"Very soon, Mr Potter, you're going to find out that some families," Draco shot a murderous scowl in Ron's direction,"Are better than others," He offered Harry his outstretched hand,"I can help you there." Harry was confused. From what Hermione had briefly explained to him on the train, he had gathered that many witches and wizards are biased towards those with non-magic parents, especially so if neither parent has magical ancestry. This was Hermione's case. Both of her parents were muggle dentists and completely oblivious to what their daughter unfortunately had in store for her. Ron however, had both magical parents and was therefore considered pure-blood. So why was Malfoy going out of his way to make Ron and his family feel like dirt? Of course. The fact that Ron was clearly wearing hand-me-down robes and had brought pre-prepared food with him should have signalled to Harry that the Weasleys were not particularly wealthy. Malfoy on the other hand, had a galleon or two to spare, as was evident from his immaculately tailored robes. Harry was in a difficult position. Ron and Hermione had been nice enough on the train ride to Hogwarts, but could he really afford to be hanging around with muggleborns and lower class citizens when the entire world expected his public image to reflect his golden boy status? He had to decide quickly, McGonagall would be back any moment and Malfoy's demeanor was one of impatience.
He stepped forward towards the wealthier boy and firmly shook his hand.
"Pleasure to meet you Mr Malfoy," Harry said with a subtle hint of menace in his voice. Malfoy tightened his grip on the other boy's hand and patted his shoulder. HIs brow relaxed and a triumphant smile began to spread across his face.
"Please, call me Draco."
Harry turned to glance back at Ron and Hermione. Hermione's look was one of indifference. She clearly couldn't care less which side he chose and why should she? She'd met him all of four hours ago. Although he didn't expect Ron to be over the moon with his apparently less than satisfying choice, Harry was surprised at just how angry Ron looked. His previously happy nature and welcoming smile had vanished, replaced with a look that for all Harry knew, actually could shoot daggers. Although he reassured himself that eleven year olds probably weren't capable of magic quite that powerful. Draco introduced Harry to his 'friends', more accurately described as cronies, Crabbe and Goyle. If they had been muggles, Draco would have been the brains and they the brawn. However, in a world where the most scrawny of people could kill by uttering a few select words, brawn didn't really count for much, so they were mostly just for show. The introductions were interrupted by a toad flying through the air, promptly landing on Draco's right foot. Draco was, shall we say, less than pleased. The boy from earlier ran to remove the toad from Draco's boot. Rather than let him, Draco decided that the best way to vent his anger was by causing pain to the person closest to him, and therefore proceeded to deliver a sharp kick to Neville's face, sending him tumbling down the stairs, landing at Ron's feet. As Neville tried to stem the flow of blood currently gushing from his nose, Ron and Hermione helped him to his feet and left to find a professor. Draco then turned his attention to Trevor.
"That Longbottom really should take better care of his pet," he said maliciously as he threw the live toad into the air. He drew his wand and uttered a spell that Harry didn't recognise from his textbooks. The toad transformed into a glass goblet before his eyes and proceeded to shatter upon impact with the stone floor. Upon hearing the noise, McGonagall returned to survey the first years.
"What in blazes has happened? Where are Miss Granger, Mr Weasley and Mr Longbottom?" she asked panickedly. Draco stepped forward and altered his demeanor to one of helpfulness and innocence.
"I believe Neville had an accident with his toad. Ron and Hermione have taken him to the Hospital Wing, Professor," he explained. Harry was amazed at how good an actor Draco seemed to be. Perhaps killing Neville's toad wasn't exactly what he would have done had he been in his shoes, but he had to admire Malfoy's ability to lie. All of the other first years seemed so afraid of him that they dare'd not contradict him.
"Oh, thank you Mr Malfoy. I'm sure Madame Pomfrey will be able to fix him up in time for the Sorting."
And sure enough, Neville was back by the time McGonagall escorted them into the Great Hall. Harry walked alongside Draco, flanked by Crabbe and Goyle. He could just about hear Granger talking some boring fact about the ceiling to anyone unfortunate enough to be near her. Hadn't she ever heard of just going with the flow? Harry could tell that he and Hermione Granger were going to clash, perhaps even more so than with the Weasley boy. Harry felt a hand on his shoulder, dragging him backwards and ushering him out of the way. Longbottom had caught up with Draco.
"Where's my toad, Malfoy? Please give him back! Where's Trevor?"
"By now I'm guessing Filch will be collecting him with a dustpan and brush, filth. Or if he's managed to transfigurate the pieces back again, he may have fed that disgusting thing to his equally disgusting cat." Neville turned white. Then bright red. And then the tears came. He ran at full speed from the Hall, closely followed by a concerned looking ghost. Draco was forcing himself not to laugh hysterically whilst under McGonagall's watchful eyes. Apparently unphased by Longbottom's second interruption of the evenings proceedings, she continued striding towards the chair pleaced in the centre of the podium.
"What was that spell you used on Neville's toad, Draco?" Harry asked curiously.
"It's a variation of the Feraverto spell. My father's friends have been teaching me simple Charms and Transfiguration spells for the past six months so that I'll be ahead of the rest of these morons," Draco explained. Whilst Harry tried to decipher whether he was one of the aforementioned morons, Professor McGonagall began to speak. She addressed the entire hall whilst holding in her hands a long piece of parchment. She explained the sorting process and began calling names. Ron and Neville were sorted into Gryffindor. If it weren't for Draco's continuous bashing of said house, Harry would've rather liked being in Gryffindor. Draco had however assured him that Slytherin was the house to be in, and that the other three houses isolated them purely out of jealousy. Hermione was sorted into Ravenclaw, which complimented her know-it-all nature perfectly.
"Draco Malfoy!" The hat didn't even make contact with his head before it bellowed Slytherin, much to the glee of both him and the rest of his new housemates.
"Harry Potter!" Harry stepped forward and hesitantly sat in the chair, allowing Professor McGonagall to place the Sorting Hat onto his head.
'Hmmm, difficult. Though not as difficult as I had anticipated. You're definitely brave, living with that dreadful family for so long and coming out mostly unscathed, but I sense a lot of potential in you. But not in Gryffindor. There's no war for you in which to show said bravery. No, Slytherin would help you on the way to greatness, there's no doubt about that. You're not academic enough for Ravenclaw and a recent change in loyalty tells me Hufflepuff isn't right either. Better be...'
'SLYTHERIN!'
