HP: The Dropout Who Saved the World

Holding the invitation in her hand, Jane Yu was lost in thought, unaware that—

A few days ago, Lucius Malfoy and his wife Narcissa hurriedly visited their old friend Snape in his dungeon.

—Under the pretense of visiting their beloved son.

The couple, already pale, looked even more ashen. Narcissa's long hair hung loose behind her, not even tied up; Lucius's tie was askew, his right hand uncontrollably reaching for his left forearm, only to press it lightly. He hadn't even brought his serpent-headed cane.

"What wind blew you here?" Snape motioned for the couple to sit on the sofa and poured three cups of tea. "Quite surprising."

"Long time no see, Severus." Lucius removed his hood and placed it aside, sipping the tea as if it could calm his mind. "We haven't chatted since last summer."

Narcissa sat beside him, her lower body unmoving, but her upper body trembling slightly:

"Very urgent, Severus."

Snape, unsurprised, pulled up another armchair and sat down, pushing aside a pile of potion homework in front of him, glancing slightly at the tightly closed storeroom door nearby:

"So... what's the topic today?"

Lucius and Narcissa exchanged a glance, and he tentatively spoke, his gaze falling on Snape's left arm:

"You must have felt it, Severus, its color growing darker—"

"What does it matter?" Snape said mercilessly. "If you followed his instructions, you wouldn't be worried now."

The couple's faces looked as if they'd been punched, turning all sorts of unpleasant colors.

"He took away old Nott," Lucius said in a low voice. "One by one, settling accounts—soon it will be our turn. I don't believe you're not afraid!"

Snape paused and said softly, "I haven't received his summons, and I've always stayed at Hogwarts as instructed."

"You can't pretend nothing's wrong." Lucius lightly rested his left arm on the sofa's armrest, his cold sweat soaking his smooth hair. "He won't forgive me, you know how I avoided Azkaban's punishment. All these years, I haven't sought him out, I ruined the diary he entrusted to me—"

His searching gaze fixed intently on Snape, as if cursing their fate:

"We can't escape, you and I, we both avoided prison. He must suspect our loyalty—"

His hand hovered in the air, as if the serpent-headed cane was still there:

"My wand is gone, he hasn't summoned me, but I received a message to leave my wand at a designated place—"

Snape raised an interested eyebrow and continued:

"So? The only direct contact with him is old Nott?"

"Not just him," Narcissa said fearfully. "I suspect old Goyle and old Crabbe too. They were suddenly severely injured, admitted to St. Mungo's, claiming it was Splinching, but for them, that's almost impossible—"

"Don't worry." Snape's eyes glanced at the tightly closed door in the room. "I think the Dark Lord will forgive us."

His mouth twisted into a slightly mocking smile as he continued:

"If he doesn't have that much tolerance, the remaining Death Eaters will be few, and you—"

"Money is omnipotent, Galleons are the greatest support."

But at the mention of Galleons, the couple's expressions turned even worse.

Lucius thought of the continuous flow of Galleons since joining the Death Eaters—

A situation of outgoings exceeding income, causing heartache.

Moreover, in the current chaotic situation, the business plans originally arranged with Jane Yu might also come to a halt.

The entire Malfoy family seemed like Voldemort's automatic ATM, whenever he made a demand, the couple had to pay up.

They couldn't help but doubt whether Voldemort could truly lead them to achieve the grand promises he once painted—

Granting the Malfoy family power, realizing pure-blood supremacy.

In fact, before Voldemort's last downfall, his increasingly insane actions had made the couple doubt the correctness of their decision.

Unfortunately, what's done cannot be undone, and they could only continue down this dark path, as there's no resignation in the Death Eaters.

"But we have no choice." Narcissa closed her eyes, speaking with a trembling voice. "Lucius has the mark... those who dared to leave before... are all dead."

"Since there's no choice." Snape seemed to want to end this meaningless conversation. "Why come to me?"

The couple fell silent, Narcissa's lips trembled as she was about to speak, but the small door to the cellar's inner room suddenly swung open.

—Standing there was their son Draco, who was supposed to be in detention!

His face was deathly pale, holding several leeches in his hand.

He hadn't even noticed them sucking onto his hand, swelling into a large lump, evidently having heard the entire conversation:

"No, Father, Mother, we can't—"

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