Draco ushered Dudley and his friends into Malfoy Manor and told Dobby to stay by the gate to wait for Ron and Neville. They definitely weren't arriving by Apparition.
When Mr. Weasley first found out that Ron was going to the home of his arch-nemesis, Lucius Malfoy, he was not in favour of it. For the first time in his life, Ron got into a fight with his dad over it. During the summer break in his second year, the family's trip to Egypt had put Ron way behind, making him the least-skilled of the group. He was determined to go this time. Besides, what did Arthur's feud with Lucius have to do with Ron's friendship with Draco? Their parents could fight all they wanted; they could be friends all they wanted. The two things were not mutually exclusive.
After an all-night chat with his wife, Molly, and hearing that Longbottom, Potter, and the others were going as well, Mr. Weasley finally agreed.
Almost at the same moment, Neville and Ron arrived at the gate of Malfoy Manor.
When Lucius saw Mr. Weasley, his expression shifted slightly, even though he knew he was coming. In the end, he didn't say a word. Mr. Weasley, likewise, said nothing. What did the last generation's grudges have to do with the next? They were all wizards, English wizards, and wizards were already a very small number compared to Muggles.
Malfoy Manor, located in Wiltshire, England, was slightly larger than the castle Dudley had built in Godric's Hollow. The overall style was "very opulent." Passing through the ornate wrought-iron gates felt like walking through mist. The meticulously designed gardens, complete with fountains and free-roaming white peacocks, surrounded the lavish mansion. With its extravagant house and luxurious decorations, the whole place could be described with one word:
Expensive!
For a Malfoy, expensive was a lifestyle. Expensive was good. Expensive was great. The title of "richest Malfoy" wasn't just for show in the old days. Though the family's fortunes had declined a lot, a skinny camel was still bigger than a horse.
Many people said the Weasleys were poor because they had too many kids. But that's a joke; it's a wildly inaccurate statement. If a Malfoy family had twenty or thirty children, they would still be able to live a comfortable, aristocratic life. The only thing lacking in Malfoy Manor was its defense. The place looked beautiful, but it was completely defenceless against an intruder.
As Ron followed Draco into the mansion, he was stunned by the lavish sight. There were gilded decorations everywhere, the walls were covered with portraits of the Malfoy family, and the stone floors were covered with expensive rugs. These were things Ron couldn't even dream of having at home.
A single vase or a chair could cost the Weasley family a month's or more worth of income. Living in an environment like this, it was no wonder Lucius had said what he did when he saw Hagrid's hut.
"You call that a house?"
Even though the actual value of the items in Hagrid's hut was far higher than the precious furniture in Malfoy Manor—after all, no one would be extravagant enough to make a dog bed out of unicorn hair—compared to Malfoy Manor, 99.9% of wizards' homes weren't "houses."
Touring the mansion, Ron felt a strange sense of inferiority. Outwardly, Ron seemed like a carefree boy who didn't care about anything, but at his core, he was a very sensitive kid.
Draco, who had noticed his unusual behavior, intentionally said, "Hey, Robby-O. You're jealous of me, aren't you? All of this has been passed down through the Malfoy family. Pretty impressive, huh?"
Then, with a change of tone, he clapped him on the shoulder. "If you stick with D-man, we can earn everything we want with our own hard work."
It seemed like a brag, but it was actually meant to comfort Ron. Just as Draco had hoped, Ron immediately thought of his small Gringotts account and the number of Galleons in it.
He instantly felt a surge of motivation.
"Who's jealous of you? I'll have a big house someday, too! And my name is Ron."
"Okay, Romeo," Draco said with a smile, watching Ron's confidence return.
"Let's duel. This time, I'll show you how powerful my new deck is."
Without a moment's hesitation, Malfoy responded, "Looks like someone is ready for his three hundred and first loss to me."
Joking around, Draco led Ron and Neville to their rooms. Dudley was given the first guest room, followed by Hermione, then Harry, Neville, and Ron, in that order. After putting away their luggage, the friends were led to the drawing-room by the house-elf Dobby to meet their hosts, Narcissa and Lucius.
Although Lucius wasn't thrilled to see Dudley, he came down anyway. After a brief greeting, the two had a pleasant chat, of course without mentioning the old school board incident.
Compared to Lucius's apprehension toward Dudley, Narcissa was more curious. She wondered what kind of person could have so much charm that her son, and even the other Slytherins of the same year, couldn't stop talking about "D-man." However, after meeting him, she found him to be a sturdy but otherwise unremarkable wizard, and her interest quickly faded.
That evening, the door to Lucius's study was knocked on. Lucius was taken aback to see Dudley outside his door and couldn't imagine why he would come to see him so late.
"Mr. Malfoy, I have some information that I believe you will find very interesting," Dudley said. His gaze fell on Lucius's left arm, and he glanced at it meaningfully. "You've been feeling it again lately, haven't you?"
Whether it was a trick of the light or not, the moment Dudley's eyes fell on his arm, Lucius's Dark Mark seemed to grow uncomfortably warm.
Voldemort's followers were called Death Eaters. Each had been branded with his mark on their left arm: a black snake coming out of a skull's mouth. When Voldemort summoned them, the mark would burn.
Lucius hadn't felt that sensation for twelve years. He had assumed the Dark Lord was truly gone and that those old times were in the past. In addition to the Ministry's relentless raids for illegal dark artefacts, he had been so harassed that he had slipped Voldemort's special diary to Mr. Weasley's daughter nearly two years ago.
He meant to frame her. What happened after that was well-known. Lucius failed and lost his place on the school board.
He thought that was the end of it, but recently, Lucius had begun to feel a subtle reaction from the mark.
How does he know?
Lucius shuddered involuntarily. Forgetting his noble facade, he glanced around before quickly ushering Dudley inside. "Come in."