The Difference in Bloodlines

Skylar and Dino returned to the camp.

Upon seeing Skylar's ashen face, the Greengrass sisters knew that his trip had been fruitless.

"Skylar," Daphne mustered her courage, walked towards Skylar, and hugged him Skylar, "Please don't do this. You still have us. Together, we can definitely save May."

Astoria bit her lower lip and obediently leaned against Skylar's back, putting her hands around Skylar waist and quietly hugging Skylar. "Skylar, I'm here for you. I will study hard and I won't be a burden to you anymore..." Her voice even trembled slightly as she finished speaking.

"Daphne... Tori..." Skylar felt a pang of pity. "I don't blame you. I only hate myself for not being more decisive back then... I should have used forbidden spells on them..."

A cold glint flashed in Skylar's eyes. Lockhart was dead, and the other two men in black were dead too, but the trail hadn't died down. He already had a suspect in mind among the three who had escaped; all that was needed was confirmation.

Next time, he won't hold back. He'll make the Shadow of the Magic Dragon regret provoking him and show it his fury!

After an unknown amount of time, Gareth returned to the camp, looking exhausted.

The Ministry of Magic has opened a file on this matter and handed it over to the Auror Office for investigation. Gareth has also promised to mobilize the entire family's resources to conduct the investigation, after all, Meredith is, in a sense, his daughter. However, he is not optimistic about the outcome of the investigation. The Shadow of the Magic Dragon is far too low-profile and mysterious; Gareth had never heard of this organization before.

Morganton, the Greengrass Family's butler, had served the family for twenty years, and before this, he had never imagined that Morganton could be a spy.

Gareth had trusted him implicitly in the past, which had allowed Morganton to learn many of the family's secrets, and now Gareth was quite troubled.

According to Gareth, Morganton was a young man he had saved by chance many years ago while he was out. To repay the debt, Morganton stayed with the Greengrass Family and served them. He had been diligent and loyal for the past twenty years, which is why he had won Gareth's complete trust.

If the encounter between Morganton and Gareth wasn't accidental, it would represent a terrifying fact: the Shadow of the Shadow of the Magic Dragon's power is far greater than imagined, and its plans are far more far-reaching than thought. It's possible that not only the Greengrass Family, but also many other prominent wizarding families have been infiltrated by this organization.

This is by no means unfounded worry. The other two deceased were both figures of considerable standing in well-known wizarding families.

This enemy, who did not appear in the original book, is more troublesome than imagined, and may even be more difficult to deal with than Voldemort.

But the biggest question is, why did they kidnap Meredith?

Meredith's family had absolutely no profit to be gained—after becoming affiliated with the Greengrass Family, Gareth had visited Shafiq's ancestral home, which contained almost nothing of value, not even a Chamber of Secrets. As the last descendant, Meredith couldn't possibly be unaware of Chamber of Secrets if one existed, and given their understanding of her, the likelihood of Meredith deceiving them was extremely low.

"Unless..." Gareth and Skylar simultaneously thought of a terrifying conjecture.

Daphne asked anxiously, "Unless what?"

Gareth and Skylar exchanged a glance, and finally Skylar spoke, "Meredith's most valuable possession has never been any family treasure, inherited magic, or even a precious spellbook—" Skylar swallowed hard, horrified by his own guess, "Her most precious thing is herself!"

"I don't understand—" Daphne shook her head, "She's just a little witch with decent talent, far less On the Heavens than a true genius, like someone like Skylar. Are they after her body?" Daphne said with an incredulous expression.

"Yes, it's for her body," Skylar explained, "But not in the way you think (Author: What was she thinking?), to be precise, it's for the bloodline in her veins!"

"Bloodline?"

Gareth sighed, "Skylar, I've spoiled them too much and never talked to them about their wizarding bloodline..."

Skylar said calmly, "It's alright, telling them now won't change anything. The power of wizards actually comes from our bloodline. Our bloodline determines whether we can learn magic, and it also determines our talents and potential. This is the origin of the Pure-blood families' self-proclaimed nobility..."

"But... didn't you say that among a person's many qualities, character, talent, will, and choices are more important than bloodline?" Daphne asked.

"That's right. It's because Muggle-born wizard also possess bloodline powers, although Pure-blood families intentionally conceal this fact—so-called Muggle-born wizard actually come from pure wizarding families just like us. It's just that Squib occurred in a certain generation of their descendants, causing a break in the lineage. However, the power of their bloodline remains latent, waiting to be reactivated in a certain generation of descendants at some point."

Skylar continued, "Bloodline determines our talent and potential, but not our upper limit. What truly determines the upper limit of our magic is the strength of our soul and the strength of our spirit. These two factors determine how strong our magic is and how powerful the spells we unleash are. The power of the same spell unleashed by Grand Sorcerer is vastly different from ours because of the difference in magic power. Of course, casting skills and emotional enhancements cannot be ignored either."

Not only Daphne and Astoria felt their worldviews were being challenged, but Gareth listened with great interest. He never imagined that Skylar's understanding of the essence of bloodline and magic had reached such a level, far surpassing his own.

"Let's get back to May!" Skylar felt a sharp pain in his heart, but he continued expressionlessly, "The latent power within the bloodline of every wizard is different. For example, look at the Weasley family—"

"Ah," Daphne said, "You know about their bloodline power too?"

"No, not at all," Skylar shook his head. "There's a sophisticated branch of Muggle science called genetics. According to genetics, red hair is actually a recessive gene, so it's—well, how should I put it—very unscientific for an entire family to have red hair."

"Their red hair," Skylar said with confidence, "is probably some kind of special magic manifesting outwards on their bodies; their family's magic influences their hair color—"

"That's a very interesting point," Gareth agreed. "Magic can affect appearance; how come I've never thought of that before?"

Skylar continued, "From what I've observed, Weasley's magic is likely 'innovation.' Look at how Arthur Weasley was able to modify a Muggle car like that—that's innovation. I've also heard that his deceased brother Bilius, was someone with eccentric interests and a knack for creating all sorts of surprises."

(Note: Bilius is from the original work. The twins describe him as having a penchant for pranks and often pulling flowers out of his private parts to give to people at parties. In 1993, Ron mentioned that he died within 24 hours of seeing Grim.)

"Their eldest son, William Weasley, is known for his eccentric and unconventional clothing, while the Weasley Twins invented a whole host of strange and unusual gadgets at school. It seems that each member of their family has a unique talent for innovation."

Daphne stared into Skylar's eyes and asked, "So... Skylar, has some kind of bloodline power awakened in your eyes as well?"

These were all people Skylar trusted most, and he hadn't intended to hide it from them. In fact, he couldn't hide it anyway; he had revealed the abnormality of his pupils to them at least twice. So he nodded.

"Using the Weasley family, and myself, as examples, you should realize that different family bloodlines correspond to different talents. From this, we can guess that May's bloodline must also have its unique aspects..."

"In conclusion, I believe the Shadow of the Magic Dragon organization has been lying low for so long, they must have some grand scheme in mind—the fact that they're willing to expose their existence to capture Mei shows that she holds a crucial position in their plans. I think Mei shouldn't be harmed in the short term, so we need to seize the opportunity and desperately increase our strength..."

Skylar was still not entirely satisfied with his strength; his magic was still at the level of a senior student. Although in this battle, he used a variety of complex attack methods combined with precise tactical application to fight against six adult wizards, that was because he gained the advantage of being caught off guard.

This battle exposed many of his trump cards. Next time he encounters a similar situation, if his opponent is prepared, he won't be able to get away with it so easily.

Skylar looked at Dino and asked in a deep voice, "Dino, now that your master's fate is unknown, what are your plans?"

Dino looked blank, his eyes devoid of any light, appearing no different from a standing corpse to onlookers. Having lost his master as his anchor, and his habitual obedience to his master's commands, he was utterly lost, as if he had lost the meaning of life, unsure of what to do. He didn't know how to answer Skylar's question, and could only lower his head and remain silent.

"In that case, come with me! I promise you, I will never give up on rescuing your master, no matter the cost!" Skylar's eyes shone brightly. "I need more help. Are you willing to help me, Dino?"

Dino seemed to have rediscovered his lost soul. He raised his head, looking into Skylar's resolute gaze. For some reason, a small flame called "hope" was ignited within him. He widened his eyes and nodded vigorously. "Yes! Master Malfoy, from this day forward, Dino will be your most loyal servant! Just give the word, Dino will do it even if it Reducto."

After swearing the oath of master-servant contract, Dino felt a warm glow in his chest, as if he had broken free of shackles and been reborn, filled with fighting spirit. He felt that being able to follow Skylar as his master was the greatest gift God could bestow upon him, and he wished he could tear out his heart and lungs and offer them to this new master to express his loyalty. He completely surrendered to Skylar, body, spirit, and soul.

[Dino, the "Servant," has been acquired!]