Chapter 14
"Harry, long time no see," Draco Malfoy waved to me warmly, smiling a little awkwardly and even apologetically. It wasn't pleasant to be interrupted while reading—I had just reached something genuinely interesting. Still, it was better than continuing to feel the attention of the Slytherin and his small company, who had been cautiously watching me from almost the other end of the library for the last ten minutes.
"Hi, Draco. It really has been a while," I simply nodded, showing no irritation and looking with mild interest at the two new faces with the blond boy. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your companions?"
"Heh, of course," Malfoy nodded quickly, and the two Slytherin girls smiled with obvious satisfaction, seeming to relax a little. Yes—over the week since classes began, I'd already built myself a reputation as a fairly unsociable, prickly boy. I'd been thoroughly fed up in that first week.
I don't know how other wizards were with sensitivity, but somehow I could feel attention and eyes directed at me. Before, that ability had even helped—more than once it let me stop training before random Muggles caught me doing magic. But now…
Now it was hard. Especially because the ability itself had grown sharper. Constant focus on one modest hero of Magical Britain didn't just fray my nerves—it sharpened my sense of being watched. Which only made it more annoying, even if no one had truly been spying on me these last few days.
"Ladies, allow me to introduce my good friend and a true example of his House—Harry Potter. Harry, meet Pansy Parkinson and Daphne Greengrass. Both are pure-blood witches and first-year Slytherins," Draco played his part, introducing the girls and hesitating slightly on the last name… It was obvious he didn't like this Greengrass very much and… he was even a little afraid of her?
"Nice to meet you. Did you come to explore the library selection too?" I asked politely, fully aware that the real reason they were here was the meeting itself. But pointing that out would be rude.
"Among other things," Daphne Greengrass took the lead at once. In reality she was a very petite, almost fragile-looking blonde with a surprisingly pleasant, clear face. "Though the main purpose of our visit was, naturally, meeting the famous Harry Potter. Draco's already told everyone in our House that you're practically best friends."
"I see… so you want to hear that's not true," I thought, watching the girl with faint, carefully hidden amusement as she sat down first, right across from me.
"Oh? I didn't think knowing me was something you'd brag about in Slytherin," I shook my head, instantly making Malfoy go a little pale and try to say something… but I continued, hurrying to clear up the misunderstanding. "Still, Draco didn't lie. I really don't have a better friend than him right now."
"Hmph, yeah? And when exactly did you manage to become so close, if you supposedly hadn't even existed in the magical world before?" the Slytherin girl puffed her cheeks slightly, though her question also showed Pansy Parkinson's interest. Pansy had already settled at Draco's side, arm-in-arm, while he looked embarrassed and clearly grateful. My words had not only flattered him, but also saved him from a very likely humiliation in his own House.
"Sometimes you don't need much time to start a friendship. And I'm not exactly the social type who can boast a long list of contacts… that don't annoy me with their attention," I smiled faintly, apparently ruining the miniature blonde's little scheme.
"It shows. I didn't think the famous Harry Potter would manage to get into fights with several Gryffindors and one Ravenclaw in his very first week," Pansy laughed quietly, as if copying someone's manner of speech, but showing me no negativity. Only curiosity and an unspoken question—what exactly I had against lions, and one idiot from my own House.
"Sometimes fists and magic are the most effective method of negotiation. Besides, nobody's really bothered me since then… and nobody tried to take my glasses as a souvenir again," I snorted, still irritated by the recent incident.
"Someone seriously tried to take your glasses?" Draco stared at me, looking like he couldn't even imagine such a thing.
"Kevin Entwistle decided I'd let him sell such a 'legendary' souvenir. He even promised me half the profits," I said sarcastically, not hiding my contempt for my classmate's intelligence and his brilliant ideas.
"Ah, Entwistle. A poor but fairly old family… I heard Kevin's parents had to go deep into debt to send him to Hogwarts," Draco sneered, fully matching my attitude toward that boy. Though in truth, he sounded more like he was agreeing with me than offering his own opinion.
"Which probably explains why he's desperate for pocket money," I nodded, ending that topic and waiting with interest to see what these kids would do next to keep the conversation going.
"Not surprising. A lot of old families have money troubles lately… By the way, what are you reading?" Daphne smiled calmly, showing a faint disapproval toward ruined "better people." Or whatever pure-bloods considered themselves to be.
"Mental artifacts—types, properties, and methods of protection," I read the title aloud, lifting the book and showing the cover to the snakes. "I saw it mentioned in Compendium of Legendary Artifacts: From the Founding of the Roman Empire to the Present Day. I'm trying to understand what the Sorting Hat really is, and how it decides where to send a student."
"That's… so Ravenclaw," Pansy laughed softly, glancing at Draco. "And Draco was bragging that he talked you out of going to Gryffindor."
"I considered the lion House. My parents studied there, after all… But private dorm rooms for the ravens mattered a bit more to me. I didn't want to share a room," I shrugged, once again shielding Draco from the awkwardness of someone else's teasing.
"Yes, roommates aren't the most pleasant part of school," Daphne agreed instantly, shooting a very pointed look at Pansy… Pansy looked like she was one second away from sticking her tongue out at her, openly showing what she thought of Daphne's complaints. "Still, your choice of topic is… rather strange. Are you afraid someone will rummage around in your head, the way the Sorting Hat did?"
"I want to understand how it works—and whether I can find myself a similar hat somewhere," I smiled brightly, genuinely a little surprised by how easily this tiny little girl had read me. That's what growing up in a noble wizarding family looked like? Other kids didn't behave like this, and they weren't this sharp. "And yes, I'd rather not have anyone poking around in my mind."
"You don't need to worry about that," Draco jumped in immediately, cutting off Daphne before she could say more. Right—those two really didn't get along… which was strange, considering Malfoy himself had brought this clever snake to me. "There aren't many artifacts that can get into someone's mind. And there aren't many wizards who can do it either."
"But they do exist," I shrugged, not agreeing so easily. "And among powerful wizards—like our professors—there must be quite a few."
"You're overestimating them. Legilimency is very rare, and it's nothing like what Muggles imagine when they think about reading thoughts. Though my father knows a bit about it…" Daphne said, sounding faintly self-satisfied. "But even he wouldn't risk entering the mind of a young wizard. Not if he's under fourteen."
"Why not?" I latched onto that instantly. I'd never heard anything like it before. Kids from noble families really could be a goldmine of useful information. I was even ready to forgive Draco for interrupting my reading and dragging me into this sudden meeting.
"I don't know," the petite blonde admitted surprisingly easily. "Something about how an immature mind is dangerous for a Legilimens, and teenage magic is unstable… which is why wizards under fourteen are strongly discouraged from studying mental spells themselves. You can go insane, or even stay a child forever… Even I, as the Greengrass heir, haven't studied anything like that yet."
"That sounded offended," I smiled, already getting used to Daphne's mild arrogance and finding it interesting to see how she'd react to a little jab.
"And I'm not offended!" she lifted her nose, acting like a child… which, despite her upbringing, she still was.
Over the years in this body, I'd gotten used to talking mostly with children, and sometimes I forgot that my peers were still just kids, even if unusual ones. The Slytherins were almost an exception. Talking to them was easier than with most children, and they shared what they knew readily, with genuine enthusiasm.
Not secrets of the universe, of course, but… what was a dangerous, completely new forest to me was home territory for Draco, Daphne, and Pansy. Things that felt like revelations to me were simply ordinary background knowledge to them. The situation with mental magic and the ability to read thoughts was a perfect example.
Where I worried about protecting my mind—and for good reason—kids from pure-blood families barely thought of that danger at all. They understood too well that across all of Britain, there might not even be twenty skilled Legilimens.
And the art had a whole list of limitations, apparently. Defending yourself against an inexperienced Legilimens wasn't even that hard. The key was noticing the intrusion in time—and then even a mental scream combined with a strong desire to throw the intruder out could be enough. Daphne, the most informed of the three, told me that.
And she was also the most eager for my attention. The blonde was flattered by the interest of a hero famous across the magical world. She even turned it into an unspoken competition with Draco for my attention… unlike Goyle and Crabbe, who were used to being Malfoy's shadows and felt perfectly fine just being around each other or Pansy, who primarily wanted attention from the self-important Malfoy heir…
Daphne and Draco were roughly equal in social rank and status, and that created friction. As Pansy told me a few weeks after we met, they were competing for leadership in the House—or more precisely, Daphne was trying to push the "brilliant" Draco Malfoy out of the spot that seemed reserved for him.
She wasn't very successful. Why exactly, I didn't know. I could only suspect and guess… but the two didn't get along. Still, both were eager to be friends with me, showing a serious interest in being close to a celebrity. And I made use of that, occasionally letting Daphne "win" over Draco in small ways while calmly enjoying all the benefits such company brought.
The downside of these connections was mild discontent in my own House and open aggression from Gryffindor, whose students had already labeled me a filthy traitor. More accurately, Ron Weasley had labeled me that, and the others just picked it up… But I didn't care. You couldn't find lions in the library even if you lit the place on fire.