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Chapter 26 – The Light of the Father Shines in Diagon Alley
After sending Paggie away for the night, Darren's small body finally succumbed to sleep.
The moment he turned over, he drifted off into a deep slumber.
By the time he woke, sunlight was already spilling warmly across the room.
After washing up, Paggie brought him a bowl of cereal porridge and two slices of syrup cake.
Apparently believing Darren had a sweet tooth, she had added an impressive amount of sugar.
Darren stared at the porridge for a moment.
At this rate, he was certain he'd develop diabetes before the age of twelve.
"Little Master Darren, are we going to Diagon Alley today?"
"Go!"
Of course he was going — he needed to complete some temporary system tasks anyway.
After finishing breakfast, he patted his stomach in satisfaction and nodded to Paggie.
She smiled warmly and took him by the hand.
A soft crack! of Apparition, and they appeared in bustling Diagon Alley.
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The closer it was to the start of term, the more crowded the Alley became.
Students hurried everywhere, parents calling after them, arms full of books and robes.
As Darren made his way through the throng, he spotted an elderly witch scolding a pudgy boy in round glasses.
"Neville, how many times have I told you to keep track of things? How are we supposed to buy supplies if you lose your Galleons again?"
"I'm sorry, Gran… I forgot…"
"Honestly!"
Darren watched the pair with mild curiosity. Neville Longbottom.
The boy who'd almost been the Chosen One.
Still, since the system didn't ping him with a task, he decided not to interfere.
Instead, he continued toward Flourish and Blotts, the wizarding bookstore wedged between Madam Malkin's Robes for All Occasions and a quill shop.
The shop was crammed floor to ceiling with books — some stacked, some floating, and others wrestling each other for space on the shelves.
A few even snapped at him when he passed too close.
Darren was staring in fascination at a book covered in shifting runes when a startled cry made him turn.
"Ah!"
A girl had fallen to the floor, scowling up at a boy with pale blond hair and sharp grey eyes.
"Malfoy! How dare you?"
Malfoy?
Darren immediately recalled Draco Malfoy, heir of the Malfoy family — the very same who would one day become Harry's archrival.
Curious, Darren decided not to intervene just yet. It wasn't every day one got to watch a Malfoy start trouble in public.
Draco smirked. "Oh, Betsy Greengrass. That's what you get for rejecting me at the ball. Consider it payback!"
Greengrass?
That surname was familiar — one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight pure-blood families, just like the Malfoys.
If he remembered correctly, Draco eventually married a Greengrass girl… though her name definitely wasn't Betsy.
So this Malfoy brat had already started collecting grudges?
Typical. Arrogant, petty, spoiled — and apparently, as dramatic as ever.
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"I'm sick of you!" Betsy snapped, glaring down at Draco.
As Slytherin's current student council president, she had no patience for a boy who was barely old enough to attend Hogwarts.
When Draco had approached her at a social event and demanded a dance, she had politely refused — explaining she didn't dance with children.
Apparently, he had taken it as a personal insult.
Now, he'd gone so far as to trip her in public.
Humiliated, Betsy clenched her fists. "You're finished, Malfoy! You think you can embarrass me in front of everyone? I'll make sure you regret it once you're in Slytherin!"
Draco just sneered and grabbed the hem of her robes. "You think you can walk away from me? You'll apologize right now — admit the Greengrass family is beneath the Malfoys!"
"What?" Betsy froze, livid.
The Greengrasses were just as noble — and far more numerous — than the Malfoys. How dare he claim they were inferior?
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> [Ding! The system has detected a situation suitable for Holy Father intervention. Temporary task initiated:]
Walk up to Malfoy, frown slightly, and say:
"You should apologize. This young lady has done nothing wrong — and no one is born inferior to another. If anyone here is lesser, it's only in character."
[Mission reward: Favorability +50 with Cassandra Warrley. Accept?]
Cassandra Warrley?
Darren's brow furrowed.
That name… she was a character from a magic game he'd played before crossing into this world — a Slytherin girl with golden hair and a beauty mark beneath her eye.
So she existed here too?
Then again, he was here. Anything was possible.
He accepted the mission.
[✔ Mission Accepted.]
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Originally, Darren had no intention of involving himself in the quarrel between two pure-blood families.
They were the sort of people who measured worth by lineage and status — not kindness.
Even if he stepped in to help the girl, she might not appreciate it.
But the system had spoken.
Besides, even if there were no reward, he couldn't just watch some arrogant boy humiliate a girl in broad daylight.
The light of the Holy Father must shine upon all — even the spoiled children of noble houses.
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> Author's Note:
I'd originally planned to skip these pre-Hogwarts chapters since they're slower, but decided to keep them to build a stronger foundation.
Betsy Greengrass and Cassandra Warrley give Darren more solid reasons to be connected to Slytherin — something Snape's involvement alone didn't fully justify.
With these two characters, his future in Slytherin will make much more sense.
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