The Ancient Wizards of Hogwarts

At noon, a figure in black quietly opened the door of the Three Broomsticks bar, walked straight to the second floor, and stopped in front of the last door in the corridor on the second floor.

He didn't knock on the door, but opened the door directly and walked in.

But Lucius in the room was not dissatisfied with his impoliteness. Instead, he smiled and picked up the wine bottle and poured two glasses of wine.

Lucius held the wine glasses and handed one to Snape, his tone seemed a little emotional:

"Snape, it's really not easy to meet you."

Snape took the wine and said calmly:

"I have to teach thousands of students every day, and you can't expect me to come see you during school hours."

"Professors at Hogwarts really don't have much free time."

Lucius smiled and nodded in agreement, and then started to guide the topic very naturally, "Is Cassandra okay at school?"

"very good."

Snape took a sip of wine and nodded slightly, "She and her friends all have outstanding talents in Potions. She just defeated Miss Harley in a duel at the Duel Club last night. For beginners, It was definitely a wonderful matchup.”

When his daughter was praised, the corners of Lucius' lips slightly raised. His daughter should have such strength. Even the so-called savior cannot defeat Cassandra!

But Lucius soon realized something was wrong, and he wasn't here to ask this!

Lucius shook the wine glass and asked seemingly unintentionally:

"Duel Club, is it organized by you?"

"No, it's Lockhart." Snape's face darkened, and he held the wine glass slightly harder.

Lucius looked surprised:

"That Defense Against the Dark Arts professor? Cassandra has complained to me about him more than once, and you don't seem to like him very much either?"

Snape sneered:

"You should ask who at Hogwarts would like him."

"So……"

Lucius leaned forward slightly, "Can we find an opportunity to replace him?"

Snape's expression moved slightly, and he looked at Lucius carefully, as if he was meeting him for the first time.

Snape's voice was a little low:

"Who do you want to replace?"

"Anyone."

Lucius waved his hand nonchalantly, "As long as it's not Lockhart, anyone can do it. I just don't want Cassandra to continue to be educated by this kind of person. I want to change her to a normal Defense Against the Dark Arts professor." .certainly,"

Lucius paused slightly, observing Snape's change in expression with his peripheral vision, and he slowly said:

"It would be best to replace one of our own."

Snape saw Lucius's plan and knew that he was waiting for him here, so he asked directly:

"Who do you recommend?"

"How's Goyle?" Lucius asked.

Snape sneered and sneered mercilessly:

"Is he worthy? Or do you think Dumbledore will agree?"

Lucius obviously still wanted to fight for it, he persuaded:

"But we can unite with other school directors to put pressure on Dumbledore. He is just a professor, and he will compromise."

Snape's eyes narrowed and he said in a deep voice:

"Don't focus on this position. This is my advice to you. Dumbledore will never allow anyone to interfere with his decision-making about the school!"

"Lockhart has submitted his resignation to Dumbledore this morning. Students will not have Defense Against the Dark Arts classes today. Dumbledore has already decided on the successor for this position, and he will announce the candidate at the dinner."

"Unless you can ensure that the other school directors reach an agreement before this happens, I advise you to give up!"

"Resign?"

Lucius's face changed drastically. What he was worried about was not Lockhart's resignation, but why he hadn't received any news! In other words, why didn't Cassandra write to him to explain the situation at the school? Doesn't she realize the importance of these things?

In the final analysis, my long-standing mistakes in decision-making were due to my lack of understanding of Hogwarts.

Whether it was the matter of the Chamber of Secrets or Lockhart's resignation, he knew nothing about it, because all of this should have been written in Cassandra's letter to him! But Cassandra never wrote him a letter, not even a simple greeting!

This immediately made Lucius aware of the crisis!

Lucius asked in a deep voice:

"Snape, has Hogwarts been secretly intercepting students' letters?"

Snape just put the wine glass to his mouth, and before he drank, he heard Lucius asking, and he couldn't help but look surprised:

"Why do you think that way?"

"Because I haven't received any letters from Cassandra since this semester!"

Lucius's voice was low, and he was obviously convinced that there was something fishy in Hogwarts.

Snape asked rhetorically:

"Is it possible that Cassandra didn't write to you at all?"

Lucius denied it flatly:

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Why didn't his daughter write to him? That's his own daughter!

Dumbledore must have been afraid that his position would be threatened if things were leaked, so he secretly intercepted Cassandra's letter to him!

Yes, it must have been Dumbledore!

Lucius asked in a deep voice:

"Snape, what happened at Hogwarts? Why did Dumbledore secretly intercept letters written by students to their parents?"

Snape had a strange expression on his face, and he didn't know what Lucius was feeling.

Okay, just take it as such, you say yes.

Snape had no intention of convincing Lucius, he said slowly:

"Except for Lockhart's resignation, this should be the only big thing that happened in Hogwarts recently. It should be the Slytherin Chamber of Secrets that was opened two days ago. The basilisk in the secret room wandered around the school through the pipes, but luckily Unfortunately, there were no casualties, as Dumbledore quickly resolved the basilisk crisis."

Lucius' eyes flashed and he immediately asked:

"Snape, are you involved?"

Snape raised his eyebrows slightly and said calmly:

"I can't tell you."

"Why?" Lucius frowned.

Snape still didn't answer him, but suddenly asked:

"Do you know about the Soviet Union?"

Lucius raised his eyebrows slightly with a slightly surprised expression:

"That Muggle country that has disintegrated? I've heard a little bit about it."

In fact, Lucius not only heard about it a little bit, but was very clear about it.

Many wizards have a superficial belief that pure-blood wizards hate Muggle wizards and want to get rid of them quickly.

But this is just an appearance. In the final analysis, it is because the interests of the pure-blood family and other wizards are inconsistent.

For most wizards, they voluntarily abide by the Statute of Secrecy because it can effectively protect the entire magical world from being discovered by Muggles. In other words, the purpose of this law is to protect wizards.

However, for the vast majority of pure-blood families, the "Law of Secrecy" is completely restricting wizards and protecting Muggles!

Many pure-blood wizards are completely unable to understand the meaning of the existence of the "Statutory of Secrecy". Instead of thinking that it is protecting themselves, they feel that why should powerful wizards hide from those weak Muggles? Aren't wizards supposed to be natural rulers?

So when Grindelwald and Voldemort emerged, these wizards immediately responded to their call. Grindelwald and Voldemort may have different ideas, but their purpose is the same, which is to let wizards rule the world!

As the saying goes, in order to fight against the outside world, you must first settle down the inside. If you want to rule the Muggles, cleansing the wizarding world of Muggle wizards is the first step that cannot be bypassed. This is not only to provoke confrontation between wizards and Muggles, but also to eliminate dissidents.

After all, in the eyes of many pure-blood wizards, Muggle wizards are spies planted by Muggles in the wizarding world. And once a full-scale war breaks out between the wizarding world and the Muggle world, these Muggle wizards may betray the wizards and help the Muggles fight against them.

So whether it is Voldemort or Grindelwald, the first thing they do when they rise must be to purge Muggle wizards.

This may be cruel, but it is efficient enough.

Among all pure-blood families, the Malfoy family has always been highly respected and is considered to be a staunch supporter of pure blood, just like the Black family, the Gaunt family, and the Lestrange family. But few people know that the Malfoy family is actually as alien as the Weasley family.

The reason is also very simple. The ancestor of the Malfoy family and one of the earliest Malfoys, Armand Malfoy, came to England with William the Conqueror and used magic to make great contributions to Emperor William.

As a result, the Malfoy family received an excellent fiefdom and earldom in Wiltshire.

And this fiefdom has been passed down to this day, which is Malfoy Manor.

And as long as the British royal family still exists, the Malfoy family's fiefdom and earldom will continue to exist!

Therefore, for hundreds of years, the Malfoy family has enjoyed a high status in Muggle upper class society.

Even the ancestor of the Malfoy family, Lucius Malfoy I, once pursued Elizabeth I hard. But because his pursuit was unsuccessful, many people speculated that he used a curse on Elizabeth I out of love and hatred, which resulted in Elizabeth I never marrying and the Tudor dynasty also perished.

It is no exaggeration to say that before the promulgation of the Statute of Secrecy, the pure-blood family with the closest ties to Muggles was the Malfoy family, bar none!

But it was precisely because of the promulgation of the Statute of Secrecy that the Malfoy family had to end their interactions with upper-class Muggles, because continuing to protest would alienate them from the new power hub, the newly established Ministry of Magic. Compared to the rights and status in the Muggle world, the Malfoy family still values ​​their rights and status in the wizarding world more.

The Malfoy family suddenly became loyal supporters of the Statute of Secrecy, eager to refute any links between them and Muggles.

However, this is still an appearance.

Although the Act of Secrecy signed in 1689 came into effect, the Malfoy family's official ties with Muggles have been completely severed.

3 But secretly, the Malfoy family has been secretly maintaining hidden and close ties with the Muggle upper class.

Because although the Malfoy family has always been a supporter of pure blood and believes that wizard blood is nobler than Muggles, they do not resist non-magical society in some aspects - such as wealth and status.

The Black family is rich because they have accumulated countless wealth during the family's ancient history.

The wealth of the Malfoy family is not only reflected in the wizarding world, but also in the Muggle world.

Although it has never been proven, the Malfoy family has been extremely successful in investing in Muggle money and assets over the centuries.

The most recent successful investment of the Malfoy family was shorting the ruble.

More than ten years ago, the exchange rate between the US dollar and the ruble was 1:0.625.

In 1990, the exchange rate between the dollar and the ruble was 1:19.

In 1991, on the eve of the official collapse of the Soviet Union, the exchange rate had reached 1:30 and soared to 1:140 within a few months of the collapse.

Up to now, this exchange rate has exceeded 1:300!

And in the foreseeable future, this exchange rate will continue to fall, and the value of the ruble will continue to depreciate. The next few years will be a carnival of capital, and the economic markets around the world will be greatly affected by this.

However, as far as the wizarding world is concerned, many wizards don't even know where the Soviet Union is!

In addition, wizard currency and Muggle currency are not interoperable at all, and there is no economic and trade exchanges. Even the gold Galleons exchanged by Muggle families attending Hogwarts from Gringotts actually originated from Hogwarts. Watts and the Ministry of Magic provide subsidies, so Gringotts will only charge a nominal pound. In fact, the value of the two parties is not equal.

Therefore, the huge turmoil in the Muggle world cannot be said to have little impact on the wizarding world, but it can only be said to have no impact at all.

It is precisely through their friendship with the upper class of the Muggle world that the Malfoy family is able to have a keen economic sense and complete successful investments one after another with the help of 'friends'.

And all the Malfoy family needs to pay is to provide these Muggles with some trivial help at critical moments.

For example, using the Imperius Curse to control them, or their enemies.

There is no doubt that although this method allows the Malfoy family to grab a lot of wealth, once the matter is exposed, the Malfoy family will inevitably be held accountable by the Ministry of Magic. For this reason, the Malfoy family has long maintained a good relationship with the Ministry of Magic, and more than one Minister of Magic has been supported by them.

In this way, if there is any trouble in the Ministry of Magic, the Malfoy family can receive the information as soon as possible and respond in advance. For example, move the dark magic items collected at home in advance, or directly strangle the middleman who secretly communicates with Muggles.

It is precisely because of this that Lucius has always looked down upon the Weasley family——

We are all dealing with Muggles, how come I am rich and wealthy, but you are so poor that you can only tighten your belts?

What's more, although the Weasley family is obviously close to Muggles.

But when it comes to understanding Muggles, Lucius is actually far superior to Arthur, but he never shows it easily.

Snape's sudden question immediately made Lucius wary.

Could it be that Snape sensed something? He wants to blackmail himself? No, Snape didn't have to do this. With their relationship, Snape could just ask him to borrow money, and he would never refuse. What's more, with Snape's talent in potions, it was impossible for him to be short of money.

Could it be that Dumbledore had realized that he was collaborating with Muggles to short the ruble, and Snape was warning him?

Snape didn't know how complicated Lucius's mental activities were, so he just asked calmly:

“What was the national anthem of the Soviet Union?”

"unbreakable alliance……"

Lucius was suddenly shocked, and he had obviously realized something. He asked in a deep voice, "Unbreakable oath?"

Snape neither confirmed nor denied, but raised his glass to Lucius expressionlessly.

"As expected of Dumbledore!"

Lucius was a little worried in his heart. Not only had Dumbledore solved the crisis in the Chamber of Secrets, he had even made everyone involved sign an unbreakable oath. What was he hiding?

But fortunately, Snape was on his side. Although he couldn't tell him the inside story directly, he could still remind him in a subtle way.

The more this happens, the more Lucius becomes extremely afraid of Dumbledore!

He had thought that Dumbledore had become weaker with age, which could be seen from his laissez-faire attitude towards Fudge. But judging from Snape's experience, Dumbledore is obviously still the same old yin!

He had clearly solved the crisis in the Chamber of Secrets but did not raise the issue. He even intercepted a letter written by Cassandra to him and made an unbreakable vow with Snape. Wasn't this trying to trick him?

Lucius broke into a cold sweat, and he suddenly realized the crisis:

If he really went through with his original plan and rashly proposed to the school board to remove Dumbledore as principal. Then Dumbledore can immediately produce evidence that the basilisk has been eliminated, turning his accusation into slander.

In that case, not only would Dumbledore not be replaced, but he, the school director, would probably be removed as a result!

This was clearly a game against him!

Dumbledore, you are indeed cunning!

"Fortunately Ash reminded me."

Lucius suddenly felt lucky to have survived the disaster. If he hadn't just met Ash in the morning, if Ash hadn't reminded him in advance to talk to Snape first, I'm afraid he would have rashly broken into Hogwarts and asked Dun If Bumbledore forces the palace, he will definitely step into Dumbledore's trap and be unable to extricate himself.

But now with the help of Ash and Snape, he has learned the whole story and will naturally not be fooled again.

But the problem is that Lucius is unwilling to give up just like that.

When he came here, he thought this matter was a sure thing, but he couldn't leave in despair now, could he?

Snape suddenly asked softly:

"You want Goyle to take over as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"

"right."

Lucius was a little surprised and nodded slightly, "That was my original plan, but even though I am the school director, Dumbledore's priority is higher than mine when it comes to the appointment of professors."

"If this is the case."

Snape spoke calmly, unable to tell what he was thinking, "I can help you."

Lucius's expression moved slightly, and then he looked ecstatic.

If Snape is willing to help, he may not be able to try again!

The problem is that……

Lucius's eyes moved slightly and he asked quietly:

"Who does Dumbledore intend to replace as Defense Against the Dark Arts professor?"

"Lupin, Remus Lupin!"

Snape's tone was cold, and his thin, sallow face had a twisted expression.

That's the emotion called hatred!

Lucius had some knowledge of Snape's past. While he sympathized with Snape, he felt a surge of ecstasy in his heart!

In this way, he may not have a chance to make a comeback, after all, Snape and Ash are on his side!