Thump. Thump.
Lucius, in his haste, practically ran towards the hut.
His steps were so urgent, it was something unimaginable for him, who always maintained his decorum.
He shoved aside the subordinates who were surrounding the hut.
"Out of my way. I need to see it with my own eyes!"
Seeing the growling Lucius's expression, his subordinates opened a path for him without a word.
Lucius, who had thrown open the door of the hut, felt his hair flutter in the hot air that blew from inside.
Hah, no evidence, they say. That can't be. If that gamekeeper were innocent, why would the room be filled with such heat as summer approaches?
"Hey, what are you doing! This is my house!"
And there was a large figure, swinging his massive body around like a weapon.
Lucius frowned as he looked at Hagrid.
A disgrace to magic, no different from a Squib, who is not even permitted to use magic.
The only thing he knows is how to swing his fists, as big and stupid as his own thick head.
A creature that cannot even be acknowledged as a wizard, in some ways more disgusting than a half-breed or a mudblood.
Lucius was able to become even more certain as he watched the rampaging Hagrid. Those eyes were, by all accounts, the eyes of someone who was hiding something.
Lucius spat out each word, his gaze as if he could chew Hagrid up.
"Gamekeeper. Where did you hide it?"
"Wh-what are you talking about! I haven't hidden anything. Besides, what is this! I am the gamekeeper, officially appointed by Professor Dumbledore. No one has the right to search my hut like this!"
Lucius raised one corner of his lip and sneered.
"Ah, of course you would say that. But what to do about this."
He took out a rolled-up piece of parchment from his robes and showed it to Hagrid.
"Do you see this? Ah, it would be good if you could read. In case you don't know, this is a notice that the Hogwarts Board of Governors has decided to investigate you. In other words, this investigation is a perfectly legitimate one."
"What kind of nonsense is this. What are you investigating!"
"Why, of course. The dragon that you, Rubeus Hagrid, are said to be raising."
At those words, Hagrid's complexion turned ashen.
The sight of the man, who was so large he was almost gigantic, panicking so foolishly at a single word was quite amusing.
Lucius said with a sneer.
"So, won't you cooperate with the investigation? That way, the days you'll have to share your affections with the Dementors will be reduced by at least one."
"H-huh, what are you talking about! I-I don't know anything about a dragon!"
Though he couldn't use Legilimency, a very high-level magic, Lucius, who had seen all sorts of human characters in the political world, could easily see through such a clumsy lie.
No, even without such experience, anyone would have been able to see through Hagrid's lie.
Only then did the anxiety in his heart disappear, replaced by a growing contempt for his incompetent subordinates.
He's practically advertising that he's raising a dragon, and they still couldn't find it and made me anxious.
Lucius warned Hagrid with a bitter smile.
"Rubeus Hagrid. Please do not make me destroy this entire hut. I do not wish to be a cold-hearted person who takes away the house you'll return to after you are released from Azkaban."
And Lucius did not miss the fact that Hagrid's beady eyes rolled here and there and then focused on one spot.
Lucius followed his gaze with his own and, at the end of it, he found a large dining table.
Yes, a dining table that was, for some reason, unusually designed to completely cover the floor.
"Aha, there it is."
"W-wait! If you touch that...!"
"What are you all doing? Break that table at once."
Before Hagrid could even stop them, the subordinates, who had received Lucius's order, shot a purple flash of light from their wands.
Hiss!
The dining table, upon being hit by the spell, instantly vanished.
And underneath it, there was indeed a handle to open a bunker-style storage.
Seeing it, Hagrid's face turned blue, and he was about to scream, but at a snap of Lucius's fingers, his subordinates cast a silencing charm on Hagrid's mouth.
—Mmph mmph!
With the faint sound of Hagrid's screams as background music, Lucius threw open the lid of the chest.
The dragon that is in here will be the starting point of the glory that will return to the Malfoy family!
BANG!
And inside the storage that opened with a loud noise.
It was filled with black, sealed liquor barrels.
"...What? That can't be."
Lucius frowned and searched the storage thoroughly, but he could not confirm the existence of a dragon anywhere.
Just in case, he slammed his staff on the ground and cast a search spell, but there was no trace of a dragon at all.
Even though it was a spell that could find traces from a day or two ago, even if they had been erased with magic!
...Then it wasn't here?
Then where on earth is it?
Lucius, with a hint of bewilderment, turned his head to look at Hagrid, and was plunged into an even greater state of confusion.
—Mmph mmph??!
Because Hagrid, whose mouth was sealed by a silencing charm, was staring at the storage with a face even more bewildered than his own.
That was, by all accounts, the look of someone who was bewildered that something important had disappeared.
Could it be a deception? No, that can't be. Lucius simply could not imagine that that foolish, barely-human creature could come up with such a high-level plan.
Then what on earth was it? Don't tell me the dragon escaped from that place on its own?
No, but then there's no trace of a dragon at all—
Don't tell me.
Just as a certain hypothesis flashed through his mind and Lucius's heart leaped, he heard a voice from behind him.
"Good day, Lucius."
A voice he least wanted to hear in this situation.
Lucius slowly turned his head towards the owner of the familiar voice.
"Well now, a face I never expected to see here."
Lucius's intuition told him, as he saw the sight of Dumbledore, who was showing a cheerful, crescent-moon smile with his blue eyes.
I've been had.
He didn't know where it had been planned from, but he was now in a very serious trap.
Lucius barely managed to move his frozen lips and forced a smile.
"...Good day, Dumbledore. I came here on a matter for the board of governors."
Dumbledore said with a cheerful laugh.
"Oh dear, Lucius. It seems the board has made some great misunderstanding. Is that not so?"
Lucius could hear the stern warning hidden behind that smile.
A meaning that said, do not interfere in the affairs of the school recklessly.
Lucius gnashed his teeth inwardly.
It had been less than a day since he had received the report from Malfoy and come to the school.
And yet, the fact that the traces had been so cleanly erased and Dumbledore was in this place suggested only one thing.
That all of it had been a trap from the beginning.
Lucius, who had thought he was the hunting dog chasing the rabbit, realized that he was, in fact, the rabbit caught in the trap. He suppressed his anger and managed to force a smile.
"...So it seems. A strange rumor was circulating at Hogwarts, and as a governor, I could not simply overlook it without confirming it."
"Ho ho, is that so? But Lucius. No matter how I look at it, this seems a bit too coercive for a 'confirmation.' Am I mistaken?"
Lucius looked around. The hut, which was in a complete mess, left no room for excuses.
A chill ran down Lucius's spine. Don't tell me, did he deliberately wait for me to act rashly in order to build a clear justification?
Regardless of what happened to his subordinate?
He even felt a thrill at the slyness of the old man before him.
Lucius sensed his defeat. He was already a prey that had walked into a well-laid trap of his own accord.
Just then, Dumbledore said with his characteristic eye-smile.
"Lucius. Anyone can make a mistake, but it is my belief that one must learn from it. If the board were to make such a 'mistake' again, I would have to question the board's ability to judge. Do you not think so too?"
In a word, I'll let it go this time, but there won't be a next time.
At first glance, it seemed as if Dumbledore was showing mercy to Malfoy, but Lucius could hear the political intention in his words.
Even if he were to be removed from his position over this incident, the board itself could not be abolished.
If that's the case, then it was better to use this opportunity to turn the now-tattered Malfoy family, whose weakness he now held, into a puppet on the board of governors.
In other words, it was a message to manage the board well so that it wouldn't interfere with him, if he didn't want to be caught for another 'mistake' and have his last remaining power taken away.
Lucius, whose eyelids trembled at the insulting tolerance, turned around and answered.
"...Of course, Dumbledore. There must be no mistakes."
"Well then, take care, Lucius. And give my regards to Narcissa."
Lucius suppressed the killing intent that was boiling up from the depths of his heart towards the benevolent-looking Dumbledore and thought.
Right, a 'mistake' like this is enough once.
Dumbledore, I will make you regret letting me live.
He thought of an object that was sleeping in his family's underground vault and hardened his resolve.
Next time, I will destroy you completely. With that pledge, Lucius was leaving the hut when he suddenly felt a chilling sensation.
For some reason, he felt a strange feeling of being watched from an empty space.
Feeling a sensation that was almost eerie, Lucius slowly turned his head in the direction he felt the gaze, and then, he couldn't breathe.
Golden?
And in that moment, a phantom pain, as if his heart was being squeezed tightly, struck Lucius.
The image was so vivid that Lucius momentarily placed a hand on his heart.
Lucius hurriedly looked again, but as if his memory had been a hallucination, there was nothing in the empty space.
Of course, there was no way there would be a golden color in the clear blue sky.
Lucius, who was wondering what on earth had just happened, was only able to realize its identity after placing a hand on his madly beating heart for a long time.
A killing intent of a density that could not be compared to the one he had just felt for Dumbledore.
This was not Dumbledore's. No matter how great a wizard that wicked old man was, that soft human could not produce such a killing intent.
He could say with certainty that the only one who could give him such a feeling was his old master.
...No, perhaps. Even his old master's killing intent was not this thick.
Then, what on earth.
What was that just now?
"...Lucius-nim? Is something wrong?"
Lucius, who had been clutching his heart and gasping for breath for a long time, was only able to come to his senses after hearing his subordinate's cautious question.
What on earth was it? Did what he saw even exist?
Lucius turned his head as if in fear and hurried his steps.
"I-it's nothing. Let's go back at once. I don't want to stay here a moment longer."
Indeed, there is something strange about this blasted school.
Lucius gritted his teeth and left the forest.
Meanwhile, in the empty space Lucius had been looking at.
Aisen was there, floating in the air with an Invisibility Charm, holding the scruff of Norbert's neck like a piece of luggage in one hand.
Aisen said with cold eyes as he watched the hastily departing Lucius.
"...A Dark Wizard with good instincts."
For a moment, he had sensed his killing intent and had seen past the Invisibility Charm to look into his eyes.
Aisen, who had watched Lucius disappear with Apparition as soon as he was out of the Hogwarts wards, finally released his Invisibility Charm and descended to the ground.
Aisen looked at the black dragon in his hand and said.
"Well then, if I just take care of this troublemaker, it'll all be over."