Memoirs of a Serpent's Son

Author's Note: This fiction is basically a review of the books in Draco Malfoy's point of view, as told in his journal. There will be certain added parts to the story (more so later on) and I will do my best to write this with adequate delays between chapters (meaning I'll try to post often). I would just like to stress that I write for fun and hope that you'll have fun reading it as well!

--Age 11—

June 5

I really don't know how to do this…. I feel like a fool writing in a journal, to be frank, but Father told me I should learn to document what I do. When I asked him why he said there were various reasons that it could be very helpful in the future, but mainly to keep track of myself and my thoughts, to remember what I've done so no one can later convince me I've done something I haven't. I didn't really follow what all of that meant, but what Father wants done, gets done.

So I figured that today would be a good day to start. He gave me a new black and silver leather-bound book to record my thoughts in. It has our family crest on the front along with some words in latin. I've no idea what they mean, but I get the impression it's something to do with our blood. Father is always emphasizing the importance of blood, so it seems logical our family creed would have to do with it as well.

In any case, I got my letter of acceptance to Hogwarts today. It's about time. Father says my name has been on the students' list since I was born but that they can only officially send out letters when you turn eleven. First thing in the morning an owl was sitting on the windowsill with the thick envelope in its beak.

I can't wait to go to school. Father warned me that I would have to share a room with several other boys in the school dormitories and eat with all the other students in the Great Hall. He told me about all the rules I'll have to follow and listen to all the teachers and show them proper respect even if they are half-bloods or other disrespectful sorts. I don't really mind. I'm a Malfoy; I can deal with anything that comes my way and still come out with what I want. Father taught me that all these years. He said it was to prepare me for school, mainly.

I still don't fully understand why purebloods are better than everyone else but he says it's true, so it must be. He showed me a list of students that are going to attend Hogwarts this year as well. He highlighted the ones that he said it would be favourable for me to befriend. Mr. Crabbe and Mr. Goyle's sons are on the list, no surprise there. Father says I have no choice but to be friends with them. They are stupid like their parents, but he says that they are loyal and will protect me if I ever need it. I can use them to do my dirty work if I want, he claims. I don't really know what kind of dirty work I'm going to have to do, but I suppose it is a good idea to have big friends… I mean being who I am, people should be jealous, no?

I asked him about the red-headed boy I'd played with at one of the Ministry parties. He had freckles all over his face and tons of siblings. We were playing together with some of the other children there, while the adults had their fancy ball, or whatever it was. He was pureblood… I know that. But Father scolded me afterwards. He said that he was a Weasley and that even if they were purebloods they loved Muggles and so didn't deserve our time. Pity really, the boy didn't seem that bad… I guess he was though.

Anyway, he showed me someone else too. Harry Potter. I've heard of him, of course. Everyone in the wizarding world has. He's the one who stopped You-Know-Who. I don't really understand why Father wants me to befriend him, since he was the cause of Father's problems with the Ministry, but he said Harry would be a good person to get close to. He said that it's always good to have friends in high places and it hardly gets higher than Harry Potter.

It would be nice I think… I mean it makes sense. Harry Potter and Draco Malfoy, best friends. I can see it now. We can wreak havoc on the school together. He's only a half-blood I think, but Father says this is one of the few times I'm to overlook it. Also, he said that Harry has been outside of the wizarding world for most his life, so he doesn't know anything about the way things work. Father says I'm the best person to teach him the real way the wizarding world works so I have to meet him and befriend him before anyone else tries to brainwash him.

It's strange… every time I say his name a shiver runs down my spine. It's exciting to think that I will be Harry Potter's best friend. I wonder what he looks like…I can't wait to meet him.

VVVVVVVVV

August 1

We went to Diagon Alley today to get my school supplies. I've been begging Father to go earlier but he doesn't appreciate begging. He says it's unbecoming of a Malfoy so every time I did it, he would push the date back another week. If I weren't so impatient I might have learned faster and we could have done the shopping earlier, but I suppose it was all to teach me a valuable lesson. Malfoys never beg.

Mother and Father went their separate ways to get me different things I would need. They sent me to Madam Malkin's first to get fitted for my school robes. Bland and boring things. Just generic black robes with the Hogwarts crest. I suppose we'll have different pieces to wear later that have our house colours on them, but they surely can't assign those ahead of time. It's not as though I'm at all unsure of where I'll be sorted. I'm a Slytherin, through and through. There is no doubt about it. All Malfoys were Slytherins. Each and every one of them. If I don't end up in Slytherin it's because the damn Hat didn't work, or something.

A boy came into the shop while I was being fitted. He was a mess. His hair was black and everywhere and his clothes looked as though they were ten sizes too big for him. I don't usually judge people at first glance, though Father insists that it's the best way to get an impression of a person without having to talk to them. I did talk to the boy though, I was so bored. That and something about him excited me. He was definitely a first year Hogwarts student too. He was the first one I've met so I decided to try and get a head start on making important friends.

I talked to him for a while. I mentioned things about houses and Quidditch and all. He didn't look as though he understood a word I was saying. I told him if I were sorted into Hufflepuff I would just get on the train and go home. He didn't really answer to that. Perhaps he was Muggle-born. I don't think so though. I didn't get that impression from him. Not that it's really something you can tell at first glance. I won't tell Father that, though. He thinks you can tell everything about a person at first glance.

The boy didn't really answer much to me. I got a bit bored with him after a while because he didn't seem interested. Perhaps he was just a bit slow. I need to get used to people like that if I'm to be friends with Crabbe and Goyle. I left him before he was done and told him I'd see him at school… that's polite enough, isn't it? Especially for someone who is not all there.

VVVVVVVV

September 1

I want to scream. I want to bloody tear the hangings that are around the bloody bed and scream. …………………………………

Ok. Ok. I've calmed myself down a bit. Let me recap the whole day to make it painfully obvious why it is I need to scream.

I got on the Hogwarts Express this morning, energetic and wonderfully excited about starting school I got to meet Crabbe and Goyle –who apparently had been told ahead of time to be my bodyguards, because they automatically started following me around and doing as I told them to –and found myself a car with several other students that seemed promising. There was a girl, named Pansy Parkinson I think. She's insane. I think she's already in love with me. I don't know what to do about that. It kind of makes me uncomfortable to have anything fawning off me like she does, but Father encourages me to keep people like that around, so I deal with it.

There was another boy, as well. Blaise, I think his name was. He's different than all the other people I've met so far. He's dark and quiet, but not stupid like Crabbe and Goyle. He could be a useful asset in the future. Though I don't like to think that I'll start treating everyone as though they are going to be 'useful products' or not. Makes life seem entirely like a business, more than…well, life.

So I'd met all these people, but not the one person I wanted to meet most: Harry Potter. I went through half the train ride without hearing a peep from anyone about the famous Harry Potter. Surely if he were really coming to Hogwarts he would be on the train and people would be talking about him? Though, perhaps, considering who he is, he wasn't going to get to Hogwarts on the train…. But no.

Some time after the trolley passed by, some students walked by speaking in hushed whispers about 'that boy' they'd seen just down the train and how they couldn't believe that Harry Potter 'looked so normal'.

I didn't waste a minute. I got to my feet and rushed out of the train, down looking through all the compartments to find this boy. Crabbe and Goyle came along, automatically. Finally I got to the last compartment and inside, wouldn't you know, was the boy from Madam Malkin's sitting next to none other than Weasley.

I pretended I'd never met Weasley and hoped that he would have the sense not to mention ever having met me, and turned my attention to Harry. I tried to get him to realize that he needed to be careful who he decided to make friends with (naturally emphasizing that I am the right choice, and Weasley is not). But then what does he do?

HE CHOSE WEASLEY.

He blew me off. I am a MALFOY. NO ONE blows off a MALFOY.

I have to say, I think I reacted a bit irrationally. I was rather miffed that he would be so stupid and choose Weasley over me, so I may have let my frustration get the best of me and said some things that were not really appropriate for making friends. Somehow, a brawl started and then Crabbe… or Goyle, I can't tell them apart yet, got their finger bit by some rabid rat and we bolted. I do not deal with rabid animals.

I tried to cool down after that and wait until the Sorting ceremony. Surely Potter would be sorted into Slytherin (which is by far the best house). Then, when he realized that he and I would be in the same house, he would come to his senses and apologize for speaking to me so rudely. I'd accept and apologize for overreacting and then we'd begin our plans to reign over the student body. It was simple and foolproof.

I got Sorted into Slytherin instantaneously, which was no big surprise, but then Potter's turn came and he sat on the bloody stool with the old hat down past his eyes for what seemed like hours. How long can it possibly take to decide Slytherin is best for him??

The damn hat finally chose and yelled out the house. Guess what? He wasn't put in Slytherin. He was put in Gryffindor.

Of all the houses he could have been put in, he had to be in the one that has had the longest standing rivalry with Slytherin, ever.

Then, of course, precious Weasley gets sorted into the lion house too and they go off and have a merry good time together in their stupid noble house. I want to scream.

Harry Potter is supposed to be my friend. I am Draco Malfoy. NO ONE turns me down.

Fine….. Fine, I suppose, if this is how Potter wants it, then this is how it shall be. I'll make him rue the day he ever brushed off Draco Malfoy. He will sorely regret that moment, and, when the time is right, he'll come crawling back to me to take him. He'll see…

I am not put off so easily.

VVVVVVVVV

Fall Term

I had my first Potions class today. Snape teaches Potions so that's an added plus. He favours me so clearly I know all the other students are jealous, but I'm happy about that. The problem is we have Potions with the Gryffindors. I suppose it's not really a problem, since it gives me the chance to show Potter exactly what a fool he is.

He got told off today. Terribly so. Snape clearly hates him. I'm rather glad. He might not hate him so much if he were in Slytherin and friends with me. He deserves to get picked on by Snape. He deserves it for rejecting me like he did. I laughed when Snape asked him all those questions. I laughed even harder when I saw that stupid girl's hand fly into the air every time he asked a question. It's like she's got nothing better to do with her life than keep her nose stuffed in a book. I don't think Potter thinks much of her either, judging by the way he tried to deflect Snape's wrath off himself and onto her instead.

He won't do too well in Potions with Snape feeling so adverse to him. I love it. Maybe he'll have to come to me for help. I can help him much more than that stupid Gryffindor girl can, any day. He'll see that one day.

VVVVVVVV

Flying lessons today. In the morning Longbottom got a package from his gran again. Potter seemed a little too interested in whatever it was so I figured I'd go take a peek as well. Snatched the damn thing right out of Longbottom's hand and what do I find out? It's just a worthless Remembrall. Stupid git really does need that though, he can't remember which foot to put forward long enough to walk.

Weird thing was, as soon as I took it, Potter and Weasel got to their feet. It was instantaneous. Didn't take a moment to think about it, they just did. I'm a little amused at how strongly Potter reacts to me now. It's as though he's affected by everything I do.

Anyway, we got our lesson and the stupid Hooch criticized me about the way I mount my broom. IN FRONT OF EVERYONE. She criticized me, after the years of training and flying that I've done. I've been flying since I was old enough to sit. Old bat wouldn't know the right end of a broomstick if it hit her in the face.

I didn't get to tell her that, though. Stupid lump Longbottom lost control of his broom and dropped himself from twenty feet in the air or something. Called Madam Hooch away and left us all alone outside. Just me, Potter and the broomsticks. And the rest of the class of course, but who cares about them?

I picked up the Remembrall. It was just sitting on the grass. Really it wasn't safe there, at all. I was doing him a favour. I thought I'd leave it somewhere safe for him to find. When I suggested I leave it in a tree, Potter got all riled up again. I smirked, though I didn't mean for it to seem so evil. I guess it did. Potter didn't react well to it.

I mounted my broom and soared into the air. I figured I'd show them all just how good a flyer I am. I am a damn good flyer. I tossed the Remembrall into the air a few times, just to intimidate him more, but stupid Potter had to go and get on a broom too.

And he can fly too. He can really fly.

The worst part was that he made the trite comment that I didn't have Crabbe and Goyle to protect me up in the air. I don't need them to protect me. The prat. What I'd been thinking was that they would have been useful up in the air to play keep-away from Potter… I guess I sounded a little less sure of myself though because he had the nerve to fly right at me.

I got out of the way easily enough, but damn, he's good. I wasn't going to sacrifice myself for the stupid Remembrall. I threw it in the air and landed. Potter, however, who seems to always have to play the hero, just had to go into a feint after the damn ball, catch it and pull up right in time. Stupid git probably doesn't even know what he pulled.

McGonagall, the Gryffindor head of house, came out and called him in for what he did though. At least I get to snicker about that. He's probably going to get detention for that stunt. Serves him right.

VVVVVVVV

I'm a genius. Honestly I am. I don't even know how it really came about but I challenged Potter to a wizard's duel tonight. I didn't think he'd take the offer because I didn't think he'd know what it was. Weasel, mind you, knew and took the offer for him. I still don't think Potter knows, but it doesn't matter. Weasel promised to be his second. It's set. I set it for the Trophy room tonight.

Potter is not the kind to be a coward. He wouldn't pass up the chance to duel me, even if he knows that I'm a stronger wizard than he is. Honestly, I wouldn't ever underestimate Potter, but I've been in this world longer than he has. I've been trained in spellcasting for a long time, and he's just started learning. He should know better than to think that he could beat me in a duel. I think it was just his pride and, well, Weasel's anger that made him take it.

Doesn't matter though. I'm not going to show.

I know. This sounds like a cowardly thing to do, doesn't it? But it's not at all. It's not that I'm scared. How could I be scared of Potter? No no, that's not what this is about. This way, Potter and Weasley will be stuck in the Trophy room, waiting for me to show, and they'll get caught by Filch and his bloody cat. Then he'll surely get kicked out because he's broken so many rules in such a short time.

It's perfect. Don't you see? I'm not being a coward, I'm being a crafty master genius! This way, I don't have to sacrifice anything or put myself at risk just to get back at Potter! It's the SMART thing to do.

….

Just shut up.

VVVVVVVVVVVV

If I were a crude person I would swear. Right now. A lot.

Potter and Weasley did not get expelled. I don't know how they did it, but somehow they evaded the inevitable end to my masterful and foolproof plan. Fine. I can live with that. They won't be defeated so easily, I can accept that. After all, it wouldn't be any fun if they were easy, would it?

But, just to add salt to my wound, I found out today that Potter was given a broomstick. I, being the rule-abiding and noble student that I am, tried to call this to Professor Flitwick's attention. Then what do I find out?

THE SCHOOL BOUGHT THE BROOMSTICK FOR HIM.

Not only that, but he was made SEEKER for the Gryffindor QUIDDITCH TEAM.

Then he had the nerve to thank me for his being made to join the team. OF ALL THINGS. Honestly, he was made youngest seeker in a century just because he caught a damn Remembrall from fifty feet in the air and didn't break his neck. I could have done that without a problem but no one ever gives me the chance to try.

I wanted to kill him. I wanted to wring his perfect little neck right then and there and show the world that Harry Potter is just a wizard, like the rest of us. He's nothing special just because he has a damn scar on his head. He's not so special just because he can fly and everyone likes him. And sure, he just laps it up. He just soaks in all the love he's given and has time for everyone and anything to help them and poke his nose into other people's business in hopes of coming out the hero again. Right, time for everyone except me.

I should be the one everyone looks up to. I should be the one everyone is always talking about. I should be the youngest seeker in a century. I can fly better than he can and I know more about the game. I know everything about the game…

Father isn't going to be happy when he hears about this.

---III---

Author's note: Ok so this is the first part of the whole fiction. I hope you enjoyed it! I'm doing my best to make it seem like a journal, so that's why the sentences aren't always proper, or the language changes. I also figure that Draco has very proper language when he speaks (at least when he was younger, from the influence of his upbringing) and I took some liberties with when he received the letter and all because it's not specified when everyone got theirs, so just play along with that! I hope you all liked it! I'm going to do my best to get through the first two books quickly because he's kind of too young there to do anything really fun wink but it is still important for the evolution of his feelings about Harry, so I really really hope you all like it! Reviews keep me alive and keep me writing!