"Lucius," Dumbledore said, his voice calm and steady, "believe me, this whole thing has been blown way out of proportion. It's really not as serious as it looks."
Lucius, who was already losing it with Dumbledore acting like he didn't care, just dropped the nice act altogether. He spoke his mind, his voice sharp and demanding. "Dumbledore, hand over the student who hurt Draco to me, right now! Or I promise you, this isn't going to end here!"
Dumbledore and Snape, who'd both been dealing with wizard politics for years, totally understood what Lucius was really saying. It was a threat. A big fight was brewing, and it could have some serious consequences. They both looked a lot more serious now.
But Dumbledore didn't say anything right away. Instead, Snape, who was always loyal to Slytherin House, spoke up first. "Lucius," he said, his voice controlled, "what Sean and Draco did was a Pure-Blood Duel. I think you, of all people, know what that means. You went to Slytherin, after all. You know what a Pure-Blood Duel represents, and what the results are, correct?"
Lucius seemed to think about that for a second, and his angry attitude calmed down a bit.
He really hadn't known that Sean and Draco had a formal Pure-Blood Duel. Now that he heard it from Snape, Lucius looked back at his friend. "Severus," he asked, his voice more even, "why would Draco have a Pure-Blood Duel with… that student?"
"Sean Bulstrode challenged Draco," Snape explained, his voice flat but clear, "because Draco had agreed to a duel with Harry Potter, and then deliberately didn't show up. Not only that, but he got Argus Filch to try and get Harry Potter in trouble, which could have gotten him expelled. Sean Bulstrode thought Draco's actions were disgusting, a disgrace to Slytherin House and a joke to pure-blood wizards everywhere. So, he challenged Draco to a Pure-Blood Duel and, as you know, won. That's exactly what happened."
Lucius's face didn't show anything. He looked at Snape, his eyes narrowed just a bit, and said, "Severus, you seem to be almost defending this Sean Bulstrode."
"I'm just stating the facts," Snape replied, not showing any emotion at all.
Lucius and Snape had been friends for a long time, since their school days, and then later when they were both working with the Dark Lord. Calling it just "friendship" wasn't exactly right, though. When they were students at Hogwarts, they had been close, and Snape, who was smart but didn't have a lot of money, had definitely gotten help from Lucius Malfoy. Later on, Snape and Lucius had become Death Eaters together, fighting for the same thing. You'd think that would have made them even closer.
But then, Voldemort had been defeated, and the Death Eaters had scattered like birds fleeing a burning nest. Although Snape still maintained a degree of cordiality with Lucius and his family, it could no longer be said that the two men were particularly close or aligned in their goals.
Looking into Snape's empty, almost creepy eyes, Lucius decided to just drop it. Instead, he turned his attention back to Dumbledore, his voice getting that sharp edge again. "Dumbledore," he said, "this Sean Bulstrode still needs to pay for what he did. If he doesn't, I'm going to have to call a meeting of the Hogwarts school board to seriously talk about getting a new Headmaster."
As Lucius said that, Dumbledore didn't even flinch. He looked totally calm and unbothered. Snape just stood quietly to the side, not saying anything to help Lucius. Just as Lucius was about to say it all again, another voice – someone they weren't expecting – suddenly spoke up from the doorway of the Headmaster's office.
"Lucius," the new voice said. It sounded surprisingly friendly. "It's getting pretty late. I really think you should try to calm down a bit."
Lucius Malfoy knew that voice very well. He turned to look at who it was, and his expression changed a little bit. The anger in his eyes cooled down a lot. He nodded quickly, acknowledging the guy, and said, "Ah, Mr. Bulstrode. I didn't know you were also…"
Before he could finish, Lucius's eyes widened a bit, like he was finally figuring something out. He finally understood why this guy had shown up, the real reason Mr. Bulstrode was there.
Seeing that Lucius had figured out what he was up to, Gavin Bulstrode smiled, and his eyes crinkled up at the corners. He just casually walked into the room and plopped himself down in the chair across from Dumbledore, looking totally relaxed. He turned to Dumbledore and said, "Dumbledore, the weather's gotten pretty chilly lately, hasn't it? It's not easy for us old guys to deal with these quick temperature changes, you know."
Dumbledore nodded, and his blue eyes got a little twinkle in them. "Mr. Bulstrode is absolutely right," he said, sounding just as pleasant. "I wonder, maybe you'd like a cup of hot chocolate to warm up?"
"Hot chocolate? Nah, that won't do," Gavin said, waving his hand like it was no big deal. "It's a bit too sweet for me. Just give me a cup of your best hot pumpkin juice. That always does the trick."
"Of course," Dumbledore replied, sounding friendly.
He just tapped his fingers lightly on his desk, and right away, four steaming drinks appeared on the table. One cup was hot chocolate, loaded with marshmallows and extra sugar – that was Dumbledore's, everyone knew he loved that stuff. Another cup, full of steaming hot pumpkin juice, was put in front of Gavin. As for Lucius and Snape, their cups had some kind of dark, strong coffee or something like that in them.
Too bad Lucius and Snape didn't even try to touch their drinks. Snape just wasn't into that kind of thing. And Lucius, who was dealing with way bigger problems, was just not in the mood for being nice. He looked at Gavin Bulstrode, who'd just walked in, and his voice got that cold edge again. "Everyone says that Mr. Bulstrode is really attached to this grandson of his who's suddenly back in the picture. I thought that was just rumors. But now," he added, giving Gavin a pointed look, "it seems like sometimes rumors are true."
"Since the boy has the Bulstrode name, of course he's part of the Bulstrode family," Gavin replied smoothly, still smiling. "But there are certain family rules you have to follow. It's true that my second son is a Squib, which my wife and I have accepted a long time ago. But Sean is still his son. And now that our grandson is in a bit of… trouble, it's only right that I, as his grandfather, step in to help."
"You want to 'step in'?" Lucius repeated, looking right at Gavin, with a bit of a mocking smile on his face. "If you're so eager to help, how are you going to make it up to me, and my son Draco, for the… unfortunate injuries that Sean caused?"
"How about," Gavin said, sounding totally casual, "a set of fully furnished shops right in the middle of Hogsmeade village? Would you consider that good enough?"
The Malfoy family wasn't just rich because they inherited a ton of money from their ancestors. They were also really good at business, which is how they got even richer. Hogsmeade, as everyone knew, was a village right next to Hogwarts. It was a busy little town that mostly served the needs of Hogwarts students from their third year on.
And everyone also knew that selling stuff to students was a really good business. The best spots were right in the heart of Hogsmeade, especially on the main street. Those shops were super hard to get and worth a fortune.
Malfoy looked at Gavin and realized that he was serious, that he wasn't just joking around or making empty promises. A bit of greed sparkled in his eyes, and he suddenly thought that Draco's injuries weren't so bad after all. What was the big deal if a kid got a little roughed up? He'd be fine eventually, and maybe he'd even be a little more careful and clever in the future. Actually, this whole thing might even be good for Draco. It could teach him some tough lessons about the real world and help him grow up faster.
"I find that the proposed compensation is… adequate. I can accept it," Lucius said, sounding a lot happier now.
They were pure-blood nobles, after all. Being too obvious about money and bargaining wasn't really their style. It just wasn't considered very dignified.
Seeing that Lucius was quick to take his offer, Gavin kept his friendly smile and said, "Now that we've sorted out the compensation, I think we should talk about the… other details."
"Other details?" Lucius repeated, raising his eyebrows a little. All of a sudden, he felt a weird, uncomfortable feeling creeping up on him.
Gavin looked at Lucius, still with that nice expression, but his voice got a bit of an edge to it. "According to the rules of a Pure-Blood Duel, the loser either has to avoid the winner from then on, or become the winner's follower while they're at Hogwarts. So, Lucius, I'm wondering, how's your son Draco planning to handle that? Which option is he going to pick?"
As Gavin said that, Lucius Malfoy's face slowly started to darken. He stared hard at Gavin, and his gaze turned cold. "Are you, the Bulstrode family," he asked, his voice tight with barely hidden anger, "directly challenging my Malfoy family?"
"Where did you ever get that idea?" Gavin replied, pretending to look a little confused. "You asked for a fair payment for your son's injuries, and I've given you what I think is a really good deal. Now, I just want to use the winner's rights, to get what rightfully belongs to my grandson because he won. How could that possibly be a challenge to the Malfoy family?"
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