When Harry had finally arrived to Dumbledore's office, he sighed. "Is my brave apprentice tired?" Sir Cadogan inquired, "Perhaps we should go to the Kitchens, where food flows and merry house elves dance!"
"I think I'm fine here, Dobby!" Harry blurted out of frustration. The knight was too much.
"Dobby?" Sir Cadogan looked confused, "Who is Dobby? Is he an enemy? Is he perhaps a fierce knight with ability to match my own? Bring me this Dobby and we will fight!"
Harry rolled his eyes, "I'm sorry, I meant to say Sir Cadogan, not Dobby. He is a house elf,"
Finally the Knight took off on his horse again, leaving Harry with some peace and quiet.
The password had been Soft Snakes, and it, if anything, pissed Harry off even more.
The room was empty, save for Fawkes who was looking healthy and bright. He smiled and she let a single caw. The circular room looked entirely peaceful, Some of the previous Headmaster and Mistress's portraits on the wall looked at Harry suspiciously.
"Hello Harry," a old, dusty sort of voice said.
Harry turned and no one was there. "I'm on the shelf, silly. Pardon my throat, I haven't been dusted in a few days,"
It was the Sorting Hat. Perhaps it could give Harry the answers. After all it put Harry in Gryffindor.
"I'm not really sure what answers you seek, boy," it spoke again, "Just a couple of days ago you came here claiming I had put you in the wrong house. Then you threatened to curse all the portraits in the room unless I sorted you into Slytherin."
Harry's eyes widened. He hadn't a clue what'd happened in the last few days, he only had memories of the last night he had fallen asleep in.
Knowing the Sorting Hat wouldn't change for the third time, he left the room. Harry felt sick.
He bounded down the corridor until he got to a bathroom, where he threw up.
"Are you aware this is a bathroom for teachers only?" Snape's voice pounded through Harry's head.
"As a student of my house, I expect better of you. However, I will take you to the Hospital Wing and let you off,"
Thank goodness, Harry thought. Now he knew quite how much Snape was biased. If he'd still been in Gryffindor, 30 points at least, then anything he said would've been taken offensively, adding on 15 points.
Snape levitated Harry onto a transfigured toilet roll holder. It wasn't a toilet roll holder though, it was a large stretcher with a quilted blanket.
Harry blanked out on the way to the Madam Pomfrey.
Draco Malfoy sat in his dorm. Harry Potter was the last person he'd dream of being friends with. But as the recent events had unfolded at Hogwarts, he realised his time had come. Harry was currently lying the bed next to him, with a peaceful look. Madam Pomfrey had said he was ill and had thrown up, so he'd been put into a Dreamless Sleep.
Snape had brought him and curtly said to Draco, "Remember the Orders,"
Draco more than remembered them, for his auntie mentioned it numerous times a day, saying how precious this was and how lucky he was. He didn't feel lucky and the mission hardly seemed precious.
He knew his auntie would sacrifice her kids for the Dark Lord if she had any. She was infertile.
Harry yawned and stretched open his eyes, blinking. Draco was lost in his thoughts for a second. "Hi," he said.
"Where am I?" Harry reached for his glasses.
"You're in your new dormitory. In Slytherin," Draco added. He didn't know how much Harry was aware of.
Harry mentally sighed, he was disheartened. In his new dorm was a bully. And Crabbe and Gould probably rested here as well. Even better, he thought sarcastically.
"Y'know," said Draco gently as he noticed the dark haired boy had sank into his pillow as if disappointed, "Slytherin's not too bad,"
Harry raised his eyebrows, and implored, "How so? Every impression you- I mean we give. Apparently I called Hermione and Ginny nasty names, after I joined the snakes."
Draco sighed, "I'll let you in on something. Slytherins have an outer image that we have to convey to the world. All those stories and legends about us, it just wouldn't seem right to change it by being butterflies and fairies to people,"
Harry had to admit it was funny to see Malfoy say butterflies and fairies in the same sentence but he knew Draco was only saying part of the story. He was hiding something that Harry kind of had an idea about. "When you said you'd let me in on something, I thought you meant you would tell me the whole story,"
Draco put a hand through his ruffled hair, making it messier, "We have been treated like second class citizens when we say we're Slytherin. People instantly don't want to be friends with us. People are scared of us- Would you be friends with someone in the evil snake house?"
Harry thought about it for a moment and he saw where they were coming from slightly, if people shiunned them for being a class of people, they would shun them for being another class. Slytherin and Mudblood were two opposite insults that the other teams used.
Harry thought he'd get another sleep in, because he was quite tired. Draco went back to doing some homework, happy that he had made progress. Hopefully he would earn Harry's trust soon.
That night he also sent an owl to someone.
