A/N: It has come to my attention that certain people may think I do not LIKE Draco Malfoy or Slytherin, which is really (half) untrue. I myself am party to-and a moderator of-a list consisting almost entirely of Slytherins. I have taken several tests, and have come to the conclusion that I am, in fact, a Slytherin. Though I think Malfoy represents the worst of them, and gives them all a bad name-the average HP fan's thought pattern goes something like this: a-hole = Draco Malfoy = Slytherin = Bad, hence making it appear that all Slytherin's are idiots like Malfoy.

Yes. That is all.

Chapter Seven: Four Plans and Malfoy's New Infatuation


Ron stormed angrily down the corridors, glancing at the compartment doors he passed, pausing every now and then to listen at one. "Harry Potter this, Harry Potter that, blah, blah, Harry Potter, blah blah," he muttered. "Clearly, fame isn't everything."


Finally he stopped at what appeared to be the place he was looking for and slid open the door.

"Ron!" Fred shouted, throwing himself at Ron and embracing him. "It's been all too long since I've seen you, dear brother!"

George joined Fred in their attempts to strangle Ron.

Ron struggled to get out of his twin brothers' arms. "Let GO!" he snarled as he gave the final freeing shove.

"It looks like ickle Ronniekins is in a nasty mood," George said, exchanging a confused glance with Fred.

Fred stepped forward. "Ron, if you don't mind my asking-"

"I DO mind, actually."

Fred ignored him and continued. "-What happened with Harry?"

"He's just chosen to be friends with Draco Malfoy is all," said Ron, his ears turning pink.

"Malfoy… the name sounds familiar," said George, scratching his head.

"Not-" Fred began, but George understood.

"-Lucius Malfoy's son?" they chorused.

"I don't know… is Lucius Malfoy a nasty blonde Slytherin?"

"Yes," said Fred, turning and looking at George.

"Slytherins…" Fred mumbled. "…Nasty, the whole lot of them."

George paced back and forth in the compartment. "We CAN'T lose Harry Potter to Slytherin. Not let Snape have that satisfaction." He looked at Ron. "Any ideas?"

"If I had any ideas, I wouldn't be sitting here alone and friendless on my first day of Hogwarts, that I happen to have been looking forward to for eleven years!" Ron shouted, turning toward the compartment door that had just slid open, revealing Hermione Granger. "What do YOU want?" he said to her.

"What he MEANS," said Fred, stepping in front of Ron, "is 'can we help you with something?' "

"What HAS been going on?" She frowned at Ron's scowling face. "I heard shouting."

"You'd be shouting, too, if your brothers seemed to think it was your bloody fault that Harry Potter has decided to befriend a stupid Slytherin-to-be PRAT named Draco Malfoy, just because YOUR family didn't have enough money!" He stomped out the compartment and down the corridor.

Hermione looked shocked.

"Sorry," said George. "I suppose this just isn't his day."

Fred snorted. "That was the understatement of the century."

"But what he said IS true," said Hermione fiercely, yet in an inquiring manner.

"All but the us blaming him part," George nodded.

"I have to go do some reading," said Hermione, thoughtfully looking at Fred and George. "Certain prophecies say that the house in which Harry Potter ends up in could determine the fate of the Earth."

"You're kidding, right?" said Fred, tensely.

"She doesn't look it."

"I'm not sure, though." The twins looked relieved. "It may have been the fate of the Universe." She turned and left.

"Oh, good," said George. "She had me worried for a minute, there."





Ron stalked the corridors, the robes of his school uniform sweeping behind him. He continued to do this until he ran headlong into Hermione, who was so deep in thought she almost didn't notice. "Oh, it's you."

"Hello, Ron" she said in a voice which pointed out that she wasn't all there. "Maybe you should help me… yes… come on." She grabbed the left sleeve of Ron's robes and pulled him behind her as she walked toward her compartment. Ron rolled his eyes but didn't say anything.

When they finally reached the right door, Hermione slid it open. Inside it was Neville, the boy who apparently still had not found his toad, a boy with curly blonde hair that hastily introduced himself as Justin Finch-Fletchley, and a rather pretty girl named Padma Patil. When finished with their introductions, they all turned to Ron. "Ron Weasley," he muttered, glancing at Hermione. "Any particular reason I'm here?"

"Harry Potter-" she began, but Ron interrupted.

"Oh, will you stop it already! Just because I was sharing a compartment with the famous Harry Potter and suddenly, I'm his best friend! Well, I'm sorry to break your heart, but that is not so."

"-Is a bit of an idiot," she finished.

The tips of Ron's ear turned pink. "Oh," he said, and turned his gaze to his feet.

"My best guess says that you, Ron, will be a Gryffindor, Padma will be a Ravenclaw, and Justin and Neville will be Hufflepuffs."

"What are you getting at?" asked Padma, as confused as Ron.

"Representatives of all the houses but Slytherin," Hermione said, as though this completely answered their questions.

"So?" said Ron.

"So," said Hermione, as if what she was about to say was the most obvious thing in the world, "we have to make sure that Harry Potter does not, under any circumstances, end up in Slytherin."

Ron sighed. "Who CARES what house he ends up in?"

Picking up a book (The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts) and flipping directly to a bookmarked page, Hermione read aloud, " 'If and when Harry Potter, the Boy who Lived, reaches the esteemed Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, the House in which he is Sorted into can--and will--determine the Fate of the Universe.

" 'Though ending up in Gryffindor, the House which current Headmaster of Hogwarts Albus Dumbledore himself was placed in, would best shape his wizarding abilities for the Final Battle which is to come between He and his arch-nemesis He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, residing in the House of Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff would prove enough.

" 'But under NO circumstances must Harry Potter be placed in the House Slytherin. Such an act could indeed result in the turning of the powerful magical forces at work in and around him from good to bad, for he is more susceptible to the Dark Forces than most and in the House of Slytherin could--and almost surely would--be tempted to give in to them. Such a drastic occurrence would turn the Final Battle between Potter and You-Know-Who into a battle between evil and evil. No matter the winner of such a battle, the Universe would be ruled by the greatest and most terrible Dark force ever known, as indeed the Battle winner would be the greater of the two evils.' "

Silence greeted these terrible words. Ron coughed.





As he silently chewed on the remnants of the sweets he had bought, Harry made a conscious effort to nod at Malfoy and look him in the eye now and then to show that he was listening, when in fact he was not. He had stopped listening shortly after Malfoy had gone into elaborately explaining every person he'd ever has sacked from his or her place of employment.

In the midst of such a tale about a photographer from the Daily Prophet, there came a soft knock on the door. Harry, eager for anything to stop Malfoy's incessant gloating, reached over and pulled open the door. Hermione stood there for a moment, hesitated, and stepped through the door. "Hi," she said.

The effect this simple, two-letter word had on Malfoy was both astonishing and amusing, or so thought Harry, anyway. Malfoy instantaneously stopped talking and gaped at her, as though the message of greeting she has spoken was magic--which, Harry reminded himself, it probably was. "I'm Hermione Granger," she said, grinning at the look on Malfoy's face (which only made him look even more like an idiot). "I'm sorry to bother you, but can I borrow Harry for a minute? Thanks," she added as Malfoy continued to gape.

Hermione lead the way into the corridor. "I would like to introduce you to someone," she said, once the door was closed. "My friend, Padma."

Standing there in front of Harry was simply the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. He tried not to gape like Malfoy had gaped at Hermione. He nodded as a greeting and decided to focus on a small object lying on the floor. "I'll leave you two alone," said Hermione, slipping off.

"Listen," Padma said once Hermione had gone, "I know you've lived with Muggles as long as you can remember, and that all this Hogwarts business is new to you. Some people have concerns for your well-being..." at this point she reached over and put her hand on Harry's shoulder, "and I just came here to tell you that if you have any questions, I will always try my best to give you an answer."

Harry wondered what, exactly, she meant. "Thanks," he said, "but Malfoy--"

"An un-opinionated, un-biased answer," she said, squeezing Harry's shoulder before turning around and lightly walking away.

Neville, who saw that the plan involving Padma had failed, immediately leapt into action. He fretfully walked past Harry, trying as best he could to look close to tears. "Hello, Harry," he said, glumly. "I know I've already asked, but have you seen my toad?"

Harry shook his head. "No, Neville, I'm sorry."

Right there, in the middle of the corridor, Neville sat down and burst into tears. For Neville, they were false tears, but to Harry, they were very, very real. Harry looked frantically around for help, or a tissue, or something.

"My Gran said I would have a good time at Hogwarts," he choked, "but I don't see how I'm going to when... when... when I haven't got any FRIENDS!" he wailed.

"Er..." Harry said, wondering what to say. "I... I'm sure you'll find friends."

Neville only sobbed harder. "No, I won't! You think I haven't tried? Everyone here's already got friends!"

On cue, Just Finch-Fletchley found his way down the corridor and held up a toad. "Has anyone lost a toad?"

As Neville was too busy sobbing to hear, Harry nodded and pointed to him. "He has."

"Sorry," said Justin, clutching the toad, "but why's he crying?"

Harry looked worriedly at Neville. "Because he hasn't got any friends."

"Oh, I know how that is. I haven't got any, either." He handed Harry the toad. "Give this to him when he's done, please."

Justin walked away sadly, creating the illusion that he, too, was disappointed with his lack of friends (though in reality he was disappointed because the third part of the plan had failed, and now Ron was their only chance--and clearly, anyone would be disappointed that they, too, were a failure).





Justin flopped down on one of the seats in the compartment. "We're going to have to resort to our most desperate plan, then," said Hermione.

"Yes," Neville said, walking in, "we are."

"So," said Padma, "the 'get Harry Potter to ask me for my unopinionated opinion on Slytherin, and break it to him lightly' plan failed."

"As did the 'get Harry Potter to do something Gryffindor-like for a fellow student' one," said Neville.

"That was a splendid performance you put on there, Neville," Justin commended. "I almost shouted for an encore."

Ron slipped something in his pocket and left.

Neville grinned and, in mid-bow, stopped. "Oh, no," he said. "I've lost my toad again."





When finally Harry had gotten rid of the toadless boy, he mistakenly thought that he would be left without further assault for the remaining six minutes of the journey to Hogwarts.

He was wrong, of course.

Just as he'd settled back into his seat, Ron Weasley tore open the door.

"Oh look," spat Malfoy, "an intrusion."

"At least I don't fancy Hermione Granger," said Ron, pointedly. "Nor will I ever. I just left my wand in here and I've come back to get it." He wandered over to the seat in which he had been sitting and reached under it. "It's rather hard to attend a school for witchcraft and wizardry when you haven't got your wand." He shook his arm lightly, allowing his want to escape its hold from his sleeve. He flicked it so as to roll it under the next seat and avoid looking stupid.

"Having trouble?" Malfoy drawled. Ron ignored him.

"Harry, can I borrow your wand really quick? I just need to find mine."

Harry didn't see how it was going to help, but nevertheless handed Ron his wand.

Ron carefully took the wand so he could switch it into from his left to his right hand, as it was his wand arm, where the piece of paper was expertly enchanted to stick to the wand. He hid the boy-versus-Hermione's-spell battle by raising his arms with an extravagant swish and yelled, "ACCIO WAND!" rather more loudly than needed. His wand flew at him from under the seat he'd 'dropped' it at, and he knew he was going to lose an eye unless he ducked (he'd just learned the spell from Percy and had not exactly perfected it).

So, he ducked.

Fortunately for him, Malfoy had been standing behind him, wand raised (probably about to perform some nasty hex). Ron's flying want hit him square between the eyes.

Upon seeing the look of shock on Malfoy's face, Harry tried desperately to suppress a laugh. Ron, however, didn't bother. He burst out laughing and was soon doubled over, hanging onto a seat for support, quaking with silent laughter. He shakily handed Harry his wand with the paper attached to it, picked up his own wand, hoped for the best, and left.





"Firs' years!" called Hagrid's voice. "Firs' years over here!"

A lamp (attached to a rather large arm) came bobbing toward Harry. "All right there, Harry?" Hagrid shouted to him.

The first years all seemed to agree, as they stepped into the four-seater boats, that the journey to the lake would have been much more pleasurable had they flown. Though they had caught their first glimpse of Hogwarts, Harry felt that his trek there was far from over.

Hogwarts castle was gleaming brightly; warm light radiating from the windows flooded the air around it. It almost looked as if Van Gogh had been mounted on a broomstick high above Hogwarts, using the vast array of turrets and towers as his model for what would later be known as the masterpiece Starry Night. It looked indeed as if the castle had seen nothing but the clear sky which greeted them in all its long years.

Ron, Hermione, Neville and Padma looked in dismay at the boat, which held Harry and his Slytherin-to-be comrades. Harry still had not found the piece of paper expertly stuck to his wand, largely because he had accidentally left it on the train.

"Oh, no," came Harry's voice through the silence as they glided across the lake, "I've left my wand on the train."

The four spectators sighed. "Well, that's it, then," said Ron. "The failure of our plans, all four of them are going to culminate in the destruction of the world."

"Universe," Hermione corrected.

The rest of the journey passed in grim silence, and, Ron thought, it was not going to get any better. His thoughts were somehow confirmed when the huge oak doors into the castle swung open upon the first years to reveal a woman he would soon know as Professor McGonagall: the enemy.

But at least Neville found his toad, and that was something.