For the following few days, Harry being a Parselmouth was the hottest topic among all of the students. Wherever they went, they were always being observed and scrutinized by many pairs of watchful eyes. Harry seemed to take it quite well, as expected from a Dark Lord. Ron was trying his best not to appear nervous around Harry, but he didn't do a great job of it. Still, the four Gryffindor friends stayed together.

They were in the Great Hall, eating breakfast, when Draco noticed that he was being observed. This wasn't unusual, but what was unusual, is who was looking at him from the Slytherin table. Daphne Greengrass. She was also a first-year and they had the opportunity to meet many times during their childhood.

When their eyes met, Daphne gave Draco the wink.

Oh no.

This meant trouble. The Greengrass family was known for their incredible wealth, which they accumulated because of their brilliant ideas. They had a sixth sense for knowing exactly how to monetize anything they came up with. Draco knew that the wink meant that Daphne came up with something, and he was to be somehow involved.

Draco had the opportunity to witness many of Daphne's ideas as a child, and although he did make quite a bit of pocket money by helping her with some of them, they always meant trouble.

I thought I have had enough trouble for the whole first term now...

Apparently not.

Daphne stood up and walked towards the four Gryffindors. This in itself was unusual, but with the recent adventures they had been involved in, by the time Daphne sat down next to Draco, most of the students were staring at them.

"Hey, who are you?" Ron asked loudly.

Daphne smiled at them politely. "I'm Daphne Greengrass, it's nice to meet all of you."

Harry and Hermione nodded at that, confusion visible on their faces.

Draco decided he needed to step in to calm everyone down. "Hey, it's okay guys, I know Daphne, she's… alright."

Daphne smiled at him. "Thank you, Draco. I actually came here to speak with Harry," she said.

Harry's eyebrows rose in surprise. "With me?" he asked.

"What do you want with Harry?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"I have a business proposition for him," Daphne said smugly.

"A business proposition?" Ron repeated in confusion.

"Yes. Here Harry, meet me there today after lunch," she said as she gave Harry a small note. "Draco can probably answer some of your questions. See you later!" she said and walked back to the Slytherin table.

"What was that?" Ron asked.

Harry glanced at Draco. "Err… so can you tell us something more about what just happened?"

Draco sighed. So the offer wasn't even for me. "Yes, I guess so. I knew Daphne since we were kids, and I can guarantee you that whatever proposition she gives you, you will make a lot of money. But the proposition itself might be a bit… crazy."

Hermione seemed unimpressed. "Could this be a trap? To get revenge on Harry?" she asked, looking at Draco.

Draco shook his head. "No, she's not interested in that kind of stuff. I can promise you that it's not a trap, she just came up with an idea on how to make some money… probably a lot of money."

"What should I do?" Harry asked, unconvinced.

Draco shrugged. "You should at least meet her and see what she came up with."

Harry nodded after a few seconds. "Alright, then I will do that."

For the next few days, Harry seemed to be very secretive about the situation. They didn't see him much, he was always busy, meeting with Daphne and discussing their idea. Harry didn't tell them anything, apart from the fact that he had agreed to Daphne's offer.

Draco was getting more and more annoyed by the situation. He wanted to spend time with the Dark Lord, but it was nearly impossible to catch him these days.

Fortunately, Draco had his loyal spies for exactly this sort of occasion.

"Crabbe, Goyle!" he caught them in the corridor.

They jumped a bit, but smiled when they recognized Draco's voice.

"Draco!" one of them said happily. "Do you want a report? Or do you have a new mission for us?"

"Both, actually. Did you notice anything interesting going on in the Slytherin House?" Draco asked.

"Yes, we did!" the fatter of them said. "There are rumors, very interesting rumors."

Draco waited for a few seconds, but they didn't say anything more. "Well, tell me, what rumors?"

The shorter of them nodded. "We heard some people say that Harry Potter is a parselmouth," he whispered.

Draco raised his eyebrows. "That's fascinating, anything more?"

They nodded. "Seemingly, Harry Potter defeated an older Slytherin using his powers, and the older boy was expelled. Draco Malfoy might have been involved," Crabbe said, keeping his voice as low as possible.

Draco sighed. "Alright guys, thank you for that shocking information. Good work," he said.

The fat duo patted themselves on their backs, clearly proud of their accomplishment.

"Well, since you two are clearly very capable," Draco said and the boys smiled at him, "I have a different mission for you. I need you to spy on Harry Potter. Follow his every move, try to discover what he's doing with Daphne Greengrass. When you find something out, report to me immediately."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded seriously. "We will do our best, Draco. Thanks for talking with us, no one else ever does," one of them said and they left.

Draco smiled sadly. The boys were truly nice, just very… dumb. Draco walked back to the Gryffindor common room slowly.

Upon his arrival, he immediately noticed that something was going on.

I have a bad feeling about this.

The common room was very loud, and buzzing with excitement. Draco glanced at the notice board and stopped dead in his tracks. What Daphne and Harry were planning finally became evident. There was a big, moving poster on the notice board:

Harry's ARMY is now recruiting! Study advanced magic under the guidance of the Boy Who Lived himself! The first meeting is completely free and open to every Hogwarts student!

Draco couldn't help it but be impressed with his Slytherin friend again. He didn't know what exactly was going to happen, but he knew one thing—he was going to be there to witness it, whatever the price. And knowing Daphne, the price will be high.

I need to ask Dad for more pocket money...