Bride of the HP Dragon

Draco found that the spacious circular room hadn't changed much since Dumbledore's last visit.It was as messy as ever, but Draco felt messy and friendly.

In the decorative painting on the wall, there is a man who is talking about his experiences for many years. He has accumulated a lot of memories and must keep telling them to remind himself not to forget. Most of these memories are about his preservation for exhibitions and Retouched artwork property.

Phoenix Fawkes was conspicuously absent, and must have gone somewhere to attend to Dumbledore's personal affairs.The Sorting Hat was sitting on the shelf behind Dumbledore's desk, looking old and shabby.To Draco's left, a portrait of Phineas Black stares at him.

"Son, you are looking more and more like your father," the portrait of the former headmaster commented.

"Thank you." Draco replied silently, he was already used to hearing such comments.

With five people staring at him seriously, Dumbledore was visibly unhappy, but still gave Draco an encouraging smile.Alastor Moody and Horatio Cohn seemed to be arguing about something, and Arthur Weasley seemed thin and gaunt.

There was only one young woman in the group, and Draco guessed she was still an Auror, and she looked okay, but slightly sallow, as if tired from the heavy paperwork of the Ministry of Magic.She stood away from the others, not because she was a woman, but because her waist-length hair was the color of ripe blueberries.Draco remembered that Snape had mentioned a name earlier, but he regretted not paying attention.

"Draco, Severus, sit down." Dumbledore greeted them gently.The headmaster reached into a desk drawer and pulled out an open jar. "How about some toffee?" he asked the others in the room.

Except for the only woman, everyone politely declined.She smiled and took a huge candy, then chewed silently.

"Draco, I think you may have a lot of questions to ask, but let's sort things out first, everyone agree?" Dumbledore put on his glasses.

Moody pulled out a quill and a battered notebook that looked like it had been chewed by a dog and started asking questions: "Granger told us that the two of you were probably the closest people when the Dark Mark appeared. Probably after lunch, towards the end of Lupine's Defense Against the Dark Arts class this afternoon, right?"

Draco forced himself not to stare at Moody's magic eye as it slowly surveyed Draco's entire body from his feet: "Yes."

"Granger and Weasley both pointed out your approximate location when the Dark Mark appeared on this kind of map." Moody spread the map on Dumbledore's table: "Is it right?"

Draco peered forward from his chair, blinking slightly at the strong smell of mothballs and mold in Moody's long coat.Not only did Granger mark the location, the know-it-all had also drawn all the routes from where they went deep into the Forbidden Forest to where they saw the marks.

"Exactly." Draco confirmed.

Moody stepped back a little, looking satisfied.Cohen then asked, "When you were in the Forbidden Forest, did you see or hear anything strange?"

"Nothing weird except the students weeding," Draco replied with a tone of contempt that he wouldn't use when talking to Moody.

"Malfoy, I think you should put down your airs." Cohen warned.

The greasy, bald little man had barely changed from the last time Draco saw him.But obviously, given that he was traveling with the Minister, his position in the Ministry of Magic had been promoted.Lucius always said that the sycophants of the Minister for Magic were tolerated because they often served special functions.However, Arthur Weasley would reuse this kind of guy, which is really worrying.

"Cohn, take it easy, you know that's what he is," the blue-haired woman said loudly.

Draco frowned at her: "Sorry, who are you?"

She laughed and made the room even more tense: "I'm Nymphadora Tonks. I think you know the name Tonks, but I'm afraid you don't. Just call me Tonks." Well, from your mother's point of view, we are cousins."

Goodness, she's Andromeda's daughter.The eccentric Andromeda terrified her sister Narcissa all her life, the woman who ran off to marry a Muggle after their father arranged a respectable marriage for his eccentric eldest daughter.Lucius only mentioned the name once or twice, and Draco remembered that the woman's name was always accompanied by some profanity.

Draco watched the woman, and was amused to see Cousin Tonks stick two fingers into her mouth, dislodge a piece of toffee sticking to her tooth, and throw the piece back mouth.

Well, not a family, not a door.

"Look at your virtue," Draco said.

"Both each other," Tonks shot back.

"Can we get back to business now?" Cohen interjected.

Snape cleared his throat: "Actually, I believe you should give Mr. Malfoy some explanation. Maybe you should explain why the Dark Mark first appeared in Hogsmeade?"

Cohen replied when asked: "Draco, you can rest assured that your father is well at Malfoy Manor. Someone broke into the Ministry of Magic basement illegally over the weekend and thieves stole two sets of items. Among them were confiscated Portkeys, some dark magic items, and a wand." Cohn paused, "It's your father's wand, to be exact. We believe it was used to do evil in Hogsmeade, and it's unfortunate that you died this afternoon. witnessed this."

"What about my crest?" Draco asked. "Why does it appear in the same place as the Dark Mark? Is this my daydream?"

Snape rolled his eyes.

Dumbledore said suddenly, "Considering that Alastor came up with the spell, I think he's the best person to explain it to you."

Cohen disagreed: "Principal, I don't mean to offend, but this is confidential information. This kid is completely ineligible..."

"Then he will have it before the meeting is over." Dumbledore glanced at Cohen calmly and said, "Anyway, I authorized it."

Then his gentle tone took on a hint of toughness: "Arthur? Do you have a problem?"

The Minister for Magic shook his head.

Moody couldn't wait any longer: "Professor Flitwick told me that you are very good at spells, so I'm not going to give you a lower difficulty explanation."

"Thanks for the love." Draco replied dryly.

"You know, it's almost impossible to cast a consistent tracking spell on a person. Tracking spells work on ideal, solid, stationary objects like clothes or possessions, but the physical effects on a person will It's very difficult." Moody rubbed his chin: "You know, the tracking spell can't be cast in a humid environment."

Draco didn't understand: "Damp...environment?"

"Water, it's water. Most of the human body is water. Even if your wand was extremely accurate, you couldn't even track a carrot. With the current spells we have, there's no way to track a person."

"But you've figured out a way to track the wand, haven't you?" Draco was intrigued.

His seventh-year advanced Charms project was to investigate the potential for magical perception spells. The discussion of this project focused on perception spells, such as those currently used on the Ministry of Magic's birth register, but Moody's theory was very close. .

Moody snorted, "Not only can we trace marked wands. The nerds at the research center told me some spells are stronger than others and more noticeable. The more complex a spell is, the more traces it leaves. Obviously. Spells like Fluorescence or Arahor's Hole don't leave traces, but the Unforgivable Curse, for example, does leave traces, like..."

"The bones reappear." Draco said.

"That's right," Moody nodded. "Since we've established that your father's wand has a particularly long history of casting powerful spells, I offered to experiment with it. We need a marker to experiment with spells, considering we Lucius' wand was used, so Malfoy's sigil seemed like a more convenient choice. Unfortunately for whoever stole the wand, he still had the Marking spell attached to it."

"So you can put any marker you want?" Draco asked.

Moody nodded: "Anything will do." He touched his chin again: "I'm thinking of designing a big red X for Voldemort. This way you can find out who has been attacked nearby." He laughed, and only Tonks agreed. He laughs together.

"So someone has to be able to get close to Voldemort to mark his wand?" Draco guessed there was a big decision to be made next.

The author has something to say:

To explain the logical relationship here, Moody used Lucius' wand to do a marking test, and here it is determined that Lucius' wand has been confiscated, which is why he is trapped in his home.

And the thief who broke into the Ministry of Magic didn't know that Lucius's wand was marked, he stole the wand and used it in Hogsmeade, the marking magic attached to it worked, which caused the Dark Mark And the appearance of the Malfoy family crest may surprise the thief himself.

In the last sentence of this chapter, I think smart readers can guess who this unfortunate person is...

Moody snorted, and he walked slowly forward to sit on the edge of Dumbledore's table: "Boy, if Auror can act as a spy to get close to him, we will do everything we can to get that bastard Wand. We don't really care who that wand belonged to before, as long as we can get close to..."

Draco frowned: "I didn't get it wrong, did I? You want to mark Voldemort's wand?"

"Given Voldemort's unpredictable whereabouts, I think we can find him by other means." Cohen added.

Snape seemed to understand immediately, the head of Slytherin stood up suddenly, he forced a sentence through his teeth: "No, absolutely not!"

"What's wrong?" Draco stood up too, and Snape pushed him back into the chair.

"Come on, Professor, I don't see a big difference. Didn't he also run a team? What's it called? Special Operations Team?" Cohen looked at Draco sharply: "It seems You'd rather listen to Dolores Umbridge."

(Translator's Note: When Umbridge was making trouble at Hogwarts, he appointed a special operations team to monitor other students.)

Draco broke away from the enraged headmaster: "Those orders are not difficult to carry out, and the work of leading students is neither new nor difficult. Besides, her domination of Hogwarts is only temporary."

"Didn't you also repent of what you've done in your last term? I've heard that, under Umbridge's orders, you continued to lure students into joining us."

Draco smiled: "Mr. Cohen, if I did, you would never know."

Tonks chuckled.

"Draco, we're not asking you to spy for us." Arthur Weasley felt the need to clarify.

"Then what do you want me to do?" Draco retorted.

No one was surprised that Snape, the former spy, would stand up and explain at this time. He didn't even look at Arthur Weasley: "The Minister of Magic can personally take time out of his busy schedule to come to Hogwarts, I'm really flattered to take part in the routine inquiry work in Oro's office." Snape's expression was like a poisonous snake: "Draco, they're not just here to ask you what happened to Hogsmeade. But from the limited information I have and my little wit, I can guess that they think it's only a good fit for you to join the Death Eaters and 'touch' that fellow wand."

"Oh." Draco was speechless, and then suddenly, he flared up.

Arthur's face was full of pity: "Young man, I realize that the relationship between your family and the Ministry of Magic is very tense, but here we don't mind giving you a chance."

"What chance? Redeem myself?" Draco's sarcastic tone interrupted Arthur abruptly: "You mean to continue to hold the title of Malfoy in a situation that is likely to be more humiliating in the future?" His His eyes narrowed, and his voice was soft and painful.

He stared at Arthur: "What if they are looking at your son now?"

Arthur was so surprised at the mention of Percy that, for a moment, he forgot the dignity the Minister for Magic was supposed to wear on his face, and then he cleared his throat.

"Don't talk nonsense, boy!" Moody growled.

"I'm not sure he's still sane," Cohn murmured quietly to Dumbledore.

This made Snape raise his eyebrows: "You found all the evidence that Lucius Malfoy was a Death Eater in the Ministry of Magic. He is one of the eight most wanted people in the UK. Where did you send Caban after two months in captivity? You sent him home! So I doubt you're more sane than Draco."

"Why not let Potter go?" Draco suggested. "He hasn't killed or saved in six months. The murders and injuries have subsided, and he can jump out and continue to be a hero."

"You compare yourself to Harry Potter?" Cohen warned gravely.

"Considering that Potter is as stable as a turtle, I wouldn't make such a guess." Draco shot back sharply: "No offense, but it's a pity that making Harry Potter live in a happy and bright life doesn't make him happy Or better tune it, you politicians just like to keep heroes in the dark." Draco thought it was his own illusion, but he thought he saw Dumbledore's eyes wink at Snape almost invisible.

Cohen's face turned purple: "Your father was not released so easily by the Ministry of Magic!"

Draco was waiting for this sentence, his fists clenched, he wanted to punch this sycophant toad in the mouth hard, but the result would be bad.

"Enough." Dumbledore spoke quietly, his voice barely above a whisper, but that's what he had, like a thunderbolt.

Arthur Weasley looked bad, but his eyes showed that he was determined to win: "I'm sorry, Albus, but everyone else has agreed."

Draco never thought that Dumbledore would deny this proposal from his own point of view, and such a good thing would only happen to Potter.

"Then how many necessary information do you want him to ask before he touches the wand?" Snape sneered, turning a blind eye to the heavy expressions on the faces of the Minister of Magic and the Headmaster: "Is it not too long before you will ask him to go to the Ask your classmates if they have plans to join Voldemort?"

"Being our eyes and ears in Slytherin," Cohen replied, "that's what we're asking for. To keep us informed of any unusual developments at the school during this final period, and more importantly, he'll have to do the same for the rest of the summer." Do."

Snape had something else to say: "Slytherin House and this class of graduates are not what they used to be. Slytherin is now chaotic and divided. Alliances and friendships are simply impossible. You want this boy to do it." things are impossible.”

"What will I get in return?" Draco's voice was so quiet at this moment that Korn almost thought he heard it wrong.

"Your father will be transferred to another place to continue serving his sentence, and you will continue to live in Malfoy Manor without guardianship. The original agreement you signed with the Ministry of Magic will still be valid when you leave Hogwarts next week. When you graduate, your father will relinquish his title to you, and you will inherit everything your grandfather left you."

Draco looked very distrustful of this: "My father will die if he is imprisoned in Azkaban again, if I understand correctly, he has already reached an agreement with you to avoid this treatment.

"It's not Azkaban, we're going to take him..." Cohen explained, "We're negotiating a safe and comfortable location outside the UK."

Oh, Lucius would love it.

"He will be allowed to use some basic magic, but I can guarantee that his life will be greatly improved, and I'm sure you will want the best for your father."

"Yes, of course," Draco agreed, "the best in the world."

In the long silence, there was only the magical whirring of the many exquisite devices in Dumbledore's office.

"You mean abroad?" Draco confirmed one last time.

Snape stared at him like he had gone mad.