21 The Prodigy

Two weeks after the successful establishment and opening of the Dragon Enterprises, Dragon Mirrors could be frequently seen being carried around by witches and wizards.

The Daily Prophet articles kept gushing on and on about the 'invention of the century' as well as 'the young Malfoy genius'. People were discussing Draco just as enthusiastically as the communication mirrors, which had yet to fail.

Initially, witches and wizards felt that the communication mirrors were too hyped up and that it would soon come crashing down. They enthusiastically bought the new product mostly because the Malfoy family was well-known and their promise of getting the money back if the mirrors don't work as advertised seemed to be very credible. After all, if they didn't do as promised, the Malfoy family's reputation would take a significant blow.

However, as the reality soon showed, the Dragon Mirrors worked as intended. There were, of course, some mix-ups initially, however, the company's staff was very capable in resolving them. The arithmancers worked tirelessly in expanding the equations to add in more people while enchanters conducted rituals on new mirrors on daily basis. All of the staff was busy overseeing things, selling products and maintaining their standards.

When the magical community saw that the mirrors were actually a good product, they came in droves to buy them. Especially since, just as Draco guessed before, it was the holiday season and mirrors made for an excellent gift.

Draco found that it didn't matter whether the mirrors were plain or ornate - they were all enthusiastically bought-out. Though those, which were made out of really expensive materials, were understandably less popular. After-all, not every household could afford them.

As for the people discussing Draco himself, calling him a 'prodigy' and 'the most intelligent boy of the century', Draco could only shrug and wryly smile. He was an adult in a child's body and, to top it off, he once worked in finance, was from the future and knew how to (theoretically) do business. If that was 'genius' then the boy could only hope that no real geniuses ever showed up in front of him - Draco would be too ashamed to face them.

However, he couldn't exactly explain it to his parents, who were extremely proud of him, or to the whole Magical Britain - the whole country was aware of the fact that Draco was the one who came up with the idea because Eugenius Billwick, his chief enchanter, decided to brag about his young boss during an interview for the Prophet. It didn't help that Dirk Crowdling, the chief arithmancer, silently agreed and even glared at the reporter when the later expressed some disbelief. The poor reporter had no choice but to cover before the intimidating man and hold in any further doubts.

When other employees, who were questioned, all stated the same - Draco Malfoy was the one who initiated and supervised the project and the company - people were finally convinced. It's not like the Malfoy family would bribe even the cleaning staff to say positive things about their child, right? And dwarves would also never lie...

So while the magical community discussed whether Draco Malfoy was better than Harry Potter (Harry was, of course, better in most people's opinion), Draco tried to stay far away from the public eye and events until all the hype died down. However, he couldn't avoid Daphne's invitation to a tea party, which she organized as part of her Etiquette class and training to be a future pureblood wife and heir.

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"Couldn't you wait until after New Year's to host a party?" complained Draco as soon as he came to the living-room of the Greengrass estate. Daphne glared at him momentarily for his manners then quickly put up a perfectly fake smile.

"Draco, dear, so nice to see you here," she said sweetly. The blond boy felt goosebumps all over his body - his friend sounded just like his mother, and not in a good way. He could only mirror her smile, give her a gift of loose Jasmine tea and silently find his seat at the table, which already had some of his friends sitting around.

"You just had to go and provoke her, didn't you?" whispered Theo, who sat beside him. Draco decisively ignored him.

The tea party started soon after. As it was Daphne's 'exam', everything had to be perfect, down to the minor details. This time the theme of the party was black-and-white - a classic theme which was often used in various events. Boys generally dressed in black, while girls in white (though sometimes there were some mix-ups).

The tea which was served was traditional black tea. It was paired with suitable snacks, such as egg sandwiches, fruit tarts and sweet desserts. Everything was served cleanly and elegantly on a white tablecloth, with bright out-of-season flowers standing in a glass vase and small plates, tea cups and saucers placed all around the table.

Draco, as an over thirty-year-old adult, felt completely out of place, as though he was playing house with children. The blond boy could also see that Theo and few other boys seemed to be a bit uncomfortable too. Of course, as purebloods, they knew the proper etiquette, however, tea parties were mainly women's events. Draco couldn't imagine grown men sitting around such table with flowers and what not, discussing new gossip. But here he was...

The blond boy couldn't count, how many times someone came to him to gush about his new company and mirrors or ask about what kind of features there will be in the future. Draco was sick of questions about his supposed 'genius' and debates about who was more handsome - himself or Harry Potter. He even felt that his friendship with Daphne was almost not worth all this trouble. Thankfully, Theo soon rescued him from the surrounding girls and few curious boys.

"Oh Merlin and Morgana, why do I have to suffer so much?" Draco groaned as he crashed on a couch in a faraway corner. Theo laughed and jokingly questioned, "Who asked you to be such a genius?"

Draco rolled his eyes. Both boys were silent for a moment as Draco rested. Finally, Theo spoke up.

"Actually, I have something to talk with you about," the dark haired boy started hesitantly. Draco raised his eyebrow and waited.

"Remember when you were in the hospital for awhile due to that Egyptian artifact?" Theo started.

"Of course, it wasn't even a year ago," the blond nodded. Draco still sometimes thought about the artifact. He always felt that he forgot something important but he couldn't remember no matter how hard he tried.

"At that time we didn't know when you would wake up so I wrote to one of my father's friends, who dabbles in curse breaking. He has some connections with Egyptian Ministry of Magic and few close friends who, as I came to understand, were in charge of re-examining the artifact after that incident."

"And?"

"And there are finally some new discoveries. I hear they finally invited a necromancer to examine the thing after it was concluded that the scepter is related to afterlife," Theo patiently explained.

New discoveries? If they came to question Draco about why an artifact, which is related to death, would show a reaction to him, he wouldn't know what to say.

"What new things did they find out?" he finally asked, however Theo shook his head.

"I also don't know, I hear that it's classified. If you want to find out, you have to travel to Egypt."

"If it's classified then why would they tell me?" Draco wondered. Theo shrugged his shoulders but his eyes were piercingly examining his friend.

Seeing this look Draco had a realization - they would tell him for the same reason that Draco was reluctant to go. They wanted to question the victim of the incident more thoroughly about why the scepter reacted the way it did. Now even Theo knew that the artifact was related to death and it seemed that he was also curious to find out Draco's connection to it.

Draco released a loud sigh and at Theo's inquiring look he could only say, "I will think about it and tell you later." His friend silently nodded. The blond boy felt that he made a good friend - Theodore didn't ask too many questions but still found his ways to help.

The boys sat in the corner hiding from others for the rest of Daphne's tea party.