"Do you know how the Gryffindor players were chosen? They picked the pitiful ones. Potter has no parents, and Weasley has no money."
During the Hufflepuff vs. Gryffindor Quidditch match, a sharp-tongued Malfoy was busy provoking Gryffindor from the stands. It was probably the masterpiece of a joke he had been warming up under his blankets the night before.
"Longbottom, you should join the team too. Since you don't have a brain."
Come to think of it, Malfoy has been tutoring Crabbe and Goyle nonstop lately, so he seems to be under tremendous stress.
"Malfoy, I…I'm worth more than ten of you put together!"
"Good one, Neville! Give him more!"
As Neville, quite unusually, talks back, the Quidditch match continues.
"You're lucky, Weasley. Potter must have found money lying on the ground somewhere!"
Ron snaps!!
A boys' brawl and Harry diving straight down after the Snitch are both hard to ignore, but this time I chose to focus on the Quidditch match.
Ah, Harry got the Snitch. That was fast.
"Yes! Gryffindor wins!"
Hermione claps her hands in delight. As for Malfoy, who had been in the middle of the scuffle, his face is deathly pale, as if he has lost his entire fortune. Ignoring his injuries, he rushes straight over to me.
"Elaina, about this ticket…"
"I'm sorry, sir. According to the contract, refunds are not available."
"…No exceptions?"
"That is what the contract states."
"...…"
When gambling, please be sure to check the terms of the contract carefully, bet only what you can afford, and avoid overdoing it.
＊＊
Perhaps the shock was too much, because not long after the match, Draco Malfoy suddenly burst into the common room, dancing with manic excitement.
"I've finally got proof on Potter and the others! Together with that savage gamekeeper, they're raising a dragon!"
Malfoy has finally fallen into conspiracy theories…
"Draco, it's been hard on you, hasn't it? It's all right, this isn't your fault. Let's go see Madam Pomfrey together and get some rest."
"Wait, Elaina. Aren't you misunderstanding something?"
"You don't have to try so hard anymore, Draco. I'm just happy that you're alive."
"Listen to what I'm saying! And that last part is definitely a lie!"
It seems he's in a state of panic. In situations like this, you must never directly deny a conspiracy theory. The standard approach is to listen first and wait until the person calms down.
"I saw it! I really did! Only the eyes were glowing!"
Could that have been a disappearing alien you mistook for something else?
"That savage's hut was completely shut with curtains even in broad daylight! Potter and the others snuck inside, and when I got closer because it looked suspicious, I saw a dragon egg hatching in the darkness!"
"Ah, yes, yes. I understand, so please calm down."
It can't be helped. Well, he's still a friend, at least. If we go to Hagrid's hut together and show him there's nothing to hide, Malfoy should calm down.
＊＊
And so I took Malfoy with me, and the two of us headed to Hagrid's hut. When I knocked on the door, a loud voice echoed out.
"Who is it!"
"I'm Elaina, a first-year student. Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Gamekeeper."
First impressions matter. Since this was my first time speaking directly with Hagrid, I answered in a voice that sounded as pleasant as possible. The door opened just a crack.
Just as Malfoy said, the windows were covered by curtains, and the inside of the hut was hard to see. The moment the door opened, a wave of heat like a sauna spilled out.
"What business does a Slytherin first-year have with me?"
Hagrid's wary voice came from behind the barely opened door. It seems he doesn't have a very good impression of Slytherin. Considering Malfoy openly calls him a "savage," I can't say I don't understand.
I explained how things had led up to this.
"So, could you let us inside the hut for a moment? Malfoy here is quite shaken and keeps saying he saw a dragon egg…"
The next instant, crash! A loud noise came from inside the hut. From the sound of it, it seemed like a ceramic plate or teacup had shattered.
"Hagrid?"
"Go home! Sorry, but I don't have time to play around with you lot. Goodbye!"
Bang!
Before I could stop him, the door slammed shut with such force that the entire hut shook.
"...…."
Oh my?
"I told you it was suspicious."
Malfoy speaks up, looking triumphant.
"The gamekeeper being busy? As if. What, does he spend all twenty-four hours locked inside chopping firewood?"
Indeed, this does seem suspicious. Even Hagrid's shouting voice sounded faintly unsteady. Perhaps Draco is right, and this really is a problem.
"So then, the dragon is real?"
"Yes. I saw it with my own eyes."
If Malfoy's words are true, this is a very serious issue.
Dragons are extremely dangerous creatures, and keeping them is prohibited by law. Unless you're a researcher specializing in magical creatures, a mere staff member raising a dragon would mean instant dismissal if discovered. More importantly, Hagrid, please think a little more about student safety.
And besides.
"A real baby dragon… I'd like to see one with my own eyes, even just once."
The number of dragons is currently in decline, and they are rarely seen outside strictly managed magical nature preserves. On top of that, dragons are long-lived creatures, so the chance to see a newborn dragon that has just hatched from its egg might come only once in a lifetime, if at all.
"At this point, we're in it together. Draco, let's secure some proof."
"Y-Yeah."
And so, Malfoy and I began devising a plan to secure Hagrid's dragon…
＊＊
"Ah, I overslept."
How careless of me.
"…I must have completely dozed off from study fatigue."
When I checked the clock, it was already midnight. According to Malfoy's information, Ron's older brother, who studies dragons, was supposed to arrange the transport of the dragon at the Astronomy Tower at midnight on Saturday.
Apparently, by sheer good luck, Ron carelessly left a letter from his brother tucked inside a book, and Malfoy just happened to come across it and get his hands on it.
I hurriedly threw on my outdoor robes and headed down to the common room. As expected, Draco Malfoy was nowhere to be seen.
"…Looks like he went on ahead."
At the time, I had no way of knowing this, but if we had gone out together as planned, we would have been caught by Professor McGonagall side by side. In fact, unbeknownst to me, he was caught by Professor McGonagall, and Slytherin lost a full twenty points.
Thanks to oversleeping, a misfortune turned into a blessing.
Still, at that moment, I had no idea Malfoy had ended up in such a situation. Thinking that I might make it up to him later by helping him study as an apology for being late, I stepped outside the dormitory.
And then—
Meow.
"Oh my, isn't that Mrs. Norris?"
Mrs. Norris is the cat kept by the caretaker, Mr. Filch. I can't touch cats due to my constitution, but I don't dislike them. Since I don't have a pet of my own, I started feeding her leftover food, and she ended up growing fond of me.
Mrs. Norris stared at me intently, swishing her tail as if to say, "Give me something tasty, or I'll tattle," clearly expecting a midnight snack.
"Um, just in case… would you like some dried beef jerky?"
When I dangled it in front of her, Mrs. Norris sniffed at it, then, the moment I let go, caught the jerky neatly in her mouth before it hit the ground. She walked away, looking thoroughly satisfied.
"Well then, now I won't be reported to Mr. Filch. I suppose I'll head to the Astronomy Tower too."
Muttering to myself, I pulled out a broom I had hidden in the shadows of the corridor. For this occasion, Malfoy and I had borrowed a practice broom. Permission? As long as we don't get caught, it's fine.
"Hup."
Straddling the broom, I cut through the night sky toward the Astronomy Tower. The night view was beautiful, but it was terribly cold.
"Oh? That is…"
As I approached the tower on my broom, I saw four small silhouettes leap into the air from the rooftop. Between them was something like a large wooden crate, which presumably contained the dragon. The four figures flew away from Hogwarts, growing distant in the blink of an eye.
"That's a shame… I really didn't make it in time."
The dragon was gone. Even accounting for my exam fatigue, I couldn't help feeling a bit of self-loathing for sleeping through such a huge opportunity. Dejected.
"So it was all for nothing…"
As I sank into a slightly downcast mood, I noticed something on the rooftop of the Astronomy Tower flash briefly.
"What could that be? Did a dragon claw or fang fall down here…?"
Murmuring that, I landed on the rooftop, where I saw something shimmering faintly, reflecting the moonlight like a haze.
(A ghost? No, that's not it. It isn't moving.)
I approached cautiously, but the ghost-like object showed no reaction. Nervously reaching out, my fingertips brushed against something soft.
Could this be? Perhaps—
"An invisibility cloak?"
I picked it up and draped it over my robes. The moment I did, the part of me covered by the cloak vanished, as if it had become completely transparent.
"I see. So Harry and the others used an invisibility cloak to keep the dragon transport secret."
The idea itself impressed even me, but forgetting such an important item afterward shows that Harry and Hermione can be quite careless too. Though, coming from someone who overslept thanks to drowsiness, I suppose I shouldn't talk.
"Well, I'll return this to Harry later."
That said, since I had it anyway, I decided to use it for the night. Wearing the invisibility cloak, I flew down from the Astronomy Tower on my broom, returned the broom, and headed back to the dormitory.
"This cloak is surprisingly warm and comfortable. It's very practical too. It almost feels like a waste to give it back to Harry…"
Maybe I should just buy it off him. If he's willing to sell it, that is.
＊＊
However, the next day, the situation took a sudden turn.
The following morning, the first thing I did after waking up was look for Malfoy. I wanted to apologize for oversleeping the night before.
"Draco, I'm really sorry about yesterday. I was so sleepy, I just…"
"No, it's fine. Honestly, it helped that you overslept."
"What do you mean…?"
I stared at him blankly, not understanding, when Draco leaned in and whispered in my ear.
"Actually, yesterday I tried to lie in wait in front of the Gryffindor dorm without you, but I ran into McGonagall by sheer bad luck."
That really is unfortunate.
"Well, it's all in the past now. More importantly, Elaina, go check out the Great Hall. You'll see something absolutely delightful!"
Despite having been punished by Professor McGonagall, Malfoy was in an unusually good mood. He didn't seem upset about my lateness at all. Curious about what had put him in such high spirits, I stepped into the Great Hall.
"Oh my, did something happen?"
When I arrived, there was a much larger crowd than usual. People had gathered in front of the hourglasses that displayed each house's points.
And what I saw there was—
"M-minus 150 points…"
Gryffindor's score had dropped by an astonishing 150 points overnight. I stood there dumbfounded, my mouth hanging open, when I heard whispers all around me.
"Apparently three Gryffindor first-years snuck out in the middle of the night. And one of them was Harry Potter."
So that was the "delightful thing" Malfoy mentioned…
When I looked at the other house point hourglasses, Slytherin's deduction was easy to miss in the shadow of Gryffindor's massive loss, but on closer inspection, Slytherin was down twenty points as well. That was probably, no, almost certainly Malfoy's doing.
I shuddered at how narrowly I had escaped disaster. If I had woken up even a little earlier, or if Harry and the others hadn't forgotten the invisibility cloak, the one blamed for a massive point deduction might have been me.
By that afternoon, the rumor had spread throughout the entire school. Harry Potter, once the most famous student at Hogwarts, had overnight become the most disliked.
Not only Gryffindor, which had lost points, but even Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff cast accusatory looks his way. They too had been hoping to see Slytherin lose the House Cup.
Ironically, or rather, in the height of irony, the usually hostile Slytherins were the ones thanking him instead, whistling and jeering with lines like, "You owe us one, Potter!"
"Serves them right, honestly!"
Faced with Pansy's refreshed, satisfied smile, all I could do was offer an awkward, ambiguous grin.
(End of chapter)
Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon
https://patreon.com/Glimmer09