Draco gave a slight chill as he sat to enjoy the match between Gryffindor and Slytherin, the first match of the Quidditch season. In his last life, the fact of Potter becoming Seeker for Gryffindor was a hushed matter and was only really revealed when the game day came. Which was different now thanks to him.
Draco had not hesitated to tell Marcus Flint, the captain of The Slytherin Quidditch that Gryffindor had a new seeker and that they should under no circumstances underestimate him. Flint simply glared at the boy and grunted. A typical response from the tall and muscular fifth-year captain.
Sat with the other Slytherins of his year, Draco stared at the still empty field. His mind was replaying the event that took place the previous day.
"Draco" the voice of one Harry Potter made the Malfoy heir turn away from the book he was reading. The library matron threw a look at the two, looking ready to intervene if a fight broke out. After all, Gryffindors and Slytherins did not get along, they should not.
"May I sit with you?" he asked and Draco nodded with a little apprehension.
"I heard what you and Weasley did last night" the blonde commented once Potter had sat down. "How is he doing?"
"He'll be okay. But he's strictly on bed rest for a few weeks. Madam Pomfrey says he has a few broken bones and some internal injuries that need to heal. But he'll make a full recovery" the boy who lived explained, the Malfoy nodding with his words. "But I had something I wanted to ask you. And I want you to be completely honest with me."
"Alright?" Draco questioned, not entirely sure how he should approach whatever question it was that Potter was going to ask him.
"Do you know why Snape was on The Third Floor on Halloween night?" he asked and Draco stared at him intently for a moment. And then he shook his head. Potter seemed to deflate before he pulled himself up again. "On the Third Floor there is a Three-Headed Dog and it's guarding something. I saw Snape injured in his office, a bite mark on his leg. Hermione, Ron, and I think that maybe he was trying to steal the thing the dog was guarding."
"Think or convinced?" Draco thought. He already knew about The Three-Headed Dog, everyone knew about it by the end of the year here. But still, he put up a shocked look on his face. He after all was not supposed to know about it just yet.
"I don't think he would" Draco shook his head after a moment. "Professor Snape has a bit of an attitude with anyone, not Slytherin and sometimes he's overly harsh with them. But I don't think he'd do something like that. Especially if it's being guarded here at Hogwarts. Because anything hidden here would be hidden by Dumbledore, and all the teachers are very loyal to him."
"Dumbledore" Harry mumbled thoughtfully, "he seems like a good guy. Everyone loves him. Ron tells me he's the greatest wizard to have ever lived. That he killed a Dark Lord."
"He isn't the worst wizard" Draco admitted. "But even he is just a man, Potter. Don't go believing everything you hear without confirming it first. The Dark Lord he beat, is named Gellert Grindelwald. You'll find books about them in many places, but I suggest you buy the history texts over the fairytale version. Those are always more accurate than the version fed to us without the details."
"You don't like him, do you," Harry muttered and Draco gave a small shrug of his shoulders.
"I neither like nor hate the man. I have not personally spoken to him to form my own opinion" he explained and Harry frowned. "Potter. Harry, listen. There are books out there that suggest that you have fought dragons and goblins as a child. That you have killed so many dark creatures in the time you were not present in the Wizarding World."
"But I have not done any of those things!" Harry exclaimed, truly shocked about all the things he just found out.
"I know" Malfoy nodded his head. "Fairytales and rumors are deceiving. Always do your research and judge a person on your merit. Use your mind and make opinions based on them, not on what others say. I'd say the same thing about Slytherin. Not all of us are bad. Even Merlin was one of us."
The loud blast of a whistle broke Draco out of his thoughts. The game had begun and his eyes instantly went to Potter, who was floating higher than the rest. The Chasers of both teams moved back and forth, scoring on each other. But Gryffindor was superior in that regard, racking up the most points.
"Our team sucks" Pansy muttered beside him. "Flint is the only decent player we have. The beaters suck, the other Chaser sucks and the keeper is blind!" the girl groaned. "I just hope our seeker is good enough to win us the game."
"Not happening," Draco thought with a hum. There was no better Seeker in Hogwarts than Potter. Maybe Diggory came a close second, but Potter was still the top. The Gryffindor team without Potter was excellent as well. Oliver Wood, the keeper was sharp and a brilliant captain. The Weasley twins worked in perfect sync and beat back any Chaser they got close to. Alicia Spinnet, Katie Bell, and Angelina Johnson were brilliant Chasers, able to maneuver in ways that left the opponents stunned and unable to properly react.
"The only reason we have been winning is that our team plays rough" Blaise Zabini commented, watching Marcus Flint tackle Harry Potter. That was very true, Draco knew both from experience as a watcher and a player. The Slytherin Quidditch team only won because of the countless rough plays and fouls they committed. There wasn't much skill in these players.
"Almost makes me want to not join the team" Theodore Nott muttered, before looking to his Malfoy friend. "What about you, Draco? You want to join?"
"Maybe next year" Draco mused. "But I'll be sure to make a brand-new team and dismiss all of these disgraces" he commented, his face morphed into an ugly sneer. He then looked to the rest. "So, get ready, I might get you guys involved as well" he stated. The statement was met with face-splitting grins from his group.
"Potter is acting strange" Daphne's comment had Draco looking up to Potter, who was jerking violently on the broom he sat on. His gaze immediately fell on Quirrell who was muttering something under his breath. Draco discreetly drew his wand, but before he did anything, Snape had gotten up and knocked Quirrell in the process. Harry steadied himself not long after that.
"Must be having problems riding his new broom" Pansy snorted. "Sow off" she added under her breath.
Draco watched Potter dart towards the ground. The Slytherin seeker, some dollop in their sixth year, still clueless about it all. Potter went on all four and spit something out from his mouth. He raised it high in the air and the match was ended. Gryffindor had won.
"He nearly swallowed the thing. How could they give Gryffindor the win?! Favoritism, all of it" Marcus Flint was still raging about it half an hour after the match ended. Draco rolled his eyes and just walked away from him, he had nothing to tell the Slytherin captain.
The whole team is a joke. The entire house itself is a joke, Draco thought, taking a breath to calm himself. All around him he heard people complain about Gryffindor, the teachers leaning towards them, and how it was all unfair to them. This House was supposed to represent the ambitious, the cunning, the resourcefulness, and the proud. Now he was no model Slytherin, but he was trying to act the part. Unlike the rest who acted just as brash as the Gryffindors. It was like they wanted to be better at being Gryffindor than the Gryffindors.
Anyone above our generation is a lost cause. If I want to push Slytherin to glory, I'd have to start with those in my year and those that come after us, the boy thought. The line of thought also surprised him. Why was he feeling so suffocated in this place all of a sudden? He had not been feeling like this before now.
Or maybe he had been. He thought about what he felt, and he realized that he felt the same thing when The Carrows had taken over Hogwarts. Slytherins ruled supreme back then, but all they did was practice the Dark Arts and torture, be needlessly cruel to the other houses. Gryffindor especially. And he hated it. Unknowingly he had connected to the traits of his house at a time when they had been all but erased when his House had been reduced to a simple 'Dark' House. And he felt furious.
Pride at being a slave to Voldemort, being ambitious in rising in the Death Eater ranks, the cunning to destroy others for the joy of nothing but the pleasing of Voldemort, the resourcefulness in being able to do whatever that thing wanted them to do, and the pride of making him proud. How had all the values started revolving around that singular Dark Lord? Draco thought as his ears began to redden and pound in anger. It was always Voldemort, always that thing that ruined everything it touches.
Gives me more reasons to stop that mad man from coming back, Draco thought venomously.
He sat down at his desk and took a parchment to write on. "Reform Slytherin House, Second Year, bully father into retiring the entire team and make a team of my own" he muttered as he wrote. If he was going to change the endgame, then why not change more things on the way? It would all go into benefitting him in the end anyway.
Draco blinked before quickly scribbling something else down. "Find out more about Time-Turners and Theory on Time Travel."