Harry Potter and the Berserker

Chapter 52

Disclaimer- Harry Potter is owned by J.K. Rowling and Berserk is owned by Kentaro Miura. I own nothing.

Out of all the tables in the great hall, the Slytherin table was usually the quietest and reserved out of all four. That had, of course, changed a bit with the inclusion of the Durmstrang students who had selected to sit there during meals. It was made even livelier when one of those Durmstrang students was the world-renowned Quidditch player, Victor Krum. Draco was never a fan of Bulgaria, but even he recognized Krum as being an exceptional player. Oh, it had given him great satisfaction when he got to sit next to the star player when the visiting schools had selected their seating; he even shot that Weasley a victorious smirk when that had happened.

Indeed, Krum had been the highlight up until the name Potter had come out of that goblet. Everything had changed after that event. The whole school had done nothing but talk about it and once that ship arrived the talk got even worse. But leave it to the Hogwarts rumor mill to work its magic and all of a sudden, Harry Potter was apparently in Hogwarts.

Once that particular bit of information had leaked, every student from every house and every year were trying to go and get a glimpse of their "savior." While Draco did think the title was a waste, he wasn't above trying to go and see for himself if the rumors were true or not. He wouldn't have put it past the Weasley twins or any other foolhardy Gryffindor to try and gain a moment of fame.

But once arriving at the hospital wing, Madam Pomfrey had dismissed him and Crabbe and Goyle, telling them that the infirmary was strictly off limits for the time being. That was without even setting foot inside, too. Yeah, something had been going on there for sure, but if that actually involved Potter or not was a complete unknown.

In all reality, the only ones who had actually gotten a somewhat glimpse at what was going on were the Weasley twins, another set of Gryffindors, the Creevy brothers, and Daphne Greengrass' younger sister, Astoria.

Unlike Daphne, Astoria didn't carry the same distant attitude as her sister and seemed rather friendly, a term not usually associated with their house. She had been tagging along with those Creevy brothers, after all, even if it was just by something she overheard. Draco wasn't about to trust anything out of a Gryffindor mouth and Astoria seemed keen on telling the story to anyone who was willing to listen.

An action she was recalling yet again to her sister, Daphne's friend Tracey, and a few other younger Slytherin's of her year. She was doing so in a normal, quiet Slytherin voice to keep up the public appearance of house unity, but the way she was moving her hands showed that she would be talking much louder if she were back in the common room.

"I still can't believe that you went with two Gryffindor boys," Daphne said to her sister, lightly chastising her.

"Would you rather I had run to get you, too?" Astoria asked. "I just overheard them talking about going to try and see and wanted to tag along. I thought you would be more proud."

"Oh? And why is that?" Daphne asked, her tone cold, but not how it usually sounded since this was her sister.

"Because I also went along to try to keep them check in case they started fawning all over him," Astoria smiled for her benefit. "It would have given Potter a pretty positive view of us Slytherin's."

As if he'd actually bother listening to some random girl, Draco thought with a discreet eye-roll.

Davis decided to chime in at that point. "Ah, I see. You have a fangirl crush on a national hero. I never would have pegged you for the stalker-type, though."

"I-I was acting very Slytherin-like!" Astoria defended, her cheeks turning a bit red from the implication. Her fellow peers lightly snickered at her embarrassment. "I mean, if he does end up attending, he'll at least know that Slytherin is a house that has decent witches... and wizards!" she quickly added that last part.