23rd of May 1992, Hogwarts library
Harry was sitting in the library, working on a potions essay without Ron or Hermione's company, who were busy arguing about what to do about the 3rd floor corridor.
"Ugh, damn Snape and damn the properties of armadillo bile." Harry muttered.
"As if I didn't have enough to deal with, with Hermione pestering about the exams and Ron not shutting up about Fluffy."
"And to add fuel to the fire, Malfoy has decided to become even more annoying for some reason."
"If you find him so bad, what drove you to choose him as your rival?" A feminine voice said.
Harry was startled by the voice, and nervously turned around to face the speaker. He was surprised to find a blonde Slytherin girl looking at him, someone that (if his memory was not failing him) had never directed a word to him before.
"Sorry about that, eeerm… Delilah?" He had no record of the girl's name, and considering the frown on her face, his guess had not been accurate enough.
"My name is Daphne, by the way. You should already know, especially since we are on the same year."
Ah, he finally remembered. Daphne Greengrass, quite competent student (especially good at potions) and not a Malfoy fan for all he knew.
"Yeah, sorry about that. I must admit that I only pay attention to the most 'vocal' members of your house. Could you repeat your question?"
She looked at him with disappointment, but spoke nonetheless: "I said that if you found him so annoying, why did you choose him as your rival?"
Hold on a minute. Choosing a rival? Harry had not chosen one. Never. And even if he could, he wouldn't have chosen Malfoy. He had some standards after all. So that is what he told Greengrass.
She was quite surprised by Harry's statement. "You didn't? Then why is he constantly demonizing you and your closest friends in the common room? I thought he would have sent you the paperwork and everything right?"
Harry had to gather all his thoughts together before answering Daphne. Paperwork… To have a rival you were required to do paperwork. Why would you need it? In fact, why would you want to have a rival?
Therefore, he asked Greengrass:
"Why would I want to have a rival? That seems quite absurd to me."
"Well Potter." Greengrass huffed. "Some people enjoy challenges, and nothing is more challenging than beating another individual at something."
Aaah… he could understand that feeling. And he had to admit that he had lacked motivation with his studies during his year at Hogwarts… But still, a contract, really? It sounded overcomplicated to him.
"But then why would you need a contract? It's not bad to formalize things sometimes, but doesn't it make life more complicated?"
"Well, it's kind of a Hogwarts tradition actually. The contract is just a way to make sure that no one goes insane and tries to kill his rival or something crazy like that."
That explained a lot. He was pretty sure that Malfoy wouldn't hesitate a second before dropping him off the Astronomy tower if he knew he could get away with it. And come to think of it, he had been tempted several times of drowning the moron in the Black Lake. Only Malfoy's relationship with Snape, and the rule of not throwing trash into the lake stopped him sometimes.
"Dreaming about throwing Draco from the top of the Great Staircase, Potter?"
"Uhhhhh… maybeeee...?" He blushed while saying that.
"Can't say I blame you to be honest, several Slytherins (me included) have had the temptation several times in the past. But you will have to wait for your turn, like everyone else."
"Okay, I'll make sure to stay in line while you all kick his ass. But, returning to the whole rivalry thing, why don't more people have them?"
Daphne seemed to hesitate for a second, but she finally answered. "Well Potter, it's quite an old tradition, but it never really became popular, add that to the fact that it's one of the very few things that is not in Hogwarts a History … "
"Huh, guess that explains why a lot of people don't know about it. But what I really want to know now is, how do you know about this?"
"Easier to explain actually. My family is one of the few who actually bother preserving this type of traditions. I mean the ones that don't involve oppressing parts of the population."
"Okay, then. You've made your point. But I don't understand, why would you tell me all of this?" After all, he couldn't remember a single conversation with her, and she was one of the few that didn't seem to be interested in the Boy-Who-Lived myth.
"Simple fact Potter, I wanted to see if you were available. As a rival, that is."
"..."
"Since you can't seem to figure it out by yourself, I'm going to be forward with you. Potter are you willing to become my rival?"
"..."
That was unexpected. Even though he understood the tradition, and the reason why people may like it, he could not fathom any reason why her of all people, would choose him OF ALL PEOPLE to be her rival. So, Harry decided to express his doubts.
"Why would you want that?"
"I already told you Potter; don't tell me you are this daft."
"Sorry, what I meant was why me out of everyone?"
"Well, you are different than the others."
"Different, how? I'm just a normal boy among dozens in this very castle."
"You may think so, but to anyone who really observes you are special. You may get A's on most of your written essays, but you do rather well in the practicals. Hell, you are the only one able to understand DADA with the stuttering buffoon. And before you say it, Granger memorising the whole book and answering every single question doesn't count."
"But still, I think Hermione would give you a much better challenge than I could ever aspire to be."
"Intellectually, maybe. But apparently my friends think that I need an interesting sort of challenge, and Granger is rather boring unless you and Weasley drag her out of the library."
"I would like to defend my friend here, but that would be a blatant lie… So, does that mean you have a contract for me to read over then? After all you seem to be the type of person that enjoys being prepared for anything?"
She seemed satisfied with his answer. She hesitated for a few seconds after that, but she eventually answered.
"Tell you what, Potter. I have one available, and I will send it to you on one condition only. If you manage to surprise me after the exams next month I will send you the draft, are we clear?"
Harry didn't know what to say at the start of this conversation, but he was quite sure what he was going to say now. In the future, he would blame it on not wanting to disappoint a pretty girl, or maybe on the fact that Gryffindors aren't supposed to back down a challenge, but he eventually said:
"All right Greengrass, you're on."
Slytherin common room, 15 minutes later
"So, have you done it, then?"
"Done what, Tracey?"
"Ask Potter to become your "rival" of course." Contrary to what it may look like, Tracey Davis was very good at reading people. And she knew, that her best friend's intentions with the Boy-Who-Lived weren't exactly pure.
"Yes, and he accepted. So maybe you should stop with the look you are giving me."
"Okay, but I want to make clear that everything would be easier if you just asked him out."
Daphne gave the most powerful glare she could muster. "It's not like that, and even if it was, he should be flattered." After that sentence, Daphne proceeded to leave to her room.
Tracey just stared at the door and muttered. "Great, she is going to be unbearable in the future."
19th of June 1992, shore of the Black Lake
The previous month seemed to fly across Harry's eyes. Before he even realized it, exams were already over, and, contrary to Harry's belief, went quite well for him. He did not think he would be on the top of the class on everything, but he definitely did better than average.
What really took him by surprise was the unravelling over the whole Philosopher's Stone drama. Against all expectations, the teacher awaiting him under the trapdoor wasn't actually Snape, but no more and no less than Professor Quirrell. The same man who would have killed him in the Quidditch match, had Hermione not crashed against him before setting the potions professor on fire. But what scared him the most was what Quirrell had under his turban.
Apparently, Lord Voldemort wasn't as dead as everyone wanted to believe and had used Quirrell's body in an attempt to bring back his real body and try to make himself immortal. In the end, Harry managed to thwart his plans (he still didn't know how he managed to do it) and, according to Dumbledore, postponed Voldemort's return.
But that was not the most concerning thing to Harry right now. He was sitting in a rock next to the lake, under the shadows of an old oak tree, with an envelope in his hands. McGonagall had given him his exam results during breakfast in the Great Hall, but he hadn't been able to take a look at them yet.
Just as Harry started to open the envelope, he heard a familiar voice behind him. "Well Potter, how did it go?"
Ah, he had forgotten about her. With everything that was going on, her proposal had been gone from Harry's mind until now."
"Good morning to you as well, Greengrass. To answer your question, I have yet to see my results. Want to join me so you can make a decision?"
"All right then, let's take a look."
Hogwarts School
of Withcraft and Wizardry
END OF FIRST YEAR EXAMINATION
Pass Grades
Outstanding (O)
Exceeds Expectations (E)
Acceptable (A)
Fail Grades
Poor(P)
Dreadful (D)
Troll (T)
Harry Potter has achieved:
Astronomy A
Charms E
Defense Against the Dark Arts O
History of Magic A
Herbology E
Potions A
Transfiguration E
Well, that didn't seem so bad. He always knew there was no chance of Snape being fair to him, and he knew there was no way for him to remember all the goblin rebellions. As for Astronomy, the classes were a horrible way to try to preserve a healthy sleep schedule. Especially after being used to wake up at 6 for years.
"Well Greengrass, it seems to me that you need to find a replacement. I don't believe this is up to your standards after all."
"Quite the contrary, Potter. I will gladly give you the contract now. Merlin knows that Snape gave Crabbe an A as well, despite his cauldron exploding. Plus, I've been informed that you got O's for both the Charms and Transfiguration practicals. If you worked a bit more on teory, you could get 2 more O's easily. You're definitely not an idiot and I'll be glad to call you my rival."
Harry felt his pride increase significantly after that statement. He didn't know why it felt better coming from her. He didn't even know where she got all her information, but he was pretty sure Greengrass would deny everything if asked.
She handed him a heavy envelope. "Here you have it Potter. I want it signed before the end of the year."
"Okay, then. Do you have any more information on the whole rivalry thing? I'm new to this as you know."
"I'll owl you some extra information soon. Have a nice summer Potter."
Harry didn't know it at the moment, but these events would change his entire life.