed the parchment back into the Britain section of the folder, his gaze sweeping over the next section, the France section, a thoughtful expression on his face...

There is also a saying in France about the Twelve Blood Families, but the France branch of the Lestrange family has long since died out, and now only 11 families remain. If you really want to trace their lineage, they also have quite a bit of connection with the House of Malfoy, after all, the first generation of the House of Malfoy came to Great Britain from France with the Duke of Normandy.

(Note: The France Pure-blood families is not a fictional creation of the author, but is extracted from the official Lestrange family tree. Anyone who can marry into the Lestrange family, who holds extreme Pure-blood beliefs, must also be Pure-blood.)

With Lucius's help and connections, Skylar spent a full 15,000 Galleon to acquire the Cultivated Fungus Trade.

[Cultivated Fungus Trade completed!]

The cultivation garden for magical mushrooms was left to the family's illegitimate descendants. Skylar was very fortunate to be born into the House of Malfoy; the family never lacked talent in business and management. Otherwise, just managing this business would have taken up a lot of his time. Look at Ollivander, the dignified boss still had to personally oversee the store! In the original story, the Weasley Twins even had to personally make every prank product!

Then, through Lucius's connections, Skylar approached the wizard merchant Ali Bashir.

Bashir is a wizarding merchant who imports magical items. Skylar heard that Bashir recently wanted to introduce the Magic Flying Carpet to the Britain market, but was repeatedly thwarted because it did not comply with Britain law— Arthur Weasley's reason for refusing was that the Magic Flying Carpet was defined as Muggle handicraft on the Registry of Proscribed Charmable Objects, and was therefore prohibited.

Skylar was impressed by Bashir's experience and talent in international trade, and Bashir was also actively seeking opportunities to make money. The two quickly reached an agreement and signed a series of binding magical contracts—Bashir would assist Skylar in importing certain foreign magical herbs, such as Abyssinian Shrivelfig, North American Snakewood, Chinese Chomping Cabbage, and Assyrian Mimbulus Mimbletonia...

These trades are actually not very profitable. First of all, the International Magical Trade Standards Association takes a considerable amount of tax, and the sales network is limited to a few monopolistic chain pharmacies in the Britain. The price suppression is also unavoidable.

But the wealthy Skylar didn't care about such a small amount of money. He wanted to establish a solid relationship of interests with Bashir through these collaborations in advance. In the chaotic world to come, Skylar would need people who were proficient in international trade, and Bashir's talents would come in handy at that time.

In the remaining time, Skylar devoted himself to studying Ravenclaw's books and research notes. As he delved deeper into his studies, he gained more and more insights into the methods for resolving the Blood Curse mentioned in the research notes.

It was a profound and complex sealing seal that could seal away the power of the curse without harming the Maledictus.

The method was highly feasible, and his magical skill was sufficient to execute it successfully. He carefully analyzed and broke down the entire casting process, even making bold improvements based on Ravenclaw's theories. Finally, he memorized each step and practiced it repeatedly until he could do it with ease.