Lightning in a House of Serpents

That creepy turban man can't possibly be the one we should be suspecting, right?

As November rolled in, so did the extremely cold and chilly weather. Frost lightly dusted the grounds and everyone could be seen wearing layers of clothing underneath their uniforms. The dungeons, being underground, felt the same as if you were standing outside. The cold weather made Harry feel quite ridiculous by the amount of clothes he had to pile on for Quidditch practice and he really hoped it would be slightly warmer on Saturday when they had their first game against Gryffindor.

Flint made sure nobody knew that Harry was on the team and threatened anyone who already knew not to tell. He really wanted everyone to be shocked at the first game and for the opposing team to let their guard down slightly due to the fact that Harry is a first year. There were bets going around the school of who's the new Slytherin seeker, but only a handful of people betted on Harry.

When Harry wasn't getting 'proper etiquette' lessons from Draco, wasn't being drowned in a mountain of homework, and wasn't freezing his butt off at Quidditch practice, he was in the library studying with two new friends he made.

"Harry, have you completed your reading on chapters four and five of your Herbology textbook?" A voice asked, pulling him from his thoughts.

Harry smiled up at her and nodded.

"Yes, Hermione," he replied.

Harry didn't know exactly when, but he had somehow made friends with Hermione Granger. They both would show up at the library at the same time to study and they eventually formed a mini study group. Hermione eventually dragged an awkward boy named Neville Longbottom into their group and the three of them have been friends ever since.

"And I assume you have read both chapters as well, Neville," Hermione said.

Neville nodded shyly and plopped his textbook on the table they were sitting at. Although they've all been seeing each other the past week, Neville was still very hesitant to warm up to him. Harry wondered if Neville was nervous because of all the bad things said about Slytherins. He wondered what kind of person Neville saw him as.

"Well that's good," Hermione said, "Then we'll start today's assignment by taking notes from our transfiguration textbook. I'd say start at the beginning of chapter three and then stop at page fourty-three to do a self assessment."

When they finished, Hermione suggested that Harry should take out a book called Quidditch Through the Ages, which she said would help him learn more about the sport. He ended up telling her about his placement on the Slytherin Quidditch team during their first study session. Harry found that he was able to trust her and was glad to have a friend outside of his House- not that he was tired of his housemates, he just didn't see why it was considered 'taboo' to associate with people from other Houses.

When Harry entered his dorm, he was met with a crossed-armed Draco standing in the doorway.

"Tell me why I go into the library to give you a book you dropped, and I find you hanging around with two Gryffindors!" He demanded.

Harry shrugged and tried to avoid making eye contact with the fuming blond.

"We were having a mini study session," he told Draco, "Is it apparently against the rules to talk with other Houses? They're nice to me, so I'm going to hang out with them. I don't see why you seem so angry with this."

"Well, maybe because one is a mudblood! Or maybe the fact that the other is from a disgraceful pure-blooded family! Not to mention the fact that we're playing against their team this Saturday!" Draco practically yelled.

Harry pushed past Draco and set down his books. He turned around when he heard Theo gasp.

"Jeez, Draco, can you not use that term? It's highly offensive and makes me uncomfortable," Theo said.