Chapter 44: Beating up Malfoy

The Slytherin common room was large, the walls and ceiling were made of rough stones, and green lights hung from the ceiling. There was a beautifully carved fireplace, which was surrounded by several Slytherin students.

"You two wait here, my father just sent me something...I'll go get it," Malfoy ordered them to sit in two empty chairs by the fire.

Ivan and Harry looked at each other, they didn't expect to see what Lucius Malfoy had sent him without asking.

They wondered if what Lucius sent was related to the Chamber of Secrets.

A moment later, Malfoy returned with a newspaper clipping in his hand and tapped it on Harry's nose, saying, "Goyle, you'll laugh when you see this."

Ivan saw Harry shiver a little, so he moved a little closer and saw what was written on it.

The Ministry of Magic launched an investigation against Mr. Weasley, head of the department of misuse of Muggle artifacts, and he was fined over fifty galleons for the enchantment on a Muggle car today.

The enchanted car is said to have crashed into the Hogwarts box willow earlier this year, and Lucius Malfoy has asked Mr. Weasley to resign.

Lucius Malfoy has said, "Mr. Weasley has destroyed the reputation of the ministry. Mr. Malfoy has said that he was clearly incapable of writing laws for us and that his ridiculous Muggle Protection Act should be abolished immediately."

Mr. Weasley did not comment, but his wife told the reporters to leave or he would let the ghost out of the attic to attack them.

According to a guest opinion piece, "Calling on the Ministry of Magic to focus on the safety of underage wizard flights," which appeared earlier in this newspaper, the author of the article, Miss Hermione Granger, 12, on behalf of all the young wizards at Hogwarts, said Mr. Weasley's move was a grave danger to the safety of underage wizards and hoped that the Ministry of Magic would take action as soon as possible.

"What do you think, do you think it's funny?", Malfoy asked Harry when Harry handed the newspaper clipping back to him.

"Hahaha," Ivan and Harry smiled dryly.

Malfoy said with satisfaction, "I wonder what the Weasley family's expressions will look like, since it was an article written by the smug dirty blood, Granger?"

Ivan wasn't sure how Mr. Weasley would feel, but he was glad Hermione hadn't followed them, or he would have been very, very angry.

It seemed that something had to be done to keep her from seeing tomorrow's Daily Prophet.

"Well, I'm not surprised to hear that the Weasleys are under attack. Look at the behavior of the Weasley family, they are a disgrace to pureblood wizards," Malfoy said scornfully,

Ivan tried to hold on to Harry so he wouldn't impulsively pounce on Malfoy.

Harry said, "Draco, forget about the Weasleys, talk about the Chamber of Secrets and the Slytherin heir, you must know more or less who manipulated everything."

Malfoy clicked his tongue and said, "You know I don't know, Goyle, how many times do I have to tell you? Dad won't tell me the details of the last time the Chamber was opened, which was fifty years ago, before he was born, but he knows everything. He says it's all confidential and if I know too much it will look suspicious. But the last time the Chamber of Secrets was opened, a dirty blood died."

"We know it was Myrtle the Weeper," Ivan added.

Malfoy said, "Of course, I told you. Since one dirtyblood died last time, it's only a matter of time before another one does too, I hope it's Granger, Mason is also an excellent choice."

Harry shivered violently as Ivan took a deep breath so as not to hit Malfoy.

"Did you know that the man who opened the chamber last time was captured?", Harry asked hopefully.

Malfoy replied, "He was said to have been captured and expelled, you can check and see, whoever he is, he's probably still in Azkaban."

Ivan saw the look of surprise on Harry's face and knew that he had taken that misinformation as important information and that when he and Hermione checked it out at the end of the day, they would discover that the expelled student was none other than Hagrid, but that in fact Hagrid had been wrongly accused.

Ivan asked cautiously, "Malfoy, your father must know something, can you tell me who he has been in contact with lately? Maybe this could be a clue to help us figure out who the heir is?"

Malfoy gave him an indignant look and said loudly, "What do you mean, Crabbe, are you doubting my father and the friends he's been hanging out with?

Ivan stammered, "But..."

Malfoy continued, "As much as I want to help the heir, Dad told me not to be the center of attention, but you know the Prophet newspaper hasn't reported the attacks yet, which surprises me."

Harry said, "Maybe it's not worth reporting since they are petrified and Dumbledore will cure them soon enough."

Malfoy said thoughtfully, "Yes, it must be Dumbledore hiding everything, I hope it all comes out soon. My dad said that making Dumbledore the headmaster was the worst thing that ever happened to the school. Dumbledore likes Muggles, a decent headmaster would never let people like Mason and Granger come to the school."

Harry gritted his teeth and said, "Dumbledore is the best headmaster, Granger is top of her class and Mason's spells are great."

"He's a typical Gryffindor, that rude house is just awful, especially that bloody dirty-blood Mason, he dared to attack me, sooner or later I'll make him pay," Malfoy said viciously,

Harry said with doubt in his voice, "Really? besides spells, he also runs a newspaper...."

Malfoy said with exaggerated emphasis, "I guess the dirty blood got down on his knees and licked Potter's shoes so Potter would agree to let him put his mother's article in that poor paper, it was to draw people in with Potter's mother's death, and all that woman could do was give him a ridiculous scar to show off with."

It had to be admitted that Malfoy was, indeed, particularly nasty.

When Harry heard Malfoy insulting his mother, he turned as red as an apple.

"What's wrong with you two tonight?" asked Malfoy as he looked at them quizzically.

"Nothing, I just.... I've put up with you for too long," Ivan said as he cracked his knuckles and looked at Malfoy with an evil look.

"Crabbe, what, what do you mean?" Malfoy suddenly got a bad feeling.

"It's very simple, I'm going to beat the crap out of you," as soon as Ivan finished speaking, he punched Malfoy.

Harry froze for a moment before throwing a punch as well, and with the two of them punching, Malfoy didn't even get a chance to defend himself.