Chapter 67: Draco's Dilemma

The Wizarding World of Harry Potter.

Time flew by, and two months had already passed since Chu Yang first entered Hogwarts to study.

In truth, ever since the clash between Chu Yang and the upper-year Slytherin students, those older Slytherins had frequently harassed Chu Yang behind the scenes.

The results could be easily imagined.

The Hogwarts Hospital Wing was perpetually overcrowded to such an extreme extent that Dumbledore himself had to intervene, warning the upper-year students and certain parents to rein it in.

Because of this, Chu Yang gained widespread notoriety.

In the nearly thousand-year history of Hogwarts, there had never been a case of a first-year student brutally thrashing senior students.

On one hand, thoroughly terrified by Chu Yang's strength, and on the other hand, strictly warned by Dumbledore, the Slytherin students restrained themselves significantly.

Chu Yang’s academic environment gradually stabilized.

It was worth mentioning that Draco still did not dare to share a room with Chu Yang, squeezing into Crabbe and Goyle's dormitory for the past two months.

This continued until Draco's father, Lucius Malfoy, heard about the matter from others.

Furious and humiliated, Lucius rushed to the school and severely disciplined Draco, scolding him for bringing shame upon the Malfoy family.

Terrified of his stern father since childhood, Draco trembled uncontrollably, unable to even complete a single sentence.

Seeing him in this pathetic state, a wave of bitter disappointment welled up inside Lucius. The anger triggered by his son's incompetence was directly redirected toward Chu Yang.

If Chu Yang were not a student at Hogwarts, he would likely have met a mysterious end at some dark wizard stronghold in Knockturn Alley.

Once the deed was done, those dark wizards might have received a generous bounty from the Malfoy family.

Yet, as it happened, Chu Yang was a student at Hogwarts, possessed exceptional talent, and remained under the constant scrutiny of the entire faculty and student body.

Lucius Malfoy could do nothing to touch him.

He had once attempted to cut off Chu Yang's full scholarship, only to be blocked by Dumbledore. Afterward, he received a warning from Ollivander, whose tone lacked its usual warmth.

Ollivander's exact words were: "If Mr. Chu Yang loses his full scholarship at Hogwarts, Ollivander's Wand Shop will financially support Mr. Chu Yang's education to the fullest extent."

Lucius was deeply astonished as to why Ollivander, who always preferred to stay out of conflicts, would take such a firm and uncompromising stance.

Driven by anger and curiosity, Lucius learned that Chu Yang occasionally worked as an apprentice at Ollivander's wand shop and had displayed extraordinary talent.

This had led the elderly Ollivander to consider grooming him as his successor.

Lucius was surprised, sensing something highly unusual beneath the surface.

Under normal circumstances, the school did not permit students to take on external part-time jobs, and this rule had never been broken before, yet Chu Yang enjoyed this special privilege.

Out of caution, he began gathering intelligence on Chu Yang, commissioning trusted associates to interview most of the professors to inquire about their impressions and evaluations of him.

The results left him utterly shocked!

Lucius had heard of and met many individuals hailed as geniuses, but Chu Yang seemed rather different from his conventional understanding of genius.

At Hogwarts, every professor and teacher who had instructed Chu Yang spoke of him with unreserved praise, even including the notoriously harsh Snape.

Though their personalities clashed, Snape was still forced to acknowledge Chu Yang's peerless talent.

Whether in Charms, Flying, Potions, Transfiguration, Herbology, or Divination, Chu Yang's grades permanently occupied the top spot, leaving everyone else fighting merely for second place.

The more brilliant Chu Yang became, the more mediocre and incompetent Draco appeared by comparison, filling Lucius with a mixture of rage and faint jealousy.

Why should a Muggle-born mudblood surpass someone from a sacred pure-blood family?

Anyone with eyes could see that the Heads of all four houses favored Chu Yang immensely. Had it not been for the traditional Hogwarts rule forbidding house transfers, the four Heads would likely have started fighting over him long ago.

Hufflepuff's Head, Professor Sprout, was still holding a grudge against Dumbledore over the fact that Chu Yang had been sorted into Slytherin.

Prior to this, that gentlewoman had always been known as the best-tempered professor in Hogwarts.

After fully understanding Chu Yang's situation, Lucius, who was always adept at reading the tides, abandoned the idea of teaching him a lesson.

No matter how powerful the Malfoy family was, they could not withstand that much hostility simultaneously.

Paying such a heavy price for the sake of a Muggle-born wizardling was simply not worthwhile.

Interestingly enough... not only did Lucius give up on making things difficult for Chu Yang, but he also quietly harbored the thought of recruiting him.

He had set his sights on Chu Yang's formidable talent.

Therefore, before leaving the school, Lucius specifically instructed Draco to find a way to mend his relationship with Chu Yang as classmates.

His father's sudden change of heart plunged a clueless Draco into an instant dilemma.

Accustomed to obeying every command from his father, Draco dared not resist. Compared to his terrifying father, Draco actually found Chu Yang somewhat easier to deal with.

In the days that followed, Draco's attitude toward Chu Yang underwent a complete one-eighty-degree reversal.

Students would frequently spot him arriving early at the Great Hall to prepare breakfast for the late-rising Chu Yang.

From an outsider's perspective, Draco running errands and dancing attendance looked far more like a lackey than Crabbe and Goyle standing by his side.

With someone as prominent as Draco acting this way, everyone else subconsciously lowered their stance before Chu Yang.

Chu Yang remained entirely indifferent to Draco's attentive flattery.

He firmly believed that unprovoked favors always harbored ulterior motives, and the Malfoy family clearly meant no good.

Consequently, even after two months, Draco failed to close the distance between them.

Draco desperately wanted to give up, but Lucius sent letters every week or two demanding progress updates, driving him to the verge of a breakdown.

To cope with his father's relentless inquiries, Draco had no choice but to lie, telling his father that he and Chu Yang had already become good friends, which finally spared him from the terrifying barrage of letters.

Yet for Draco, this did not mean the problem was resolved, because a lie remained a lie.

Unwilling to face his father's wrath and scolding once more, Draco resolved to truly become friends with Chu Yang.

The arrival of Halloween brought joy to the vast majority of teachers and students, save for a gloomy and depressed Draco.

Chu Yang felt both happy and excited because just the day before, Dumbledore had finally agreed to grant him access to the Restricted Section of the library—a goal he had strived for over the past two months.

Mindful of Voldemort as a cautionary tale, Dumbledore exercised extreme caution when mentoring exceptionally talented young wizards. Over the two-month period, he evaluated not only Chu Yang's learning capacity, but his moral character as well.