Since the beginning of the last school year, the students of Hogwarts had grown accustomed to emergency evacuations.
Under the guidance of prefects and professors, the young wizards from each house skillfully gathered in their respective common rooms.
Obviously, no one wanted to be in the Great Hall during a crisis, and even fewer wanted to provoke or question the authority of the prefects at such a time.
Even if some parents had slight reservations about the decisions of the Hogwarts professors, under the watchful eyes of Aileen, Hagrid, Professor McGonagall, and others, these adults, seasoned by the harsh realities of the world, understood that the best solution at such times was to comply with the school's arrangements—they were, after all, the thick-skinned Hogwarts groundskeepers, and they certainly didn't want to be subdued on the spot as dangerous individuals.
Lucius Malfoy was no exception, even with his position on the Hogwarts Board of Governors. When the Greengrass family chose to remain silent, he naturally wouldn't stand out.
The elder Malfoy and his wife arrived at the Slytherin common room with the rest of the Slytherin students, found a quiet corner to sit down, and waited for their son to tidy up his bedding.
Although "surprise room checks" could be quite exciting, Aileen, being on the students' side, didn't intend to deepen their anxiety at this time.
All the parents, upon arriving at the house common rooms, were temporarily kept outside the students' dormitories, staring blankly at the crackling fires.
Of course, Hogwarts didn't deliberately neglect these parents.
Several house-elves bustled through the crowd, distributing each young wizard's class transcripts and disciplinary records… or rather, "conduct reports."
And Hogwarts' signature exquisite refreshments were naturally also present, although not every parent was in the mood to savor the pastries and tea after seeing the transcripts and conduct reports.
Slytherin house, usually the most enthusiastic about "wizarding socializing," was unusually quiet at this time. Almost everyone clutched their transcripts and conduct reports tightly, not wanting anyone else to see them. As for actively asking about other people's children, that was even less likely to happen, as all the displayed content had been carefully adjusted—no young wizard was perfect.
More importantly, there was a thoughtful note attached: a "confidential" student social network hotspot distribution map.
Those self-proclaimed pure-blood wizards were universally horrified to discover that their children might be "different" individuals hiding within Slytherin house.
Because in every Slytherin student's social network, there were at least two to three Hufflepuff students, and in some cases, more than a dozen.
As the future Dark Lord in the eyes of Grindelwald and Dumbledore, Aileen was far ahead of her time in the positive and negative applications of the "prisoner's dilemma."
She was ninety-eight percent certain that these Slytherin parents, upon seeing this information, would instinctively engage in "disguise" when faced with probing questions from others.
As for how they would educate their children, that was hardly important at all.
Draco Malfoy was a perfect example—the biggest motivation for a child in the throes of adolescent rebellion was "prohibition" from authority.
However, compared to the other silent Slytherin parents, the Malfoys didn't have that kind of worry for the time being.
The house-elf didn't bring them Draco's information; instead, it brought Aileen's invitation for a discussion.
"Aileen Kaslana? Oh, Draco mentioned her to me..."
Narcissa Malfoy frowned slightly, turned to look at her husband, and said softly, somewhat uncertainly.
"The Hogwarts head chef, wasn't she a dueling referee this morning? Later, I thought she looked a bit like that student prefect—"
"What is she exactly? How does she have so many strange titles? Lucius, after all, you are a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors. Even if there's something important for the school to discuss, it should be Professor McGonagall or Snape. Besides…" Mrs. Malfoy paused, somewhat nervously, "She just mentioned a left arm injury…"
"Narcissa, I have a reason I must go. You may find it hard to understand, but she is now potentially one of the most influential people at Hogwarts."
Contrary to Mrs. Malfoy's expectations, Lucius Malfoy didn't show a hint of offended anger after hearing the house-elf's message, which contained a hidden threat.
Lucius's light-colored eyes gazed thoughtfully at the crackling fire not far away, as well as the other parents scattered throughout the common room.
As time passed, he gradually began to consider something else:
Today's raid on the Dark Lord, Hogwarts' parent-school collaboration invitation, the decision to temporarily close the castle…
Behind these seemingly interlinked events, which lacked any prior connection, was it truly an emergency response under unexpected circumstances, or was it a meticulously planned operation?
Unlike most of the parents and even professors, as one of the few who had signed a "confidentiality agreement," Lucius Malfoy was very aware of Miss Kaslana's true identity.
She was a princess of a dark magic force, who could potentially inherit an even larger dark magic power, and more importantly, the house-elf mentioned the "agreement" in its message, which meant that her identity this time was as a "dark magic princess." Lucius Malfoy was not one of those foolish, slow-witted wizards. He vaguely guessed some of the princess's thoughts.
Just like Voldemort and Grindelwald, the young dark magic princess also needed people to help her handle affairs.
And in this era when Dumbledore was away from school, Voldemort's fate was unknown, and the old dark magic lords were growing old, it was obviously the most suitable time for a quiet meeting and discussion.
"Narcissa, you take care of Draco and try to understand him."
Lucius Malfoy didn't hesitate for too long. He caressed his silver cane and quickly stood up neatly.
This might be the Malfoy family's only chance this century. The Ministry of Magic, Dumbledore, and the Dark Lord all seemed untrustworthy now. He had to find a new way out for his family.
Whatever the young dark magic princess wanted, she would inevitably rely on the Malfoy family, or rather, his abilities in the wizarding world. Lucius had originally planned to have his son try to contact and befriend Miss Kaslana, trying to approach her indirectly, to see if he could find a way out for his family in certain situations. Who knew that the dark magic princess was even more... outstanding than he imagined.
"Miss Kaslana is right. As a member of the Hogwarts Board of Governors, I should take on more responsibility at this time."
Mr. Malfoy gently patted his wife's hand, shook his head slowly and meaningfully, and glanced at the parents around him.
"Dobby is also at Hogwarts. I'll go to the kitchen to gather some information. No one will suspect that."
As he spoke, he looked down at the unfamiliar Hogwarts house-elf.
"Is Miss Kaslana available to receive guests now?"
"Of course, Mr. Malfoy—"
The house-elf bowed respectfully. "Then please come this way."
…………
The Hogwarts kitchen.
Due to the temporary interruption of lunch, the scene was slightly chaotic.
The house-elves had to re-count and distribute the dishes and refreshments delivered to each house common room.
And in the midst of the busyness, a magically raised platform was floating, and Aileen was handling the various tasks at hand with ease.
Minerva McGonagall was the acting headmistress of Hogwarts, but Dumbledore had not transferred the house-elf authority.
In terms of jurisdiction, from now until Dumbledore returned to the school, all several hundred Hogwarts house-elves were under Aileen's control and coordination.
You know, she had been waiting for this opportunity for almost two years.
Some old people will never understand how many undeveloped secret treasures are buried in Hogwarts.
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Yay!