Oh, I almost forgot the other news that literally shook Hogwarts and the rest of society. Draco Malfoy didn't return to school after his vacation and didn't appear at the castle until the second trial of the Triwizard Tournament, and even then he didn't stay long: he glimpsed his parents and an unknown dark beauty and quickly disappeared.
The castle was full of rumors and gossip, just like Hermione, but the subject was only of interest to the bargain hunters, so there wasn't much excitement until the boy showed up with Rachel.
It should be noted that I didn't follow rumors, but I was carefully introduced to them by Parvati and Astoria, as well as Tracy, who sometimes came to my apartment with Daphne. And then one day Draco himself came to breakfast and let himself be examined, and the keen eyes of the "ladies" immediately noticed the changes in the Malfoy heir's appearance: the boy was a little tanned, he'd gained weight, his smile was no longer condescendingly arrogant and mocking, and in general he became more animated, which made him more attractive.
But soon a wave of disappointment and even sorrow swept through the hall: the girls saw a wedding ring on the boy's finger, and a strip of lighter skin underneath it immediately made the picture even clearer, and everything fell into place. One of the Hufflepuff girls cried out: Draco was married and on his honeymoon somewhere warm.
The boy, upon hearing this version, just grinned openly, arched an eyebrow playfully, and then somehow adjusted his shirt collar, exposing his neck, which was covered in gorgeous hickeys. Some of the girls let out an unconcealed howl of disappointment, and a few of them actually cried.
The Slytherins at the breakfast table grinned in amusement, for Draco's wedding to the unfortunate Rachel had taken place only a few days after the ritual, in a very small circle of the chosen few, and the news had been kept secret: when circumstances demanded it, aristocrats knew how to stick together. It wasn't that Draco's marriage had any special significance, it was just a joke that everyone supported, well, for the public within their own circle.
In reality, it was a test to see if the modern aristocracy was still strong, or if they were only willing to tear the weak apart and shoot around corners, but were no longer able to stand shoulder to shoulder. It turned out that they could, but for the sake of personal interests, not for the sake of a common idea.
As I have been informed, literally everyone in the know has benefited in some way from this silence. Well, I did not expect much from the British, because this people has never been like the Russians, the Japanese, or other peoples who can overcome hardships, shed blood, die for the idea and faith, not for money and profit.
Be that as it may, time went on, and in some places it turned into a frantic hare, running madly forward, not knowing the way. Things got done, people continued to live, people continued to learn, and the planet continued to spin. According to our agreement, Se-dono returned to Japan and her granddaughter, Kokoro, stayed in my house, which after a conversation it was decided to complete, but in a purely magical way.
It all started with Junko looking for me for several days — she wanted a private talk, and I had no free time because I had to organize the first section of my garden, which I had conceived while living in Japan. The idea is to create several sections — fenced in areas of prepared land where a special climate and conditions for a variety of plants will be maintained with the help of magic.
Something like a greenhouse or a botanical garden, but in the open air, and also sections can be expanded using a combined design of space-expanding charms and the technique of "Mystic House".
The work was extremely difficult and costly in every way, the lion's share of the work had to be done by me personally, and I was joined by Afiri and Lizzie, who watched me work and learned. Now they are slowly preparing the next sections for connection, but now I need not hurry, for the tree seedlings are in place, and the plants that are stored in the spheres in my chest can be so stored for many, many years.
When I was caught by Junko, it was late at night, and I finished planting the trees by placing a crystal filled with my magic in the roots of each tree. This time, my mother didn't try to eat my brain, just complained that my mother could have made time for me, but she understood my busyness and didn't want to argue. We talked for a long time, even until dawn.
We did not touch on some heavy topics, but I felt that I had a family again, and the tight spring loosened a bit, so I told my mother about the revenge plan without fancy. Junko was not surprised at all, and even smiled slightly. She said that she didn't believe in my unwillingness to take revenge, that she knew that Hoshino would never forgive such a thing, and that she was only worried that I wouldn't waste years of my life again for the death of my enemies.
A day later, she left for France through a special portal that was untraceable unless one worked with spirits and their magic. No reports were sent to me, but I sensed that Junko was injured a few days later, and on the same day I was summoned by Yusheng for another interrogation.
Lan approached the case with knowledge and her vast experience, acting and acting quietly and subtly, and by the time Junko was wounded, she and several others of Yusheng's personal guard had unsuccessfully stumbled upon the secret hideout of an Italian assassin's guild whose presence no one had even noticed. By the way, the nest had been cleaned out, all traces completely destroyed.
I arrived quickly, just a few minutes after the summoning, and with the help of spiritual magic, I was able to aim very accurately and come out of the portal a step away from Yusheng. That was also the first time I met a group of Tigress' cronies. I came out of the portal ready for battle and defense: my eyes shining, the air shaking with protective spells, active seals in three rings around my right hand, and my staff pulsing with red fire in my left hand.
Only after looking around for dangers (including with my senses), I looked around at the people, extremely surprised and very satisfied people, and a Chinese woman with short hair was literally pouring into the emotional background with joy of anticipation, grinning wide with triangular scary teeth. The sight even made me shudder inwardly. Outwardly, I just kept my eyes on this Lan's purple glowing eyes, and also listened intently to what I discovered upon arrival: a sense of kinship.
There were twenty-three people in the spacious underground room (not counting the prisoners held by seals and artifacts), including Yusheng himself, Junko, Zenzeng, and Ju, and I felt a sense of kinship with all of them.
I even thought I was wrong, that I was imagining things, but then I was able to distinguish the obvious differences and realized that this kinship is very distant, but I felt this way because of the sudden awakening of the true nature given to our common more than three and a half thousand years ago by the Great Spirit Firebird — Fenghuang. And also because I'm not used to having so many relatives.