A Professor of Magic at Hogwarts

Chapter 41: Malfoy

Harry felt absolutely miserable in detention, as Malfoy had been muttering and taunting him incessantly. This caused his productivity to plummet, and by nearing noon, he had only managed to copy ten pieces of parchment.

The thickness wouldn't even match up to a small thumb.

During lunchtime, Harry complained about this to Hermione and Ron. He was somewhat exasperated, saying, "I never imagined he could talk so much, buzzing and buzzing non-stop."

Ron gave him advice, "You could harass him back."

Harry was at a loss; he didn't have that much to say to Malfoy.

Hermione pondered, "Perhaps you could provoke him, use the opportunity to ask if he's the Heir of Slytherin."

"Don't be absurd, he'd never admit it unless it was someone close to him," Ron countered.

Harry also found this idea implausible; it might just backfire and alert the enemy. "By the way, Hermione, what about the signing?"

"How about you consult Professor Harp?" Ron suggested.

"That's not a good idea," Hermione sighed, "He's not like Professor Lockhart, that kind of…"

"—fool," Ron finished her sentence, earning a glare from Hermione.

"But I could give it a try tonight, just to see. It's worth a shot," Hermione didn't give a definite answer.

After lunch, they returned to the Ancient Runes office to continue their copying task.

And Harry had to endure Malfoy's taunting looks. He considered using his wand to cast a curse on him a few times, not just one, preferably three spells in quick succession like Professor Harp, rendering him powerless…

In the afternoon, Felix took a look at their progress and nodded in satisfaction, "Not bad at all, the three of you will be able to finish the task tomorrow afternoon. And Mr. Malfoy, you're even faster, only about seven or eight pages left."

Draco Malfoy nearly cried, thinking about how much he paid for his impulsive words – two thick volumes of entirely hand-copied books.

Over the course of nearly two months, despite him sneaking out of detention several times to attend Quidditch training...

Following that, Draco wrote furiously, to the point that Harry was ignored. He finally managed to complete the entire content just before dinner.

Felix couldn't help but praise him, "Very well done. Alright, Mr. Malfoy, your detention ends here."

"Yes, Professor," Draco said softly.

Seeing him tidy up his belongings, Harry and the others envied him. They still had a whole day of detention tomorrow.

"Oh, by the way, Mr. Malfoy," Felix called out to him, causing Draco to startle.

He wasn't going to assign him a few more books, was he?

Thankfully, Felix had no such intention. He waved his wand, and from a corner, a thick stack of parchment flew out – densely filled with writing. With a wave of his magic, the parchment split in half and swiftly bound together in mid-air.

Two book covers flew out from his briefcase, wrapping the parchment. Gilded letters appeared on the covers, slowly forming, making it look like two books.

"Mr. Malfoy, this is the result of your labor, a gift for you."

The two books landed in front of him, leaving Draco momentarily stunned.

Felix said, "Although you come from a prestigious pure-blood lineage and possess remarkable talents, Muggles also have their merits. I believe you've come to realize that." He gestured to the two handwritten books in front of Draco.

"Through this detention, I hope you'll remember one thing – weakness or strength isn't a barrier to survival; arrogance is."

Draco held the two books in his hands, his lips moved, but nothing came out.

After he left, Felix turned to the other trio who were watching, "Alright, your task for today is over, continue tomorrow."

Hermione asked Felix in a low voice, "Professor, can I continue studying Ancient Runes with you tonight?"

Felix was somewhat surprised, he thought for a moment and said, "In principle, I don't object, but your assignments..."

Hermione joyfully said, "It's okay, I've already finished my assignments." Her expression was as if she had won a prize.

As the three of them walked out of the office and headed to the cafeteria, Ron looked at Hermione in disbelief, "You really finished your assignments?"

"Of course!"

"When did you do it?" Ron was seriously suspicious. His timing and Hermione's were different; did she have a few extra hours every day?

Hermione was in a great mood, and she somewhat proudly said, "Since we knew we'd be in detention over the weekend, it's only common sense to finish the assignments in advance, isn't it?"

Ron was speechless, and Harry looked embarrassed.

...

Malfoy returned to the Slytherin common room and placed his bag down.

He sat in a chair with a gloomy expression, his gaze piercing through the greenish light of the common room, looking at the Black Lake outside the window. Occasionally, a fish would swim by the window.

Two of his cronies came over, "Draco, are you having dinner?"

"Crabbe, Goyle..." Malfoy scrutinized them seriously, "Never mind, you guys go."

Crabbe and Goyle shrugged and left quickly.

Malfoy shrank into his chair, half of his pale face and his platinum blond hair concealed in the shadows.

He was still pondering the words of Professor Harp.

Though he tried to argue against this absurd viewpoint, the two months of copying punishment had already ingrained a portion of the content from the book into his mind.

It reminded him of a scene from his childhood when his mother took him to visit a pure-blood wizard and they happened to encounter his aunt.

His aunt was his mother's second sister, but because she married a foolish Muggle... a Muggle wizard, she was disowned by the family.

At that time, they had a fierce argument. His mother tried to persuade her to come back and apologize, but she was bluntly rejected.

He had vague memories of the incident. The only sentence he remembered was his aunt shouting at them, "Besides magic, what else do you have that's superior?"

He still remembered her twisted expression.

Somehow, he suddenly picked up his bag, took out the two books, and stared at their covers.

One was titled "The Struggles of Muggles: Starting from a Million Years Ago," and the other was "How Muggles Think."

He was familiar with the covers, after all, he had been holding them while copying for two months, but there was a slight difference—

Underneath the author's name, a few words had been added—Transcriber: Draco Malfoy.

Malfoy picked up the book "How Muggles Think" and opened it to the first page. Looking at the familiar font, he cast aside his preconceptions for the first time and earnestly started reading.

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