Draco watched the scene unfold, a sour ache welling up inside him—after all, it was his own Galleons being tossed around so casually. The bitterness stuck in his throat.
Gritting his teeth, he yanked out another ten coins and shouted, "Harry Potter, what else do you know about Black?"
Harry eyed the glinting Galleons in Draco's hand and grinned. "Pretty much everything you know, I know too."
Draco sneered, "If you know so much, why don't you go after your parents'—I mean, why don't you hunt down Black for revenge?"
Harry blinked, caught off guard. Up to now, Douglas had only told him that Black was his godfather—and a servant of Voldemort—but what did any of that have to do with him seeking revenge?
He strode forward, demanding, "What's that supposed to mean?"
Startled, Draco quickly hid the Galleons behind his back, blustering, "So you don't know, huh? Well, you'll have to investigate, won't you? If you figure it out, these ten Galleons are yours…"
Harry fixed him with a cold stare. Around the room, everyone watched with concern. He turned to Ron and Hermione.
Hermione hurried over and tugged Harry aside. "Harry, keep your cool. He's just trying to wind you up—he wants you to go after Black."
Harry's reply was barely above a whisper, but there was a mischievous glint in his eye. "I'm not angry at all. I was just putting on a show for him."
Ron, standing nearby to shield them from prying eyes, grumbled quietly, "I honestly thought you'd storm out of Hogwarts and challenge Black to a duel after hearing that."
Harry gave a small shake of his head. "What's the point of getting angry? Besides, when I first learned Black was my godfather, I lost my cool and got a lecture from my cousin. He didn't say it outright, but I could tell Black had something to do with my parents' deaths… But…"
Harry's expression darkened again as he glanced at Draco over Ron's shoulder.
Ron looked back at Draco, who was still wearing a smug grin, and whispered, "You mean you think Malfoy's been put up to this by Professor Holmes? The way he's pushing you is just like the Professor's assignments…"
Hermione shook her head. "I doubt it. The Professor wants Harry to investigate the truth for himself—to keep him from being manipulated. Malfoy, on the other hand, is clearly trying to manipulate Harry into going after Black. And don't forget, he's publicly praised You-Know-Who more than once…"
At that moment, Draco called out mockingly, "If we're all in the same society, why are you whispering over there? Don't you trust us?"
Hermione stepped forward, "We were just discussing your offer. Ten Galleons is a bit stingy. Even Professor Holmes's butler, Dobby, gets ten Galleons a week. Surely the heir to the Malfoy family has more pocket money than that?"
At the mention of his house-elf and seeing the amused looks from the others, Draco's cheeks flushed. He gritted his teeth and pulled out another ten Galleons. His mother had given him fifty for Hogsmeade trips this term, but before the village had even opened, half his stash was gone. It hurt.
When Ron saw Draco produce yet more Galleons, his eyes lit up. Draco, alarmed, snatched his hand back. "This time, you're not getting it in advance. You'll only get paid if you actually catch Black."
Hermione gave a sharp sniff. "Oh, so now you're raising the stakes? A minute ago, you said all we had to do was uncover the truth. Now you want us to capture Black? Funny, that's exactly the kind of answer you wrote on your test—the Ministry's useless, right? Do you really think Harry's more capable than the whole Ministry of Magic?"
She crossed her arms. "If you're upping the difficulty, we'll need to increase the reward. Twenty Galleons won't cut it."
Draco shot back, "You—do you take me for an idiot? That first task is easy—just ask any blood traitor and you'd walk away with ten Galleons. The Ministry's offering ten thousand Galleons to anyone who catches Black…"
George and Fred exchanged a look, then darted over to Draco, eyeing him as if he were a walking vault. "Malfoy, we'll take your job." "We're not greedy—just the ten Galleon one." "And to keep you from getting hexed right now, you'll need to add five more." "That's right. You insulted our family."
Draco stumbled backward, shouting at Harry, "Didn't you say everyone should get along?"
George and Fred each clapped an arm around Draco's shoulders, grinning coldly. "Aren't I being friendly?" "Or is it me who's not friendly?"
Draco squirmed desperately, clutching his stomach as if expecting a punch at any moment.
Harry only shrugged, looking perfectly content with the arrangement.
Hermione, though admittedly tempted to let Malfoy get his comeuppance, straightened up. "George, Fred, don't scare him. Malfoy, we'll take your commission—but I need to revise the job description. You put up twenty Galleons for a real investigation into the truth behind Black's arrest and imprisonment—not just rumors or hearsay. We're a detective society; we work with evidence. Agreed?"
Faced with the group's determination, Draco realized he had no room to object.
He'd originally hoped that if Harry really did go after Black, he'd get himself killed and Draco could keep his money. But this wasn't bad either. Once they found out Black had betrayed Harry's parents, Harry would surely seek revenge—same result.
He even felt a flicker of hope that Douglas and Harry would team up for vengeance and both fall to Black. If his father knew about this scheme, he'd be proud.
Seizing a moment when George and Fred were distracted, Draco wriggled free. "Fine—but I'm not handing over the Galleons in advance…"
Hermione nodded, "All right, but you'll have to sign an agreement."
She fished out a special sheet of enchanted parchment, wrote out the contract, and had Harry sign. Then she handed it to Draco.
"There's a little curse on this contract. If you sign and we complete the job but don't get paid, the curse will activate—and we'll send Mr. Dobby to your house to collect."
George and Fred burst into applause, hailing the idea as pure genius.
Draco sneered as he scrawled his name across the bottom. "Twenty Galleons is nothing—it's a single hair off the Malfoy fortune. Of course, for certain pureblood families, it might be several months' living expenses…"
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