Ravenclaw's Blue Gem

She thought that her proposal would definitely get Draco’s approval, but she didn’t expect that when the boy heard Dumbledore’s name, his anger exploded. He suddenly gave Zoe a hand and almost fell on his ass. Sitting on the ground, her face became gloomy.

"Don't mention that name to me!" Draco roared, and Zoe was too surprised by his state, but failed to notice the deep fear and trembling legs that flashed in the boy's eyes.

"Albus Dumbledore! Don't make me laugh. Do you think he will help me when I tell him everything? Impossible! Our family are all Death Eaters, his enemies. He is at best Just thinking about using me to deal with the Dark Lord, using me as a pawn, how could he trust me? That old man is always wary of us, don’t look at him always smiling, he never thought about it Accept my dad!" Draco clenched his fists, as if to increase his courage in this way.

"Mr. Lucius is too involved in this matter. It's normal for Dumbledore to have concerns!" Zoe felt like a fire burned in her heart, and the flame forced her to shout to the boy too, "But you It's not Mr. Lucius, as long as you are willing to ask him for help, he will definitely help you!"

That's because you don't know what the Dark Lord wants me to do!Draco swallowed the words that almost blurted out. Even if Dumbledore was a tolerant person who was willing to accept himself, the premise must be that he did not harm his core interests.Knowing that he was ordered to kill Albus Dumbledore himself, is he still willing to help someone who is about to kill him?

Draco couldn't imagine that there would be such a fool in this world. His education had always told him that as long as a person's interests were violated, he would resist desperately and would never die obediently.There are only two roles in this world, hunter and prey. Anyone wants to become a hunter and then win more and greater benefits for themselves.

"Yes, I'm not a father." Zoe saw him say that, thinking he could listen, couldn't help but smile. "But my position determines that I can't go with that old man." Draco Wan He raised his sleeves and showed Zoe the Dark Mark on his hand, his face pale, "Look, the Dark Lord personally printed it for me, just a few weeks ago."

"It's nothing, Draco." Zoe wanted to persuade him. "Think about Professor Snape. He was also a Death Eater, but Dumbledore accepted him completely. Dumbledore would never Like Voldemort—"

"Professor Snape?" Draco sneered at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, he'used' a Death Eater. Do you think he was safe because of being protected by the old man? I know Professor Snape. Just a reformed faculty member." He didn't say much, and suddenly changed the subject, "Do you know that Igor Karkaroff is dead?"

Zoe was taken aback. She did know the news. The person who brought the news was Remus Lupin (Zoe was surprised to see her, the former Defence Against the Dark Arts professor who had left her job in the shabby house). He was Come to congratulate Harry on his sixteenth birthday. Lupin’s face will make people who see him mistakenly think that he hasn’t eaten for several days, and there are more patches on his clothes than when Zoe saw him last time. The bad news made the original festive atmosphere worse. Zoe noticed that Mrs. Weasley was probably out of friendship to forcibly hold back her anger at Lupin.

But Draco didn't really want to ask for an answer. He paused, and continued to speak for himself: "From the first day the Dark Lord came back, there have been a few special divisions among the Death Eaters. Personally investigating this matter, the Dark Lord will never forgive those who betrayed him, even if he fled to the end of the world." He looked at Zoe with a bleak look.

"They found Karkaroff in a no-man's land in the north." Draco said, "By the way, I was just branded with the Dark Mark at the time, so they took me there too, saying they wanted Let me become familiar with what is the behavior of Death Eaters."

"What?" Zoe was stunned. "They actually took you to kill someone!"

"The Dark Lord approved them to do this, probably because I thought it would be fun?" Draco recalled the scene before, and his voice was shaking. "They caught Karkaroff in a cabin. , He wanted to escape, but he was hit by the petrification curse... Next, my aunt—you know who she is."

Zoe nodded, no matter who it was, it was impossible for anyone to forget the person who had tried to strangle him so easily, and that person was still a notorious lunatic."Aunt Bella insisted on punishing Karkaroff because he betrayed the great Dark Lord. She wanted to make him uneasy even in death. She wanted to torture Karkaroff as much as possible before killing him."

"Little Batty didn’t want to go wrong, and wanted to get rid of Karkaroff directly. But Carlos brothers and sisters were very excited, and they wanted to hear Karkaroff’s screams, so it didn’t matter whether they wanted to punish him. Later, the minibus Di took a step back and gave them half an hour." Thinking of the atrocities he had seen, even throwing people into the cold water was just the most basic punishment.

"In the end, Karkaroff couldn't even scream. He wouldn't survive for half an hour even without the Avadas Curse. I also heard someone suggest that he be taken while he is still alive. Throw it to the beast, but it was finally rejected." Draco's voice suddenly became very low, "After killing him, they launched the Dark Mark to warn the Dark Lord's enemies... But I think they are also Warn me."

"Warning you?" Zoe asked.

"I mentioned Fenrir Greyback to that guy Borkin before. He often comes to us recently. Do you think he wants to make friends with us? With eyes that want to bite me?" Ke gritted his teeth, "The Dark Lord arranged for him to watch me because of your presence."

Zoe stopped speaking, she knew exactly what Draco was talking about.

"He has concerns about me and wants to test my loyalty, just like dealing with my dad. He thinks that I might be in Albus Dumbledore's camp because of your influence." Draco laughed at himself." As you said, I am not my father, but I have no choice. He will kill me and my family as long as there is a small sign."

"The Dark Lord said, I can only do this personally. As long as I dare to reveal the secret, he will know. I can't take this risk." Draco was silent for a while, "Let's go, it's over. , We should go back too."

"Draco, even if you just tell me alone." Zoe whispered, "I will help you, I should have helped you long ago."

"I can't say." Especially to tell you.Draco sighed silently, "You can't help me, and I don't want to involve you."

"I don't care!" Zoe tugged at his robe and said seriously, "Can't I help you share it?"

Draco didn't speak anymore. He didn't want to show his timidity in front of Zoe. He didn't want to burst out the fear he had accumulated for a long time. It was because he knew the girl in front of him that he would never touch the taboo in her heart.As long as the truth is told, it is obvious which side Zoe will choose, and the two can't even be friends to do it.

I walked through the winding narrow alley without words. I don't know how long it took. The sunlight belonging to Diagon Alley shone on the cobble path again. On both sides of the light, there is the boundary between darkness and light.

"I should go back to find my mother." Draco said, separated from Zoe a little bit. "You can also find Potter and the others."

Zoe didn't reply, staring complicatedly at Draco's back, until he turned to another street and was no longer visible.

Zoe walked to the Lihen Bookstore and saw Hermione at the door.From time to time, she raised her head to sweep the streets on both sides, looking for Zoe's figure, but more often she hung her head, holding her arms as if thinking about something.

"Long waiting." She ran over, and Hermione looked up sharply, glaring at her with joy and anger."too slow!"

"Sorry, it took a little longer." Zoe knew that he was wrong, and quickly apologized.

"Come on, Harry and the others are over there." Hermione pointed to a fancy shop in front of a few buildings. "George and Fred opened a shop over there." Zoe also noticed the sea. Grid was standing near the Lihen Bookstore, obviously protecting Hermione.

"What did you talk to Malfoy?" Hermione asked her.

"Now I know how annoyed Luna was at me." Zoe gave her an unexplained answer, "but I don't intend to be as empathetic as Luna." Especially the client was obviously painful. Case.

Chapter 27 Slug Club (Part 1)

The Weasley brothers' business is doing better than expected. Even in the overall depression, their magic shop still exudes amazing energy and enthusiasm.Just looking at the shiny signs from outside the store (they feel like dazzling fireworks rushing into the sky), and the funny, innovative, and interesting display products, can arouse the desire of pedestrians to buy.

"Look at this,'Phoenix soaring into the sky.'" George wearing a new magenta robe-it makes him look like a red matchstick, but the color of his body and hair do not match- A long small cylinder was stuffed into Zoe's arms. The front end of the small cylinder was fitted with a bird's head (which was shaped like a phoenix), and a long lead was extended from the base of the wings.George squeezed his eyes at her tacitly, "This thing is divided into two sizes, the small one is an ordinary firework, and the large one is more expensive but more interesting. We used the part that used to be Umbridge. Load candies, and after the fireworks explode, there will be a rain of candies—or do you need to put a curse in it? Light it up and face the neighbor’s window!"

"Do it a little better. You can knock your neighbors out and stuff them in." The twin boys who look almost exactly the same as George jumped out from the other side, "Report to you, boss."

"Don't call me that, you are not helping me work." Zoe said helplessly, and put the cylinder back again.

"You are not suitable for business, Zoe." Fred looked at the shelf on the other side. "Business and friendship must be separated."

"That's why I pay. If I don't know how to tell, I will walk in swaggeringly and stuff something into my pocket." Zoe said nonchalantly.

"If you are alone, we won't mind getting some merchandise, but you don't have to pay for other people, even if they are my family." George disagrees.

"I have received a lot of care in your house this year, and I haven't been able to do anything. This time I treat it as a thank you gift." Zoe said with a smile.

"Just this time." George looked around and lowered his voice. "What happened to Hermione recently?"

"What?" Zoe was taken aback."She was looking for me and Fred..." Before George finished speaking, Hermione and Ginny walked over from the other side of the shelf with a smile. Ginny held a little pink fluff in her hand. The ball, the little thing was actually a living thing, rolling around in Ginny's hand, and Hermione curiously touched the little pompom with her finger.

"Hey, George, what is this little thing?" Ginny shouted to George with a smile.

The conversation couldn't go on. George patted Zoe on the shoulder and walked to Ginny.Hermione ran over when she saw her.

"Hermione, has something happened recently?" Zoe asked tentatively.

"Why do you ask? Everything is fine." Hermione asked strangely, and then pulled her sleeve. "You should have come with me just now. Those little guys are really cute. If it weren't for me already Mount Luke will also want to buy one as a pet."

Then she began to tell Zoe about the fun things she encountered in the Weasley magic item store, talking about the girls who surrounded the ecstasy, talking about the "Daydream series" products that surprised her, Hermione She looked exactly the same as usual, there was nothing wrong with her.

Even if he still cared about what George didn't say, Zoe couldn't ask him now, so he could only put it in his heart.

*********

The vacation time always flies quickly, just like some unknowable existence took away a period of time without authorization, and it was time to return to Hogwarts in the blink of an eye.That morning, Mrs. Weasley became as nervous as they did when they went to Diagon Alley. When she had breakfast, she kept nagging, asking them to stay where the adults can notice and never leave. Auror (mainly to protect Harry)'s protection circle, Mr. Weasley still applied to the Ministry of Magic for a special car, and he was packing his luggage into the trunk with Bill.

Passing hurriedly across platform nine and three-quarters, no one wanted to take the initiative to chat, perhaps because of the two aggressive Aurors who were with him, the atmosphere had been tense and very depressing.Mrs. Weasley kissed every child, and after Zoe got in the car, he touched the cheek she had kissed uncomfortably, but he did not show disgust.

They happened to meet Luna outside a box. She invited them to sit together. After putting the luggage, the time was a little tight. They had to walk faster so that they would not be late on the way to the prefect car.

After Cedric and Doris graduated, two new student council presidents were elected this year, both of whom were familiar faces. The two were selected from last year’s prefect team. This is also the usual practice for selecting student council presidents. Unless there is a more popular dark horse, these two positions are usually selected from among the prefects.

What’s different from last year is that the faces of the fifth graders who stood tremblingly in the prefect’s box this year are no longer the same. Looking at these people from a new perspective, they are indeed very novel, and they can finally appreciate that the sixth graders at the time looked happily. Their mood.

After briefly explaining their affairs, the two left the prefect box with the crowds. Ron greeted them and left in the direction of Harry's box. Zoe and Draco did not say a word, to be precise. , Draco was obviously avoiding Zoe's sight.

Stopped a few low-grade students playing in the hallway (one of them was holding a decoy bomb from the Weasley magic item shop), confiscated the contraband and drove them all back to the box. No matter what happened, the inspection was originally just a light job, and the tiring part was the guidance after getting off the car.