Chapter 3
The twerp was nowhere to be found. The twins had looked everywhere, but the kid seemed to have vanished. They had even broken into the Slytherin common room looking for him, but no such luck. Sometimes they saw him round the corner, but whenever they caught up, he seemed to disappear into thin air. It was beyond frustrating for the two pranksters.
And just like that, he evaded their pranks for over a month whole month. The Gryffindors couldn't them anything and the Ravenclaws didn't care. The Hufflepuffs were always tightlipped when it came to helping them find new targets for their pranks; they thought the twins always took it too far. But had they spoken to the Slytherins, they would have known to find the boy in the Hufflepuff common room. He had become an object of fear amongst the snakes, and he was known to appear out of nowhere whenever a Hufflepuff was picked on. It didn't matter if the bullies or the victims were seventh years, the appearance of the diminutive first year sent them running. Hitsugaya Toshiro, the house of Slytherin knew, had to be the scariest Hufflepuff Hogwarts had ever known.
However, he was hardly ever inside the school. He spent his time in the forbidden forest and on the rooftops of the school. His attendance in class was shaky at best, but he always performed outstandlingly whenever he did show up. Other than that, he could be found inthe Hufflepuff common room, trying to make himself useful but accidentally terrifying half its population , the Hufflepuffs had come to accept him as best they could and appreciated the protection he extended to them, as well as the help he doled out to struggling students. They were all Hufflepuffs after all; they had each other's backs.
It was two weeks before Halloween that they finally found him walking into the Great Hall. It was unusual for Hitsugaya to attend at all since it was less of a hassle to just grab a plate for the kitchens and head back to the common room. But he had allowed his peers to sway him into coming to the Great Hall for once.
Two glitter bombs hit him at once. Hitsugaya was suddenly a green and pink glittering monstrosity that paused in his step before turning towards the two prankster. It took a mere moment and suddenly the two were incased in ice. Professor Sprout sighed in exhasperation. The boy was certainly powerful, but he could be such a handful.
"Toshiro, dear," she said, "Please unfreeze your classmates. But Toshiro wanted to hear non of it. He crossed his arms defiantly.
"No."
"Tosh-"
"Look at me," he waved over his entire body, "This stuff sticks magically! It'll take days to wear off!" With a huff, he he left the Great Hall, much preferring the quiet common room. If only to save himself the embarrassment of looking like a party favour.
Meanwhile, Malfoy looked on in horror before turning towards Harry. It didn't take a genius to figure out why the Weasley twins had targeted Hitsugaya. This entire ordeal had to be fixed immediately, lest things turn even worse. Angering Hitsugaya was not wise.
Uncharacteristically, Malfoy made his way over to the Gryffindor table and straight towards Harry.
"A word, Potter," he demanded as obnoxiously as always.
Harry took in the unusual display of delibrately seeking him out without taunting him. A part of him didn't want to go with Malfoy because it was too dangerous, but the other part of him knew that Malfoy had information on Hitsugaya's powerful display of magic. And Harry Potter was nothing if not curious. He made to get up before Ron interferred.
"Now wait just a minute!" he exclaimed, "Harry isn't going anywhere without us!"
Malfoy sighed in acceptance as if expecting such an outcome.
Outside the Great Hall and under a few privacy charms, Malfoy finally shared what he knew on Hitsugaya.
"You really mustn't provoke Hitsugaya," he began, "I checked out his claims. His magical signature really does correspond to the line of Hitsugaya."
"So?" said Harry, "What does his name have to do with anything? Malfoy sighed.
"A few centuries ago, there was this... trend."
Hermione pierced him with a look that begged him to tell her anything he knew.
"Some witches and wizards believed that half-breed children had more powerful magic and were healthier. Of course, this was proven completely false and many bloodlines dies out back then. Some children of Veela or Aos si were deformed or weren't able to reproduce. It was a huge blow to the pureblood line. Not only that but at the time the dragons had grown much more rampant and many lost their lives to them. There was even one near Malfoy Manor, it was an ice dragon, but my family managed to ward it off for the most part and it kept to its cave."
"Because of all of this, the pureblood line were getting rarer, so many arranged marriages were put in place. An ancestor of mine was betrothed to Hitsugaya Hiroko."
"No way," interrupted Ron, "You're related to the freak!" Hermione elbowed him in the ribs.
"Ronald! Where are your manners?" she hissed.
"No, you nitwit, we aren't related. Let me finish," he cleared his throat. "On their wedding day, Hitsugaya Hiroko never showed to the wedding. She had run off with another."
"Oh this is good," mumbled Ron.
"Must've been a really handsome bloke if he could seduce her away from all the fortune and renown of the Malfoy family," muttered Harry absentmindedly. Malfoy looked surprised that Harry recognized his family's prestige, but steeled himself from the embarassment of the following confession.
"It was the dragon," he said.
"What?" asked Harry and Ron simultaneously. Malfoy took a deep breath.
"Hitsugaya Hiroko ran from her marriage into the Malfoy family with the dragon living in the nearby cave." Despite his usual self-control, he could feel his face burning as he looked at his hands instead of the bewildered faces of the Golden Trio.
Ron burst out laughing. He was laughing so hard, in fact, that he starting wheezing and choking. Harry still looked cofused, but Hermione caught on to what Draco was saying.
"Wait, if she ran off with a dragon, that would mean that Toshiro is-"
"Part-dragon," he filled in for her. "Yes. Hiroko's firstborn lacked draconic features, so she threw him away. Her only heir was her second-born who was said to have wings ans scales. Toshiro must be a descendent of her second-born son."
"That being said, do warn the Weasley twins to heed the school motto. The Malfoys got into quite a bind with the Hitsugayas in the day, and from what I've seen, they haven't changed a bit."
"One more thing. I'm sure you've all realised this by now, but the nature of these privacy wards won't permit you retelling the things we've discussed today. That'll be all."
And just like that, Malfoy was gone.
