I'm late.
The person hadn't even entered yet, but their voice had already flown in.
Pippin hurriedly came out from behind the counter, jogged to the door to greet him, and glanced at the time. "Not late, there are still 5 minutes until the agreed time."
Please come in.
Lucius didn't rush to get up. Instead, he squinted at the doorway, carefully examining the mysterious student he had been searching for.
The shop door opened, and a thin young man walked in.
He wore Hogwarts student robes, his hair was dark brown to almost black, and his eyes were as black as the night.
Although he is still young, his features clearly show masculinity, and although he is smiling, his expression always seems indifferent.
Lucius was shaken at just one glance. "He's so young?!"
Lucius remained outwardly calm, but secretly he tightened his grip on his cane.
He had initially thought that someone capable of making Potions on par with Snape must be at least a graduating student, or at the very least a fifth-year student. But now it seemed this person was only a third or fourth-year student.
It's incredible that someone can reach this level at such a young age.
"But that's fine too. He's young and inexperienced, so he'll be easy to deal with." Thinking this to himself, Lucius slowly got up and extended his hand to Silan.
"Lucius Malfoy," Lucius introduced himself.
Silan greeted Pippin, then glanced indifferently at Lucius.
Silan was right there when Lucius and Arthur Weasley got into a fight at Flourish and Blotts last time, so he wasn't surprised to see them together again.
Ever since Silan entered, Lucius's gaze had never left him, and he was somewhat surprised to see that Sheeran showed no reaction at all upon hearing his name.
"He didn't show the slightest change in expression. Is he unaware of the Malfoy family's power and status, or does he simply not care?" Lucius thought to himself, but his face remained all smiles.
"Silan Prewett." Silan reached out and shook his hand, giving him her first and last name.
"Prewett?"
Lucius paused slightly, his hands stiffening slightly, before tentatively asking, "Who are the Prewett brothers to you?"
"Fabian Prewett is my father," Silan replied briefly.
"I never imagined the Prewett family still had bloodlines..." Lucius shuddered as he recalled Voldemort's methods, and dared not utter the words aloud.
Although he had nothing to do with the deaths of the Prewett brothers, it was best not to mention such things at all.
"Pippin is always suspicious, otherwise he wouldn't have waited until now to let us meet." Lucius withdrew his hand, chuckled, and quickly changed the subject, "I really admire a young talent like you. Please have a seat."
Lucius casually invited Silan to sit down, as if he were the owner of the shop.
This earned him a disapproving glare from Pippin.
Once everyone had arrived, Pippin brought out the tea he had just brewed and placed it in front of the three of them.
Lucius slowly took a sip and said, half-jokingly, "After so many visits, I'm finally getting to drink your fine tea."
"I've brewed so many bad teas, but I still couldn't get rid of you. Anyone who didn't know better would think you had some kind of weird fetish," Pippin said sarcastically with a forced smile.
Lucius awkwardly picked up his teacup, took a sip, and changed the subject. "Still don't know which house Mr. Prewett is in? What year is he in?"
"Slytherin, Third Year." Silan swirled her teacup, not in a hurry to pick it up.
Lucius was both surprised and delighted.
He never expected that the Prewett Gryffindor for generations, would now produce a Slytherin.
The Sorting Hat must be crazy!
"But this is good too; it's a good opportunity to get closer." Lucius's smile became genuine.
"Haha, that's wonderful!" Lucius laughed heartily. "It seems we're destined to cooperate; I'm also from Slytherin House."
"My son, Draco Malfoy, is also in Slytherin, in his Third Year, just like you. You should know each other; it seems our two families have a long-standing connection." Lucius adopted a humble and amiable demeanor.
Pippin thought with a hint of disdain, "Hmph, putting on a friendly front to build rapport... Lucius is really cunning; he's already resorting to underhanded tactics before the negotiations have even begun."
He glanced at Silan with some concern, thinking, "I hope Mr. Prewett won't fall for it."
Silan took a sip of Black Tea, looked at Lucius, and nodded with a smile, "Of course I know Draco. Speaking of which, he helped me a lot back then."
[Silver Tongue: Proficiency +1]
I forgot about the rest, but slaughtering fat sheep was pretty satisfying.
"Oh, really?" Lucius was delighted. "I'm so glad to see you all like this. Pure-blood families should unite to maintain the purity of their bloodline."
Silan neither confirmed nor denied this, only offering a faint smile.
Pippin, being Half-blood wizard, showed no interest in Lucius's Pure-blood philosophy and urged, "I think we should get down to business."
"You're too impatient, Pippin."
"Hmph! I wonder who it is, loitering in my shop for days on end, and now they're acting all calm."
Lucius glared at Pippin, annoyed that he wasn't giving him any face, then composed himself and squinted at Silan: "Mr. Prewett should know the purpose of my visit, shouldn't he?"
"Of course, Pippin had already told me in his letter beforehand, and that's why I've come here," Silan replied.
Ever since Silan came in, Lucius had had a strange feeling about him.
"Even though I'm leading the conversation, why do I have this vague unease? Is it because of Pippin?"
Lucius glanced at Pippin impassively, then his gaze finally settled on Silan, his unease growing stronger.
This made Lucius realize that his strange feeling was caused by the young wizard in front of him.
This young wizard, from the moment he entered the door, maintained a calm and composed demeanor, neither humble nor arrogant.
Despite being just a Third Year wizard, Lucius felt as if he were facing a seasoned opponent.
Forcibly suppressing his unease, Lucius looked at Silan and slowly said, "Professor Snape's Potions are very rare, but to command a high price, marketing tactics are necessary."
"Do you understand the reasoning behind this?" Lucius asked solemnly.
Pippin also became nervous.
He knew that the negotiations had officially begun.