For once Draco didn't mind having company in his home. He was enjoying watching someone else enjoy the library's contents just as he had over the years.  It did help with his Potions Mastery after all, not to mention a couple changes to regular potions to make them more cost efficient and work better. He certainly didn't miss the look of awe on the man's face as he took in the surroundings of the library.

Even Draco still got caught up in it sometimes.

"What do you think? Do you think any of these books will be a good addition to the Hogwarts library?" As he said that Knox took out his wand and summoned history books.  Draco winced, he'd yet to go through those, hopefully there weren't any nasty surprises in them.

Then he heard it, a book his father had shoved in his arms when he was ten and made him memorize.  He still shuddered at the screeching sound the book made.  He stalked forward, ready to turn to book to ash, but as it was close to his guest he refrained.  "Sorry about that one, I'd forgotten it was still here. I haven't had a chance to go through all the history books yet."

Name-calling by inanimate objects barely moved a hair on Knox Greyfriar's head, but there was something deeply, profoundly, historically disturbing about being named a mudblood (of all words) in this house (of all houses). A house where others in the category had been tortured. All that was fifteen-years gone and buried, so there was nothing more to fear than ... feeling.

As the book continued its tantrum, Knox stood back and stroked his beard while its 'master' apologized. Draco's approach was sufficient to quiet it.

"Happens to all of us," he said flatly.

Draco approach did silence the book, but it silenced the host as well. His mind was back on that day that he was called upon to prove that Harry Potter had indeed been captured.  He still remembered the screams as his crazy aunt tortured Granger. 

He snapped himself out of it, his face having gone paler than normal.  "I really had thought I'd gotten them all." he said more to himself than to Knox, but it had been loud enough that the other man could of heard it.  He had a momentary thought of what could of happened had his son found that book before he'd warded the library so that he could only get books that were suitable for his age.

"Have you found books you would like?" he tried to ask again, hoping all the other cursed books were gone now.

Knox turned and looked at Draco. He forced a genteel smile. Blank slates, they'd promised each other. He didn't know Draco at all, but he could guess at the signs that the poor young man was embarrassed. One nasty relic would have to work hard to overshadow the earnest effort at hospitality and philanthropy demonstrated this evening.

"All of them," he said. He then repeated it with more conviction. "Any and all you're willing to part with. My librarian is rare to find and I'll be thrice cursed for dumping an unvetted mess at the door but, how could I possibly refuse such a gift? Yes, they'll all have to come with me."

Hogwarts library would be bursting but the castle made room. Or rooms, rather, when there was a need.

Knox shrugged. "The gift is its own reciprocity. You give Hogwarts the favor of more books, and in return we relieve you of the burden of having them."

Inwardly Draco breathed a sigh of relief that he was finally getting rid of the books that his father painstakingly gathered and collected for years.  Once he had gotten married to Astoria, he'd wanted to get rid of them and start a library for his son, full of books that he could use in his life time.  Potions books and journals, school books from all over and every year, some history that wasn't too messed up by the author that wrote it.  Just books, but hopefully none that were cursed in any way as his father was so willing to do.

"They are all yours Headmaster." he said, forgetting himself for a moment and not calling the man by his name. He thought he'd asked Draco to call him by his name, but now he couldn't remember. 

 

Knox was comforted by seeing something calm come over Draco Malfoy which meant that perhaps they were now both at ease. Close to, at least. Knox gave the stack of history books a pat, then took a few more paces. There had to be thousands.

"I must admit I did not arrive with me a pratical or magical solution for conveying a load of this scale back to Hogwarts Castle with me tonight."

He turned to Draco.  "I'll make arrangements to have them shipped along. Next week or so."

As was his nature, Knox presumed agreement and so offered a hand to shake.

"My thanks, Mr. Malfoy. This is a good thing you've done."