(A/N: Parts of this story come straight from the Harry Potter books by J K Rowling and I do not take credit for them.)
Harry met Draco Malfoy and knew immediately that he was horrible. He was a stuck-up, arrogant pureblood, but Harry had a feeling that wasn't his true character. He felt that Malfoy was raised to think that way, but he was sure that Malfoy had his own opinions. From what he had learned in one of the books Hermione had lent him, Ancient and Noble houses, like the house of Malfoy, expected their heir to act in a certain way.
Harry spotted a notice pinned up in the Gryffindor common room which made all the first-years groan. Their flying lesson would be on Saturday- with the Slytherins.
During their flying lesson, Neville Longbottom had fallen off his broom. When Madame Hooch, their flying instructor, left them to bring Neville to the hospital wing, a confrontation between Malfoy and Harry had almost broken out, but Hermione, with her sensible mind, had stopped Harry from doing anything stupid.
After Madame Hooch got back, the lesson continued without anymore incidents. It turned out Harry was an exceptional flyer and Hermione was pretty good too. Hermione was throwing golf balls for Harry to catch, and he caught all of them, even the ones Hermione tried to throw really hard.
When Madame Hooch levitated some cones, Hermione was very good at swerving around them, quickly and neatly, not bumping into any of them.
"Madam Hooch! Is it okay if I borrow Mr Potter and Miss Granger for a while?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Sure," Madam Hooch answered.
"Mr Potter, Miss Granger, will you follow me please," Professor McGonagall said. She led them to a classroom.
"Professor, could I please borrow Wood?" she asked. The professor nodded. Harry and Hermione looked at each other curiously as a boy who looked like he was in his sixth year got up. Professor McGonagall led them to an empty classroom where she stopped and told them to sit down. They did and looked at one another, confused.
"Mr Wood, remember how you couldn't find a chaser and a seeker?" Professor McGonagall asked.
"Yes," said Wood, excited. He knew what Professor McGonagall meant. But why had she chosen two first-years?
"Potter, Granger, this is Oliver Wood. He is the captain of the Quidditch team. I want to offer the seeker place to you, Harry and the chaser spot to you, Hermione. Oliver, you might be wondering why I chose two first years. Well, I was watching their first flying lesson and they both looked natural on a broom," Professor McGonagall explained. "I want to hear you've been training hard. After all, we need to win the cup this year." She smiled and went out of the classroom.
"Potter, Granger, I want to see you fly for myself. Meet me at the Quidditch pitch tomorrow morning at six. I don't want anyone to know you are our chaser and seeker since first-years will be wondering why they couldn't go for the team. Also, I'll try and persuade Professor McGonagall if we can bend the first-year rule and get you your own room," Wood said. "Oh and also, both of you are probably the youngest Quidditch players in a century." He left the room.
Harry and Hermione didn't say anything. They were speechless.
Harry and Hermione were sitting in the Great Hall, discussing Quidditch. Fred and George came up to them.
"Well done," George said in a low voice. "Wood told us. We're on the team too- beaters."
"I tell you, we're going to win that Quidditch cup for sure this year," said Fred. "We haven't won since Charlie left, but this year's team is going to be brilliant. You must be good, Harry and Hermione if Professor McGonagall placed you in those spots herself. She used to be a Quidditch player too, and I hear she was really picky. She looks happy too." Harry and Hermione looked down to the Professors' table. She was smiling at Harry and Hermione.
"Anyway, we've got to go. Lee Jordan reckons he's found a new secret passageway out of the school." They waved and ran out of the Great Hall. Just then, Malfoy went over to the Gryffindor table.
"Potter! I want to speak to you later. Meet me in the trophy night at midnight," Malfoy hissed into Harry's ear. Without another word, Malfoy stalked off to the Slytherin table. Harry replayed the message to Hermione who looked shocked. Before she could say anything, Ron Weasley interrupted them.
"Potter, Hermione, Dumbledore wants to see you," he said before sitting down at the table and stuffing his face with food. Hermione looked at Harry with a questioning look and Harry shrugged and got up. Hermione followed him and together they went to Dumbledore's office. Dumbledore was waiting outside his office.
"Ah, you're here. I assume you got my message from Mr Weasley? Follow me," Dumbledore said. He went to the gargoyle outside his office and said, "Liquorice Wands." The gargoyle let them in. Harry and Hermione looked around them. There were a lot of silver instruments on shelves and a desk in the middle of the room. Next to the desk was a perch were a phoenix stood. Harry and Hermione were staring at the phoenix. Dumbledore saw them staring.
"This is Fawkes, my familiar. Now, back to why I sent for you. I need to perform a few spells," Dumbledore said. Before they could protest, he placed the compulsion charms Mrs Weasley had requested and renewed some of the blocks he had put on Harry as a baby. He then obliviated them and sent them back to their common rooms. Just then, his name appeared in a book in the Ministry.
Albus Dumbledore, Headmaster of Hogwarts
Cast two unfriendly spells on two students in Hogwarts. One of the spells did not work due to the power coming from the two students.
Harry and Hermione went to their common room, wondering what had just happened. An Auror flooed into Dumbledore's office.
"Albus Dumbledore, you must talk to the ministry. You cast two unfriendly spells on two students. Come with me."
Harry and Hermione were talking about Malfoy's words.
"Harry, I don't think you should go to see Malfoy. It's probably a trick he set up just to get you into trouble. He's a Slytherin after all," Hermione said.
"Yeah, I think you're right. He probably tipped off Filch, telling him that we might be there tonight. Let's answer in a Slytherin way and stay here then see what happens tomorrow. Goodnight Hermione," said Harry.
"Goodnight Harry," Hermione replied.
"See you tomorrow," said Harry, as he walked up the stairs to his dormitory. Hermione sat down on the couch and started to read Hogwarts: A History. As she read, she didn't realise a head with red hair peeking from the closet in the corner of the room creeping into the dormitory of Harry Potter.
At eleven thirty, Ron woke up Harry who was sleeping in his bed.
"Ron, what are you doing, it's the middle of the night," Harry whispered, rubbing his eyes sleepily.
"I heard about Malfoy. You have to go. It's a wizard's duel. You can't refuse it." Ron said.
"Why should I trust you?" asked Harry.
"I know a lot about purebloods, even if the Weasleys' aren't the average purebloods you would expect."
Ron dragged Harry out of bed and downstairs into the common room.
"Harry? Ron? What are you doing here?" asked Hermione, sitting on the couch.
"Shit," cursed Ron. "Well… we, um… It's none of your business," Ron stuttered before pushing Harry out of the portrait hole.
He looked behind him and saw Hermione following him.
"Granger, what are you doing?" asked Ron.
"Making sure you don't get expelled," replied Hermione.
They went up a staircase and just as they were on it, the staircase started to move.
"Granger, I have no idea where we are now. Let's get off here before we lose ourselves again." Ron said, walking unto a platform.
Suddenly, they heard Filch's voice one floor below.
"Oh no…" said Hermione.
Ron rattled the door they were outside of.
"It's locked!" whispered Ron.
"Move over!" Hermione snarled. She grabbed Harry's wand and whispered, "Alohomora!"
The lock clicked and the door swung open- they piled through it and pressed their ears to it, listening.
Filch's footsteps grew nearer to the third floor corridor. He passed the room Harry, Ron and Hermione were in, thinking it was locked.
"Um… guys, I think we have a big problem… Turn around slowly and don't scream," whispered Hermione, tapping on Harry's arm.
Harry slowly turned around and bit his tongue so as not to shout. He slowly moved back towards the door cautiously until the big three-headed dog in front of him started barking. Harry groped for the doorknob and the three of them fell backwards. Hermione immediately shut the door and all three of them ran back down the corridor.
They reached the common room, breathless, and collapsed into the armchairs.
"What do they think they're doing, keeping a thing like that locked up in a school?" Ron said finally.
Hermione had got both her breath and her bad temper back.
"You didn't use your eyes, did you Ronald?" she snapped. "Didn't you see what it was standing on?"
"The floor?" Ron suggested. "I wasn't looking at it's feet, I was too busy with the heads."
Harry thought back to the room with the three-headed dog in it. Realisation struck him. "Not the floor. It was standing on a trapdoor."
Hermione smiled at Harry. "It's obviously guarding something."
She turned to Ron. "I hope you're pleased with yourself. We could have been killed- or worse, expelled. Now, if you don't mind, I'm going to bed."
"No, we don't mind," said Ron, glaring after her. "You'd think we dragged her along, wouldn't you?"
But Harry wasn't listening. He was thinking. The dog was guarding something- What had Hagrid said? Gringotts was the safest place in the world for something you wanted to hide- except perhaps Hogwarts.
It looked as though Harry had found out what the grubby little package from vault seven hundred and thirteen was.