A week had past since Draco and Daphne had made their pact, and all the sixth years of consequence had dropped out of the running. This left Draco, Daphne, Theodore Nott and Pansy Parkinson to compete for the two coveted titles. It was Saturday morning, and Draco wasn't expecting another hunt item for at least two more days, so when a brown school owl fluttered to his place at the table over breakfast, he was shocked.

Draco snatched the strip of parchment, staring at it confusedly. He had only just brought back his last item (Professor Snape's favourite quill) the day before. Still he unfolded the parchment with trembling fingers. There the paper was, its black ink contrasting vividly with the sepia-tinted color of the parchment.

The Sorting Hat, it said in cramped black letters.

Draco held the slip of paper tightly in his fist. The Sorting Hat? he thought. He didn't even know where the Sorting Hat was kept during the year. What if it was guarded by some kind of ancient magic? Would Alan and David allow him to get horribly cursed over a stupid competition?

"Of course they would," he muttered darkly to himself.

"Of course who would what?" Daphne asked, sitting lightly down next to him.

"Nothing," Draco snapped. After a pause he asked, "What's your item this week?"

"None of your ruddy business. If I tell you, you'll sabotage me so you can win."

"Don't be silly,' Draco said in his most charming voice. "You don't think our great leaders would allow us to sabotage each other, do you?"

"I certainly do," Daphne answered simply. "They're Slytherins." And with that she got up and walked away.

Draco sulked over his porridge. He stared into the thoughtfully into the bowl as if it were a pensieve. I don't even like porridge, he thought, and quickly pushed the bowl away, replacing it with a fat bacon sandwich. Breakfast in hand, he headed to the library.

It being a Saturday morning, the library was totally empty except for Madam Pince and the Mudblood Granger. I wonder if she ever leaves, thought Draco, picturing in his mind the frizzy-haired Mudblood kipping on a camp bed surrounded by disheveled piles of musty old books. He chuckled to himself, but was promptly shushed by Madam Pince.

"Buzzard," he muttered at her back as she stalked away. He mulled about in the 'Hogwarts History' section for nearly twenty minutes, piling books into his satchel before finally heading back to the main reading areas and dumping them all out again. Hermione raised her head to look at him when the books hit the table with a thud.

"Could you not do that? I'm trying to study," she spat.

Draco chose to ignore her, and grabbed the top book, flopping it open onto the table.

"What are you doing with Hogwarts, A History?" Hermione asked snidely. "No one but me ever reads that."

"But it's not yours, though, is it? No. So piss off and let me read."

"What could you possibly be reading for, though?" she pried. "Not homework, certainly."

"No, of course not. As though I do homework." Draco laughed. "Now shove off, you stupid Mudblood. I've got to find out where the Sorting Hat's kept, and I haven't a load of time." He began ruffling through the text again.

"Why?"

"Why what?" Draco snapped back frustratedly.

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm a curious boy," he answered, his voice filled with sarcasm.

"Well you could have just asked me," Hermione said, mostly talking to herself.

"What? You mean I'm sitting here doing actual work when you already know?" Draco asked incredulously.

"Yes. And if you knew anything about manners, you could ask me nicely and I might tell you."

"Well I suppose I'll just keep looking then," Draco said, slamming another book down heavily onto the table. He rustled the pages loudly for a few minutes before throwing the book on a nearby chair and repeating the process as loudly as possible.

"Will you shut up? I can't concentrate!" Hermione shouted, only to be loudly shushed by Madam Pince.

"I can't. I have to look, since you're too rude to just tell me." In his mind, he added Mudblood angrily to the end of his sentence.

"It's kept in Dumbledore's office!" Hermione burst out. "Now go away."

"Gladly," Draco said with a grin.