He couldn't bring himself to call that woman his aunt, not after everything that had happened with her, and even bringing up the fact the horse-woman was related to his mother seemed wrong to Harry, but he pushed through it thanks to Occlumency.
"So, the books written about you aren't real?" Ron asked, disappointed. "Man, Ginny's gonna be ruined."
"Yes, they're all fictional," Harry confirmed. "And I can't even try to get any royalties from them till I'm seventeen."
The quartet continued to chat throughout the train ride. Neville's toad, Trevor, tried to escape, but was caught by Harry before it could make it very far. That caused Ron to introduce Scabbers to everyone. Then when the snack trolley came around, Harry got everyone some sweets and treats to share.
Hermione then spent some time quizzing Ron and Neville about Hogwarts and the wider magical world, curiosity brimming. She's seemed disappointed that she couldn't use magic at home, and that there was such a difference between the magical and non-magical worlds, especially with their laws and social norms.
Their pleasant ride was interrupted when the door to their compartment slid open, revealing a trio of people. One was a petite platinum blond boy flanked by two much larger boys behind him. Harry unfavorably compared them to a pair of Dudleys with the way their eyebrows narrowed and they swept their eyes about, trying to size up the four of them.
"Can we help you?" Hermione asked, a bit annoyed at being interrupted mid-sentence. And Harry noted that while Ron and Neville had shared looks of relief at no longer being interrogated by the bushy-haired girl, their expressions had soured when they caught sight of just who it was that had 'saved' them.
"I heard Harry Potter was on the train," the blond said pompously.
"Who are you? And have you been going from compartment to compartment saying this in the hopes of being right at least once?" Harry couldn't help but ask, his question immediately sucking the wind out of the blond's sails for a moment.
"I'm Draco Malfoy," the blond said, trying to recover the momentum. "And with me are Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle."
"Well, I am Harry Potter," Harry said, trying to be polite for the moment. No need to antagonize anybody.
"Wonderful! You should come sit with me, that way I can teach you all about the right people you should be spending time with."
At that, Ron snorted, and Malfoy's easy grin immediately morphed into a frown. "Hmph. No need to introduce yourself, I suppose. Red hair, hand-me-down clothes, rude manners? You must be a Weasley," the blond sneered.
Harry immediately found himself disliking the pompous git. Draco's attitude rubbed him the wrong way, and it was clear the blond only wanted to get to know Harry because of his name, and by extension, his fame.
Not to mention, another snippet of wisdom Edward had passed to him surfaced in his mind.
"There's a couple of families you're going to want to be on guard against when you're at Hogwarts. Be wary of anyone with the name Malfoy, Nott, Crabb, Goyle, Flint, Rook, MacNair, Parkinson, Carrow, Rosier, Bulstrode, and Hunch. That's not all of them, but they are the ones who will have kids at Hogwarts around your age while you are there. They're a bunch of pureblood nobles that were Death Eaters during the last war. They claimed to have been under the Imperius spell after Voldemort bit it, and got off scott-free after some hefty bribes."
Harry could also remember the sheer loathing in Edward's voice as he'd spoken on the topic, and the way this boy was acting wasn't winning him any points.
"I'm fine where I am, thank you," Harry said, shutting down Draco Malfoy's offer.
"What? You're really going to stay with a bunch of failures and blood-traitors?" the Malfoy scion demanded.
"Aren't your parents the ones who are losers?" Harry asked, voice laden with snark. "After all, they were on the wrong side of the war."
That caused all three of the boys' faces to turn dark with anger, but Harry just stood up and slammed the door to the compartment shut on them, before turning the lock on it with a 'click.'
"Well, that was a bit unpleasant," Harry said, putting on a fake smile. "What were you talking about, Hermione? Something about the Four Houses?"
All of the other kids in the cabin shared surprised looks with each other, before Ron grinned widely and even Neville cracked a small smile at the sharp dismissal Harry had given the other boys.
"Right! I was!" Hermione said, getting back into the swing of things. "So, I'm thinking I'd like to be in Ravenclaw, but Dumbledore was a Gryffindor and he's considered the greatest wizard of the modern age…"
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