"Hmph." Cassandra just snorted to express her displeasure.
Harry was about to say something when the train let out a long whistle.
"We've arrived." Cassandra stood up and handed the book to Harry. "Keep it safe for me, Potter - we'll say hello to Godfather Black first, then head back to Malfoy Manor together."
So, you're starting to call him Godfather too, right?
Harry felt a surge of joy, but he didn't mention it.
He knew well that Cassandra had a thin skin, and pointing it out directly might make her resistant.
They stepped off the train, with Draco trailing not far behind, watching his Great-Aunt and prospective Great-Uncle with an aunt-like smile, clearly smitten.
At the exit, not only was Little Sirius there to pick up Harry, but the Malfoys were also standing beside him, seemingly conversing about something.
They seemed to be having a pleasant exchange; at least Little Sirius didn't appear impatient.
With his personality, showing kindness to those holding pure-blood beliefs was unlikely - so the truth must be, at least, that the Malfoys hadn't annoyed Little Sirius with their pure-blood rhetoric.
Seeing Harry and Cassandra approaching, Little Sirius waved at them.
"Harry, Miss Malfoy, over here!"
Harry walked over and said to Little Sirius, "Godfather, Cassandra just told me that she wants me to go with her to Malfoy Manor."
"Narcissa already mentioned it to me," Little Sirius said with a smile. "I'll join you; they happened to invite me as well."
"That's wonderful," Harry said with a broad grin.
He then turned to the Malfoys.
"Hello, Mr. Malfoy, Mrs. Malfoy."
"Hello, Mr. Potter."
Lucius showed no sign of a forced smile; there was genuine sincerity in his grin, more so than he'd ever shown before.
"Then let's head off," he said.
They got into the carriage, and the Nightmare spread its wings.
However, upon reaching the manor, Harry belatedly realized that someone seemed to be missing from the carriage.
"What's wrong, Potter?"
Cassandra noticed the change in Harry's expression and asked.
Harry extended a finger, counted everyone in the carriage, then turned to ask Cassandra, "Kathy, don't you feel like we're missing someone?"
Missing someone?
After Harry's remark, the Malfoys also realized something was off.
"Oh no!" Narcissa suddenly sat up straight. "Little Dragon! We left Little Dragon at the station!"
Back at the station, Draco was watching the direction where the carriage had disappeared over the horizon, feeling utterly dejected.
"What's wrong, Malfoy?"
Ron, who had just exited the station, noticed Draco's desolate look and curiously approached to ask.
"I..."
Draco slowly turned his head, wiping away tears as he said, "My parents ditched me and left with Harry and the others..."
Hearing this, Ron let out a snort of laughter.
However, he managed to hold back, knowing it wasn't right to laugh at someone in this situation, especially... well, even if it was Malfoy.
"If you don't have anywhere to go, you can come to my house for now," Ron offered. "Of course, my place might not be as nice as yours, but it's enough... um, like a home."
"I suppose that's all I can do," Draco said with a hint of regret. "I hope they'll realize I'm missing soon, but..."
Ron shaded his eyes with a hand, gazing into the distance. "But since they haven't come back to get you yet, it means they haven't noticed."
Draco took a deep breath...
He decided to stay silent.
"How about this," Hermione suddenly said, pulling out something brick-like and handing it to Draco. "I'll call Vivi first and let them know you didn't get on the carriage... uh, so your parents won't worry and can pick you up from the Weasley home. How about it?"
"Thank you, Granger," Draco said sincerely.
From his perspective, Hermione was pressing buttons on the brick-like device for quite a while and waited a moment before speaking into it, as if she were under some kind of spell.
After a while, Hermione put down the device and gave them an OK gesture.
"All set," she said to them. "Vivi has already called Harry, so you can relax and visit the Weasley family, Malfoy."
However, Draco seemed clearly intrigued by that large brick.
"What's that?" Draco asked curiously.
"Oh, that," Hermione nodded and said. "That's a mobile phone, it's exactly what its name implies—a phone you can use anytime, anywhere. As for the phone, you can think of it as a tool for people to have distant real-time conversations."
"By Merlin!" Draco exclaimed in shock. "There's actually something like that? How is it made?"
"It's Muggle technology," Hermione explained patiently. "You can think of it as Muggles' version of magic—does that make sense to you?"
"Technology?" Draco repeated the word in his mind. "Okay, I don't know what it is, but it does sound impressive..."
Thanks to Harry's influence, Draco by now wasn't as dismissive toward Muggles as he had been in the past and was able to quickly see the advantages of such technology.
If he could get his father to develop something like this in the Magic World, then wouldn't the Malfoy family...
Thinking of this, Draco felt it necessary to have a talk with his father about "technology."
Of course, the urgent matter now was...
"Can you tell me more about technology, Hermione?" Draco seemed like a sponge thirsting for knowledge as he continued, "Honestly, I'm quite curious about science..."
Before he could finish speaking, Mr. Weasley's voice came from behind.
"Hi, kids!" Mr. Weasley said cheerfully. "I've already arranged with Mr. Granger for us to have dinner at the Granger's tonight before heading back—how does that sound, Ron?"
At this, Mr. Weasley noticed Draco.
"There's a new face?" he said, eyeing Draco up and down. "You must be Lucius's child, right?"
"Hello, Mr. Weasley," Draco greeted politely.
"Draco's parents forgot him at the station," Ron explained on Draco's behalf. "Hermione just called Harry and let him know, so he'll be staying with us for now—"
"If it's to the Granger family, I don't have any objections," Draco quickly said. He wanted to experience what Muggle life was like.
And the Hermione family would be a good choice.
He had heard that the Granger family was quite well off, so it stood to reason that good things from the Muggle World would also be present in their home.
At that time, he could let Hermione explain it all to him.
Draco thought he had quite a good plan.
It was around this moment that Harry received a call from Vivi.
Upon hearing Vivi's voice and seeing her image, Cassandra's face immediately fell.
Why is this woman... always haunting them!
"Alright, I understand," Harry nodded and hung up.
He turned to the Forgotten Couple... no, the Malfoys, and said, "Draco is temporarily at the Weasley home, so there's no need to worry. We can all go pick him up at the Weasley home tomorrow."
"Since Arthur is watching over Little Dragon, I feel reassured," Lucius sighed in relief.
Despite some small differences, Lucius had always had great trust in Mr. Weasley's character.