Chapter 42: Chapter 42 Chairman of the School Council
"Lucius Malfoy, you two-faced traitor!"
In the boardroom of the school, Aksli, who had fallen to the ground, shouted angrily at Lucius.
Aksli was quite powerful; despite the double impact of his own curse, he managed to cast a Shield Charm in the nick of time, mitigating most of the damage. This allowed him to still have the strength to curse Lucius.
Listening to Aksli's outburst, Lucius remained unflustered and seriously said to Dracula, "Professor Dracula, these people who tried to attack you have committed serious offenses. I suggest we send them all to Azkaban for reform."
Draco, standing next to Lucius, stared in shock at his father with his mouth agape. He never imagined that his father, who always maintained an aristocratic demeanor, could pull off such a bold move!
Aksli struggled to get up from the floor, ready to hurl more insults at Lucius. However, Dracula waved his hand nonchalantly, sending Aksli to the corner of the room like shooing away a fly, where he was stacked up with the lamenting board members, and then promptly silenced them.
"It's much quieter now," Dracula said with satisfaction, nodding towards the composed yet visibly anxious Lucius. "Now, tell me your thoughts, Mr. Malfoy."
"Please, just call me Lucius, Mr. Dracula," Lucius said with a sheepish smile.
"I propose that those who offended you, or to put it another way, those who disrupted the normal order of the board meeting, be sent to Azkaban for correction. I have ample evidence of their illegal activities and can contribute to preserving the purity and cleanliness of the Hogwarts board!"
Lucius delivered these lines with a calm demeanor and an impassive face.
He was quite familiar with betraying allies! When Voldemort was overthrown and the Ministry of Magic was purging Death Eaters, he had betrayed many of his fellow Death Eaters, spilling all their information and donating a large amount of Galleons.
From then on, the Malfoy family abandoned the dark side and remained good friends with the Ministry of Magic! Selling out Aksli and the other board members today was no big deal. After all, he had little personal connection with them, and there was also a competitive relationship between pure-blood families. This was a good opportunity to deal a blow to his rivals.
Dracula looked at Lucius, who wore a sanctimonious expression, and couldn't help but admire his talents!
"Good idea, I have high hopes for you, Lucius," he said to Lucius. "But I vaguely remember you saying when you first arrived that I enjoyed punishing students and wanted to expel me from Hogwarts?"
Lucius's expression remained unchanged as he turned around and slapped his son Draco on the head.
Draco had just been poked by Lucius's board badge and was now given a heavy slap, looking at his father with disbelief and tears of grievance in his eyes.
"Dad, why did you hit me?"
"Just listen to me and don't speak!"
Lucius quietly reminded Draco, then turned back to Dracula with a serious expression and said:
"Mr. Dracula, I've thoroughly investigated the matter. Draco was dissatisfied with your handling of his violation of school rules, so he, along with a few friends from Slytherin, wrote a complaint letter and a survey. These documents were filled with slanders against you!"
"Upon investigation, I am confident that your actions were entirely appropriate, and I retract my earlier remarks about wanting to expel you. Draco spoke thoughtlessly; please don't hold it against him, and consider that he's just a rebellious child."
"I'm not a rebellious child!" Draco protested loudly.
But he was met with another slap to the head from Lucius, which left him stunned. After a while, Draco finally reacted, collapsed on a chair beside the round table, and began to sob uncontrollably.
Dracula, with a playful smile, said to Lucius, "You really work quickly! In just a few minutes, you've managed to uncover the truth of this matter without leaving your seat."
"Of course," Lucius said, not addressing the hidden implications in Dracula's words, but continued with a serious tone, "You can trust me to handle things!"
Seeing Lucius's solemn and reserved expression, Dracula finally laughed.
"Lucius, you are indeed quite interesting," he said with a smile, pulling over a chair and casually reclining against the soft backrest. "So, what do you think should be done with the Hogwarts board?"
Upon hearing this question, Lucius was ecstatic inside but kept a composed exterior.
"From my perspective, the Hogwarts board still has a necessary role," he paused, then slowly expressed his views, "As a magic school with a complete ecosystem, many tasks require dedicated management."
"The board, as the main financial backer and collective decision-making body of the school, can provide funding and reasonable development suggestions for these complex projects. Of course, I know you won't lack such trivial funding. However, in any organization, every allocation must be meaningful and adhere to procedures; otherwise, internal staff might easily become accustomed to embezzling or misusing funds. All the signing, coordinating, and bookkeeping work will surely waste your precious time."
Lucius's words hit the nail on the head—Dracula loathed the tedious, repetitive tasks, yet they were an indispensable part of any well-functioning organization.
"So I believe you can still keep the board and let us handle some of the minor details and miscellaneous tasks, so they don't occupy your valuable time," Lucius continued,
"Of course, as the one controlling the entire magical system of Hogwarts, you will be our board chairman, with a veto power over all matters!"
Dracula finally showed interest when he heard about the veto power.
"But as far as I know, there are a total of twelve board badges," he said to Lucius, who seemed to be quite a talent, "After removing those piled up in the corner, you now have only seven board members left. How do you plan to distribute the remaining five badges?"
"Mr. Dracula, the appointment of these board members is, of course, up to you as the chairman," Lucius said with a smiling face.