After an abysmally boring period of History of Magic, taught by a senile ghost, it was time for Charms. Draco entered the classroom alongside with Harry and Ron.

They all sat together as the small professor started checking attendance.

When Flitwick said the Dark Lord's name, he fell off the pile of books he had been standing on.

Draco was impressed. Harry wandlessely pushed the professor off! Such a great way to establish dominance! As expected of the Dark Lord…

Harry didn't seem tired from his wandless spell. Just how powerful can someone be?

However, something unexpected happened later, when they were asked to perform their very first spell, the Levitation Charm. Draco had been certain that Harry could perform such a spell with his eyes closed, and probably while unconcious, too. But looking at Harry trying hard to make the little feather fly, it seemed like a difficult task, even for him.

What is going on? Is he trying to hide his abilities? Ah, he must be, he's the master spy after all!

"Mr. Malfoy, aren't you going to try?" professor Flitwick asked and Draco was suddenly aware of his surroundings again. "You've been staring at Mr. Potter for five minutes now, I don't understand. And it's not even like he's doing something worth observing, to be honest," the professor continued, a hint of disappointment in his voice.

The only one who had made the feather fly had been one Hermione Granger, their bushy-haired Housemate. Draco glanced at her with a scowl.

Okay, it's time for me to try.

Draco concentrated as hard as he could, spoke the incantation and waved his wand, wishing for the feather to fly.

It didn't move at all. Draco glanced at Harry nervously. I can't make the Dark Lord think I'm incompetent or he will find a different right-hand man… "Or woman…" Draco whispered while glancing at the Granger girl. To his surprise, she was sitting right beside him, staring at him intently. Draco flinched and almost dropped his wand.

"You know, you didn't say the incantation properly," she started. "You need to make the 'gar' in 'wingardium' nice and long."

Is she trying to humiliate me? How dare she speak like that to a Malfoy?

"Oh, thank you, we will try that," Harry, who must've been eavesdropping, said, breaking Draco's train of thought.

"Err… we will?" Draco asked, confusion evident in his voice.

Harry nodded. "Of course we will, there must be a reason why Hermione succeeded and we didn't, right? Might as well give it a try."

Hermione smiled at Harry, showing her rabbit-like teeth in all of their glory.

Draco glanced at Harry again, as the Dark Lord tried casting the spell, this time paying attention to the way he pronounced the incantation.

"Wingardium Leviosa!" he said and to Draco's surprise, the feather began to fly around the spacious classroom.

"That's it, that's it!" Flitwick shouted, almost falling off the book pile once more. "Great job Mr. Potter!"

Draco nodded his head, full of admiration for the Dark Lord. I guess that's why he is the Dark Lord and I'm only a servant. He isn't afraid to learn, even from someone like Granger… I must reconsider my mindset…

With newfound determination, Draco also tried casting the spell properly, and to his satisfaction, the feather started levitating instantly. He glanced at Hermione once more and she gave him another cheerful smile. His concentration broke and the feather landed on Ron's head.

"Hey, it tickles!" Ron protested and shook the feather off.

After a few moments, the Weasley boy also managed to cast the spell correctly, to professor Flitwick's delight. The four of them earned a good few points for Gryffindor and cheerfully left the classroom in a pursuit of a well-deserved rest and food in the Great Hall.

When they sat down to eat at the Gryffindor table, it became apparent that the Granger girl decided that they were all friends now. Draco wasn't impressed. She is definitely trying to steal my place at the Dark Lord's side!

But to his annoyance, the Dark Lord himself didn't seem to mind her presence at all. He chatted with her pleasantly, while Draco and Ron just sat and ate in silence. Weasley seemed confused, but also happy not to be bothered while he stuffed another chicken wing into his mouth. This has to be a part of the Dark Lord's experiment. Nobody can eat so much. Is Harry trying to check just how fat can a person get? But why would he carry out an experiment like that? Well, it's better not to question the Dark Lord…

"Draco?"

The blond boy snapped out of his musings and noticed that both Harry and Granger were staring at him.

"Yes, my lo… umm, Harry?" he asked.

Granger looked between the two of them suspiciously.

"We were just talking about which class we were most interested in," Harry explained. "What are you looking forward to?"

Draco thought about it for a moment. "Potions, probably," he said. "My uncle is the Potions professor, you see."

Ron choked on his food once again. "Snape is your uncle? My brothers told me he's terrible!"

Harry glanced at Ron with disapproval. "Are you sure they're not just prejudiced? Your family seems to hold a lot of grudges, to be honest," he said.

Hermione nodded. "That's right, he is a teacher, so he can't be that bad," she said. "You need to really stop being such a biased person, Ron…"

Weasley's face grew red with embarrassment again. "Err, alright, sorry, I'll give him a chance, I guess…"

Draco almost felt sorry for the Weasley boy.

"Anyway, isn't it about time we get going?" Harry asked them while standing up.

"That's right, we have Defence Against the Dark Arts in the morning tomorrow, we need to sleep early," Hermione said.

The three of them got up, although Ron didn't bother hiding the fact that he took some more food with him. They went back to their dormitories after saying their goodbyes and soon enough, they were all asleep. They had a long week ahead of them.