When they had just begun eating dinner, Neville came running up to them in tears. "Malfoy stole my Rememberall!"
Harry wanted to kick himself for forgetting about that. By not being in Gryffindor he hadn't been there to protect Neville against Malfoy during their flying class.
Hermione used the summoning spell to pull the Rememberall out of Malfoy's hands right into her own which she then handed to Neville. but Harry stood up and marched over to the bully.
"That was a right foul thing you did!" He growled. "Picking on my friend and stealing his belonging. Well I won't stand for it. I told you not to cross me Malfoy!"
"And just what are you going to do about it?" Malfoy sneered, not looking at all threatened.
"You and me, a wizard's duel" Harry challenged.
"You're on!"
"Perfect! In that case, Professor Flitwick" He called and his head of house came over.
"Malfoy and I are having a row, we'd like to settle it with a wizard's duel. Will you oversee it?"
Draco's face fell at this. Harry wasn't going to let him back out and try to trick him into meeting after curfew just to get him in trouble.
"Oh ho! A wizard's duel, you're a bit too young for that aren't you?" Flitwick chuckled.
"Not if you're there to supervise and neither of us knows enough spells to do any real damage" He assured him.
"Well I suppose if you really insist on it, I wouldn't want you to sneak off later and do it in private so I'll agree to supervising."
"Great thanks! What do you say Malfoy, how about we do it tomorrow night after dinner so we have some time to prepare?"
Now that another party was involved Draco realized he couldn't back out of it. "Uh y-yeah sure" He looked even paler than usual.
As soon as he was back the Ravenclaw table, Harry burst into laughter. He told Hermione what happened and she's shook her head at him, smiling.
"Alright since you're so determined to humiliate Malfoy" She conceded. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Don't worry, I won't use anything more advanced than what a certain bright witch was forced to use when her friend was trying to stop a very important mission" He promised, thinking of their real first year at Hogwarts. That would be more than enough to deal with the ferret. The real punishment would come from the audience watching Harry wipe the floor with him.
Harry made sure to tell everyone about the duel and when the time came, the entire class of first years had showed up to watch it happen.
He was beginning to think Malfoy wouldn't go through with it when at last he appeared, trying to look confident but Harry could tell he was more than a little scared.
"Alright boys, I want a nice clean duel. No casting spells when the other person has their back turned and no later retaliation to the winner" Flitwick instructed.
He forced Harry and Draco to shake hands and then the duel began. Malfoy was surprisingly quick, casting the jelly legs jinx at the same moment Harry cast his own spell.
"Petrificus Totalus!"
In spite of the spell Malfoy had cast on him, which made his legs wobbly, Harry remained standing while Draco was fully incapacitated, bound from head to toe.
The duel was over within the minute and Flitwick had declared Harry the winner. The students who had come to watch all cheered when this happened. Many of them had been bullied by Malfoy and were thrilled to see him taken down a peg. Even a few of the Slytherins had joined in the applause.
Neville had a grin a mile wide and Hermione gave Harry a congratulatory hug. "This was a brilliant idea" She whispered on his ear. It wouldn't be the last they'd see of Draco Malfoy if being turned into a ferret by Moody was any indication. He'd hide away and nurse his wounded pride for a while but he'd be a thorn in their side again eventually. For now though, they would enjoy this moment, cherishing it in their memories forever right up there with the ferret incident and the time Hermione had smacked the bully square in the face.
September passed away into October and one morning as they were nearing Halloween, Hedwig arrived with a package for Harry. The long awaited special ordered custom made glasses he'd purchased.
When he put them on he marveled at all it could do. He could see in every direction, forwards, side to side, even backwards to look behind him without ever turning his head. He could also see several feet ahead of him, allowing him to zoom in on things from far away.
"Wow!" He exclaimed, focusing on the table at the front where all the teachers sat.
"I assume it's working then," Hermione replied looking at him curiously.
"Does it ever! Hmm I wonder if it lets me see through things like Moody's does…Gah!" With just that one simple thought he could suddenly see through everyone's clothing and worst of all he had been looking right where Snape was sitting! "How do I do turn it off!?" He snapped his eyes closed, having been thoroughly scarred for life.
"Harry!" Hermione exclaimed, scandalized. But he wasn't listening instead he was thinking about seeing everyone like normal with their clothes on, he peeked one eye open and breathed a sigh of relief when it had worked.
"I'll have to be careful with that one" He said glancing at Hermione who was holding up her hands in front of herself looking completely mortified.
"It's okay, Hermione. I've figured out to turn that feature off" He assured her, blushing furiously and pushing away any thoughts of his best friend without clothes on.
"I don't know why anyone would offer such a feature, it must have been invented by a pervert!" She said huffily but had relaxed a little.
"Knowing Moody he probably used it to the look for anyone trying to hide a dark mark" Harry commented thoughtfully.
Harry spent the next few days trying out his new glasses to his complete satisfaction and before they knew it, Halloween was upon them.
Once again Harry had forgotten something important and it hit him like a ton of bricks when Quirell came bursting into the great hall. "Troll — in the dungeons — thought you ought to know."
At least he didn't have to worry about Hermione as she was right next to him as usual. Dumbledore then instructed the prefects to lead everyone to their house common rooms like last time. When they got back to Ravenclaw tower, they collapsed on one of the couches together.
"Strange, isn't it?" He muttered.
"What do you mean Harry?"
"That this is the day we became friends."
"Oh" She replied, her look softening. "At first it had been the worst day of my life, I'd even resolved to write my mum and dad to tell them I wanted to come home."
"Really?" Harry was shocked at this, he knew how much Hogwarts meant to her.
"Mhm, I was that miserable. And then the troll came, I thought I was going to die and suddenly there you were bravely jumping onto its back to save me, me who had done nothing but nag and scold you!"
"I wished I'd been your friend from the start" He told her earnestly. "I wish I hadn't gone along with the way Ron treated you."
"It's okay Harry, I don't blame you. I was acting like a swatty know it all—"
"You weren't that bad, honest you weren't. And besides it's because of your knowledge and nagging behavior that I've survived as long as I did, that I've come this far. I wouldn't want anyone else by my side!" He said fiercely.
Hermione's eyes sparkled with tears. "Thank you, I'm so grateful you were my first friend." She squeezed his hand and he returned the gesture, smiling. Once again he felt a flutter of confusing emotions that were becoming more and more frequent around her.