Chapter 1: Prologue

Beautiful appearance.

“Ha, seriously. If she wasn’t so pretty, I would have hit her.”

A great family of pure blood.

“On the Hogwarts Board of Governors, the Parent-Teacher Association, and even in Slytherin! There are only four Malfoys, how are they everywhere?”

Talented in both academics and martial arts.

“Someone do something about Snape! His favoritism in Potions and Quidditch is too much! How are we supposed to practice?!”

Always the most noticeable, always shining brightly, that name is Karina Malfoy.

She could be considered the current protagonist of Hogwarts. Even Gryffindors, who usually snarl at Slytherins, momentarily sheath their claws when she appears. With an angelic smile, even the most demanding professors go out of their way to accommodate her.

She doesn’t even need to lift a finger. Hogwarts is full of fools trying to get close to a Malfoy.

Followers flock to her like decorative leaves, and bugs linger around, hoping to catch a whiff of her scent. Tedious tasks are passed on to the bugs, and dirty work is cleaned up by the leaves.

Her smile is reserved for the sun; it’s too precious to be wasted on earthly beings.

However, even she, the protagonist of the world, had a rival.

His name is Harry Potter, the Chosen One.

Malfoy disliked Harry Potter from the moment they met.

Well, objectively speaking, he’s not bad looking without his glasses. Maybe she could have tolerated him if it weren’t for those hideous spectacles.

He, too, is of pure blood and from a great family, with wealth comparable to the Malfoys. Yet, he lacks decorum in his words and actions, which ignorant girls apparently praise as being “easygoing.”

His grades are decent, and he’s the youngest Quidditch Seeker in Hogwarts history. Based solely on qualifications, he’s another contender for the protagonist of Hogwarts, almost on par with Malfoy.

But Malfoy knew it was all a facade.

‘The Chosen One.’

The Dark Lord disappeared the day he was born.

Because of that coincidence, everyone looks at Harry Potter with rose-tinted glasses.

In reality, without the scar on his forehead, his face is rather bland and unremarkable.

He was raised by Muggles, so he has no manners and reeks of commonness. That’s not being easygoing; it’s just being crude.

He’s always distracted in class, yet his decent grades are due to that
filthy Mudblood girl he hangs around with, and as for Quidditch…it’s all a bubble. A bubble as big as a Bubble-Head Charm.

Malfoy always believed she was superior. That’s why she found it irritating and unbearable whenever he became the center of attention.

She even bit her nails out of stress when Gryffindor won the House Cup. Thankfully, Crabbe stopped her before her nails were damaged.

Anyway. Hogwarts would be much better without him.

This daily life would be much more beautiful and peaceful–.

“Hey, Malfoy. Shut up and listen.”

That daily life shattered into pieces because of a single diary.

“You and your father are in a very difficult situation.”

Malfoy stared at the diary with trembling eyes. The diary her father was going to leave at Borgin and Burkes. The one containing Dark magic.

Malfoy was somewhat aware of her father’s plan. She didn’t expect a Basilisk to appear, but since no one died, she thought it could be managed.

Her father is a remarkable man. A wonderful and powerful man who influences the Ministry of Magic and controls the Hogwarts Board of Governors. However…

“This diary is Voldemort’s Horcrux. In other words, it’s a means for Voldemort to resurrect, an artifact containing his soul. Your father risked this Horcrux just to get Uncle Arthur in trouble.”

The threat before her shattered the ground beneath Malfoy’s feet.

Her head spun. It felt as if the ground she stood on was made of thin glass, cracking and creaking, about to shatter at any moment, plunging her into eternal darkness.

Malfoy managed to speak.

“D-do you have proof?”

“Think, you idiot. To provide proof, I’d have to submit this diary to the Ministry. That would instantly reveal that it’s a Horcrux to the Ministry and the Death Eaters lurking within.”

Harry Potter ran a hand through his hair irritably. His sharp eyes, visible behind his glasses, pierced through Malfoy. Malfoy hiccuped and trembled.

“It’d be better if I just confessed to opening the Chamber of Secrets. What else can the Ministry do besides lock up your father in Azkaban?”

“Our father won’t be imprisoned! He said he has connections in the Ministry and influence in the Wizengamot!”

“Right. So, it’s better that way. If Voldemort returns and finds out that one of his souls has been destroyed, he’ll cast another Killing Curse instead of wasting time looking for evidence.”

Voldemort.

The Dark Lord.

The former master of the Malfoy family, who disappeared upon Harry Potter’s birth.

Like a true Malfoy, and a true Slytherin, Malfoy harbored a vague reverence for the Dark Lord. Every time Harry Potter spoke his name casually, she shuddered. She wanted to stand up and yell at him to stop saying that name.

However, the moment she saw the diary pierced by fangs, her mind went blank, and her hands and feet trembled.

Harry Potter looked down at Malfoy and said,

“So, I’m warning you directly. Your father destroyed one of Voldemort’s seven lives. Your family needs to be careful. At least you should be, if they can’t be. Helping the Death Eaters won’t do your family any good. They’ll be his biggest enemies when Voldemort returns.”

The Malfoy family possesses vast wealth and owns villas all over the country. Those places sometimes provide shelter for Death Eaters with nowhere else to go.

And Harry spoke as if he saw right through it all.

“This is a threat, Malfoy.”

Harry Potter spoke with an intensity unbefitting his age.

“If the identity of this diary and how it was destroyed is revealed, your family is finished. Both the Ministry and the Death Eaters will become your enemies. They’ll come for you with forks and knives, aiming for your wealth and power. If you want to prevent this from coming to light… become our hostage.”

“H-hostage?”

“Yes. You probably don’t know jack
anyway. Your only use to me is as a hostage, that’s all.”

Malfoy clasped her hands to her chest and trembled.

Those who wish for the Dark Lord’s return.

Those who want to prevent the Dark Lord’s return.

Honestly, Malfoy didn’t care which world came to pass. Whether the Dark Lord returned or not, it would still be a world where she was the protagonist.

But now.

Now that the diary was irrevocably destroyed.

“O-okay… I’ll do it…”

For herself, and for her family, Malfoy had no choice but to grasp the lifeline offered by her enemy.

“I’ll do it! I’ll join your side!”

“I’m glad you’re smarter than I thought, Malfoy. ‘Than I thought’ being the key words.”

Harry stood up and extended a hand to Malfoy. Harry Potter’s hand looked like the fangs of a snake.