The Dark Angel

Chapter 9: The Other Malfoy

(HERMIONE P.O.V)

The prefects meeting had ended and Ron and me, were searching for Harry. I was fuming because that ferret and pug-face had been made prefects. Seriously how!

A few compartments away, I noticed a beautiful girl with silvery blond hair and stunning grey eyes coming our way. She was wearing muggle attire in such a way that even muggles would ask her for fashion tips, ensuring her to be a muggleborn like me. She was carrying a book and looked very similar to a person I knew, but couldn't place my finger on. She was obviously a transfer; I had not seen her in Hogwarts.

"Who is she?" asked Ron, apparently dazed by her beauty. It sent me a wave of jealously. I had begun to develop feelings for him in our fourth year.

I sighed and shrugged.

A foot away from us, a compartment door opened. A person, no doubt a Slytherin, stuck out his foot, causing her to trip. Her book flew and landed near my feet. I picked it up and frowned as I read the name- Secrets of the Darkest Arts, A guide to making Horcruxes.

I furrowed my eyebrows. I had never heard of such a thing and it was definitely very dark; looking at the book. By this time she had gotten up and hastily snatched the book away from my hand. With an icy glare that sent chills down my spine, she turned towards the boy who had tripped her, without thanking me.

She walked up to the boy, Marcus Flint, with such grace that I felt the urge to bow down. She looked like a queen and it was a wonder how Marcus was still smirking under her glare.

"You should know your place, you filthy Mudblood!" he said smugly.

Ron and I were practically fuming by this point. Everybody knew the meaning of that derogatory term. We had been joined by Malfoy and his goons by now. What surprised me was that instead of encouraging the party, he looked angry.

"Did you just call me a 'filthy mudblood'?" asked the girl in a deadly calm voice. Perhaps seeing his mistake, his smile faltered but his friend said, "You wouldn't know its meaning Mudblood, but it's who you are. You are below us and be sure to remember that."

She shifted her gaze from Flint to the other boy. Before she could utter a single word, Malfoy, surprisingly, and I came to her rescue.

"Detention Flint and Macnair," we said simultaneously. Disgusted by our actions, we scowled at each other before turning our attention back to the group.

"We didn't know you care for this girl Draco," said Flint, nervously, probably because of his father.

"My father will hear about this Flint and Macnair. How dare you even think about insulting my-"Malfoy was cut off in mid-sentence by her. I wanted to know why he cared so much about her. Who was she to him?

"Let me take care of them myself Draco," she said to Draco and turned her attention to the boys. "You better learn to respect girls, especially me. It won't be long before you are thrown to your place."

The manner in which the girl said this made the boys sweat. She just turned and said, "Let's go, Draco."

With a final glance towards Ron and me, in which her face held disgust but eyes that shone with compassion and gratitude, she left.

Ron and I continued our search for Harry after arranging the boys' detentions. Ron spoke, "You saved her and she didn't even thank you. Why? Was it because of Malfoy?"

I, too, was thinking along the same lines. She looked at us as though we had tripped her. Yet, her eyes. Maybe, she was only acting because of Malfoy.

We finally found Harry with Ginny, Neville and a girl who was reading The Quibber upside down. We were conversing happily until we were rudely interrupted by our arch enemy.

"What?" Harry said aggressively.

"Manners Potter or I will have to give you detention," said Malfoy, smirking. "You see, I, unlike you have been made a prefect which means that I, unlike you, have the power to hand out punishments."

"Yeah," said Harry. "But you, unlike me- are a git- so get out and leave us alone." We all laughed.

Malfoy's lips curled. "Tell me how does it fell like being second-best to Weasley, Potter?"

"Shut up, Malfoy," I said sharply. I knew that this subject had been bothering Harry.

"I seem to have touched a nerve," said Malfoy smirking. "Well just watch yourself, Potter, because I'll be dogging your footsteps in case you step out of line."

Dogging...? He had realized that it was Sirius.

"Get out!" I growled, standing up.

"And you, mudblood, will finally be shown your place," sniggered Malfoy and left.

I shared a look with Harry and realized that he too had understood his words. Finally, the atmosphere calmed and the train stopped. Ron and I left to supervise. When we came back, we noticed Hagrid's absence. He had mentioned his mission but wasn't he supposed to be back by now?

I saw Malfoy and his cronies along with Parkinson pushing some timid looking second-years. The girl was nowhere to be seen. She must have gone by the boats to the school.

Harry started asking about some horses that he was seeing pulling the carriages. We started worrying about his health, obviously, there wasn't anything pulling it. I had read Hogwarts: A History and there was nothing about it. I kept glancing at Harry on our way to the castle. When we finally reached it, I noticed a lot of pointing and whisperings towards Harry. This aggravated him further.

While we were searching for Hagrid, I saw a woman in a pink-colored cardigan who looked like a toad. Harry recognized her as Umbridge, who was at his hearing.

Ministry, here at Hogwarts; no please no...

The sorting hat sang a song that suggested us to form close bonds within ourselves. It sounded as though it was giving us a warning. After all the first years had been sorted, Dumbledore rose from his chair and said, "To the first-year, welcome. And to our old ones- welcome back. Before we start our feast, I would like to introduce a new transfer student from Beauxbaton."

"She must be the one," said Ron. Harry looked confused at his statement.

Before I could answer, Dumbledore said, "Please welcome, Stella Malfoy."

Whispers broke in the hall. I, now understood, who she looked similar to; her expressions towards us and her closeness to Malfoy. She was another pureblood, a snob like his brother. But her clothes had made her look like a muggle-born- they were so perfect.

She walked into the Great Hall with elegance. Her posture and mannerism made everyone calm, yet inferior. With a certain grace, she sat on the stool. Before the hat could even touch her head, it yelled, "SLYTHERIN."

The house cheered loudly and the boys who had insulted her on the train stood up and apologized profusely. She paid no heed to them.

We all started eating dinner and by the end of it, a loud shriek was heard. Pansy Parkinson's face was full of pimples, her nails had grown big and her ears had become as perky as a house elf's. Everyone cracked up as she shouted for the person behind this prank. Suddenly, two crackers emerged by her sides, making her scream with terror. They burst in the middle of hall forming a symbol of a girl wearing a pair of wings with a halo on top.

"We need to find this person, George," said Fred amused.

"Right you are, Fred," said his twin.

Whoever this person, most probably a girl, had avenged a lot of people in this school. She had earned the respect of many, including mine. Even though I didn't support breaking rules, I couldn't stop laughing.