分卷阅读51（1 / 2）

It was on Monday that Draco first realized something was very wrong. To start off he was late to breakfast that morning and barely had time to eat, let alone read his father’s customary letter, so he tucked the letter away in his bag to read later.

After classes that day, Draco curled up in front of the fireplace to read the letter before starting on his schoolwork. The first thing he noticed was that the letter was folded outward, so that the words could be seen. His father never folded letters outward, because then other people could read the writing as the intended recipient was opening it. Still, Draco continued without giving it much thought.

As Draco read he got more and more worried. His father never wrote to him in this way. Yes it sounded like his father, and anyone else would not have been fooled, but Draco knew better. Reading the letter was like walking down Diagon Ally in public with his father. The words radiated the prestige of the Malfoy name and none of the emotions that his father might have felt while writing to his son.

The letter was ripped from Draco’s hands by a white-faced Harry Potter as Draco finished reading his father’s signature. Just ‘Your father, Lucius Malfoy’. His father always signed his letters to Draco, ‘Your loving father, Lucius Malfoy’ because such things could not be said in public.

“Harry what are you—”

Harry turned the letter around wordlessly and Draco suddenly realized the reason the letter was folded outward instead of inward. Through the thick parchment, folded outward, you could not tell that the back of the parchment was smeared in blood.

Chapter 28: Black Truth, Black Wings

The Room of Requirement had made itself into a cave. The walls were limestone, with a low ceiling and a moss covered floor. The room was very small, so small in fact that the three people inside the room had to duck to avoid hitting their heads on the ceiling. The cave was what the room thought of as the perfect place to speak of secrets, and so the three Gryffindors settled down as comfortably as they could against the cold stone.

“There’s something wrong with Draco.” Harry said, looking down at the moss as if it was the most interesting thing he had ever seen.

Neither Ron nor Hermione were fooled by his antics. Ron, though, was puzzled at Harry’s words. “But he seems…er, fine to me. Well…he doesn’t act any differently than he normally does.”

“No, he’s more nervous than usual.” Hermione observed.

“Exactly.” Harry said. “It’s like he’s planning something that he doesn’t want anyone to find out. And it started after he got that letter.”

“But that was a week ago!” Ron protested.

“Yes, and he’s received two other letters from his father, both as false as the first one.” Harry explained.

“False letters?”

“That’s all he’ll tell me about them. That they aren’t really from his father.”

Hermione frowned as if thinking. “But why wouldn’t his father write to Malfoy?”

“If he couldn’t,” Harry replied, looking up at his friends for the first time since the conversation had begun.

“But why couldn’t he write to Malfoy?” Ron asked. “He’s done it for five years, so what’s different now?”