Malfoy opened his eyes, and the first thing he saw was the high ceiling. Then, he smelled a fragrance, which should be the fragrance of fresh flowers. He knew he was now completely safe. He slowly got up from the bed and saw that he was covered in white linen sheets. Pansy was at the end of the bed with her hands behind her head. She seemed to have fallen asleep, and there were faint traces of tears at the corner of her eyes. This made his heart warm.
He looked around and saw that the still petrified students were still lying on the hospital beds, just like him. There was one more person — Hermione, but she seemed to be unconscious.
"Child, are you awake? Good morning. "Dumbledore's smiling face suddenly appeared in front of him.
"How is it? Have you dealt with the basilisk?" Malfoy asked directly, not showing the proper respect for the headmaster.
Dumbledore didn't care. He shook his beard and looked at Malfoy in a low voice. "Of course, when I arrived, it was already dying."
"How did you do it? Child? " He asked, his blue eyes staring straight at Malfoy, but he didn't use Mind Extraction. It was as if a generous elder was sincerely asking a child a question.
"No comment," Malfoy said.
"Well, everyone should have their own secrets." Dumbledore nodded as if he didn't care at all.
Dumbledore looked around, then said with a smile, "In a few days, the Mandrake will be completely ripe, and everyone will be able to return to their original state. This is really good news."
"Of course." Malfoy nodded.
"But our hero may not be able to enjoy the treatment he deserves." Dumbledore looked at Malfoy with his sharp blue eyes again.
"Hero? Who? Are you talking about me? " Malfoy played dumb. He vaguely remembered that he had told the headmaster before he fainted, but he didn't know how Dumbledore had done it.
"So? How did you explain it to the outside world? "Malfoy asked.
"Draco Malfoy, a second-year student, was controlled by the diary and created a series of Basilisk attacks. However, he finally exposed himself on Christmas Day and was discovered by Lockhart, a professor in the Defense Against the Dark Arts class. The second-year female student, Hermione Granger, was coincidentally involved in this incident." Dumbledore glanced at Malfoy's face and found that he didn't care. He continued in his low voice, "After a hard battle, Professor Hartley used a perfect transformation spell and turned into a rooster to defeat the basilisk. But he was unfortunately hit in the head by the basilisk in order to protect his student. He fainted after the victory, and we don't know if there will be any sequelae. After Hermione ran out to ask for help, she was too frightened and has been unconscious ever since."
"Principal! How could you do this?! " An angry female voice came from the hospital bed not far away. Hermione had woken up. It seemed that she had heard everything Dumbledore had just said. She stood up, her little face flushed, and there was some disbelief in her eyes. "He was the one who saved me. The one being controlled was Lockhart! This is a slander against Malfoy! 'she cried, unable to accept the fact that some one had been falsely accused.
"It's all for naught!"
"Alright, we can continue talking." Malfoy calmly looked at Dumbledore. Hermione, who was lying on the hospital bed not far away, didn't even have time to react before she was hit by the spell and lay down stiffly again.
Dumbledore didn't expect that the student in front of him would attack just like that. Even if he wanted to stop him, his reaction was half a beat too slow, and it was useless.
'His reaction is getting slower and slower.' Dumbledore's heart shivered. As time passed, he was getting older and older, and he didn't know when that person would make a comeback. The old man couldn't help but worry about the future, so he needed to fight for all the help he could get. And it seemed that although the child in front of him was a so-called pureblood, he wasn't a Slythrin in the eyes of ordinary people. He was worthy of being roped in.
"Attacking another student in front of the principal, a hundred points deducted from Slythrin." Dumbledore crossed his arms, but there wasn't any anger in his tone. It was better to say that it was a joke. The old man could only accept this reality. It was better to say that the fewer people who knew the truth, the better. Although it was somewhat helpless, it might be a good thing.
"Is our academy's score in the negative now?" Malfoy joked.
"It should still be in the double digits." Dumbledore thought for a moment before slowly replying.
"Even if it was an unintentional mistake, it is a fact that he caused harm to the students. If it was a deliberate act by a student, then he must be expelled. Seeing that he was only controlled by a spell like the Soul Seizing Curse, we will only deduct three hundred points from his academy." Dumbledore stopped and looked at Malfoy's reaction.
"I didn't get expelled? That's great. " Malfoy clapped his hands, not caring at all. He even seemed to be happy that he wasn't dealt with seriously.
"This is just a small method to solve the problem your father created." Dumbledore adjusted his glasses and continued, "How can I compensate you? Child? "
'Finally, we're getting to the main point,' Malfoy thought.
There was no way he wouldn't take advantage of this opportunity. Moreover, his plan did require some props. Malfoy gladly accepted. He now understood how terrifying the light wizard in front of him was. There was a saying, "Stupid wizards all died during their apprenticeship." Although this world didn't correspond to that world, the principles were still the same. Dumbledore, who could become the world's most powerful light wizard, wasn't just powerful.
Malfoy and Dumbledore could be said to have a tacit understanding. He had already expressed his stance to Dumbledore, and Dumbledore also hoped to rope him in.
"The Basilisk's corpse," he said.
"Of course, this should be your spoils of war." Dumbledore chuckled.
"Phoenix's tears," Malfoy added.
"No problem. I think Fawkes will be moved to tears for your bravery." Dumbledore rarely teased.
"Gryffindor's sword." Malfoy said the last thing he wanted.
"Hmm …" Dumbledore fell into deep thought. This request seemed to be very difficult for him. His eyebrows were tightly knitted, and there was a long silence. "Your bravery is not inferior to any Gryffindor."
"I hope you can always persevere with this kind of courage." Dumbledore adjusted his half-moon glasses, and finally spat out this sentence.
"Thank you." Malfoy sincerely thanked him. He knew that this was Dumbledore's acknowledgment of him,
and perhaps the beginning of their cooperation.