Volume 6: Summer at Spider's End Alley Chapter 446 Meeting
Jon looked at Matthew Graves, the American wizard who had served as the referee and presided over the entire Triwizard Tournament in Hogwarts Castle half a month ago.
He was wearing a simple thin coat, a normal Muggle outfit, and was walking hurriedly along the roadside, unaware that Jon's eyes were on him.
Jon didn't follow him rashly. In fact, the moment he saw Matthew, some things were verified.
As far as he knew, after the Triwizard Tournament, Matthew should have returned to the International Confederation of Wizards, but he also got some news from Dumbledore. The Graves family, to which this referee belonged, and Grindelwald himself were at odds with each other, and this disagreement even extended to the Congress. In the Magical Congress of the United States, the danger level of Grindelwald and Voldemort was much higher than that of the latter.
So it is definitely not a coincidence .
Either he represented the Magical Congress of the United States of America and was also very interested in Snape, or he was actually investigating and tracking another group of people and followed them here.
Either of these two possibilities would be enough to make John's heart sink, but could Snape really attract so many people alone?
What did Dumbledore talk to him about? What kind of deal did he make to be willing to release him?
Jon always felt that old man Dumbledore had a bad habit of never telling the whole story, but he didn't feel like going back to France to get things straight.
Originally, Dumbledore didn't let him interfere too much in the matter, nor did he say that he had to help Lily catch Snape or anything like that, so John returned to the inn except secretly cursing the old man in his heart.
By the next day, they had already stayed in the hotel for three full days and were ready to move to a new one using two new identities.
John was careful this time. He instructed Lily to change into a new identity in the bathroom of the hotel after checking out. She then used Apparition to leave without showing up again, thus shaking off the surveillance of another group of Death Eaters.
Then he accompanied Lily to the lawn to wait for a few days during the day. Then Jon secretly stuffed one of his feathers into Lily's body and left this industrial city at night.
He didn't go too far, he was still in England, but he changed his identity and appearance and came to the Leaky Cauldron.
As the most famous wizard bar in the whole of Britain, even in the middle of the night there would be some lonely wizards coming here to drink to drown their sorrows, so Jon was not actually very conspicuous after arriving here.
Refusing Burke and Borgin's invitation, he glanced into the bar and soon saw a wizard in a gray robe and a wide hood sitting in the corner near the back door.
Jon walked over and sat down opposite the wizard, then picked up the cider in front of him that was obviously untouched, and gulped down most of it.
"Has the law been changed within the wizarding world to allow underage wizards to drink alcohol?"
The wizard, whose entire face was hidden under the hood, asked in a low voice that could not be heard by a third person.
Jon didn't care and smacked his lips. In fact, this fruit wine was not as delicious as drinking fruit juice directly.
"Who cares? If you have the guts, go to France and report me for drinking. I will support you wholeheartedly."
Lucius looked at Jon deeply. Every time he talked to Jon, he didn't feel that this fifteen-year-old boy looked like a minor at all. Instead, he was more experienced than a veteran.
"How is my son doing over in France?"
"He should have just witnessed a grand public trial. The news may not have reached you yet, but you will probably know it in a few days, so it's okay for me to tell you in advance."
Jon raised an eyebrow.
"Fortunately, you didn't teach him to do anything good, but you didn't make him do anything evil either. He wasn't dragged to the stage for public trial, but was only given some correct education. However, he was frightened that day, and saw eight classmates who he had known day and night being hanged."
Lucius seemed stunned by John's words. He was so shocked that he couldn't speak for a long time. Taking advantage of this opportunity, John drank up the glass of cider.
"You! How dare you kill those students!"
He was trembling, and it took tremendous willpower to restrain himself from screaming out loud. His eyes under the hood were staring at Jon.
Jon shrugged.
"What do you think? Your colleagues don't think their children are in no danger at all if they are taken to France, and Dumbledore will keep them well fed and well fed, and forgive their past mistakes just because they say 'they are just children'? I didn't expect the pure-bloods to be so naive."
Lucius ignored Jon's sarcasm. He had not yet recovered from the astonishing amount of information.
The purebloods really never thought that Dumbledore would kill students!
This was totally inconsistent with his previous behavior. Even when he was Voldemort, Dumbledore never really criticized him for anything when he was studying at Hogwarts. At most, he heard about his bad deeds when he was first admitted and scared him with fire.
Even during the time when Voldemort was just beginning to gain power in the wizarding world, there were already many die-hard supporters of the pure-blood theory in Slytherin House, who are now the backbone of the Death Eaters. However, Dumbledore never took any action against Slytherin.
So when Dumbledore was about to take these pure-blood students away, they did not show much worry.
But now Jon actually told him that eight students had been hanged!
This made Lucius feel shocked for a moment, as if he had heard that Dumbledore had defected to the enemy and joined the Death Eaters!
Jon sneered at Lucius's reaction and continued.
"Your idea is ridiculous. We have been fighting each other for so long. Why do you still think that Professor Dumbledore might hold back? Should the mistakes made by those pure-blooded beasts be forgiven or ignored?"
Lucius looked up and met Jon's gaze.
"So you plan on killing all the purebloods?"
Jon looked at him in confusion.
"You think all purebloods are bad, and all non-purebloods are good? Are you so self-aware?"
Lucius' eyelids were twitching, but he didn't know how to respond to John's words, which seemed to be sarcastic or genuine.
But Jon had no intention of getting any answers from him. He leaned back in his chair and spoke casually.
"We are not trying to create a new bloodline conflict. The idea that the Wu Ping Line adheres to is not the supremacy of the Muggles. Among the eight students hanged, there were not only purebloods, but also Muggles and half-bloods who helped the evil. Or maybe your ideas have been solidified by the class view of bloodline theory. Isn't this world supposed to judge crimes based on right and wrong? Not that ridiculous bloodline."
Lucius was silent. He couldn't communicate with John at all on this point. As a die-hard fence-sitter, he didn't care what ideas he insisted on as long as it could bring benefits to him and the Malfoy family.
And now his only concern was Draco's condition.
"So what will happen to my son in the future?"
"Like I just told you, he hasn't committed any serious mistakes, so he won't die or go to jail. At most, he will be educated on some correct concepts and experience the life of the Muggle wizards he once enslaved, so as to reform his thinking."
Lucius gritted his teeth and continued to ask.
"Will you use a Memory Charm on him?"
Jon immediately slapped the table in dissatisfaction.
"Don't think we are as despicable as you. How can such a cheap method as using the Forgetfulness Charm to change a person's mind achieve long-term stability? Only your master would do this, because in fact you all know very well that the so-called bloodline theory completely violates the human rights of wizards, and what we are doing is right."
Hearing John's answer, Lucius felt relieved. Although he was shocked by the life and death of other children, he didn't have such a philanthropic heart to care. Now he was content as long as he knew that Draco was safe and nothing would happen to him for the time being.
The topic on this topic came to an end for the time being, and John was not in a hurry to get to the point. He suddenly looked at Lucius with a playful expression.
"I heard that you have been free recently, brother. Have you been content to retire and experience life at home? Do you want to take this opportunity to have a second child? Give Draco a brother or sister or something."
Lucius's face was very dark. For some was communicating with Snape, that bastard who couldn't even spit out ivory from a dog's mouth.
"What do you want to say?"
"The situation in the British Ministry of Magic has been very unstable recently."
Jon smacked his lips.
"After the defeat in the Triwizard Tournament, your great master seemed to have become a different person and started to purge his inner circle, right? I guess the lives of you purebloods are not as good as before, right? Have you heard of other rumors, such as some colleagues planning to go elsewhere?"
When Lucius heard this question, his heart skipped a beat. He thought of something that someone had tentatively asked not long ago.
"Why should I tell you this?"
Jon spread his hands.
"Of course you don't have to tell me, but you have to grasp the situation well, Mr. Malfoy. Don't let yourself get caught before we judge you in the future."
Jon's words were meaningful, and Lucius felt an irritation that he didn't want to face, so he cleared his throat.
"If you still want to talk about the intelligence transaction, then we can continue the conversation, although I am no longer the Auror Command..."
Before he could finish his words, Jon waved him off.
"My answer remains the same. We have no such considerations for you. If you have nothing more to ask, I think we can get down to business now, Mr. Malfoy."
Lucius looked unhappy. He and John always failed to gain the upper hand in communication and were instead restrained everywhere.
But they do have to do some serious work today.
During such a sensitive period of confrontation between the British Ministry of Magic and the Wizarding World, John and Lucius met with concealed identities not just to mock each other, but there was a deal to be completed between them.
John finally kept his promise to save Draco's life in the Triwizard Tournament.
If he had not finally driven away Voldemort's soul, Draco would have been in danger if Voldemort's plan had succeeded. Given his cautiousness, he would definitely not have left anyone alive.
As a reward for Draco's survival of the game, Lucius naturally had to fulfill his promise.
Take Jon to the residence of Adrian, the wizard who created the ring, in England.
They left Diagon Alley, and then Lucius used Apparition to reach a deserted corner, and John followed him to a deserted wilderness.
John was not afraid that this was a trap set by Lucius. Unless they developed a magic to restrain the Phoenix's Apparition, if he wanted to leave, even Voldemort might not be able to stop him.
After landing, Jon did not notice any buildings in front of him, but after Lucius pulled out his wand and tapped the grass gently, some magic seemed to be removed, and then a dilapidated old courtyard appeared in front of them.
Jon looked at the yard carefully for a moment, then turned to look at Lucius.
"Are you sure this is the place?"
Lucius had a stern face.
"We made a contract before. Unless the Adrien I'm talking about is not the same person you know, there's no way I'm lying."
"Then why are you still here?" Jon looked at him and said.
Lucius took a deep breath, took one last look at Jon, and said hesitantly.
"As long as you can take good care of Draco, everything will be easy later."
Jon waved.
"Then we'll talk about the rest later."
After receiving such an answer, Lucius seemed a little unwilling, but in the end he did not insist any more and simply used Apparition to leave.
After Jon left, he turned around, pushed open the gate and walked into a deserted courtyard. It could be seen that the former owner had taken good care of the garden, but it had been abandoned for more than ten years.
Without stopping in the yard, he came to the door of the house. The door was not locked, and Jon easily pushed it open and walked in, coming to a messy and dusty living room that had been rummaged through.
