章節 57: Visiting Malfoy Manor
*Fushh*
A plume of green fire rose for a moment in an ugly, ramshackle chimney in a dark alley before quickly disappearing. In his place, a young man with a somewhat disheveled appearance and a cheap suit with a few patches here and there appeared.
His appearance attracted a few glances from the people nearby, but after looking at his appearance, they disinterestedly averted their gaze.
Stepping onto the dusty floor of the fireplace, the young man shook off the dust that had fallen on his coat as he left. A simple action, but executed with a mannerism that did not fit his appearance.
Taking a quick look through the gloomy alley where he was, he walked at a measured pace and with a cautious look like the other people walking there until he emerged onto another contrastingly illuminated and lively street.
The contrast was like walking in two different worlds, yet the young man seemed unfazed by the abrupt change and joined the crowd in deciding on a direction.
After a few minutes of walking and turning down a few streets, he finally stopped in front of a store with new paint and a fresh vibe compared to the ones around it. It was evident that it was a store that had not been open very long.
"Why did Snaglok decide to put the office in a place like this?" The young man spoke out loud to himself with clear confusion in his voice, although strangely his face seemed oblivious to the feeling, generating a certain incongruous feeling.
The store was not in an area that was neither very far nor very close to the main commercial center of Diagon Alley, but it was also so unremarkable that it seemed like it would hardly attract attention and therefore customers.
The only visible advantage was that there was a public floo fireplace nearby, and even then, that didn't seem like enough.
Taking a few steps forward, the young man pushed the door and entered the premises. Upon entering, the first thing that came into view was a beautiful reception room, with some exhibition tables occupying the center, as well as paintings on the walls that showed different designs of houses and interior rooms in a before and after.
The interior atmosphere conveyed a lively yet formal vibe, while also seeming strangely cozy, which managed to briefly captivate the eye.
The feeling was clearly conveyed, because the young man's face showed a touch of pleasant surprise. His scrutinizing gaze good-naturedly evaluated everything inside, especially the models on some display tables that were constructed and deconstructed every few seconds.
After looking for what seemed like 5 minutes, he noticed that he had not yet been attended to, so without further contemplation he approached the reception table, where a young man was sitting reading the newspaper.
"*Ahem* Excuse me, could you show me what you offer in this store?"
Raising his gaze slightly from the newspaper in his hands, the young man at the front desk took a quick glance at the visitor in the store before returning to his newspaper.
?:"Don't bother me, if you want to know, just read that magazine over there"
Blinking slightly, the disheveled young man looked blankly at the receptionist. Still, he stretched out his hand to take the magazine from the reception.
The information about the store was clearly detailed in the magazine. Starting with a striking slogan that quickly progressed into a brief summary of what they did to a not very long, but varied catalog of different housing models and their possible improvements and transformations.
Seeing the content, a slight satisfied smile grew on the young man's face.
'I have to hand it to Snaglok, he really put effort into doing all this. Giving him a share really motivated him to do his job well and save me a lot of tedious tasks.'
**Tiling**
While he was thinking contentedly, the bell on the door rang and a couple of wizards entered the shop.
Surprisingly, before he even had time to turn around, he noticed that the receptionist had disappeared at some point and appeared in front of the couple.
?:"Welcome dear customers, how could I help you today?" The receptionist's voice was overflowing with energy and kindness, a complete contrast to his previous attitude.
?:"Good morning, we saw the store as we passed and the images caught our attention, do you sell furniture here?"
?:"Hohoho, Sir, no, we do not sell furniture here, however, we have something much better, if you allow me a moment of your time, I will show you"
The receptionist deftly guided the couple in front of the moving model and with a wave of his wand, its uninterrupted animation stopped and with it the model began to shape itself according to the receptionist's words, displaying practiced expertise.
The young man, or rather, Extimum, carefully observed the demonstration, while listening attentively to the receptionist presenting what they did in the store while supporting himself and demonstrating his words with the model, causing a much more impressive and convincing effect.
After a few minutes of talking and throwing questions back and forth, the couple seemed quite interested and attracted by the receptionist's words, ending up signing a contract before leaving the store with smiles.
The receptionist seemed even more excited than them as he watched them leave and looked at the contract on the table or that was at least until his gaze fell on Extimum who was still standing there looking at him.
?:"Tsk, are you still here? Haven't you finished looking?"
Extimum's left eyebrow raised slightly at his attitude.
"What skill! You change very quickly in dealings, why is that?"
?: "Does it need to be said? Don't you have mirrors wherever you live? You should thank my tolerance for not kicking you out of the store. Just by looking at how you dress I can tell that you don't even have a Galleon to your name. No It's bad to look, but taking up my time and overshadowing the store's image with your presence is already too much. We don't do charity here, and do you even have a home where you could use our services?"
"Oh…" Extimum was left somewhat speechless by the receptionist's entire spiel. Looking briefly at himself and then back at the receptionist, he realized that he certainly seemed too poorly dressed on this occasion, he was even a little dirty because of the chimney he had come out of. He didn't look much different from a homeless man.
Although he had prepared the bad outfit himself since this time he was simulating a different style to practice his transformation ability, he had not counted on the fact that the fireplace he had chosen at random would leave him in such a bad state.
His current clothes had been purchased earlier on one of his many visits to Knockturn Alley, as just transfiguring his clothes is inconvenient when visiting certain places with high security measures. Not to mention that most of his clothes were too flashy or inappropriate for certain roles he took.
After all, if he always transformed in the same way it didn't seem like something very challenging for his ability. Besides, showing the same face too much in Knockturn Alley would end up attracting attention, which he had already experienced.
But this time, in trying to stay more in character despite his discomfort, he had overlooked something towards where he was going, that being said, he didn't expect this response either, although it was somewhat understandable.
"Hehekekeke." And with a realization, a light, restrained laugh escaped through his teeth as he thought about the ridiculousness of the situation.
An almost emotionless laugh, but it made the receptionist take a step back, his hair standing on end and an unpleasant feeling running through his body.
?: "I-I'll ask you to leave the store, this place is for customers only!"
"*Haaa* You know what? I like you." Stopping his haunting laughter suddenly upon seeing the receptionist grip his wand tightly, Extimum composed himself in the blink of an eye.
However, his actions only seemed more strange to the receptionist.
?:"You are crazy! Get out of here or I'll call the aurors."
"I think I had read about a situation like this before, yes, somewhat blurry, but I didn't think I would experience it myself..."
?: "Enough, I-!"
"Okay, that's enough." Extimum cut short and was about to explain himself, when from the back room, the short figure of Snaglok came out angrily.
Snaglok: "What's this commotion in the store, Jerry?"
Jerry: "Mr. Snaglok, it's not what you think, it's that this homeless man"
Snaglok: "Oh, Mr. Shadowless, you're here, I've been waiting for you"
Jerry: "Mr Shadowless?!" Turning his head so fast that Extimum almost thought he would twist his neck, Jerry looked at him excitedly, only for surprise and confusion to grow in his eyes.
Blinking twice, he noticed that there was nothing where he expected to see the homeless man, but when he lowered his gaze a few millimeters he noticed a completely different figure.
A teenager of no more than 13 years old, with platinum white hair with purple rays and piercing and intimidating purple eyes with sharp pupils. His figure emitted a cold and distant aura, with that special touch that he only observed in members of renowned magical families.
Not caring about Jerry's thoughts, Extimum approached Snaglok as he spoke.
"Yes, I must say that I was surprised, the layout of the store has exceeded my initial expectations, especially the model, that was a lovely touch that I would not have thought of"
Snaglok: "Hohoho, certainly, the model has attracted a lot of attention. In fact, the idea for the model was Jerry's. Even though it looks young-*cough*"—Suddenly remembering that Extimum was even younger than Jerry , he interrupted himself awkwardly—"new... in this, his skills as a salesman are excellent, plus he seems somewhat capable in the use of runes and enchantments."
"I've certainly already had the opportunity to see his skills in action."
Jerry, groggily, finally woke up at this moment, feeling that there was some special emphasis on the word skills spoken by Extimum.
Snaglok: "Yes, that being said, what was the reason for the previous scandal?"
"Oh, about that..."
Jerry broke out in a cold sweat at this point. He was no idiot, his boss, Snaglok, had told him that the owner of the store would come earlier today, however, he had not given him any description, arguing that almost always when he met him he seemed different and difficult to recognize.
He had not given much importance to that comment thinking that it simply referred to the usual extravagance of most wizards, but only now did he realize that Snaglok meant it in a literal sense. The store owner was a metamorphmagus.
And now, in his eagerness to keep the store as good as possible while awaiting his arrival, he had undoubtedly shown his worst face in front of his real boss.
"Jerry, right?" Moving his sight, Extimum adjusted his body to look at the stiff Jerry not far away from him.
Jerry: "Yes, Lord."
Extending his hand for a shake, Extimum continued—"You're good, just make sure to moderate your character a little and especially… your eyes ." This time, there was a real special and sharp emphasis in the last words.
Jerry accepted the squeeze as he hurried to respond—"Y-yes, yes, don't worry Sir, something like this won't happen again."
Sweat was still running down his back, with a few drops escaping from his forehead, at least he knew he had been forgiven and hadn't lost this job. It was difficult to find a job with such good pay and benefits without having any experience or personal references. He had barely managed to get the job by sheer luck in making a good impression on Snaglok.
"Would be the best…"
A sudden and somewhat painful chill ran through Jerry's body, making his posture stiff again. His gaze stayed on the deep purple eyes that were staring at him and for a moment he felt fear, a deep fear inside him that seemed to want to drag him into the darkness, however, the next moment it disappeared.
When he came to, Extimum's figure had already disappeared into the back room along with Snaglok.
**Gulp**
.-.
In a simple, but elegant office.
While Extimum reviewed the account books and Snaglok's observations on the market over the past few months from the main chair that Snaglok voluntarily gave up, Snaglok watched him from another seat.
--Snaglok Pov--
Business was going quite well, in fact, better than Snaglok himself had anticipated. His thing was doing business and managing money, he was not a merchant, so at first he didn't really care if the business could succeed or not, anyway, even if it failed he wouldn't lose much. What he really cared about was establishing a good relationship with the heir of the Shadowless family.
After all, every self-respecting goblin knew how big that family's coffers were. Normally there would be no way to get a piece of that pie, since the goblins could manage the vaults and finances for a long time and given the issues of secrecy and fidelity, It is possible that the position continued from generation to generation in the goblin families without giving any chance to outsiders like him.
However, not many years ago, news spread among the Gringotts goblins that the administrator of the accounts of the Britain branch of the Shadowless family had had no descendants and was about to retire, so when he found out that the child was Indeed, the Shadowless heir almost felt as if a cake had fallen from the sky and not only that, but it fell directly into his hands.
As long as he managed to make a good impression and slowly build a good relationship with Extimum, it was quite likely that in the future that coveted position would fall into his hands.
That said, at this point, the situation was different, the business that at first he didn't care about resulted in him having an excellent and unexpected reception by a good part of magical Britain, which, in turn, as someone who gives him great importance to money, he was forced to seriously commit to this business.
And like a snowball, the more he dedicated himself to it, the more involved he became, so much so that now, with the current state of the business, withdrawing would prove disastrous for his finances and instead, his profits obtained from his portion were giving good income.
Not too many, of course, given the current scale, but simply no galleon could be disregarded, especially when he had invested in it.
Despite all that, he couldn't forget that all this unexpected success came from a wizard boy... he didn't know if it was good that there was such young talent among wizards. Wizards were already difficult to deal with, but the smart ones were a real pain in the butt for the goblins.
Still, he didn't have any special thoughts about it, he was already busy enough without worrying about past grudges that didn't even directly include him. What really worried him was Extimum itself. He could clearly see from his position that Extimum was not just passingly looking at the accounts and their comments, but actually understood them and was analyzing them.
Normal? Talent? Without sense! There was a fundamental difference here.
He didn't look like a 13-year-old at all, even if a child that age could read and understand it, they wouldn't be able to get much out of it, but...
"Snaglok, change the supplier of the shiny marble for the luxury sets, the current one is giving us too high prices and according to the record it was not like that before, I suspect that..."
This didn't seem natural. Except for the first time when he had felt somewhat passive due to his ignorance, the rest of the times it didn't seem like he was dealing with a child at all, instead, he felt no different from a formal wizard who was no stranger to the ins and outs of society and business.
But the reality was that he wasn't...
He had done a little research... nothing too intrusive of course, he didn't want to cause any misunderstandings if it was discovered, he just wanted to know a little about his client and business partner's life at school, where he seemed more llike a child making a few youthful mistakes or foolishness...
Baffling. Disturbing.
Not even child wizards who learned Occlumency too young were like this. It's like it's him and at the same time it's not, split personalities?
With wizards you never knew, but he had to take it into account to know how to treat him more appropriately.
--End Pov--
…
Extimum: "That guy, Jerry, his model is quite interesting, I haven't seen anything similar before"
Snaglok: "Certainly. He is a rune enthusiast, in fact, one of the reasons why he wanted to work here in the first place was because he was greatly attracted and surprised by your product and wanted to meet you."
Extimum: "Hmm, is that so?"
Snaglok: "However, If you want to fire him there won't be any problem and the models were bought so we wouldn't lose them, we don't need it-"
Extimum: "No, it's okay, it's interesting, besides, he's quite capable, runes aside, his skill as a salesman is nothing to sneeze at."
Snaglok: "it's like that..." Snaglok took a deep look at Extimum.
Extimum: "Well, then that would be it Snaglok, until we meet again."
Snaglok: "I'll be looking forward to it, especially the new projects you mention."
The two left the office and arrived at the store's reception again.
Extimum: "May gold accompany your path"
Snaglok: "And let the tinkling of the gold be crisp and clear"
Extimum's figure transformed a second before he passed through the main door, returning to his previous appearance with which he entered.
Watching him leave, Snaglok's razor-sharp smile dimmed a few notches, as he subtly glared at Jerry standing next to him.
Snaglok: "You were lucky today Jerry. I hope you know that. I have given you an opportunity by allowing you to work here, I don't want something like what happened today to be repeated. Remember what I told you when you first came in"
Jerry: "Smile first, judge later." 'Although I've never seen an goblin do it in that order...'
Snaglok: "Exactly. I won't pursue the matter any further, after all, if Mr. Shadowless didn't say anything it means he let it go this time. I guess he really liked your model, since he's playing around with novel ideas like that at Hogwarts"
Jerry: "Oh, Hogwarts? He's a teacher maybe?" Jerry's face suddenly showed a touch of respect, although he already admired Extimum quite a bit when he learned of its invention, the status of working at Hogwarts was a different matter.
Giving him a ridiculous look, Snaglok responded before entering the back room.
"Of course not, silly wizard, as a student , didn't you see how young he is? He's only just starting his third year."
Jerry: "Wait, you mean that was his real appearance?"
Snaglok no longer responded from behind the curtain.
Jerry: 'So the genius inventor is a kid who hasn't even graduated?' No, wait... that means... I was afraid of a 13-year-old boy?'
Jerry was stunned for a long time and didn't know how to feel.
.
A week passed in the blink of an eye.
Sitting in a small office recently incorporated into the room, Extimum calmly reviewed some papers on the desk.
Not far away on the desk, Bloom, sitting on the knight piece on the chessboard, stared at him.
Bloom: "Isn't it boring to study all the time?"
Extimum: "No, it's not boring. As long as it's something that interests you, boredom is reduced by a wide margin, besides, I'm not studying, I'm researching, it's different"
Bloom: "Sure...and what's the difference?"
Extimum: "The difference? Hmm, I guess the fact that all the information I look for, I try to apply and it is completely focused on something. When you study you just absorb information, but here I am trying to solve a problem"
Bloom: "Ah, that sounds like the same thing to me, *Sigh* I liked the library better, I had more to entertain myself there."
Extimum: "Then go, who is stopping you?"
Bloom: "*Yee* How could I? What if that b-*ahem* woman shows up there...?"
Extimum: "My mother"
Bloom: "Yes, yes, your mother. Why is she even here? I mean, I know this is her house, but..."
Extimum: "I know, she usually doesn't stay here. In fact, it's kind of strange, she usually doesn't stay more than two or three days when I'm here."
Bloom: "Ugh, but I want to go to the library, I don't like playing wizard chess...I prefer to read books"
Extimum: "It's not like she's always there"
Bloom: "I know, but I don't know what happens, whenever I feel like going to the library, I meet her there."
Extimum: "It's just a lucky coincidence... If you hate seeing her so much-"
Bloom: "It's not that I dislike it, it's just..."
Extimum: "It makes you uncomfortable, I understand. Not many people normally feel comfortable with us, I hardly think I could consider myself an anomaly and that's only in recent times... " The last words came out almost in a whisper and Bloom couldn't hear him clearly.
Before she could ask, Extimum spoke again.
"Anyway, if you really want to go, it's simple. She gets up every morning at 6:01 am. You could get up early, but I know you wouldn't...
If you don't go earlier, there is no point in trying, since she will give a tour of the entire mansion including the library until 6:30 am where she will stop in the dining room to have breakfast, it usually doesn't take long since she likes it. Have a light breakfast, normally after that she will go to the library to read a book and drink a cup of her favorite tea.
She will stop and leave there at exactly 8:34 am and go to the greenhouse in the backyard of the mansion, where she will be for at least two hours, there could be your best opportunity, either to take the book you want or you stay there to read during that time.
Depending on her mood she will go to her experiment tower in the east wing of the mansion where she will make some potions until 11:58 am, where she will go to the dining room for lunch, although if she is not in the mood she may go down to the basement for a while time with Nocturn, no more than 10 minutes, after which she will sit in the library office to solve some family issues, there is almost always something to discuss, so it is certain that she will stay for at least 30 minutes to 2 hours, but without fail it will stop at 11:58 am.
Then she will go to lunch, this time she will take her time, but I don't think you want to skip lunch so-"
Bloom: "Wait, wait, that's too much information, besides, how do you know all that?"
Looking up from the papers on the table, Extimum looked at her.
Extimum: "Well, that's always her routine and she's rarely late even for a minute, so it's most likely going to happen just as I tell you."
Bloom: "But how do you know it in such detail? Even if you have an eidetic memory, that doesn't explain how detailed it all is."
Extimum: "..."
**Flutter**
At that moment, a large coal-black owl flew in from the window that overlooked the garden. With a few flutters of their wings, they landed steadily and intelligently on a section of the desk where there were no papers.
Extimum: "Oh, the response came faster than expected, I didn't think they would send it directly to you Nocturn, Do you know the conclusion?"
The owl, staring at him, blinked and then extended its beak and took a tube from its paw extending it toward Extimum.
Extimum: "It's good then, so I can take a little break." Reaching out his hand, the owl released the tube from its beak, falling directly into his hand.
Opening the cylindrical container, a thin piece of parchment slid out from within, lying perfectly flat and wrinkle-free on the desk.
Bloom didn't pay attention to the letter, instead she looked carefully at the owl in front of her. Something didn't feel right.
Extimum: "Draco said we could go in the afternoon, to meet us at a cafe called Taste in Wiltshire."
"Thank you as always, Nocturn, I'll tell Bob to make you something special for your efforts."
Giving a cheerful flap of its wings, the owl suddenly dissolved into a shadow, which slid from the desk to the floor and then disappeared.
Bloom: "I knew there was something wrong with that owl, it was too quiet."
Extimum: "Nocturn finds that method convenient when sending letters, as it doesn't attract much attention. Though the flaw is always there, no matter what form they take, they are unable to speak normally or make sound directly."
"Okay, it's 9:36 am, there's still a while left before the scheduled time, do you want to do something different?"
Bloom: "Yes! *ahem* Why don't we go to the garden? Bob mentioned to me the other time that we had a maze, I want to try it."
Extimum: "The maze? Are you sure...? You should know that the mansion's labyrinth was not exactly made for fun inside, but rather from the outside..."
Bloom: "It doesn't matter, it's still a maze and I want to try it"
Extimum: "If you say so..."
.-.
Wiltshire, in a small cafe off the main street.
The atmosphere inside was warm, with a light, sweet aroma of coffee and wood wafting through the air. It was a little windy outside, so there were a good number of people occupying the tables.
Furthermore, a nearby radio had tuned to a soft music station, so everything seemed quite comfortable and peaceful.
An environment like this seemed ideal for rest and relaxation, perfect for sitting and reading the newspaper or a book.
However, in such an environment, a strange feeling floated, since no matter who they were, from the waiters to the customers sitting at different tables, everyone could not help but cast occasional glances with different emotions towards a specific table or rather, to who was sitting there.
The emotions varied, some were curious, others, strange, a few, disgust and the rest and a last minority, especially female, some fascination.
And all of this was due to the figure of a young man sitting at one of the tables calmly drinking tea, as if unaware of all the eyes.
His aura and mannerisms alone made some raise eyebrows. Their clothing made them curious and reserved. His appearance evoked some questions and an irresistible attraction to look at him continuously.
His mostly pale hair with some purple hues made some older men and women feel uncomfortable, as if it sullied the rest of his good image or they found it unacceptable, of course, it wasn't like that for everyone.
Sure from the looks of some young women.
He stood out like a sore thumb throughout the café.
Bloom: 'Ugh, don't all those stares make you uncomfortable?'. She said lying on Extimum's hair while a light layer of illusion covered her.
Extimum: 'Not particularly, with time you get used to it'
The reactions of the people around him were no stranger to him, in fact, it was one of the reasons why he usually preferred to change his appearance when visiting the non-magical world. The standards of what was common and acceptable were simply very different.
That said, it's not like he hasn't experienced something similar in the wizarding world, albeit for somewhat different reasons.
As he calmly read the book in his hand and took a sip of his tea, the door of the café opened. There wasn't any shrill or abrupt sound or even a jingle of the bell like in some stores, but the opening strangely caused all the people to focus on something else, taking their attention away from Extimum.
Through the doors entered a beautiful woman, exquisitely dressed. The cold and distant aura, as well as elegance and nobility, was emitted from each of her movements.
Still, despite her appearance, it seemed that no one could see her, no, it would be more accurate to say that it was as if they unconsciously avoided looking at her.
Just then, from behind the woman, a blonde boy came out. His haughty gaze swept over the cafe tables, but he quickly skipped to the one that caught the most attention.
Draco: "Extimum, here you are, I hope you haven't been waiting too long?"
Extimum: "Not at all, I haven't even finished my cup of tea"
Hearing his words, Draco immediately fixed his gaze on the cup. It was still steaming and he had only drunk a ¼.
Draco: "Okay, it's good if I didn't make you wait."
Extimum: "That being said..." — getting up from his seat — "It's a pleasure to see you again Mrs. Malfloy, I hope you'll excuse my late greeting."
Showing a weak smile on her cold face, Narcissa briefly examined Extimum, feeling quite satisfied with his label.
Narcissa: "It's okay, there's nothing to worry about. I'm glad you decided to come visit us. Draco himself has been quite restless waiting for your visit."
Draco: "Mom!"
Narcissa: "Well, let's not linger any longer in this little place..."
With that said, Narcissa began to lead the way out of the cafe. Draco and Extimum immediately followed her as they chatted.
Their departure was not felt by any of the diners in the cafe. Although once they had gone far enough, some inevitably turned their gaze towards a particular table, although upon finding it empty they wondered what it was they expected to see there, at that empty table.
It wasn't too long of a walk, they just had to cross a few streets and suddenly they had arrived in front of the grounds of a large mansion.
The lands were quite extensive and its style seemed quite discordant with everything around it, that being said, just a glance and one would not be able to tell that there was some kind of magical separation at the boundary, as ordinary people passing by while crossing the limit appeared walking almost an entire block ahead.
Upon entering the area, they were greeted by the sight of an extensive garden that only gave way to a narrow path that led towards the mansion flanked to the left and right by neatly trimmed hedges and bushes.
The path was neither short nor long until the entrance of the mansion where large iron gates blocked the way to the interior area. Although just like in their own mansion, these doors opened when they got close enough. Soon, they had crossed the gate and the narrow path arriving in front of the doors of the mansion, which were opened by a house elf.
Upon entering they were greeted by a large, poorly lit and sumptuously decorated foyer, with a large carpet covering most of the floor.
Narcissa took off her light coat and extended her hand with it in the air, being greeted by another house elf who had appeared at some point.
Narcissa: "I hope our home is to your liking and that you enjoy our hospitality during your stay. Well, Draco, I will leave you to your visit, if you need anything, you know where to find me."
Extimum: "I appreciate the attention, Mrs Malfoy, I would also like to give you this small gift, nothing too special, just my cordiality." As he spoke, Bloom took out a thin box from inside his expandable bag and handed it to one of the nearby house elves.
Narcissa: "You are very polite Mr. Shadowless, in that case I appreciate your intention." Narcissa smiled and nodded slightly, clearly pleased.
With the end of her words, her figure turned and disappeared shortly after behind a door. As soon as she was out of sight, Draco seemed to loosen up a bit and was suddenly a few degrees more cheerful.
Draco: "I'm glad you decided to visit me, although I have fun at home, I don't get visitors very often. I've been thinking about the time before you came and I thought of some interesting things we could do, though before that. Until what time can you stay? Or did your parents give you permission to stay? If I ask my mother, it won't be a problem for you to stay, we have many rooms here."
Extimum blinked briefly to himself, for some reason today's Draco felt more… free? Although his attitude was quite manageable and good when he wasn't around Harry or someone from Gryffindor to begin with, but today's even seemed more natural...
Extimum: "It wouldn't be a problem to stay until before midnight, although I wouldn't want to be a bother either, so I guess when the time is right"
Draco: "Leave that, it's not a bother, on the contrary, my father was quite excited about the idea of you visiting us, unfortunately it turned out to be a last minute matter so he had to leave for the ministry, but let's not talk about that, now come, I'll show you my room."
…
A few hours passed in the blink of an eye, after taking a brief tour and introducing some places of interest in the mansion to Extimum, they didn't really do anything too special, some board games and common chat, until briefly discussing some spells, then It's lunch time.
One small oversight and his performance at lunch almost became embarrassing, but it couldn't be helped, the last time he had dinner in a house that wasn't his he almost passed out intoxicated, so even if he tried to compose himself, his body seemed extremely alert and cautious making him somewhat rigid when eating, luckily soon after he relaxed as he felt the familiar unique taste of food from the magical world.
After that, he went out with Draco to the back garden, where at his request, they had a small duel to eat lunch since Draco wanted some advice after his failure in the dueling club and seeing Extimum's good performance in his.
After all, Daphne Greengrass had shown great performance in the other classes, raising not only her reputation but also that of Extimum who managed to defeat her that time.
Almost at 5:00 pm Draco stopped dueling practice and took him to the mansion's study.
Of course, during all that time Extimum did not neglect Bloom either, although she could not speak, he tried to subtly include her in some activities, surprising Draco when she defeated him in a game of wizard chess, in addition to reading some books from Draco's collection. and explore the mansion.
Draco: "Your fairy is too strange, she's not normal at all. I still don't understand how she could beat me four times in a row at wizard chess, it almost seems like the first time we played she just let me win. Seriously, 1-4, Is it possible that she really are that smart?"
Extimum: "I'd call it more cunning, that being said, Bloom is pretty special"
Bloom who was sitting on Extimum's shoulder raised her face proudly as she listened to them talk.
Draco: "Yes, I think she's quite particular...which makes her kind of interesting, if she's so smart, you could ask her to do various things for you right?"
Extimum: "Indeed, do you still remember the fangs you grew on Halloween?"
Draco: "Yeah, they were a pain because I still had them the next day and it was a pain to have breakfast, wait, was it her?"
Extimum only smiled slightly in silence.
Draco: "That explains it, you were sitting too far away to have tampered with my drink... We arrive. This is the mansion's study, here there is a good collection of books and other things in case you want to look at something, we also have many antiques, my father likes to collect them."
Looking around, the study was a large room, half of it was occupied by shelves of books and the other half was an office, further back, several display cases could be seen.
Although the library caught his attention, he didn't think there were many books in it that he didn't already have in his own library, so most of Extimum's attention was caught by the display cases at the back of the room.
The objects presented were a collection of items that were quite varied and unique in their own way. Some hieroglyphs, ancient coins, parts of magical animals, among other things, it was difficult to classify everything due to its variety.
That said, strong dark magic was felt from a good portion of them, although those were in special sealed display cases, while the others were simply displayed on shelves.
In the middle of the exhibition, a display case caught Extimum's attention. Unlike the others, this one was covered with a curtain.
Extimum: "What's in that one? Why is it covered?"
Draco: "Oh, that one, that one is recent, my father brought it just a few days ago from an ancient ruin that was reported to the ministry. Apparently the information was not very reliable... so it was dismissed by the ministry, even so, my father who is an enthusiast went to investigate it personally"
Extimum: "Oh and did they find anything interesting?"
Draco: "Yes, well, more or less. The location was nothing special, it was a simple cave found during a Muggle excavation, my father said that, if it weren't for his persistence, he would have also dismissed the place, since it was just when he reached the end of the cave and explored thoroughly, he found traces of magic, the rest was completely ordinary, that said, the extraordinary is only limited to a very particular magical mural.
Unfortunately, neither my father nor any of his friends could identify any of the inscriptions and the images alone didn't say much, so anyway, although he couldn't get anything out of the mural, he found this."
Speaking up to this point, Draco reached in front of the covered display case and pulled a cord that pulled the curtain open, revealing a receptacle that held a spherical object, similar to an egg, in fact, upon closer inspection It was quite similar to a Fabergé egg.
The egg was metallic black in color, embroidered with intricate inscriptions of pure gold and inlaid with diamonds, on its free faces there were carvings of unclear figures. The design looked extremely detailed, as if its maker had carefully sculpted every little part of it. Furthermore, although from his perception it was clearly an inanimate object, when stared at it it created the illusion as if it were palpitating.
Bloom: 'What an ancient aura'
Extimum: 'Do you feel something or recognize it?'
Bloom: 'No, not specifically and it's not familiar to me, but its aura is even older than the time before it was frozen.'
Extimum: "*Humming* Hmm?"
Draco: "Is something wrong?"
Extimum: "No, it's just that I thought I recognized one of the symbols, but it may just be similar"
Draco: "Really?"—Doubt appeared on his face, since he had seen his father and his friends studying the egg for a long time and even relying on some old books without success—"If you want, you can get closer to see it in detail. There's no problem even if you touch it; my father already inspected it and had a professional curse-breaker clean it."
As if reaffirming his own words, Draco waved his wand opening a compartment in the glass display case and took the egg directly, offering it to Extimum.
Extimum: "Is it really okay for me to take it?"
Draco: "Tsk, you don't have to hesitate so much, you see it's safe and my father won't care as long as you don't break it."
Extimum: "Well, that being so." Without further hesitation, he extended his hand and pulled it closer to take a closer look.
Bloom also flew around the egg, looking at it, clearly intrigued by its intricate design and luxurious composition.
Upon observing him closely, Extimum noticed that he had indeed not made a mistake. Although the inscriptions were somewhat faint and worn by time, as he ran his fingers lightly over them, the outline was clearly an inscription he knew.
Intrigued, he moved his hand, gently tracing the other inscriptions and as he did so, several symbols passed through his head, trying to find coincidences, since it was not strange for different systems to share the same symbols, although with different or similar meanings.
As he concentrated, one symbol finally stood out among the others, but it still wasn't enough, so he moved his hand to the next and then the next. His mind racing and comparing his touch with his memory, it almost seemed like a rain of characters and words in his head.
Soon, all the words and characters disappeared from his mind and a word escaped his mouth.
"Ylluxanty"
Draco: "What?"
A single word, but to Draco's ears it felt like he had heard incoherent gibberish.
Extimum: "The language, what is written here, is #"#$$"%"
Draco: "Wait, repeat that, Ytu#$=2? What? How do you even pronounce that?"
Extimum: "No, what I told you is Yllu#$%#."
Draco: "Yfld&%?"
"Yflux&$%"
"fldsmdfr?" [:v]
Extimum: "Hahaha." A small laugh escaped Extimum's mouth as he heard Draco spout nonsense with an impatient and constipated face.
Draco: "It's not funny, what you say is simply unpronounceable Yllu$%&?, you know what?, forget it, I don't care, the important thing is, do you know what it says there?"
Extimum: "As for that...I'm not entirely sure, at most I can give an approximation."
In fact, saying that he could give a rough idea was saying something.
Ylluxanty, an almost extinct language, if not for its presence in a few books around the world. There were probably no longer any speakers of that language, let alone even reading it. Even mere knowledge of Extimun was limited to having seen him in passing when reading some random information in his family's grimoire.
And other than remembering some of its symbols and their apparent meaning, he hadn't studied or detailed anything about it, the only reason he had even bothered to read it briefly was because it was the first recorded language of the mages.
The nameless language was the most popular among all races, but when it came to the language spoken by the early mages and the humans among them, it was undoubtedly Ylluxanty.
Draco: "That's already incredible, try it, I want to know what it says"
Extimum: "Okay... Here, do you see this face? This is where the text begins. It's only four sentences really.
The first one says something like, at the start, at the beginning? Everyone was alone, but there were…Exceptions? Yes, that's more or less the general meaning.
Let's see, the next sentence says, the star... No, the sun. Like the moon and the sun or is it an eclipse? This is too vague and has several interpretations… I will say, like the moon and the sun. Then, like the moon and the sun, an unexpected fusion.
The third is: an unavoidable destiny, change, fall, the battle for the future. This phrase doesn't have many interpretations, so I think that's the correct meaning.
As for the last sentence..."
Extimum's brow furrowed as he looked at the last sentence, there were two symbols right in the middle of the sentence that he had no knowledge of, probably because it was on a page he skipped when he lost interest in the topic.
Draco: "What's wrong? You don't know what that last sentence says?"
Extimum: "Hmm, I roughly understand the beginning and end of the sentence, but I don't know what it says in the middle, so I don't know how to fully make sense of it"
Draco: "Just read it as is, maybe then we'll come up with something."
Extimum: "Good. The fruit of… The untold horror"
Draco: "This... It doesn't really give any clue, anything could go in the middle"
Bloom: 'The sun and the moon... The egg is black as night and the edges are bright gold as day, could it be the fruit of both?'
Extimum: 'It is not a bad assumption, but it cannot be, since if it were so I would recognize the words'
Bloom: 'Or maybe the key is not in what they are but in what they make up'
Extimum: 'What do they make up?'
Extimum handed the egg to Draco while he also struggled, thinking intensely about what might be missing.
Draco: "Ugh, it doesn't occur to me that I could go there and although I have some ideas, it could be so many things. Don't you have a book where you learned the- that language? Maybe we could look up the meaning of those two characters"
Extimum: "Yes, but I won't be able to access that book for a while, so I don't know when I'll be able to review it and give you an answer about it."
Draco: "Hmm, maybe if you write me the name of that language, I can ask my father to look it up, it shouldn't be too difficult to get the name."
Extimum: "It's not- wait... two? sun and moon? day and night? duality? the fruit of duality. The untold horror. That could be, it sounds plausible, what do you think Draco? Dra- "
**Clicking metallic sound** **Deafening screech**
*Pop*
創作者的想法 
Zeroz7
Zeroz7 Hello everyone, here is your fugitive author after a long time :v
I had wanted to upload this chapter for a long time, but you know how things are. The mind is filled with many things and then there is no humor...
Anyway, here's another update and I hope that soon I can release the other one, I must admit in my shame that I forgot the part that followed and that is why it took me so long to upload this one, but I have more or less managed it now , anyway this is just a small interlude...or maybe not? Find out in the next episode of....*Copyright :v*
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