Chapter 46 Observer

Daphne pov:

Daphne is sitting in a corner of the common room with Tracey, pretending to read while doing the same thing she has been doing for the past month, watching Harry Potter from afar.

This started out as an ideal curiosity but after watching him for a month it has turned into a completely different thing, the potter boy is a puzzle that she can't let go of no matter what.

Harry is lying on the couch right in front of the fireplace just like he usually does, reading a black leather book without a care in the world, the werewolf sitting on the chair beside him would talk to Harry once in a while but is mostly focused on writing his essay.

The couch and two chairs in front of the fireplace with the beautifully carved mantelpiece is a seat of power and influence for Slytherins, only available to the most powerful and influential members of their house, first-years are not even allowed to go anywhere near that place let alone sit there.

But right now a first-year and a werewolf are casually sitting in that position but no one dares to even say anything let alone try to do something about it.

Harry Potter has firmly placed himself on the top since the day he entered the house, of course even after that display of power on his first day there were still many who tried to challenge him. But Slytherin is the house of cunning so when faced with a powerful adversary we Slytherins get creative.

Harry has been ambushed multiple times throughout the month by a bunch of optimistic fourth years to the cocky seventh years and everything in between. But every time the result was the same, no matter how many or who attacked him they all got destroyed. Everyone had their own reasons to attack potter, some thought a half-blood shouldn't act like he owned the place, some just wanted to humble their new leader by showing he can't do everything alone, some just thought that he is overrated, some just wanted an alliance and what better to start a negotiation than having your opponent on the ropes, etc.

At least Potter showed some sense and didn't send all of these would-be challengers to the hospital wing like he did the first night, but everyone who dared to challenge him returned with at least a few broken bones. This never got out of the house as this was a matter of internal power struggle but the Slytherin students who are expert potion makers had to suddenly brew lots of skele-gro and other restorative potions.

Coincidentally a bunch of senior members of their house got in all sorts of mysterious accidents all over the giant dungeon.

The first three years don't even have a clue of the various undercurrents flowing in the background through the House of Slytherin, Daphne was able to piece together the whole picture by noticing these little things because of her knack for observation and the fact that she is natural legilimens.

Through such overwhelming displays of power, Harry Potter has firmly placed himself as an overlord of their entire house. In Slytherin you earn respect only through power and connections, it can be any type of power like political power, financial power, etc. But in the entire history of their house, the ones who rose through the ranks with just their magical might alone can be counted on one hand.

In just a month Slytherin house has gone through subtle changes, no matter what your personal opinions are at having a werewolf amongst them, no one even dares to give the boy as much as a bad look. Even using words like mudbloods can cause trouble under this new regime.

While the house as a whole has accepted its new leader and follows his every command, no one even really knows Harry Potter. Potter is more or less completely isolated from the rest with his only connection being the werewolf boy that constantly follows him around.

The same can be said for the entire school as a whole, everyone knows who Harry Potter is but nothing about him. The only people Potter interacts with other than the professors

are his siblings, Longbottom and the werewolf boy.

But you can learn a lot about a person just by watching them, at least when you are as observant as Daphne. Throughout this month she has learned only a few things about Potter but all of them paint a very intriguing picture.

First, Harry Potter is insanely good with magic, he has no need for incantations or wand movements he just waves his wand and magic just naturally happens around him. How the hell can some be so good in just their first year is beyond her, some people are already comparing Potter to a young Dumbledore.

Second, Potter either completely lacks social skills or sees no need in communicating with other people. The boy spends most of his time talking to his beautiful snowy white owl or with the half-giant gamekeeper in his hut. Potter even skips entire classes that he deems unnecessary, the boy has not even attended a single lecture given by professor Quirrell. But Daphne has to agree that those lectures are useless, but Potter is only allowed to act this way because of his unprecedented displays of practical magic.

Third, Potter is a living portrayal of contradictions. Through his every action Daphne can see a feline grace and elegance, Potter is obviously raised with the highest standards of etiquette but the boy has no respect for decorum. He can be rude to anyone just to get his point across.

Potter is most probably the most talented student this school has ever seen but even though he spends hours in the school library every day reading books on Merlin knows what but he has never even submitted a single written assignment.

Everything Daphne learns about him only leads to more questions and no answers. Time for watching from a distance is over, if she wants answers she has to talk with Potter directly.