Chapter 40: A Small Incident at the Birthday Party
On August 1989, 8, Yang Tian celebrated his ninth birthday. In order to celebrate his grandson's first birthday at the Foley family, Barnett Foley took great pains to invite many friends in the wizarding world and held a grand party to celebrate his birthday.
Of course, the main purpose is to take this opportunity to bring his daughter's family into the vision of major families and pave the way for their future development in the British wizarding world.
Pushing open the heavy classical oak door, what comes into view is a luxurious and age-old banquet hall. The crystal chandeliers on the ceiling reflect dreamy and colorful colors from every angle.
At this time, many people had already gathered in the banquet hall. Some sat alone, enjoying fine wine and delicious food, while others gathered in twos and threes, talking about topics that interested each other.
The hosts, Mr. and Mrs. Barnett, led their daughter and her family among the crowd, chatting happily with each other.
Of course, as the protagonist of the night, Yang Tian naturally received the greatest attention of the whole audience.
Faces that were either sincere, loving, flattering, or contemptuous passed by Yang Tian, but they all pretended to be polite and dignified.
Yang Tian was naturally not stage-frightened. His rich experience in socializing in his previous life and Sophie's education in aristocratic etiquette made him calm and at ease at the banquet.
Exquisite and handsome face, elegant speech and manners, measured flattery, meticulous and thoughtful care...
Yang Tian's performance impressed everyone who came into contact with him, and no one could mistake him for a nine-year-old boy.
As soon as the family finished a cordial conversation with Mr. Horace Slughorn and exchanged greetings, Hyman Greengrass came over with his two daughters.
Astoria's eyes had been fixed on Yang Tian. At this moment, she lifted the hem of her skirt with both hands, trotted over to Yang Tian, and said happily, "Happy birthday, Brother Yang Tian."
Haiman and the eldest daughter followed closely and gave their blessings to Yang Tian, and the two families started chatting happily.
Daphne has been looking around since she reluctantly said happy birthday just now.
Soon, she found her target and happily asked her father, "Pansy and the others are chatting in the corner over there. Can I join them?"
Haiman smiled and said, "Go ahead, bring Yang Tian and Astoria along. They should also meet more new friends, right?"
Yang Tian knew without even thinking who Daphne's so-called friends were. He originally disdained to associate with such a high-minded but incompetent brat, but when he followed Daphne's gaze and saw the scene in the corner, he decisively changed his decision.
Seeing Yang Tian's excited expression, Daphne could only lead the two of them towards her small group reluctantly.
But when she got closer, she found that her good friends Pansy Parkinson and Draco Malfoy were laughing at a little fat boy.
The little fat boy's face was full of anger, but he didn't know how to refute. He just clenched his fists and stood there in a daze.
Gregory Goyle and Vincent Crabbe, two of Malfoy's followers, were laughing and adding to the fun.
Yang Tian had just discovered this scene and rushed over because the boy in front of him was exactly the man whom Yang Tian admired very much when he read the original novel in his previous life, Neville Longbottom.
In the original book, although this boy is clumsy, he is absolutely loyal.
Yang Tian believed that by spending every day with him, he would become his most loyal partner and the most solid shield.
Ever since Yang Tian planned to find new blood for Nightmare, Neville's name has been circling in his mind.
Although I don’t know how big the gap is between reality and the original work, it’s at least better than being completely in the dark, right?
And today, rescuing Neville on this special occasion was undoubtedly a pretty good start.
Thinking of this, Yang Tian had already passed Daphne, strode to Neville, and said politely:
"Hello, are you Mr. Neville Longbottom? I'm Yang Tian. It's a pleasure to meet you and I'm very honored that you can come to my birthday party. I believe we will become good friends." After saying this, he extended his hands very solemnly.
Neville, who was often laughed at for being stupid, was very angry at this moment.
But seeing Yang Tian showing his goodwill to him so seriously, he was really flattered.
He awkwardly stretched out his hands, shook hands with Yang Tian, and said awkwardly: "Hello, I'm Neville Longbottom, nice to meet you too."
Yang Tian was slightly amused by the little fat boy's nervousness. He clenched his hands in encouragement and turned back to say, "Astoria, come on! Let me introduce you to a new friend, Mr. Longbottom. He is a loyal and reliable gentleman."
Astoria obeyed Yang Tian's orders and quickly walked over, bowing slightly and saying, "Hello, Mr. Longbottom, I'm Astoria Greengrass, nice to meet you."
Neville responded in a flustered manner.
Seeing the scene in front of her, Pansy Parkinson's good mood was instantly ruined. She couldn't stand this with her hot temper, and said directly in a sharp voice:
"Oh, what an amazing scene. Since when did stupid Neville become synonymous with reliable friend?"
Yang Tian had no good feelings towards the arrogant little girl in front of him. He said calmly:
"This is Miss Pansy Parkinson, right? Mr. Neville Longbottom is a descendant of the Longbottom family. As a member of the Sacred Twenty-Eight, he always maintains the humility and courtesy that a noble should have. His character is beyond doubt."
Before anyone could object, Yang Tian continued, "Moreover, everyone present cannot deny the fact that Neville's parents are heroes in the wizarding world. They fought against the Dark Lord and the Death Eaters in the darkest hour, which eventually led to serious injuries. Until now, they are still lying in St. Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries for treatment. And Mr. Longbottom, who inherited their excellent qualities, how can he not be synonymous with a reliable friend?"
Hearing this, Drael Malfoy on the side was instantly unhappy, and said arrogantly like a little adult: "Oh, what a ridiculous idea. Pure bloods are born noble, but some people would rather fight against the Dark Lord for some Muggles and dirty mudbloods. Who can be blamed if something goes wrong? Pure bloods should not associate with these Muggles."
As soon as Draco finished speaking, Yang Tian couldn't help but exclaimed, as if he had heard something incredible:
"Merlin! What did I hear, Mr. Malfoy? You shouldn't associate with Muggles? Maybe the Gaunt family can say this, and the Black family can say this, but the Malfoy family, who are famous for their wisdom, cannot say this."
"Don't you know? Armand Malfoy, the first Malfoy to come to Britain, has been following the famous Muggle monarch, King William I of Normandy, and provided magical services for his war to conquer Britain."
“That is why, after the war, William I gave Armand a large piece of land in Wiltshire. His descendants have lived here ever since, and it can be said to be their ancestral home.”
"To be loyal to the Muggle monarch and to serve the Muggle monarch, this is the decision made by the wise Malfoy!"
"Let's talk about the signing of the Statute of Secrecy. At that time, the Malfoy family strongly opposed the promulgation of the Statute of Secrecy! And until the promulgation of the Statute of Secrecy in 1692, the Malfoy family had been active in the Muggle aristocratic circle."
"By the way, Master Malfoy, there is one more thing I wonder if you are aware of. In order to avoid the dangerous practice of intermarriage among a small group of purebloods, the wise Malfoys frequently intermarried with Muggles before the Statute of Secrecy was enacted! There are also many half-bloods in your Malfoy family tree."
Every time Yang Tian said something, Draco's face turned paler, his eyes showing anger and disbelief. He said hatefully: "You are slandering me, blatant slander."
