A.N. (I'm really very sorry guys, for the long update, but college life is no joke! I've been kept busy with tests, papers, and an ungodly amount of homework! I solemnly vow not to abandon this story, however, so rest assured! LOL! Well, enjoy, and thanks everyone for voting on Dudley's house! I am removing the poll right now, so you'll find out which House won in the next chapter.)
Chapter Five: The Comeuppance of Draco Malfoy
The compartment door opened, and the boy named Ron, who (as Harry and Dudley had seen while spying on the Weasley family) had been embarrassed by his mother and twin brothers, walked in.
"Anyone sitting there?" he asked nervously, pointing at the seat next to Dudley. "Everywhere else is full, and I nearly got hexed by a Slytherin prefect who threatened to curse me if I didn't find a seat fast."
Harry and Dudley shook their heads and beckoned to Ron. "The more the merrier," said Dudley cheerfully. Ron smiled slightly and sat down.
"So our mums are friends," Ron said, looking at Harry.
"Guess so," replied Harry, "Your name's Ron, right?"
"Yup, and you're Harry Potter," he said, trying not to make it obvious that he was giddy with excitement at meeting the 'boy who lived'. Turning to Dudley, he said, "And you are…"
"Dudley Dursley…erm…Evans," said Dudley, blushing. He still hadn't gotten used to his new last name. Ron stared at him for a few seconds and Dudley explained, "Change of last name, big story."
"Ah," said Ron, dropping the subject.
"Hey Ron," came a voice from the doorway. All three jumped, and saw Ron's brothers, the Weasley twins, grinning at them.
"Listen, we're going to Lee Jordan's compartment down the train. He's got a giant tarantula!" said one of them. The Weasley twins started grinning mischievously.
"Right," muttered Ron, turning red for some reason. Harry and Dudley looked at each other, an action not missed by the twins.
"Harry!" said the other twin, "and…"
"Dudley," Dudley once again introduced himself.
"Right, Harry and Dudley," said the twin, "did we introduce ourselves? Gred and Forge, I mean, Fred and George Weasley, at your service. And I see you've met our baby brother Ron."
"Go away," Ron mumbled, embarrassed. Fred and George grinned again and said, "See you later!"
Harry and Dudley waved. "You've got cool brothers," Harry told Ron, "Reminds me of Uncle Padfoot and Dad."
"Uncle Who?" asked Ron with a confused expression.
"Sirius Black, one of Uncle James's Hogwarts mates" explained Dudley, "His nickname is Padfoot, so we call him 'Uncle' Padfoot, although he's not really related to us."
"That's a weird nickname," observed Ron.
"Oh, that's because he's a…," Dudley began, but Harry stepped on his foot.
"…weird person?" Dudley finished lamely, giving Harry an apologetic look. He had been about to say Animagus, but since Sirius was an illegal Animagus, Harry didn't want the information to be blurted out to just anyone. Ron looked at the two strangely while Harry resisted an urge to smack his forehead in exasperation. When it came to lying, Dudley wasn't the best.
"So…do you really have the…the…" said Ron, turning redder by the minute. This time, Harry looked at him strangely.
"The what?" he asked. With embarrassment showing on his face, Ron pointed to his forehead and Harry resisted the impulse to roll his eyes.
"My scar?" he asked, lifting his bangs. Ron's eyes rounded in wonder and his mouth nearly fell open. Dudley resisted the impulse to laugh as well.
"So is that where You-Know-Who…" asked Ron.
"Tried to kill me but failed, and thus leaving me with a stupid title and ruining my chances to a normal life forever? Yea," said Harry, rolling his eyes. Ron stared at him.
"And no, I don't remember anything," said Harry, slightly irritated. It was annoying how he always received the same question every time after meeting a new person.
"Sorry, I didn't mean…" mumbled Ron.
"No, I apologize for getting so worked up. It's just that everyone asks me the same question all the time," explained Harry. Ron nodded.
"I guess it would get annoying," he admitted, "though of course, I would never know."
"So, you like Quidditch?" Ron asked, and immediately, Harry grinned while Dudley rolled his eyes.
"Finally, a subject I like," Harry said, and then he and Ron eagerly discussed Quidditch, its different tactics, their favorite sports teams, and such, as Dudley once in a while put in his opinion.
"Hey you two," he said after awhile, "I'm going to go to the bathroom. Be back in a minute, alright?" But Ron and Harry barely looked up as Harry just nodded his head to acknowledge him. Dudley shook his head in amusement as he exited the compartment. On his way to the bathroom, he bumped into a boy and both fell to the floor.
"Hey, I'm so sorry!" Dudley apologized, getting up and holding his hand out to the boy. The boy got up and said good-naturedly, "That's alright. I wasn't looking where I was going either."
"Dudley Evans," Dudley said, shaking the boys hand.
"Justin, Justin Finch-Fletchley," the boy said, "You a first year?"
"Yup," said Dudley, "You?"
"Same," said Justin, "Nice to meet you."
"Same here," said Dudley, "Um, not to be rude or anything, but I really have to go to the bathroom. That's where I was headed actually."
Justin laughed. "Well, see you later, Dudley!"
"Yea, see you later Justin," Dudley called back, nearly running to the bathroom.
The compartment door opened and Ron and Harry looked up. A plump woman with a trolley full of sweets stood there smiling. "Anything off the trolley dears?" she asked warmly. Harry jumped up and looked at Ron. "Aren't you going to get anything?" he asked. Ron's ears turned red and he held up a package of lumpy sandwiches.
"I'm all set," he said gloomily. Harry hid his smile and went to the cart to see what she had. There were Bertie Bott's Every-Flavor Beans, Drooble's Best Blowing Gum, Chocolate frogs, Pumpkin Pasties, Cauldron cakes, Liquorice wands and a number of other things. Harry bought a bit of everything and paid the lady eleven sickles and seven knuts.
"Hungry, are you?" asked Ron, eyeing the large amount of treats Harry had tipped onto his seat.
"Starving," said Harry, taking a large bite out of a pumpkin pasty.
Ron unwrapped his lumpy package and took out four sandwiches. He pulled one of them apart and said, "She always forgets I don't like corned beef."
"Want to share?" Harry asked, handing Ron a chocolate frog. Ron's ears turned red again. "I shouldn't," he said, "Mum did work hard on these."
"We'll eat em' together!" Harry said cheerfully, and Ron brightened up. They spent a few minutes devouring the sweets together when the compartment door opened and Dudley walked back in, this time with a boy. Dudley's eyes immediately brightened at the sight of so many treats, that he nearly forgot to introduce the boy.
"Guys, this is Justin Finch-Fletchley," he introduced. Harry and Ron introduced themselves, and Harry was relieved to see that Justin didn't gasp when he told him he was Harry Potter. 'He's probably a muggle-born,' thought Harry.
"Do you mind if he sits here? He doesn't really like the people he's sitting with," explained Dudley.
"Not at all," said Harry, and Ron nodded in agreement. Justin smiled shyly at them and took a seat across from Ron.
The group spent time eating sweets, talking, and getting to know each other. "I got Dumbledore again," said Harry, holding up a Dumbledore Collecting Card from his chocolate frog. "I've got about ten of him back home."
"Can I have it?" asked Justin eagerly. "I don't have any chocolate frogs, as I'm a muggle-born." Harry gave the card to him and said, "Now you can start a collection of your own."
Justin turned over his card and read, "Albus Dumbledore, currently Headmaster of Hogwarts. Considered by many the greatest wizard of modern times, Professor Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel. Professor Dumbledore enjoys chamber music and tenpin bowling."
"If any of you get Agrippa, can I have it?" Ron asked, "I've been trying to find that card for ages!"
"I have two of them back home, want one?" asked Harry. Ron's mouth fell open and he stammered, "If…if you really want to part with it! Oh, wow!" Harry laughed and said, "Of course! As I've said already, I have two!"
For the next hour, the four boys talked and laughed and had a good time getting to know each other. The countryside now flying past the window was looking wilder. The neat fields had gone. Now there were woods, twisting rivers and dark green hills. There was a knock on the door of their compartment and the round-faced boy Harry and Dudley had passed on platform nine and three-quarters came in. He looked tearful.
"Sorry," he said, "but have you seen a toad at all?"
When they shook their heads, he wailed, "I've lost him! He keeps getting away from me!"
"He'll turn up," said Harry.
"Yes," said the boy miserably. "Well, if you see him..." He left.
"Don't know why he's so bothered," said Ron. "If I'd brought a toad I'd lose it as quick as I could. But I can't talk. I've only got Scabbers after all."
Soon, the talk turned to houses and Ron said, "My whole family's been in Gryffindor for as long as I can remember. I think I even remember Mum telling me that the last fifteen generations of our family have been in Gryffindor. So it's pretty much decided that I'll go there too."
"Same here; most of us have been in Gryffindor too, but I think we have a handful of Ravenclaws and Hufflepuffs too though," said Harry.
"As I'm a muggle-born, I have no clue which house I'll be in, so I guess I'll be happy with any," stated Dudley.
"I don't get it," said Ron, furrowing his brow, "You're related to a pureblood family, but are a muggle-born? How's that possible? Not that it's anything bad!" Ron blushed, as he often did when he thought others would take his words in an offended way, but Dudley and Justin now knew Ron long enough to know that he meant well.
"I'm not a Pureblood. I'm a Half-Blood," said Harry, "My mum's a muggle-born."
"And my mum is Aunt Lily's sister," finished Dudley. Ron nodded, understanding.
"Justin, which house would you like to be in?" asked Dudley.
"Well," said Justin nervously, "Anything I guess, well, except…"
"Slytherin?" asked Dudley, with an understanding look on his face.
"Well, who wants to be in Slytherin?" asked Ron, "That'd be a nightmare! Leaving that aside, how do you dislike that house already?"
"It's not really the house I dislike, it's more…." said Justin, trailing off.
"Phineas Rookwood, third year Slytherin" said Dudley, "Justin had a nasty encounter with him when I was coming back from the bathroom. A Hufflepuff prefect rescued him from getting hexed, but Justin's afraid that if he's placed in Slytherin, Rookwood's going to get revenge on him."
"So any of you tried out any spells yet?" asked Harry, changing the subject.
"Fred and George gave me one to try out on Scabbers, my dumb pet rat," Ron said, taking out his pet rat from his pocket. The rat, very plump and not very sleek looking, was snoozing. If one hadn't known that it was sleeping, they would have thought it was dead. "But it doesn't really sound like a spell, guess it's worth trying though." He rummaged around in his trunk and pulled out a very battered-looking wand. It was chipped in places and something white was glinting at the end.
"Unicorn hairs nearly poking out. Anyway -"
He had just raised his wand when the compartment door slid open. The toad less boy was back, but this time he had a girl with him. She was already wearing her new Hogwarts robes.
"Has anyone seen a toad? Neville's lost one," she said. She had a bossy sort of voice, lots of bushy brown hair and rather large front teeth.
"We've already told him we haven't seen it," said Ron, but the girl wasn't listening, she was looking at the wand in his hand. "Oh, are you doing magic? Let's see it, then." She sat down. Ron looked taken aback. Harry, Dudley, and Justin stared.
"Er - all right." He cleared his throat. "Sunshine, daises, butter mellow, turn this stupid, fat rat yellow." He waved his wand, but nothing happened. Scabbers stayed grey and fast asleep.
"Are you sure that's a real spell?" said the girl. "Well, it's not very good, is it? I've tried a few simple spells just for practice and it's all worked for me. Nobody in my family's magic at all, it was ever such a surprise when I got my letter, but I was ever so pleased, of course, I mean, it's the best school of witchcraft there is, I've heard - I've learnt all our set books off by heart, of course, I just hope it will be enough - I'm Hermione Granger, by the way, who are you?" She said all this very fast.
"I'm Ron Weasley," Ron muttered. Dudley and Justin introduced themselves too.
"Harry Potter," said Harry.
"Are you really?" said Hermione. "I know all about you, of course - I got a few extra books for background reading, and you're in Modern Magical History and The Rise and Fall of the Dark Arts and Great Wizarding Events of the Twentieth Century."
"Am I?" said Harry, feeling dazed. He had never known that.
"Goodness, didn't you know, I'd have found out everything I could if it was me," said Hermione. "Do either of you know what house you'll be in? I've been asking around and I hope I'm in Gryffindor, It sounds by far the best, I hear Dumbledore himself was one, but I suppose Ravenclaw wouldn't be too bad... Anyway, we'd better go and look for Neville's toad. You two had better change, you know, I expect we'll be there soon." And she left, taking the toad less boy with her.
"Whatever house I'm in, I hope she's not in it," said Ron. Harry, Dudley, and Justin snickered.
Dusk started settling in outside as the Hogwarts Express sped further and further into the hilly countryside of Scotland. Inside the Hogwarts Express, the kids started dreaming about the feast awaiting them in the Great Hall. In Harry and Dudley's compartment, the four boys started talking about all the great food to be expected. Harry and Dudley had already entertained the group with exciting tales of James Potter, Sirius Black, Remus Lupin, and…a certain someone who shall remain unnamed.
"Dad and his friends were the rule breakers of their time," said Harry, his eyes shining. "Of course, Mum and Uncle Moony would try to keep them in line, but it obviously never worked."
"They were called the Marauders," continued Dudley, "And Uncle Sirius said that they had a whole drawer to themselves in Filch the caretaker's office."
"I don't believe it," said Ron astounded, "Even Fred and George don't have a whole file cabinet to themselves, and they're the scariest trouble makers I know. And your dad didn't seem very…prankish to me when I saw him at King's Cross, Harry."
"Of course not," scoffed Harry, "He's an Auror, and has to look 'serious' when making an appearance in the outside world, but only we know that inside, he's never really grown up."
"He's the funnest kind of dad I've ever seen," said Dudley, rather wistfully. "You're really lucky to have such great parents, Harry."
"I know," said Harry softly, thinking not for the first time how lucky he was to have such a great family. Suddenly, the compartment door opened yet once again, but this time, the visitor wasn't much welcome.
Three boys entered and Harry and Dudley recognized the middle one at once; it was the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. "Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?"
"Yes," said Harry boldly. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing either side of the pale boy, they looked like bodyguards.
" Oh, this is Crabbe and Goyle,' said the pale boy carelessly, noticing where Harry was looking, "And my name's Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."
Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigger. Draco Malfoy looked at him. "Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask you who you are. My father told me that all Weasleys have red hair, freckles and more children than they can afford."
Ron was about to stand up to challenge Malfoy to say that again, but Harry contained him, looking carelessly at Malfoy.
"What do you want, Malfoy?" he asked, wary of the boy. Lily and James had told him to be cautious of the Malfoys. Of course, his dad had said they were a bunch of Dark Art loving gits, but his mother, after telling him not to judge someone by their last name, told him to be cautious nevertheless.
"Who knows, you might even become friends with Lucius Malfoy's kid, but remember this Harry dear," Lily had said softly, "Lucius and Narcissa Malfoy joined Voldemort when he was in power long ago, so be careful around their lot."
"Well, now that you ask," said Draco Malfoy (and Harry was brought back to the present), "I was going to bring a proposal of friendship to you. I can show you who to associate with and who not to. I can see clearly that you don't know much about purity of blood, associating with blood traitors and…mudbloods."
Harry jumped up at the sound of mudblood, losing his cool, and said coldly, "Take that back, Malfoy."
Malfoy smirked. "Oops, I nearly forgot. Your own mother is a mudblood, isn't she, Potter?"
Harry's fist flew out of nowhere and contacted with Malfoy's nose. Malfoy stepped back, clearly taken back and in pain. His nose was now sporting blood.
"How dare you," he hissed, but just then, sounds of footsteps distracted him and he walked away quickly with Crabbe and Goyle, but not before muttering, "I won't forget this Potter!"
The footsteps were those of Hermione Granger, the know-it-all. "Have you been fighting? You'll be in trouble before you even get to Hogwarts!" she scolded. Everyone looked at her. She, a complete stranger, was scolding them? Who did she think she was? "We're almost there anyway. You had better change into your robes," she said, her brows furrowed disapprovingly.
"We will if you leave," Ron snapped. Hermione glared at him back before leaving the compartment and closing the door.
"I shouldn't have lost my temper," said Harry ruefully, now that his anger had cooled down.
"That's alright. Malfoy was being a jerk anyway," said Ron, and Dudley and Justin nodded their heads in agreement.
"Still…I'd appreciate it if you…ah, not mention this incident anywhere," said Harry meekly.
"You can count on us, mate!" said Ron cheerfully, who had been very excited when Harry broke Malfoy's nose. The boys then quickly changed into robes and stuffed the remaining sweets into their pockets. Ron's robes were a bit short, as they were hand-me-downs, but no one noticed.
"You reckon we ought to bring our wands with us? Malfoy might decide to get revenge on the way to the castle," said Dudley, stuffing his wand in his robe pocket.
"Wouldn't hurt, although we wouldn't be any better off, seeing as we know no curses," said Ron grimly, stuffing his old wand in his pocket also. Justin and Harry did the same too. Soon, the train came to a stop in the Hogsmeade station. People pushed their way towards the door and out on to a tiny, dark platform. Harry shivered in the cold night air. Then a lamp came bobbing over the heads of the many students and Harry heard a familiar voice: "Firs'-years! Firs' years over here! All right there, Harry and Duds?" Hagrid's big hairy face beamed over the sea of heads.
Slipping and stumbling, they followed Hagrid down what seemed to be a steep, narrow path. It was so dark either side of them that Harry thought there must be thick trees there. Nobody spoke much. Neville, the boy, who kept losing his toad, sniffed once or twice.
" Yeh'll get yer firs' sight o' Hogwarts in a sec," Hagrid called over his shoulder, "jus' round this bend here."
There was a loud, collective "Oooooh!" The narrow path had opened suddenly on to the edge of a great black lake, Perched atop a high mountain on the other side, its windows sparkling in the starry sky, was a vast castle with many turrets and towers.
"No more'n four to a boat!" Hagrid called, pointing to a fleet of little boats sitting in the water by the shore. Harry and Ron were followed into their boat by Neville and Hermione, as Dudley and Justin had lost them in the crowd of first years. Harry and Ron glimpsed them in another boat with two other kids, and waved. Dudley and Justin waved back cheerfully and excitedly.
"Ernie Macmillan," a round faced blonde boy introduced himself, shaking hands with Dudley, Justin, and a petite brown haired girl.
"Dudley Evans," said Dudley merrily, shaking Ernie and the girl's hands.
"Justin Finch-Fletchley," said Justin with a friendly smile.
"I'm Hannah Abbott," said the girl, giving them all shy smiles.
"Everyone in? ' shouted Hagrid, who had a boat to himself, "Right then - FORWARD!" And the fleet of little boats moved off all at once, gliding across the lake, which was as smooth as glass. Everyone was silent, staring up at the great castle overhead. It towered over them as they sailed nearer and nearer to the cliff on which it stood.
"Heads down!" yelled Hagrid as they first boats reached the cliff; they all bent their heads and the little boats carried them through a curtain of ivy which hid a wide opening in the cliff face. They were carried along a dark tunnel, which seemed to be taking them right underneath the castle, until they reached a kind of underground harbour, where they clambered out on to the rocks and pebbles.
"Oy, you there! Is this your toad?" said Hagrid, who was checking the boats as people climbed out of them.
"Trevor!" cried Neville blissfully, holding out his hands. Then they clambered up a passageway in the rocks after Hagrid's lamp, coming out at last on to a smooth, damp grass right in the shadow of the castle. They walked up a flight of stone steps and crowded around the huge oak door. Hagrid raised a gigantic fist and knocked three times on the castle door.
Off in the back, Draco Malfoy glared at Harry and Ron with narrowed eyes. "No one messed with him and got away with him. Gingerly touching his nose, which had been healed by the Head Boy, but which still hurt a little, Draco muttered to Crabbe and Goyle, "Don't you two dare tell anyone about this! I will deal with them myself." Of course, the two just nodded mutely, cowards at heart although they looked rather strong and dangerous.
A.N. (So how do you like it? I hope it wasn't boring! Please review and tell me truthfully how it is. I welcome criticism, because I want to improve my writing skills as this story progresses.)