To be honest, Draco's mood hasn't been great lately.
On one hand, Harry's success makes him feel bad. It's not jealousy, just pure annoyance at Harry being in the spotlight.
If you ask why he hates Harry, it's because Harry once rejected his offer of friendship.
Saint Potter!
On the other hand, Miss Melop, who had always been by his side, has disappeared.
On the day Professor Quirrell was carrying out his nefarious plans, Draco vaguely recalls coming to the fourth floor with his notebook, but he can't remember what happened next.
Without Miss Melop, not only is Draco upset, but nearly half of Slytherin is going crazy.
Miss Melop is not only beautiful but also exceptionally gentle and understanding—most importantly, she has deep knowledge in magic spells. No matter the problem, she could easily solve it, and she effortlessly wields various magical techniques.
Slytherin has always admired the strong; it was true a century ago, and even though more than half of Slytherin now are children of convicts, it doesn't hide their intrinsic pursuit of and admiration for power.
Power, and glory!
More than one person came to Draco, thinking he had hidden Miss Melop's notebook.
But Draco also has his grievances; you want to ask where Miss Melop is, but he wants to know too.
Even though the Malfoy family is a pure-blood clan, who in Slytherin isn't pure-blood?
The Malfoy family used to be powerful, but you also know that was in the past.
This is not the 19th century, when Septimus Malfoy was the Shadow Minister, the glory of the Malfoy family is long gone.
Draco, helpless, had to open his dorm for searches, and when they indeed found no such notebook, the Slytherin students had to give up.
He was annoyed, not just because of the search but because of Miss Melop's sudden disappearance.
However... fortunately, the power did remain.
Just when he was feeling annoyed, Miss Fari found him, saying that Gryffindor's Potter was waiting for him in the abandoned classroom on the second floor.
Draco certainly wouldn't pass up such a chance for revenge. He couldn't contain his excitement, immediately got up, left his half-eaten meal behind, and rushed upstairs.
Seeing Harry, Draco displayed a fierce yet confident smile.
"Well, well, Potter!" Draco stepped out from behind the door: "If I were you, I wouldn't meet alone with me in a place like this—rest assured, I'll leave you alive enough to admit in front of all the students that the Savior..."
"Listen to me, Malfoy," Harry interrupted Draco's rant. "I ask you, what's the deal with that notebook circulating among your Slytherin?"
"You don't deserve to know!" Draco's eyebrows twitched twice, he drew out his magic wand. "All you need to know is, this Saint Potter of yours is going to be defeated by me!"
Harry sighed.
Can't we have a proper conversation?
He didn't even draw his magic wand but just snapped his fingers, and a ring of azure flames enveloped the two of them.
Then, the flames surged as a blue fire lion leaped out from the blue flames, silently roaring at Draco.
Draco opened his mouth, unsure of what spell to use against such a flame lion.
After all, he wasn't Hermione, without much ambition in studying.
So Draco could only futilely cast a few spells, but they had no effect on the flame lion.
The flame lion pressed closer, pushing Draco to the corner until he fell onto a chair with a thud.
"This is... impossible! Absolutely impossible! Miss Melop granted me so much power, how did you... why did you become so strong?!"
While gaining power is indeed exciting, Potter's increasing strength inevitably made him feel despair.
Harry really wanted to laugh.
Why did I become stronger?
I absorbed the Magic Stone, bro, how about you?
However, after hearing the name Melop, Harry breathed a sigh of relief.
"Tell me about your Miss Melop." He leaned against the desk, asking leisurely.
"No! I'll never tell you anything!" Draco said stubbornly, "Absolutely not!"
Seeing he was uncooperative, Harry took out his magic wand.
"Wha... what are you going to do?" Draco asked in fear.
Harry had no mind for idle chatter; he locked eyes with Draco's terrified gaze and cast a spell.
"Legilimens (Mind Reading)!"
Suddenly, Draco felt a wave of pain over his head, and memories surged forth like a tide.
Miss Melop granting him power, teaching him spells, spreading the notebook in Slytherin's common room...
Malfoy Manor, conversations with his parents, discovering Miss Melop's notebook...
Lastly, the scene froze on Draco frantically searching for Miss Melop's notebook in the dorm.
"Feeling a bit melancholic?" Harry's voice came from behind Draco.
Regaining his senses, Draco found he wasn't searching for a notebook but was under Potter's control.
"This is my privacy!" Draco panted.
"Not to me," Harry smirked, "Malfoy, you should thank me because it seems you've been deceived."
"Deceived?" Draco still hadn't calmed down.
Harry sighed helplessly: "That notebook, aren't you silly? Your Malfoy family, think about it, your grandfather, your father, and you all have light blonde hair—Septimus Malfoy... I've seen his photos too, he also had light blonde hair, how could there be a black-haired member in your family? And with red eyes?"
"Impossible!" Draco didn't believe a word Harry said: "Absolutely impossible! Miss Melop couldn't have deceived me! Never!"
Harry helplessly pulled out Cassandra's notebook from his arms.
"Look, this is Cassandra Malfoy's notebook, yours is fake."
"How... how do you know Cassandra?" Draco asked in fear.
Seeing Draco mention Cassandra, Harry twirled his magic wand.
"No, don't use that spell again..." Draco scooted backward, tears couldn't help but come out: "Whatever you want to know, I'll tell you—"
"Tell me about Cassandra." Harry sat back in the chair, crossing his legs casually.
"Why... why do you want to ask about her?" Draco sniffled, the splitting headache he just felt was truly despairing.
Harry said nothing, waving his wand to conjure an alarm clock.
He fiddled with the time, setting it to five minutes, and plopped the alarm clock onto the table.
"I'll give you five minutes, or else I'll use Mind Reading again." Harry warned him.
"What? I..." Draco couldn't help it and started to sniffle again.
Even if born into a prestigious family, he's still just a twelve-year-old child.
Raised in a greenhouse, always under the care and praise of others, Draco had never been treated like this.
"Crying?" Harry gave a cold smile: "Crying also counts as time!"
Draco hiccupped.
"I'll talk—"
Draco began spilling the beans to Harry about what he heard from Lucius like beans falling from a bamboo tube.
"Wait!"
Harry's heart suddenly skipped a beat: "You mean... Cassandra stole your family's inherited treasure and disappeared afterward?"
"Yes... yes."
Draco nodded repeatedly, glancing up stealthily at Harry, only to find the other's expression extremely fluctuating, as if he cared a lot about Cassandra, Malfoy's ancestor.
"You... seem very concerned about my ancestor?" Draco asked with a hint of attempting to please.
(Asking for monthly votes!)
(Going to sleep first, I'll finish writing the rest during the day. Today has been spent focusing on uploads and subscriptions, didn't sleep well...)