Redemption - A Draco Malfoy Story

year 1 part 5

Breakfast was nowhere near as grand as the welcoming feast had been, but it was still quite nice. Anyone could find a dish they liked: platters of toast in every variety of bread imaginable and different levels of toastiness, jams of all kinds, butter, hard-boiled eggs, pots of steaming hot coffee, and bowls of ripe oranges, apples, and bananas. As promised, I sat by Pansy, Millicent, Tracey, and Daphne, but I eyed the Gryffindor table. Harry and Ron were sitting by Hermione again, talking joyously about some unidentifiable topic. At the very least, it was somewhat entertaining to listen to the four Slytherin girls beside me gossip. There was apparently a considerable amount of news to gossip about, despite having only been at Hogwarts for less than twenty-four hours.

"I'm excited for Herbology. I've heard about all sorts of wicked plants," said Tracey matter-of-factly.

"Herbology? You can't be serious, Tracey, what's interesting about plants? Honestly..." Pansy said with disgust, picking the crust off of a piece of toast. 

"Oh, but there's so much to Herbology, though. It's the basis of Potions, you know. You can't be good at Potions if you're bad at Herbology."

"Of course you can! Herbology's about growing plants, not cooking them!"

"Go on then, Pansy, which class do you think is best?" Daphne chimed in.

"Transfiguration, of course," Pansy replied proudly. "It's the hardest type of magic, you know, and I like a challenge."

Something told me Pansy didn't like a challenge--she just liked sounding smarter than other people--but I decided against mentioning my theory to the group.

A brown owl flew through an open window. A tawny owl quickly followed. Soon enough, a throng of hundreds of owls burst into the Great Hall, carrying letters and parcels of all shapes and sizes. In the claws of a dark gray owl, I saw a small black cat. I squinted my eyes in search of the family owl, an old, rather proud Great Horned owl named Albert. I spotted him soaring calmly towards me, clutching a small, yellow envelope. Albert dropped the letter neatly in front of me on the table and then soared straight of, wasting no time.

Pansy had a small pile of packages in front of her and was opening them excitedly. I examined the letter I had received. The small yellow envelope was sealed with the Waters family crest in dark blue wax. It was clearly from Mother. I stowed the envelope in the inside pocket of my robes, promising to open it and reply later.

At the end of the table, the prefects were beginning to pass out the class schedules. Normally, classes would have started today, the first of September, but as it was a Sunday, they weren't to start until tomorrow. So, we students had the day to ourselves. As I looked towards the end of the long Slytherin table, I noticed Draco Malfoy untying the ribbon of a small, black parcel, seated next to four other boys whom I could only assume were the other first-year Slytherins. The boys on his immediate left and right looked rather similar, with wide shoulders, pudgy faces, and rotund bodies. However, one of the two was a bit taller with tightly curled hair, while the other had a crop of very short and straight hair that seemed to stand on its end. Both shared a dazed, blank expression on their mismatched faces. Next to them, even Egg-Head himself looked decent.

The boys seated across from Malfoy were a bit better-looking. One of them had a fairly long and pointy nose, a square face, and shiny brown hair. The other had a strong jaw, dark complexion, and black hair shaved close to his scalp. It was safe to assume this one was Blaise Zabini, as Tracey was shamelessly staring in his direction.

A prefect handed me a schedule, giving me something else to focus on. First-years were to take seven subjects in all: Herbology, Transfiguration, Charms, Potions, History of Magic, Astronomy, and Defense Against the Dark Arts. Flying lessons, on broomstick, were also mandatory. As a Slytherin, all my classes would be with the other Slytherins of my year, as well as another House for each class. We were to have Herbology and Astronomy with Ravenclaw, History of Magic and Defense Against the Dark Arts with Hufflepuff, and Potions, Charms, Transfiguration, as well as flying lessons with the Gryffindors.