Lucius was in high spirits as he no longer had to act according to the Dark Lord's wishes and had regained control of Malfoy Manor.
Not only did he have to hang celebratory decorations and colorful lights throughout the manor, he also had to light all the candles and chandeliers, making Malfoy Manor as bright at night as during the day!
"Lucius, if I'm not mistaken, it's daytime now..." Narcissa Malfoy looked at the sky in confusion.
Although the sky today is indeed a bit gloomy, unlike Hogwarts which is raining heavily, Malfoy Manor in Wiltshire, England is just in a gray and cloudy sky, not so dim that all the lights need to be turned on.
Narcissa Malfoy looked at Lucius with concern, "Lucius, is it because the pressure from the Dark Lord before he left was too great, causing problems with your brain? Otherwise, should we go to St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries?"
"Uh... not really." Lucius' excited words got stuck in his throat. He was silent for a long time before he said, "Narcissa, don't you think our manor was too gloomy when the Dark Lord was still here?"
"In order to maintain his so-called mystery and secrecy, the Dark Lord doesn't even allow us to light the lamps. It looks like we can't afford candles. This is a great shame!"
Lucius shook the arm holding the cane and said indignantly, "I think we need to prove to those friends who misunderstood me that our Malfoy family can afford candles!"
Narcissa looked at her husband with eyes that showed her concern for his idiocy. She didn't understand how he and his other pure-blood friends interacted with each other. They actually compared themselves with each other over such a trivial matter as how many candles they lit...
“…Okay.” She nodded, “But if you keep lighting candles like this, the remaining candle stock in the manor may not be enough.”
As she spoke, Narcissa shouted to the empty yard, "Dobby, go out and buy a warehouse full of candles!"
Lucius and Narcissa paused for a moment, ready to hear the thump, thump, thump of the house-elf's apparition as usual, and his deep bow followed by his respectful submission.
However, nothing appeared before them.
A cold winter wind blew by, making the two of them shiver.
"Dobby!" After waiting for a long time, there was no sign of the house-elf Dobby. Lucius frowned and shouted impatiently, "Dobby, where have you gone, you stupid house-elf? Come here quickly and punish yourself!"
However, there was still no response from the elf's shrill voice.
"Don't shout. He must have left on his own." Narcissa said expressionlessly, "Within the confines of this manor, it's impossible for the house-elf not to hear our call."
"How dare this lowly little thing leave the manor without our permission?!" Lucius's face turned cold. "Go back, Narcissa. Write a letter to the owner of the Men of Letters and ask him to send the candles to us."
"When Dobby comes back, I'll let him know the consequences of leaving without permission!"
Whether it was Lucius or Narcissa, they all regarded house-elves as the most humble and lowly servants, and certainly would not sympathize with Dobby when he sneaked out of Malfoy Manor without permission.
They turned around with indifference and walked towards the living room, which was no longer as glorious as it used to be, as it could not afford candles.
"So what are the consequences of leaving Malfoy Manor without permission?"
Just before they stepped into the glorious living room, a rich voice suddenly rang out from behind Lucius and Narcissa.
Lucius's footsteps suddenly stopped in the air.
The two turned around and saw a tall figure with long silver hair standing in a rose bush that was blooming out of season under the influence of magic at Malfoy Manor.
Against the backdrop of emerald green leaves and amidst clusters of purple roses, a figure was looking at this exquisite and gorgeous manor with great interest.
"Who are you? How did you get in?"
Narcissa Malfoy's face turned cold when she saw this man she had never seen before. Before Lucius could stop her, she blurted out, "Do you know the consequences of trespassing into Malfoy Manor?!"
"Oh?" Dracula glanced at Lucius beside Narcissa, and his expression seemed to become playful. "Then tell me, what are the consequences of trespassing into Malfoy Manor?"
Lucius' pale face suddenly turned darker.
"I'm really sorry, Professor Dracula. Narcissa didn't know your identity. Please forgive me if I offended you!" He took a deep breath and bowed deeply to Dracula.
At the same time, Lucius whispered to his wife, "Narcissa, this is the Professor Dracula I mentioned to you. Come on, apologize!"
Narcissa also panicked after hearing her husband's remarks.
She had already heard from Lucius how terrifying Professor Dracula was. It was said that this professor was powerful enough to suppress the Dark Lord, and his personality was even more capricious, making him a more terrifying existence than the Dark Lord!
"I'm... I'm sorry, Professor Dracula. I really didn't know it was you!" Narcissa was also trembling, and she bent down imitating her husband's movements.
Under Voldemort's rule, the two had long been accustomed to groveling.
Lucius was thinking hard at this time - in order to express his loyalty, should he crawl over and kiss Dracula's toes like he did before when he was under Voldemort
This is a question worth thinking about!
"Lucius, you two are a bit boring." Looking at the performance of the Malfoys, Dracula curled his lips and walked out of the purple rose bushes. "I thought I was invading your territory after all, and you should at least raise some objections... But you lowered your head and obeyed."
"Also, don't show off the stuff Voldemort left behind in front of me in the future. It's meaningless! I would rather you fight me. Maybe it will become more interesting."
"We don't have a masochistic tendency, so how dare we fight you..." Lucius smiled bitterly to himself.
At the same time, Lucius also gave up the weird etiquette of kissing toes in his mind.
He even suspected that if he dared to do this, Dracula would most likely feel disgusted, which might be more serious than a sneak attack on Dracula...
"I suddenly remembered... You haven't answered my previous question yet." Dracula walked out of the flowers and came to Lucius and Narcissa. "Tell me, what are the consequences of a house-elf leaving the manor without permission?"
It was only then that Lucius noticed that Dracula did not come to Malfoy Manor alone.
Right at Dracula's feet, there was a short elf wearing only an old pillowcase, with his mouth tightly closed and his big eyes staring in panic.
"Dobby?" Lucius frowned and asked in confusion, "Why are you with Professor Dracula?"
When Dobby saw his master and thought about what he had done, he was worried that Dracula would inform the Malfoys, and he began to tremble with fear.
"Wuwuwu—" Dobby's voice mumbled as he tried to open his mouth to speak.
However, his two lips seemed to be tightly glued together and he couldn't open his mouth at all.
"Silencing spell?" Lucius looked at Dracula in surprise. Then, he seemed to have thought of something, and a look of fear suddenly appeared on his face. "Professor Dracula, has Dobby offended you?!"
"Don't worry, I will never let such a lowly servant offend you like this. As long as you ask, you can kill me or chop me up as you wish, and you can vent your anger however you want!"
Lucius immediately put on an expression of sacrificing personal interests for the greater good and spoke loudly.
Hearing the cruel words of his master, even though Dobby had no feelings for him and was often abused, he could not help feeling sad. Big tears fell from his big eyes onto his nose, and then dripped onto the ground with a "tick-tick" sound.
"Forget it, Dobby didn't offend me." Dracula glanced at Lucius and said casually, "I think he is quite interesting, at least much more interesting than the two of you."
Among the group of house-elves, Dobby is indeed very interesting. He can even be said to be the most interesting individual among the house-elves.
As a house elf, he would sneak out of the house; he would resist some of his master's arrangements in his heart; he would resist Voldemort's requests; he would worship Harry Potter and put his actions to save him into practice...
This is a feat that no other house-elf could possibly accomplish!
"But Dobby is really interesting, but a little noisy." Dracula chuckled and said, "So I put a Silencing Spell on him. I'm too lazy to listen to him 'self-reflecting' and 'self-punishing'. It's a little noisy."
Lucius breathed a sigh of relief.
"If you like, I can sign a magic transfer contract and transfer the house-elf to you, making him your servant." He said carefully.
"Transfer him to me as a servant? I'm not interested." Dracula glanced at Dobby's dirty old pillowcase and shook his head in disgust. "Make him some clothes. This pillowcase is too torn and it's an eyesore."
"Clothes? For him?" Lucius opened his eyes wide in astonishment. "Professor Dracula, I think I need to remind you that giving a house-elf any piece of clothing is equivalent to letting him go. We will no longer have such a capable servant."
"I know. But I don't lack servants who obey orders without their own ideas." Dracula said, "What I need most is people or things that can bring me fun or novelty, not a puppet who only agrees and obeys orders."
"Do you think I don't know what will happen after signing a contract with a house-elf? They will lose all their own thoughts and opinions, and completely become vassals of their masters, and at the same time almost sacrifice all the fun in them."
"It's not easy to meet a unique house-elf like Dobby. I don't want to frustrate his ever-beating mind." Dracula chuckled.
"So hurry, Lucius, and find him something suitable to wear."
…
The living room of Malfoy Manor, where the Death Eaters held their meetings a few weeks ago.
When it was occupied by Voldemort and the Death Eaters, it looked dim and gloomy, as if they were reluctant to light the lights.
At this time, all the candles and lights had been lit, and the entire living room became brightly lit and magnificent.
Luxurious furniture, exquisite marble fireplaces, gilded mirrors... these luxurious furnishings gleamed with gold, reflecting the bright lights in the living room. The stone floor tiles were almost entirely covered with valuable thick carpets, all of which reflected the wealth and extravagance of Malfoy Manor.
Dracula leaned against the soft sofa, holding a tall wine glass and shaking it gently, occasionally bringing the glass to his lips to taste the bright red wine.
Dobby the house-elf stood next to Dracula with big green eyes.
Lucius and Narcissa sat obediently at the long meeting table, explaining to Dobby the facts about Voldemort that he had previously misunderstood.
At the same time, he also ordered a special robe for house elves from Madam Malkin's robe shop with an expedited order.
"So... the Dark Lord who must not be named has been defeated once again?"
Dobby stared with his big, round green eyes, his face full of astonishment.
"That's right." Lucius said coldly. He still couldn't lower his dignity in front of his own house-elf, and insisted on acting like a cold and arrogant head of the family.
"Then I am... in trouble!" Dobby suddenly sobbed loudly, "Dobby is sorry for Harry Potter. Dobby almost knocked Harry Potter off his broom. Dobby also misunderstood the kind Professor Dracula... Dobby is a very bad house-elf!"
"Kind?" Dracula's mouth twitched. It was the first time he heard someone use such an irrelevant word to describe himself.
Lucius in front of the long table looked even darker.
According to Dobby, the Malfoy family's house-elf did not leak the news to others after learning of Voldemort's return.
But when he was trying to save Harry Potter, the savior, he completely forgot about Draco Malfoy, the young master of the Malfoy family who was participating in the same game... This made Lucius, the head of the family, feel dissatisfied.
Just then, an owl flew in from the window and dropped a big package on Lucius' head.
Lucius opened the package and saw the small and exquisite clothes inside.
"I can't believe it. It's ok to explain the facts to the house-elf, but I even ordered a set of clothes for him!" He looked around cautiously and whispered, "If my friends knew about this, I would be laughed at to death!"
Lucius handed the tiny garment to Dobby.
…
…