Summer Vacation

The past year has been a troublesome one for Lucius.

At the Ministry of Magic, his arch-nemesis Arthur Weasley came to his house repeatedly to investigate, but although he found nothing, he caused himself a lot of trouble. He had finally come up with a good idea to expel Dumbledore from Hogwarts in one fell swoop, and also to make the Weasley family's little girl take the blame for the Slytherin heir killing Muggle-born wizard.

What he never expected was that Dumbledore seemed harmless, had unknowingly grown to an absolute level of influence over the School Governor. And the plan to frame Weasley was ultimately ruined by his own second son, leaving him with no way to explain himself—he dared not let anyone know that the Diary had slipped through his hands, even if it was his own son.

The whole scheme backfired spectacularly. Not only did he lose a House Elf —every House Elf is managed and allocated by the Ministry of Magic's House-Elf Relocation Office, and each one is quite valuable— Lucius was unaware that House Elf had Dobby fallen into his son's hands.

(Note: The House-Elf Relocation Office is not a fictional creation of the author; it comes from the author's biography of * Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them *, and belongs to the Beings Division of the Department of Magical Creatures Control. Newt once worked in this office.)

What's even more upsetting than House Elf is that he also lost his position as a Hogwarts School Governor —a devastating blow to the House of Malfoy's reputation!

Lucius's current status in the Britain wizarding world is due to his three key positions: Chairman of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, Chairman of the St Mungo's Hospital Board of Trustees, and a close friend of the Minister for Magic. He had spent most of his life and a great deal of family wealth to acquire these positions, so losing one of them would be a significant blow, a devastating blow.

Lucius noticed that when attending gatherings of the Pure-blood aristocracy, people no longer held the House of Malfoy in the same awe as before. What was most infuriating was that old man Avery, who dared to openly mock the House of Malfoy and even received responses from several other equally formidable families, such as the Nott Family, Carrow Family, and House of Lestrange. Whenever Lucius thought of this, he felt resentful and indignant.

What worries him even more is that if he fails to stabilize the situation, his vassal House of Goyle and House of Crabbe, might develop some inappropriate intentions. Not to mention, the positions of his allies, such as the Parkinson Family and Burke Family, might also waver. Whenever he thinks about these troublesome matters, his mood becomes extremely bad.

The only thing that brought Lucius some comfort was that his second son had not disappointed him.

Although Skylar had botched his scheme, he knew it was unintentional, since Skylar had been completely unaware of his plans beforehand. Moreover, Skylar had greatly enhanced his reputation at Hogwarts; he had heard from his close friend Snape that Skylar had severely punished Gallup Lestrange, that brat who dared to challenge the Slytherin House of Malfoy's authority, thus upholding the House of Malfoy's dignity.

Not to mention, Skylar also received a special medal of honor from the Order of Merlin, an honor never before received in the history of the House of Malfoy. The House of Malfoy had focused too much on cultivating political and business talents for generations, and had not produced a scion who showed outstanding magical talent for a long time. Moreover, this honor was won from several senior students, which made Lucius particularly pleased.

There was another thing that made Lucius look at Skylar in a new light: he was increasingly unable to understand his son. Not only was his magical talent terrifyingly outstanding, but his performance in the field of business investment had also exceeded his expectations.

In March, Ellerby and Spudmore Broom Company, in which Skylar owned half the shares, launched an unprecedented creation— the Firebolt. This Broomstick became the preferred choice for major international Quidditch teams in just a few months, and at this rate, it was expected to surpass Nimbus Broom Company's market share within a year. Compared to the profits Skylar was about to gain, the House of Malfoy's losses this year seemed insignificant.

Moreover, his eldest son Draco has also changed, seemingly influenced by his younger brother.

Since Skylar received the Order of Merlin, Lucius has often heard Narcissa's praise at the dinner table and seen Draco's envious gaze. Draco is no longer the carefree person he used to be, but has matured and become more ambitious. During the summer vacation, he can often be seen staying in the library reading and studying, or practicing spells in front of alchemical golems in an empty room.

Draco's transformation delighted Narcissa, and even the aloof Lucius was greatly pleased—he now hoped his two sons would live up to expectations and contribute to upholding the honor of the House of Malfoy.

The story returns to Skylar. Skylar had made many plans for himself this summer:

First, learn the Patronus Charm. The theory and method of casting the Patronus Charm can be found in Miranda Gossack's *The Book of Spells *, a book long out of print. Ordinary novice wizards who want to consult it can only try to get permission from a professor to borrow it from the Restricted Section. However, Skylar has a copy in his private collection; he doesn't remember which family's library he obtained it from, but importantly, he already knows the book by heart, knowing all 22 spells within. Therefore, all he needs to do is spend time practicing.

Secondly, he wanted to study the bloodline research data of the Greengrass Family, hoping to discover the hidden abilities within his own bloodline. If he could also help the Greengrass Family break the Blood Curse, that would be even better. He believed that this would surely earn him the full support of the entire family, although he knew it would definitely not be an easy task, but he was willing to give it a try.

Third, Skylar plans to write a book about his experiences at Hogwarts last year, titled "Me and the Basilisk at Hogwarts." Having lived a long and successful life, he is well-versed in writing adventure books. To cater to the reading tastes of the wizarding world, he can directly refer to Lockhart's works for writing formulas. Skylar confident that this book will be a huge success, bringing him a substantial income as well as fame and prestige.

Meanwhile, a new House Elf named Lele was added to the Malfoy Manor. Lele was a very optimistic Sprite who liked to hum little tunes. Even when her father Lucius occasionally abused her, Lele didn't seem to mind at all.

Skylar's kind treatment of the House Elf still displeased Lucius, but this time, aside from a disapproving snort, he didn't actually reprimand him. Clearly, Skylar's status in the household was no longer what it used to be, and even the strict Lucius would no longer reprimand Skylar for such a trivial matter.

Skylar remembered that the original book mentioned that there were seven Secret Passage in Hogwarts that led to the outside. Four of them were controlled by Filch, one was under the Whomping Willow, one was behind the One-Eyed Witch Statue on the fourth floor, and another was behind the large mirror on the fifth floor.

The first two passages will be frequently used by Sirius Black and the Weasley Twins respectively during the upcoming semester, while the last one— the Secret Passage behind the large mirror on the fifth floor—collapsed under the weight of heavy snow this winter, so the Weasley Twins, who knew about Secret Passage, will no longer use Secret Passage —which will allow Skylar to have it all to himself.

Skylar remembered correctly, the Secret Passage behind the mirror on the fifth floor had a very spacious area. In the original book, Sirius Black even suggested that Harry set up the headquarters of the Dumbledore's Army here.

With two months of summer vacation to spare, and Dobby and couldn't be seen at home by his parents, Skylar sent Dobby to Hogwarts to secretly repair and clean the Secret Passage behind the large mirror on the fifth floor. This Secret Passage would come in handy in the next semester.

Time flies, and a month has passed in the blink of an eye.

Skylar had finished writing "Me and the Basilisk at Hogwarts" and personally went to Obscurus Books in Diagon Alley. This company was the same publisher that had previously published Lockhart's works and was already very familiar with publishing this type of book.

The editor-in-chief was a kind middle-aged man. Although Skylar looked very young, he had heard about Skylar's exploits at Hogwarts.

After a brief discussion, he offered Skylar a very favorable contract: a 20% commission on every book sold, more than Lockhart had received, on the condition that Skylar would prioritize collaborating with Obscurus Books should he have any further inspiration to write a book.

After completing this task, Skylar began to study the Patronus Charm and research the bloodline of the Greengrass Family. Thus, Skylar resumed his monotonous daily study routine.

Meanwhile, Ron and the Weasley won the Daily Prophet's Daily Prophet Grand Prize Galleon Draw, and the whole family set off for Egypt in the second week of summer vacation to visit their eldest son, Bill. They wouldn't return until the end of the summer. Hermione also went on a trip to France with her parents. Harry, on the other hand, was once again miserably locked up by the Dursley and not even allowed to leave the house.

While Skylar was engrossed in his studies and research, around August, an unprecedented event occurred in Britain — Sirius Black Black from prison!

Almost every wizard knows the name of this witches' prison in Britain.

It is located on a remote island in the middle of the North Sea. It was originally a fortress built by a dark wizard named Ekrizdis, who used it to kill Muggle he kidnapped in order to conduct various Dark Arts experiments on living people. After his death, the various Concealment Charm he cast on the island became ineffective, and the island was discovered by the Ministry of Magic and transformed into a wizarding prison under official control.

In this infamous prison, all the guards are a type of native dark creature called "Dementor".

They are considered the most vile creatures in the world, capable of sucking away the happiness of other beings, thus instilling gloom and despair in those who come near them. In extreme cases, they may even devour the souls of living beings, turning them into a state of mindless stagnation.

It's safe to say that no one would ever imagine spending even a quarter of an hour in this prison. And this infamous and terrifying wizarding prison is called "Azkaban."

"Sirius Black Black." Skylar sat by the window, flipping through the Daily Prophet, nodding thoughtfully as he thought about the plot of this year's original story and his various plans.

As time passed, Skylar used the principles of the Cheering Charm to trigger happy emotions, and in just one week he mastered the Patronus Charm and successfully released a complete Corporeal Patronus.

Over the next week, he carefully read through all the materials he had obtained from Daphne, which gave him a deeper understanding of the theory of bloodline power. He had some ideas on how to tap into the hidden power deep within the bloodline, but he still needed some samples to conduct experiments in order to verify whether his theory was feasible.

With two weeks left before the start of the semester and nothing to do, he suddenly remembered that he still had three books of Dark Arts that he hadn't opened yet.

Generally speaking, one needs the strength of an upperclassman to read Dark Arts books—and with his current strength, he is not much weaker Percy of Percy and Penelope, so he should be able to safely read these Dark Arts books.

Skylar skimmed through all three books of Dark Arts, finding the contents extremely difficult to understand. Moreover, many parts were written in ancient Ancient Runes, making it impossible for him to finish reading them in a short time, even with the help of the Time-Turner. Fortunately, Skylar himself was quite proficient in Ancient Runes; otherwise, the deciphering work alone would have taken a considerable amount of time. Skylar had no choice but to prioritize studying the parts that would be most helpful to him in the short term, based on the table of contents.