Remus sighed as he tossed an old yet clean looking rag over his shoulder and leaned against the bar counter for a few moments of well earned rest. When Harry had predicted early on that Moony Nights would be a hit in the 'magical creature and half-breed' community, as usual, he was pretty damn accurate.
Immediately after opening, Goblins by the dozen would come in after work to take a load off, drink and relax amongst their kin and anyone else who would listen to the 'true' tales of the Goblin rebellions. Surprisingly enough, the head of the Gringotts bank in Diagon Alley – a Goblin named Ragnok – offered two of his 'warrior Goblins' completely decked out in gold armour and long spears to guard the premises at all times if all Goblins visiting the inn received a discount of 20 on everything. Needless to say, the extra help and intimidation factor the goblins provided was more then enough incentive to accept.
Slowly, and with less confidence then the Goblins, human witches and wizards who frequented Knockturn Alley and didn't discriminate against werewolves or Goblins would come in for a drink and a good time, the first of who were Andromeda and Ted Tonks when their schedules allowed for it.
Afterwards, and in far less numbers came the vampires, the first of whom would have just barely been considered an ancient being roughly one thousand years old. His name was Lestat d'Auvergne, a very influential vampire from France who had come to visit and, most likely, ascertaining if the establishment was legitimate and not just some ruse to kill some vampires unaware. Harry, to Remus's surprise, had an incredibly interesting conversation with the man that evening.
"Ah, and you must be young Lord Potter, the wizard who helped fund this establishment and make it possible" Lestat said with amusement and a slightly French accent.
Nodding slightly to the man and looking at Remus questioningly he waited for the man to introduce himself.
"Ah, I don't suppose you'd recognize me, the pictures are always so unflattering" he said with distaste "My name is Lestat d'Auvergne, you may have heard of me?" he responded cheekily, well, cheekily for an ancient vampire anyway, and nodded his head in kind.
Comprehension dawned on Harry upon hearing the name and reverted to the man's natural tongue "What does an ancient Vampire such as yourself find interesting enough here to interrupt his daily activities to come and see?"
Lestat looked down at the boy with amusement dancing in his dark grey eyes, taking the offered glass of blood from Remus on the other side of the bar.
"Your accent truly is impeccable" he complimented "Most people, much older then yourself, have problems grasping it; to have it so mastered is quite the feat" he paused to take a sip of the drink and sighed appreciatively, nodding to Remus to show his thanks for the drink "I am merely 'scoping out' the premises on behalf of my brothers and sisters; should I think it safe for them, I will spread the word and they shall come" Harry nodded, sitting straighter when he realized this man could bring immense revenue to his guardian's business "They are very eagre to visit, I assure you" he finished with a grin, having noticed the boy sit straighter after his explanation.
"Do you find Moony Nights to your liking so far then Monsieur?" he tried to ask apathetically, though the eagerness in his voice must have been noticeable, for Lestat chuckled after the question.
"Fear not Lord Potter, I have already come to my decision, nothing you could say or do would change that, though I do think the name is a tad bit…undignified…though the only competition in the area is a place named 'the Leaky Cauldron'…not so dignified either…must be a British thing…" he finished with a chuckle.
Harry grinned slightly but said nothing else otherwise. The elderly Vampire sensed that the boy wasn't exactly the most talkative type, so he took it upon himself to start up conversation.
"My sources tell me you are a Parselmouth?" he more stated then asked. If the boy hissing under his breath was any sign, he probably wanted that information to be kept hidden "You are not proud of this feat? Are you ashamed to have such a 'dark' ability?" he questioned with amusement, though the underlying meaning did not get past Harry.
"I do not have such idiotic views on magic as some others may" Harry snapped back "I would have preferred my gift remain secret simply because I prefer all my abilities to remain secret – I plan to have many enemies one day, them knowing my skills does me no good."
"Ah, so you know there is a branch of magic that comes with the ability of Parseltongue then?" Lestat more stated again "How did you come to realize that without performing any Parselmagic of your own? Or is it perhaps that you have?"
Harry waved him off "Nothing of the sort, I am a fan of both muggle and magical mythology" he began "I like to research mythological figures I know to have actually existed and discovering what magics they used in times past" he paused to take a sip of the can of coke the Remus kept in storage mainly just for him, however, Lestat interrupted him.
"One of these 'mythological' figures wouldn't happen to be the legendary Greek Asclepius would it?" he smirked "The so called demigod of medicine and healing? It doesn't surprise me, given the unfortunate state of your mother…"
Harry nodded "I theorized that his legendary 'Serpent Staff' was a sign of his possible abilities and further research alluded to the possibility that he was indeed a Parseltongue himself…"
"Ah yes…" Lestat seemed to gain a faraway look "The idiocy of wizards in the modern day astounds me, to think that the gift that is Parselmagic is hereditary…" Lestat shook his head "No, no, it is most definitely a random gift from lady magic herself, just as the ability of being a Metamorphagus is, or an Animagus for that matter" he explained "Did you discover anything about Asclepius then Lord Potter?"
Harry shrugged "All trails I have tried to follow have led to dead ends, though the staff itself would be useful to me if I could get my hands on it – I am sure I could find a cure for my mother should I obtain it…"
Lestat seemed to be thinking while sipping away at the glass of rich blood before him "I believe another famous Parselmouth was on the same quest as you near the time of my turning" he began "for the same reason in fact; this wizard loved his mother…though it was probably a very unhealthy love, but that doesn't matter right now"he commented offhandedly as Harry snorted into his drink "he too was a very powerful and accomplished wizard who no doubt would have left his research behind, if you were to find it, I no doubt believe you would be on the right track to helping your mother…"
Harry frowned while looking up at the ancient vampire who was covered in a thick travelling cloak with the hood not covering his face. The vampire's black hair was perfectly straight and groomed and being held in a low pony-tail, the only sign that he was a vampire would be his unnaturally pale skin and slightly elongated canines that protruded slightly from his closed mouth when he grinned "Why are you helping me at all? What interest is it of yours if my mother becomes well, I hardly think you care enough for the single life of one mortal woman to aid me so, thoughts on the matter aside…"
All amusement in Lestat's face vanished as his face suddenly became solemn and serious "Dark times are coming Lord Potter, and no I am not referring to your ridiculous Dark Lord and his petty followers…suffice to say that should I help you, one day, should I ask a favour of the non-nefarious kind, you would be more inclined to agree…"
Harry at first felt an urge to run away from any pact he could willingly or unwillingly make with a vampire, but there was no pact mentioned, just favours. Also, if something dark was coming that even had the ancient vampires leaving their manors to perform 'favours' for, it must be serious.
"Who exactly was this famous wizard you spoke of earlier?"
Lestat grinned at the boy, amusement dancing in his eyes once again as he answered "Why, that would be Salazar Slytherin of course!"
Ever since that conversation with the ancient vampire, three things changed at Moony Nights. One was that you could find a vampire or three visiting the inn daily, some even taking the rooms in the underground of the inn for extended periods of time to rest. Another was that eventually, some werewolves would come; looking tired and ragged when the full moon was approached where they were promptly led to the appropriate rooms so they can deal with their disease accordingly. The third thing was that Harry would come down less and less to help at the inn or merely lounge around, opting to hole himself up in his room and bury himself in books or practise his magic in private.
His thoughts were interrupted when the door to the inn opened and allowed in five people, two of them familiar. Archie Montague and Stephanie Zabini with who Remus assumed to be the rest of the Zabini family were standing at the entrance and looking around, oddly enough, looking out of place surrounded by Goblins, a handful of werewolves and two Vampires in the bar section. The family, led by a tall Italian man with dark hair, moved to one of the booths were they all sat awaiting service.
Remus immediately moved over to them, opting not to send Lizzy or one of the other house elves to take the order to make a good impression.
As Remus approached, Archie's face lit up with a grin "Hey Mister Lupin!" he greeted, getting the attention of the Zabinis.
"Hello Archie, care to introduce me to people you're with? I recognize Stephanie of course" he smiled at the girl who nodded politely in return.
"Well" began Archie "that's Antonio Zabini, – just call him Tony – this fine woman" he began, motioning to a beautiful who looked to Archie with amusement, she looked to have porcelain like skin, unlike the tanned her husband's was, and gorgeous brown eyes that mirrored her daughter's. She too, like her daughter, had long black hair though she opted to have it straight then wavy "…is Bianca Zabini, you can tell where Stephy gets her looks from eh?"
Archie yelped as Stephanie kicked him in the shin from under the table while the two elder Zabini enjoyed the duo's antics – it seemed like it was a common occurrence. There was also a younger boy with them who looked like he would be starting Hogwarts soon himself if he would be attending.
"And this squirt here is Blaise, isn't that right Blaisey?" Archie joked, locking the boy beside him in a headlock and administering a world class noogie to the annoyed boy who looked to be a midget Antonio.
"Geroff Archie!" the boy wailed from Archie's grip as Bianca cuffed Archie on the head.
"Stop antagonizing Blaise, Archie, it's not very nice" she reprimanded as Archie pouted childishly "Oh fine, ruin my fun!"
"This is Remus Lupin" Stephanie introduced, ignoring Archie "he's Harry's…uncle?" she asked uncertainly to which the man responded with a shrug "I'm his guardian since his parents…well yeah, he just calls me his uncle to simplify things" he explained.
"Why wouldn't he call you his dad…?" Blaise asked with confusion and a childlike innocence "if you adopted him that is…?" Bianca, Antonio and surprisingly Archie sent him disapproving looks while Stephanie looked equally as interested.
"His mother is still alive…he refuses to give up hope on her and find new parents…besides, I wouldn't want to take James's position as the brat's father, being a guardian is complicated enough" he joked as the other laughed.
"What happened to his mother…?" asked a surprisingly melancholy Archie, the others around the table sent him sad looks or winced when he asked the question.
"Their house was attacked the night the Dark Lord was vanquished" elaborated Remus carefully "I don't want to say much as its not my place to do so if Harry hasn't felt the need to say so, but the attack ended in his father's death and his mother's permanent residence in Saint Mungo's" he said with a sigh "it's the reason he never spends Christmas at Hogwarts, he makes it a ritual of his for Christmas to spend it with her all day, its sad yet inspiring at the same time how much love he has for her…"
Bianca and Stephanie looked to have unshed tears at the short tale, the latter trying to hide it by complaining about Archie's 'ruddy' cologne reacting poorly with her and watering her eyes.
"How about I take your orders and call Harry while they're being made, he needs a break from studying – it's all he does all summer" he practically whined, lightening the mood.
After giving the orders to his house elf staff, Remus made his way upstairs to Harry's room and knocked once. Seeing as there was no answer, he opened the door silently and was met with a magnificent sight. Standing in the middle of Harry's oddly bare room was Harry himself with his wand being waved in a constant dance of intricate patterns as he controlled his environment. On the floor all around him were several toy soldiers, around twelve inches in height, fighting each other with their little fists or weapons respectively. Remus was merely astounded by the sheer number of soldiers actually fighting to be shocked at how advanced the magic he was witnessing actually was, and on closer inspection, the soldiers looked to be made of some kind of metal! He knew Harry didn't have any toys so he must have transfigured the whole batch up…into metal, transfiguring anything that isn't metal intometal was incredibly advanced as well.
Suddenly, all the soldiers dropped to the ground dead and with a stab of his wand, they all disappeared into nothingness.
"Yes Remus?" Harry asked, turning around to face his uncle with his face and chest drenched in sweat, the latter being visible as he was only dressed in a pair of bicycle shorts and singlet.
"The Zabinis and Archie are here, I figured you could go and say hello" he commented, still in a daze at the magic he had witnessed from a just recently thirteen year old. Wiping his face with a towel that he had handy near his location, Harry waved his wand a few more times and silently rearranged his room to what it was before, a fairly Spartan style with a single bed and desk – the only thing in the entire room that would suggest individuality in the slightest would be his larger then normal wardrobe and his huge book shelf.
Only now had he realized that Harry had been looking at him with a deadpan "Pervert, if you don't mind, I would like to get changed, unless you want me parading around downstairs in my exercise clothes?"
Needing no further prompting, Remus quickly shut the door and hurried off to the bar to serve any customers that may have come – he would never understand Harry, but the boy was truly amazing sometimes.
Not ten minutes later after a shower and a change of clothes, Harry arrived downstairs wearing something more appropriate to greet the Zabinis and one Montague. Scanning the room and spotting a few tables made up of Goblins talking – probably about economics or battle – in hushed whispers, a trio of vampires seated in a dark corner enjoying mugs of blood, a few werewolves scattered around the place relaxing, the odd wizard or three and finally, Archie, Stephanie and three people he vaguely recognized from King's cross station seated at a booth.
Walking past them, his hair still wet from his shower, he dragged a chair from a nearby table and pulled it over to the booth to take a seat, idly recognizing Hagrid, the groundskeeper from Hogwarts conversing with a hooded figure about something or other – the giant of a man couldn't be inconspicuous even if he tried, he looked quite drunk too.
"Salutations" Harry greeted with a tired smile at the group of people, not sitting down at the seat he brought until he was introduced, pureblood customs and all.
"Hey Harry" greeted Archie exuberantly as he introduced the three other Zabinis once again which was followed by the green eyed boy taking his seat and joining them in their dinner.
"Archie tells us you're quite the Quidditch player" Bianca prompted as soon as Harry sat down.
With a nod, he got comfortable in the stiff wooden chair he had snatched, idly reminding himself to talk to Remus about replacing them later "We won the cup last season, Gryffindor wasn't too happy about that, supposedly we were supposed to relinquish it to them because it was Weasley's last year" he said shaking his head in annoyance "I play chaser."
"Play chaser is an understatement!" Archie gushed "You should see him out there, his first season and he completely dominates everyone and makes his two chaser team mates look like the rookies…"
Harry rolled his eyes in annoyance, an action that was mirrored by Stephanie as the boy began retelling the main highlights of each match to the amused family.
"That sound awfully dangerous" Bianca frowned as Antonio waved her off "Leave it alone Bianca" chided Antonio playfully "you frown now, but I'm sure when young Harry makes the national team in a few years, you'll be cheering along with the rest of the English fans" he commented with a laugh. While Antonio was of Italian decent being born in Italy himself, his wide was born in England, as were her parents, her grandparents were the Italian born ones.
"I'm not quite sure I'm that good" Harry mumbled, finally sounding slightly embarrassed after twenty good minutes of praise on his behalf, during which their dinner had arrived and they had begun eating.
"Regardless" Antonio waved off "it has more to do with England's chasers being that bad" he said with a chuckle which Harry, Blaise and Archie shared, Bianca and Stephanie shared a look which clearly conveyed 'boys!'
"Hey, isn't that Hagrid over there talking to that cloaked person?" commented Archie after finishing his steak. The table collectively and discreetly looked over until Harry commented.
"Not many half-giants around these parts, I spotted him earlier" he frowned when he noticed how drunk the man was getting, a drunk half-giant was never a good thing for the establishment said giant lost his inhibitions in.
"Wonder what he's doing…? I figured he'd probably stick to Hogsmeade, nice and close to Hogwarts and less of a hassle…" frowned Antonio. Harry silently agreed but decided not to worry about it, he was probably meeting here on his partner's insistence, this place had become rather popular these summer holidays, it wouldn't be impossible.
Noticing no one new coming in, Remus came on over to the table and pulled up a chair for himself, deciding to take a break.
"Hey, want to play exploding snap over there?" asked Archie, eyeing the couches on the other side of the room and pulling out a packet.
"Not really" Harry mumbled, but Archie didn't listen, instead opting to drag him, Stephanie and Blaise over to the area so the 'grown-ups' could talk.
Archie initiated conversation as he Stephanie and Blaise played with Harry sipping on a can of coke he had nabbed from the bar, opting not to play.
"You hear the Longbottom will be coming to Hogwarts this year, what do you think mate?" Archie asked as the cards exploded in his face.
"Don't care" he said with a shrug "As long as he isn't some spoilt brat with a head too large for his shoulders, I will probably pay just ignore him."
"You don't seem to like Longbottom too much" Archie commented "there a history?"
"Nope, I think our parents were friends though" he shrugged "I just care as much for him as I care for any other first year coming to Hogwarts."
"How much is that?" asked Blaise, interested seeing as he'd be a first year himself.
"He doesn't" both Stephanie and Archie said simultaneously earning chuckles from the two of them and a raised eyebrow from Harry.
"Next thing you know, you'll be finishing each other's sentences, marriage isn't long after that you know" Harry commented knowingly as Blaise sniggered, Stephanie flushed in anger and Archie left to his 'Happy place' consisting of Stephanie feeding him grapes in a bikini on a beach while lavishing attention on him.
Seeing the droll coming out of the corner of Archie's mouth and the glazed look in his eyes, Stephanie's eyes narrowed "You're not thinking perverted thoughts about me again are you?" she said with a dangerous look in her eyes.
"I like grapes…" was all he said. Stephanie's eyes, Harry was sure, flashed red in fury before launching herself at the unsuspecting boy.
"You know Stephanie" Harry commented as she continued to beat on the poor boy "The amount of times you get into these provocative situations with dear Archades combined with the amount of times you come in contact with his genitals would suggest you are the pervert…not him."
It was as if Stephanie and Archie had become the same sides of a magnet, when Harry saw the speed at which Stephanie leapt away from the boy.
Archie still lay on the floor with a goofy look on his face "Worth it…"
Stephanie was now flushed and glaring at Harry "Care to repeat that Potter?"
"Don't start with me Stephanie, Archie may feel like you're cheating on him if you begin to fondle my genitals" Blaise looked lost but by the deep flush on Stephanie's face and the sudden angry look on Archie's, they understood completely.
"Hands off Potter and stop sexing up my woman!"
That was a mistake Archie learned about quickly.
"Come along Stephanie, if you're quite done harming my future son-in-law, we should get going, it's rather late" Bianca teased with an angelic laugh. Men around the inn that were minding their own business, of all species, stopped and stared at her beauty when she was near them. Antonio was used to it, he had to get used to it when he was first courting her, else he would be sporting a head of grey hair a long time ago.
"Mum!" the girl shrieked as Archie rushed over to Bianca and pulled her in a one armed hug.
"Listen to our mother dear, we need to be going."
Harry chuckled; Archie was going to get the shit kicked out of him for that later. It was weird, no matter how much Stephanie tries to deny it, she doesn't find Archie nearly half as annoying as she makes him out to be else she would try and distance herself from him – instead, she tends to do quite the opposite.
Harry helped bust down the tables and serve the customers when the Zabinis left for a few hours before heading back up to his room to practise some more.
Harry stood in his room, a plethora of miniature lifelike soldiers doing a variety of tasks around him ranging from push-ups, summersaults, cartwheels, kicking the shit out of each other, running around, throwing things and much more. The book McGonagall had given him at the end of last term was very helpful, surprisingly, with practising using Transfiguration during combat.
One might wonder how in the name of Merlin this information ties in with what the heck he's doing right now.
The book - written by a champion duelling champion who predominantly won using different forms of Transfiguration tactics in his fights - explained that the hardest part about conjuring objects and charming them to fight for you was being able to focus enough on your creations to continuously command and manoeuvre them mid-fight while not losing sight of your opponent at the same time. An exercise she suggested was exactly what he was doing, by starting out small with, say, a dozen objects while multi-tasking something else, only to increase by a dozen or so when it becomes too easy.
So while his room was in utter chaos with his mini-soldiers completing random objectives for no apparent reason, he was levitating book after book in front of him, mainly ones regarding Arithmancy and Ancient Runes so he could be more prepared come the school year, as he read through them and had his soldiers screw around.
As much as it was helping with his concentration and magical stamina, it was still tiring as hell and taxing on the mind.
He was glad that he was well on his way to mastering Occlumency, he was sure it was helping him focus his own mind on what he wanted to concentrate on and keep unwanted and mundane things out.
Currently, in terms of Occlumency, he was learning from a book as he had already surpassed his werewolf caretaker in skill. What he was learning at the moment was something he thought was the most vital when practising Occlumency, clearing one's mind and in its place, instead of an empty head, fill it with false memories and images to confuse an enemy or give false information. This was the step, in his opinion, to Occlumency when things started to get serious for this exercise was solely used against Legilimens and anyone who could naturally delve into the mind of another. Ancient vampires like Lestat had such an ability that developed after several hundred years. Upon a later visit, he had the vampire test his skill and found that, though he could tell when it was a fake memory, he couldn't pry the real ones from him.
Halting his train of thoughts, Harry flicked his wand several times and all the conjured soldiers seemingly disappeared in thin air while all his remaining books flew in neatly into his open trunk before stacking themselves in order.
Wiping the sweat off his face and chest quickly, for his practise sessions always seemed to tire him magically, he called out to Lizzy.
Suddenly, with a small pop, the little female elf dressed in a small dress that covered most of her body with an apron marked with the Moony Nights symbol – a moon mongst the clouds – appeared looking up at him expectantly.
"What can Lizzy do for you Master Harry?" the little elf squeaked, her English sounding better then ever now that he had taken to teaching her proper grammar seeing as she would sometimes serve customers when Remus wasn't around – during a full moon for instance.
"Please prepare me some breakfast Lizzy; I'll be downstairs in ten minutes."
"Is you going somewhere Master Harry?"
"Areyou going somewhere" Harry corrected with a smile "and I'm leaving for Hogwarts later remember?"
As it dawned in the little elf the meaning of this, she vowed to make the best breakfast he'll eat for months!
"Look, it's him"
"Hey, isn't that the 'Boy-who-lived'?"
"He looks so brave!"
"I don't know, he's kind of on the chubby side…"
"He's our saviour!"
"I hear he's really good at Quidditch, maybe Gryffindor will win the cup again finally!"
"How do you know he'll be a Gryffindor…?"
"Do you see his scar?"
King's Cross station was filled with reporters and students trying to crowd around Neville Longbottom to get their looks at the Saviour of the Wizarding world and vanquisher of Lord Voldemort. The boy in question was lavishing in the attention, smiling kindly at anyone who shook his hand and ignoring the questions.
Harry, not wanting to get caught up in the crowd and not wanting to have to look for Remus in said crowd said his goodbyes at the barrier and boarded the train, his trunk packed safely in his pants pocket.
Arriving at the third cart from the front of the train, Harry picked a random compartment to sit in. It was easier locating your friends this way if you agreed to sit in a certain cart, for instead of having to look through the whole train, one could simply look through one cart. Looking out the window as he situated himself, Harry watched with amusement as people flocked to the Longbottom heir as if by being in his presence, they would understand the secrets to the dark lord's demise. Walking alongside the boy, a hand on his shoulder as she led him through the throng of students and reporters alike was the Longbottom matriarch clothed in dark green robes, a fox fur scarf and a large formal hat topped with a stuffed vulture. The elderly woman made for a bizarre if not intimidating image with her cold and stony facial features.
Harry snapped out of his train of thought when he heard the compartment opening allowing Cedric Diggory entry.
"Hey Harry, how was summer? Did you get my birthday present for you?"
Harry nodded politely at the boy and offered him a small smile "Yeah, I'll be sure to use that play book to good use this year" he said with a grin, referring to a popular playbook Cedric had sent to him for his birthday "Did you find a use for my gift?"
"Oh boy did I!" the handsome boy said exuberantly "I'm trying out for the team this year, hopefully Seeker, I'm a good flyer, that set of armour will do me good – they're better then the school ones anyway" he said jovially.
The two lapsed into a one-sided conversation as Cedric related his summer activities and the progress of the Quidditch league while Harry listened and threw in his own comments when necessary until Archie and Stephanie arrived in the carriage.
Cedric caught up with Archie and Stephanie for a while until he departed for his own house friends leaving the trio to lapse into their standard Hogwarts behaviour; Harry lost in thought, Archie babbling continuously to an increasingly annoyed Stephanie who was trying her hardest to not resort to violence. After their visit to Moony Nights and her behaviour at the inn, her mother and father pulled her aside and told her that such behaviour was fine as a child but was not proper for a lady when she matures. She refrained from acting on her urges as often as she could unless it was a dire situation where she would get it over with in one swift blow…
Several hours into the ride, a now considerably calmer Stephanie watched as Harry and Archie engaged in a game of Wizarding chess, enjoying the fact that he had stopped talking at her and instead, with both Harry and her as he played. They were interrupted mid-game when a rather short yet aristocratic blonde boy barged into their cart and looked around, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Archie and Stephanie were fingering their wands while Harry merely looked on curiously.
"Have any of you seen Longbottom? I heard he was on this cart – are any of you him?" he asked rudely, speaking down at them. The thuggish trolls of boy standing beside him trying to look tough with their arms crossed in front of their chests didn't work as an intimidation factor as they should have; instead, they served to lower the trio's opinion of the blonde boy.
Harry just looked at him with a frown "What are you, an idiot?" he asked bluntly. Suddenly the tension in the cart was released as Archie collapsed in giggles and Stephanie snorted in amusement.
"Do you know who I am?" the boy asked, in what he probably thought, was a dangerous tone. It was just hard for Harry to be intimidated by ½ years (which is what he referred to children who had yet to attend a single class at school yet).
"Expensive manicure, pale blonde hair smothered with over a tub of hair gel, overly expensive and formal dress robes, and two thugs to back you up in case your incompetence is actually called into action? You must be a Malfoy!" Archie analysed with amusement, however he had already known the Malfoy heir before having seen him today from his biological father.
"You think you're funny do you?" the Malfoy boy sneered "The name'sDraco Malfoy, and these are my friend's Crabbe and Goyle" he introduced, not bothering to even give their first names "I think you should watch your tongue…Montague…don't think I don't know who you are."
"A pleasure" he said with a cheeky grin "It seems my reputation proceeds me" he said smugly yet with amusement in his eyes.
"Please, peasant, the only noteworthy achievement to your family's name was when your failure of a father put down your whore of a mother" he said nastily. This was news to Harry, as he looked to Stephanie with confusion. Seeing the girl trembling with fury, he looked to perhaps Archie for an explanation. Instead of the usual annoying grin however, his face was, surprisingly, set in an emotionless mask however his eyes spoke a thousand words. His eyes were filled with fury and hate – the question was, at what exactly?
Seeing the boy's presence was clearly affecting the compartment's mood and things could really get out of hand, Harry decided to take initiative before someone got in trouble or just simply killed.
As Malfoy was looking down at Archie with a superior grin, enjoying how his remark had hit home, he didn't notice Harry whip out his wand and fire three quick spells in his direction – that is until the three first years were sent flying out of the compartment via Potter express, the ebony haired boy having fired three relatively low powered bludgeoning curses at them and closed the door with a locking charm.
Stephanie whirled on him, ready to chew him out, however he shut her up with a single look. As Stephanie balked at the glare Harry sent her, she noticed him motion over to Archie whose face was still set in an emotionless mask while his body was trembling slightly. The boy's knuckles had turned white from the pressure they were under from the fists he was making.
Understanding immediately, Stephanie immediately began to comfort the boy with hushed whispers as she held him in a gentle embrace. Not needing to be told, Harry got up and left the compartment with a nod towards Stephanie who smiled gratefully at him, however, to his amusement, the three boys were currently passed out outside their compartment.
Unfortunately for him, Percy Weasley, recently made prefect was not impressed.
"What exactly happened here?!" he shouted, trying to assert some form of authority over the situation as students came out of nearby compartments to see what the commotion was about.
"Percival" Harry greeted coolly "how…nice…to see you."
Bristling at the use of his full name, he never liked it; he glared at the third year "Potter, as a prefect I demand to know what happened here!"
Harry suddenly looked down and gasped in mock surprise "Oh my, someone should remove that" he motioned towards Crabbe and Goyle "those two could be considered a fire hazard! And the blonde one's hair could be also! Certainly you should be more aware of the Hogwarts Express's safety regulations honourable prefect."
Without being dismissed, Harry left a gaping Percy Weasley with several sniggering students.
Harry swiftly made his way to the bathroom, not really needing to go personally but opting to freshen up to pass the time until Stephanie has Archie under control. On the way however, he was stopped by someone tapping him on the shoulder from behind. Turning around, he was greeted with the sight of a short and somewhat bossy looking bushy haired girl with large front teeth.
"Excuse me, have you seen a toad, a boy I know has misplaced it?"
Harry just continued to look at the girl, pondering if her question even merited a response.
"What's your name?" Harry asked, completely changing the subject.
The girl seemed to flush in embarrassment, for what reason, Harry didn't know – or refused to acknowledge.
"Hermione Granger" she answered, she seemed to find her shoes to be very interesting at the moment.
Instead of possibly starting a conversation, or at least informing her about the toad like she though, Harry simply turned away and into the small bathroom they were standing outside while slamming the door in her face, leaving a confused and slightly angry girl behind.
"How rude!"
When Harry arrived back at the card, he was met with the sight of Archie sleeping on a sleeping Stephanie's lap; the boy was lying longways along the seat while Stephanie was leaning against the window with her legs up on the opposite seat. Giving the two their privacy, Harry left the compartment and cast several of the strongest one way locking and obscuring charms he knew before deciding to go for a walk.
On his way, he saw several interesting sights. One of these was a pair of fifth years snogging in what they thought was private on the floor in a compartment, the interesting thing being that one was a Gryffindor and the other a Slytherin; another interesting thing was the Weasley twins setting a whole box of opened chocolate frogs loose in the cart of the prefect's meeting, but the most interesting of all was what he was witnessing at that very moment.
"…you must be a Weasley" Malfoy finished with disgust, Harry noticed that whatever he had said must have angered the young Weasley for the boy's freckled face flushed with anger and embarrassment. The Granger girl he had come across earlier was standing to the red headed boy's right while Neville Longbottom himself was glaring at the Malfoy heir, anger and fury in his eyes.
"Leave Malfoy, I don't want to be friends with someone as evil as you" Longbottom hissed. Harry thought it was a rather presumptuous statement to think an eleven year old could be 'evil' but he continued to watch in amusement. He wasn't the only one enjoying the show either, Cedric and his friends looked to be watching with interest as well as several other students.
"You'll regret this Longbottom!" Malfoy shouted "Don't forget what I offered you when you end up like your parents!" Harry frowned at that, the boy would surely get hurt or worse killed eventually if he continued to insult people's parents, not that he cared too much, but still, surely someone from a family full of Slytherins would have a better sense of self preservation?
Before a fight could break out, Percy Weasley, in all his prefect-y goodness came in and ushered everyone away. Harry locked eyes with Malfoy and cocked his head to the side, amusement dancing in his eyes. When Malfoy just flushed in anger and stalked off, Harry had to grin, the boy didn't seem very bright.
The whistle of the train blew there times, indicating that they were approaching Hogsmeade station. Harry headed back to his carriage to get changed into his robes and wake up his friends before the train arrived. It promised to be an interesting year at Hogwarts this year.