I think this turned out alright. The first quarter of this is somewhat original (not completely but you get the idea), while the rest is more or less a retelling. I already have plans weaving in my head for the next chapter.

Enjoy!

Chapter 9

Mudbloods

Harry spent the rest of the week dodging both Professor Lockhart and Colin Creevey, who seemed to have memorized his schedule. Every time he saw one of them, he'd run in the opposite direction even if he was with his friends.

Classes weren't much better. Ron's wand kept malfunctioning. In Charms, his wand shot itself out of his hand and hit Professor Flitwick right in-between the eyes, causing a disgusting green boil to sprout from the spot it had struck. Rin spent most of his time after dinner practicing his spellcasting on the grounds until curfew. He struggled to remember everything Professor Dumbledore taught him. Unfortunately, most of what he taught Rin was a blur, making the boy vow to ask Dumbledore for more lessons the next time he saw him.

Needless to say, it was a relief that the weekend finally came. The group agreed to meet with Hagrid on Saturday. When Rin and Ron woke up on Saturday, however, they found Harry's bed was empty.

"I don't see Harry anywhere. Where is he?" asked Rin as he helped himself to an omelet in the Great Hall.

"He's at Quidditch practice," Ron replied before taking a sip of orange juice. "He wrote a note to us saying where he'd be. Plus, Fred and George aren't here either."

"Oh, right. They're the Gryffindor Beaters, aren't they?" Rin recalled. Ron nodded.

"Hello there!" Colin Creevey greeted, suddenly popping up out of nowhere, along with a flash from his camera that was hanging from around his neck. "Have either of you seen Harry?"

Ron and Rin tried their best not to groan while rubbing the spots out of their eyes.

"He's probably at the Quidditch pitch," Ron answered through gritted teeth.

Colin perked up even more. "Quidditch? I've never seen Quidditch before. Are you two going to watch? Can I come?"

Rin's eyebrow was twitching at this point. "If we say yes, will you promise to leave us alone?" he said irritably.

Colin seemed unfazed by Rin's tone. "Sure! Just let me know when you're leaving," he said. He then left to join his fellow first years.

"Tell me we're not seriously taking that little pest with us to watch Harry's Quidditch practice," said Ron.

"If we're careful, we may be able to leave before he notices," said Rin. Ron nodded and gave Rin their thumbs-up salute which he returned. A book was suddenly slammed on the table catching both boys' attention.

"Good morning," Hermione greeted.

"Where have you been?" asked Ron.

Rin looked at the book and promptly frowned. "You're reading Break with a Banshee again? How many times are you going to read Lockhart's books, Hermione?"

Hermione blushed and helped herself to some scrambled eggs and a bowl of oatmeal.

~0~0~0~

The trio managed to break away from the annoying first year and made their way to the Quidditch pitch. To their surprise, no one was flying around yet.

"Where is everybody?" asked Rin. "Did we miss it?"

"Doubt it," said Ron. "Maybe Wood's teaching them some new stuff. You know, new maneuvers and strategies for this year. Stuff like that."

"That would make sense," Hermione agreed.

Two figures approached the trio as they were talking. A quick look at the glasses and moles on the first figure's face told them that it was Yukio. The second one, much to everyone's chagrin, was Colin Creevey.

"'Morning," Yukio greeted. "Have they started yet?"

"Not yet," said Ron.

"Why did you bring that shutterbug with you?" Rin asked in a harsh whisper.

"Colin? He wanted to watch Harry play Quidditch and he couldn't find you," Yukio innocently explained. The boy in question wandered off to explore the stands and take an occasional photo.

"He's a pain in the neck," said Rin. "Lockhart loves that he carries his camera all the time."

Ron nodded. "Do you have any idea how many times Lockhart had Creevey take a picture of him and Harry this week?" he recalled.

The Gryffindor team finally emerged from the locker room and took off into the air. Clicking noises were soon heard throughout the stands. The teammates stopped what they were doing, looking around to see where it was coming from. Harry kept his head down, knowing the source of the noise. George Weasley then pointed to something on the ground. Everyone, including the onlookers, saw the green-clad players of the Slytherin team.

"Uh-oh! I smell trouble," Ron muttered. The three Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw got up from their seats and started walking towards the two Quidditch teams.

Wood, along with Harry and the Weasley twins, landed and dismounted from their brooms. The rest of the Gryffindor team followed suit.

"Flint!" Wood called out to the Slytherin Captain. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"

Marcus Flint was even larger than Wood. He also had a trollish look on his face. To Rin, it looked like he had those goofy teeth pranksters put in their mouths to look funny (only Flint's were his actual teeth).

"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Flint said.

"But I booked the field!" Wood exclaimed, spitting with rage. "I booked it!"

"Easy, Wood," Flint said boredly. "I've got a specially signed note here from Professor Snape." He handed a rolled up parchment to Wood.

"'I, Professor S. Snape, give the Slytherin team permission to practice today on the Quidditch pitch owing to the need to train their new Seeker,'" Wood read aloud. "You've got a new Seeker? Who?"

Rin and the others finally caught up to everyone when Draco Malfoy emerged from the Slytherin team, his trademark smirk present on his face.

"Malfoy?" said Harry.

"What's this clown doing here?" asked Rin.

"Aren't you Lucius Malfoy's son?" asked Fred, looking at the pale-faced boy with disdain. Whether it was from the stories Arthur had told his children throughout their lives or from the stories Ron and the others told them Harry didn't know.

"Funny you should mention Draco's father," said Flint, as the whole Slytherin team smiled more widely. "Let me show you the generous gift he's made to the Slytherin team." All seven green-clad Quidditch players held out their broomsticks.

Ron's jaw dropped. "Those are Nimbus Two-Thousand and Ones!" he exclaimed.

"That's right," Malfoy confirmed. "You see, Weasley, unlike some, my father can afford the best." Rin snorted and Yukio chuckled, catching Malfoy's attention. "What's so funny, Okumura?"

The twins looked at each other, briefly wondering which one Malfoy was addressing, before Rin spoke first. "Is that what that broomstick really is?" he asked.

"What are you talking about?"

Yukio sighed dramatically. "If even Rin can see those broomsticks for what they really are, then you're dumber than he is."

"Hey!" Rin exclaimed.

"Just say it, Okumura!" Malfoy barked.

"One man's gift is another man's bribe," Yukio stated.

Hermione caught on to what the twins were saying. "At least the Gryffindor team didn't have to buy their way in," she remarked. "They got in on pure talent."

Rin smirked triumphantly. "Take that, Malfoy!"

Malfoy looked in Hermone's direction, his smug look now gone. "Nobody's asked for your opinion, you filthy little Mudblood," he sneered.

Immediately there was an uproar. Flint had to jump in front of Malfoy to stop Fred and George from lunging at him.

"How dare you!" Alicia Spinnet shrieked. Rin, Yukio, Hermione, and Harry could only look on in confusion. Why was everyone so upset?

Ron pulled out his damaged wand and pointed it at Malfoy. "You'll pay for that one, Malfoy!" he yelled. "Eat slugs!"

A loud bang echoed throughout the stadium as a jet of green light shot out of the wrong end of Ron's wand, hitting him in the stomach and sending him backwards onto the grass.

Ron's friends ran up to him to see if he was hurt.

"Ron! Ron! Are you alright?" Hermione squealed. Ron managed to prop himself up on his forearms. His face looked absolutely green.

"Say something, anything!" Rin pleaded.

Ron released a loud belch and several slugs erupted from his mouth and landed on the ground next to him. The Slytherin team roared in laughter at the spectacle. Flint was doubled over, holding onto his broom for support. Malfoy was on all fours pounding the ground with his fists. The Gryffindor team, however, crowded around Ron in the hopes of helping him as he kept barfing up slugs. As much as they wanted to help, however, no one wanted to touch him.

"What should we do?" asked Yukio as he and Rin helped Ron to his feet. "Take him to Madam Pomfrey?"

"Let's take him to Hagrid's, it's nearest," Harry suggested.

~0~0~0~

"Better out than in," Hagrid said cheerfully as he gave Ron a copper basin. "Get 'em all up, Ron."

"I don't think there's anything to do except wait for it to stop," Hermione said anxiously, watching Ron's head disappear into the basin. The sound of retching soon followed.

"You seriously need to get a new wand," Yukio added.

Ron pulled his head up to say something but dunked it back into the basin to puke up more slugs.

"So, Hagrid, we saw Professor Lockhart leaving your house before we got here," Rin said in a desperate attempt to shift everyone's attention away from the slug-spewing boy.

Hagrid readily frowned. "Saw that, didn' yeh? Been givin' me advice on gettin' kelpies out of a well," he growled, moving a half-plucked rooster off his scrubbed table and got his tea kettle out. "Like I don' know. An' bangin' on about some banshee he banished. If one word of that was true, I'll eat my kettle."

"Agreed," Harry, Rin and Yukio agreed.

Hermione, however, disagreed. "I think you're being a bit unfair. Professor Dumbledore obviously thought he was the best man for the job -"

"He was the only man for the job," Hagrid said, offering them all a plate of treacle fudge. "An' I mean the only one. Gettin' very difficult ter find anyone fer the Dark Arts job. People aren't too keen ter take it on, see. They're startin' to think the job's jinxed. No one's lasted long fer a while now. Hope he doesn' last long for Shura's sake. Taken a fancy to her, Lockhart."

If Yukio's jaws weren't glued shut by the treacle fudge, it'd be on the floor. "He has a crush on Shura?!" he exclaimed through his glued teeth.

"Are you kidding me?!" Rin asked through his teeth, also glued together by the treacle fudge.

Hagrid shook his head no. "No joke. She can't stand 'im though. Even gave me all the signed photos he gave her. Said to use it for me fireplace," he said, gesturing to the fireplace where his tea kettle was heating up some water. The boys could only give the photos satisfied smirks while Hermione could only look in horror (although Ron's smirk was short-lived before ducking his head back into the basin).

Hagrid removed the kettle from the fire and made some tea before sitting down. He jerked his head in Ron's direction. "So, who was he tryin' ter curse?"

Yukio managed to pry his jaws apart to answer. "Malfoy. He called Hermione something, something rude. Everyone was in an uproar when he said it."

Rin nodded. "He called Hermione a… what was it? A mud-something? Dirt-blood?" he tried to recall as he tried to pry his jaws apart. This treacle fudge was like a super-strong glue!

"It was bad," Ron said hoarsely, emerging from the basin, looking pale and sweaty. "Malfoy called her a 'Mudblood,' Hagrid -"

Ron dove back out of sight to release a fresh wave of slugs. Hagrid looked livid.

"He did not!" he growled at Hermione.

"He did," she confirmed. "I don't know what it means, but it sounded rude."

"What's a Mudblood?" Harry asked innocently.

"It's about the most insulting thing he could think of," Ron gasped, pulling his head out of the basin. "Mudblood's a really foul name for someone who's Muggleborn - you know, non-magic parents."

"Like Hermione," Yukio realized.

Ron nodded. "There are some wizards - like Malfoy's family - who think they're better than everyone else because they're what people call pureblood." He gave a small burp and a single slug fell into his hand, which he tossed into the basin before continuing. "I mean, the rest of us know it doesn't make a difference at all. Look at Neville Longbottom - he's pureblood and he can hardly stand a cauldron the right way up."

"An' they haven't invented a spell our Hermione can't do," Hagrid said proudly, causing Hermione's face to turn a bright shade of magenta. Rin nodded in agreement, vowing to knock some of Malfoy's teeth out for calling his friend such a name. He finally managed to pry his jaws apart, but he felt something was pulled out of his mouth as well. He spat it out into his hand.

"Look, Yukio! Another tooth!" Rin exclaimed.

Yukio looked at the object in his brother's hand. "Well, that's all of them."

Hehehehehehe! I loved writing about Lockhart's infatuation with Shura! Trust me, he's not going to give up that easily!

Get ready for the next chapter. And keep those reviews coming. Positive reviews are good for the soul and the self-esteem.