Chapter 540: Lucius Malfoy Goes Missing
Chapter 540: Lucius Malfoy Goes Missing
"Terrible weather, isn't it?" Michael walked into the compartment, drenched, and complained, "I remember it was the same when we encountered the Dementors."
He stood in the middle of the compartment, water dripping from his hair, quickly soaking the floor and splattering mud on the nearby luggage.
"Don't remind me, I never want to think about those monsters again", Theo, who followed behind, said.
Wade pointed his wand at Michael and said, "Warm Breeze."
A gentle and warm breeze blew from the tip of the wand, swirling around Michael. His robes billowed, and a fine mist rose from his body. In no time, he was completely dry, and his robes were smooth and neat.
"Wow..." Michael spread his arms to check himself, then shook his sleeves and said again, "Wow~"
"Wow what?"
Leiyan, who was at the back of the group, saw that they were causing a traffic jam. He pushed the two in front of him into the compartment and closed the door, pulling the curtain shut before the curious students behind them could peek inside.
"Look, my clothes are all dry!" Michael showed them the effect of the spell. "My dad can't even do a spell like this!"
"What spell is that?" Theo asked curiously, "Wade, did you invent it?"
"Sort of. It's an improved version of the Fire Charm, mimicking a Muggle dryer", Wade explained. He then pointed his wand at Michael's trunk and drew a small spiral, "Ventus Calidus! [Warm Breeze]"
A warm breeze swept through, and the water on the trunk and the floor quickly dried up.
Michael extended his hand, letting the warm breeze brush over his fingers, and said, "It seems a bit warmer than before."
"It can control the temperature and wind strength to avoid burns or blowing clothes away", Wade explained.
Michael's eyes lit up, "So, it can also make the wind stronger..."
Before he could finish, Theo clamped a hand over his mouth, silencing him.
Leiyan shook his head and sighed, "After a few days, Michael, you seem to have become rather lecherous."
Michael rolled his eyes and pulled Theo's hand away, "I was just saying that if the wind is stronger, it could lift a person like a balloon. How is that lecherous?"
Leiyan: "...Oh?"
Theo, believing him, said apologetically, "So that's what you meant. I thought..."
"Hmm?" Michael feigned a look of realization, raising an eyebrow, "Did you think I was going to say it could blow up girls' skirts? Tsk tsk... lecherous, really lecherous! The fact that you even thought of that shows how impure your minds are!"
Theo and Leiyan: "..."
They watched as Michael crossed his legs and leaned against the window, tsking and criticizing them with a righteous tone, feeling that something was off.
Wade couldn't help but laugh.
After a bit of laughter, they stowed their trunks. Theo looked at the empty space on the luggage rack and asked curiously, "Wade, where's your trunk?"
"Isn't it obvious?" Michael said, "It must be in his wardrobe!"
Before he could finish, Wade smacked himself on the head with his book.
"What's wrong?" Leiyan asked urgently.
"I forgot..." Wade muttered, annoyed, "When I was packing, I planned to put it in the wardrobe space in the morning, but I got distracted..."
He had been working on a homunculus until late at night and, thinking about leaving for school in the morning, had turned the wardrobe space into a pencil case and put it in his pocket, forgetting to pack the owl cage and trunk.
In the morning, Wade woke up half an hour late. Due to the weather, Ferdinand worried about traffic and hurried everyone out. Dobby was instructed to send the items to school, and Wade thought it was more convenient this way.
At the mention of this, Michael realized he had forgotten about the more convenient way to do things that morning, in a daze.
Seeing that even Wade could make such a basic mistake, everyone burst into laughter, the compartment filled with a joyful atmosphere.
"Knock, knock, knock."
The compartment door was knocked on.
"The trolley witch is here", Theo said as he opened the door and asked the others, "What would you like to eat?"
"Thanks, I'm not hungry right now", Harry said from outside the door.
"Huh?" Theo was taken aback, only then noticing that Harry, Hermione, and a few of the Weasleys were all crowded in the corridor outside.
"I've been looking for you for a while", Hermione said as she walked in. "Luckily, a second-year Hufflepuff saw you in this compartment and heard your voices as they passed by."
She gestured for Ryan to scoot over, sat down, and looked at Wade, asking, "Hey, Wade, do you know what's happening at school this year?"
Before Wade could answer, Fred angrily interjected, "Everyone who doesn't go to school knows, but they're keeping it from us! Come on, isn't it more relevant to us who are actually going to school?"
"Malfoy even came to our compartment to mock us for not knowing anything", Harry added gloomily. "Sirius won't tell me either."
Ron mimicked Draco Malfoy's voice in a mocking tone: "Your father and your brother work at the Ministry, and you don't know... their ranks are too low... my father deals with the upper echelons of the Ministry... he told me a long time ago..."
He huffed angrily and muttered a curse under his breath.
The others didn't look too pleased either.
Theo sighed and looked at them. "There's a piece of news you might not have heard—Malfoy's father seems to have gone missing."
Everyone except Ryan, who had already heard about it, looked at Theo in surprise. Wade's expression also shifted slightly.
"Missing?" Harry asked. "What happened?"
Hermione frowned. "I haven't seen any reports about this in the _Prophet_."
"The Malfoys haven't made it public", Theo said. "My uncle mentioned that they are secretly searching for him."
"When did he go missing?" Wade asked.
"On the night of the World Cup", Theo replied. "After the riot in the camp, no one has seen him since."
"He must have had some kind of accident, right? Maybe he was captured by those crazy Pixies and thrown off a mountain!" Ron said with a dreamy look. "Too bad, little Draco has always been so proud of his father..."
"Stop joking, Ron!" Hermione slapped him. "This is a serious matter. Something worse might have happened..."
"Worse than the Pixies attacking the camp?" Ron dismissed her concern.
"Maybe he's plotting some evil plan in secret", Harry said solemnly. "Like... trying to bring the Death Eaters back to power..."
"Or maybe he was taken by someone", George hinted. "You know, there were others around that night..."
"The Magi Puritan Party?" Ryan asked.
"Exactly", Fred said. "Perhaps they were nearby when the riot happened and encountered Malfoy... I mean, Lucius Malfoy."
"Why would Malfoy run away?" Ryan asked.
"Because if he was caught, he'd end up in Azkaban!" Fred said with a grin.
(End of Chapter)
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