On September 1, Sirius and Narcissa took Harry and Draco to King's Cross in order to catch the Hogwarts Express. Sirius gave his son a long hug before taking him aside for a private chat.
'I'm glad to see you're doing better after what happened with Uncle Marius,' he said quietly. 'But are you sure you're ready to go back to school?'
'I'll be fine,' the boy replied casually. 'Life goes on, right? Besides, you've stationed Granddad and Uncle Moony there to spy on me, so I shan't be able to go around provoking duels with Dark Lords in disguise.'
Sirius laughed. 'Well, try not to give either one of them too hard a time, all right?'
'I'll do my best,' Harry replied with a smirk.
His dad ruffled his hair. 'I know,' he said. 'That's what worries me.'
Harry gave a hug to his aunt and then he and his cousin boarded the train, making their way through the crowded corridor to their favourite compartment. Four sixth-year Hufflepuffs were already sitting there. Harry opened the door and leaned casually against the frame.
'Get out,' he commanded, in the same tone Pollux had always used with recalcitrant house elves. 'This is our compartment.'
'Says who?' demanded a burly boy with brown hair.
'Me, of course,' Harry retorted.
'And who are you?' asked a blonde girl.
Harry stared at her incredulously. 'Who am I?' he snorted. 'I am Aries Sirius Black, only son to Sirius Black by his late wife Regina Malfoy, heir to the fortune of the Noble and Most Ancient House of Black. Who are you?'
'Come on, Aries,' Draco muttered. 'We can find somewhere else to sit.'
'No, Draco,' Harry insisted. 'We will not be pushed around by a bunch of Hufflepuff peasants. This is our compartment.'
'We were here first,' said the burly boy.
Harry rolled his eyes. 'Like I care. You have thirty seconds to vacate the compartment before I curse you all into oblivion.'
'There's four of us, and only two of you,' pointed out the blonde girl.
'Not to mention we're sixth-years,' added the redhead sitting next to her.
'Fine,' Harry said. 'Have it your way.' He brandished his wand and Transfigured the burly boy into a baboon. Another flick, and the blonde girl was a parakeet. Harry smiled at the remaining Hufflepuffs.
'Shall I continue?' he asked courteously.
Moments later, the compartment was empty, and Harry and Draco moved in to take possession.
'One must always be firm with the rabble, Draco,' Harry said as he stowed his trunk. 'If one gives them an inch, they'll always take a mile. Riddle says that the secret to obtaining and maintaining power is to make it absolutely clear from the beginning just who's master.'
'Who's Riddle?' Draco asked curiously as he took out a couple of Chocolate Frogs from his trunk. He tossed one to Harry, who caught it easily.
'Oh, just someone who wrote a book I've been reading,' Harry replied, and bit off the head of his frog.
A few minutes later, Daphne Greengrass and Pansy Parkinson appeared at the door. Draco jumped to his feet, but Harry lounged back casually in his chair.
'Hello, boys,' Pansy said. 'Did you two have a good summer?'
'Yes, thank you,' Draco replied, but Harry laughed.
'How could it possibly have been enjoyable without the benefit of female companionship?' he said. 'Come sit by me, Daphne, and tell us all about what you've been up to.'
Daphne looked at Harry strangely, but did as he told her. She sat at the edge of the seat next to his, being careful to maintain very good posture. Pansy giggled and sat down next to Draco.
'My family and I spent the summer in Majorca,' Daphne began. 'My sister Astoria and I had a grand time. We've never been to Majorca before. The weather was simply marvellous. What did you do?'
'Oh, Draco and I always spend the summer with my great-grandmother at our chateau in France,' Harry replied.
'You have a chateau in France?' Pansy exclaimed. 'That must be wonderful.'
Harry shrugged. 'It's nice enough. The food is always fantastic. Granny has very exacting standards.'
'What did you do there?' Daphne asked.
'We played Quidditch,' Draco replied. 'Then we had several hex wars. Aries smashed my new broom to bits, and his dad made him buy me another one.'
Harry turned and gave his cousin a glare. 'Well, if you hadn't been so stupid as to fly your broom right into my line of fire, I'd never have got a clean shot.'
'What's this I hear, George?' Fred Weasley's voice came from the corridor. He stuck his head of flaming red hair through the door, and his twin brother joined him after a second.
'It's sounds as though there's a bit of dissension within the Dynamic Duo,' George said, a grin on his face.
'It's good news for us,' Fred went on. 'We may finally be able to reclaim our rightful dominance.'
Harry and Draco laughed.
'Dream on, Weasleys,' Harry said. 'You can either join us, or be crushed.'
'We favour the take-no-prisoners approach to warfare,' Draco warned drily.
George smirked. 'So we've heard. We saw what you did to poor Gregory Zeller.'
'What did he ever do to you?' Fred asked. 'A baboon? Really?'
Harry chuckled. 'He was sitting in my seat.'
The twins looked both impressed and a bit wary.
'Remind us never to get on your bad side,' George said.
'Won't you introduce us to your friends, Draco?' Pansy asked pointedly.
'Oh, I'm sorry, Pansy,' Draco said. 'These are Fred and George Weasley. Fred and George, these are our friends Pansy Parkinson and her cousin Daphne Greengrass.'
'Nice to meet you,' Fred said.
'You're in Slytherin, aren't you?' George asked.
'Yes,' Daphne replied coolly. 'Does that bother you?'
The twins shrugged.
'Not really,' Fred said.
'Any friend of Aries and Draco is a friend of ours,' George added.
Just then, Ron Weasley passed by the compartment.
'Just wait till Mum finds out what you said,' he said huffily to his brothers. 'She told you this summer not to have anything more to do with them.'
'Bugger off, Ron,' Fred snapped.
'And you better not say anything to Mum, or Aries might Transfigure you into a baboon,' George threatened.
Harry laughed. 'Don't insult me, George. For Ronniekins, I should think I could come up with something much more...creative.'
The twins smirked and glared at their younger brother.
'You'd better watch out, Ron,' Fred said. 'Aries is one scary bloke.'
.....
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