Harry let out a sigh to himself as he trudged to the Quidditch Pitch as the first Saturday of term arrived. Even the early wake up that Oliver Wood had given him - as unwelcome as it had been - wasn't enough to dull his mood at being back at Hogwarts, back with his friends...and knowing that the Dursleys would be happy to see him if he went back for the holidays. With so many things that once sapped his happiness gone, it was almost impossible to suppress the relaxed grin that crossed his face, however tired he was. Admittedly, Penny having her tail around his shoulders as the team made their way to the pitch definitely helped.
The start of term so far had already been somewhat exciting, though in a more mundane matter than he'd expected. The train ride to school had been relaxing and pleasant, spent as it was in a compartment with Ron, Hermione, and Neville, with Penny immediately taking her seat in his lap as soon as she located him. Idle chatter about what everyone had done over the summer and some speculation on Dobby's warning was the driving conversation for the trip. Unfortunately, Dobby had proven unable to offer any more information than he had already given about the potential threat. As Ron explained, Dobby had indicated that as he had never been freed, he was still bound to keep the secrets and silence of his previous family, no matter how much he wished to tell his current family everything. This apparently went beyond honor or anything like that, as Dobby had actually made the attempt to tell more, only for his mouth to freeze open and no sound to come out when attempting to speak, his hands freezing when he attempted sign language, and his flags bursting into flame when he attempted semaphore. Unfortunately, Hermione - the one most likely to solve the riddle aspect of the clue - was more interested in the implications of elf magic in regard to keeping secrets.
...admittedly, the true high point of the ride for many of them had been when Malfoy had shown up intending to make trouble, but the moment he opened his mouth to deliver an insult, Hedwig had dive bombed him, picked him up by his hair - somehow - and dropped him on Crabbe and Goyle before slamming the door shut in their faces. Based on the view through the glass, Malfoy had wanted to storm in and rant about their laughter over that, but had reconsidered when he saw Hedwig's baleful glare as she scratched a line in the glass with one talon. ...this had greatly confused a Prefect who had swung by later to check if they were in their robes, as all the glass on the train was supposed to be Unbreakable.
Getting from the train to the castle for second years and up apparently involved riding carriages pulled by invisible horses. While fascinating, only Hermione made a fuss over what sort of creature they were as the rest of them were more focused on the feast to come. As per requirement, Penny had gone to her own House table during the Sorting, leaving Harry's lap empty as he sat with Ron, Hermione, and Neville. The sight of Gilderoy Lockhart at the Head Table was not a pleasant one.
The Sorting itself went off without a hitch, but it was just before the feast that Dumbledore had - whether intentionally or otherwise - set the cat among the pigeons. "Before we eat," he had begun, "I would like to say something important. Camaraderie. As this is important, a thing, and has been said, we shall now eat."
While normally it would have been rather innocuous, it was also said immediately before Penny leapt to race over to join Harry at the Gryffindor Table...and the First Year Hufflepuffs either misinterpreted her actions or decided to join in the fun, as they promptly started racing around the Great Hall seeking either friends made on or before the train or older siblings. The other first years, assuming this was something that usually happened, also joined in the fray, as did many of the older Hufflepuffs...and before long nearly everyone in the Great Hall save the teachers either had someone in their lap or was in someone's lap, leading to many older students laughing at the event. The fact Dumbledore looked exceptionally pleased with himself come the post-feast announcements suggested the result had not been unintentional.
The less Harry thought about the first Defense class, the better. Sure, testing reading comprehension on course books makes sense...but Gilderoy testing how much they knew about him from reading them? Harry honestly thought they'd be better off with one of the pixies he released on the class teaching...or having the ghosts teach like the tail end of last year with Lockhart present to cover anything that required using a wand. With any luck, the next lesson would go better. Herbology had been intriguing as they were working with Mandrakes...and Penny was able to supply the little known fact that exceptionally young mandrakes wouldn't scream while changing their pots if you sung to them while doing so as long as they liked the song...but for some reason, they only liked Muggle songs.
This morning had started unpleasantly early with Oliver bursting into the dorm to wake Harry for practice early enough that Penny hadn't made her way back to Hufflepuff yet. As worried as Harry had been about Oliver having an opinion about her presence there, the fact that she'd responded to the shaking of the bed by literally trying to bite Wood's nose off suggested she did not do well with sudden awakenings, something Harry intended to keep in mind for the future. Thankfully, Oliver hadn't said anything about Penny's presence in Harry's bed or here at the practice. ...how much of that was Hedwig sitting on Penny's shoulder and giving Oliver a judgemental look was debatable.
After an unpleasantly long coaching lecture on Wood's part to the team, they had finally taken to the air to practice. Harry was rather unsurprised to see Ron, Hermione, and Neville were all awake now and had joined Penny in the stands to watch the practice. Without any further distractions, they began the new maneuvers that Oliver had plotted for them...only for that to come to a halt when the Slytherin Quidditch team suddenly approached the pitch, leading to Oliver shooting to the ground to object, the rest of the team - and the observers - moving to join for a closer look.
"Flint!" Oliver bellowed as he landed. "This is our practice time! We got up specially! You can clear off now!"
"Plenty of room for all of us, Wood," Flint - the rather large Slytherin Oliver had addressed - responded, attempting to smirk in a manner he obviously thought made him look roguish and clever. In Harry's opinion, though, it made him look like Dudley did when he had especially bad gas back when he thought farts were the peak of humor. The leering looks the rest of the Slytherin team were giving Angelina, Alicia, and Katie - the Gryffindor Chasers - didn't help that impression.
"But I booked the field!" Oliver roared, looking like he might start foaming at the mouth at any moment, leaving Harry somewhat concerned for his health...though whether physical or mental he wasn't sure. "I booked it!"
"Ah," Flint replied as he waved his hand in an attempt to be dramatic, flourishing a note. "But I've got a specially signed note from Professor Snape."
To Harry and the team's surprise - though for different reasons - the note suddenly spoke up. "I, Professor Serverus Snape, give the Slytherin Team permission to practice today on the Quidditch field owing to the need to train their new Seeker."
"New Seeker?" Oliver asked, a brief bout of worry and dismay overriding his rage. "Where?"
The Slytherin team parted, and Draco Malfoy appeared between the larger boys, a Nimbus Two Thousand gripped somewhat lazily and with a certain degree of distaste in his hands.
"Seriously?" Ron demanded in disdain at the sight. "You the new Seeker? When'd you even have time to try out?"
"Flint's father and mine are rather good friends," Draco declared with a sneer, seeming not to notice the brief look of distaste that crossed Flint's face...or the one of pity Wood sent the other Captain's way. "When he heard about just how good I was on a broom...well, what would be the point of try outs when there's no competition?" Another look of distaste - and a matching look of pity - went mostly unnoticed. "Much like when we'll be facing you lot."
Hermione snorted disdainfully. "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Gryffindor's lineup is chosen based on skill, after all. Nobody from our House had to fall back on politics."
Malfoy's smug look flickered briefly to one of distaste. "Nobody asked you, you filthy little Mudblood!" he snarled at her.
Harry wasn't certain what that word meant, but the way nearly everyone aside from the Slytherins reacted with either shock or rage told him it was a vile insult. Before anyone could say or do anything, however, the entire tableau froze as Penny was suddenly nose to nose with Draco, staring unblinking into his eyes. Silence covered the pitch as the unnerving movement and stance rapidly robbed everyone of any vitriol, though it was plain Draco's anger was rapidly growing to eclipse his unease. Just before he would have said anything, however, Penny's nose twitched and she spoke.
"I see why Purebloods put so much effort into marriage contracts."
Dead silence met her words as the entire Slytherin team looked torn between enraged and appalled...but none of them said anything, all eyes turned towards Draco. Meanwhile, Fred, George, and Ron were all clutching their mouths, apparently trying to suppress either laughter or glee. Penny waited some time - the exact amount of time her mother had waited for Lucius' response outside Flourish and Blott's - before turning away. "Come on, Harry," she said easily as she took his hand. "You said we were going to visit Hagrid today, right?"
"But the pitch!" Oliver spoke up, though his voice was plainly torn. "I booked it-"
"Let them use it," Penny interrupted with a pleasant smile. "After all, you heard them." She let her smile widen ever so slightly and her eyes lidded just a bit. "They need it."
As all the Quidditch players eyes widened at that bland statement, Oliver grinned eagerly. "Right you are," he allowed. "I'll go let Professor McGonagall know, see when the next practice we can get is." As the team began to disperse, Oliver gave Flint a jocular wave.
As Ron, Hermione, and Neville followed Harry and Penny towards Hagrid's, Neville was the first to find his voice. "Was...was that you not pulling your punches?" he asked in awe.
Penny smiled impishly...but said nothing.