Chapter Three

I don't like Snape. I know he's Head of House, and I'm happy to be in Slytherin, but there's something about him that's just not quite right.

Fortunately, Draco agrees with me. In a hushed conversation at night, when the others are asleep, he tells me that Snape is a traitor and that's he going to get what's coming for him. For now, though, we're supposed to tolerate him.

I'm confused. "For now? Until what?"

I'm sure he's smiling, but it's too dark for me to see. "Until we can make him see what a stupid idea it was to be on Dumbledore's side. The fool."

"Who? Snape or Dumbledore?" I feel hopelessly naïve, and hate it. Like I'll lose Draco as a friend unless I get a lot smarter a lot quicker.

"Both of them. They're both fools. And they'll both pay. Don't worry, Harry. You're on the right side."

That simple statement relieves me. It makes me sure that I've made the right choice. It makes me sure that, finally, I've got a friend. I never had one before, and I'm so glad that I've got one. Draco's alright. Not perfect, but neither am I.

I go to sleep in my new home. Funny, it really does feel like home, in a way that the Dursleys' never did.

Breakfast in the morning is fantastic. It's going to take me a while to get used to all this food, all the time. If I'm not careful, I'll end up looking like Dudley! I spend breakfast telling Draco all about my life with the Muggles, and I'm thrilled to see that he thinks as little of them as I do. When he extends his observations to the effect that all Muggles are scum, I really can't disagree. There's not a single Muggle that I can think of that I liked. It's good to know that Draco feels the same way that I do.

When Draco moves on to talking about the other houses, I remember what Snape said last night about the Gryffindors, and ask him about that. I don't want to see ignorant, but I want to know. "Why do Slytherins hate Gryffindors so much?"

Draco stares at me, like I just asked him why the sky was blue. Clearly this is something really obvious. "They're a house of Mudbloods and blood traitors. They claim that they're all on the right side, but really, it's just that they're in Dumbledore's pocket. A house of goody-goodies and brown-nosers. That's all Gryffindor is. But worse than that, they think they're the best house."

"And we think we're the best?" This all sounds pretty stupid to me.

"We are the best, but it's more than that. Take those Gryffindors down from their high horse. They're so proud to be Gryffindor." Draco shakes his head. "Don't worry, Harry. You'll get into it." He looks over at the Gryffindor table. I do too.

I see Ron. He's shoveling food into his mouth. I'm suddenly reminded of Dudley. Disgusting.

Then it's time for our first class. I'm terrified. I did okay in school, Muggle school. But this is completely different and I don't think it's going to have anything to do with sums. Draco already knows loads and I know I'm going to look like an idiot. Our first class is Transfiguration, with the Gryffindors.

So, not only do I get to make myself look like a fool with Draco watching, but with all those Gryffindors watching too. Great.

It doesn't turn out as badly as I thought it might. McGonagall is a tough teacher, and Draco seems to hate her. She's Head of Gryffindor House, so that might be why. She doesn't seem to like Slytherins much, and only seemed to want to tell us off. For all that, though, I think she's a pretty good teacher. I couldn't do much of anything, but neither could most of the class. One of the Gryffindor girls could. Hermione Granger. This big bushy Mudblood that Draco's already taken to hating. She does seem pretty annoying.

We have Charms, too, not with the Gryffindors. It's just as difficult and I'm even worse at it. Fortunately, so is Draco. So it's okay that I'm rubbish at it. We can help each other.

History of Magic is dull. Draco says he's going to look up a charm so that our parchment takes notes for us. The wizarding world is SO cool.

Defense Against the Dark Arts was weird. I'm not sure what we're supposed to be learning. Draco thinks it's stupid. Draco says the only practical thing would be to actually learn the Dark Arts. I'm a little surprised by that, but Draco says it's only right for a person to be able to protect themselves. If you look at it like that, then maybe it does make more sense. I don't like Quirrell, though. He's really weird. Everyone seems to think so.

Potions was strange, too. I thought that Snape would act the same as he did when he was giving us that speech. But it wasn't like that all. It's so clear that he favors Slytherins over anyone else, and I'm really glad about that, as I can already tell Potions is not going to be my best subject. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if it turned out to be my worst. But at least being in Slytherin guarantees me good marks in the subject. What a relief. I almost, almost feel sorry for the Gryffindors. Snape hates them, takes off points for the smallest things. It's great.

They don't set us much homework, but because I really don't know what I'm doing in any of my classes, it takes me ages to finish it. Draco helps me with some of it. He's a good friend. I'm glad that he's on my side. He can be really nasty, I heard him earlier with some of the Gryffindors, including Ron and that Hermione.

But I'm on the right side. The good side.