Madam Pomfrey gave him a look of deep suspicion. 'I suppose you might as well know,' she said. 'Draco Malfoy is no longer with us.'
The shock nearly knocked Draco off his feet. His vision dissolved into a swirling blur of colors, and he gurgled, in a sticky sort of voice, 'Is he…is he…he's not dead?'
Madam Pomfrey looked shocked. 'No, Potter, of course he isn't dead!' she snapped. 'Really! He's been sent home temporarily. His father came and picked him up this afternoon.'
And she shut the door in Dracos face.
There was light, faint at first, sharpening to a sudden, stabbing beam. Harry groaned and rolled over, opening his eyes.
He wanted to sit up, but amazement kept him pinned to the bed. He was lying in a bedroom, but a bedroom the like of which he had never seen before. The walls were carved out of unpolished stone, and the ceiling rose so high it disappeared into shadow, despite the bright sunlight that was pouring through the arch-shaped leaded glass windows that lined the room. The huge four-poster he was lying on, canopied in black velvet printed with silver snakes, was the only piece of furniture in the room apart from an enormous wardrobe propped against the far wall, the front of which was covered with an ornate design of gilded letter 'M' s.
It was the Ms that did it. Harry sat up and swore out loud, staring down at his hands — they were not his hands — long, pale, and unfamiliar. He touched his forehead and felt no scar. Finally, in desperation, he yanked out a handful of his hair and stared down as the silvery-white strands sifted down to the black bedclothes.
He was still Draco. And what was worse, he was — somehow — in Draco Malfoys house. He must have been passed out cold for a long time, someone must have brought him here.
Right on cue, the door burst open, and Lucius Malfoy stood framed in the doorway. He was wearing black, as he had been wearing black every time Harry had ever seen him. Harry felt himself going cold with apprehension.
'So, boy,' said Lucius, striding over towards the bed. 'Do you know who you are, now?? Harry stared at him. Surely Lucius couldn?t know who he really was. If he knew he had Harry Potter in his house-'Draco Malfoy,' he said. 'Your son.'
Lucius? face split into a cold smile. 'I told that Pomfrey woman she didn?t know what she was talking about,' he said, satisfied. 'Theres nothing wrong with you, boy. No Malfoy has ever forgotten who they are.'
Harry looked into Dracos fathers cold gray eyes and said nothing. His throat seemed to have closed up.
'Well, since you?re here,' said Mr. Malfoy, 'We might as well have some fun.'
He drew his cloak aside and Harry saw a long silver sword strapped to his side. His stomach plummeted. He doesn?t believe I?m Draco, he thought desperately, Hes going to hack me into bits.
'How about a spot of fencing practice?' Lucius Malfoy went on. 'Test your mettle, boy.'
Great, thought Harry, who had never even seen a fencing match. He does believe I?m Draco, and hes still going to hack me into bits.
'All, right, Father,' said Harry, striving for Dracos drawling tones. Mr. Malfoy was looking impatient, so Harry swung his legs over the side of the bed and nearly yelled when his feet touched the ground — it was like ice. Mr. Malfoy didn?t appear to be worried about his son freezing his toes off, however — he hurried out of the room, and Harry, still barefoot, followed.
He found himself nearly running to keep up with Lucius Malfoy as he stalked down a long corridor lined with Malfoy family portraits. There were a few hags, some very pretty women who were definitely veela — which was probably where Malfoy got his fair hair — some rather pale men who were probably vampires, and a rather unpleasant-looking wizard who was pictured riding an enormous spider whose bridle was fastened around its poison-dripping pincers. Yech, thought Harry, what a horrible lot.
Lucius Malfoy opened a huge stone-bound door with a wave of his wand and went inside, followed by Harry. He found himself in another huge room; this one had a smooth stone floor and was decorated with tapestries which depicted various scenes of wizard battle. Angry-looking wizards ran at each other, using their wands to decapitate, disembowel, and set fire to their victims. As Harry watched, mouth open in horror, a goblin with a long, flaming sword chased a screaming wizard right across one tapestry and into another.
Lucius, following Harrys gaze, nodded, looking pleased, 'Yes, I just got the tapestries cleaned, the blood was starting to look quite dull and not at all shiny.
Shall we begin?' And he tossed Harry a long, pointed rapier, which Harry looked at dully. 'En garde!'
Harry raised his sword, resolving to bleed copiously as he died and hopefully ruin the Malfoysnice stone flooring. Fortunately, at that moment a knock sounded on the stone door, and it swung open. A tall wizard in dark green robes strode into the room.
'Hello, McNair,' said Lucius Malfoy, lowering his sword and turning away from Harry. 'Did Narcissa let you up?'
'She told me you were in here, yes,' said the tall man, who Harry recognized as a wizard who worked for the Department for the Disposal of Dangerous Magical Creatures. He was also, Harry recalled grimly, a Death Eater. 'I came with some news-' He broke off as he saw Harry, 'Hallo, Draco, I didn?t know you were back home.'
'His mother wanted to see him,' said Lucius smoothly. 'You know how women are. She misses him while hes away at school.'
Madwoman, thought Harry.
'Well, the news I have actually has to do with Hogwarts,' said McNair. 'Lucius-' He looked from Lucius Malfoy to Harry.
'You can say anything in front of Draco,' said Lucius Malfoy. 'He is entirely obedient to me.'
'Of course,' said McNair. 'I had not meant to imply otherwise.' He turned to Harry. 'How goes your work at the school?' he asked. 'Are you spreading the word of the Dark Lord?'
'What?' said Harry, flabbergasted. He?d known Draco was nasty, but….
