What kind of battle would that be?

Unfortunately, it probably wouldn’t happen anytime soon.

Harry was busy trying to avenge Sirius.

Draco had just narrowly escaped Voldemort.

Neither of them had the mood to care about an old duel promise.

As the death power fully dyed Hydra’s body purple-red, Arthur completed the transformation.

Hydra’s tightly shut eyes suddenly opened.

Its former snake-like pupils had vanished.

In their place burned two eerie purple flames.

Those flames were its soul fire.

As long as the soul fire remained—

Hydra would never truly die.

Draco bowed deeply to Arthur.

"Thank you... truly."

Arthur quickly helped him up.

"Alright, that’s enough thanks."

He patted Draco on the shoulder.

"You should go check on Hydra."

Draco nodded and approached the dragon.

Sensing someone nearby, Hydra’s soul flames turned toward him.

Despite Hydra now radiating an unsettling aura of death—

Draco showed no fear.

"Hydra... do you still remember me?"

"Dra... co..."

A hoarse female voice slowly called out his name.

Draco froze.

"Hydra?! You can talk now?!"

Arthur raised an eyebrow in surprise.

Dragons in the wizarding world normally could not speak.

Their intelligence simply wasn’t high enough to learn human language.

Could his death power also enhance intelligence?

Maybe he should experiment with another creature.

For example—

The basilisk he kept in the Zen Garden.

It was similar to a dragon:

A magical beast

Unable to speak

Yet intelligent enough to understand commands

At that exact moment, the basilisk sleeping peacefully in the Zen Garden suddenly shivered.

It felt as if something bad was about to happen.

But then it reassured itself:

This is my master’s territory. What could possibly go wrong?

With that comforting thought, it fell back asleep.

Meanwhile, Hydra spoke Draco’s name again. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

Then it lowered its head toward him.

Draco immediately wrapped his arms around the dragon’s head.

The rune contract between them still existed.

Because of that, Hydra’s death aura would not harm Draco.

The boy and the dragon simply held each other quietly.

Arthur smiled and quietly stepped away, giving them some space.

Elsewhere...

At Voldemort’s temporary base.

Not long after returning, Voldemort sensed something.

The death energy he had planted inside the Malfoys—

Had disappeared.

That meant the Malfoys had gone directly to Arthur after escaping.

Things were more troublesome than Voldemort expected.

The death energy he used was supposed to cling like a bone-deep curse.

Even he, the caster, would need effort to remove it.

Yet Arthur had eliminated it almost instantly.

That confirmed something:

Arthur’s strength was far from simple.

Fortunately, Voldemort had already memorized Arthur’s location.

Once his preparations were complete—

He could begin his plan.

Back at Arthur’s house.

When Arthur returned inside, he saw that Lucius had already brought Narcissa back.

Arthur asked,

"So what are you planning to do now?"

Lucius replied calmly.

"We’re thinking of renting a house nearby for the time being."

"What do you think?"

After today’s attack, Malfoy Manor might no longer be safe.

The Malfoys had other residences, of course—

But Voldemort could find those as well.

In Lucius’s opinion, the safest option was staying close to Arthur.

That was why he wanted to temporarily become Arthur’s neighbor.

Of course—

He would only do so with Arthur’s permission.

If Arthur refused, Lucius would quietly take his family and hide somewhere else.

Arthur shrugged.

"I have no objection."

Then he pointed toward the neighboring property.

"But my next-door neighbor on that side is a crematorium."

"You sure you want to live there?"

The Granger house was located in the suburbs, where buildings were far apart.

Lucius pointed in another direction.

"There’s another house over there."

"I’ll ask the owner if they’re willing to rent it to us."

He had noticed the house earlier.

It was right next to Arthur’s property—perfect for their temporary residence.

As for the possibility that the owner might refuse—

Lucius hadn’t even considered it.

At worst, he could simply "borrow" the house with magic.

Arthur nodded.

"That could work."

"With the relationship you two have, renting a few rooms shouldn’t be a problem."

Because the house Lucius pointed to belonged to Severus Snape.

Snape’s home was Arthur’s other neighbor.

Previously, Snape had insisted that Draco never reveal his address to anyone—Lucius included.

He feared enemies might find the location and harm Leah.

But things had changed.

Leah had now become a Glintstone Mage, just like Snape.

She had enough combat ability to defend herself.

Because of that, Snape was no longer overly worried about his address being discovered.

At least—

He didn’t need to hide it from friends anymore.

So Arthur didn’t bother keeping the secret for him this time.

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