Chapter 534: A Chance for Redemption
Draco ate the salad on his plate in silence.
After that great trial, the pureblood students who had survived hadn't really suffered much harsh treatment.
Having completed the labour they were sentenced to, Witching Horizon treated them like any other ordinary student.
Those whose grades were not yet enough continued to attend classes, and those who had already met the requirements for graduation chose to go to work or stay home in self-imposed isolation as they wished.
No one in the entire Witching Horizon had any intention of holding them out as a bargaining chip or a threat, and Draco knew it wasn't because none of these people had thought of it or ever realised what kind of role they could play as an almost-hostage existence.
It was simply because this organisation, which had grown out of a school, didn't consider it a good idea to use a child's life as a threat.
This kind of behaviour was silly in the eyes of some and made some people have very mixed feelings about it.
Draco for one had quite a lot of mixed feelings about it.
He wasn't a bad person by nature, and his previous perceptions of the world had been conveyed to him by his family and the magical society he lived in.
Purebloods were supposed to be superior, half-bloods were bastards, and mudbloods weren't even human.
These words had been verified countless times in his life.
But Lucius had also taught him to love his family as well, and after being brought to the Hogwarts wagon, he really began to seriously reflect on this issue.
For wizards, does it really make a difference whether they have a bloodline or not?
If wizards with bloodlines were really inherently noble, then how did they all get caught here? How could an incapable muggle-born like Jon Green have stomped on so many purebloods underfoot?
Draco began to think about this, and at the same time couldn't get rid of his own inner worries.
He was certainly aware of the current situation of the Witching Horizon, there was no way to hide the situation, and some purebloods were already secretly excited about it in private, they felt like they were about to be rescued from this place.
Others were nervous and terrified that the Witching Horizon would be destroyed and kill all of them on the eve of defeat.
Draco, on the other hand, wasn't thinking about any of this; it was like he wasn't even thinking about Witching Horizon's failure.
He had no concept about the existence of Dumbledore, but he had a strange feeling about Jon.
This feeling was a mixture of fear, repulsion, hatred, and a hint of admiration that could not be wiped away.
Everyone on the outside felt that with Dumbledore's death, the Witching Horizon would be over, but Draco felt that as long as Jon wasn't dead, the British Ministry of Magic, led by Voldemort, would never be able to completely lay claim to the victory and that the news that Jon had killed Voldemort more than once was surely not some unfounded untruth.
So Draco was worried about his parents, he was tired of this war and was afraid that his family might not be able to survive.
And just as Draco was thinking about all this while eating his meal, he suddenly saw someone out of the corner of his eye.
It was none other than Jon who had appeared in the cafeteria at some point.
He was sitting with a girl with chestnut-coloured hair, and it seemed like Jon was only a small child from the appearance, with nearly double the age difference between the two of them, yet it was obvious to anyone that Jon was the one who was dominating the conversation.
"-I never thought, the 'you' of the other world, would actually be studying in Beauxbatons, it's a shame that I didn't get the chance to meet the other you at the time."
Hermione wrinkled her nose as Jon lamented.
"There's no reason for you to meet 'her' either, we have completely different experiences. We are nominally the same person, but in reality, we are two different individuals, we can't be treated as the same."
Jon blinked and ate his sausage, pretending to be puzzled.
"Why is today's lunch so sour? There's no way it could be, right? No one else would be jealous of themselves, would they?"
Hermione froze for a moment before reacting and trying to grab Jon's face with her claws and paws open, only to be dodged by Jon with a wide grin and a sidestep.
Then he caught Draco's gaze.
As their eyes met in the air, Draco subconsciously avoided it.
He nervously continued to look at the vegetable salad in front of him, pretending that he hadn't noticed Jon from the start.
But clearly, Jon had no intention of going along with his wishes.
After a few words of explanation to Hermione, Jon, who was so busy he could hardly find time to relax for lunch, then left his seat and sat down next to Draco with his dinner plate.
Draco was obviously fidgeting after feeling the presence of someone he didn't want to deal with at all.
Jon, however, asked casually as if he hadn't sensed his mood.
"That's a light lunch? Would you like a pork chop?"
"No-no thanks, I-I don't really feel like it."
"Bad appetite? It shouldn't be, with the way the wind's been blowing lately. You should have an appetite, or do you feel like you're about to be put out of your misery and can't be bothered to look at the food here anymore?"
Draco couldn't quite figure out what Jon meant by his words, and he scrambled to explain.
"No… I have no such thoughts."
Jon looked like he was just saying it casually, not really trying to engage in any kind of questioning, and instead, he even calmed Draco down.
"Don't be so nervous, it's not like I'm a man-eating demon. The rumours that were circulating in that castle before were all rumours spread by your bunch as I recall, weren't they? It's not possible that you guys even fooled yourselves, right?"
Draco lowered his head completely and apologised in a pleading tone he had never used before.
"I'm sorry."
"There's nothing to be sorry for. You've paid for your mistakes so don't be so scared, I'm not here to hold you accountable for the things you've done, but there's one thing I want to know from you."
Jon lowered the knife and fork in his hand as he stared into Draco's eyes.
Draco subconsciously tried to avoid his gaze again, but then Jon opened his mouth with a question that made him turn his head back again.
"Do you remember all the things you said to me once?"
Draco looked at Jon, and he opened his mouth, his voice shaking a little.
"You."
Jon's voice was quiet, and this time there was no longer any hint of a joke in his tone.
"There is a chance, a chance to help your parents live. Of course, as I said before, the things your father used to do would be enough for him to die ten times over if the standards of the Judicial Council were applied, so this chance to redeem him for his crimes isn't as simple as that, so you need to think about whether or not you want to say yes to me."
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