Hogwarts: I Obtained the Paternal System

In any case, Darren was extremely satisfied with this wand.

Even if it had cost him ten thousand Galleons.

After playing with the wand for quite a while, Darren finally summoned Peeves and "obediently" asked how the professors had liked the food.

"They loved it! The cakes Darren's little master sent over received praise from all the professors. Even Professor Snape, who had never liked cake, reservedly nodded.

Only the strange Professor Dumbledore stared at one of the cakes for a long time. For some reason, he said something about bad luck and threw away a small piece of it."

Peeves patted her head in confusion.

She could not understand what was wrong with Mr. Dumbledore.

Darren's little master had worked so hard to bring back those cakes. How could he throw away a piece?

"Don't worry about such little things, Peeves. I just want to make a tiny contribution for everyone, especially you, Peeves. You've been far too good to me."

[ Ding, Paternal Points +100 ]

"Great Darren little master is always so kind and adorable. Peeves has never seen such a wonderful master.

Peeves even told everyone at Hogwarts about Darren little master. They all cried because they felt so sorry for him!"

Peeves said proudly.

Darren raised his head in bewilderment.

What?

Why had she told the entire Hogwarts about him?

Wait, what exactly had she told them?

Surely it was not about him stopping Mundungus and Mr. Granger from fighting?

He felt a little guilty about that matter and had not intended to publicize it everywhere.

If word spread too widely, clever people would start to appear. It would be easy for them to get the impression that he liked showing off and stirring up trouble.

He had received his Paternal Points on the spot. Spreading it around would not earn him even one more point.

It was better to keep a low profile.

That way, he could also earn a reputation for silently doing good deeds and sincerely being a paternal figure.

Just as Darren was about to ask, Peeves continued excitedly:

"Darren little master told Peeves to go rest just now. He's truly too kind.

But on the way to rest, Peeves met several professors, and they all wanted to know what had happened to Darren little master before.

So Peeves went to the Orphanage where Darren little master used to live and asked about him. Then Peeves came back and told the professors.

The professors all cried. They said Darren little master had suffered so much before and told Peeves to take good care of him.

The professors did not ask about anything else, so Peeves did not say anything else."

Well...

Darren truly had not expected the Hogwarts professors to be so gossipy.

Still, it really would help him play the paternal figure in the future.

"All right, but Peeves, don't talk about it outside anymore. If anyone asks you, just say I used to live very well. I don't want to cause trouble for others, understand?"

[ Ding, Paternal Points +100 ]

Darren accepted this unexpected delight and gave her a serious warning.

Although telling everyone about his past could spread his reputation as a paternal figure farther...

Talking about it everywhere would seem too fake.

Instead, telling people that he had lived well would make them even more curious to uncover the truth about his past.

Then, once they asked around...

Heh, wouldn't his paternal persona be firmly established?

"All right. Darren little master is always so kind. Peeves will be obedient."

Peeves nodded, her unusually large eyes full of heartache.

Her little master was always thinking about others. Why would he not think more about himself?

Obviously, letting everyone know about his past would make them pity him, yet he still chose to bear the pain himself.

How could such a wonderful little master have been abandoned at birth?

Slytherin's Cassandra

By the time he had dealt with Peeves, it was already late at night.

Darren's child's body had finally grown tired. He merely turned over once before falling into a deep sleep.

When he woke, sunlight had already spread across the earth.

After washing up,

Peeves brought him a bowl of oatmeal porridge and two syrup pancakes.

Perhaps thinking Darren liked sweets, she had added quite a lot of sugar to the oatmeal as well.

It made Darren feel as if he might develop diabetes someday.

"Darren little master, are we going to Diagon Alley?"

"Yes!"

Of course he was going!

Darren wiped his mouth, rubbed his belly, and prepared to head to Diagon Alley in satisfaction to grind temporary quests.

Peeves smiled and nodded, taking him to Diagon Alley by Apparition.

Diagon Alley was as bustling as ever.

The closer it got to the start of term, the more crowded Diagon Alley became.

There were always students who insisted on waiting until school was about to begin before coming to buy their books.

Darren saw an elderly grandmother scolding her grandson.

As he approached, he heard her say:

"Neville, why can't you ever remember anything? You lost the Galleons. How are we supposed to buy anything?"

"Sorry, Grandma, I forgot..."

"Honestly!"

Darren curiously observed the grandmother and grandson for a while. Neville—the boy who had nearly become The Boy Who Lived in the original story—looked just as honest and amusing as expected.

However, since no temporary quest had been triggered, he did not step forward.

He could only go buy his books first.

Flourish and Blotts was next door to Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions in Diagon Alley.

The bookshelves here were packed with books, some even piled all the way to the ceiling.

Some of the books even fought one another.

Darren also saw a book covered in countless strange symbols, and merely looking at it made his eyes swim.

"Ah..."

A startled cry pulled Darren back from the books.

A senior girl had been knocked to the ground.

She rose with a frown and glared angrily at the pale blond, gray-eyed boy standing before her.

"Malfoy, how dare you do this?"

Malfoy?

Darren immediately recalled Draco Malfoy from the original story.

At present, there should only be one child in the Malfoy family.

He did not immediately step forward to display his paternal brilliance. Instead, he stood to the side and watched the show.

"Hmph, Becky Greengrass, who told you to reject me at the ball? This is payback!"

Greengrass?

Like Malfoy, that surname belonged to one of the foremost Twenty-Eight Pure-blood families.

Darren remembered that in the original story, Malfoy seemed to have married a Greengrass girl.

It probably was not this one, right?

He could not recall the exact name for the moment, but he remembered it definitely was not Becky.

Come to think of it, Malfoy argued with other people too?