Chapter 1
‘And this is the Malfoy Family Library!’ Draco opened the doors with a flourish, and Harry hesitantly stepped inside, looking around in awe.
‘It’s huge!’ he whispered, eyes wide.
‘One of the biggest private libraries in Britain – wixen and muggle! And we have both types of books. The muggle ones are mostly stories, or biographies of interesting muggles throughout history. Mother has a few books about muggle plants and gardens too. Apparently muggles like to have gardens that are purely pretty, not useful at all! Seems like a waste, really – I mean, the manor grounds have huge gardens, but there’s all sorts of useful plants mixed in with the pretty ones. Stuff to keep away pests, or to make herbal tea, or for potions ingredients, things like that. Seems so strange to put so much effort into a garden when it’s useless, right?!’
Harry nodded, eyes suddenly downcast. ‘My aunt always said it was so people knew they had money. They didn’t need to bother growing things for themselves, they could afford to buy it instead. Not like the dirty brown people down the street who couldn’t even afford tomatoes.’
Narcissa sucked in a sharp breath. ‘Harry, darling, that is simply untrue. Your aunt sounds like a very unpleasant person. The Malfoy family has more than enough money to buy things we need rather than grow them for ourselves – but that isn’t the point.’
Harry looked up in surprise and confusion.
‘The point is, being out in nature and spending time in the garden is good for the soul. And growing things for yourself is both satisfying, and a productive use of time, and things just seem to taste better when your own hands have helped it to grow.’
Harry’s lips quirked into a small smile. ‘They’re prettier too. That’s why my ga - Aunt Petunia’s garden always looked like the best one on the street. That was the only chore she had me do that she didn’t make me repeat when I was done. She was proud of the garden, liked to make comments to the neighbours when their roses weren’t as nice as mi- hers. I think maybe I was using magic on them, but I didn’t know that then.’
Silence met that statement for a long moment – nobody quite sure what to address first.
‘How did you not know you were feeding magic into them? Surely you could feel it?’ Lucius asked carefully.
‘I didn’t know about magic till Hagrid came with my letter.’ Harry replied quietly. ‘I just wanted the roses to look nice, and I used to talk to them while I worked – as long as nobody was around to listen.’
Narcissa deliberately loosened her shoulders, trying not to frighten the boy with her fury. ‘Speaking with plants is very effective magic – even muggles are able to do it. Plants are living things, after all. I’d like to ask what you meant by… ‘dirty brown people’, Harry. What does that mean?’
Harry’s brow furrowed. ‘Um, I don’t think it’s true, probably. My aunt and uncle didn’t like many people. They said anything weird or out of the ordinary was wrong. That’s why they called me freak. And they said that people with darker skin were dirty and poor and shouldn’t be allowed to live in their decent neighbourhood.’
‘Well, that’s just stupid.’ Draco said bluntly. ‘There’s no difference between dark or light skinned people. The only real difference between people is whether or not they have magic. You’re brown and you’re not dirty or poor. The Potters were almost as rich as the Malfoys.’
Harry stared at him in utter confusion. ‘What?’ he asked dumbly. ‘I’m not brown? I mean, I’m sort of tanned, but… wait, the Potters were rich?’
Narcissa and Lucius shared a look. ‘Harry, darling – your father was Indian. The Potters are descended from Indian magical lines. You are half Indian, but your mother was white, so you’re not as dark skinned as your father was. And yes, the Potters have a lot of money. Surely you have been to Gringotts – how did you buy your school supplies last year?’
‘Hagrid took me to my vault and there was a big pile of money there, but after I bought all my school stuff, I worked out how much I had spent, and roughly how big the pile was – I mean, it’s a lot of money, but by the time I finish school there won’t be much left.’
Draco frowned. ‘Not much in your trust vault, or any of the vaults?’
Harry frowned back. ‘Is there more than one?’
Draco snorted in surprise. ‘There’s probably half a dozen- at least! The Malfoy family have 9 vaults in Gringotts in Diagon – and then a couple more in France, and one in Spain, and two in Norway. The Potters probably have a bunch in India, and anywhere else they had properties.’
Harry’s eyes went distant as he stared to one side. ‘Oh.’
‘We shall arrange a trip to Gringott’s soon for a full accounting of the Potter estate. I’ll help you go through and make sense of it all, darling.’ Lucius laid a hand on Harry’s shoulder, giving a gentle squeeze. Harry flinched a little, but he held still. He was starting to get used to the way the Malfoys all liked to touch and lean and be close to each other – and to him.