"I am not sure if I am ever going to get used to it." Draco said breathing a sigh of relief as he awkwardly smiled at the girls. "Hey, how have you been?""Other than you ignoring my letters, I am perfectly fine," Pansy said.
"What letters?" Draco said confused, "I didn"t get any."
"Of course you didn"t." Pansy said, "I went to your house and took them back."
Draco stared at her for a while, wondering why his mother didn"t say anything about it. "Was it something important? I told you, I"ll be busy didn"t I?"
"It"s nothing." Pansy snorted as they got out, as their house prefect started gathering them. Draco looked at Harry and Ron who were being lectured by Hermione as they were trying to explain her about, the sealed gate.
"So what happened?" Daphne asked.
"I"ll tell you later." Draco said, "Your sister?"
"She"s okay." Daphne said nodding, "The ceremony worked out fine and she"s back to her normal self again."
Draco nodded and held her hand as he didn"t say anything else and looked forward.
Daphne stared at Draco for a while, holding his hand tightly she revealed a small but sweet smile. Daphne let go of his hand after continuous stare from Pansy, Draco shook his head and was about to talk to her when he suddenly saw Hermione head towards them.
Not wanting to argue, Draco quickly said, "What Potter and Weasley, said is true and we had no other way... I know contacting the school would be a logical thing to do but waiting there didn"t feel safe, as I found the things over there kinda suspicious."
Hermione who wanted to lectured turned quiet as she got all of her answers without even asking. A bit annoyed, she snorted and punched Draco on his arms. As she mumbled something, again and again. Draco threw Ron"s wand towards him and turned towards Pansy and Hermione, trying to soothe their anger.
"Firs" years this way!" called a familiar voice. Draco and the rest turned and saw the gigantic outline of Hagrid at the other end of the platform, beckoning the terrified-looking new students forward for their traditional journey across the lake. Some students were staring at Draco and Harry time to time, whispering something, while most of them were yawning, from the sleep potion they had eaten early on.
"All right, you guys?" Hagrid yelled over the heads of the crowd. They waved at him but had no chance to speak to him because the ma.s.s of people around them was shunting them away along the platform. They followed the rest of the school along the platform and out onto a rough mud track, where at least a hundred stagecoaches awaited the remaining students, each pulled by an invisible horse. Draco could see the Thestrals due to all the murders he committed.
Draco finally realized why people seem to hate them so much, their whole existence was a reminder that you saw someone die or you killed someone. Draco ignoring them climbed inside the coach along with the rest of them. The coach shut itself off and started setting off by itself b.u.mping and swaying in procession. Due to Draco being present, this year Harry and Ron didn"t miss the a.s.sembly and could observe the new path to Hogwarts freely as the boats were an attraction only for the first years to enjoy. The coach smelled faintly of mold and straw.
The carriage trundled toward a pair of magnificent wrought iron gates, flanked with stone columns topped with winged boars. The carriage picked up speed on the long, sloping drive up to the castle; Hermione and the girls, including Harry and Ron were leaning out of the tiny window, watching the many turrets and towers draw nearer, while Draco stayed silent the whole ride, breathing deeply trying to calm down. Other than Theodore, no one noticed his abnormality, but he stayed silent as he figured the Thestrals might"ve bought up some bad memories. Theodore could understand Draco a little as he could see them too but didn"t say anything out loud. At last, the carriage swayed to a halt, and all of them got out.
Hermione prodded them in the back to make them hurry, and the three of them joined the crowd swarming up the steps, through the giant oak front doors, into the cavernous Entrance Hall, which was lit with flaming torches and housed a magnificent marble staircase that led to the upper floors.
They followed the crowd into the Great Hall, sitting at the table of their respective houses. Innumerable candles were hovering in midair over four long, crowded tables, making the golden plates and goblets sparkle. Overhead, the bewitched ceiling, which always mirrored the sky outside, sparkled with stars. Draco was being peered at by almost everyone in the hall, some looking at him with a sense of respect, while some senior girls were looking at him with a gaze, only they could understand.
Ignoring them Draco sat on the empty side of the table where soon, his friends surrounded him gossiping about different things. Draco was now clearly the most famous student of Hogwarts and was a figure of pride for Slytherin, so with this came a lot of people wanting to be his friend and quite a few people who envied him. Now with him having all the thing a man wants in life, he was a source of envy for most men, Draco was known for his immense wealth, his good looks, his strong magic, and heroic action, so he possessed everything a person could ever dream of.
Soon a long line of scared-looking first years came filing into the Hall. Ginny was among them, easily visible because of her vivid Weasley hair. Ginny unlike expected was looking at Draco rather than Harry from time to time. Draco didn"t took notice of her as he was busy observing other people.
Professor McGonagall, a bespectacled witch with her hair in a tight bun, started placing the famous Hogwarts Sorting Hat on a stool before the newcomers.
Every year, this aged old hat, patched, frayed, and dirty, sorted new students into the four Hogwarts houses (Gryffindor, Hufflepuff, Ravenclaw, and Slytherin). Draco well remembered putting it on, exactly one year ago, and waiting, petrified, for its decision as it muttered aloud in his ear. For a few horrible seconds, he had feared that the hat was going to put him in Gryffindor, and the surprise sword attack by the hat... getting all the nostalgic feeling, Draco felt a bit happy and soon started to forget about the Thestrals.
Draco"s eyes wondered towards Professor Dumbledore, who sat watching the Sorting from the staff table, his long silver beard and half-moon gla.s.ses shining brightly in the candlelight. He wasn"t looking at Draco like the others as he seemed calm about the whole situation. Several seats along, Draco saw Gilderoy Lockhart, dressed in robes of aquamarine. He was staring at Draco from time to time, not forgetting to give his signature smile towards him. Draco knew that Lucius had obliviated his memory, so to Lockhart, all the things in the newspapers were rumors and he had never met Draco before. And there at the end was Snape who looked at him in a weird way.
Knowing that look, Draco figured a talk with Snape was unavoidable so he didn"t gaze at him further, as he chatted with his friends ignoring the first years, as he had no interest in them yet. One by one the sorting hat placed the students on their respective houses as the new student was walked towards, their houses under cheers of their new Housemates. Soon Ginny"s turn came as she sat on the chair and McGonagall placed the sorting hat on her head, soon after being placed the hat announced her house surprising a lot of people, including Draco.
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