"Don't... don't feel bad, I'm already boiling water for you!"
Draco rummaged through the suitcase Lupin had brought and quickly found a standard alcohol lamp usually used for brewing potions.
Flustered, he filled a small pot with water, not forgetting to glance at Marie, who was slumped in an armchair.
This Muggle looked utterly miserable. Beads of sweat covered her forehead, and she let out involuntary groans of pain. Her face was so pale it hardly looked normal.
Seeing this, Draco's movements became even more frantic. He hurriedly set up the iron stand originally used to support a cauldron.
After searching for a while and failing to find any materials to light the alcohol lamp, he began pacing anxiously on the spot.
"Why did I have to get involved in this! I'm actually trying to save a Muggle, a stupid Muggle!"
He muttered softly to himself, as if trying to use Lucius's past teachings to hypnotize himself into believing there was no need to be so anxious.
'Just a Muggle.'
'What did her life or death have to do with me?'
But when he saw Marie's pained expression again, Draco screamed in extreme annoyance.
"Alright! Alright! I get it! I'll figure something out! I'll figure something out!"
He hastily grabbed a piece of parchment from the desk, then pushed open the door and ran down the corridor of the Auror Office, searching.
Finally, panting heavily, he found a burning torch beside an armored statue!
He used the torch to light the parchment, then carefully protected the flame as he ran all the way back to the bedroom he shared with Harry.
Mary seemed to be semi-fainted, barely conscious.
"If Dad finds out I'm running around, exhausting myself trying to save a Muggle's life, he'll think I've gone mad!"
Draco couldn't stop muttering, but his hands didn't slow down. He quickly lit the alcohol lamp and placed the small pot filled with water on the iron stand.
The alcohol lamp looked small, but the fire it produced was strong. Before long, the water in the small pot was boiling.
Draco struggled to lift the pot and poured the hot water into a measuring cup, precisely half a pint.
Then he opened the bottle of medicine Lupin had left for him and used a dropper to add a single drop of the potion to the boiling water.
As the milky white liquid dripped into the steaming water, the cup's contents rapidly turned a murky brownish-black!
Moreover, the recently boiled water immediately cooled to a mild temperature.
Draco hurriedly picked up the measuring cup. He was so clumsy he even forgot to pour the medicine into a proper cup, but he still checked to make sure the potion's temperature was safe to drink.
"Here! Drink it! Quick! You can't die in front of me! That would bring utter disgrace to the Malfoy name!"
No matter the situation, Draco's mouth was always stubborn.
But clearly, Marie, who had lost most of her consciousness, couldn't actively pick up the potion and drink it.
Draco couldn't help but grumble again.
"Muggles are so troublesome!"
He picked up the potion, struggled to lift Mary's head, and fed the contents of the cup into her mouth.
Marie swallowed instinctively, drinking all the Universal Healing Potion.
The medicine quickly took effect. Though she didn't regain full consciousness, she was clearly in less pain. Her expression relaxed considerably, though her face remained just as pale.
"You'll definitely become famous among Muggles later."
Draco was still talking to himself.
"The girls will all envy you. They'll say, 'Wow, you're the woman the Young Master Malfoy personally fed medicine to?' That's even more dreamy than Merlin losing his bell-bottoms!"
"Alright... I'm utterly disgraced. If Crabbe and Goyle found out what I just did, they'd never respect me again. They'd call me a disgrace to pure-bloods, running around like a house-elf just to save a Muggle!"
He seemed to have a split personality, pacing back and forth in the bedroom.
But soon, he heard strange noises outside!
First, there was the sound of hurried footsteps rushing past. Then, not long after, a piercing shriek made him jump, even through the door!
Finally, the sound of a group of four-legged animals running wild brought Draco back to his senses. He cautiously pressed against the door and opened it a crack.
Then he saw an ugly-looking goblin in a suit, standing on a skateboard flying mid-air, looking around the corridor of the Auror Office as if searching for something.
Beneath this goblin, countless Matagot cats watched closely, constantly trying to leap up and drag him down from the air.
Draco certainly understood what the actions of these Ministry's guards meant!
'This goblin was clearly an illegal intruder, probably here chasing Dudley right now.'
Draco's heart panicked, his hand trembled, and he accidentally stepped on the iron stand used for the pot, making a noise.
The goblin clearly noticed the sound. His search immediately focused in their direction.
Just as every hair on Draco's body stood on end and his heart leapt into his throat, a figure on a broomstick suddenly crashed into the goblin!
Through the crack in the door, Draco witnessed the entire process of Harry on his broom engaging the goblin and eventually leading him away.
He closed the door, feeling somewhat sour inside.
"He's out there playing the hero! Who's going to thank me?"
"Thank you..."
A weak voice sounded at that moment. Marie had regained some consciousness, though it was unclear when.
Whether she had heard Draco's complains or simply wanted to express genuine gratitude, she struggled to lift her head and sincerely thanked Draco.
This 'thank you' made Draco, who had just been feeling resentful about Harry showing off while he was stuck here, blush instantly!
He looked somewhat shy but still tried his best to act as if he didn't care at all.
"Of course you should be thankful!"
But soon, Marie began to suffer again. It was obvious that the medicine could only relieve her pain but could not cure her completely.
Draco's young master aura, which he had just mustered, quickly reverted to maid aura.
He started bustling about again, boiling water, complaining.
"What a nuisance!"
After obtaining what they needed from the French Minister's office, Vinda led the old guard of the Alliance, those who had remained loyal over the years, still yearning for that man's return to lead them, back to another abbey in Val-de-Marne.
The Nicolas Flamel couple, whom the entire French Aurors had been searching for, were imprisoned here.
Upon returning, Vinda placed all the confidential materials about Nurmengard on the table before Nicolas Flamel.
"You said that apartment couldn't simulate the prison's true layout and that the original architectural data was necessary."
Looking at the materials she had slapped onto the table, the ancient-looking Nicolas carefully put on his glasses and pulled out the photos and data.
"That prison... When it was first built by him, it was planned by the Parisian goblin Barbadoc... It certainly involved the help of some French pure-blood families..."
Nicolas smiled. He showed no sign of the tension or fear of being kidnapped. Instead, he looked up and met Vinda's eyes.
"These materials are a dark chapter in the French Ministry's history. They would never let such secrets leak, yet you've obtained them."
"You assumed a false identity, deceived me and my wife, established that orphanage, raised your Squib grand-nephew, created leverage over him, then coerced him into harming himself to do your bidding..."
"Even after all these years, Vinda Rosier, your mind hasn't dulled. You've played the entire French Aurors for fools."
Vinda, however, was unmoved by his praise. She only cared about one thing now.
Around her, the old Alliance's members watched Nicolas intently. If not for the residual respect they held for this living fossil of an alchemist, or rather, a great sage-
they wouldn't have let him sit there and speak so relaxedly.
"Regardless of whether the identity was false, we still had eight years of friendship, didn't we, Nicolas?" Vinda's voice was icy, "So I don't want to hear about anything else right now. I just want to know: I've met all your demands. So can you do what I asked of you?!"
In response to her threat, Nicolas remained smiling, seeming utterly indifferent to his own safety.
"Please allow me to answer your first question. The person who shared eight years of friendship with me was the kind, sincere, loving, and gentle Sister Aimee, not the venomous scorpion Vinda Rosier, whose eyes see only that man and his so-called benefit."
"As for the second question-"
He stood up from his chair, smiling.
"If you are all prepared, then why can't we set off right now?"
Vinda just stared coldly at him. Then, she waved a hand to her comrades. Behind them, the fireplace suddenly burst into green flames.
Via the Floo Network, they quickly traveled from France to Austria. After another three or four hours, well past midnight, they finally reached the high tower prison hidden deep within the forest!
Except for Nicolas Flamel, almost everyone who arrived trembled uncontrollably at the sight of the tower.
This tower had once witnessed the glory of their generation.