A Certain Magical Hogwarts

William running into Malfoy was pure coincidence.

One morning, he went to find Fred to compete on his behalf, and on his way near the Gryffindor common room, he spotted Malfoy sneaking around suspiciously.

At first, William didn't pay much attention, but after noticing it repeatedly, his curiosity got the better of him. Using the Disillusionment Charm, he hid near Malfoy to observe him.

Malfoy waited for about twenty minutes until Harry and Ron emerged. He silently watched them walk away before leaving in a dejected state.

Taking advantage of this, William struck up a conversation with Malfoy, pretending it was a casual encounter.

Initially, their conversations revolved around Akali's Mystery Shop's products.

After several deeper conversations, William began to anticipate what Malfoy would say since he repeated himself frequently.

Over time, William learned more about Malfoy's thoughts. Each meeting brought new insights, and before long, Malfoy saw him as a confidant.

Malfoy was troubled.

He confided to William, "It's me! It was me first—I met Potter first, talked to him first!

"But now Potter is stuck to Weasley, inseparable every day. It's infuriating!"

Like a wise older brother, William advised Malfoy not to give up and encouraged him to strive for friendship with Harry, clapping for the idea of friendship.

William even shared several toxic motivational lines. These "poisonous chicken soups" came effortlessly to him; he could spout them for a whole day without repeating himself.

Finally, William encouraged Malfoy with a rousing pep talk: "No matter what difficulties we encounter, we must face them with a smile. The best way to conquer fear is to confront it head-on. Perseverance is victory, go for it, you can do it!"

Malfoy, thoroughly roused, vowed to make amends with Potter and dashed off eagerly to find him.

William wondered what Malfoy's reaction would be if he was frantically searching for Potter only to hear of his death. Would Malfoy be so devastated that he'd follow him in despair?

Occasionally, Malfoy also grumbled about Pansy Parkinson.

Ever since their kiss on the train at the start of the term, their relationship had drastically changed.

Pansy laid her cards on the table, she wasn't pretending anymore.

She demanded Malfoy take responsibility!

Lucius Malfoy even suggested his son stay with Pansy, as marrying her would secure the Parkinson family's considerable wealth.

This included a small dragon sanctuary owned by the Parkinson family in the Falkland Islands.

Although the British Empire had long been in decline and its colonial system had crumbled, it still retained some overseas territories.

Take the Falkland Islands, for instance.

Speaking of the Falklands, there were still unresolved historical issues there.

Ten years ago, the UK and Argentina went to war over the sovereignty of the Falkland Islands.

At that time, the Iron Lady, Margaret Thatcher, and her hardliner faction worried that losing the Falklands would trigger a chain reaction, leading to the loss of other British overseas territories. As a result, they dispatched warships to Argentina's doorstep and retook the Falklands by force.

This war happened because Voldemort had just fallen. The British Ministry of Magic, though rebuilding, was weak.

The Argentine Ministry of Magic sought to exploit the situation, aiming to bite the British Empire while it was down.

Prominent pure-blood families, including the Parkinsons, invested heavily in the conflict—after all, their interests were at stake. The Parkinsons, for example, had several dragon sanctuaries there!

Young Malfoy, despite dreaming of becoming a dragon rider, disliked Pansy.

Soon, William "accidentally" bumped into Pansy.

Using the same tricks, he quickly became her confidant.

According to Pansy, she and Malfoy had grown up as childhood sweethearts.

She complained about the many people vying for Draco's attention and sought William's advice.

William subtly hinted that Pansy's biggest rival might be none other than Harry Potter.

He encouraged her to take bold steps and "cook the rice" (seal the deal), especially since Malfoy was feeling down. It was the perfect time to strike.

"Why are you helping me?" Pansy asked, overthinking things.

She covered her mouth in shock. "Could it be… Ah, no, no.

"William, you're my best friend, my confidant. Though you're outstanding... it's impossible for us.

"Yes, you're handsome… and I do like your type… but… sigh, if only I'd met you sooner…"

"…" William wanted to clarify that he was simply bored and had no ulterior motives toward Pansy.

After all, Malfoy's description of her looking like a bulldog wasn't far off, in William's opinion.

Having interacted with many characters, William found Hogwarts full of intriguing people.

Before he knew it, two hundred days had passed.

William occasionally visited Babling, but most of his time was spent pestering Dumbledore.

He wanted to learn Apparition.

This required Dumbledore's approval.

Hogwarts was enchanted with anti-Apparition and anti-Disapparition spells.

The former prevented wizards from Apparating into Hogwarts, while the latter blocked them from Apparating out, requiring them to leave the grounds first.

These protections were introduced after the 1692 International Statute of Wizarding Secrecy took effect.

However, the headmaster had the authority to temporarily lift these restrictions for training purposes.

In an empty classroom, only William and Dumbledore were present.

"William, are you sure you want to learn Apparition?" Dumbledore asked.

"The minimum age for a license is seventeen. Even if you master it now, it's illegal."

William grinned. "No worries. I just want to practice, not use it."

This statement was as credible as "just the tip, I won't go in." Whoever believe such lie only had themselves to blame for being an idiot.

Naturally, Dumbledore didn't believe him. Shrugging, he said, "In principle, I don't recommend you learn it now."

William asked, "Professor Dumbledore, when did you learn Apparition?"

"Hmm… I can't quite recall. Probably the summer after my first year," Dumbledore mused.

William rolled his eyes. The headmaster had mastered it as a first-year but now lectured him on legalities.

"I had my reasons," Dumbledore said calmly. "Back then, I needed to return home every weekend.

"The Hogwarts Express didn't run on weekends, so without Apparition, the journey would have taken ages."

William raised an eyebrow. This wasn't the first time he'd heard about Dumbledore returning home weekly during his student days.

In fact, William had never seen any of Dumbledore's relatives. The headmaster spent most of his time at the school.

Considering Dumbledore was over a century old, his parents were likely long deceased.

As for other relatives, who knew if they were still around? A pity. What was Dumbledore concerned about? 

Though there was nothing wrong with a late romance. 

William was utterly perplexed.

He couldn't help but think of his sister.

[tl/n: depending on how you interpret the last few lines, it could have very different meanings💀 ]

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