Not only Lucius, but Narcissa also staggered and sat down heavily on the bed.
She could never have imagined that one day her son's arm would bear the Dark Mark.
"Lucius Malfoy!"
Narcissa looked up at him through gritted teeth.
Hearing his wife use his full name, Lucius's heart sank.
This is bad…
It was well known that when a wife called her husband by his full name, things were serious.
He quickly tried to shift the pressure onto Draco.
"Draco, tell us exactly how you got this Dark Mark on your arm."
Draco, who had been stunned by his parents' reaction, felt a lump in his throat and burst into tears.
"Lucius!" Narcissa growled. "You're scaring Dragon!"
For a brief moment, a look of pain crossed Lucius's face. *In this situation, you're still protecting him, Cissy?!*
Still, he had no choice but to soften his tone slightly.
"Tell us, Draco. How did you get this… Dark Mark on your arm?"
Draco sniffled and asked timidly, "Dark Mark?"
"Yes, it's called the Dark Mark, Dragon," Narcissa said gently. "You have to be honest with your father and me so we can help you."
Lucius stared at his son with a blank expression. Only after Narcissa tugged his sleeve twice did he reluctantly grunt in agreement. Even then, his gaze toward Draco carried a hint of disdain.
Draco sobbed once and began recounting the whole story.
"I… during the Christmas holidays, I found a notebook at home. The name written on it was C.C. Malfoy. I thought it was an ancestor's—Cassandra Malfoy's—notebook, so I examined it carefully. I discovered that the diary would respond to me… It answered my questions as if it had a mind of its own."
"It told me it was actually Cassandra Malfoy, but to avoid suspicion it had given itself an alias: Merope…"
"After that, I kept communicating with her. One day she appeared before me as a translucent soul, very beautiful, with black hair and red eyes…"
"And you believed her just like that?!" Lucius slammed his hand on the bed with a dull thud.
"She… she said it was because of dark magic that her hair had turned black…" Draco replied guiltily.
"She said it and you believed her?!" Lucius felt his foolish son was beyond saving.
"I… I…" Draco stammered, unsure what to say.
"Continue," Narcissa set the tone.
Draco nodded and went on to describe "Merope's" glorious deeds.
"She kept using me to get close to the Slytherin students, absorbing their life force to strengthen herself. She even shared some of it with me, which greatly improved my spellcasting… I heard from Potter that this is a life-draining curse…"
"This is evil dark magic—utterly wicked!" Narcissa exclaimed. "Now I'm certain. It must be him… it has to be him…"
"Who?" Draco swallowed hard.
Lucius looked up. After a moment of silence, he said hoarsely, "It's the Dark Lord."
In truth, he didn't want to believe it either. The Dark Lord he had loyally followed had resorted to such unscrupulous methods…
To survive, he had deceived a child…
Deceiving a child was bad enough, but what was truly unacceptable was that the Dark Lord had… disguised himself as a woman!
How utterly shameless!
Lucius began to question his own past. *Just what the hell was I following all this time?!*
"Dark…"
The teacup in Draco's hand fell to the floor.
"The Dark Lord?!" he asked in disbelief.
"Yes. No one but the Dark Lord would use such wicked magic, and no one else could brand you with the Dark Mark…" Lucius sighed.
That sigh was not only for his son being marked, but also for his own past blindness…
"Then… could it have been Potter?" Draco asked suspiciously.
"Potter?" Lucius looked up. "Which Potter?"
"Harry Potter," Draco said, gathering his words. "I thought the power was very strong, so I challenged him to a duel to regain my honor. But… I was defeated again. That was when he told me to roll up my sleeve and pointed out the Dark Mark… Could he have been the one who put it there?"
Lucius looked at his son with disdain and shook his head. "Impossible. The Dark Mark is the Dark Lord's exclusive magic. No one else can brand it. I believe you were placed under a Confundus Charm. You wouldn't have noticed the mark until someone pointed it out to you."
"I see…" Draco said, suddenly understanding.
"Besides, Mr. Potter is the savior of the wizarding world. How could he possibly…" Lucius scoffed and shook his head.
He would rather believe that Britain would stop eating fish and chips for ten years than believe Voldemort and Harry Potter could be connected.
"Speaking of Potter," Narcissa looked up. "Since this Potter boy pointed out the Dark Mark on your arm, why didn't you invite him to the manor as a guest? Have you forgotten your manners, Dragon?"
"He… he's too awful," Draco muttered. After thinking for a moment, he decided to tell his mother honestly about everything that had happened at school—including how he had bullied classmates and insulted Hermione. He left out no details.
"Mr. Potter was right. You *do* need proper discipline!" Lucius said coldly. "No matter what, we cannot abandon our dignity, yet you… you have thrown it all away!"
Draco opened his mouth. He felt his father was right.
"But can a first-year student really possess such power?" Narcissa was more focused on Harry's magical ability. "Even the Dark Lord himself didn't have this kind of strength in his first year…"
"He *is* the Boy Who Lived. It's only natural that he's a little stronger than average," Lucius replied.
Draco thought about it. If that "little" included the entire distance from Malfoy Manor to Hogwarts, then it really wasn't a problem.
"But, Father…" Draco said quietly, "that Potter… told me he is the Harry Potter from a hundred years ago. That's why he's so powerful…"
Upon hearing this, Narcissa and Lucius exchanged glances and both shook their heads.
The way they looked at Draco was the same way one looks at a foolish child.
"My silly Dragon, how could that be possible?" Narcissa said softly. "Not even the Dark Lord can escape the passage of time…"
"But he…" Draco still wanted to believe that it really was the Harry Potter from a century ago.
After all, losing three times to an ordinary first-year felt very different from losing three times to a legendary wizard! Losing to the latter was something he could brag about: *I lost to the great Harry Potter from a hundred years ago! It's not embarrassing! If you don't believe me, go try it yourself!*
"That's not the point, Draco," Lucius snorted. He used the snake head of his cane to pull Draco's sleeve back down over his wrist. "The important thing now is how to remove this Dark Mark from your arm!"
Narcissa remained silent for a while before speaking. "Lucius, I think we should ask Severus for help. After all, he received quite a bit of support from you while at school…"
Lucius glanced at Narcissa.
Well…
It wasn't a bad idea.
"Very well. I'll have Dobby fetch him," Lucius said gravely.
He went to the living room, found Dobby, and had him bring writing materials. He composed a heartfelt, eloquent letter that touched on their old Slytherin house friendship and the relationship between the Board of Governors and the professors. It was warm, passionate, and left no room for objection.
After a quick final check, Lucius sealed the letter carefully and instructed Dobby to deliver it via Apparition.
Once Dobby had left, Lucius strictly ordered Draco not to mention anything about Harry being the Harry Potter from a hundred years ago in front of Professor Snape.
While issuing the warning, Lucius inwardly lamented the misfortune of the family…
Being deceived by the Dark Lord disguised as a woman was bad enough. If word got out that his son had been completely fooled by Potter, the Malfoy family's reputation would be utterly ruined!
In a small house on Spinner's End, Professor Snape, exhausted after a long day, was about to go to bed when he heard a knock at the door.
He narrowed his eyes, walked over, and opened it.
It was Dobby—the Malfoy family house-elf he recognized.
"Professor Snape, Master asked me to deliver this letter to you," Dobby said, presenting the letter with both hands.
Snape let out a disdainful snort and opened the letter…
The contents immediately told him something was wrong.
The Dark Mark… appearing on a Slytherin student?!
"Take me to Malfoy Manor!"
With the situation urgent, Snape didn't bother with Floo Powder. He simply had Dobby Apparate him there.
An adult house-elf's magic was powerful enough to carry one adult without any issue.
Moments later, Snape appeared at Malfoy Manor.
His black robes billowed as he walked, sweeping through the air like a large bat.
Lucius and Narcissa, as hosts, were already waiting at the entrance.
Seeing Severus arrive, Lucius stepped forward with a sincere smile.
"Severus, it's been a while."
One does not strike a smiling face—especially not an old school senior who had once looked after him. Snape returned the smile.
"Good evening, Lucius. I read the general situation in your letter—you say the Dark Mark has appeared on a Slytherin student?"
For once, Snape's voice lacked its usual drawl.
After all, this concerned his own house. He had to take it seriously.
Even if most Slytherin students had the intelligence of trolls, the old professor still spared them a shred of concern.
"It's a long story. Let's talk inside," Lucius said.
Once inside, Lucius summoned Draco from the living room and gave him a clear warning look: *If you dare spout any nonsense about Potter, I'll slap you right here.*
Draco understood his father's meaning perfectly. He obediently approached Professor Snape.
"Roll up your sleeve," Lucius ordered.
Draco did as told, revealing the Dark Mark on his arm.
Upon seeing the mark, Professor Snape's eyes narrowed. He leaned in for a closer look and said slowly, "It really is the Dark Lord's mark… What exactly happened?"
Draco didn't dare hide anything. He omitted the parts about Harry and recounted everything else clearly to Snape.
After listening, Snape immediately understood why so many students in the house had suddenly become drowsy or mentally foggy—while their spellcasting improved dramatically at the same time.
Of course they improved. They were receiving one-on-one tutoring from the most powerful dark wizard of the century.
"I believe Mr. Malfoy has taught you, Draco," Professor Snape said in a sinister tone, "that one must stay away from dark magical artifacts—especially those with a will of their own—"
"Furthermore, you have now caused such a major disaster… I suspect that anyone who came into contact with that notebook has likely been marked as well…"
"No, Professor," Draco denied immediately. "After returning to the house, I checked. Apart from myself and Sleepy Joe from second year, no one else has been marked."
"From the sound of it, do you think being marked is something honorable?" Snape said coldly. "Truly, ignorance is bliss… And of course, those who haven't experienced it cannot understand how terrifying this mark truly is."
"Severus," Narcissa spoke up. "Do you have any way to help Draco remove this mark?"
Snape pinched Draco's wrist with a disdainful flourish, as if the boy hadn't bathed in months.
He examined it for a moment and drawled, "I don't have any particularly good solutions. I can only brew some potions to temporarily suppress the Dark Mark and prevent it from forming a deeper connection with him."
Lucius and Narcissa exchanged glances and both sighed.
After Snape left, Narcissa remained silent for a long time before looking up and asking hoarsely, "Lucius, what if… we ask Headmaster Dumbledore to take a look?"
"Dumbledore… Dumbledore…" Lucius muttered the name, then shook his head quickly. "No, absolutely not. We cannot let him know. Even as a governor, I might not be able to keep Draco at Hogwarts if he finds out…"
"Then who should we ask?"
Narcissa looked at Draco with sorrow, tears rolling down her cheeks.
"My poor Dragon…"
After a while, she suddenly thought of someone.
The person Dragon had mentioned earlier.
"What if… we invite that Mr. Potter to the manor as a guest?"
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