The little peacock who was hard to please

The dormitory Lucius had arranged for Draco and the family's future was hardly likely to disappoint.

The room was large, with a separate bathroom.

They pushed open the door and went inside. Directly opposite stood an enormous round window, beyond which a giant squid drifted dimly past. A soft carpet of dark green and silver-white covered the floor.

A low wooden cabinet stood at the midpoint of the right-hand wall, flanked by two desks that separated the two four-poster beds.

Dark green silk curtains hung around the beds. The soft bedding had already been laid out, and silver-thread embroidery adorned the covers.

Beyond each bed stood a matching enormous L-shaped wardrobe, giving them something like their own dressing rooms.

Against the wall on the other side of the room stood an enormous wooden bookcase that reached the ceiling, divided down the middle and inlaid with silver patterns. Its shelves were empty for now, waiting for the two boys to fill them.

In front of the bookcase sat a set of leather sofas and a coffee table, classic in style and very comfortable.

Medieval tapestries on the walls told of the great adventures of the famous Slytherin, while silver lanterns hung from the ceiling. From beneath the lake came the faint, gentle sound of waves lapping against the window.

Both boys nodded in satisfaction and found their luggage in front of the low cabinet.

Draco snapped his fingers. An ugly creature wearing an old pillowcase appeared in the room and bowed to him, saying in a shrill voice, "Dobby greets the young master!"

"Unpack my things."

Draco pointed toward the area by the window and gave the order haughtily.

"A house-elf?"

Short, large ears, a shrill voice, a shabby pillowcase...

Allen immediately matched the creature before him to the house-elves mentioned in his books.

Draco nodded. Seeing Allen studying Dobby with curiosity, he explained, "They're born to serve wizards. Their master's orders come before anything else. Any pure-blood family with some history has them-except the Weasley family."

Allen automatically ignored that last remark and asked curiously, "Are they the property of wizards?"

"Of course!" Draco said arrogantly. "Want him to unpack for you?"

"No need," Allen said with a soft chuckle. "I'll do it myself." With that, he took out his wand and waved it.

The wardrobe opened on its own. Clothes and shoes floated out of the Suitcase one by one, flew into the wardrobe, and arranged themselves.

Books flew out as well and headed toward the bookcase: books on general knowledge of the wizarding world, hefty reference volumes, and the required coursework he had brought from the Muggle world. They soon filled his half of the shelves.

Draco stared, dumbfounded, as Allen waved his wand with ease. Before he could comment on his proficiency with spells, he caught sight of the books filling half the bookcase.

The little peacock's face scrunched up like a steamed bun. "Why did you bring so many books?"

"Hmm?"

Allen was holding a transparent watch case filled with luxury watches, wondering where to put it. At Draco's words, he came back to himself. "This is the coursework my father assigned me to finish before Christmas."

Draco was speechless.

"Oh."

His face was expressionless.

He had thought the Malfoy family set very strict standards for its heir, but compared with Allen, his own father was positively indulgent.

Allen went on holding the watch case and set it on his bed.

He casually picked up a goblet and transformed it into a waist-high piece of furniture resembling a lectern, then placed the watch case on top.

The expensive watches gleamed against the black velvet, practically radiating money.

Draco had initially come over because Allen's Transfiguration caught his attention, but one glance was enough for the watches to draw him in instead.

Allen casually gave him one and sent him off to wash.

Allen took out his phone and, as expected, found no signal.

With a sigh, he sat down at his desk, picked up a fountain pen, spread out some writing paper, and began a letter to Edward. When he had finished, he sealed it with wax and stamped it with the Royal Family's coat of arms. Then he took Tita outside the common room and let her fly off with the letter in her beak.

When he returned to their room, Draco had just finished washing and was heading to his desk to write a letter. Seeing Allen, he asked, "Where did you go?"

"To send my father a letter!" They exchanged smiles at the striking similarity.

The next morning, Allen woke at six. He gazed at the unfamiliar bed curtains for a while as his thoughts slowly fell into place.

He got out of bed, washed, brushed his teeth, tidied himself up, and put on his uniform-the one good thing about school was not having to bother choosing clothes. Then he worked out how to adjust the enchanted window to show morning sunshine.

He deftly planned his schedule for the day, took out his Muggle coursework, and began his morning studies.

Allen had assumed Draco simply got up a little later and would be awake and washed by eight, when Allen planned to leave for breakfast.

Yet by seven forty, Allen had everything he needed for class ready, and Draco still had not stirred.

Any further delay would throw off his schedule.

And he could hardly start going everywhere separately from the Malfoy heir right at the beginning of term.

The esteemed Crown Prince could only condescend to walk over, pull back Draco's bed curtains, and wake him himself.

The little platinum peacock slept peacefully, his blond hair lying smoothly across his forehead. Sunlight fell on his face, illuminating the fine down on his fair skin. He looked like a perfect doll.

What a lovely picture-if only this pampered young master would hurry up and get out of bed!

Allen rubbed the space between his eyebrows.

The night before, they had chatted at length about Hogwarts. The little peacock had gone from Hogwarts legends to old stories about the various pure-blood families, from the school Quidditch teams to the Quidditch World Cup...

The more Draco talked, the more excited he became. Only after Allen repeatedly reminded him of their nine o'clock Transfiguration class the next morning had he reluctantly shut his mouth at midnight.

As for why the conversation had gotten so completely out of hand...

Allen sighed and rubbed his temples-

He had indeed let it happen to gather information... and had even steered it, whether deliberately or not.

After finally dragging the little peacock out of bed, Allen ushered him into the bathroom to wash, then stepped back out.

He quickly and methodically packed everything they needed for class into two classic handmade Cambridge satchels, then sat on the sofa and took out A Beginner's Guide to Transfiguration to pass the time while he waited for Draco.

Once the little peacock was dressed and had applied gel to his hair, Allen handed him his satchel while he was still half asleep. The moment they left the dormitory, Draco made an effort to look alert as they followed the prefect to breakfast.

In the Great Hall, students sat down in orderly groups of two or three. Draco was sleepily chewing on a sandwich when he suddenly started.

"Draco, what's wrong?" Allen asked.

"My books!" Draco looked at Allen miserably and said in a low voice, "I didn't bring my books."

Allen chuckled. "If you didn't bring your books, what's in your bag?"

Draco blinked. "Since when did I have a bag?"

Following Allen's gaze, he looked down and, sure enough, saw an exquisite brown leather satchel slung over his shoulder.

He opened it to find textbooks, parchment, ink, quills, and an elegant fountain pen, all neatly sorted into their own compartments.

Draco breathed a sigh of relief. "Good thing you packed for me, or I'd have disgraced the Malfoy name!"

Allen smiled. "Just this once. There won't be a next time."

He lowered his eyes and took a sip of milk.

Besides, a Malfoy would never disgrace himself. You'd just snatch Crabbe's or Goyle's books and leave them to get told off.

To his surprise, Allen realized he already understood this hard-to-please little peacock remarkably well.