He sits beside Nott who is sitting beside Zabini, eating breakfast in silence. Leo sighs as he eats quietly, kind of jealous at the noise the Gryffindors are making.
I should have been in Gryffindor. It's more fun there, he thinks as he stabs a sausage on his plate. He looks at his class schedule for the day.
Since it's Monday, he has Transfiguration with the Ravenclaws, Potions with the Gryffindors, Care of Magical Creatures, and Defense Against the Dark Arts.
I guess I'll be using a lot of the Mist today, he thinks, still not used to using it even after Hazel taught him how.
"Why were you at the Gryffindor table earlier?" Zabini asks him suddenly.
"Huh? What? Oh... I'm friends with George and Fred. I thought I was friends with their younger brother and his friends, but I guess I was wrong."
"You mean Weasley, Granger, and Potter?" Nott suddenly asks.
Leo nods. "Yeah, the five of them were the first people I met in the clinic."
Nott shakes his head. "If you aim to stay in Slytherin, you should avoid the Golden Trio."
Leo tilts his head in confusion. "The Golden Trio?" he asks.
"Potter, Granger, and Weasley. The Golden Trio of Gryffindor house. Their main enemy is the Slytherin house. They're the reason we keep losing the House Cup. And before you ask, the House Cup is an award at the end of the school year. Each house gains or loses points that affect the school standing for the House Cup. Slytherin has been winning year after year but ever since the Golden Trio came, the Gryffindors keep winning. It's because the headmaster keeps favoring them. Plus Gryffindors and Slytherins hate each other. It's common knowledge here," Nott explains.
"But why?" Leo asks. "The school rivalry seems deeper than that of the House Cup."
"It's a long history that goes way back, especially about Potter," Zabini adds. "You don't need to worry about it. For now, at least." He shrugs.
"I think he would, considering, you know," Nott adds.
"He'll find out soon enough," Zabini replies with a shrug.
"Hello, I'm right here," Leo jokes, not really liking them talking about him when he's there. "And I'm pretty sure we don't need to divide ourselves this way for some stupid rivalry," Leo replies, as he bites on a hashbrown.
"You better not say that outloud near other Slytherins, especially Malfoy. They'll eat you alive," Nott berates him.
Leo shrugs. "I know a war when I see one. I'll try to behave, but I'm not gonna avoid people just because of history. We shouldn't repeat history. That's why that's all in the past. At least, that's what I think."
Nott shakes his head. "You won't last a month in Slytherin."
"If I can unite the houses with this method, then I'll be a successful Slytherin since we're all about ambition, right?" Leo smiles.
Zabini and Nott shake their heads but keep quiet instead of replying.
He watches as the other students examine the Goblet of Fire which is placed in the middle of the hall. A thin golden line has been traced on the floor, forming a circle ten feet around it in every direction. [1]
That is, when he sees Fred, George, and another student whispering among themselves as they enter the hall.
They did say they were up to something, he thinks to himself.
He watches as Fred walks right up to the edge of the line and stands there, rocking on his toes like a diver preparing for a fifty-foot drop. Then, he takes a deep breath and steps over the line. In his excitement since nothing happens, George yells out in triumph and leaps after Fred. [1]
Then, a familiar sizzling sound echoes through the hall, the same thing he heard last night, and both twins get thrown out of the golden circle. A loud popping noise echoes after and both of them sprout identical long white beards.
Everyone laughs and the twins join in. Leo whistles in their direction and the twins pose in response.
"I did warn you," says Professor Dumbledore who enters the Great Hall. He looks at the twins. "I suggest you both go up to Madam Pomfrey. She is already tending to Miss Fawcett, of Ravenclaw, and Mr. Summers of Hufflepuff, both of whom decided to age themselves up a little too. Though I must say, neither of their beards is anything like as fine as yours." [1]
After that goes down, he finishes a quiet breakfast then he walks with Nott and Zabini to their Transfiguration class with the Ravenclaws.
Fortunately, for him, today was mostly theoretical and they didn't even do any wand-work which reminds him that he needs to find a better stick than the piece of wood he got from his toolbelt he's still wearing underneath his robes. Or, at least, he needs to design it to look like his classmates' instead of just a plain long piece of wood.
As soon as class is over, he tells Nott and Zabini he's heading to the bathroom. Which he did, except instead of using the bathroom, he hides in a stall to carve the wood he got in his toolbelt to look like an actual magic wand.
He finishes just about time when he heads to the dungeon for his Potions class.
—oOo—
FOOTNOTES
[1] Taken from Chapter Sixteen of Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire. Page 258 to 260.
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