The next morning Harry awoke in a good mood, the events of the previous night still fresh on his mind. Checking the time, he realized that he had slept later than he normally did. Although from the sounds of his roommates' snores he guessed he was not the only one. He wasn't at all surprised by that. The Yule Ball lasted until late into the night and for those who were eager to continue the fun a couple of unofficial after parties had been thrown. Harry had decided against attending any of those and so even though he was the last of his roommates to leave the Ball he was still the first one back to the room.
Harry had slept too late to make it to breakfast, so he decided to make a quick stop by the kitchens and pick up a snack before heading out to the Quidditch pitch. The urge to spend the morning flying on his Firebolt had hit him strongly as he was getting out of bed and since he had nothing else planned it seemed like a great idea. If he had thought about it, he might have realized that all of his actions that morning were solitary as if he wanted to avoid everyone. However that thought had not occurred to him.
Harry walked out the doors of the Quidditch locker rooms and immediately realized something was very wrong with the pitch. The goal posts had all been pulled down at some point in the last couple of days and the grass had been ripped up as well, exposing the dark brown dirt below. He knew there was no reason to keep the pitch as is since there would be no Quidditch that year but the destruction of the place he enjoyed so much disturbed him. Harry gazed at the field for a few minutes, sadly wishing that he had never heard of the Triwizard Tournament. Pushing thoughts of the ruined field away, Harry mounted his broom and began to fly. He had worried that with no Quidditch practice his skills would fade, but apparently all of those people who claimed he was a natural on a broom had a point. For the next few hours Harry pushed the broom to its top speeds and forced it into tight turns that would have hurled most riders off of the broom and down onto the ground below.
Harry ended his morning flight when he noticed that it was time for lunch, he was in no mood to miss two meals in a row. Landing by the door to the locker rooms Harry took one last look at the field, wondering what reason Dumbledore could have possibly had for tearing it apart. Shaking his head at the situation, Harry turned around and went inside. When he reached the Great Hall he saw that it was now back to its original configuration. All evidence of the Yule Ball from the night before had been completely removed by the house elves. A quick glance towards the Gryffindor table revealed that neither Neville nor Hermione were there, however Ron was. Looking towards the Slytherin table he saw that Daphne was there and had noticed him walking into the room. She also happened to have an empty seat in front of her…
"Good morning, Daphne." he said, sitting down at the table across from her. The hall was mostly empty, in fact he didn't see any of the other Slytherin fourth years, but the Slytherins that did see him sit at their table began to excitedly talk to each other while trying to decide whether or not to do anything about.
"You realize this may be the first time in decades that a Gryffindor has tried to eat at the Slytherin table?" she asked, although from her smile she obviously thought it was funny too.
"Really? I guess there is a first time for everything then. So was your sister as bad as you thought she would be?"
"I spent three hours answering her questions this morning." Daphne said. "In the end she said I should tell anyone who had a problem with me to 'piss off'."
"Good, I agree. So do I have the Astoria seal of approval then?" Harry asked, still curious about her little sister's opinion. He had not thought about it much yet, but her family's approval of him seemed to be an important issue.
"Not yet. You have to go through the interrogation next, but you should be fine. She doesn't seem to care about house rivalries, I must have taught her well." Harry agreed and for a while they continued to eat and chat as if there was nothing odd about them doing so. The other Slytherins had apparently decided to do nothing for the moment, but that changed when Draco Malfoy walked in flanked by cronies Crabbe and Goyle.
"Potter! Get the hell away from my table!" Malfoy yelled, grabbing the attention of both Harry and Daphne who had not noticed him until that point. He had also managed to get the attention of all of the other people in the Great Hall.
"I don't think I will. Daphne and I are enjoying a nice, quiet lunch. Why don't you sit down and do the same?" Harry said calmly. As he talked he had turned his body in such a way that Malfoy could not see him pull his wand out of his robes.
"You think you're something special, don't you Potter. That Boy-Who-Lived crap has finally driven you mad. It's not enough for you to enter the Triwizard Tournament illegally and get away with it but now you are stupid enough to think you can sit at my table like you own it. You'll pay for that." With that Malfoy reached for his wand and pointed it towards Harry while yelling out "Stupefy!" Harry had the advantage of already having his wand out and ready so when Malfoy reached for his he cast a shield charm big enough to cover both himself and Daphne. When Malfoy's stunner hit the shield there was a brief sizzling noise and what looked like a red splash against a light blue dome. Angry that his first attack didn't work Malfoy switched to a more dangerous spell and screamed "Reducto!" This spell too failed when it hit Harry's shield. Harry thought Draco was going to try for a third spell when he was interrupted.
"Fifty points from Gryffindor and a week's detention, Potter!" Professor Snape said angrily as he walked up to them and forced Malfoy to lower his wand. "Dueling is not allowed in the Great Hall."
"Severus," the voice of Professor Dumbledore called from behind him "I believe I must have had a better view of what happened. Mr Potter clearly only cast a shield charm in self defense, perhaps your punishment should instead be given to Mr Malfoy who if I am not mistaken cast two offensive spells and was preparing to cast a third?"
"Of course, Headmaster." Snape answered in a low growl, clearly not happy with the outcome.
"Also, five points for Gryffindor for a wonderful demonstration of the Protego shield charm. Enjoy the rest of your meal, everyone." Dumbledore gave Harry a small wink before turning and heading back to the professor's table. Snape scowled at Harry before following him, leaving Malfoy still standing in front of Harry and Daphne madder than ever.
"I'll get you for this, Potter. You and your whore." Draco said, sending a threatening glare at Daphne. Before either of them could respond Malfoy had walked off with Crabbe and Goyle in tow. The rest of the Slytherin students at the table seemed more unsure than ever about how to react to Harry. Eventually they just went back to their lunches, trying to pretend nothing had happened. Harry looked up at Daphne and frowned.
"I guess I should have known that would happen. It's been far too long since Malfoy had tried to attack me. Should I go?" Harry asked.
"No, the damage is done anyway. He is a pest, nothing more. Did you know he really doesn't have many friends in Slytherin? Sure, he has allies but almost no one who hangs around him does it because they like him. I can handle Malfoy if I have to." she said confidently. "How are the Gryffindor's reacting?"
"It's hard to say. Nobody seems to have made up their minds yet, other than Ron of course. Then again I haven't talked to any of them today." he explained. "Maybe it won't be that bad."
"We'll see. Oh, and I before I forget I needed to tell you that I am mad at you." Daphne said, but oddly didn't look or sound that mad at all.
"What? Why?" Harry asked, trying to think of anything he could have done to upset her and not coming up with anything.
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