The Christmas holidays flew by amidst Draco's fulfilling extracurricular research.
Besides conducting these small research trips, Draco also accompanied his mother, Narcissa, to several incredibly boring social gatherings connected through her maternal relatives: the Yaxleys, the Roziers, the Parkinsons, the Flints, the Bulstrodes, the Crabbes...
When it came to cultivating connections, no one in the Malfoy family could rival Narcissa. The significance behind her maiden name, Black, was far too profound. Most pure-blood wizarding families were related to it, making her virtually invincible at social gatherings.
Tall, fair-skinned, and with blond hair, Narcissa possessed an enviable beauty. Moreover, she had the dual family background of the Black and Malfoy families, which often made her a guest of honor at social gatherings of certain pure-blood wizarding families.
Draco sometimes felt that his mother did not enjoy these activities. She only participated out of consideration for the family's interests.
Most of the time, especially when dealing with pure-blood wizarding families who were less wealthy and powerful than hers, Narcissa had little interest in deliberately befriending them.
The wizards did not care. As long as she sat haughtily at the social gatherings they had so lavishly invited her to, they considered it an honor that she had graced them with her presence.
Of course, this did not mean that Narcissa would not lower her stance. If Narcissa wanted to, she could be the most charming and sociable person at the party.
If there was profit to be made, she would not hesitate to abandon her arrogance and use an approachable attitude that no one could refuse and impeccable social etiquette to win the hearts of those lonely elderly ladies and gain a friendship that could achieve mutual benefit.
Only at this moment would her arrogance be temporarily set aside, although Draco knew that the pride in her bones had never disappeared.
However, despite her inherent pride, Narcissa was always a gentle mother to Draco.
Those who treated Narcissa with utmost respect at parties probably found it hard to imagine that she would even childishly tell Draco bedtime stories.
Even though he was already a broken seventeen year old inside, and understood that bedtime stories were useless for sleep, Draco cherished this rare, carefree time with his mother.
Such moments allowed him to temporarily forget his inner worries, although Lucius did not seem too happy about it.
"All right! He is almost twelve years old. He does not need you to coax him anymore." Lucius leaned against Draco's doorframe, his face cold with impatience.
Draco did not say anything, but rather deliberately held his mother's hand and looked at her with watery eyes.
This trick always worked.
"It is rare for Draco to come home, yet you are depriving me of the right to be with him..." Narcissa sighed, expertly playing the role of a wounded mother. "Do you not have a heart..."
"All right, all right." Lucius wrinkled his nose, toying with his cane, surrendering. "Tell one last story."
Narcissa casually flipped to a page from The Tales of Beedle the Bard in her hand.
"Then let us discuss The Tale of the Three Brothers:"
Once upon a time, three brothers were traveling along a lonely, winding road at twilight. As they walked, they came to a river, but the water was too deep to wade across, and swimming would be too dangerous.
However, the three brothers were skilled in magic, and with a wave of their wands, a bridge appeared over the treacherous waters. When they reached the middle of the bridge, a hooded figure blocked their path.
Death spoke to them. Death was angry. He had lost three new victims, for travelers usually drowned in this river. But Death was cunning. He pretended to congratulate the three brothers on their magic, saying that they had cleverly escaped death and each would receive a reward.
The eldest brother was a combative man, and what he wanted was the most powerful wand in the world: a wand that could always help its master win in duels, a wand that a wizard who had conquered Death deserved to possess! Death went to an elder tree on the shore, made a wand from a hanging branch, and gave it to the eldest brother.
The second brother, an arrogant man, decided to continue humiliating Death, wanting the power to resurrect the dead. Death picked up a stone from the shore and gave it to the second brother, telling him that the stone had the power to bring the dead back to life.
Then Death asked the youngest of the three what he wanted. The youngest was the most humble and intelligent, and he did not trust Death. Therefore, he asked for something that would allow him to leave that place without Death following him. Death reluctantly gave him his own Invisibility Cloak.
Then Death stood aside and told the three brothers to continue on their way. They discussed their extraordinary experience and praised Death's gifts as they walked on. Later, the three brothers parted ways and headed toward their respective destinations.
The eldest brother traveled for over a week, arriving at a remote village where he got into an argument with a wizard. Naturally, wielding the Elder Wand, he was certain to win the duel. After his opponent fell dead, he continued on his way, entering a small tavern and loudly boasting about the invincible power of his wand, obtained from Death himself. That very night, after the eldest brother had drunk himself into a stupor, another wizard crept to his bedside, stole the wand, and slit his throat. Thus, Death took the eldest brother's life.
Meanwhile, the second brother returned to his home where he lived alone, took out the stone that could bring the dead back to life, and turned it three times in his hand. To his overwhelming joy, the girl he had longed to marry but who had tragically died young immediately appeared before him. However, she was sorrowful and cold, as though a veil separated them. Although she had returned to the mortal world, she did not truly belong there. She was in great pain. Ultimately, the second brother was driven mad by his hopeless longing and took his own life in order to truly be with her. Thus, Death took the second brother's life.
However, Death searched for the third brother for many years but could never find him. The third brother lived to a very old age before finally removing his Invisibility Cloak, handing it to his son, and then greeting Death like an old friend, departing this life as equals.
The story was quickly told in Narcissa's gentle voice and Lucius's warm gaze as he intently looked at his wife.
After hearing the story, Draco was not sleepy at all. Instead, his eyes lit up.
Almost every wizarding family's child was familiar with this story, but this time, Draco heard something different in this old tale.
The Elder Wand... My mother has told me about it many times before. Could this be the very thing the Dark Lord has been searching for?
Honestly, who would have thought that such a bedtime story might hide some enormous truth, or even a magical treasure from the wizarding world?
He had long wanted to research the Elder Wand. Back in November, when he was writing his essay on Ekrizdis, he had already come across the term Elder Wand. The villain's rival, the fool Egbert, had passed the Elder Wand to him through a duel.
Although it was merely unofficial history and lacked substantial factual basis, a story that had been passed down to this day could not be entirely baseless.
Where could he find more information about the Elder Wand? In fact, Draco had been wandering around the Hogwarts library since November, hoping to find more information. After all, he did not have a suitable opportunity to approach Florean Fortescue or Ollivander at the moment.
Now, to his surprise, he suddenly realized that perhaps his mother could answer some of his questions.
"Mother, do you know what those three brothers' names are?" Draco's voice trembled slightly with excitement.
"Oh, I suppose this is probably a legend about the three Peverell brothers," Narcissa said casually.
"Do you think the Elder Wand truly exists?" Draco asked her softly.
"You silly child, it is merely a legend." Lucius, who had somehow ended up sitting on the edge of the bed, ruffled his son's platinum blond hair and could not help but chuckle softly.
"That is not necessarily true. The name of the three Peverell brothers appeared in the Black family's book, Nature's Nobility: A Wizarding Genealogy." Narcissa smiled gently, her blue eyes looking at Lucius. "I have never believed that legends are merely legends. There must be a foundation. Although they were one of the first families to disappear, I believe that the family that appeared in that book, the Peverell family, did indeed exist."
Lucius remained noncommittal, clearly indifferent to the matter. He pulled an exquisite pocket watch from his pocket, waved it in front of Narcissa, and stared at her expectantly.
"All right, Draco, close your eyes and go to sleep. We have to catch the Hogwarts Express early tomorrow morning." Narcissa gently kissed Draco's forehead and said goodnight to her beloved son.
Draco quickly feigned a yawn, pretending to be sleepy.
Lucius gently extinguished the candle on the bedside table, and with a smug look on his face, put his arm around his wife's waist and returned to their bedroom to rest.
Under the moonlight, Draco opened his eyes wide, wide awake, Narcissa's gentle voice reading still echoing in his mind: The most powerful wand in the world... a wand that would always help its master win in duels... Death went to an elder tree on the shore and made a wand from a hanging branch...
The Elder Wand... The Dark Lord used the Elder Wand in his final moments... He obtained it from the deceased Dumbledore...
If... if the Elder Wand is not merely a legend... He stared blankly at the canopy above him, and it seemed he knew the Elder Wand's current whereabouts.
That wand should still belong to Professor Dumbledore. In my previous life, I used a Disarming Charm to knock the wand away.
Yes, it was that wand. I clearly remember the unique elder wood pattern on the wand that flew out under the moonlight of the Astronomy Tower.
Absolutely. If anyone in this world were to possess the Elder Wand, no one would be more deserving than Professor Dumbledore.
If the legends about the Elder Wand were true, then everything made sense.
Why were Ollivander and Florean Fortescue locked in the Malfoy family dungeon and tortured beyond recognition by the Dark Lord? Why did the Dark Lord leave England at the crucial moment of capturing Potter and his friends, traveling thousands of miles to find the wandmaker Gregorovitch? Why did the Dark Lord disregard decorum and disturb Dumbledore's eternal rest, exhuming that silent wand...?
However, such a powerful wand was by no means simple. Not just anyone who got their hands on it could become incredibly powerful.
As far as Draco knew, the Elder Wand in the Dark Lord's hands did not seem to be performing as well as it should.
There must be some untold secrets about this Elder Wand and the power it could unleash.
He suddenly recalled some words Ollivander had casually mentioned at his wand shop: Wands choose wizards. Every Ollivander wand possesses exceptional magical properties. They have their own consciousness, and that is its essence.
The idea that wands possessed their own consciousness was quite intriguing. Draco initially did not believe it, but his experience of losing his wand in his past life forced him to accept it.
Apart from his destined wand, none of the other wands were quite handy to use, not even his mother's.
None of them could fully understand his thoughts.
It seemed as though those wands truly possessed their own consciousness. They chose the wizard.
So, would they change their choices?
Draco remembered that when he went to the Room of Requirement to ask Potter for his wand back, Potter had said something strange: "Whoever disarmed him, the wand belongs to them." Potter had said that the wand no longer belonged to Draco.
That was a strange statement. How could his destined wand not be his?
What did it mean to "disarm" and take ownership? Did a brutal robbery count as rightful ownership? Should there not at least be a fair duel?
If ordinary wands were so wondrous, perhaps powerful magical objects like the Elder Wand would possess even more of their own character? Did they, too, need to be "won"? Was taking it from the dead a form of "winning"?
Furthermore, did Potter have any theoretical basis for his statement? How credible was his claim?
It might simply be a casual, offhand remark. After all, Potter was not some wandmaker. They would have to ask Ollivander themselves to confirm its validity.
These vague pieces of information were like a jigsaw puzzle scattered on the ground, clamoring in his mind for him to quickly put them together.
However, haste makes waste, and Draco knew perfectly well that he could not possibly know the answers to all the questions immediately. Even the slightest clue would be a blessing.
Before drifting off to sleep, he had already planned his next move.
When he went to Diagon Alley to purchase his second year textbooks, he would definitely find an opportunity to visit Ollivanders.