Narcissa acted as if she hadn't heard anything and didn't respond.
At this moment, a cheerful shout suddenly came from not far away:
"Lucius! Long time no see, when did you arrive?"
Their footsteps leaving the school paused slightly, and they turned their heads to see a group of Ministry of Magic officials walking out of the castle accompanied by Professor McGonagall.
Lucius Malfoy adjusted his expression and walked over.
"I just had a discussion with Dumbledore over some school matters," he said.
The man laughed heartily: "No wonder the headmaster suddenly left just now... You really should have come earlier, Lucius! Take a look at that magical mirror!"
Lucius Malfoy: ...
—Thanks for the invite, I've already seen it, the image was too clear, the experience was poor.
But of course, outsiders wouldn't understand his current feelings.
Someone even raised their voice and said, "Machioni! You greedy fox! Just when will you start selling the Flow Mirrors?"
Machioni maintained a smile and said, "Please wait a little longer, our mirrors still need to undergo a few rounds of testing... But I can promise that once the new product reaches the standard, I'll personally deliver it to each of you as soon as possible."
"Remember your words!" another person said: "I must be among the first batch to buy it!"
"Of course, of course."
Machioni assured repeatedly, while Lucius didn't as usual take the opportunity to build rapport with the officials, silently leaving with the group instead.
Narcissa, as if she could turn invisible, walked on the outskirts of the group, watching Machioni at the center as if his face would glow.
—This was the businessman who had been collaborating with Vid Gray.
The Friendship Book produced by his Magic Workshop had already been sold worldwide...
Magic Pets and Soft Light Necklaces were also very popular, bringing him endless wealth.
But these were surely incomparable to inventions like the Friendship Book that directly changed people's lifestyles.
And all this was brought to him by Vid Gray...
Now, there were also the Flow Mirrors.
Suddenly, Narcissa felt a gaze. She turned her head and met the eyes of Professor McGonagall.
She was also a student at Hogwarts before, learning Transfiguration Technique in Professor McGonagall's class for seven years.
Even when the Mysterious Man's forces grew increasingly rampant, the school felt like a paradise.
But after graduation, they naturally stood on opposing sides.
A moment later, the two calmly looked away, as if the brief eye contact was just a coincidence.
Once outside the castle's Defensive Spell range, everyone Apparated away.
Lucius was about to do the same when something came to mind, his expression contorted for a moment. Finally, he said to his wife, "You go home first; I need to make a trip to Gringotts."
"Gringotts?" Narcissa nodded: "For the compensation to the Crabbe family, it should indeed be sent sooner."
"Not just that," Lucius said, "Also the 6000 Galleons to Vid Gray—I've bought that set of mirrors from him."
Narcissa was momentarily stunned, then realized, agreeing, "You thought it through... That footage must not get out."
"That's my thought as well," Lucius said, "For Draco's future reputation, even 6000 Galleons is worth it."
They both Apparated separately.
Lucius Malfoy arrived at Gringotts, found the connecting Goblin, and signed to transfer away two sums of money.
Afterwards, feeling dejected, he went to a tavern to have a couple of drinks, slightly relieving the negative feelings inside before returning to Malfoy Manor.
By this time, the sky had begun to turn a deep indigo.
Exquisite gardens surrounded the castle, the white peacock walking by the fountain saw the master, fluffed its feathers, and slowly displayed its tail.
Lucius walked past it. As soon as he entered the door, two House-Elves came up to him, taking his hat, cane, coat, and other items.
Along the wall was a scarred House-Elf, wrapped in layers of bandages, curling in a corner of the wall, tiptoeing to clean a gilded mirror.
Upon seeing Lucius, the Elf seemed somewhat frightened but, after a moment's hesitation, still ran over to serve him tea.
Seeing the Elf's ears looked as though they were freshly burnt, Lucius knew he had punished himself again, immediately frowning and coldly asked, "Dobby, what have you done now?"
The other two House-Elves immediately hung their heads, quickly vanishing with the coats and other items.
Dobby shivered slightly, lowered his head, and whispered, "Dobby... Dobby accidentally dripped wax oil on the carpet... But Dobby has cleaned it up."
But Lucius had no patience to hear his explanation – he just happened to be holding a belly full of anger today with no outlet for it.
He raised his hand, and the whip on the wall flew over agilely, landing in his hand.
Lucius swung it, and then thrust it out forcefully—
"Snap!"
Accompanied by the sound of the whip, the Elf's cries of pain echoed upstairs, Narcissa put down the newspaper, shaking her head and sighing helplessly.
As a House-Elf, Dobby was undoubtedly capable, even more so than the other Elves in the house.
But he always had some strange ideas in his mind, leading to disobedience and even telling other Elves stories of the Savior Harry Potter, speaking of his yearning for freedom.
Narcissa had never met a second Elf so peculiar.
Even in her previous home, where Kreacher very much disliked Sirius, he would never yearn for so-called "freedom".
Fortunately, the other Elves were not tainted by Dobby's oddness; they promptly reported Dobby's improper remarks to the master, stating—
"This Elf is broken; he's a disgrace among House-Elves! Please, master, cast him out!"
Such a capable servant, of course, would not be casually dismissed.
But since then, Dobby was beaten more frequently. After getting injured, he sometimes made mistakes, and then would cruelly punish himself.
To the Malfoy family, Dobby was simply asking for it.
Seeing the House-Elf tidying up the room also trembling, Narcissa comforted them: "Don't worry, you haven't done anything wrong, Lucius won't hit you."
The House-Elf immediately said with joy: "You are so kind, mistress! Dobby is a bad Elf, he deserves to be awakened by beating!"
He directed a grateful and joyful smile at the mistress.
Downstairs, after who knows how long, Lucius finally got tired of beating, and also felt today's purse was quite heavy.
He took it out, finding it was the Flow Mirror Box bought from Vid — he had actually forgotten about it.
Having no interest in watching again the video of his son's foolishness causing him a loss of 26000 Galleons, Lucius casually tossed it like garbage to Dobby, instructing:
"Put it away! Put it in a place where I'll never see it again!"
Dobby caught the box, cradling it, was about to head to the basement, then showed an incredulous expression.
Some kind of invisible shackle seemed to suddenly break free.
Beside him, Lucius didn't notice the unusual behavior of his servant. He unemotionally ordered dinner, then went to the study to rest temporarily.
Only then did Dobby, shivering, slowly open the box.
Inside were two hand-sized mirrors stacked together.
Dobby felt something amiss, and extended his long thin fingers to the bottom of the mirror and plucked.
The originally deep black velvet was pulled away, revealing what was hidden beneath.
A light yellow sock for a baby.