The atmosphere in the Malfoy Manor had been bleak from the day Draco had been chosen as a champion for the Triwizard Tournant.
With the exception of the half month just after that selection banquet, when a number of fellow mbers of the Ministry of Magic had co to the door to congratulate their family and Lucius had received them with a forced smile, most of the ti he had remained frowning with a sullen look on his face.
Today was no exception.
Not only Lucius, but also Draco, who is one of the contestants, and his mother Narcissa, have been looking very grim for so ti now.
Lucius had known from the start how dangerous the Triwizard Tournant would be, the reason it had been suspended for centuries before was due to the sheer amount of danger involved, with at least one champion dying at the end of each tournant.
Not to ntion the fact that this ti the Triwizard Tournant directly involved the winning or losing of a war, which multiplied the risks even more geotrically.
It was for this reason that he had taken the risk of asking Voldemort to try and pull Draco out of this dangerous vortex the first ti he saw him being chosen by the Goblet of Fire that night, but he had obviously failed.
Voldemort didn't an to deceive him that night; once chosen by the Goblet of Fire, a mandatory contract had been signed in which the chosen one had to participate in the Triwizard Tournant until the end of the tournant, without any second choice.
And if being chosen as a champion for the Triwizard Tournant was a source of worry to Lucius and excitent to Draco, then Jon's public slaying of Bella afterwards sent Lucius into despair and Draco into a state of panic.
That night, Draco, who had already drank a lot of butterbeer at the banquet, directly pissed his trousers in fear.
It was the first ti he had ever seen a dead man, or such a grueso one, one stabbed through the chest and one stabbed through the throat.
Especially one of the two dead ones who had once been the shadow of his heart, his Aunt Bellatrix Lestrange.
Draco, who had been chosen, was filled with joy, thinking that he would be the chosen one, the one who would surely make a na for himself as a champion of Hogwarts Castle, and maybe even help his father to rise to an even higher level in that gentleman's mind.
But it didn't take him more than a few minutes to realise that if the Triwizard Tournant is going to be a real battlefield, then he would have no chance against that boy his age, Jon Green, and he would be no more than a dish in his plate.
Not only Draco could see this clearly, Lucius and Narcissa saw it even more clearly than anyone else.
Especially after Lucius had thoroughly inquired about all of Jon's exploits and learned that he had not only killed the Lestrange couple but had also killed Rodolphus' brother, Rabastan, earlier this year, while surrounded by a group of Death Eaters.
Tracing the story back even further, the incident in Hogwarts Castle last year, the infiltration into the school undercover to save the Mudblood students, was basically concluded to be Jon's handiwork, which made Lucius even more distraught.
He knew exactly what his son is capable of, he is not bad by any ans, but he is not that good either, his performance in Hogwarts Castle is only decent, not exactly top-notch, let alone compared to soone like Jon Green, who can be defined as a freak just by looking at his "resu".
Narcissa also knew her son inside and out, and these days she was visibly haggard.
"Have you inquired about the exact tasks of the tournant yet?" She asked apprehensively.
Lucius walked around the drawing room with his hands behind his back with a frown on his face, as if he was anxiously awaiting so news.
"No! I couldn't find any clues! Those blokes are dead set against giving out any semblance of information about it, saying that they signed a confidentiality pact and that there would be very serious consequences if they broke it!"
Draco sat on the sofa, his face no longer full of the pride and ambition he had felt when he had first been chosen as a champion, and he shivered as he looked at his father.
"Will they make go and fight that monster!"
Lucius looked over at him, and there was at least so comfort in his voice.
"You can rest assured of that, I have checked all the tasks that have been held in the Triwizard Tournant in the past and there has never been a precedent for a champion to fight a duel directly."
"But as long as it's a tournant a fight is bound to happen isn't it?" Draco looked at him with misty eyes, "Dad, that monster is going to kill ! Just like he killed Aunt Bella!"
What he feared was exactly what everyone in the Malfoy Manor was afraid of.
Narcissa wrapped her arms around Draco, her eyes visibly red as she looked over at her husband.
"On the lord's side... Is there nothing to tell us?"
"Lord disappeared after the end of that night, even all the preparations that followed were left to both Severus and Crouch, I simply can't see him!"
Lucius' voice was clearly impatient, and from ti to ti he looked up at the wall clock, waiting for a certain ti.
"Draco's participation is for Lord's cause." Narcissa's voice had a slight tremor to it, "Surely the lord wouldn't want to see him lose the tournant either, and if we just let him compete unprotected like this, the chances of him even surviving are slim"
"I'm not sure exactly what kind of arrangents our lord has made, or even what the point of him wanting to propose organising a Triwizard Tournant is." Lucius finally stopped his restless stride, "But surely our lord would not want to lose this tournant, though our son is not the only one he can pin his hopes on."
Narcissa's mouth inched open.
"You an the student who is competing on behalf of Beauxbaton? But Beauxbaton has only been under our lord's administration for just a year, and what loyalty there is to be found in the students there!"
"Don't forget the family na of that Beauxbaton student who was chosen is Lestrange!" Lucius grimaced, "It is a family that our lord trusts above all others, without a doubt, and even though Bella and her family are dead, the Lestranges are still around!"
Lucius' words stirred a mory of Narcissa, Bella is her sister anyway, and naturally, she still knew sothing about the pureblood family her sister had married into.
"That student who entered the tournant is called Emil? I rember him, he is the son of Rodolphus' cousin."
"Rodolphus' cousin has succeeded him as the current Lord of House Lestrange, and his son is older and better than Draco, I have no way of knowing for sure if our lord is placing all his eggs on this boy!"
Lucius' expression was hard, he had investigated all the details of the champions' participation in this tournant, not just the hostile ones like Jon.
"Rodolphus' cousin and I made an appointnt today, and he said that he would bring his son to visit this afternoon."
A look of dismay crossed Narcissa's face.
"What are they coming to see us for?"
"It can't be a family visit, after Bella's death, our family doesn't even have a half-knut relationship with them, and I think it's likely to talk a few things about the Triwizard Tournant that takes place in a month's ti."
It was at this ti that a house elf with a rag over his body suddenly appeared in front of the Malfoy family.
"Lord, Lady, there are two guests outside who claim to be Mr Lestrange visiting."
Lucius' otherwise gloomy face turned cloudy as Narcissa and Draco looked at him, at tis like this Lucius had absolute decision-making power in the House.
"Prepare to receive our guests, Narcissa, whatever purpose they have arrived with, wait until we et them."
He said as he walked towards the door, the house elf consciously opened the door to the drawing room for him, and the iron gate located at the fence of the manor opened by itself, leaving the way open for the visiting guests to enter.
By this ti Lucius had also seen the two Lestrange gentlen.
The younger one, whom he had t on the night of the champions' selection, Emil Lestrange, and the middle-aged wizard who looked about the sa age as him, Brandon Lestrange, who had inherited the entire Lestrange family fortune after the Rodolphus family had all died.
After looking into all the information about him, Lucius felt that he is just a lucky guy, compared to his dead cousin's family, the man nad Brandon has nothing to offer, even if he also joined the Death Eaters early on, he always belonged to the category with no bright spots.
But now he had been lucky enough to inherit the entire Lestrange family fortune and beco a Lord, and Lucius didn't know how to describe him other than being lucky.
Of course, even though inwardly he had already judged this man, on the surface Lucius still had to maintain the most basic manners between purebloods, his originally gloomy complexion had long since disappeared without a trace, and instead, a warm smile shone on his face.
"Aha, Brandon, what a pleasant surprise, I was looking forward to this mont since I received your invitation, our whole family has been waiting for your arrival."
This wasn't actually the first ti Lucius had t Brandon, they had t once two months ago at the Lestrange's funeral, which had been presided over by Brandon himself, who had succeeded as Lord of the Lestrange family.
Narcissa, who is also a professional pureblood family noblewoman, is an expert in expression managent, and she accompanied Lucius to greet the guests at the entrance, with no sign of the grimace that she had shown earlier.
"Why isn't Lady Lestrange here?" She asked with a smile.
Brandon shook Lucius' hand first and answered Narcissa's question with polite pleasantries on his lips.
"She's been a little under the weather lately, she had intended to co with us, but our healer advised that it would be best for her to stay ho and recuperate."
"Oh, that's a sha, I'll write and send her my regards."
Compared to the smooth interactions between adults, Draco clearly couldn't manage his expressions with ease, and his face was still visibly pale as he stood beside Narcissa looking over at the Beauxbaton champion, who stood half a head taller than him.
Emil is three years older than Draco, and he is already a seventh year at the start of this academic year, just under a year away from adulthood.
His face looked cold and unsmiling, and he noticed Draco's gaze and only t it for a mont before turning his gaze aside and focusing it on Lucius.
Draco's breath paused slightly as he sensed contempt.
Although the other man didn't show it quite that obviously, just from that gesture Draco could tell at a glance that he wasn't taking him seriously, as he usually did when he dealt with the half-bloods at school.
This made Draco feel angry and humiliated, but he didn't raise his voice, the most basic regard for the occasion was still known to him.
Welcoming Lestrange and his son into the drawing room, the experienced Lucius saw at first glance the disagreent between his son and Emil, and his eyes turned to the tall, thin, indifferent-faced boy.
"Emil, may I call you that? The Lestrange family is truly outstanding, I hear you got O's in all eleven of your courses on the wizard rank exam."
Emil nodded, his voice was faint.
"I don't think it's an honour worth ntioning."
The anger in Draco's eyes grew even stronger, he could see that this man not only despised him but even despised his father!
Lucius' face sank slightly, but then he smiled.
"Of course, with your great talent, there will naturally be many more honours worthy of being ntioned in the future."
Out of sight, Brandon gently touched his son's arm a little, and Emil's face eased sowhat reluctantly as he said in a slightly softer manner.
"Still need more guidance from an elder like Mr Malfoy."
"Haha, with the relationship between our two families, such a title is far too formal, just call uncle."
Lucius patted him on the shoulder as if he didn't care in the slightest about the disrespect he had just shown, and the drawing room was filled with a pleasant atmosphere for both guests and hosts.
Once they were seated, Dobby the house elf served tea and dessert, and after so lengthy chit-chat and pleasantries, Brandon finally got to the main point of his visit today.
"About the Triwizard Tournant, both Emil and Draco are contestants fighting for our Lord, and regardless of who wins between them in the end it represents a victory for us, so I ca to visit this ti to discuss so things with you about the upcoming Tournant afterwards."
He looked at Lucius with a smile on his face.
"After all, no matter what, it is certainly much better for two people to work together and coordinate than to fight alone."
Lucius' face didn't show much surprise, he had guessed from the start the reason Brandon had arrived.
"Well, so what do you have in mind?"
Brandon glanced at his son and then said flatly.
"I think ... Emile will be the main priority, with Draco to assist him in securing the title of this tournant."
There was a sudden silence in the drawing room, but it only lasted for a few seconds before he spoke again.
"Of course, that's what our lord wants."
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