The morning when students would be going home for the holidays soon arrived. Harry, Hermione and Neville made it to the Great Hall, where they would have breakfast with their friends before boarding the Hogwarts express.
Harry hadn't really packed much to return home with; he only planned on bringing his wands plus a few books for light reading. Since this would be the first time since he and Lisa had seen each other in several months, he had decided that he would spend the majority of his time with her, thus there wasn't really a need for him to bring much.
They were sitting at the Hufflepuff table today. As always, Neville sat on Harry's left, and was joined by Susan sitting on his right, while Lisa sat next to the red-haired Hufflepuff. On the other side Hannah sat directly across from Susan, with Hermione on her left and Terry on her right, completing the group of seven.
Conversation flowed all around them. The Great Hall appeared filled to capacity, something that only happened during the beginning of the year feast and holidays. Harry could see many students talking, and while he could not hear them, managed to correctly presume they were discussing what they would be doing over the holidays, much the like the group he sat with were doing.
He went back to his food, taking a bite of his eggs and sighed. While a lot of the food made at Hogwarts tasted very good, especially breakfasts, which consisted of French toast, bacon, sausage, pancakes and hash browns, he didn't really have any desire to eat this kind of food. It had been something he put up with because, in the end, it was a very minor problem and he wanted to complete his politically-oriented goals before worrying about what he ate for breakfast. But that was no longer the case now, and he planned on finding the kitchens when he came back to see if he couldn't convince the chef to cook a larger variety of foods, preferably the healthier kind of variety.
Near the end of breakfast, Albus Dumbledore stood from his seat and moved to stand in front of the staff table. The students quieted down quite quickly, many wondering what Dumbledore had to say.
“I just have a few last minute instructions to all those who are heading home for the holidays. When you are finished with your meal, please head into the Entrance Hall where Mr. Filch will begin directing you to the carriages. I hope you have enjoyed the year so far, and that you have a Happy Christmas and New Year.”
Soon after the headmaster's speech, the students stood up and began leaving. Harry made his way to the Entrance Hall with his friends. It was crowded and there was a lot of bumping and jostling as some of the older students tried pushing their way through the throng of people, as if getting on a carriage faster would help them get home faster. Somehow, Harry and his friends managed to keep themselves from getting separated.
“Harry!”
At the sound of his name being called, Harry turned along with the others to see Tracey Davis, Blaise Zabini and Daphne Greengrass making a B-line to them. They carefully waded through several groups, using their smaller size to their advantage in order to continue moving closer to him.
“Hi!” Tracey greeted brightly as she and the other two stopped in front of them. Harry saw that she seemed much happier now than she a few days ago, perhaps even happier than she had been since the start of the school year. At her left stood Blaise, who looked the same as always, taciturn and mostly silent. The stoic boy offered him a nod, which Harry returned a little absentmindedly. His eyes only spared them a flicker before focusing on the last member of their group.
Daphne looked a lot better than she had been the last time he saw her. Of course, better was a very relative term. She still looked exhausted. Harry could see the slight bags under her eyes, even though she tried hiding them with a well-crafted charm. Still, while clearly still suffering from exhaustion, she did look better. Her eyes no longer held the haunted look they held before their confrontation, and her face didn't seem like a sleet of ice, cold and unforgiving. It looked softer now, warmer.
His preliminary observation complete, Harry smiled at the three before they could take notice of his staring.
“Morning Tracey, Blaise, Daphne.” He greeted, his head tilting, “Looking forward to heading home for the holidays?”
“You bet I am!” Was Tracey's exuberant declaration. Harry was quite sure that her excitement had less to do with returning home for Christmas and more to do with her blond friend. Her happiness was proof the two had made up and that Daphne was on the mend.
“I wonder what she's so excited about,” Hannah whispered into Lisa's ear as the group now consisting of nine continued moving forward. “I mean, she looked really depressed just a few days ago. Now she looks like she can take on the whole world.”
“Who knows,” was Lisa's response.
Harry shook his head as the two spoke. His other friends also seemed a bit perplexed by Tracey's strange attitude reversal.
Well, he wouldn't be the one to tell them anything. Whatever happened between Tracey and Daphne was no bodies business but their own.
With the trio of Slytherin's in tow, Harry and the others made it outside of Hogwarts and descended down the small path toward the carriages.
“This Christmas is going to be totally awesome,” Tracey said to them as they descended the small sloped, dirt path. The carriages were closer to the gates that kept Hogwarts separated from Hogsmeade. “I think I might finally have worn my parents down enough for them to buy me a new broom. My old Cleansweep is nice and all, but it's so, you know, old. I doubt I'll get a Nimbus 2000 or anything like that, but I'm at least hoping to get a 1700.”
“That's still a pretty expensive broom,” Terry pointed out. “Don't the Nimbus 1700's sell for something like 2,500 galleons? I don't even think all the presents I'll be getting combined would equal that.”
“Yeah, but my parents are probably better off than yours,” Tracey started, before she realized how insulting her words sounded. She quickly began to backtrack. “What I mean is my parents are pretty successful and make a lot of money. Of course, I don't know how much money your parents make, so maybe their richer than mine.”
“Must you always put your foot in your mouth, Tracey?” asked Daphne, her tone still somewhat cool, but nowhere near as bad as before. If there was a temperature that could be used to describe her tone, Harry would say it was lukewarm, though the added sarcasm made it hard to tell. Still, the mere fact that she was now speaking could only mean she was beginning to warm up to Harry and everyone else. At least he hoped so.
The mild glare Tracey sent was ruined by her pout.
“So this is something she does a lot then?” Hannah asked a tad uncertainly. She seemed slightly wary of Daphne, not that Harry could really blame her, given how the pureblood Slytherin acted before.
“She's been like this almost as long as I can remember,” Daphne said dryly, completely ignoring the betrayed look her friend sent her. “I think she picked it up from her father. He has a rather bad habit of saying stupid things in front of his wife, and getting into trouble for it.”
“Revealing my bad habits like that is so not cool, Daphne,” Tracey muttered with a small glare, cheeks puffed up indignantly. Daphne merely eyed her brunette friend with a blank look, though Harry thought he detected a hint of teasing warmth in her eyes.
“It could be genetic,” Harry commented, causing all eyes to turn his wat.
“Genetic?” Susan asked, curious about the unfamiliar term.
“It means hereditary,” Hermione started before Harry could begin to explain, “It's a trait that's passed down from parent to child. A good example would be a persons eye or hair color. You wouldn't normally see a child with blond hair if both of their parents had brown hair, or blue eyes if neither parent possessed blue eyes. Some people even think that certain personality traits are passed on through genetics, though that hasn't been proven yet.”
Daphne frowned at the muggleborn witch, before leaning over so she could whisper into Tracey's ear.
“Does she always do that?”
“Sometimes,” Tracey answered. Daphne gave an almost silent grunt.
“It's kind of annoying.”
“You'll get used to it.” Daphne's friend smiled. “At least she's smart. We could have picked worse people to spend time with.” She paused, then added, “And Harry says crap like that just as much, if not more than Hermione does anyway.”
Daphne's eyes caught Harry's. He tilted his head for a moment, then smiled at her, causing the blond pureblood to offer a small, uncertain smile in return. It only lasted on her face for a second, not long enough for anybody but Harry to notice.
“Yes,” she said softly, “I suppose you're right.”
They soon reached the carriages, and Harry found himself staring at what were quite possibly the strangest creatures he had ever seen: a pair of strange winged horses, their hooves stomping lightly against the ground, their leathery skin brown and coarse. They possessed a skeletal body that made them look anorexic, as if they'd not eaten for months. Large wings protruded from their back, currently folded. If Harry had to guess, he would say they had at least a ten foot wingspan. Their faces did not look like a horses, but appeared reptilian in nature.
Curiosity overcoming him, Harry changed direction and headed toward the creatures. What were these strange horses? Having not really looked up anything on magical creatures, Harry did not have the foggiest idea of what these things were.
They seemed to sense his presence as he neared them. The one closest to him turned its head and looked at him with strangely placid eyes. Harry raised a hand over the winged horse's snout slowly, letting it know he wasn't a threat. It nudged his hand, letting Harry know that he could pet it, he guessed. He slowly ran his hand over its rough, leathery skin. It definitely felt nothing like petting a horse, he mused.
“What are you doing, Potter?”
Turning his head, Harry saw Daphne and the others staring at him with a concerned expression. Well, the others looked concerned, it was hard to tell with her, as aside from the slight downturning of her lips, her face remained completely neutral.
Harry tilted his head in confusion.
“Just petting these strange horses?”
“Horses?” Daphne's frown deepened as she looked at him. Behind her, the other members of their group grew even more concerned. Harry frowned.
“The ones pulling the carriage.”
“Harry,” Hermione said uncertainly, “there's nothing pulling the carriages.”
“Nothing?” Harry looked at the group, then back at the horse he was petting. He tried discerning what this meant, but came up blank. He looked over at the group again. “Are you telling me none of you can see them?”
“See what?” Blaise asked, eyes narrowing slightly at the raven-haired boy. Harry wondered what the Italian pureblood was thinking about, but figured he was trying to decide whether Harry was actually looking at something they couldn't see or simply hallucinating.
He wondered. If they couldn't see them, did that mean they couldn't feel them either? There was only one way to find out.
“Here.” Harry took Daphne's hand in his own, eliciting the first true showing of emotion form her, surprise, and walked back up to the front of the carriage.
“What are you doing?” Daphne asked, shocked by the act of him grabbing her hand so casually. He wondered if this was the first bit of human contact she'd had with anyone aside from Tracey and Blaise in a while, but dismissed the thought and put her hand on the winged horses snout. Daphne's eyes widened.
“You feel it, yes?” asked Harry. Daphne nodded slowly as she let Harry move her hand up and down the creature's snout.
“What is it?” she asked, her voice a soft whisper. There was emotion in that voice. Wonder.
“I don't know.” Harry shrugged helplessly. “It looks like a skeletal winged horse with leathery skin. I've never seen anything like it, and I haven't looked up anything on magical creatures.” Except for trolls, because, well, when one almost kills you its only natural to study the thing, just in case you have to face one again.
“Thestrals,” Lisa said, her eyes widening, “You can see Thestrals? And their pulling the carriage?”
“Thestrals?” Harry inquired, removing his hand from Daphne's. The blond blinked for a moment, frowned, then removed her hand from the Thestral's snout.
“It's a breed of winged horse,” Lisa explained. “They're very rare, and are considered dangerous by the Ministry. I think it's because a lot of people consider them a bad omen.”
“Why are they a bad omen?” asked Hannah, eying the front of the carriage with curiosity and uncertainty.
“Because only those who have seen death can see them.”
All eyes turned to Harry, who suddenly felt uncomfortable under the stares. Of course he would be the only one to see something like that, seeing as he had been forced to watch Voldemort kill his mother. And naturally he would discover a breed of horse that only people who had seen someone die could see, while everyone else in the vicinity and heard the explanation as well. Honestly, first the troll, then a cursed broom, followed by a Cerberus at school, then the Mirror of Erisad and its dark secret, and that's not even going into everything that happened before going to Hogwarts. It was enough to make him wonder if he'd accrued some really bad karma, and if so, wonder what he'd done to deserve it.
“I'm surprised you know that,” Harry said, hoping to bring the attention off him. It didn't quite work, but at least it got Lisa talking again.
“Back in ancient times, Roman battle mages used Thestrals for aerial bombardment against invading armies and storming castles.”
“Ah.” Harry nodded, noticing that most of his friends were still looking at him. And that a lot of them were pitying. Hannah, Susan and Tracey seemed especially compassionate, with teary eyes and everything. Neville looked a tad faint. Terry seemed a bit more composed, but still gave him a sad look, and Blaise shifted to study Harry better. The only one not giving him pity was Daphne, who simply looked curious and maybe a bit remorseful, as if she had misjudged him in some way.
He shifted again, fighting against the scowl threatening to creep on his face.
“Well,” he said with forced cheerfulness, “why don't we get on the carriages, hmm?”
It wasn't the best subtle maneuvering he'd ever done. It wasn't even subtle at all. But if nothing else, it worked. Harry and his friends boarded two carriages. They weren't that large, and would only fit about two to a seat. Somehow, the one Harry ended up in managed to fit three, with Tracey and Daphne squeezing in next to him, while Terry and Neville sat opposite of them.
The carriage began moving. Harry was very grateful that Daphne sat next to him. Out of all his friends, only she hadn't looked at him with pity, and she neatly blocked the view of Tracey, who kept sending him the occasional sad glance.
Unfortunately, she couldn't do anything about the looks Terry and Neville sent, but it was better than having all three of them staring at him.
By the time they arrived at Hogsmeade, where the Hogwarts Express sat waiting, smoke billowing from the front, the sad and pitying stares ceased, for the most part. He knew they were probably curious about who he had seen die, since they most likely believed he'd been too young to remember his parents' death. They could keep thinking that. He wouldn't be telling them that he could see Thestrals because he did, in fact, remember the death of his mum and dad.
The group of nine moved with the flow of students and entered the gold and scarlet steam engine. It wasn't until they started looking for an empty compartment that Hannah pointed out the problem.
“Who's going to sit with who? We can't all sit in the same compartment. There's not enough room.”
“Don't worry about that,” Harry replied confidently, “I figured this would be a problem, so I did some reading ahead in Charms and found a spell that will help us.”
Everyone shared a curious glance, all of them wondering the same thing. Just when did Harry look up this spell? What exactly was this spell? And, of course, what did this mystery spell do and how would it help them fit into one compartment? There were nine people, and compartments could only carry, at most, six. They may be able to squeeze eight people in since they were first years and pretty small compared to the older students, but it would be a tight fit and one of them would be left out.
They found out exactly what the spell did after running across an empty compartment. With a flick of his wrist, Harry summoned his wand to his hand and waved it in precise strokes. He muttered a spell under his breath, too soft for them to hear over the noise of the other students chattering and laughing.
What happened next shocked the group. The small compartment began to expand. The floor, ceiling and walls grew wider and higher. The window at the other end of the compartment, the two benches attached lower to the floor, and the alcove for trunks overhead all began to stretch like a rubber band as it was pulled to match the new proportions of the room. By the time the compartment finished expanding, it looked large enough to fit ten people.
“Wow,” Hannah muttered in awe, her eyes wide.
“What kind of spell was that?” asked a curious Terry. The others perked up at his question and looked at Harry. Blaise, Daphne and Hermione seemed especially interested in his answer.
“The Expansion Charm, or Dilato, is a Charm that causes an enclosed space to expand in proportion to the amount of magic pumped into the charm,” Harry explained, absently using his wand to conjure a small rag so he could wipe the sweat off his brow. That spell was more difficult than he thought. Even after using the wand movements and incantation it took more effort than any other spells he'd cast thus far. Then again, he had only tried the spell on a small shoes box before now.
“That's such a cool spell.” As was the case in most instances, Tracey seemed to be the only one capable of speech after seeing Harry's admittedly impressive display of magic.
“How come I've never heard of that spell before?” asked the ever curious and inquisitive Hermione.
“Because it's not in any of your Hogwarts spell books,” Harry informed her, “I found it in a book called Charms for the Seriously Charmed.” He shrugged. “It was one of the books I bought during my last visit to Diagon Alley over the summer. And now that the questions are out of the way, perhaps we could sit down before people start complaining about us obstructing the hall.”
The words snapped everyone out of their stupor, and the group walked into the newly expanded compartment. Daphne sat next to the window and Harry, who correctly assumed she wanted to be isolated from everyone else due to not being comfortable with them, sat next to her.
Tracey sat on the other side of the compartment, opposite Daphne, leaning against the wall while Neville sat next to her. The Slytherin offered the boy her usual bright smile, getting a somewhat less sure one from Neville. The boy may be gaining confidence, but he still wasn't quite used to breaking longstanding Gryffindor tradition by being so friendly with a Slytherin.
Blaise ended up sitting beside Neville, and in turn, sat with Hermione on his other side, who was closest to the door. The bushy-haired brunette gave the dark-skinned Slytherin an uncertain look. Blaise looked down at her and offered a small nod of acknowledgment, which seemed to put her a little more at ease. At least enough to give him a smile.
On Harry's side, Lisa placed herself next to him. The girl was still casting curious glances around the enlarged compartment. Meanwhile, Hannah, Susan and Terry sat to her left, with Hannah sitting next to Lisa, Susan next to Hannah, and Terry near the compartment door. Harry thought they all made a rather interesting sight, and a number of wide-eyed students who peeked into the room while passing by apparently agreed.
Not long after sitting down the group made conversation. The compartment became filled with chatter as they broke off into individual discussions. Tracey spoke to Neville about Quidditch, said boy nodding his head and agreeing with everything she said because he knew very little about the sport. Hannah and Susan spoke quietly amongst themselves, though Terry interjected occasionally. It took a while for them to start speaking, but eventually Hermione and Blaise struck up a small debate about whether the spells in Defense Against the Dark Arts could be classified as Charms or not.
“I'm really impressed that you can actually do this spell,” Lisa said to Harry as she finished her examination of the room and started up her own conversation with the raven-haired boy. “A lot of stores and shops in Diagon Alley have an expansion charm on them, so I always figured it was a complicated piece of magic that most people don't learn until after they graduate.”
“It's not actually that complicated,” Harry informed her, “the spell itself is actually simple as far as the mechanics go. The hard part is putting enough magic into the spell to actually make it work, and then there's the fact that the larger the space you're trying to expand is, the harder using the spell becomes. When I first learned the spell I tried it on a shoe box, and it was much easier than what I did here.”
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Daphne listening to his conversation intently. He wondered if she was interested in magic theory or just curious.
“In any case, I'm not entirely sure the magic used in the shops are the same as what I used here. The Expansion Charm is a temporary spell. Depending on how much magic is put into the spell and the size the enclosed space has been expanded to will determine how long the spell lasts. I only put enough magic for it to stay last until we reach platform nine and three-quarters, maybe a little longer.”
“The magics used in the shops, on the other hand, are permanent, from what I can see. I mean, it would be a pain if someone had to keep applying the charm every single hour, and that says nothing about how difficult it would be to rearrange the items their selling every time they need to reapply the charm when they open shop.”
He smiled as Lisa giggled, no doubt imagining frustrated store owners having to move all their wares because the magic used to expand their shops wore out. Daphne, he noticed, had also quirked her lips at the undoubtedly humorous scenario.
“I suspect the rooms might actually be enchanted to remain that size, though I know next to nothing about enchantments other than that it being a combination of Charms and Runes used to cast a spell on an item permanently.”
“You know more than I do,” Lisa said, “I don't know what enchanting is. At least, I didn't until now.”
“Glad to be of service.”
Individual conversations eventually ceased when Tracey brought out some cards and they played a game of Exploding Snap. It was a very... interesting game. The rules were simple enough. When someone sees two cards with identical picture, they tap their wand on the card and gain a point. The one with the most points wins. It was similar go fish, sort of, only you're not given a hand, you don't ask others if they have a certain card, and if you're not fast enough with your wand, the cards explode in your face.
Both Hermione and Neville almost had their eyebrows burnt off when they were too slow to act.
The only one who did not play with them was, naturally, Daphne. Harry peered at the girl out of his peripheral with a bit of worry. While she seemed to be mostly fine, she appeared to still be very tired. Occasionally, she would nod off, only to discreetly pinch herself to keep awake.
Summoning his wand, Harry discreetly waved it over himself and Daphne. The sound of the others talking soon became soft, muffled, as if coming from a great distance. The blond girl blinked several times, then lifted a single, elegant eyebrow at him.
“It's a spell I modified,” Harry answered her silent question. “A combination of the inverted Silencing Charm and a basic Muffling Charm.”
“What do you mean inverted?” asked Daphne in a soft whisper.
“I mean we can hear them but they can't hear us.” Harry discreetly waved at the others as they continued chattering. “What I essentially did was create a 'bubble' with my magic over us. The 'inside' of the bubble contains the silencing spell, so anything we say cannot be overheard by the others.”
“And the 'outside' would contain the Muffling Charm, right?” Daphne received a nod from her guess and raised the other eyebrow. “I'm impressed. I don't know how much about Charms beyond the few used in Defense Against the Dark Arts, but modifying a spell like that can't be easy.”
“Easier than you may think,” Harry said, “charms like this are always simple to modify, though I will admit this took more effort than I originally assumed it would.”
“And how do you know so many spells?” inquired Daphne.
“Before I started Hogwarts, I skimmed through a lot of the books I bought and made a list of all the spells I thought would prove useful to learn.” What he didn't say was that each of the spells he chose to learn would prove beneficial toward his goals. He also didn't mention that the spell he just cast was something he had thought up on the spot. “And when school started I would choose a spell to learn and practice it until I had it down.”
“That's not a half bad idea, actually,” Daphne said, “For a Gryffindor.”
Harry rolled his eyes, but didn't respond to her jibe.
“So, as interesting as this is, I suspect you have another reason for casting this spell other than to show off to me.”
Harry nodded, then glanced around the compartment. No one had noticed they weren't paying attention to what was going on around them. Good.
“I wanted to ask if you were ok,” Harry admitted. Daphne frowned at him, making him hasten to clarify. “What I mean is you look tired. A few good nights of sleep can't fix a month or so of hardly sleeping at all.”
There was no physical change in Daphne's expression. Her face still remained carefully neutral, save for the raised eyebrows. However, while her face remained unchanged, her eyes were another matter. The slightly cool chips of icy blue seemed to melt a bit. The change in her eyes made her entire countenance seem different than before, warmer somehow, though Harry did not fully understand how a pair of eyes could be so expressive.
“I am fine,” Daphne replied softly, “just a little tired.”
“If you'd like, I could put up a silencing spell around you so you can get some sleep,” Harry offered.
Daphne tilted her head for a second, studying him. After a moment, her lips turned upwards ever so slightly. Most people wouldn't notice. Harry was not most people.
“I would like that.”
Harry nodded, his wand back in hand. He canceled the modified charm, returning the compartment to its normal volume. Everyone was still talking. Pointing his wand at Daphne and muttering under his breath, he cast a Silencing Charm. The only indication it worked was the blond's nod.
Deciding to go just one step further, Harry pointed his wand at the wall and the back of the bench where Daphne sat. The girl blinked as the area around her became soft like a marshmallow, or a pillow.
She looked over at Harry who merely shrugged. Giving him an almost unnoticeable smile of gratitude, Daphne leaned against the wall and closed her eyes.
It was almost fascinating to watch the girl fall asleep. Her lips parted slightly and her breathing evened out. Her face became relaxed, tranquil, the neutral expression gone. She looked like a completely different person when sleeping. When awake, her appearance was guarded and cold; asleep, she looked peaceful, content almost. It made Harry wonder how different he looked when sleeping.
Feeling a set of eyes on him, Harry turned his head and saw Tracey staring at him. She was smiling, and when their eyes met she mouthed 'thank you' right before one of the cards she was shuffling exploded in her face.
Tracey blinked in surprise as everyone laughed at her. A number of black spots marred her face from the explosion, soot stains that gave her the appearance of a mad scientist whose experiment just exploded in her face. Tracey tried to scowl at everyone, but was unsuccessful because she seemed incapable of doing anything other than smiling sheepishly. Sighing, Harry waved his wand at her and the soot stains disappeared.
“Thanks!”
“You're welcome.”
Just then the compartment door opened and in walked Malfoy alongside his two Gorilla bodyguards. As the compartment went silent, the heir to the Malfoy family looked at everyone present. Then his eyes focused on Blaise, Daphne and Tracey, a sneer slowly forming on his face.
“So...” he looked at Harry, eyes narrowing to match his sneer. “You've decided to ally yourself with lesser families, I see. I should have known this would happen. The Potter's have always been too stupid for their own good.”
Harry frowned. He had suspected this would happen for a while now, as Draco struck him as the type who would see his befriending other people in his house but not him as an insult, but had not realized it would be so soon.
“Bugger off, Malfoy!” Came the twin shouts of Hannah and Tracey, the two who seemed to dislike Malfoy most.
Malfoy's sneer grew. It was almost Snape worthy, if it were not coming from an 11 year-old boy.
“How dare you speak to me that way, dirty half-bloods!”
The glares intensified. Not just Tracey's and Hannah's, but everyone's.
“I would watch what you say, Draco,” Blaise said coolly. “Do not forget that while your father may have the ears of the Minister, the Zabini family is far richer than you will ever be.”
Malfoy's ears turned pink.
“Only because your mother whored herself out like a common peasant and then killed her husbands!”
Blaise scowled and sent the boy a fierce stare, his eyes possessing an unearthly fire that hid a quiet rage. It was the first time Harry had seen him angry. He had to admit, it was impressive.
“I dare you to say that again,” the dark-skinned boy hissed through clenched teeth. Insulting his mother seemed to be the one way to get Blaise angry.
“Oh, did you not hear me the first time.” Malfoy seemed rather pleased to have elicited such a reaction in the taller boy. “I guess I shouldn't be surprised. You Zabini's always did have a problem with—”
“Is there a reason you're here, Malfoy?” asked Harry, heading off any argument before it could get ugly.
“It has nothing to do with you, Potter,” Malfoy said snottily. “I just came to warn these three about fraternizing with our enemies.” He gestured the the three Slytherin's sitting in the compartment. “You'd better think twice about where your loyalties lie. Those of us in Slytherin will not tolerate betrayal lightly.”
“You're concern has been duly noted,” Tracey said with a surprisingly cold glare for someone who usually acted so bright and cheerful. “Now leave.”
Malfoy scowled at the girl. He looked like he might say something else, but a quick look around at all the others glaring at him seemed to change his mind. Giving them one last sneer, he left, his hulking brutes for bodyguards cracking their knuckles in what Harry assumed was them trying to be menacing, before following the boy out.
“Grr!” Tracey growled as she glared at the now closed door. “I can't believe that stupid, arrogant, sodding jerk actually had the nerve to come in here and say all that!”
“What do you expect?” Blaise said, “Malfoy's a spoiled brat whose always used to getting his way.”
“He's not going to be a problem for you, is he?” Harry asked, a little worried. This had always been one of the greatest flaws in his plan. Slytherin house contained a lot of Death Eater children, and Draco Malfoy was the most influential thanks to his father. If he used his father's power wisely enough, he could cause problems for Blaise, Daphne and Tracey.
“Not really.” Blaise shrugged. “Malfoy may think he's all powerful because his daddy's rich and a lot of people in the Ministry owe him favors, but the truth is he only really controls the Death Eater children, and they're actually a minority since a lot of Death Eater's never had children.”
“Besides, after you bought brooms for all four houses, very few students in our house actually dislike you,” Blaise added, almost as an afterthought. “Mos are confused about you, but a good deal of them respect you. Malfoy won't be finding any support from them.”
“Still...”
“I wouldn't worry too much,” Tracey butt in before Harry could say anything. “If Draco is actually stupid enough to try anything, Daphne's got a list of imaginative and painful curses she can use to keep him in line.”
“Oh...”
Harry looked at Daphne, who slept peacefully under the Silencing Charm. He wondered what curses she knew, who had taught them to her, and if she'd be willing to teach them to him.
“So.” Tracey started shuffling the cards in her hand again, grinning widely. “Who's up for another game of Exploding Snap?”
Hermione and Neville both groaned and shook their heads negatively, causing the others in the compartment to laugh.