Invite Harry Potter?
Lucius was stunned. He glanced at his anxious wife, moved his lips but remained silent.
He really wanted to tell his wife that Draco was young and naive, surely you wouldn't believe his words too?!
But Lucius, who still had his wits about him, cleverly chose to remain silent. After all, he was ostensibly the master of the house, but sometimes had to... well, respect Narcissa.
Yet Narcissa was now beyond caring, as a mother who deeply loved her son, how could she stand by and watch her child be tainted by the Dark Mark and do nothing?
Her current state was akin to grasping at straws, heedless of anything else; first, let's get Harry Potter here and see.
After all, Mr. Potter could discover the Dark Mark on Little Dragon's arm, so perhaps he might have a way to deal with it — in Narcissa's eyes, even if Harry only had a slight chance of succeeding, she didn't want to miss it.
Draco's eyes lit up, it looked like Mother still loved me — see, she believed what I said!
"Xixi." Lucius took a deep breath.
He originally wanted to persuade his wife to let go of this idea, but seeing her sorrowful eyes, he swallowed the words that had reached his throat.
"I'll write an invitation, personally write it!"
...
The atmosphere at Malfoy Manor was gloomy, and things weren't much better at Hogwarts.
Snape, upon receiving the news, immediately went to find Dumbledore.
He was now sitting in the Headmaster's Office.
Actually, Lucius didn't anticipate Snape would tell Dumbledore after sharing this matter with him — even though Snape was the Head of Slytherin and the Professor of Potions at Hogwarts.
The reason was simple: in the minds of all Death Eaters, Snape was a staunch Death Eater who would never betray the Dark Demon King.
Similarly, Lucius also didn't believe Snape would pass the news to Dumbledore.
As for that Lily Potter? Huh... Lucius knew Snape had once loved her to madness, but he didn't think a woman could sway Snape's loyalty to the Dark Demon King.
This was why he didn't hesitate to seek Snape's help.
"Oh, Severus." Dumbledore yawned, dressed in a robe adorned with stars and moons, with a matching magical nightcap on his head: "It's already so late, I guess you must have something important, otherwise you wouldn't disturb an old man's sleep."
The implication being, you better have a reason.
"The Dark Mark has appeared at Hogwarts, and it has been branded on a student's arm." Snape stated matter-of-factly, expressionless.
Dumbledore showed a clear moment of distraction.
"The Dark Mark?"
He thought for a moment, then shook his head and said: "Sorry, Severus, I don't recall Professor Quirrell ever putting a student in detention alone; what exactly is going on? Who are these two students?"
Snape's voice was soft: "One is a second-year student named Joseph Ror, the other student... due to the parent's request, I am to keep this confidential."
"Thank you, Severus." Dumbledore understood the other layer of meaning in Snape's words.
In all of Slytherin, only Lucius, Patriarch of the Malfoy family, could compel Snape to remain silent.
"Can you tell me what exactly is happening?" Dumbledore felt somewhat relieved; as long as it wasn't Harry, the issue was minor.
Besides, the parents of the Ror family and the Malfoy family were originally Death Eaters, they likely wouldn't care much about this matter.
As for the happenings in Slytherin, Dumbledore was unaware — he wasn't omniscient or omnipotent, not as people imagined.
Snape narrated rapidly and concisely, completely unlike his usual slow pace, recounting everything he heard from the Malfoy family to Dumbledore.
Dumbledore unhurriedly opened a drawer and took out a jar.
The jar was full of cockroaches, crawling and squeezing against each other.
Snape's eyelid twitched imperceptibly upon seeing the jar.
"Fancy some cockroach clusters, Severus?" Dumbledore pulled out a cockroach from the jar.
The cockroach flailed its long antennae, its six legs struggling rapidly in the air, trying to escape Dumbledore's fingers.
Snape showed extreme disdain, as if what Dumbledore held was not a cockroach candy but James Potter.
"If you'd eat fewer candies, perhaps your hardworking Professor of Potions wouldn't need to spend the time brewing Tooth Health Potion — he's already tired enough serving those layabout Little Giants."
"Sorry, Severus."
After being refused, Dumbledore sighed regretfully and popped the cockroach into his mouth, chewing it twice before displaying a gratified look.
"Life is already bitter enough, hence we need sweets to savor some rare sweetness—"
"Also, the money for the Tooth Health Potion comes from the School Board's funds, doesn't it?"
Snape curled his lip, slickly reminding: "We should return our attention to the notebook, Dumbledore."
"Oh, speaking of the notebook... I actually knew its original owner." Dumbledore twisted the lid onto the cockroach cluster jar and put it back into the cabinet, "Cassandra Malfoy? Right? The year I entered Hogwarts, she should have been a seventh-year student...but I heard from classmates, apparently she didn't finish the sixth year and went to learn Divination from Prophet Cassandra Trelawney — Sybil's great-grandmother. Later, for some unknown reason, the then Patriarch Septimus Malfoy publicly disowned her from the Malfoy Clan, and since then... nothing more was heard of her."