Draco was very upset.
Anyone could see that Dumbledore was favoring Gryffindor. Giving Harry, Ron, and Hermione fifty points each earlier was one thing, but he just had to give Neville another twenty points at the end.
Why not ten? Because even with ten more points, Gryffindor still wouldn't have overtaken them.
Draco had complained to his mother, Narcissa, more than once that at Hogwarts, pure-bloods seemed to be the ones being discriminated against.
The only thing that gave him any comfort was that this holiday wouldn't be boring.
Looking at the Magic Mobile Phone in his hand, Draco decided to pull an all-nighter tonight.
He would overtake Harry soon.
He just needed to grind achievements a little more, farm his thousandth Troll, get ten crystal fragments, and pull Slytherin or another character. Then the final piece of his team would be in place.
He was still using a purple character.
But grinding that thousandth Troll wasn't so easy, especially without Crabbe and Goyle to do the hard labor.
When Draco came down to breakfast bleary-eyed and sporting dark circles for the third time, Lucius put down his newspaper. "A pure-blood must mind his bearing, Draco. Looking so lifeless will make people think less of you."
Narcissa placed the food she had cut up onto Draco's silver plate. "You're not ill, or troubled by something, are you, darling?"
"Don't worry, Father, Mother. I'm perfectly well." Draco thought for a moment and decided to tell his father about the Magic Mobile Phone after all. Even he could see its enormous potential. "Father, may I come to your study later to discuss something new with you?"
Lucius elegantly set down his fork. "Anytime, Draco."
In truth, Lucius had been weighed down with worries lately as well. Others didn't know, but as a former Death Eater, he could clearly sense that Voldemort might not be dead.
That was why he had kept Voldemort's diary, so that one day he could express his loyalty to Voldemort again.
But lately, there had been far too much talk of Voldemort's return. The Ministry of Magic was conducting surprise searches for prohibited items, and he had quite a few things at home to dispose of.
Narcissa glanced at the newspaper too. "Weasley is truly sullying pure-blood lineage, actually pushing a Muggle Protection Act. This is yet another attempt to weaken the standing of pure-bloods."
Lucius scoffed at this. "I won't let him have his way."
After breakfast, Lucius and Draco went to the study together.
Lucius spoke first. "Rest assured, Draco. I will join forces with the other school governors to put pressure on Dumbledore. He must distinguish between pure-bloods and half-bloods. As for those Mudbloods, it would be best to expel them outright."
"Yes, Father."
Draco was afraid that Director Lorne would be driven out along with his Magic Mobile Phone. He wanted to prove the value of Mudbloods-or rather, of Director Lorne alone-so he hurriedly took out his Magic Mobile Phone.
"This is what I wanted to show you, Father."
Draco placed the Magic Mobile Phone on Lucius's desk. "It's called a Magic Mobile Phone. I think we could work with its creator and put the Malfoy family's name on this epoch-making invention."
Lucius looked at the unremarkable Magic Mobile Phone with some distaste.
"Who invented it?"
"Director Lorne..." Draco didn't dare give Lorne's surname.
Lucius frowned. "His full name."
"Lorne Miles."
"I've never heard of him," Lucius remarked. "And he appears to be a Mudblood."
"But his invention is very interesting. You can play games and contact other people who own Magic Mobile Phones. I've never encountered anything so..."
"Enough!"
Lucius took a deep breath. This was, in fact, the most sensitive time. As a former Death Eater, he found little favor with either the forces of good or evil. Lucius believed that the Malfoy family's greatest investment lay in cultivating talented people, and he never openly made enemies.
Unless the other party was a Muggle.
Ordinarily, even if it was a Mudblood, Lucius wouldn't have rejected him out of hand.
But now, he feared the reckoning that would come with Voldemort's resurrection and return, and he also feared the Ministry of Magic's surprise inspections. He had to nip anything that might lead to the Malfoy family's destruction in the bud.
"Draco, have you been so listless these past few days because you've been playing with this at night? I really must consider hiring some private tutors for you."
Lucius put the Magic Mobile Phone on the desk into his drawer and locked it in front of Draco. "As for your Magic Mobile Phone, I'm confiscating it. Until I confirm that this thing is safe and nonaddictive, it will remain with me."
"What?" Draco finally understood what it meant to ask for trouble. "Father, you can't do this. You need to assess the value of this invention. You'll certainly make concessions for it."
Lucius remained unmoved. "You may leave."
Draco's last bit of joy vanished too.
Lucius didn't try the Magic Mobile Phone either. In his eyes, even if it truly was an invention that would revolutionize the Wizarding World, until it could protect his family from Voldemort, he would absolutely not allow anyone to touch it.
Rubbing his temples, Lucius maintained his pure-blood elegance even though he was alone in the room.
How should I dispose of those old Death Eater things, and how can I bring down Dumbledore and the Muggle Protection Act proposed by Weasley...
Wait! He remembered that the Weasley family's youngest daughter, the one they doted on most, would be starting school this year.
He seemed to have found a way to kill three birds with one stone.
Draco remained miserable for several days. Unable to comfort him, Narcissa could only invite Crabbe and Goyle over.
In the past, those two had always arrived smiling, because the sight of the Malfoy family's manor amazed them every time. Besides, there were differences in strength even among pure-blood families. Visiting the Malfoy family gave them the illusion that they were working hard for their families.
But this time, neither looked happy. Together with the gloomy-faced Draco, they practically made a match-three.
"Why did you have us come over, Draco?" Goyle was already speaking without thinking. "You have your Magic Mobile Phone, but all we can do is watch you play."
That single sentence hit Draco right where it hurt. He hadn't wanted to speak, but he replied gloomily, "Not anymore. My father confiscated it."
"No wonder I haven't seen you online these past few days. Harry and Neville have been farming monsters lately. I've seen his server-wide monster encounter announcements flying everywhere."
Learning that his enemy was happy made Draco even sadder. He heaved a heavy sigh, then suddenly caught on.
"Wait, how did you see them? Don't you two not have Magic Mobile Phones?"
Crabbe scratched his head. "We were pretty unhappy at first, because we could've played on Magic Mobile Phones this afternoon, but your mother called us over. But if you don't have a Magic Mobile Phone either, we can tell you a good place to go."
"The Magic Mobile Phone Official Flagship Store."