The Bravest Snake

CHAPTER 7

It was a bright and sunny start to the weekend, but Draco did not join the students hanging out on the grounds before the cold took over. He was staring at staircases and talking to portraits.

He had finally finished all his homework on Friday, giving him his first free weekend he'd had in a long time, and he was on a mission. Draco had written his mother and asked for a tape measure and graph paper notebook, to make a map of the castle. 

She had thought it a great idea and also sent along a timer. He was going to use it to time whenever the staircases shifted, moved, or vanished a step. With one hundred and forty - five staircases in the entire school, this was no simple task, and Draco found himself wandering away, close to the Slytherin Common Room.

A stone seemed loose in the dungeon's wall. Draco touched it and felt like he was swallowed up by the wall into an old tunnel. ''Lumos,'' he whispered, and the tip of his wand lit up. He held it aloft as he carefully made his way through the tunnel, stopping when he heard the sharp, distinct voice of Pansy Parkinson.

''- blood traitor, isn't he? And the Malfoy's are supposed to be one of the pure families. They're part of the Sacred Twenty - Eight! I can't believe he's in Gryffindor, out of all the Houses, and he hangs around with that Granger mudblood.''

Draco couldn't suppress a growl of fury. They could drag his Malfoy name through the mud all they wanted, but they couldn't call Hermione that slur  that he vowed never to repeat after he heard his father say it. Pansy wasn't going to get away with that.

He slammed his hand against the wall of the tunnel, and could picture Pansy jumping off a leather couch in surprise. ''What was that?'' she asked with fear in her voice. Draco punched and kicked the wall, startling all the Slytherins, and let out a roar so loud he was sure the whole castle had heard him. ''Crabbe - Goyle - we're going,'' said Pansy shakily, and he could hear her footsteps hurrying away.

Draco marked the secret passageway on his map, but vowed not to tell anyone about it, or else it wouldn't be secret. He walked down corridors, marking down any notable landmarks, until he came across a very interesting portrait of a man with shoulder length silvery hair, holding a glowing red stone. The plaque below it read NICOLAS FLAMEL.''Bonjour,'' the portrait said politely.

Draco smiled at him. ''Bonjour. Je m'appelle Draco Malfoy,'' he introduced himself.

Nicolas Flamel's eyes widened. ''You can speak French, monsieur?'' he asked.

''The Malfoy family has roots in France, arriving in Britain during the Norman invasions led by William the Conquerer,'' Draco replied in perfect French.

''Oh! How interesting. I lived in France and went to Beauxbatons Academy of Magic, but I never heard the Malfoy name.''

Draco shrugged. ''My parents considered sending me to Beauxbatons, but I ended up in Hogwarts. I guess the Malfoys are more prevalent in Britain now.''

He had a pleasant conversation with Nicolas Flamel, but it ended once the inhabitant of another portrait invited him to play a card game. Draco made sure to mark the portrait on his map so he could talk to Nicolas some other time, preferably when he wasn't playing poker.

Directly across from Nicolas' portrait, there was a large painting of a fruit bowl. It swung open unexpectedly and two red haired twins climbed out. They were Fred and George Weasley, and they were holding a variety of sweets and butterbeers. ''Hey... Draco, was it?'' one of them called out.

''Yes, hello Fred and George. Where did you two come out of?'' Draco asked politely.

''This painting's the entrance of the kitchens. If you want to go in, just tickle the pear,'' the other twin said. ''The house - elves there are very helpful. Did you know they cook the meals in Hogwarts?'' When Draco shook his head, both the twins seemed to get very excited. ''And it's the perfect place to sneak a late night snack among doing... other things.''

''I'm picking up what you're putting down. You two are the notorious pranksters of Hogwarts, but I'm not opposed to playing tricks as well.'' His mind flashed to when Pansy mocked him and Hermione, and how he would love to play a prank on her. She would deserve it.

''Well, you certainly are more fun than we thought you were, right Fred?'' the twin who could only be George said to his twin. There were subtle differences between the two, with Fred having more freckles and George being a centimeter taller.  ''You seem like you'd have a lot of people to prank. If anyone's giving you trouble, we're your guys.'' They left without giving Draco a chance to thank them. He might have to take them up on their offer.

Draco tickled the pear in the painting, which let out a high - pitched giggle and let him enter. Inside there was a huge kitchen with about two dozen house - elves running around and stirring things on the stove. A pleasant smell wafted throughout the kitchen, an aroma full of spices and flavors.

One of the house - elves walked up to him, peering at him with big eyes. ''Hello there, who are - wait! Cooky knows who you are! You are a Malfoy child, you must be Draco Malfoy! Yes, Dobby tells Cooky about you, how kind you are to him. Come, sit! Cooky will bring you some tea!''

Cooky led him to a small table in the middle of the room and brought him tea and pastries. ''You know Dobby?'' Draco asked. Dobby was like a nanny to Draco, taking care of him ever since he was little. Draco protected Dobby from his father's cruelty, and gave him his own room and nice things to wear. Draco hated the idea of house - elves being treated badly, so he made sure to treat his own like the dear friend he was.

''Dobby is Cooky's dear friend, and we write letters to each other. He says that you have protected him against others. A friend of Dobby's is a friend of mine! You are always welcome here!''

They talked for a while until Draco figured he should probably leave if he wanted to make more progress on his map, but he had to ask Cooky for a favor first. ''Could you please give me something to give to my friend? It's her birthday today.'' Cooky gave Draco a small cake, and with it he bid farewell.

More wandering led him to a circular room with four portraits around it. The plaques read GODRIC GRYFFINDOR, HELGA HUFFLEPUFF, ROWENA RAVENCLAW, and SALAZAR SLYTHERIN. All of them were in their portraits except for Helga Hufflepuff. ''Hello!'' they all greeted. ''What brings you here?''

''I'm making a map of the castle,'' Draco said, showing them his map. They all seemed very interested in it.

''What House are you in? You seem like you're in mine, with an innovative idea like that,'' Rowena Ravenclaw said.

''No, actually I'm in Gryffindor,'' Draco replied.

''I could have guessed. It takes some bravery to explore the castle all by yourself!'' Godric Gryffindor exclaimed. ''May you find great success in my House!''

As Draco left, he felt the eyes of Salazar Slytherin on him. No question that he recognized him as a Malfoy, and wondered why he wasn't in Slytherin. Draco also wondered why, but he trusted the Sorting Hat. Maybe it saw something nobody else had seen.

Around dinnertime, he approached Hermione and gave her the cake he got from the house - elves. ''Happy birthday.''

''You remembered!'' Hermione hugged him. ''Thank you so much! How did you know chocolate is my favorite flavor?'' She cut slices for both of them. ''Here, I can't eat this all myself.'' Eating cake with Hermione drove all thoughts about Houses and Slytherin out of Draco's mind. After all, if he had been in another House, he wouldn't have met her.