"So, you didn't get a clear look at the person?"

Dumbledore glanced at the house-elf before him, his brow furrowed as he asked softly.

He never imagined that in the brief interval between Nicolas Flamel and Nearly Headless Nick's departure, Hogwarts Castle would experience a sudden intrusion by an outsider, and one that occurred directly in the student dormitory.

Dumbledore's first reaction was – could this be some white-haired rascal's self-directed scheme?

However, Dumbledore quickly dismissed this thought.

While Elina might be somewhat mischievous in many ways, she valued her promises considerably.

Besides, the timing was too coincidental. It had only been a few hours, and that child was likely still playing with her friends, with no energy to do such a pointless thing... Even if something was amiss, it wouldn't happen this quickly.

"V-very sorry, Mr. Dumbledore!"

The house-elf answered tremulously, looking at the solemn-faced Headmaster of Hogwarts not far away.

"But before we could approach, he sensed us and disapparated away. Judging from the scene, he seemed to be looking for something… We found signs of ransacked clothing, trunks, and bedside tables."

"Even if you had seen his face, it wouldn't matter, Professor Dumbledore."

Sir Nicholas, floating nearby, stroked his chin and said thoughtfully.

"An unfamiliar house-elf in the Slytherin boys' dormitory—that's quite interesting. As far as I know, there aren't many magical families that fit that description. If there's also a student at Hogwarts, the range is even smaller."

House-elves are a species enslaved by wizards.

Through the effects of magic and countless generations of subservient education, they are exceptionally loyal to their masters, usually serving only one estate or one family for life. House-elves are usually found only in very ancient wizarding families.

They are responsible for managing grand old residences and diligently completing housework.

Even if they deeply dislike their masters, they cannot disobey their commands, unless they are given clothing by their masters, in which case they gain freedom. In fact, most house-elves consider gaining freedom a disgrace.

Hogwarts is a slight exception, though.

Helga Hufflepuff, one of the four founders, generously accepted thousands of house-elves, allowing them to reside in the castle, multiply, and serve the school, rather than a single family—no one but the Headmaster has the right to expel a Hogwarts house-elf, nor the right to forcibly command them.

Of course, there's now an additional head chef at Hogwarts.

In the Hogwarts kitchen, the head chef has more authority than the Headmaster... Fortunately, that's currently limited to the kitchen.

"Alright, I understand. In any case, please remain vigilant for now."

Dumbledore said to the house-elf before him.

After the house-elves left, he sighed softly, pinching the bridge of his nose in annoyance.

"Do you think we should ask Miss Kaslana to come over now?"

"Absolutely not," Nick said without hesitation. "There are still many doubts about the specifics of this matter. I think we should first investigate the truth and the motives—Professor Dumbledore, I believe you have some suspicions as well?"

Nearly Headless Nick glanced at the old man and said slowly.

"Power, once released, is like a beast out of its cage, difficult to recapture."

Dumbledore heard something in Nick's voice and asked, "You're also worried about Elina, aren't you?"

"No one is unafraid of a rising star who surpasses you," Nick said quickly. "But—you must admit, perhaps the future is destined to belong to them, but it must be passed down little by little, carefully, rather than throwing it all out at once..."

"Yes, I understand that principle."

Dumbledore nodded slowly, muttering thoughtfully.

"Slytherin boys' dormitory, looking for something, house-elf, something shady..."

Perhaps he should write a letter to a certain young member of the school board.

……

"Useless! You useless thing!"

At Malfoy Manor, Lucius Malfoy angrily berated the house-elf who had returned before him.

If this weren't the last house-elf of the Malfoy family, he might have strangled it outright, but that would mean he and his wife would have to manage Malfoy Manor themselves—the ancient and glorious Malfoys, like those down-on-their-luck wizarding families, cleaning, trimming, and cooking themselves…

The scene was simply too terrible.

"B-but, Master, Dobby searched through the young master's trunks and clothes, and really didn't see anything."

The house-elf Dobby answered tremulously, its ugly large head shaking in fear.

"The Hogwarts elves arrived, if Dobby hadn't left he would have been caught. But, if the young master doesn't have it, could it have been dropped somewhere along the way..."

"Dropped? Ha, do you think Draco is the kind of scatterbrained idiot who loses things!?"

Lucius Malfoy said agitatedly, his face even paler.

When the Dark Lord entrusted that item to him for safekeeping, he didn't tell him in detail what it was.

Over the years, he had occasionally flipped through it once or twice. It was all blank, without any writing, but he hadn't tried anything further.

However, Lucius wasn't completely unaware of the item's purpose.

"It can open the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts, cleanse the school's bloodline, and when it returns to the school, it can naturally play its part."

This was the only information the Dark Lord revealed, but that alone was enough for Lucius to be wary.

Unlike most wizards, and even most Death Eaters, his relationship with Voldemort was much closer.

Lucius's father, Abraxas Malfoy, had been a close friend of the Dark Lord during his student years. He was also one of the very few wizards in the world who knew the Dark Lord's real name—and the Dark Lord's true origins.

Because of this relationship, Lucius Malfoy had the Dark Mark branded on his arm before he even graduated.

Therefore, Lucius knew very well that the Chamber of Secrets at Hogwarts had really been opened fifty years ago—the Dark Lord, as a student, had manipulated the monster in the chamber, eliminating a Mudblood and almost forcing the school to close.

With the reporting of Peter Pettigrew's trial, everyone knew that Tom Riddle was the Dark Lord's real name.

With the tacit consent of the Ministry of Magic, Arthur Weasley, who had previously been in a marginal position, had recently become much more active. He was confiscating prohibited Dark Magic items in various wizarding families and issuing fine receipts in turn—this was the most important source of financial benefits for the Ministry of Magic since last year—under such a conflict of interest, the older the pure-blood wizarding family, the more delicious they were.

All of these factors combined to make this enchanted book suddenly feel like a hot potato.

Lucius Malfoy didn't want to become the second "Lestrange" family. Once there was a first time for confiscation, there would be a second time. Compared to other wizarding families, the Malfoy family was inherently easier to become a target for extortion.

"Dobby, say it again… everything that happened before, starting from when Draco found you."

Mr. Malfoy took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down.

"Don't miss a single detail. What Draco said, what expression he had... and what exactly he did after entering my collection room, where he went after leaving Malfoy Manor, and if there was anything unusual about his behavior..."

Compared to losing the Dark Lord's "key to the Chamber of Secrets," he was now more concerned about where the item had gone.

It had to be said, everything was just too strange.

The day after he took the troublesome item to Borgin and Burkes in Knockturn Alley to "fence" it, the book that he had put back in the collection room, preparing to deal with it later, was stolen by Draco—Lucius didn't think it was a simple coincidence.

Sure enough, after calming down and listening to Dobby's account again, he quickly discovered the problem.

"Wait, how long did Draco stay in my collection room?"

"Uh, p-possibly, less than half a minute, perhaps even shorter… Master he…"

"Alright, shut up, stop talking!"

After hearing Dobby's answer, Lucius Malfoy frowned deeply.

Less than half a minute meant that Draco knew exactly what he was looking for.

In other words, someone had told Draco what the target was before he entered the collection room… That was just too incredible. In theory, no one except him, not even Narcissa, knew too much about that item.

Counting carefully, besides him, the Dark Lord, and his deceased father, there was no third person who could have leaked the information.

Wait, there was one more "person"—

Lucius Malfoy's gaze suddenly fell on the constantly trembling Dobby, his eyes narrowing slightly.

"Dobby!" Mr. Malfoy asked sternly, "Did you tell anyone else what you heard?!"

"N-no... Master, I didn't reveal a single word..."

Dobby's entire body stiffened, then trembled even more violently, its bat-like ears shaking from side to side.

"So it really was you, you ungrateful thing!"

The next moment, Lucius Malfoy's face was instantly covered with frost, and he kicked the house-elf hard in the stomach.

Dobby's painful scream echoed in the living room, but Lucius's voice drowned it out.

"Say, who did you tell?! What did you say!"

"Master, Master, Dobby really, really didn't reveal a single word..."

The house-elf groaned painfully, panting, filled with fear, and screamed intermittently.

"You—"

Lucius Malfoy raised his foot with a ferocious expression, preparing to continue the punishment.

Just then, he suddenly heard familiar footsteps and a familiar woman's voice coming from outside the living room.

"Lucius, what's going on?"

"Whether you did or not, I'll find out later, it better not be—"

Lucius said resentfully, glancing at the house-elf struggling painfully on the floor.

With the arrival of his wife, he gradually broke free from his previous intuition and returned to a rational mode of logic.

House-elves cannot betray their master's family, that is a magical bond imprinted deep within their souls.

For thousands of years, Lucius Malfoy had never heard of a house-elf betraying its master.

At least not before being given clothes and released from the magical bond—the few cases of master-killing had all happened to house-elves who had accidentally been given clothes and then gone mad after being unable to accept the fact of freedom.

But that being the case, it was impossible to explain Draco's behavior...

Lucius Malfoy casually responded to his wife while silently pondering in his heart.

If someone really used Draco to steal the Dark Lord's item from him, then there were only two possibilities: to destroy this dangerous Dark Magic item; or to try to pry into the Dark Lord's magical secrets...

But no matter which reason it was, that mastermind would try to find a way to take the item from Draco.

Compared to adults with complex interpersonal relationships, Draco, who had just turned twelve, was too naive and easily deceived.

Apart from those "old friends" who had visited Malfoy Manor before Draco entered school, the most likely people to contact and influence Draco would be certain wizards at Hogwarts.

Judging from Draco's changes this summer, the latter possibility was obviously much greater than the former.

"Narcissa, do you remember, which friends does Draco have at school?"

Lucius Malfoy was silent for a few seconds, then asked softly, somewhat abruptly.

"Apart from those two boys from the Goyle and Crabbe families, who are relatively close, do you remember any?"

"Draco's friends? Why are you suddenly interested in this?"

Narcissa Malfoy casually glanced at Dobby, who had retreated to the side, and frowned slightly.

"As a member of the school board, don't you know more about the school than I do? Let me think, apart from those two Mudblood girls who have slightly better grades, the Parkinson girl, the Abbott girl… Friends who are slightly closer… Oh, if we're talking about who he's closest to, Harry Potter? It should be this child."

"Hmm, I often hear Draco talk about others—oh, they even spent a month together during the summer!"

Mrs. Malfoy hesitated for a moment, then looked at her husband suspiciously.

"What's wrong, did something happen? You agreed to it later anyway, Black is considered Draco's uncle. And Severus helped to look after him, judging from the results, Draco is much more excellent than you were back then."

"It's nothing, I just asked casually..."

Lucius Malfoy shook his head, thinking back and forth for a while about those names in his heart.

The two girls from the non-magical world were first excluded. Even though Miss Kaslana was very dazzling, as someone from a Muggle orphanage, she couldn't possibly have any connection to the Dark Lord's history from decades ago.

As for the Parkinson and Hannah families, the former joined the Death Eaters in the middle and later stages, while the latter remained neutral and sold wine.

In that case, the answer was pretty much emerging.

"Harry Potter..."

Lucius Malfoy said softly, thoughtfully.

Although the "Boy Who Lived" had always lived in the non-magical world before, Lucius knew very well that behind Harry, there was always a pair of invisible hands, secretly manipulating everything behind the scenes.

"Dumbledore, what exactly are you trying to do… or, what exactly do you know..."

————

————

Yay!