Hearing Daphne's words, Lucien's eyebrow twitched.
Tuition?
She must have spoken with Draco and learned about his tutoring from him.
Slytherin was indeed troublesome, but… a book was a different matter.
And the book she was holding..
Lucien's gaze fell on the cover in Daphne's hand. It was predominantly purple, tinged with a faint, subtle gray.
Hippogriff hide?
That material was even tougher and more durable than dragon hide.
Bloodline and Talent
Bloodline, huh.
Lucien recalled that the Greengrass family had a very peculiar trait: every recorded head and heir had been female, without exception.
Moreover, most of the Greengrass descendants were girls, with boys being exceedingly rare.
Bloodline… could it be connected to this?
And the emphasis on talent must refer to various magical aptitudes.
This book was clearly about the connection between bloodline and talent, and it looked extremely valuable.
However, Lucien's gaze moved downward, settling beneath the title.
There was a line of elegant, refined handwriting: House of Greengrass.
Why would this girl bring out a family magic book so casually?
So far, he had seen the magic books of both Harry and Ron. Harry's situation was special, and Ron's family had only lent him a book after confirming his learning progress.
As for Draco, the magic book he had given was more of a collectible, not something tied to family inheritance.
Both Ron's and Draco's cases were normal. Families would not casually allow outsiders to borrow inherited magic texts.
As for the handful of spellbooks that truly lay at the core of a family's legacy, Lucien believed that unless a wand was pressed to the heir's forehead, even the closest connections would not grant access to them.
And even then, there was no guarantee.
In the Muggle world, some families that relied on inherited craftsmanship would rather let those skills vanish than pass them on to outsiders.
Those were their means of survival.
Moreover, in the magical world, knowledge truly could be power.
Just as no major nation in the Muggle world would ever fully disclose its high-precision technology—especially in weapons development—and share it freely with others.
Doing so would not only allow others to arm themselves rapidly, but would also expose one's own weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
At best, it would cause unease. At worst, it would lead to outright destruction.
"Greengrass, this book of yours… Do your family members know you brought it out? Do they know what you intend to do with it?"
Hearing Lucien's questions, Daphne smiled faintly and answered without hesitation,
"Of course. My family knows."
Yes—my sister Astoria knows.
Daphne quietly added that line in her heart.
Her mother also knew that she had brought the book to school.
Daphne performed well in her studies and had always measured herself by the standards expected of a family heir, something that greatly pleased her mother.
Bringing the magic book to school was, in itself, proof of her diligence.
However, her mother did not know that she intended to lend the book to an outsider.
Daphne felt that it didn't matter.
Because she knew very well how tolerant the Greengrass family was toward their sons-in-law.
If Draco could see Lucien's potential, how could she not?
That Christmas, Daphne had a long conversation with her mother.
It was about what pure-blood status, heritage, and honor truly meant.
Yet that conversation almost shattered Daphne's long-held beliefs.
Pure-blood referred to a wizard or wizarding family whose lineage contained no Muggles or Muggle-borns, defined by the standard that neither parents nor grandparents had Muggle blood.
This was a concept Daphne had learned and memorized from childhood.
But during that Christmas Eve conversation, her mother plainly told her that Daphne's great-grandfather had been a half-blood wizard.
The revelation struck like a bolt from the blue, causing cracks to form in beliefs Daphne had held for years.
As she reeled from the shock, her mother said calmly,
"Do you really think that by relying on intermarriage among the so-called Sacred Twenty-Eight families, the idea of pure-blood can be maintained generation after generation?"
As she grew older, Daphne had also begun to harbor faint doubts. Could pure-blood status truly be maintained for so long?
Before Daphne could ask further, her mother explained,
"If you trace most pure-blood families far enough back, you'll eventually find ancestors who were half-blood wizards, Muggle-born wizards, or even pure Muggles."
"Only a very small number of families have continuously pursued absolute purity, and their members tend to be more extreme—and their appearances more… peculiar."
"Cantankerus Nott compiled the Pure-Blood Directory and revived the emphasis on pure-blood status because he was trying to gain entry into the Wizengamot at the time, the most prestigious institution in the wizarding world, where the majority of members were pure-blood wizards, just as they had always been."
After hearing this, Daphne murmured,
"So clinging to so-called pure-blood is only for… profit?"
Her mother simply ruffled her hair affectionately and replied patiently,
"It's for greater and longer-term profit. Preserving the honor and reputation of pure-blood has become an unspoken consensus and rule among us."
Finally, Daphne heard the words that stayed with her the longest from that conversation:
"What truly sustains a family is strength—exceptional magical ability."
"No one dared to question your great-grandfather's background back then, because he was not only a master of Alchemy, but also a ten-time consecutive champion of the Wizarding Dueling Championship."
At that moment, a glimmer of light flashed in Daphne's eyes as she thought about Lucien.
She had thoroughly studied her family's history. Beyond firmly holding the post of Head of the Department of Magical Transportation in the Ministry of Magic and wielding considerable influence across the wizarding world, which ensured the family's status and wealth, there was another pattern she knew well.
Each period in which the Greengrass family flourished and expanded was almost always inseparable from the family's son-in-law of that generation, or the one before it.
From Lucien's expression, Daphne had already guessed what he was hesitating over.
"Lucien, this book is indeed a family magic book," she said, "but it definitely doesn't involve our core inheritance. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been able to bring it out so easily."
She smiled brightly, her tone relaxed and casual.
"The family's true core inheritance would never be shown to outsiders. You should understand that."
Lucien nodded, his posture easing slightly.
Whether you would still count as an outsider in the future was another matter entirely. Daphne quietly added a thought in her heart.
Seeing Daphne offer the book to him again, Lucien reached out to accept it.
Just as his fingertips touched the magic book, a prompt appeared in his mind.
[Ding. Loan detected: Circuit Imprint .]
[Host, do you wish to borrow?]
________
(^///^) Please support this fic and also read 12 chapters ahead at Patreon.com/DrakDevil1