Abraxas was wrong about one thing: the Dark Lord would not simply exist. He was always thinking about making a comeback.
But Draco had to admit, experience counted. His grandfather's other assessments of the Dark Lord seemed remarkably close to the truth.
After all, my grandfather had always been very knowledgeable about Dark magic. An interest in mysticism, Alchemy, and Dark magic is probably a family tradition in the Malfoys.
Recalling the Dark Lord's various behaviors and actions, he indeed fit the characteristics of splitting souls and creating Horcruxes very well: unpredictable, lacking in judgment, and increasingly deviating from human form... This is exactly the Dark Lord that I once faced!
Draco paced back and forth in his library, pondering a possibility: that a piece of the Dark Lord's soul might reside in Ravenclaw's diadem.
That is why, with the great battle imminent, Potter was busy going to the Room of Requirement to find that wretched diadem.
Potter might want to destroy that diadem, to eliminate the Dark Lord's Horcrux! Draco speculated.
Assuming my suspicions are correct, the diadem must be destroyed. Otherwise, the Dark Lord might not truly disappear, and could even return time and again. Draco frowned as he thought.
As for why the Dark Lord's soul could possess Quirrell, a human, his grandfather's words did not provide a reasonable explanation.
Perhaps this is an even more evil magic that even my grandfather did not know about.
Draco needed to investigate further. Fortunately, the Malfoy family library contained countless magical tomes, enough to allow any wizard obsessed with Dark magic to escape the hustle and bustle and immerse themselves in its contents.
This library was vast and had a rich collection of books, some of which were even unique copies passed down from the Malfoy family over the years, books that even the Hogwarts library did not have.
Not to mention, one of Lucius's particular hobbies was to add more strange and unusual ancient books to his home library, which he had acquired through certain "special channels." Most of which came from some fallen magical families, or even from the families of the Sacred Twenty-Eight.
These families, with their ancient traditions, each possessed unique heritages and secrets. It would be a great pity for them to simply vanish and be lost, so the Malfoys were always keen to collect them.
Draco felt both gratified and troubled when faced with the enormous library.
Investigating such a voluminous collection of books was clearly beyond Draco's capabilities alone. He spent the entire morning searching through them without success, and finally snapped his fingers in frustration.
Dobby, the house-elf, appeared before him, wearing a tattered, dirty pillowcase and blinking his large, protruding green eyes. He bowed and said in a high-pitched voice, "My esteemed master, is there anything Dobby can do for you?"
To Draco's surprise, the elf that arrived was Dobby. It stirred up Draco's complex and unforgettable memories, because its image had been appearing and disappearing in Draco's indelible past.
Given its current wretched and miserable state, no one would imagine that it would have a life-and-death friendship with "Savior Potter." Draco stared at it, his expression intrigued.
The Malfoy Manor had many house-elves, not just Dobby. But Draco had a particularly strong impression of this particular elf.
He remembered that in his previous life, Dobby had betrayed the Malfoys at the end of his second year. Most house-elves were proud to serve a wizarding family, but he had been unwilling to accept this "honor," preferring freedom and being very eager to receive "clothes."
For many years afterward, no one knew where it was or what it did. His father never mentioned it, as though it were a shameful thing to discuss.
When they met Dobby again, he was no longer the same as before. He was no longer the slovenly and miserable creature he once was. Instead, he was wearing strange new clothing and had led Potter and the others to escape from Malfoy Manor. He had clearly become a loyal follower of Potter.
Draco sized it up, his mind racing with a series of calculations. How to get along with Dobby was a significant problem.
Dobby had served the Malfoys for many years, and simply giving him clothes and letting him go was not the best solution for the Malfoys.
This exile could expose years of secrets held by the Malfoy family, and anyone could use it to their advantage, stabbing the Malfoy family in the back.
Merlin, thank goodness, in its previous life it only came to Malfoy Manor to rescue people and did not do anything else terrible or treacherous, which is already a stroke of luck amidst misfortune.
However, no one could guarantee that in the years to come, Dobby would not, on a whim, use his knowledge of the Malfoys to cause trouble for his former masters from time to time.
Draco, as a typical Slytherin, utterly despised unnecessary risk. In this lifetime, he would never allow Dobby to have the opportunity to betray the Malfoy family and add any risk to the family.
Draco knew that his father Lucius did not get along with the elf. This time, he wanted to keep an eye on it himself.
His father's harsh methods with the house-elves were clearly ineffective and even provoked Dobby's rebellious tendencies.
This time, Draco wanted to try a different approach: without betraying the Malfoy family, he did not mind giving it a small, limited reward to win it over.
"Sit down." Draco decided to take a conciliatory approach. He lowered his chin and nodded toward the armchair next to him, gesturing for Dobby to sit down.
"Sit... sit down." Dobby burst into tears at the unprecedented concern in his voice, startling Draco. "Never... never..."
"The master never made Dobby sit down as an equal..." it seemed deeply moved and suddenly let out a loud sob.
Draco tried his best to make a soothing expression while saying "shh" to get it to sit down.
Dobby sat hesitantly on the edge of the chair, not even daring to lean back. He looked like an ugly, large doll, his two bat-like ears drooping uneasily, his big eyes brimming with tears as he looked at Draco, still muttering and sobbing.
Draco felt a strong aversion to it. How could such a noisy, overreacting, and tactless house-elf exist? He took a deep breath, silently reminding himself that this was not the time to show his dislike, and at the same time, he tried his best to make his expression kind and friendly.
"Dobby, I asked you to come here because I hope you can help me," Draco said, putting on a gentle face.
"Help!" Dobby was deeply moved by the gentle attitude and let out another loud squeal. "Dobby can do anything for his masters! But my young master said to help!" He wiped his face with a corner of his dirty, tattered pillowcase.
Good heavens, it is so awful! Draco's face almost turned green with disgust. Why is its taste in clothing so terrible? It is a disgrace to the Malfoy family.
"Wipe your hands clean. I need you to find all the books about Horcruxes for me." Draco quickly gave Dobby the command while Dobby was calming down.
"The Horcrux books... This is the young master's order... Dobby will find them!" Dobby's expression was panicked, trembling at the mention of such evil words. But at this moment, no evil word could stir his heart as much as the unprecedented kindness shown to him by his master, so he patted his chest and made a solemn promise.
"This will be a secret. Do not let anyone else know about this," Draco commanded it.
Dobby nodded obediently, and soon it was nimbly leaping and bounding around the library, quickly flipping through the pages.
"What are you doing, Draco?" Just then, Lucius pushed the door open and was stunned by what he saw. He quickly looked offended.
He never imagined that a house-elf like Dobby would appear in his magnificent library.
"Look at its filthy, wretched appearance!" Lucius's expression was one of disgust, as though someone had placed dragon dung under his nose. "Why is this house-elf not where it should be?"
"Father, I asked it to do it. I am having some trouble with my homework and Dobby is looking up some materials for me," Draco explained, getting up.
Dobby picked up a large book in midair, blinked its big, round eyes, and nodded timidly at Lucius. Its large ears made a clicking sound as it nodded.
"I did not know you could read," Lucius said, slightly surprised, giving Dobby a haughty look. "Do not get the book dirty or damaged."
Lucius was about to leave when he seemed to remember something, narrowed his eyes, and threatened Dobby, "You slob, serve Draco properly! If you dare to make any mistakes, you know what I will do."
The house-elf nodded uneasily. It watched Lucius's departing figure and whimpered twice, as though recalling some painful memory.
"No offense, Dobby, but you should change your clothes." Draco pursed his lips. Lucius's "slob" comment really hit the mark.
Dobby's attire was completely out of place in the Malfoy household. Narcissa's house-elves were all dressed beautifully and impeccably.
House-elves as listless and haphazardly dressed as Dobby were rare. No wonder Lucius did not give him a friendly look the moment he saw him.
"Master cares about Dobby!" A book in Dobby's hands fell to the ground with a thud, successfully eliciting a look of concern from Draco.
"Bad Dobby, Dobby dropped the books!" Dobby frantically slammed his head against the bookshelf, but this did little to alleviate Draco's concern over the books. Instead, he was very worried about the books on the bookshelf that were wobbling with the impact, fearing that they would be damaged.
"Stop, Dobby!" Draco shouted, exasperated.
"Thank you, young master." It stopped its bumping motion weakly and stood there panting.
"Do not damage any books. I know this book will not be found anytime soon. Keep looking, and bring it to me as soon as you find it." Draco gave it a few instructions, wanting to leave the study as quickly as possible to avoid Dobby making a fuss, or failing to explain himself clearly, and hurting himself or even these precious books in front of him.
"And another thing," Draco tossed Dobby a Galleon, which Dobby caught in shock, his eyes wide.
"This is your salary for working for me. Hurry up and buy yourself some new clothes. Remember, I did not give you any clothes. You will have to buy them yourself." Draco said to Dobby, who was standing there dumbfounded, and then hurriedly left the study.
Draco knew that house-elves did not gain freedom unless their owners gave them a piece of clothing.
He carefully circumvented the rule by "paying a salary."
"Master, pay Dobby your salary!" Dobby stood there stunned for a while, then suddenly screamed excitedly, tears of joy streaming down his face.
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Lucius's Perspective
Lucius Malfoy had an innate aversion to anything overly emotional.
His most hated house-elf was Dobby. Dobby was always dirty, clumsy, and prone to screaming. He was a disgrace to the Malfoys.
In his youthful arrogance, he even considered disposing of Dobby. But out of a desire to protect the secrets of Malfoy Manor, his father told Lucius that Dobby should remain at Malfoy Manor until his death.
Therefore, after Lucius became the head of the Malfoy family, Dobby was often sent to the manor's basement to do the most dreary kitchen work.
"Never appear before us unless summoned by the master," he coldly commanded Dobby.
Lucius never imagined he would see Dobby again. That nightmarish scream had ruined Lucius's good mood that morning.
He strode into the study and saw his son directing Dobby to flip through a book, as though looking up something.
Hmph! It is merely first year magic knowledge. Instead of asking his own father, he seeks help from a scruffy house-elf.
What a silly, foolish child. Lucius glanced at his son's platinum blond head out of the corner of his eye, gripped his cane tightly, and resisted the urge to ruffle his hair.
However, although Dobby was annoying, his magical power was considered above average among house-elves, which was enough to protect Draco.
Draco is almost twelve years old, and it is time for him to have a house-elf to serve him.
Although he did not approve of his son's aesthetic sense, Lucius could afford the cost of this trial and error.
That evening, he summoned Dobby, gave it a disgusted look, still unable to appreciate his son's strange taste. "From now on, you are Draco's personal house-elf. You must be at his beck and call, do whatever he asks, and protect him until the end of your life."
Dobby, unusually, did not cry or whine. Instead, it bowed respectfully, pressed its two big ears to the carpet, and said cheerfully, "Yes, Master."
"Swear to me. Never betray me, obey orders, and protect Draco Malfoy with all your might," Lucius said coldly.
"I swear," the little elf repeated Lucius's words timidly.
Lucius nodded in satisfaction. With a loud bang, Dobby vanished into the silent air.
Assigning a house-elf to Draco to practice might be a good idea. He should also come to realize that some house-elves are not as interesting as they seem. Even when choosing your servant, you should adhere to the principle of caution.
Who knows, in a few days, Draco will be crying and sending Dobby back. Lucius rolled his eyes in disgust at the empty room.