Chapter 2
As a time traveler familiar with the plot, Soren knows very well that Voldemort has only temporarily disappeared from the stage, but his lingering soul is still hiding in some jungle in Albania, struggling to survive, waiting for the opportunity to return.
Lucius's current self-preservation is tantamount to betrayal for Voldemort, and Soren also knows that in the near future, Lucius will make a foolish move that will cost Voldemort a Horcrux, resulting in Lucius losing his position among the Death Eaters after Voldemort's resurrection. Even worse, his entire family will suffer immense punishment from Voldemort—Malfoy Manor will be requisitioned, Lucius's wand confiscated, and Draco assigned a mission that is no different from delivering himself to death.
Even in the original storyline, after Voldemort's downfall, Lucius is sent to Azkaban prison. Although he cunningly escapes imprisonment by betraying his former associates and becoming a somewhat compromised witness, the reputation of the Malfoy family is irreparably tarnished, leading them into a decline from which they never recover.
Well, since I'm here, I might as well make the best of it. After all, being a time traveler familiar with the plot, perhaps I can change the fate of the family, Soren optimistically thought.
Having the rare chance to live again, Soren does not intend to follow the trajectory of the original story, allowing his future to be bound by an invisible fate. What Soren brought over from his previous life is not merely a mature adult soul; he also carries the adventurous spirit that burned in his blood in his last life!
To be able to live again, even if I can't be a powerful ruler like many protagonists in impressive time-travel novels, at least a stable and carefree life, freedom from work, sufficient wealth to enjoy leisurely, and dignity without having to worry about others' opinions are the minimum expectations. It would be even better if I could have two or three girlfriends.
Since fate has led him to be reborn in the Malfoy family, perhaps he should add another goal—he wants to try to change the family's destiny, protect the family's honor, and even elevate the family higher, if possible.
Let's talk about life in Malfoy Manor.
The exterior of Malfoy Manor is luxurious and grand, occupying a vast area, but inside it is empty, only housing a few people.
In addition to himself and his father Lucius, the family includes his mother Narcissa, his brother Draco, the house-elf Dobby, and the butler, Carlo.
Of course, the Malfoy family has some distant relatives, but these people generally manage the family's properties on farms or mines, only appearing at the manor during holidays or family meetings. So although Soren has met them a few times, he is not very familiar with them and won't mention them here.
As Soren gradually grows up, he feels completely integrated into this world, as he senses a strong presence of love and family ties.
In his previous life, when reading the original story, he did not like the Malfoy family, as they were portrayed as despicable villains. However, now that he is in this family, he discovers that regardless of Lucius and Narcissa's characters, they are undeniably good to their family.
As for Draco, he loves to show off and is quite proud, which is because he admires Lucius, who always maintains a cold demeanor, and constantly tries to showcase his pureblood nobility. Coupled with Narcissa's endless indulgence, Draco has developed some bratty traits.
But even he dotes on his younger brother, always putting on the airs of an older brother, as if Soren needed special care, allowing Soren, who was an only child in his previous life, to thoroughly enjoy the sibling affection he had missed.
The butler Carlo is a capable middle-aged man and a key aide to his father, but Soren does not like him. He is extremely pedantic about the tedious family rules and etiquette, often reprimanding Soren for various trivial matters.
Draco, on the other hand, is the exact opposite, being quite favored and valued by Carlo, because Draco completely inherits the arrogance and hypocrisy of the Malfoy family. His hair is always meticulously styled, and even his way of speaking is haughty, with his nose in the air and each sentence delivered slowly.
The house-elf Dobby has the best relationship with Soren. Whenever Soren makes a mistake—such as accidentally breaking some precious items in the manor—Dobby always tries to help cover for him to escape the awful punishment from Carlo. Whenever Soren feels hungry late at night, Dobby sneaks in food for him.
Of course, Soren is also quite good to Dobby. Whenever he receives some novel and delicious treats from Narcissa, he would secretly save a portion for Dobby, so that they can sit together and share the joy of sneaking snacks when Dobby visits his room at night.
As one of the Sacred 28 pure-blood families, the Malfoys have a fanatical obsession with the idea of "pure-blood supremacy," which could even be described as pure arrogance.
Soren, as a modern reincarnator, inherently carries the belief in equality among people, which is in direct conflict with the family's core ideology of "pure-blood supremacy." When he was a child, he was once reprimanded by Lucius for showing slight friendliness towards Muggles.
However, Soren did not take it to heart; he continued to act according to his nature. He only reduced contact with Muggles to avoid provoking Lucius, at least on the surface. When Lucius wasn't watching, Soren still enjoyed exploring and using Muggle things, and he even played with the house-elf Dobby.
As for Narcissa, although she is also a stubborn supporter of pure-blood supremacy, she dotes on her son and doesn't see it as a big deal. She actually believes that her youngest son has his own opinions, just that he is too young and naïve to understand the world.
It is also due to her protection and insistence that Lucius did not say much to Soren. Normally, given his character, he would often scold Soren and try to brainwash him, attempting to deeply implant the idea of pure-blood supremacy in his mind.
Of course, there is another reason why Soren can still live comfortably and leisurely in such a pure-blood family. Soren is a genius; he displayed amazing linguistic talent from the age of one, learning languages at a speed far exceeding that of his brother Draco.
Soren's talent is not limited to language skills. At the age of four, he demonstrated extraordinary learning ability. The various books on writing and numerical calculations that Lucius specially bought for his son were all mastered by Soren as soon as he was taught. He could even learn things on his own—this is mainly because he retains the memories of his previous life.
Soren feels quite embarrassed about his genius title; the learning material is utterly boring for him.
Let alone these simple childhood contents—he was a full-fledged academic in his previous life, scoring somewhat above average in the national A-level exams in the UK, then obtaining a scholarship to pursue further studies at Cambridge University, ultimately earning dual PhDs in archaeology and ancient linguistics, mastering English, French, Spanish, and other Latin-based languages.
After being reborn and reincarnated, it seems that due to experiencing another round of brain development, he finds that his memory and comprehension have become even more powerful than in his previous life. Whatever he reads, he can remember at a glance, and he can quickly grasp and master whatever he learns. Soren can't help but marvel, "Isn't having a photographic memory and quick comprehension a sort of cheat? Is this a benefit of reincarnation?"
At the age of four, Soren successfully triggered a magical accident, using his strong will to knock out the old butler, who was scolding him incessantly. He was confirmed to have the potential to become a wizard and only needed to wait until he turned eleven to obtain his own wand and the qualifications to enroll in a magical school to systematically learn how to become a wizard.
Soren couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief, as he never appeared in the original story. He couldn't be sure if he truly had the potential to learn magic. He knew all too well how severely the wizarding world discriminates against those who cannot learn magic—commonly referred to as "Squibs." He could not even imagine the fate of becoming a Squib.
On the day the magical accident occurred in Soren, Narcissa was extremely excited, hugging and kissing him, while Lucius maintained a high-and-mighty expression, as if it were only natural. However, the slight upward curve of his lips couldn't conceal the joy filling his heart. Draco watched all of this, feeling nothing but envy. As for the butler, who had fainted from the shock, once the house-elf took him inside, no one paid him any attention.
Lucius and Narcissa prepared a simple celebration for Soren, but compared to the cakes and desserts at the celebration, Soren was more concerned about his own eyes.
He noticed that when he looked at his family, they were all enveloped in a faint, hazy white light.
He initially thought there was something wrong with his eyes, but after several attempts, he figured out the reason—he discovered that his eyes only showed the white light when he looked at wizards, magical creatures, or magical items. Upon closer inspection, the white light flowed like a little stream, moving slowly over the wizards or magical objects in a peculiar pattern.
He suspected that the so-called white light was actually the legendary magic power.
This guess was confirmed a short while later when he found mention of it in a documented family record.
In the Middle Ages, the idea of "pureblood supremacy" held deep-rooted significance in the wizarding world for a reason. The population of wizards was small at that time, and they frequently faced persecution from ignorant Muggles. Led by Salazar Slytherin, pureblood wizards rallied under the slogan of protecting pureblood wizards, intending to unify the wizarding community's strength to safeguard the heritage of wizards from Muggle persecution.
Later, the great Slytherin and his three companions founded one of the world's greatest magical schools, Hogwarts, which has opened its doors to the vast wizarding population for generations, imparting various magical knowledge, but that's a story for another time.
At that time, pureblood families had very pure bloodlines, which contained mysterious powers as the source of magic. To ensure the inheritance of this bloodline power, they relied on intermarriage among close relatives to preserve its purity.
Unfortunately, during those tumultuous times, each witch hunt carried out by Muggles led to a rapid decline in the wizarding population, even resulting in the extinction of certain well-known wizard families. The reliance on marriage within the same bloodline became increasingly impractical, and out of necessity, wizard families began to form marriages across families.
While still bearing the title of "pureblood families," the bloodlines had gradually diluted over generations, and the power of the bloodline had long since vanished, reduced to legends passed down through family oral traditions. The modern so-called pureblood families are in reality a far cry from the pureblood families of the Middle Ages.
In the original work, only a few individuals awakened their bloodline powers; in Soren's memory, there were only Voldemort, who spoke Parseltongue, Tonks, who had natural Metamorphmagus abilities, and Professor Trelawney, who had a thin trace of prophetic blood but had fallen into charlatanism. Harry Potter's ability to speak Parseltongue was passively acquired due to his connection with a fragment of Voldemort's soul, and did not belong to inherent bloodline power.
As one of the oldest families handed down from the Middle Ages, the Malfoy family also harbors mysterious powers within their bloodline.
However, according to the family's historical records, since the third generation descendant—Almand II Malfoy, there have been no known instances of awakened bloodline powers occurring in the family, so Soren's unusual magical accident did not attract the attention of Lucius and Narcissa.
For reasons unknown, Soren was very fortunate to awaken the Malfoy family's bloodline power, which is referred to as the "Eye of Magic" in family records, able to visually perceive the flow of magic within himself and others.
There are historical records indicating that Almand II Malfoy once used this special ability to communicate with magic, creating unique magical principles, which wrote a glorious chapter in the history of the Malfoy family. Unfortunately, the records about this legendary Malfoy wizard are limited and vague for reasons unknown.
The fact that he awakened the "Eye of Magic" is a small secret belonging only to him. It's not that he doesn't trust his family, but as an adult soul, he understands the importance of being secretive and having an ace up his sleeve; this special ability could come in handy in unexpected situations.
With the Eye of Magic, he can observe the magical values of everyone within his line of sight.
It is well-known that a wizard's strength largely depends on the amount of magic they possess. The most obvious example is in the original work, when Mad-Eye Moody had once said in class that the Killing Curse is a highly draining spell, and if students used their pitiful amounts of magic to cast it, it would at most only make them bleed from the nose.
Soren quietly observed everyone in the house. Lucius's magic was mixed with a strange gray-black; his overall magical power was considered quite strong within the family, but due to Soren's lack of comparison with outside wizards, it was difficult to estimate the exact strength for now. As for mother Narcissa and the stupid butler, the magical power in their souls was very mediocre.
Note : See any error; let me know so I can edit them.