Chapter 39: The Secret of the Marauder's Map
"Put it on," Draco said curtly, placing the light, shimmering silver fabric in her hands.
"The invisibility cloak is truly magical." Hermione touched it and couldn't help but exclaim: "It feels so smooth, as if it were woven out of water..."
"The raw material isn't as simple as water. It's the hair of the Invisible Beast. The entire body of the Invisible Beast is covered with long, fine, silky, silver hairs," Draco said. Seeing Hermione's curious look, he casually pulled a book from the bookshelf and showed it to her. "Look, this is what they look like."
Hermione took the book and saw the graphic description of the invisible beast.
It is a gentle, quiet herbivore that looks a bit like an ape, with a pair of big black eyes that are often hidden in its hair.
"Their eyes look a bit elegant and a bit sad," she commented. "I bet they'd rather hide than be captured."
"That explains why invisibility cloaks are so rare and so expensive..." Draco was noncommittal. "Rarity makes them valuable."
"I kind of hate myself," Hermione said suddenly.
"Why do you say that?" he asked in surprise.
"I discovered my hypocrisy. On the one hand, I think the process of making the invisibility cloak is evil, and on the other hand, I need to use it to escape from trouble." Hermione sighed softly.
"I'm afraid I should advise you to be pragmatic," Draco said, glancing at the clock, which was about to strike eight. "We were so engrossed in our conversation just now that we wasted some time. You heard the noise outside the door, didn't you? At this point, after all this hardship and difficulty hiding for so long, only to be caught in the end, it's not a good deal."
Hermione pursed her lips and nodded, knowing that he had a point.
So she frowned and tried to put on the invisibility cloak to hide herself.
However, the first step is always difficult. As it was her first time wearing this thing alone, she was obviously not very experienced and could not figure out how to tie the straps, which left her hair or feet exposed.
"May I?" the boy walked forward and asked calmly.
"Okay." She said awkwardly, her eyes fixed on the crystal chandelier on the ceiling, and let him reach out and adjust the knot of her invisible cloak at the collar.
Draco's eyes fell on her throat. Only then could he be completely sure that there were no marks on her neck.
He didn't stop, gently tying a slipknot at her collar, whispering, "I'm sorry."
"Why?" She gave him a confused look.
"Did I hurt you yesterday?" he asked softly, a hint of regret in his voice. "I'm sorry. I didn't know it was you—"
"It's okay," she said lightly, observing his tightly pursed lips. "Now that I think about it, I was wrong too. Pretending to be someone else... isn't something to be proud of. In your eyes, I must have looked very suspicious back then."
"A little bit," he said. At that time, he was suffering from paranoia.
"You scared me. Are you always so rude to others?" Hermione frowned and looked deeply into his eyes. "I've never seen you like this before."
"No. I'm not usually this excessive." He said, lowering his eyes and not daring to look at her.
Normally, he wasn't this extreme. But he was always ready to go this far, or even further.
He couldn't control himself. He always felt insecure.
If Hermione had had the chance to ask Blaise, she would have known that Draco Malfoy always kept his wand under his pillow.
If anyone approached him in his sleep, he would mercilessly cast a curse and knock the person away. Therefore, no Slytherin dared to come to his dormitory.
Even privileged people like Bryce and Theodore, who could occasionally enter his dormitory, did not dare to disturb him during his sleep.
But how did she squat in front of him? Draco wondered in surprise.
He was unaware of anything and had no sense of crisis.
He untied the invisible knot with both hands, raised his eyes, and looked at her quietly, looking at this girl with an innocent face.
"Okay, thank you." She said happily, putting her hat on and hiding her innocent and lively face in the void. "Let's go!"
Draco put his doubts aside for the moment, knowing that he couldn't waste any more time.
He walked out of the dormitory calmly and walked down the stairs to the common room - those early rising Slytherin students immediately made him realize the necessity of the invisibility cloak.
He raised his chin to Pansy Parkinson, who was flipping through the latest issue of Witch Weekly in the corner, whistled at Slytherin Chaser Adrian Puse, who was slumped in an armchair, and patted the shoulders of Slytherin Beater Perrigin Derek, who was staggering and hungover.
Thanks to Hermione Granger, what would normally be a simple greeting had turned into an unusually dangerous experience. Draco forced himself to remain calm and walked out of their sight without looking around.
With his heart pounding, he quickly opened the door of the common room. He gave the invisible girl a little support, helped her through the door, and slipped out of the Slytherin common room with her safely.
Hermione paled.
As she walked out of the Slytherin common room, she suddenly realized that her "Polyjuice Potion Plan" was full of loopholes.
If Draco hadn't spotted her yesterday, she would have had countless opportunities to be caught by any Slytherin student.
It wasn't just because Pansy Parkinson, the star of the show, was about to return to the common room; it was also because she didn't know how to open the door of the Slytherin common room and walk out - the structure was different from the Gryffindor common room, and the principle of the fat woman's portrait was also very different.
It had been pure luck that she had slipped in. She had followed Marcus Flint, whom she knew to be the captain of the Slytherin Quidditch team—she'd always seen him when she'd spied on Draco's practice; but she wasn't always so lucky as to follow someone in time to find the right exit.
She could already imagine the embarrassing scene when the potion expired and she was blocked by the door, helplessly transformed back into a Gryffindor schoolgirl, and was caught on the spot by a malicious Slytherin student.
It would probably be a shocking scandal.
Draco was right to scare her yesterday. Professor Snape might take this opportunity to deduct fifty points from Gryffindor, or five hundred.
While silently thanking Merlin in her heart for allowing the platinum boy to find her in time and save her from danger, she took off the invisibility cloak and returned it to him behind a hidden wizard statue.
Draco quickly folded the thing into a small piece and stuffed it into the inner pocket of his robe. He continued to follow her for a while, keeping a distance from her.
It wasn't a short walk actually - he followed until he came to the portrait of the Fat Lady of Gryffindor, then stopped lazily.
"I can come back on my own," Hermione said sheepishly.
After taking off the invisibility cloak, they didn't look at each other and there was no physical contact.
But every time Hermione went up the stairs, she could see his platinum hair flashing at the bottom of the stairs - he was following her slowly.
"I have to make sure you return to the Gryffindor common room alive and well. If anyone knew you visited my dormitory at night and then disappeared, Professor McGonagall might mistake me for a kidnapper of a girl," Draco said slowly, looking at her mischievously with his gray eyes.
"Okay." Her face flushed red at the concept of "kidnapping girls" in his words, and she had to clear her throat, "Then I'll go back."
"Tell Harry all our theories, will you? He's been rather listless ever since Justin Finch-Fletchley's accident," Draco instructed her.
"Of course! Don't worry, he'll be happy to hear about our progress," said Hermione proudly.
This lively expression made Draco feel happy. Even staying up late seemed less annoying.
"Are you coming in or not?" The Fat Lady in the portrait asked Hermione impatiently, putting the pile of Christmas presents in front of her. "Don't delay me from opening the presents!"
"Okay, I'm going back." Hermione waved to Draco again shyly and said goodbye in a low voice.
Draco was in a good mood today.
He retraced his steps, preparing to descend Gryffindor Tower and sauntering down to the Great Hall for breakfast, not even realizing that he was humming softly.
But after taking a few steps, he was "kidnapped" by the Weasley twins wearing the same sweater who jumped out from behind him.
"Give me some privacy!" the Fat Lady cried after them. "It's early in the morning! And it's Christmas! You all are trying to see what presents I've got. Don't think I don't know! I've had enough..."
"Come on!" Fred turned around and shouted at her, "We know which portrait background you took the gift box from!"
"Nonsense! You are just jealous!" said the Fat Lady unyieldingly.
"Be careful we tell them to take these boxes away!" Fred added maliciously, and the fat lady who was complaining so much finally quieted down.
"I bet she won't be quiet for long. She'll be looking for someone else to show off to," George said, winking at a surprised Draco. "She does this every Christmas."
The three of them looked at each other and couldn't help laughing.
"By the way," after laughing for a while, Fred asked him with an ambiguous smile on his face, "We just saw second-year Hermione Granger saying goodbye to you in front of the Fat Lady -"
"You're already in love at such a young age... and it's progressing so quickly..." George said to his brother with a mischievous look on his face, "Look at them! And then look at you!"
"What are you talking about? We are friends!" Draco stopped laughing, and a faint blush appeared on his pale face. "Why should I listen to these nonsense from you two on Christmas morning?"
"It's just a joke, don't take it seriously." The twin brothers glanced at each other knowingly and smiled.
Draco looked at the two of them trying to hold back their laughter and felt a sense of vigilance. "What do you want to do? I'm warning you, don't spread rumors about the little girl."
"Of course. Who dares to mess with Hermione Granger? Aren't you afraid of being petrified by her?" Fred shuddered, then smiled again, "We just want to express our gratitude to you."
The two brothers took out two identical wine-red dragon leather bags and smiled broadly at him. "This is the best Christmas present we've ever received!"
Draco knew the twins had long coveted this retractable, large-capacity storage dragon leather bag, which would help them better carry their various supplies.
Of course, an ordinary small bag can also cast the space extension spell, but it is not as plastic as dragon skin; at the same time, things made of dragon skin are often very expensive.
Despite Draco's investment, the Weasley brothers had always kept a clear division of labor and would never use the money from the joke shop for personal use. Therefore, for them at this stage, buying a pocket dragonhide storage bag was still a bit of a luxury.
The Weasley brothers may appear cynical on the surface, but they are actually quite principled in their hearts. Draco gradually came to understand this in the process of dealing with them.
He appreciated this principle.
Especially since the Weasleys weren't exactly well off financially – he'd occasionally overhear Ron complaining to Harry about his old wand, his second-hand books, and his brother's unwanted pet rat.
"You're welcome. Using it properly will be the greatest thank you I can give you." Draco put his hands into the pockets of his robes and continued walking down the stairs. "By the way, your recent goods are selling well. Even the Slytherin girls are buying vomit candies."
"Yeah, I didn't expect that spit candy is so popular among girls." said Fred.
"We've received the customer survey you suggested we send out last time. Can you believe it? 90% of the female customers replied that they took Tutu Candy to lose weight." George spread his hands and said jokingly.
"Lose weight? Are there any side effects?" Draco asked in disbelief.
"Of course! If you induce vomiting all the time, the gastric juice will burn your esophagus and trachea." George shook his head.
"Print something on the package of vomit candy - 'Vomiting to lose weight is harmful to your health'," said Draco.
"Naive!" Fred rolled his eyes.
"Draco, you know, we can't be so lenient. As long as there's a market, we can't ban this." George looked at Draco suspiciously. "Besides, would you be so kind? Have you changed your ways, the unscrupulous capitalists? Besides, those girls won't care what you say. As long as there's a weight loss effect, they won't stop."
"I really didn't intend to stop them from eating," Draco said calmly. "It's just a disclaimer, understand? We've put it here in black and white. Whether the customers listen or not is up to them. Anyway, we're not responsible if anything goes wrong with the food."
"As expected, you're still an evil capitalist at heart," Fred said with a grin. "But I like your straightforwardness—it's much more interesting than those hypocritical capitalists."
"Inventions always have two sides," Draco said. "We can't ignore their positive effects just because they have negative effects. Also, Fred, how about developing a new product? One that can relieve tracheal and esophageal burning. Can you do it?"
"No problem. I think I can do it," Fred said easily. "In fact, I've already started working on it."
"Very good. Once it's successfully developed, sell it together with the tut candy," said Draco.
George grinned. "That's a great idea—the witches will love it."
"That reminds me." Draco remembered that in his previous life, the Weasley brothers' joke shop had set up a large shelf specifically for female wizards.
Apparently, their products are very popular among witches.
"When the store opens, maybe we can consider products that witches like, such as acne-removing medicine, magic makeup tools, love potions..." Draco counted on his fingers seriously.
"That's a good idea. Girls will do anything for beauty..." Fred put his arm on Draco's shoulder and said casually, "Sometimes, I think you're really something. How could a 12-year-old boy come up with these ideas?"
Draco paused as he descended the stairs.
"Oh," he said, with mock nonchalance, as if discussing the weather, "perhaps business is my gift, just as magic tricks are yours."
"That makes sense." Fred made a face and reluctantly accepted his statement. He pulled Draco to the fourth floor and said excitedly: "We've already seen that store, and it feels pretty good-"
"It just needs some work on the renovation. I think you have to go and see it in person and sign a contract with the owner of the house—" George added.
"Me? How can I go?" Draco said, "The passage you mentioned last time doesn't work at all -"
"That passage collapsed recently. But don't worry, take a look at our Christmas presents first." Fred pulled Draco past a statue of a hunchbacked one-eyed witch and entered the empty classroom to the left of the statue.
Fred cautiously leaned his head toward the corridor, looked around, and then closed the door cautiously. Then, with exaggerated movements, he pulled something out of his pocket and placed it solemnly on the table.
It was a large, blank square of parchment, and Draco saw that it was well worn and tattered, clearly showing its age.
Draco didn't act rashly. He seriously suspected that this was another prank by the Weasley twins.
"Draco, the secret of our success lies right here," George said, stroking the parchment lovingly.
"I really don't want to give it to you." Fred smiled and said, "But we decided long ago that you need it more than we do."
"We've memorized it anyway," George said nonchalantly. "Now I'm solemnly passing it on to you. We don't need it anymore."
Draco stared at the silent parchment, bewildered.
The next ten minutes shocked his whole world.
George and Fred explained how they had come across the parchment from Filch's drawer in their first year, and then demonstrated how to use the magical item called the Marauder's Map.
"I solemnly swear that I will do no good!" Fred pointed his wand at the parchment, and the ink line began to extend, and everything appeared before his eyes.
"Wait—isn't this Hogwarts?" Draco cried out.
So amazing!
The map was showing all the details of Hogwarts castle and grounds, as well as the names of everyone who had ever been there.
"That's right!" The twin brothers looked at each other and said proudly.
Most importantly, when Draco looked carefully, he also found several passages leading to Hogsmeade village.
"This is—" Draco looked up at his twin in surprise.
"Yes, secret passages," George said, pointing to the route. "There are seven in total. Filch knows four of them, and only we know the other three... The mirror passage on the fifth floor we told you about has collapsed, and the one with the Whomping Willow is useless... But! This one leading to Honeydukes' cellar is still usable. The entrance is right outside the classroom, on the hunchback of the one-eyed old woman."
"That's so cool!" Draco exclaimed in amazement.
"We've tried several times," said George cheerfully. "Thanks to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs."
"Don't forget to say 'Prank over' when you're done." Fred winked at Draco. "See you next Saturday at Honeydukes—"
"Put on a disguise and don't let anyone know you're a second-grade brat," George reminded him.
Draco's stunned expression made the twin brothers laugh. Then, they walked out of the classroom arm in arm, contentedly. "Have fun!" they said to him with a smile.
Draco had no time to pay attention to them - the Marauder's Map was fascinating.
He could see that the area around his name was gradually becoming empty.
The names of the Weasley twins followed the footprints towards the hall.
He could also clearly see that in Gryffindor Tower, Hermione's name was in the girls' dormitory, and not far from her, Harry and Ron's names were lingering in the Gryffindor common room.
"Hats off to Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs," he murmured.
For the next few days, Draco was immersed in the novelty brought by the Marauder's Map.
Herpo's notes fell out of favor, the investigation into Colin Creevey and Filch's enemies reached a bottleneck, and even his usual forte, wizard chess, failed to arouse his interest.
"What on earth is he busy with every day?" Blaise asked Pansy with a cold face in the Slytherin common room.
He excitedly set up the chess pieces, but in return he received Draco's ruthless "I'm busy with other things" and a hurried away back, which made him very angry.
"Forget it, ignore him. I'll play wizard chess with you." Pansy threw the "Wizard Weekly" aside and looked at him.
"Who wants to play chess with a girl? It's not fun at all." He said disdainfully and glanced at her.
"I don't think you dare! Are you afraid that I will kill you without leaving a single piece of armor?" Pansy looked at him with contempt.
"What's there to be afraid of?" Blaise sneered, "Do you think I'm afraid of you? Don't cry if you lose!"
"Oh, you're so ambitious! If you lose, you have to call me 'sister'." Pansy smiled maliciously.
Draco was indifferent to the warring atmosphere between Blaise and Pansy.
His favorite thing now is to look at the map all day long.
The whole school seemed to be under his control, and no secrets could escape his control.
This feeling of being in control of the overall situation is simply the strongest mental placebo for a person who lacks a sense of security about everything.
He can see everything.
Irma Pince and Poppy Pomfrey's names occasionally appeared in Madam Puddifoot's tea shop in Hogsmeade, sitting together - he had never known they were friends;
Crabbe and Goyle's names were frequently mentioned in the Great Hall, which was nothing new—they were probably eating and drinking like crazy again;
There were also some men and women who frequently hung out together: Percy Weasley from Gryffindor and Penelope Clearwater from Ravenclaw; Stebbins from Hufflepuff and Fawcett from Ravenclaw; even Blaise and Pansy often spent time alone together, and no one knew what they were doing... There was so much gossip like this that it kept Drake overwhelmed.
In addition to gossip, some old cases that have troubled him for many years have finally been solved.
The name of the dean of the house would appear in the men's bathroom at a fixed time every week, proving that, although not frequently, Professor Snape would still take a bath and wash his hair.
And some trivial things that are of concern.
For example, he could see that Argus Filch's name appeared for a long time somewhere in the corridor on the third floor. He probably saw that Mr. Squib was sitting on that chair again, staring fiercely at every student who passed by, hoping to catch the "murderer" who hurt his beloved pet.
Unfortunately, the location of the Chamber of Secrets was not mapped on this map, and there was no trace of the Basilisk on this map. These talented cartographers were probably not from Slytherin House - they did not know about the Chamber of Secrets.
One morning, Draco had just woken up and was lying on his bed in the dormitory as usual, studying the names on the map beside the bed with great interest.
His eyes inadvertently slid across the almost overlapping names of Percy Weasley and Penelope Clearwater, and glanced casually at the names of the Weasley twins who appeared in the Hogwarts kitchen. He inexplicably found that the names of Ms. Grey and Luna Lovegood lingered for a long time, as if they were having a conversation.
Ms. Grey also makes friends? Draco raised his eyebrows in surprise.
He turned his gaze to see what was happening in Gryffindor Tower, but was suddenly stunned by a name that appeared on the map.
"Peter Pettigrew." He whispered the name, as if it were unreal.
Is this possible?
A wizard who had been dead for many years in the public's mind could walk out of the Hogwarts common room and onto the road to the Great Hall with his name overlapping with Harry Potter and Ron Weasley?
He jumped out of bed, threw on his shirt and robe, and rushed to the hall as fast as he could.
Peter Pettigrew was still there.
Draco checked the map again before entering the hall. Peter Pettigrew remained motionless at the dining table.
Could it be that he still wants to have breakfast? This is really weird.
Draco put the Marauder's Map in his pocket, wand clutched tightly in his hand, and hurried into the hall, trying hard to appear calm.
Peter Pettigrew is a despicable and disgusting Death Eater who betrays his friends, but he is also the one who helps the Dark Lord resurrect.
Be sure to catch him.
It's really a relief to have someone send you a pillow just when you're sleepy! Just when I was worried about where to find him, he ended up walking into the trap himself, Draco thought excitedly.
Draco first met Peter Pettigrew when they worked together under the Dark Lord.
Draco had no idea where he had lived or what he had been doing in the past ten years or so.
Perhaps now was the only time Draco could possibly have any contact with him.
But the scene before him sent chills down Draco's spine.
Peter Pettigrew hadn't shown up. It was still early, and the Great Hall was deserted. Draco could clearly see that only Harry and Ron were sitting at the Gryffindor table.
Draco's facial expression was completely out of control.
He rushed to Harry and Ron in two steps, staring at them in amazement as they gulped down the milk, and for a moment he lost the ability to speak.
"Oh, good morning, Draco." Draco's expression was so horrified and abnormal that Harry couldn't help but lower his head to check his clothes. Finding that everything was normal, he greeted him with a little doubt.
"Good morning." Draco came back to his senses, and he suppressed his ferocious expression. "I want to ask, did you come to the hall with anyone just now?"
"It's just the two of us." Ron looked up from his ten fried eggs and gave him a puzzled look. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," Draco said. He was so distracted that he had forgotten the Slytherin table wasn't there and sat down opposite them, looking them both over.
Could it be Polyjuice Potion? he wondered doubtfully.
No.
If Peter Pettigrew was pretending to be Harry or Ron, there would not be three names on the map but two, and he overturned this theory.
However, looking at Harry and Ron's calm expressions, they didn't seem to be lying.
If Peter Pettigrew appeared in Hogwarts at this moment, the surrounding atmosphere would definitely not be so quiet and peaceful, but rather an uproar, right?
After all, in the minds of the wizards, he is already dead.
Is the map broken? Moony, Wormtail, Padfoot, and Prongs, is there something wrong with your map?
"Draco, what are you doing at the Gryffindor table?" He was lost in thought when Hermione sat down beside him in a hurry, bringing a gust of cool air in. She was looking at him curiously, her face flushed pink by the cold wind outside.
"Oh, I just came to say hello." Draco said dejectedly.
Hermione tilted her head to look at him, took in Draco's clothes with bright eyes, and suddenly smiled.
"I bet you were in a rush this morning. Your collar is askew." She automatically reached out and straightened it for Draco, nodding with satisfaction. "That's much better now."
Draco stood there in a daze, letting her tighten the loose Slytherin tie around his neck. It wasn't until she lowered her hand that he realized what she had done.
This level of intimacy... He was a little dazed and hurriedly thanked her with his ears red.
"You two finally made up?" Harry asked with a smile, his emerald green eyes darting between the two of them through his glasses.
"Oh, Harry, I don't understand what you're talking about." Hermione said cheerfully, beginning to butter her bread. "When have we ever argued?"
"Oh, yes... So, I was the one who spent a month brewing Polyjuice Potion in Myrtle's ladies' room?" Ron said in disbelief. "Girls are terrible! So fickle."
Hermione frowned and glared at the other side. Ron lowered his head and secretly made a face at Harry, who smiled secretly.
Draco couldn't help but look at her and raised an eyebrow at her.
Hermione, she was so clever that she thought of brewing potions there.
"Would you like to eat?" Hermione handed him the bread and butter and poured him a glass of juice. "Would you like to eat something?"
"Oh, thank you." He took a bite of bread hesitantly, his brain in a mess.
Should he continue to think about Peter Pettigrew's problem, or should he think about something else?
Is she taking care of him?
All in all, today's bread is quite delicious. Could it be that the house-elves also know how to favor some over others and put the best bread and butter on the Gryffindor table?
I'll ask Wendy next time… He thought doubtfully and took another bite of bread.
"I have to say, I think your guesses are very likely." Harry looked around and said to Draco in a low voice, "We asked around, and at that time, quite a few Gryffindor students were caught by him."
"Slytherin, too." Draco forced himself to focus on the conversation at hand. "I made a list and marked the possible names. Hermione—"
"Ah, here they are. Yours, Harry's, and I've been checking with Susan Bones about suspicious Hufflepuffs," said Hermione, shaking the parchments proudly. "I'm going to compile them today."
"Besides, I asked Ginny—she's a Charms partner with Colin Creevey," said Ron. "According to her, Colin hasn't offended anyone."
"Are you sure we can just ask her?" Hermione said doubtfully. "She seems to be in a trance lately. She's been terrified by the events of the Chamber of Secrets. Could she have forgotten some details? Should we find a few more of Colin's classmates to cross-examine?"
"Hermione, my sister is the smartest child in the family! She's been acting a little scared lately because George and Fred scared her a little too much. I believe she's said everything she needs to say!" Ron frowned and said, "If you're worried, you can go ask someone else yourself."
How could Ron, that little brat, talk to her in such an attitude?
Draco felt a little annoyed.
He was about to interrupt, but Hermione spoke first: "Of course I will find someone else myself! I am as worried about Ginny as you are! But only by finding clues and solving the problem can she stop being afraid, right?"
Draco was slightly surprised. Hermione, when she was with Harry and Ron, was unexpectedly strong and persuasive.
It seemed that he didn't need to worry about her suffering any loss at all.
"That's right." Ron's tone softened. "Sorry, I've been in a bad mood lately. You know, things in the Chamber of Secrets keep happening one after another. Ginny's been crying in fear every day, and my mouse has been a little listless lately. I almost couldn't find it the other day..."
"It's okay. I'll talk to Ginny too, and encourage her. Some things are easier to say between girls." Hermione said magnanimously, looking at her list the whole time, as if the dispute and conflict were no big deal.
All her attention was on the list. Now, she sighed worriedly, "The only one missing is Ravenclaw."
A deep silence fell over the table. Harry, Ron, and Hermione looked at each other.
No one was friendly with Ravenclaws.
"My roommate Parvati has a sister in Ravenclaw, but we're not that close. She's always gossipy and asking questions, and I'm afraid she'll spread this to everyone..." Hermione said in embarrassment, "If there's no other way out, it's best to -"
"Well, maybe I can give it a try." Draco swallowed a mouthful of bread and said, "I have some special channels."
Based on the information in the Marauder's Map, he could probably ask Ms. Grey and her new friend, Luna Lovegood.
"Oh, Draco, that's great." Hermione smiled at him happily, her eyes shining. "I'm kind of liking your special channel now!"
Draco smiled slightly.
"Also, how do we get rid of the basilisk?" Harry said. "Hagrid's roosters are all dead. Where can we find new ones? Is there no other way to stop it except by its crowing? Is there any spell or something?"
"I have no idea about this matter," Draco said. "Dealing with a monster of this size is almost unimaginable. Probably only a wizard as powerful as Dumbledore can do it, so you must not act rashly. I guess even spells may not work on it. It may have a very thick hide. You have to find its weak point."
Harry fell into deep thought.
"Why not consider looking for the entrance to the Chamber of Secrets?" Ron said. "If we can seal it, the monsters won't be able to get out, and Hogwarts will be safe, right?"
"Very clear thinking, Ron." Draco raised his eyebrows and praised Ron. He had been observing Ron during the conversation and had not noticed anything unusual so far.
Ron blushed and said to Draco, "I'm sorry, what I said about Slytherin before didn't actually include you... Anyway, don't mind it..."
Draco took a sip of juice and waved his hand, "I forgot about it a long time ago."
He was so busy arguing with Hermione at the time that he had no idea what anyone else was saying.
Ron felt relieved. He took out his precious mouse from his pocket, then a small, delicate white bottle, and said to Draco, "Thank you for the mouse tonic. Scabbers hasn't been very energetic since winter. I'll feed him some now..."
Ron looked normal, at least neither Harry nor Hermione noticed anything was wrong with him.
There was no sign that there was any invisible person around him who was coercing him. Draco's eyes moved around Ron several times, confused and uneasy.
Gradually more and more students filled the auditorium.
At this time, at the Slytherin table, Crabbe shouted at him, "Draco, Pansy asked me to ask you to come over as a witness! This is a once-in-a-century scene!"
Draco raised his chin slightly at him, indicating that he would be there soon.
Merlin! Draco looked gloomy. He had so many nagging unanswered questions, but he was entangled in them and couldn't get away from them. He sighed in weariness.
"Then I'll be leaving first." He took a deep breath and said to the girl who was studying the list as gently as possible, "I'll give you the list as soon as possible, okay?"
"Okay." Hermione looked up and smiled at him.
She finally pulled her eyes away from the parchments—watching the platinum-gold color walk back into the silver-green ocean—and unusually, no longer paid attention to the names.
Draco, he's always been popular with those Slytherins, she thought.
Those arrogant and indifferent Slytherins would always call him for help with anything.
In the Slytherin common room, this feeling of "he is very popular" is even more obvious. All kinds of people are willing to greet him. No matter how domineering or arrogant they may have been at Hogwarts, they seem to have a good relationship with him.
She seemed to gradually understand why he was so popular. He seemed aloof, but he was very reliable.
It seemed like she could always count on him to cover for anything she couldn't do.
For example, the Ravenclaw list. Just when she was struggling, he actually took the task after a brief thought, saying calmly that he could get it.
He might be the kind of person who does great things quietly. She stared at his back and couldn't help but have a strange idea.
Draco strolled to the corner of the Slytherin table and heard Pansy proudly announce to everyone: "Blaise is going to call me 'sister' in front of everyone. He lost to me in wizard chess!"
"Come on, I only lost one game, and we played a hundred games!" Bryce said in disbelief.
"When you made the agreement with me, you didn't specify a maximum number of rounds, nor did you say how many rounds you had to win to qualify!" Pansy said with a sly grin, "Come on, call me 'sister'!"
"Impossible! Absolutely not!" Blaise said in embarrassment. His usual self-righteous demeanor was completely ruined by Pansy, the "unreasonable and arrogant girl".
"What is all this? Is it worth my trip? Crabbe, you can be a witness for them." Draco said lazily, deciding not to get involved in this mess.
He shook his head, putting the quarrel between the two enemies behind him. He found an empty seat and sat down. He quietly took out the map from his robe and looked at it.
——Peter Pettigrew's name still stood arrogantly at the Gryffindor table, almost overlapping with Ron Weasley's name.