Chapter 10 Gunter and Lance

"You mean to tell me that Lady Catherine is so afraid of me because her family, originally, was a servant of the Gunter family?"

　　Luke was a little taken aback by this news.

　　That would make Lady Catherine's reaction understandable to him. After all, if it had been him, after having waited so long for the main family to become extinct and free himself, another heir to the main family would surely have felt both physically and psychologically uncomfortable.

　　If one had a bit of courage, one would also be thinking about the possibility of making this heir disappear in both a physical and social sense.

　　Luna nodded: "It's no secret that Aunt Catherine's previous Lance family was a vassal of the Gaunt family. After all, even the Gunter's, who had fallen on hard times before, used to go to the Lance's for money from time to time, with high spirits. And the Lance family had to give it, and couldn't even be half unhappy about it."

　　"The power of contract."

　　Luke could see what this was all about with a little thought; after all, there were many contracts in the magical world, and some of them were rather unequal.

　　"But I was unaware of the existence of this pact, and it was not recorded in those notes left in my family, which means that this pact was not signed by our side of the family."

　　Luke had no interest in such a servant family. Of course, the key thing is that it is obvious that Lady Catherine or the entire Lance family should now be fearful with a little hatred towards the Gunter family ...

　　If one must inherit this 'family legacy', maybe they will really muster up the 'courage'.

　　And in that instant, Luke was clearly thinking of something more. Both Professor McGonagall and the Luna in front of him were reasons for him to refuse or tear up this contract.

　　Just as Luke wandered off, there was a sudden blackness in front of him and he was taken aback, his body leaning back slightly before he saw what was in front of him. It was a small black cat about thirty centimetres in length. The eyes were an emerald emerald colour very similar to Luke's.

　　The smile on Luna's face widened a little more after she saw Luke startled, "His name is Booker and he's a new breed of cat that Aunt Katherine found from a Muggle cat breeder. After a few generations of crossbreeding, he's able to adapt to some of the magical world as well."

　　Luna introduced Booker to Luke while the short black legged cat raised one small paw and waved lazily at Luke as if in greeting.

　　The corner of Luke's mouth twitched, if that had just been a real greeting, then wasn't this cat a little too clever.

　　"You two smell a lot alike, you should hit it off."

　　With that, Luna tucked Booker into Luke's arms. Luke subconsciously wrapped his arms around Booker, who slouched straight into Luke's arms and lay still. A look of comfort.

　　Luna gave a satisfied smile, "He likes you a lot."

　　Luke looked at Booker and was silent for a moment, then smiled back, "I like him a lot too."

　　And the little cat that was being held meowed twice and then rubbed against Luke's face, as if to show his love for him.

　　And it was at this time that Luke suddenly felt a happy emotion.

　　But the feeling didn't come from himself. Luke should have instantly raised his guard, but did not act accordingly. There was both the guidance of this happy emotion. There was also that almost instinctive instinct that this was harmless.

　　Luke looked at Luna beside him and knew that this was the source of the emotion.

　　More and more he felt mystified by this little girl who could see odd things.

　　--------

　　"It's just coincidence."

　　Professor McGonagall took a sip of her wine and said slowly, "I only came to bring him to procure supplies for admissions, and I had no idea that the pet he wanted would be a cat. And since it's a cat.

Why don't we take this opportunity to get your business out of the way."

　　Catherine drained her glass once more, then picked up the bottle and filled it for herself.

　　"Why does this sinful family still exist!"

　　She said in a tone that bordered on gnashing of teeth.

　　"Greed, indulgence, lowliness, ugliness, this family is a coalescence of almost all ugliness, and such a family should be extinct!"

　　Watching her emotions grow out of control, Professor McGonagall raised her hand and placed a soundproofing spell on the place.

　　"The truth is they are extinct, Catherine." Professor McGonagall said, staring at Lady Catherine, "As far as I know, Luke and his family are not very related to the Gunter family who persecuted you. It's not even certain that he knew of your existence."

　　"And, before their decline, the Gaunts were known for their misbehaviour as well, but they were still a very respectable family."

　　Lady Catherine couldn't argue with that. People throughout the magical world knew that these noble families with long legacies did not become noble because of their lineage. Their families inevitably had ancestors who commanded enough respect, and there was no shortage of heroes among their descendants.

　　"More to the point, Catherine, Luke is still a child, even if he acts mature, he is still a child, and a child with noble pride, and I think you might be able to come to an agreement and actually break that contract."

　　Professor McGonagall prompted with a solemn look.

　　"Yes, this might be a chance to come up with enough money ... for us to do so."

　　Catherine pondered for a moment and opened her mouth before she could finish her sentence when Professor McGonagall interrupted.

　　"Think of something else, money, knowledge, treasures, magic props and such he's not short of." Professor McGonagall said seriously, "The boy has inherited everything that belonged to his Gunther family, and really, it's more money than I can imagine."

　　Catherine choked for a long moment, "So what should we give?"

　　Professor McGonagall shook her head, "I don't know, but I'm not going to let you screw my student either. By bringing him here today and letting him talk to you, I'm already compromising him. So if you can't come up with a sufficient price, then I will also take my student and leave on the spot."

　　So Lady Catherine bowed her head in distress.

　　But a moment later she raised her head again.

　　"You take such care of him?" Catherine looked strangely at the close friend in front of her, "You wouldn't want to abduct him to Gryffindor, would you?"

　　Professor McGonagall was not amused at that.

　　"How can you call that abduction! Everyone has the right to choose their own house, don't they? I'm just being reasonable and guiding."

　　Katherine, however, shook her head skeptically.

　　"Slytherin, the founder of this house was one of their family's ancestors, and I really don't think this boy is going to be a young lion. I reckon at the first sight of him, I wouldn't even have to put it on before the branch hat would be shouting 'Slytherin'."

　　So the next distressed person went from one to two ...