"I told you, he wouldn't do anything without a benefit." Ron said in a low voice to Harry, who was sitting beside him.
"I almost thought he genuinely wanted to help Hagrid." Harry held up his thick Potions textbook, shielding his face to prevent Snape from seeing their little movements. It was afternoon, and Potions class was in session.
Later, they learned that Lucius had actually entered the Ministry of Magic because of this suggestion, with Fudge proclaiming it as an outstanding contribution.
In reality, it was a compromise Fudge made to obtain information that would salvage his reputation.
"To call it a contribution is really Hagrid's contribution, what does it have to do with Malfoy's father?" Harry said, somewhat disgruntled.
"I bet his father spent a lot of money behind the scenes." Ron speculated maliciously.
Clearly, he guessed correctly.
For pure-blood wizards with prestige and status, entering the wizarding bureaucracy sometimes only requires a plausible excuse.
Even if Hagrid hadn't been involved this time, following the original trajectory, donating a substantial amount of wealth to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries would have allowed Lucius to join the ranks of Ministry of Magic officials.
Thump" Ron suddenly felt a wad of paper hit the back of his head.
He turned around to look, but found no clues.
When he turned back, he saw Snape with his arms crossed, his sallow, waxy face looking down at him.
"Miss Know-it-all, your warning seems ineffective. Your friends didn't understand your good intentions." Snape didn't keep staring at Ron, but turned his gaze to Hermione, who was sitting upright at the desk behind them, and said coldly.
"Ten points will be deducted from Gryffindor." Snape chuckled gleefully, then walked in front of Hermione, leaned down, lowered his voice, and said in a cruel tone, "Remember, I hope this is the last time my private stores are stolen. Next time, Dumbledore's persuasion won't work on me either, you meddling know-it-all. Don't think I don't know what you're trying to do with the ingredients you stole this time. If I catch you again, you'll be the one drinking the potion. I'm very much looking forward to hearing what you'll say under the influence of Veritaserum."
After that, Snape glared at Hermione menacingly, then swept away, dragging his long and somewhat old robes back to the podium, continuing his lecture.
"Remember, the parotid glands of the Black-Eyed Toad are the main sites for secreting venom. If any of you touch them without gloves, please deal with your own rotting skin. I won't waste my time on your stupidity." Snape continued to lecture in a harsh tone.
"Serves you right for ditching me, for playing the hero." In another corner of the classroom, Pansy was intently using a knife to viciously mutilate some plant roots, cutting them to pieces, muttering to herself as if she were imagining these stems to be someone and venting her anger on them.
After the last Quidditch match against Hufflepuff ended, Pansy, after a brief celebration with her teammates, hurriedly looked towards the stands, hoping to find Malfoy's figure, but she was only met with endless disappointment. She still remembered that Malfoy was still in the players' lounge cheering her on before the match, but he had completely disappeared after the match ended.
She learned about what followed through Rita Skeeter's report, and even though she knew that woman might be completely fabricating things, she still couldn't control her resentment and jealousy.
"A hero saving a beauty? Can she even be considered a beauty with those buck teeth." She thought sourly. It was like this last year too. Was he returning that girl's favor this time?
And he didn't even come to congratulate her, as if winning the championship was an easy thing to do.
So Pansy decided to ignore Malfoy, and started acting up again.
As for Malfoy, he obviously didn't consider the girl's feelings at all. From his perspective, there was no need to specifically congratulate her.
Earlier, he had swindled those seven Firebolts from Fudge, preparing to use them for the Slytherin team. Fudge was still asking for his help at the time, but he didn't expect that he would lose both his wife and his army, paying such a high price only to "voluntarily" resign.
With seven Firebolts and so much special training during Christmas, if they still couldn't get the trophy, then no one could really be blamed.
So he didn't take it to heart.
Because of those "family trees," the Slytherin House had been in a state of panic. A small number of students felt like the sky was falling, telling them that Voldemort was a half-blood was enough to make their spiritual pillar collapse.
The facts contradicted the ideas that their parents had taught and instilled in them all along.
Slytherin may be the House with the most Dark Wizards, but that doesn't mean they all are. If that were the case, Dumbledore or even earlier Headmasters would have disbanded the House long ago.
And it is undeniable that, due to its particularity, the words and deeds of their parents still had a great impact on the students of this House.
The library incident last time was a destruction of this concept, but it also shattered the confidence of many students.
The crushing defeat in the last Quidditch match against Ravenclaw was the most powerful evidence.
In order to rebuild their confidence, Malfoy had no choice but to resort to this strategy, which also brought him great prestige. If he had played himself, it might have been for his own honor, but Malfoy only appeared as a sponsor.
"Honor will ultimately belong to the great Slytherin, not just a few individuals." Malfoy said to the team.
"Is money worship really better than bloodline worship?" Malfoy asked himself at the same time. The answer was that he didn't know either, but from the current situation, weakening Voldemort's prestige was very necessary, and these sacrifices were still worth it.
As for Pansy, Malfoy didn't know where he had offended her again, and could only silently attribute it to the emotional fluctuations of a teenage girl.
Malfoy thought that Pansy would be very happy to get the Quidditch trophy, but what he didn't know was that honor is meant to be shared. Pansy was happy to win the championship, but perhaps she wanted his encouragement and praise even more.
Not the perfunctory, formulaic praise. In Pansy's expectations, there might have been some other "rewards."
He thought that in a few days, Pansy might find an excuse to come and make up with him, because the end of the term was approaching, and the exams were coming soon. According to past experience, Pansy would definitely need pre-exam guidance, otherwise even passing would be a big problem.
However, subsequent events proved that Malfoy's prediction was correct, but for completely wrong reasons.
This he would never know.
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