Volume 5: The Burning Golden Flame Chapter 369 Malfoy House
"Another person? Who is it?!"
After hearing the news, Mrs. Grey couldn't help but raise her voice.
Hermione said calmly without hiding anything.
"Jon Green, the champion who is currently representing us in the Triwizard Tournament."
Mrs. Grey was certainly familiar with John's name. She seemed to recall something and spoke with some dissatisfaction in her expression.
"Of course I remember him, a rude fellow..."
Before the word came out of her mouth, Mrs. Grey keenly noticed that the way Hermione looked at her had changed.
It was a very bad change, with an obvious alienation that made Mrs. Grey feel vaguely uneasy.
"Wait! I didn't mean to insult him, I just said that because he refused to help me at first! This is just my way of expressing my unhappiness about this matter, you can't have anything against me because of this!"
Hermione just looked at her coldly.
"You certainly have the right to express your unhappiness with him in front of me, but at the same time, Ms. Grey, I also have the right to feel disgusted with the emotions you express. If you continue to speak ill of Jon in front of me, then our relationship and commitment will end here."
Such obviously threatening words, if it were based on Mrs. Grey's previous personality, she would have turned away with disdain.
As the daughter of Ravenclaw, no one could talk to her like this. At worst, she could just find someone else to cooperate with.
But this time, Mrs. Grey herself had a strong premonition that Hermione might be the only person who was willing and able to help her. If she really broke up the relationship between the two, there would probably be no chance to retrieve the crown in the future.
"Well, it's my fault, Miss Granger, I shouldn't have said that, and I apologize for being so arrogant."
Hearing her humble enough tone, the expression on Hermione's face softened.
She had never been an unkind person, except when it came to Jon.
"I accept your apology, Ms. Grey. This is not just because of your arrogance. The news about the crown you mentioned was obtained by Jon who sneaked into Hogwarts Castle alone at great risk. In order to find the Book of Admission and the Pen of Acceptance hidden in the tower above the headmaster's office, he defeated the basilisk guarding the door and entered the headmaster's office. He saw four things placed on the table in the center of the room."
Hermione stared into Ms. Grey's eyes and spoke word by word.
"The locket, the diadem, the sword, and the cup."
Ms. Grey screamed unconsciously.
"These must be the relics of the four creators! Although I don't know what the other three people left behind except my mother, since they can be placed together with the crown, they must be treasures of equal value!"
Then she said impatiently.
"So? Did the boy take these things out? As a student of Hogwarts, it is only natural for him to take the relics of the four founders out, right?"
Although it was rude, Hermione couldn't help but look at Ms. Grey as if she were an idiot.
"Please don't be carried away by what you want, ma'am. Jon's purpose of sneaking into the castle has nothing to do with those relics, and he has no way of knowing whether these things are bait or traps. So of course he won't rashly touch those relics like this."
Ms. Grey felt uncomfortable facing Hermione's gaze, but she also knew that Hermione was right.
Today's students have become more mature and intelligent. In the nearly one thousand years that she had stayed in Hogwarts Castle, she had never been treated like this by any fourth-year student. Even Riddle fawned on her like a dog at the time. Although it was later confirmed that Riddle got everything he wanted in the end, while she became a clown.
It can only be said that the Hogwarts students who have experienced the era of exile have become completely different from the students in the previous peacetime period.
It's not just Hermione and Jon. Ms. Grey also came into contact with many people like Neville, Ron and some senior students when she was in Lyon. After hearing her "seduction", they all looked at Ms. Grey with strange eyes and kept their distance from her. Even Hermione was like this at the beginning. If Ms. Grey hadn't pestered her in the end, Hermione would not have agreed to help her in order to ensure her own safety in the castle.
"Well, maybe you're right. He shouldn't have taken risks given the situation he was facing." Mrs. Grey looked at Hermione eagerly. "But you promised me, Hermione. Now that you know where the crown is, you will help me find it, right?"
Hermione just said calmly.
"I have promised you, but please remember what I said at the time. If there is no danger and it does not interfere with my mission in the castle, I can try to help you."
"Remember, I won't force you to take risks, and you must really want to help me."
Mrs. Grey made such a humble request.
…
Jon recounted to Dumbledore everything about his meeting with Dobby and his conversation with him today.
But after hearing this, Dumbledore did not seem to be surprised. He spoke calmly.
"I don't actually think there's anything wrong with Lucius doing something like this."
Jon sat down in his chair and nodded in agreement, thinking that Dumbledore was talking about a fence-sitter like Lucius Malfoy, who was very normal for him to come over impatiently after discovering that Dumbledore and his group were showing signs of revival.
But Dumbledore's next words made him realize that he was wrong.
"Although I don't know why the Goblet of Fire ultimately chose his son, I really don't see anything special about that young man named Draco. However, his biggest advantage is that he has a good family that truly loves him."
Jon had a surprised expression on his face.
"You mean to say that Lucius contacted us because of his son?"
Dumbledore said with a slight nod.
"I know you don't have a good impression of the Malfoys. Not only you, but Minerva, Remus, Kingsley, Sirius and others all dislike the Malfoys. But even if they are enemies, we cannot deny their merits just because of our position. The most commendable thing about the Malfoys is that they value their relatives enough."
His tone turned serious.
"I have no doubt of one thing, Jon. If Lucius were faced with a situation where one of him, his wife and children had to die, he would undoubtedly choose to die himself."
Jon pondered Dumbledore's words and recalled some of the Malfoy family's actions in the original book, and found that it was indeed true.
It's just that his memory of the contents of the last three parts of the original novel was already quite vague. He could only roughly remember what major events happened in each part, but he really had no deep impression of what the Malfoy family had done.
"It's the same this time. For Draco, representing Hogwarts Castle in the Triwizard Tournament is not a good thing at all. The Malfoy family is already one of the noblest families in the entire British wizarding world, and Lucius himself has already become the director of the Auror Command, a position that is even more important than the power of some directors. So it doesn't matter to them whether they have the title of Triwizard Champion or not, especially since it has been confirmed that this competition will be extremely dangerous."
After hearing Dumbledore's analysis, John could understand that being a warrior actually has completely different meanings for different people.
Like the Hogwarts carriage, this competition represents whether they can really turn things around. They have already lost everything, and those who are barefoot are not afraid of wearing shoes. So no matter who the student who becomes the warrior is, even if it is not Jon, but Neville Ron, they will also try their best to get first place.
As for Emil, his father had just taken over the power left by Bella and Rodolphus, and intended to inherit the Lestrange family's position on Voldemort's side, so he had to make his own contribution. Therefore, Emil's participation in the competition was an opportunity, and he must also show his talents in this competition. Winning victory for Voldemort was the most important thing for them.
But Draco didn't need any of that.
There is no power transfer in the Malfoy family. In such a big family, only Lucius and Draco are left as the only descendants. Everything that Malfoy has is destined to be theirs.
And just as Dumbledore said, under Voldemort's rule, their family was already at the top of power, with no possibility of going any further. No matter how great their contributions were, there would not be much reward, not to mention the huge risk they had to take.
So, among the four warriors, Draco's enthusiasm for participating in the competition should be the least emotional and logical. John kicked him out at the beginning of the first game. Maybe Lucius will not only not hate Jon in his heart, but also thank him.
Now, he is using Dobby as a middleman, trying to find an opportunity to communicate with John privately and pass on information. Whether he has the intention to side with them is still unclear, but it is very likely that he wants to pay something and hopes that John can guarantee Draco's safety in the next game, or at least not make things difficult for him.
"So what should we do if Lucius lets Dobby contact me again in private?" Jon asked.
Dumbledore raised his crescent-shaped glasses and said with a deep gaze.
"I can understand his desire to protect his family, but people who have done something wrong cannot be exempted from punishment simply because they love their family. If he just asked you to look after Draco, don't agree yet. Find out what price he is willing to pay. If he wants to help us do something, then delay him first. After the Triwizard Tournament, he will be more eager to contact us than we are."
…
After entering October, the weather gradually began to get .
It has been almost a month since the end of the first project, but the discussion about this competition in the magic community remains heated.
However, in the center of all the hot spots, Hogwarts Castle, the atmosphere became calm instead.
After experiencing the dragon disaster, the students in the castle rarely talked about the competition anymore, because no one wanted to say more about things that would ruin the atmosphere, and they were the complete losers in this event.
At the edge of the Forbidden Forest, the carriage remained there. Dumbledore stayed in the carriage except for a few trips back to Lyon to deal with some matters that required his personal presence.
Jon's life hasn't changed much. He's either studying the underwater creatures in the Black Lake or spending time in the library in the car studying the banned books in the gems.
After that incident, Dobby met with Jon twice more, but there was no new progress on Lucius's side. It seemed that he was still waiting for the right opportunity and was not in a hurry to find Jon to confront him.
Just when it seemed that everything would go on as normal during this period without competitions, Hermione made a new friend near Black Lake in early October.
A student at Hogwarts Castle.
Half-Blood Academy, sixth grade, a girl named Asia Conrad.
That evening, dinner was served in the carriage, but Jon was still fishing by the Black Lake and had not returned yet. Hermione came out to call him back for dinner, and then she saw Asia being humiliated and bullied by three girls from the pure-blood academy on the lawn near the castle.
Hermione certainly has a sense of justice. If this incident had happened in normal times, she would have rushed to help without hesitation, but in a place like Hogwarts Castle, she just watched coldly.
As a "mudblood" who was once at the bottom of the castle, she knew better than anyone that the students who enjoyed the benefits of their bloodline in this castle had no idea of sympathy.
Since the half-blood students turned a blind eye to the fact that the Muggles were being enslaved, they should be prepared to be treated equally badly by the pure-bloods.
Therefore, Hermione just took a look from a distance at that time, and then after calling Jon back to eat, on the way back to the carriage, she saw that the three pure-blood students had left, leaving Asia alone by the lake, sobbing softly and using magic to clean her dirty shoes.
But as if because of her unstable emotions, she pronounced the cleaning spell incorrectly, and the black leather shoe was like a cannonball that was blown up, crossing half of the lake and finally falling into the lake next to Hermione.
