HP's Platinum Temptation

The dinner carefully prepared by Crouch was mainly to entertain the chairman of the International Quidditch World Cup, as well as the Violet League, the contractor of the entire World Cup.The supporting cast is a group of relevant Ministry of Magic officials, sponsors, etc.Lucius got the invitation to the dinner as a sponsor.

As a supporting role at a dinner party, you usually need to be there before the protagonist.When Lucius arrived at the venue with Narcissa, Crouch, Mustafa, and Lambert were not there yet.Shortly after entering the arena, Narcissa left Lucius to inquire among the other female guests.It wasn't until the venue suddenly darkened and everyone's eyes turned to the entrance of the venue that Narcissa took Lucius's arm again.

"The number of people present today is more than I expected. I seem to see a pure-blood family outside the Violet Alliance." Lucius whispered to Narcissa.

"Almost, I saw a lot of old friends just now. There are not a few participants like us today. The main reason is that Henry made his public appearance as the leader of the Violet Alliance for the first time. Many people are trying to find a way to participate for this reason. Oh, he came right after talking..." Before Narcissa finished her original words, several people walked in at the entrance of the venue, causing a new wave of commotion.Lucius followed her words and looked towards the door, and found that following Crouch and Mustafa was Winter, who was holding Mrs. Collins' arm.The outstanding appearance conditions almost make everyone's eyes focus instantly.

"That guy Ada is really lucky. I think she will be Henry's girlfriend in all public occasions in the future." Narcissa muttered: "They seem to be quite right, what do you think?" The latter sentence is right Lucius' question.

"Well, it's quite appropriate." Lucius said in a stiff tone: "I didn't know that you and Mrs. Collins also maintain a good relationship."

Narcissa looked at him, covered her mouth and chuckled a few times, and stopped provoking him on this topic: "By the way, I seem to have seen Dumbledore just now."

The content discussed in the daytime meeting is relatively formal, while the occasion of the dinner party is more suitable for some more personal and in-depth exchanges.After Crouch accompanied Mustafa into the arena, he quickly gave up his position next to Mr. Chairman.At that time, Lucius' eyes just fell on Winter.

As soon as Winter entered the venue, his eyes swept across the crowd, obviously looking for Lucius.The moment the two met their gazes, Winter seemed to want to lead Mrs. Collins towards Lucius.But those people beside him who had been waiting for Winter's appearance for a long time quickly surrounded Winter's range of activities and prevented him from moving.

Lucius was a little speechless in his heart, and immediately turned his head to re-lock his main target, and then found that Crouch had disappeared.

"When you looked away, Ida seemed to have said something to Henry, and then he showed a toothache expression." Narcissa had been focusing on the movement on Winter's side just now, so she immediately told Lucius Shared her newfound discovery: "Guess what they said?"

"Not interested. Old Crouch is gone." Lucius subconsciously looked in Winter's direction, but the situation over there was completely blocked by the crowd: "Help look for it."

In the venue, when the crowd was obviously moving closer to the center, Lucius quickly saw Crouch walking around in a corner, and the target he was approaching.

"Mr. Dumbledore, long time no see." Lucius greeted the moment Crouch arrived at Dumbledore's side.

"Good evening, Mr. Malfoy. How long has it been since our last trip? Three months? Hehe, the old man's memory is not very good." Dumbledore responded with squinted eyes, and his tone was very cooperative. Old Crouch showed a puzzled expression.

"Good evening, Mr. Crouch." Lucius greeted Crouch immediately: "I thought you would accompany Mr. Chairman to introduce tonight's guests. If possible, I hope you can introduce me .”

"The dinner tonight is mainly to give Mr. Chairman the opportunity to have more exchanges with officials from the Department of Sports and Sports of the British Ministry of Magic, so as to facilitate the smooth progress of the work of the World Cup. I think Mr. Malfoy can hold another banquet and then Invite Mr. Mustafa." Crouch was obviously impatient with Lucius, and the reason for his refusal was quite blunt, and he added a sarcasm at the end.In terms of attitude towards Lucius, Crouch is no different from before.

"Haha, why didn't Mr. Malfoy ask Mr. Winter for an introduction? I think with your relationship, Mr. Winter should be happy to help. After all, Mr. Crouch has work responsibilities, so it may not be particularly convenient." Dumbledore touched his beard and interjected to reconcile the awkward atmosphere: "But it seems that Mr. Winter is a little busy today."

"Mr. Dumbledore must have misunderstood." Lucius raised his eyebrows: "Mr. Winter and I are not that friendly."

"Really? I always thought you were good friends. During the previous trip, Mr. Winter took good care of Mr. Malfoy. Did I misunderstand?" Dumbledore was not in a hurry, and responded slowly to Lu Xiu s topic.Crouch next to him seemed to want to continue talking about the previous topic, but after opening his mouth, he stopped because he heard what Dumbledore said about the trip, and listened carefully.

"Of course not friends. Strictly speaking, the relationship between enemies may be more applicable to our situation." Lucius said, glanced at the center of the venue, and Winter was still completely hidden behind the crowd: "After the World Cup, our game It's going to start soon. It's a tense time. Will Mr. Dumbledore referee our match?"

"I haven't received such an invitation yet, but this competition is indeed very interesting. You must know that the students' interest in live-action duels has been on par with their interest in Quidditch. If necessary, our professors will Already very experienced as a referee for live-action duels. Maybe being a loyal spectator would suit me better."

Dumbledore and Lucius chatted about travel and competitions. The atmosphere was very harmonious. Crouch, who had been unable to get in the conversation, seemed a little anxious. During a conversation break, he finally seized the opportunity and asked curiously. There was a question he had always wanted to know: "It sounds like the two of you had a very pleasant trip before, where is it?"

Crouch looked at Dumbledore and asked, but Lucius took the initiative to answer: "We went to Greece once. As you know, the competitive sports in Greece are quite developed. Mr. Winter invited me to watch together, by the way Discuss the detailed rules of the live-action duel competition. For the sake of fairness, we have invited Mr. Dumbledore to accompany us and provide us with advice based on his rich experience." Lucius said and stopped here for a while, looking at Dumbledore who was robbed , after getting a nod and acquiescing smile from the other party, he continued: "But the bigger reward of this trip is the beautiful scenery of Greece. I wonder if Mr. Crouch has seen a forest with a lot of fallen leaves in spring?"

"Shouldn't the leaves fall in autumn?" Crouch realized that Dumbledore was not going to answer otherwise, so he had to patiently follow Lucius' topic.

"Oh, yes, I thought so too. But this time I learned new knowledge." Lucius explained very enthusiastically: "Mr. Winter specially explained it to us when he took us to see, Leaf drop in spring is not because the old leaves have reached the end of their life, but because the new leaves are growing far faster than the old leaves are willing to drop off the branch."

"What do you mean?" Crouch's forced smile couldn't hold back for an instant, and his tone became cold.

"I don't mean anything, Mr. Crouch. I'm just introducing you to our trip. At that time, Principal Dumbledore also said with a smile that the new member of the Lambert family also grows very fast like this new leaf. Right, Mr. Dumbledore." Lucius said innocently.

"Hehe, did I say that? I'm too old to remember." Dumbledore didn't affirm it, nor did he completely deny it.

Probably because the atmosphere of the conversation between Dumbledore and Lucius was too friendly, Crouch didn't bring up the topic he originally wanted to talk to Dumbledore in the end, and turned and walked away a little annoyed.

"If Mr. Dumbledore is so interested in our match, do you want to consider participating?" Lucius wanted to get the results from Crouch, so he didn't stop Crouch from leaving, but instead Changed another topic and continued chatting with Dumbledore.

"Hehe, isn't your game a team mode?" Dumbledore said with a smile, "Putting me, an old man, with a bunch of young people will probably affect your interest."

"How could it be? Doesn't Mr. Dumbledore also have a team that can participate in the competition? It's a rare opportunity. I think this is a good proposal. It's just a competition between two teams, which will probably make the audience feel bored." Lucius The Order of the Phoenix was not explicitly mentioned, but the implied effect must have been achieved.

"Oh? It's really good to say that." Dumbledore's obvious smile did not weaken at all through the half-moon-shaped glasses: "I heard that Mr. Malfoy will be mainly responsible for the preparations for the competition. Do you think that Hogg How about Watts students joining? Although it is a temporary idea, it may be troublesome to notify the students, but it is summer vacation, and the students are probably full of enthusiasm."

"Compared with adult wizards, there is still a gap in the excitement of the students' competition. After all, the cost and the feelings of the audience still need to be considered in the competition. It would be better if the professors from Hogwarts participated. What do you think? What?" Lucius was still surprised when he saw Dumbledore's full promise.But he didn't expect that Dumbledore suddenly proposed to let the students participate as his 'team', and Lucius was a little powerless to fight back because of this evasion.

"It doesn't matter, this game is also a new thing. Speaking of the experience of using this game system, probably no one is more familiar than the students. The familiarity with this game may also increase the excitement. Speaking of it, Mal Hasn't Mr. Fu considered that it would be unfair to use the playing field provided by the Violet League? Among our students, Clarence is particularly good at it. As the administrator of the school system, Theodore often leads the students Let’s play together.” Dumbledore spared no effort to extend his suggestion for evasion: “If you let the competition between students and adult wizards be held separately, you can let different colleges fight against each other, and put the student competition in yours. Before the game, it can also be regarded as a warm-up for you."

"If it is divided into different colleges, the number of competitions for students will be much more than that for adult wizards. It's a bit of a priority." Lucius didn't realize the meaning of Dumbledore's proposal to let students participate, so he continued to look for Reason for refusal.

"Oh, I don't think it has anything to do with it. Mr. Crouch seems to want to suggest that Aurors also participate in your competition. If you want to increase the excitement of the competition, you can also accept free registration from other adult wizards. And, " Dumbledore paused for a moment, and finally stated the main point of his proposal: "If the students participate in the competition, Clarence should participate instead of Slytherin House. I heard that Mr. Winter and Mr. Malfoy are both banned from participating in the competition. I Thought you might be interested in learning about the fighting skills of other members of the Lambert family."

Lucius almost blurted out 'old fox'.His relationship with Winter, and his curiosity about Winter's identity, is not an absolute secret.In the two alliances, there are definitely more than one or two people who know.And Dumbledore's ability to obtain this information did not surprise Lucius.Obviously, Winter's identity is a hidden danger in the relationship between the two parties. Once it breaks out, it is likely to affect the cooperative relationship between the two parties.

Lucius was sure that while Dumbledore was using the students to excuse himself, he must also have thought of finding something for the two alliances to do.And what made Lucius most helpless was that the reason Dumbledore said really moved Lucius.The discount gave Lucius a feeling of being calculated by Dumbledore, which was very unpleasant.

"By the way, I didn't know before that Mr. Malfoy had such an obvious interest in old Mr. Crouch." Dumbledore saw that Lucius didn't respond and was not persistent, so he immediately changed the subject.If Lucius invited the Order of the Phoenix to join the competition just now, he had the idea of ​​testing Dumbledore.In turn, Dumbledore also had a strong interest in learning about the Violet Alliance and the Pureblood Alliance.

"I think I'm interested in Mr. Barty Crouch, and it's very normal to want to know about his condition." Lucius glanced at Dumbledore, slowed down his speech, and pronounced his words clearly.Regarding the fight against the Death Eaters, even if Dumbledore is not enthusiastic about participating, he will definitely be happy to see it succeed. This can also be reflected in the face-to-face and heart-to-heart discord between Dumbledore and Lucius.So it's perfectly fine to suggest that there was something wrong with Barty Crouch Jr.'s death.Lucius remembered that Winter had said that the headmaster of Hogwarts had the same method as him to confirm the life and death of the Dark Lord.Come to think of it, if Dumbledore understood his hint, he could also find out other people's problems.

Dumbledore frowned slightly, watched the excitement in the middle of the venue together with Lucius, after a moment of silence, stroked his beard again, and said slowly: "It seems that Mr. Malfoy is a person who always misses old friends. "It means to understand that Lucius is taking action against the Death Eaters: "Then I think I should be able to ask Mr. Malfoy about the situation of an old friend. The previous Gringotts theft seems to have brought Mr. Carlo It’s quite troublesome. I haven’t heard from this school manager for a while.” This sentence means that the school manager has not paid the fee in time for some time.

"Carlo doesn't attend social banquets very much recently. Probably he is digesting the windfall benefits from Gringotts." Lucius snorted coldly, expressing his dissatisfaction in a timely manner.

"Oh, yes, this question is indeed a bit inappropriate. After all, the Malfoy family's vault is also on the stolen list." Dumbledore chuckled twice: "Of course, I don't say that to worry about you. After all, not all All the school directors are as 'responsible' as Mr. Malfoy. I am a little worried whether Mr. Carrow will attend this year's school board meeting. I don't know what Mr. Malfoy thinks, if Hogwarts thinks the Carrow family is not suitable If it continues to serve as the school manager, who will it choose to take over this position? Mr. Malfoy must know more about the selection criteria of this school manager, maybe I can write to the possible new school manager first to introduce some recent Hogwarts situations ?”

After Dumbledore finished speaking, he didn't seem to be ready to wait for Lucius' reply. He turned around with a smile, and walked towards the food table next to the venue, muttering as he walked: "Old people are not as popular as young people. Got the taste of hunger."

When Lucius talked to Dumbledore and Crouch just now, Narcissa was called away by an ordinary lady friend at the right time.At this time, seeing Lucius turned into a human again, he walked over and brought some food for Lucius.As she approached, Narcissa found that Lucius' face was more solemn than when he started to talk to him.

"What's the matter, isn't your plan going well?" Narcissa asked softly, put her hand on Lucius' arm lightly, and pulled back his attention, which was obviously distracted by thinking: "Do you want to eat something first?" thing?"

"I really don't like Dumbledore." Lucius sighed and took the food.

"What's the matter, did he hinder your plan?" Narcissa asked with concern: "Maybe there is another chance."

"No, the information I want to know is already in hand. But Dumbledore has created two new troubles for me, and I have to do as he wants." Lucius glanced at the stream, which was still endless In the center of the venue, she sighed with a complicated expression, and dragged Narcissa to the rest area to sit and eat.

"Is there something wrong? Does Henry know?" Narcissa secretly waved her wand while not paying attention, casting a sound-proof spell around her.Such behavior is not too unusual at such a dinner party, and it would not arouse suspicion if it were seen.

"Of course he doesn't know, it's about him. Dumbledore doesn't know where he got it from. We've been trying to find out about Henry's true identity. I just told him that after I asked Crouch for the purpose, he hinted that I , if the Carlo family can be removed as the Hogwarts school manager, the contract magic of Hogwarts is likely to find the Lambert family as the new school manager." Lucius took a bite of food, but The taste is average, so I put down the tableware again.

"Wouldn't it be nice if Henry could become the new school manager? I think the financial resources of the Lambert family should be able to pay for the sponsorship of the school manager." Narcissa didn't understand the deeper meaning of the school manager's question.

Lucius shook his head and explained: "Although Hogwarts' school management contract was not established at the beginning of the school, it has a long history. Whenever someone loses their qualifications, this magic bound to the castle will automatically After screening the candidates it deems most suitable, it sends out an open invitation letter. The opening of this letter requires the verification of the patriarch's ring. Hogwarts sends another letter only if the first inviter declines Invitation letter to the second candidate."

"You mean, Dumbledore hinted that through this, you can know which Lambert holds the patriarch's ring?" Narcissa still didn't keep up with the rhythm: "But Dumbledore should not have seen the letter in that letter." Please raise your head and call me."

"Of course it's not that simple, but if, at the same time as this letter is sent, we find a way to keep the four members of the Lambert family in our sight, who will this letter be sent to? Isn’t the answer you want obvious?”

******

Clarence deeply felt that it was a wrong decision for him to agree to formally attend the dinner.Dana had reminded him before that there were definitely not a few people who had a strong interest in him.So, he was careless and wasted the whole night dealing with these people who came up to talk to him.Except for the first glance at Lucius, he couldn't see anything after that.Crouch, one of the hosts of the banquet, left early again.Clarence couldn't even guess whether Lucius had the answer he wanted.

By the time Clarence and Mrs. Collins broke out, the dinner party was over, and more than half of the guests had left.So Clarence, who had been doing useless work all night, was very depressed.In the process of leaving the venue with Mrs. Collins, he also drooped his head, looking weak.

"You are so rude to your female companion who has been standing with you all night." Mrs. Collins glanced at the surrounding situation, showing a nice smile: "If you hang your head again, you will miss the good show."

"What's good..." Clarence froze in the middle of his sentence.

"I'll go to Narcissa to talk about our new beauty products. You can do it yourself." Mrs. Collins smiled and let go of Clarence's shoulder, and turned to walk not far behind them. The Malfoys who came out of the venue.

The author has something to say: la la la ~ ~ today is more than 6000 words ~ ~

Hehe, dear friends, did you notice a small detail, Father L was hungry and ate something, he only took one bite and threw it away!It means that decisiveness has already been raised by Clay. Is there any appetite!

Also, there is something like playing, at the beginning Father L saw Clay being besieged, and he was a little bit jealous~~

Dear friends, you must pay attention to these small details that Father L is slowly softening! !

AND~Old Deng is out, Clay is determined to be cheated, do you have any expectations?

The big crisis of identity being revealed~

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