The weather suddenly cooled after the rainstorm at the beginning of the school year, and the footsteps of autumn became closer in the blink of an eye.

The cold grass on the pasture was swept by the cool breeze, and all fell to the side, and the wind followed the tips of the grass, all the way through the towering, hard castle, picking up a few yellow leaves that had faded early, and whirling into the vast sky.

There are gray clouds in the sky, even after the storm, they don't get as clear as one thinks, they are gray all the time, but they are not depressing, Eric? Hohenzollern loved such a hearty cloudy day.

On a Friday afternoon, it was nice to lie on the lawn and feel the cool breeze gently slip across his cheeks.

"Why didn't they retaliate."

Astoria? Greengrass sat beside him with his knees crossed, wearing a dark green velvet cape, still wearing the summer Hogwarts uniform, and the hem of the green tie was rolled up in her hands and playing, tilting her head, and said in an appreciative tone:

"I think you should have done that a long time ago, Dominic, if you behaved like this when Lord Ning'an was here, maybe they wouldn't dare to bully you now."

She shook her head, her silky blonde hair fluttering in the breeze, which swept across the tip of her tall nose, making it even more cold, the girl looked like her sister, but she could still tell the two at a glance, Astoria looked much colder than Daphne.

"Now they don't dare."

Dominic lay on Eric's right, looking at the sky, his words were always small, and his answers were very simple, his three years at Hogwarts changed him a lot, and he was a warm, lively little boy at the beginning of his first year, until the cruel environment froze these warm things.

"Now that we've said that—"

Eric got up from the grass at once, sat up cross-legged, and said to his two friends with doubts between his eyebrows:

"I'm also curious why they didn't retaliate, Cassius did that scary 'neck wiping' to me more than once when he was at the opening party."

With a sneer, Eric imitated and said disdainfully, "It's as if he really dared to do something out of the ordinary at Hogwarts." ”

Eric's words are true, although Cassius? Warrington didn't dare to really 'wipe their necks', but there was no reason to be so quiet, it had been almost a week since school started, and the big man who was bound to repay them had turned a blind eye even if he met them at the Slytherin table these days.

If it weren't for the fact that he was still limping a little, Eric would have almost thought that what happened on the train was a dream.

"That's what I said, Dominic did what he should have done a long time ago, to make those people understand that there is a price to be paid for bullying him, so that he can be respected, by his ferocity, not by blood."

Astoria's face was serious, as if she was proud of Dominic for stabbing Cassius in the thigh on the train, Eric patted his head, he always felt that it was not that simple, Cassius was not someone who was intimidated by this little thing.

"Huh?" Eric, who was patting his head, tilted his neck and saw three figures walking towards them on the soft green grass, and Eric stood up vigilantly with one hand on the grass.

Astoria noticed the three as well, and she stood up and winked in confusion

"Draco? Malfoy? ”

Dominic finally got up and stood behind the two of them, glancing coldly at the comer, and the expression on his face melted a little after hearing Astoria's muttering, he still remembered that Malfoy had helped them block the three Cassius on the train.

It was Malfoy, Crabbe, and Goyle who walked towards them, and the trio stepped across the lawn, and Crabbe and Goyle's expressions showed that they seemed to have no idea why they were here, as they also looked at Eric with confused faces.

Eric soon understood that they were only dutifully doing their duty as followers, and turned his gaze to Malfoy, a boy a year older than him, with a smile on his face and pale skin less dazzling on a cloudy day.

He came to the three of them, smiled and stood one step away, and said slowly:

"Good afternoon, Eric—"

Turning his head to look at Astoria, Malfoy leaned slightly

"Miss Greengrass—"

Finally, he looked at Dominic, who was behind the two of them, and his brows furrowed imperceptibly, but he quickly flattened, his Adam's apple squirmed a few times, and finally swallowed a mouthful of saliva and whispered:

"And—Volcker—good afternoon."

Eric remained silent, he didn't know what was wrong with Malfoy, and if it wasn't for what happened on the train, he might have started to wonder what kind of conspiracy was going to happen against them.

You must know that although Malfoy didn't bother with snake letters last semester, he has never been so enthusiastic, and Eric can't figure out what kind of medicine this guy is selling this time.

"What's the matter with you? Draco? ”

Astoria spoke, the Greengrass family had a good relationship with the Malfoy family, and was one of the twenty-eight pure-bloods, and was particularly respected in the pure-blood circle that always valued blood, and Malfoy also treated her with the most respect.

"Ahh

Changing his breath abruptly, Malfoy moved half a step forward and drew closer to Eric, who spoke in a much lower voice, and whispered to Eric:

"I have something I want to tell you alone, can you get them all to back off?"

Eric gave him a strange look, not understanding what to say to himself, and Goyle and Crabbe both took the initiative to take a few steps back and stay away from them at the signal of Malfoy's eyes.

After a few seconds of thought, Eric turned back to Astoria and Dominic and nodded, signaling them not to worry, so the two stepped back, and Malfoy leaned into Eric's ear to speak.

"You can visit Hogsmeade this semester, right?"

"Well, yes—"

Eric nodded, still unable to figure out what Malfoy was saying, he was quite interested in Hogsmeade, although there were such pure wizarding villages in Germany, they had declined, but Hogsmeade was said to be very prosperous, and he was looking forward to the fun taverns and shops.

"That's it-"

Malfoy's voice seemed to come from his mouth behind the cotton cloth, because he was too close to his ears, and the hissing sound of exhalation made Eric feel itchy in his ears.

"There's a pig's head bar there, someone wants to see you......"

"See me?"

"Yes."

"In Hogsmeade?"

Malfoy nodded, and the puzzled look on Eric's face grew heavier.

"Can't you tell who it is?"

Malfoy smiled mysteriously, not answering him directly

"You'll see you then, but I want you to go by yourself and don't bring your little buddies."

As if to see Eric's hesitation, Malfoy continued to tell him, "That's a good thing, Eric, I'm on your side now, you should understand on the train, right?" ”

Eric looked up and looked at Draco in a daze? Malfoy.

"And—" Malfoy leaned his head closer, and whispered again with a half-smile in his ear

"I guess you wonder why Cassius didn't trouble you after that, right?"

Eric's eyes lit up, he was still puzzled by this, could it be Malfoy's doing? But Malfoy probably didn't have the ability to make Cassius fear.

Just as Eric was about to ask the question, Malfoy seemed to be about to end the brief conversation.

He threw his head back, leaving the last words echoing in Eric's ear.

"Don't you feel the marks on your body? Eric? ”

Malfoy's words make Eric? Hohenzollern's heart shook violently, as if a thunderbolt sounded in his ears, and by the time he came back to his senses, the three figures had already faded away from the meadow, and the call of Astoria was heard in his ears

"Eric? What happened to you? - What did he say? ”

Dominic and Astoria stood in front of him with concern, their eyes focused on Eric's face, as if trying to read from their expressions what Malfoy had just said to him.

"Uh-huh—"

Eric exhaled, shook his head, and said:

"It's nothing, just trying to find a time to come out and talk to me, I guess he's probably thinking about his own future, he also offended Cassius on the train."

"Why, that coward wants to come back to the snake letter too?" Astoria clasped her hands to her chest, a trace of dissatisfaction flashed on her face, and she said coldly:

"Why didn't we see that guy come to our side last year, could it be that I saw the news in the newspaper and Laurel's fate, and then I remembered to atone for my sins?"

Eric waved his hand, smiled wryly and decided to end the topic, the meaning of Malfoy's words just now was already very clear, although now his head was still confused, because the other party's last sentence obviously meant something, the so-called mark was naturally the mark of the snake letter, during this time, that mark would always become a little burning from time to time.

Although Eric didn't think much about it, now that Malfoy had broken it, he already had a vague answer in his heart, but this answer was a bit of a way for him to leak directly to Astoria and Dominic.

Malfoy's words were clearly saying that the person who wanted to see him in Hogsmeade was Ning An.

And if everything is said to be Ning An behind the scenes, it makes perfect sense.

Why Malfoy suddenly changed his temper and was so dedicated to helping them, even stopping the three Cassius on the train, and why Cassius did not retaliate against them, these are all clearly explained.

Malfoy will definitely obey Ning'an's orders, all of this is Ning'an's orders, as for Cassius, Eric believes that Ning'an has countless ways to make that idiot dare not retaliate, or even forget about it.

What really shocked him was that Ning An came to Hogwarts? Or wandering around Hogwarts?

Eric and Astoria walked to the castle together, there was a Potions class in the afternoon, even for Slytherin students, Professor Snape was not an easy person to deal with, he had been a little irritable lately, and everyone speculated that it might have something to do with the arrival of the Mad-Eyed Man, Moody, so no one wanted to be late for Potions class.

While walking towards the castle, Eric thought carefully, if it was really Ning An who wanted to see him, it would undoubtedly be a great thing, he was still staying in Snake Letter, the reason for being in such an organization that was almost about to exist in name only, was that when Ning An appeared, he believed that this wizard with superior magical strength was not only his own expectation, but also the hope of his family's rise.

He also believed that as long as Malfoy was not crazy, he would never dare to make fun of Ning An or play a prank, so this time it was definitely true.

But what did Ning An see himself for? Do you want to infiltrate Hogwarts? Or is Mr. Ning An really now a Death Eater, as the newspaper says, in the service of the mysterious man?

"Hey, Eric - what's wrong with you? Was it because of what Malfoy said to you? ”

Astoria stretched out her hand and shook it in front of him, and if Dominic hadn't pulled him in time, he would have almost tripped over the stone steps at the entrance of the castle.

"Well, I'm sorry - I'm fine."

Turning his head and smiling at Dominic

"Thank you, Volker—"

Eric couldn't speak, although he believed his companion, but since Malfoy could have conveyed Ning An's orders, it meant that Ning An didn't want others to know about it, at least for the time being, how could he reveal it.

So despite Astoria's suspicions and Dominic's curiosity despite not asking, Eric couldn't speak, so he gaged and shifted the conversation to something else.

He was absent-minded for the whole Potions class, and the anthelmintic potion he boiled out was not at all transparent and colorless, and he only made a pot of green, slimy stuff, which made Snape angry and scolded him.

But even when he was scolded, Eric didn't pay attention, his mind had already wandered to the weekend, when they were going to visit Hogsmeade, and he would be able to meet the man at the pig's head bar.

He was even thinking about whether to make an outline in advance, because he really had too much to say to Ning An, and in addition to the situation of Snake Letter, the rest of the personnel, he wanted to tell Ning An about his family's problems.

He wanted to introduce Ning An to his father, the head of the Hohenzollern family, and if he could get Ning An's help, Eric believed that it would definitely be a good thing for his family.

"What do you think is wrong with him?"

Astoria whispered to Dominic next to him, the two of them were placed in a group, in fact, no one in Slytherin wanted to be in a group with Dominic, and Astoria volunteered to be Dominic's partner in the same group.

"It's the first time I've seen someone being reprimanded by Professor Snape, and he can still smile, and look at him as if something good has happened, did Malfoy cast some weird spell on Eric?"

Dominic shook his head silently, but the smile on his face could not be stopped, no matter what Malfoy said to Eric, since Eric was not going to say it, then Dominic did not want to ask, he believed that the boy would explain it to everyone when it was time to speak, it was a kind of trust.

He didn't dwell on that, now he just thought Eric's expression was so funny, he didn't seem to realize that his smiling face had angered Snape again, and he was probably going to be punished for cleaning the office after class.