[Chapter Size: 1800 Words.]
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The next morning, at breakfast, Draco saw Harry and Ron and was stunned. Of course, given that ghosts and spirits were quite common in the wizarding world, Draco's reaction was more one of surprise than genuine shock, as if he had seen a ghost.
"Hey, isn't that Draco, the coward? The snitch? The pathetic little mama's boy, Malfoy?" Ron shot Draco a look of pure contempt as soon as he saw him. "Looks like you and Filch get along pretty well, huh?"
Ron, without a doubt, had a big heart.
Although I had been scared out of my wits last night, almost to the point of wetting my robes, because of the three-headed dog, by the time I woke up the next morning, I found the whole thing rather thrilling.
Harry felt a bit of that excitement too, but he hadn't recovered as quickly as Ron. At the very least, he wasn't thinking about sneaking back to see the creature again and taking a picture of it, as Ron had suggested.
However, if the plan was simply to tease Draco and watch him react as if he had swallowed a dung beetle, Harry was more than happy to join in.
Of course, what concerned Harry most at that moment was the trapdoor beneath the three-headed dog, or rather, whatever the dog was guarding.
He was about 60 to 70 percent sure that whatever was down there was the same object Hagrid had taken from Gringotts. He discussed it with Ron in hushed tones, and Ron agreed it was likely, but for now, they had no way of figuring out what exactly it was.
"What kind of thing would a Dark wizard be willing to break into Gringotts to steal? There's a dragon under Gringotts! Not only did they move it to Hogwarts, but they even needed another three-headed dog to guard it."
Ron muttered in disbelief.
Harry's attention was caught by something else. "A dragon? What dragon?"
He vaguely recalled Hagrid mentioning that there were dragons under Gringotts. At the time, Hagrid had been enthusiastically talking about how much he wanted to raise a dragon, but Harry had been too busy flipping through his newly purchased books to pay much attention.
"What dragon? I'm not sure. Some say it's a Ukrainian Ironbelly, others say it's a Hebridean Black," Ron admitted uncertainly.
Dragons were highly advanced magical creatures. Among all the first-year textbooks, only Potions briefly touched on the subject, dragon's blood was an essential ingredient in certain potions.
It was rarely used, though. There wasn't much they could do about that, it was simply too expensive.
Additionally, when Harry had been choosing his wand, or, as Ollivander had put it, when his wand had chosen him, he had learned that dragon heartstring was used in wand cores.
Not to mention, the Hogwarts supply list required students to bring gloves made of dragon hide or a similar material.
There were quite a few dragon-related things around him, yet Harry had never actually seen a full-grown dragon before. He couldn't help but feel curious.
The two spent so much time discussing dragons that they completely forgot about the three-headed dog and whatever it was guarding.
On Saturday morning, Gryffindor and Ravenclaw had a Quidditch practice match.
Since it was just a practice game, no Seekers were included. Harry played as a rotating Chaser, while Ron took the position of Keeper.
Wood didn't participate but instead observed from the sidelines, carefully watching Harry and Ron's performance.
Despite Gryffindor losing to their opponents, Wood was still quite pleased. The three new players, Katie Bell, Harry, and Ron, had all performed admirably. As first and second-year students competing for the first time, they had exceeded expectations.
Harry also felt great. Even though he hadn't played for long, he had worked up a sweat and was buzzing with excitement.
"George, is Harry your new Chaser? Not bad."
Ravenclaw's Chaser, Roger Davies, approached the Weasley twins. Though he was addressing both of them, his eyes were locked onto Harry.
Harry didn't particularly like Roger Davies, he was a show-off.
If Harry could be considered attractive, then Roger was downright handsome in a boyish way. He had sharp, well-defined features and a tall, athletic build.
Of course, Harry's dislike wasn't just because Roger was overly charming, it was mostly because he had snatched the Quaffle from Harry's hands multiple times during practice.
Even though Harry would be playing as Seeker in official matches, even though he had been using an old, battered broom for training, and even though there were plenty of reasons for it, he still found it frustrating to lose possession of the ball.
"I'm not George, I'm Fred!" The twins spoke in their usual bored tone, unimpressed that Roger had mixed them up yet again. "Harry? He's just our backup player. This isn't an official match, so we're just letting him get familiar with things ahead of time."
Having been scolded numerous times by Wood and Angelina, the twins had finally learned to keep team strategies under wraps.
"Really?" Roger Davies looked unconvinced.
"Yes, I'm really Fred!" said Fred, assuming it was actually him, with a completely serious expression.
Roger: "..."
He thought to himself, "Is that really what I was asking?"
…
In the days that followed, life for Harry and Ron was relatively peaceful. The weekend, in particular, was quite enjoyable. Since I had finished most of my homework early, the little that remained wasn't left until the last minute.
Despite losing the practice match, the team members still showered the two new players with praise.
The only noticeable change was that Hermione and Neville, who had seen the three-headed dog with them, seemed to be deliberately avoiding them.
Neville's behavior wasn't too obvious, he simply didn't stick around them as much as he used to. Harry figured the three-headed dog had scared him more than he let on. That wasn't something easy to forget.
Hermione, however, made it far more obvious. She outright ignored them. Even when Harry and Ron approached her to talk, she would hum noncommittally, hesitate, and quickly find an excuse to leave.
During the week, Hermione often read and studied alone. Occasionally, she ignored Harry and Ron, but they didn't think much of it, except when it came to homework, of course.
Compared to the awkwardness with Hermione and Neville, the two found great joy in their encounters with Draco lately.
Whenever they ran into him, Ron would mock and taunt Draco, leaving him speechless. Seeing his delicate, smug face twist in frustration, Harry and Ron would laugh with unmistakable mischief.
However, their peace came to an abrupt end that afternoon.
At lunchtime, six large owls swooped into the Great Hall carrying a long package.
Almost every student in the hall turned to watch.
…
The news that Harry had received a Nimbus Two Thousand spread quickly throughout Hogwarts.
Some students envied him, like Ron.
Others were downright jealous, like Draco.
Ron didn't mind too much; he and Harry were best friends. Saying that what was Harry's was also his might have been an exaggeration, but Harry certainly wouldn't refuse to let him borrow the broom for practice.
Draco, however, wasn't so easy to pacify.
It wasn't that he lacked a broom, far from it. In fact, he had multiple racing brooms at home. Although he didn't own the latest Nimbus Two Thousand, he did have a Sweeping Seven Stars.
However, first-years weren't allowed to bring brooms to Hogwarts without special permission from the Head of House. And despite Snape favoring Draco, he hadn't written a special note granting him that privilege.
For now, the Slytherin Quidditch team lineup remained unchanged.
Because of this, Draco, who had been keeping a low profile since the Midnight Duel and Escape, was furious once again.
That Saturday afternoon, at the end of lunch, Draco stopped Harry in his tracks.
"Potter, I want to duel you!" Draco scowled, trying his best to look intimidating.
But it didn't matter, his sharp, aristocratic features made it nearly impossible for him to appear menacing.
"Oh? And then you'll use your 'Tattletale' spell again?" Before Harry could even respond, Ron scoffed, looking at Draco with clear disdain.
Draco seemed prepared for this reaction. He lifted his chin and declared, "This time, we won't choose the middle of the night. We'll fight during the day, and we will…"
"Hold on a minute," Harry interrupted. While he had lost the verbal sparring match against the Sorting Hat, he had a clear advantage over Draco:
"Since you're the one challenging me, shouldn't I be the one to decide the time and place?"
It was a standard dueling rule, Harry stated it with a cool confidence, as if it were a long-standing tradition.
"Huh?" Draco's words got caught in his throat. It took him a moment to recover before he asked, "Where... and when?"
"Right here, right now. Do you have the guts?" Harry challenged, pulling out his wand and tapping his throat. It was a spell he had just mastered, making his voice ring out loud and clear:
"Fellow students, upper years, I am Harry Potter, a first-year."
Although they had been at school for over a month now, Harry was still a figure of great interest to many. A good number of students had already been watching him, but now, nearly everyone in the Great Hall turned their attention to him.
Harry was used to being stared at by his peers.
He had improved a lot recently. When the school year had started, he had constantly found himself surrounded by students, some of whom even criticized him just because of his face.
Now, he had grown accustomed to the attention. He had been dealing with it since he was six or seven years old, after all. Ron, too, had become accustomed to it over the past month.
Draco, however, was far from calm. In fact, he looked almost panicked.
Noticing Draco's discomfort, Harry felt even more energized. He raised his voice and declared,
"Draco Malfoy has just challenged me. I have accepted! Since he issued the challenge, I get to decide the time and place!"
As he spoke, he glanced around. The students were whispering amongst themselves, looking thoroughly entertained. It was the same everywhere, people loved a good spectacle.
Satisfied with the reaction, Harry continued, "The time is now, and the place is right here! Now, the only question is, does he have the nerve?"
As he said this, he turned to Draco with a playful smirk.
Draco's face turned pale, then flushed blue.
******
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