Lucius was not a genius, but she did possess some talent. Whether in her past life or this one, she was a veritable academic prodigy.
In Professor McGonagall’s Transfiguration class, while Draco Malfoy stared blankly at his matchstick, Lilith and Pansy bickered with each other, Harry and Ron struggled to repeat the transfiguration spell, and Hermione only managed to produce an ordinary long needle, Lucius had already transformed hers into a slender, silver-bright embroidery needle with an eye in the shortest time.
“Miss Riddle, you have a remarkable talent for Transfiguration. Five points to Slytherin!”
Professor McGonagall leaned in to examine Lucius’s masterpiece, revealing an appreciative smile. No matter the era or country, intelligent and outstanding students always earned more favor from their teachers.
Whether it was her flawless performance in Transfiguration, her stunning display in Charms, or her calm and composed demeanor in Professor Snape’s Potions class, where she perfectly brewed her first potion.
Even in the drowsy History of Magic class, Lucius could accurately grasp the key exam points amidst her hazy sleepiness.
Even the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor, Quirrell, who was unpopular among students and reeked of garlic, seemed to like Lucius. Of course, the reason was naturally that as a young Riddle, Lucius did not disgrace the great Voldemort and even held some value—she was no waste.
Lucius knew this well. When it came to Professor Quirrell’s enthusiasm and friendly gestures, she would brush them off whenever possible. After all, she would never acknowledge that snake-faced monster as her father and would avoid being alone with Quirrell as much as possible.
A true Slytherin always knew how to protect themselves.
Compared to Lilith, who only knew how to vie for attention with Pansy, focused on her appearance and manners, and delved into beauty and fashion, Lucius seemed more suited to survive in Slytherin and was more popular.
Due to her continuous contributions to the house points and her display of extraordinary talent and ability, Lucius gradually gained acceptance among classmates who valued strength. Even the haughty Draco Malfoy would drawl in his half-learned, ostentatious tone, “Riddle, you’re not bad.”
“Then, may I shake your hand, noble and elegant Mr. Malfoy?” A thought flashed through Lucius’s mind. Seizing the opportunity, she extended her small hand before he could refuse.
Draco, who considered himself a little gentleman, probably wouldn’t slap her in the face, right?
Lucius thought to herself. In truth, she just wanted to test her Golden Finger on another subject. Besides the protagonist Harry Potter, what about other important, notable characters in the book? Would touching them also trigger the Golden Finger and lead to another System lottery draw?
Although she missed the benefits Harry brought—after all, they were shiny golden Galleons—the divide between Gryffindor and Slytherin was too stark.
More importantly, Lucius felt conflicted. She didn’t want to exploit Harry for profit while also refusing to genuinely befriend him.
After all, she was Voldemort’s daughter. Though she was innocent in this, blood ties were unchangeable. Her cheap father and Harry had a blood feud, so maintaining a relatively friendly schoolmate relationship was already good enough.
Anything more, Lucius wouldn’t force.
So, seeing that she couldn’t use her Golden Finger, Lucius felt as if her heart was being scratched by a cat’s paw—itchy and restless. Could she at least nibble on the grass right by her nest?
“This… isn’t entirely impossible.” Draco Malfoy hesitated slightly, but then he remembered the family principles his father Lucius had taught him: sometimes, adopting a humble posture is a wise choice. For talented and promising individuals, it’s best to win them over as early as possible and make them useful.
Draco thought to himself that his father’s words were always full of wisdom. Take the head of Slytherin, his godfather Severus Snape—wasn’t he a Half-blood wizard? Yet his father still befriended him and maintained a deep friendship.
This Riddle didn’t seem too bad either. Besides, she was quite beautiful, pleasant to look at, not clingy, and not annoying.
“Draco Malfoy, I permit you to call me Draco.”
“I’m honored, Draco. You can call me Lucius.”
The young master’s hand was fair and tender, with an excellent texture. Holding it felt like cradling a soft marshmallow. Lucius couldn’t resist giving it a slight squeeze, and the other immediately pulled his hand back like a startled fawn, his ears turning slightly red.
“Sorry, I have something to attend to and must leave.” It was somewhat awkward, of course, but mostly because Lucius heard the familiar ding of the System. Here comes the prize draw!
Practice yields true knowledge—this was indeed a timeless truth.
Watching the prize she had drawn “clink, clink, clink” into the large pocket of her school robe, Lucius couldn’t help but grin from ear to ear. Who would have thought Draco was also a treasure trove?
This time, whether due to a System glitch or some other reason, the prize she drew was marked with *** and wrapped in exquisite packaging paper. Lucius found a secluded spot to unwrap it and discovered a small bottle of what looked like perfume, labeled in golden letters: “Premium Amortentia.”
Amortentia? The legendary love potion? A potion that could induce intense infatuation, and the prefix “Premium” likely meant that this Amortentia was even more potent than the ordinary kind. Lucius widened her eyes in disbelief. Was her luck too terrible or too good?
It certainly looked high-end, but Lucius felt she probably had no use for such a thing.
After all, what was fake remained fake—temporary infatuation was ultimately an illusion.
Voldemort’s mother, Merope Gaunt, seemed to have used something like this to bewitch her husband, old Tom, and in the end, she only reaped what she sowed, harming both herself and others.
Still, this thing was clearly a high-end item. Products from the System were bound to be top-notch, and perhaps it could come in handy in other ways later.
Lucius carefully stored the item away, thinking to herself: Since the Golden Finger could also be triggered with Draco, what about others? She could try a few more people—maybe there would be other rewards.
“Sweetheart, what are you thinking about? Need our help?” Suddenly, a fiery red, fluffy head leaned in—no, two of them. Two identical tall boys with mischievous, teasing smiles on their faces, yet still warm and handsome.
The Weasley Twin Brothers, Fred and George.
“Thank you, but I think I’ll pass for now.” Lucius smiled at the Twin Brothers. She had a rather good impression of these two—who wouldn’t like handsome, humorous young men?
“You know who we are?” One of the twins winked at Lucius.
“The Weasley Twin Brothers, the prank kings of Gryffindor—who doesn’t know you? Besides, you’re both so handsome. You must be quite popular with the girls.” Lucius showed none of the shyness typical of a young girl. She lifted her pretty little head and looked directly at the boy who had spoken—whether it was Fred or George, she couldn’t tell, but they looked identical and were truly a sight for sore eyes.
Honestly, the entire Weasley family was quite good-looking. Whether it was Bill, who eventually married Fleur Delacour, or Charlie, who excelled at Quidditch, or Percy, who was a bit old-fashioned but still had delicate features, or the handsome Twin Brothers—they were all basically good-looking. The only exception was Ron, who fell a bit short, but at least he was the best friend of the Savior and ended up marrying Hermione Granger, the academic star of Gryffindor.
And Ginny later became the flower of Gryffindor, incredibly beautiful and popular.
“Sweetheart, you really are something special.” Lucius felt her head being ruffled several times and thought, My hair must be a mess now.
Helplessly, Lucius became like a cat being petted by two pairs of hands. Meow~