The Domino Effect (A Harry Potter Fanfiction)

CHAPTER 30: Flying Lessons

Harry glared at the tampered case where he stored his contacts. He didn't store them in the trunk (where it is heavily secured with a shock ward and even password protected – a parseltongue password to boot) since it was difficult to keep looking in the trunk to find it. He just didn't expect them to find the case again. It would look like he has to wear his glasses again. Iris is already beside herself knowing that someone was bullying her brother but Harry doesn't want his sister to intervene. Yes, his sister would fight to the death for him if she has to (and he appreciates that of her) but it wouldn't make a good impression for Harry to have her "badger sister" defend him in a house that values reputation and image, especially when even in Slytherin, being a badger is seen as a weakness.

Harry doesn't really understand their prejudice against the badgers. Even the Gryffindors and the Ravenclaws have the same views. Hufflepuffs are also usually the last in the house points since they don't rack up points like the other houses as trying to prove there are brave, ambitious, smart, and powerful was never a thing of that house. In fact, in Harry's opinion, Helga Hufflepuff is the epitome of an educator. While the other founders wanted to teach the ones who were "ambitious", "smart" and "whoever is willing to fight a lion", Helga was the one who wanted to teach those who wanted to learn regardless of whatever value they had. And many of the Slytherins don't seem to take advantage of the resources a Hufflepuff can have for them which is why Harry has a good relationship with the Hufflepuffs. It helped that her sister is in the house.

Harry sighed. Whoever was targeting him is either within his dorm (I'm looking at you, Malfoy) or someone outside. He saw all the sneers and glares he always received from the older members of his house. It's not like he is the only half-blood in Slytherin but he was the only half-blood in the house whose father is very light leaned that they become prejudiced against anyone they considered "too dark", whose father is hated by his head of the house, his father who insulted almost every family in Slytherin, whose head of the house doesn't seem to like him, not to mention that his father is an Auror who has sent a lot of the death eaters (many of them were children of said death eaters) to Azkaban and that his brother is the boy-who-lived. Even though it was already common knowledge that he does not have a good relationship with his father, some people still claim that it was all an act and that he was a spy for the light or that because of his muggle-raised experience made him less than them.

For most, they were testing Harry and his position in the house. He isn't like Malfoy whose family is well respected and no matter how stupid and annoying he can be ("My father will hear about this!" is becoming an annoying catchphrase of the boy) they'll still listen to him especially since his father has both the money and prestige that can also have a negative impact towards their families if they pissed him off which also translate to his son. This also is why Mauricius Burke follows Draco around being one of the scions of the Burke family who is known for their dark magic and the fact that the boy's relatives wanted to side with the Malfoys – this is already known to most of the house.

Theo Nott is also another who comes from a long line of purebloods and is part of the dark faction in Wizengamot like the Malfoys but Blaise's family has always been neutral. Blaise is also a foreigner even though his lineage can be traced back to Great Britain and the Zabini even has a seat (though a noble one) in the Wizengamot. Though Blaise keeps complaining about how his mother is always absent and that the rest of the house does have a negative view of him and his mother (his mother has a reputation as a black widow with over 7 husbands who died and left her their fortunes). 

Zacharias Smith however is not the person whom Harry would expect to target him because not only is the boy raised as a Hufflepuff, he doesn't talk to any of them. Smith would disappear for long hours at a time after their classes, and nobody is sure where he went. The only person whom he seems to have been close to is Morag Macdougal and she's a girl so she isn't present in their dormitory. Either way, his roommates remained unscathed by all these pranks, especially at the time when someone tampered with his shampoo and Harry has to sport green hair the rest of the day which led to a day of teasing from both the Gryffindors and the Slytherins.