snakes and lions

Chapter 2

As usual, Ron scoffed his face with food, but Harry was still feeling tired and confused after the nightmare he encountered in Snape's classroom. Usually the people he saw being tortured by the Dark Lord were Ron and Hermione - two of the people he cherished most in his life. But Malfoy. Why Malfoy? Harry loathed Malfoy. What was happening?

Dumbledore stood up and made his way gracefully to the front of the great hall. The room fell silent, patiently waiting for the headmaster to begin his announcement.

"Good evening, everyone. Now, it has come to my attention for some time now, that some of our schools' houses, haven't been getting along very well."
Harry could tell from his voice that Dumbledore meant Gryffindor and Slytherin.
"At times like these, it is more important than ever to stick together as a school. Now that the Dark Lord is gaining more and more power, more and more followers, we need to help eachother, and trust eachother. So, Professor McGonagall and Professor Snape, would you mind bringing that over?"
The two teachers shared holding a large goblet, which Harry recognised as the goblet of fire in his fourth year.
"Some of you may recognise this goblet from a couple of years ago. But most of you won't realise that this magical instrument isn't just used for picking out the champions for the Triwizard Tournament. No, you can simply change the charm on this goblet to pick out names of whatever students are necessary. For example, if I were to place all the names of all the students of Hogwarts in the goblet, and enchanted it to pick out the name or names which it thinks is most likely to become, let's say, Minister of Magic, the goblet will do so. So I have concluded an experiment which I shall perform to some of the pupils in this school. I have placed all the names of people in Gryffindor and Slytherin in this goblet. Don't worry first, second and third years, I have made sure that the people participating in this are the right age. When the time is right, which I expect will be very soon, the goblet will pull out the names of two people, of any gender, one from Gryffindor and one from Slytherin. It will choose the people whom it thinks don't have any positive connection with eachother, but may do after the following few weeks. Now, the two students whom the goblet chooses will share a small section of Hogwarts together. A bedroom, bathroom, small kitchen and sitting room. We shall tell whoever is chosen more about the rules and charms of the room once the time has come for them to move in together for 10 days. We will repeat this process throughout the year, with different houses each time, until there is finally peace between every house," explained Dumbledore.
"Ridiculous," sneered Ron. "What kind of an idea is that? I'm just hoping it's not me sharing with Crabbe or something,"

"So without further a do," continued the headmaster, "let us find out who our first two students are!"
At these exact words, the enchanted device turned a burning red colour, and the first name shot out. "The person representing Slytherin is . . . Draco Malfoy."
The Slytherin boy gasped with horror and dread and he looked like he was just about to shout something back at his headmaster. When the polite applause quieted down, the next name flew out of the goblet.
"And the representative for Gryffindor is . . . Harry Potter!"
'Shitshitshitshit,' thought Harry. Gasped rippled all throughout the hall. Potter and Malfoy?! Harry's heart dropped to the pit of his stomach. Great. Just great. Just my luck to be chosen to share a room with someone for 10 days. With Draco Malfoy of all people! Why couldn't he just have one quiet year?