As the sun once more rose up over the mountains surrounding Hogwarts, Harry woke from his slumber, ready for his next term in this school. He felt just a bit off, having played too long with Ron as he found some joy in beating the redhead in chess, but Ron was a fast learner and improved. If Ron only could do as well in his classes, he would not be so far behind him and Hermione, but he seems to only give his attention to something he wants to know. As a child from a purely magical family, he seems to think that he already knows everything. Harry did not want to interfere with his methods, but he thought about talking with his parents if he would visit them over the summer.
As he put on his robes, Neville also woke up, always being an early riser just like him. Neville was almost going to the greenhouses every day before breakfast and helped Professor Sprout, who was glad that at least someone helped her with all the plants. Harry still asked himself how Neville was this good with magical plants but could not use any spells efficiently enough to score good marks. Harry had a theory, one he still needed to discuss with Mr. Ollivander, as he would know more about wands in general. As Harry and Neville got down to the common room, Hermione was already sitting by the fire, a book on her lap as she read it. Harry noticed that she wore the necklace Doctor Halsey gave her, so Luke would see the castle through his own "eyes" for the first time.
Neville was leaving the common room, telling them he would meet them later, as Harry walked over to Hermione and tapped her on her shoulder. She only jumped a little off her seat in surprise, as she did not hear them coming and going because she was so engrossed on her book. Looking accusingly at Harry now, he just could not help himself to smile, and this had the effect of a red-faced Hermione because she blushed a storm.
Harry, the young boy who he is, guessed she was too angry for words and decided to run for the hills down to the Great Hall for breakfast.
Callie sighed, of course Harry would not know when a girl is interested in him, but she would not tell him. That was something for himself to discover. Harry did not notice someone coming from the dungeons on his way, until he collided with said person and fallen to the ground, but thankfully due to his train reaction he pulled this person in his arms and placed himself beneath said person to cushion his or her fall. It did not prevent him however to hurt himself, as his head came down on the stone floor. Luckily not hard enough to seriously hurt him, but enough that he will have a small bump on the back of his head.
As he groaned under the other person, he felt some hair tickling his nose, so she had to be a girl. As he opened his eyes all he saw was some long, blond hair sprawl over his face, so he removed the arm which laid on her back and got it out of his face.
"Sorry, did not see you there. Are you alright?" He turned his head and looked right into the blue eyes of the blond girl, who he knew now must be Daphne as he noticed that her face was now beet red. Harry, still not knowing what is going on, thought once more that she was angry with him and apologized previously as he helped her up on her feet. She just told him that she was okay and landed softly enough to not have a scratch on her.
As Harry's luck would have it, Malfoy came out of the same stairway as Daphne was walking out of before, causing Malfoy to laugh at the clumsiness which only rivaled Neville according to him. Harry just ignored him, and Daphne did not even react to this taunt. That offended Malfoy a bit, telling them that they were lucky that McGonagall came down the stairs right now, else he would have challenged him to a duel.
Harry just blew him off, as he asked Daphne if she remembered how he had beaten Malfoy the last time and if she would think that the results would differ, only half a year later. Daphne was smiling as she said that she would not think that it would make any difference, as Harry was still training in contrast to Malfoy, who never came back.
"Oh, but this time we would use magic, we learned enough in Defense to do a real wizarding duel. How about it, Potter? Ready for a beating this time?"
"As I told you last time, Duels are against the school rules, and I am not intending to break them any time soon. And as far I know, the dueling club did not reopen over the Christmas break for first years, so you are out of luck in that regard to. If you really want to show me how much you think you are better than me, show it in classes and get better results in the end of year exams then me. Until then, I suggest you keep your mouth shut." Harry was getting angry, something he tried to get under control since he trained with John and Geralt, as an angry mind only led to bad decisions if not steered in the right directions.
Sensing the incoming danger, Daphne put her hand on Harry's arm and tried to pull him away, as McGonagall stood between them and asked what the issue was. Malfoy could not hold himself back and told her that Harry offended him, and he just wanted to talk with him. A lie which McGonagall almost immediately saw through and took a few house points from Slytherin, something Malfoy would tell his father as he walked towards the Great Hall. McGonagall sighed and put a reminder for herself to talk with Snape about some of the students in his house as well that she would need a parent-teacher meeting with the Malfoys.
That was something she was not looking forward to, but with Dumbledore and Snape by her side maybe she could show them the need for discipline and manners in his parents and they would take the necessary measures, even if she would not count on it. She then turned to Harry and Daphne and told them that they should go get some breakfast, as today would be as hard as before the holiday break.
Harry soon sat at the Gryffindor table, a still blushing Hermione by his side and Neville opposite of him. Harry was still angry but had at least so much under control that only Hermione noticed that something else had happened before she arrived in the Great Hall. As she asked him, he told her that he didn't want to talk about it right now and that they should concentrate on today's classes, as Transfiguration would become harder the more they would learn in time. They ate their breakfast in silence, as Harry got another notification from Callie as she still was looking for another voice sample, but she could narrow it down that it had to be a male adult that they were looking for.
After breakfast, they were going to their first class of the day with enough time that they dido' need to run through the castle. So, Harry and Hermione talked with Neville about his family and how his holiday was. Neville was glad that he could tell them how he was working in his family greenhouse in the mansion his grandmother lived with him, as his parents were still in the hospital since the war. Harry wanted to ask why, but he decided against it as it was not his place to ask such a personal question.
Soon, they arrived in the first class of the day, History of Magic, which in turn only had Harry and Hermione not sleeping or otherwise distracted from the teaching of Professor Binns, the only teacher who was a ghost. That in itself was interesting to Harry, as he was sure that a ghost would know much about this topic, if only the teacher would not speak to them in a dry tone as he did. Callie did him a favor and helped him by recording the classes for his notes and helped him when it came down to remember the years something important happened. Harry was glad and quietly asked Hermione if Luke was helping her too, which Hermione told him she had to ask him later. Even if all were asleep in the class, she did not want to risk the discovery of their AI. It was at this moment where Harry had an idea and told Callie to forward it to Catherine if that would be possible. He would look if he could take the devices with him over the summer and send them back if it would work.
So, they walked through the day, transfiguration was like expected quite hard now, but Somehow Harry and Hermione pulled the spell off after few tries. As the evening arrived for their first day after the new year, Hagrid came into the Great Hall for dinner as he saw Harry and walked over to him.
"'ello there 'arry, 'Ow are yeh doing?"
"Hey Hagrid, I am doing good thank you. How about you? You look happy." Harry turned around to look at Hagrid, seeing his big smile under the beard of the half giant. Hagrid was almost beaming with happiness, so something had to be good.
"Oh yes, I am happy. Would yeh mind coming to my hut this evening so I can show yeh? Of course, 'ermione and the others are invited too." Hagrid still smiled at the students as Harry said he would surely come over, as the girls also nodded and Harry now looking over to Daphne, thinking how he could tell her to come too.
Harry soon got an idea, as Daphne stood up and walked out the hall alone, maybe heading to the library. He also stood up, telling the others that he was going to the library to look something up, and was it just so Ron did not ask unnecessary questions. While he passed the different house tables, he got some snippets of conversation between the students, ranging from homework they had to complete to how a boy got a girl to say yes for a date.
Outside the Great Hall, he looked around to look for Daphne, finding her soon up the main stairs like he thought. As he ran after her, Callie notified him that Malfoy was following him, causing him to ask himself the reason why Malfoy was so focused on him. But Harry acted like he did not know he was being followed, as he caught up with Daphne on her way up Harry told her that Hagrid had invited them to come to his hut for tea and if she wanted to come too. As she did not know him well, she declined gracefully, but told him to have a good time talking with him with a smile on her lips. Harry also had a small laugh, as he told her that she should come regardless to get to know the gamekeeper of Hogwarts better, to which she rolled her eyes at his persistence but in the end, she agreed after he told her that the others were coming too.
As the sun was gracing the tops of the mountains with its last rays for the day, the five friends left the castle for a stroll down to Hagrid's hut, as Callie told him once more that they were being followed. Harry looked over his shoulder and saw Malfoy once more, now getting angry at him. He told the girls to go on ahead as they turned around the wall of the castle and out of sight of Malfoy, Harry hid behind some bushes on the way and waited. He did not have to wait long, as Malfoy was walking past him rather quickly. He was obviously trying to follow them, Harry was wondering what Malfoy was on about. So, he came out of the bush, stepping quickly behind Malfoy and called him.
Malfoy was surprised hearing his name behind him and even more as it was Potter, the boy he was following. He heard them getting invited by the giant man and wondered what the Boy-Who-Lived was doing with such a lowlife and decided to follow them, maybe he could use this information for later. No way did he expect Potter coming out of a bush behind him and glaring at him angrily enough that he was getting afraid of being hexed to next week. But he noticed that Harry didn't have his wand out, so he discreetly took his wand out of his holster on his wrist, ready to cast a curse at Harry to take him out.
Harry was ready for anything, as Malfoy did nothing to ease his alertness and unbeknownst to Malfoy, Callie told him that he had his wand in his hand. So, Harry was ready to evade the spell if it came down to a fight.
"Malfoy, I'm going ask you nicely to tell me why do you keep following me and my friends around the castle? Don't you have other hobbies as to invade my privacy?"
"Don't flatter yourself Potter. But I am here to see why you surround yourself with the company you keep. Even for a filthy half-blood like yourself its hilarious how low you stoop yourself. As a pureblood myself, I at least know where I belong. And it is above you, so be ready to be beaten."
It was at this moment, where unbeknownst to Malfoy a teacher came out of the entrance and saw them both standing opposite each other and walked over them to see what is going on. So, Malfoy cast a spell opening the fight with Harry, who evaded and rolled down the hill until he stood back up, his wand in his hand.
"STOP RIGHT THERE YOU TWO." The booming voice of Snape was coming down to them, freezing both in place like he just cast a spell to freeze them. As he was now between them, he wanted to know why they were fighting. Malfoy just lied, telling him that Harry provoked him and he just retaliated. A lie which Harry soundly debunked as he told the professor that he just talked to him, and Malfoy just began to attack him. Snape looked over both students questioningly as he told Harry to come to his office later and took Malfoy with him.
Harry took a deep breath and walked down to Hagrid's hut, catching up with his friends and telling them what happened.
"That stupid little ferret. Does he really think that lying to a teacher would save him from any punishment? And him pulling out this pureblood card is just petty, as this ancient look at this stuff is not supported by the greater wizarding community and is it just because those purebloods are in the minority even if they think they are superior." Daphne was ranting about Malfoy, letting out some hidden anger she had because of the behavior from the blonde boy. He walked through Hogwarts like he owned the place only because his father, as he told everyone who wanted to listen, is on the board of governors that manage Hogwarts.
They soon arrived by Hagrid's hut, knocking at the door to a booming bark from a dog inside, of which jumped at Harry as soon as Hagrid opened the door to great them. After calling his dog, Fang, back he stepped aside in the frame to let them in, a big fire burning in its place and a giant, steaming kettle on the table with big mugs beside it. On the walls were many things that he had collected during his life on the grounds, he told them as he purred some tea into the mugs and walked over to his kitchen to get some cookies. As they all sat down, they talked about their life in school, while Harry wanted to know more about the forest behind Hagrid's hut and what kind of animals lived in there. Hermione noticed something in the fire, a round black object sitting between the flames as it should be cooked.
"Hagrid, what is in the fire over there?" She could not help herself to ask him, her curiosity got the better of her once more. Hagrid turned around and blushed a bit, telling them that he almost forgot why he invited them here. He then proceeded to the fire and pulled the shape out of the fire thanks to his dragonhide gloves protecting him from it. As he laid it down on the table, they all saw what it was.
"Hagrid, please tell me this is not a Dragon egg," Hermione was now accusingly looking to Hagrid, who had a small smile on his lips.
"Right you are 'ermione, according to that book over there it is a Norwegian ridgeback, a rare breed of dragon in these parts." Hagrid grabbed the egg again and placed it back in the fire.
"Never mind what breed it is, how did you get it? According to my knowledge, Dragon eggs are forbidden to sell or buy." Daphne was now also interested how Hagrid got that egg, as Hagrid told them that he won it in a game of cards down in the village and that he always wanted a dragon.
They talked more about his view of the magical creatures and why he did not think that all were dangerous, even when the ministry did class them as such. Harry was inclined to agree, as he grew up with monster hunters and heard stories about some monsters who just were misunderstood and left people alone when they got the chance. Treat them with respect and you could have even a conversation with them. The latest example was Borch they met during the holiday, as he was a dragon and not at all dangerous, if you did not provoke him.
As they walked up after Hagrid had said goodbye for the evening, Harry discussed how they would solve the problem with the dragon before it would get out of hand. Daphne and Hermione had the idea to ask Borch if he could come to the school and talk with Hagrid before the dragon hatched, something that Callie too was on board with it and would contact Doctor Halsey about it, as she could ask the others in Kear Mohen to arrange a meeting. In the entrance of the castle, they parted ways with Daphne as she had to go down into the dungeons to get to her common room, as Harry and the others climbed up the stairs. It was at this moment where Harry remembered that Snape wanted to talk with him about tonight's event before he visited Hagrid, so he told the girls to go without him as he would go and meet the teacher.
Harry got a bit nervous as he stood in front of the door to the office of his potion's teacher, as he did not know what he should expect of this meeting. He knocked on the door and heard an "Enter" from inside as he opened the door. Snape was sitting by his desk, a small fire was burning in the fireplace as he looked up and locked eyes with Harry's.
"Ah, Mr. Potter. Thank you for your timely arrival in my office." He stood up and walked around his desk and pointed to a small chair for Harry to sit. Harry did as he was told while Snape was walking to the fireplace and investigated the flames. "Now, Mr. Potter. I already talked with Mr. Malfoy about the incident that happened this evening, and he told me that you were talking bad about his family and his only way was to attack you. As to confirm it, I will now summon the headmaster and perform a spell on you with his supervision if you are willing to accept it. This spell will let me see your memories and verify what I was told." Snape turned back around, to see how Harry would react.
Harry nodded and told Callie with his thought to monitor his mental barriers so Professor Snape would only see what he must see.
Snape throwed some powder into the flames, which turned from red to green as he put his head into them. Harry heard him calling for Dumbledore and soon after the headmaster came out of the flames, removing some patches of ash from his robes. As he saw Harry, he smiled his grandfatherly smile and asked him how his day was. Harry told him that his day was nice, but he was here because of a different reason.
Dumbledore nodded once more and repeated the procedure they would take to see who told the truth. He then took his wand out and twirled in the air, putting up some privacy wards so no one could listen to them. He then turned around and placed a flat bowl on the desk, explaining to Harry that this object would allow them to see his memories that they would take from him, of course nothing would happen to him. After they were done, he would receive his memory back and they could go their way. As Harry asked how they would get his memory, Dumbledore demonstrated it with placing his wand to his temple and pulled it back with a silvery substance sticking to it and placing it into the bowl. After tapping on the side of the bowl, Harry saw his face coming from the surface of the liquid inside and Albus explained that this was his face back then when he was sorted. After a small laugh from Harry as he found he looked too nervous for what it was, Dumbledore asked him if he was ready. Harry nodded and Snape told him that he had to concentrate on the incident that they wanted to look at. He then placed his wand to the temple of Harry and pulled the same silvery substance from his head and placed it into the liquid in the bowl.
After another tab from Dumbledore's wand, Harry saw his view coming up from this evening, glad that the part as Callie warned him, was altered so she was not in it. It showed instead how he heard someone behind him and decided to wait to see who that was. From then on, the scene was as it happened, with Malfoy insulting him after Harry asked him why he followed him and his friends. As the scene ended with Malfoy attacking him and Snape arriving, Dumbledore tapped once more the bowl and pulled the substance back out and placed his wand once more to Harry's temple, giving him his memory back.
"Well Severus, it seems that Draco did not tell us the whole truth. We must talk about the necessary measures that this will not happen again. Thank you, Harry. You can now go back to your common room and go to bed. Good night." Dumbledore stood back up, escorting Harry out of the office and closed the door behind him.
Harry walked up the stairs, he wondered if Fluffy the Cerberus was still in the Corridor on the third floor of if they changed the location for whatever he is guarding. As he looked the time up on his Glasses, he saw that he still had some time until curfew so he took the long way and listened by the door where the dog was if he still could hear him. As he pressed his ear to the door, he heard a low growl behind it, so Fluffy was still here. But he opened the door just a tiny bit to see if he was unhurt, as he locked eyes with one head. Frozen in place from fear, Fluffy came closer and began to sniff him. Harry did not move as he felt the air got warmer from the breath of the cerberus, but Fluffy just pulled back and walked back to the trapdoor and laid on top of it. Harry breathed a sigh of relief and closed the door again, also using a spell to make it harder to open it in the future. He then walked back into the common room in the Gryffindor tower and saw that Hermione was still awake in there, seemingly waiting for him. As she noticed him coming in, she turned around and smiled.
"Ah Harry, finally you are back. What did Professor Snape ask you about the incident tonight with Malfoy?" So, Harry told her how they did see his memories to verify what happened.
Hermione was intrigued how that worked and asked herself if she could ask Professor McGonagall explaining it to her. Harry laughed at her curiosity and whished her a good night as he was going to the dorm to sleep.