Harry Potter : In the shadow of divinity22.62%

Chapter - 19 : The Serpent's Welcome part - 3

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(P).(A).(T).(R).(E).(O).(N)

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Just like that, any traces of civility Harry had been clinging too disappeared; the moment the slurs left the older boys mouth, his face turned to stone and his eyes glinted with a frightening emerald fire. "Listen to me, you repulsive, inbred excuse for a wizard," the raven haired boy said, words so sharp and cutting and laced with such an intent to hurt, those all the way at the far side of the common room flinched away from him, "you came here hoping to prove your dominance over me, to show the puny first year Harry Potter just who exactly is in charge, maybe even try to scare me away from Slytherin. Well, you gave it your worst, now it's my turn.

"You called my mother a mudblood as if I was supposed to be offended, as if I was supposed to leap to her defense when, in truth, I would sooner be a muggleborn, a mudblood, before I had to bear the shame of being a pureblood."

"And what do you mean by that?" Pucey growled.

"I mean that there are some pureblood families who are so obsessed with blood purity they would gladly screw their own mother if only to keep their lines pure. You are obviously an example of such a family, you inbred chauvinist."

The insult proved to be the final straw in provoking Pucey into drawing his wand. Unfortunately, Harry was far quicker, before the other teen even had a chance to raise his wand, he shot off a stinging spell that had Pucey reeling back in stunned pain.

"I may be small," Harry said as he cast his would be opponent a disdainful sneer. "I may only be a first year, but do not mistake my size for weakness and do not mistake my youth for ignorance or you will find yourself sorely wishing you hadn't. I am stronger, I am smarter, and I am far more powerful than you could ever hope to be."

Pucey gripped the edge of a couch in an attempt to regain his balance as he fumbled to get a better grip on his wand. "You arrogant little-"

"Be quiet, this conversation is over, you are not fit to lick the bottom of my boots let alone speak to me as if you were my equal, and quite frankly I'm sick of hearing you attempt to butcher your way through the English language. Now, if you don't mind, it's getting late and I have classes tomorrow. Draco, Blaise, will you be joining me?"

His two year mates exchanged hesitant glances before nodding. "Of course. Lead the way."

When they were in the relative privacy of the first year, boy's dorm room, Draco turned to him with a look of wide-eyed, astonishment. It was the first human expression Harry had seen on the haughty blonde. "You know you just made enemies out of Pucey and all of his friends, right?"

"And I've only been here an hour," Harry grinned. "Exciting isn't it?"

Blaise chuckled and shook his head incredulously. "That's one way of putting it. I'll have to keep an eye on you, Potter. I'm already beginning to get the idea that, wherever you'll be, trouble will follow."

He couldn't have been more right.

The shortcuts Higgs and Farley had provided the night before proved to be invaluable when it came to getting to class on time, not only because Harry, Draco, and Blaise knew they would be absolutely lost without them, but because even if they had known of a secondary, more widely used route, it would have taken them twice as long to get to where they were heading and they most certainly would have been late. Even with the prefects' advice, they made it to their first class of the day, Defense Against the Dark Arts with Professor Quarrel with only a few minutes to spare. Unfortunately, the very first lesson of their very first year at Hogwarts proved to be an absolute disappointment.

Quirrell was a nervous little man who had the absolute worst stutter and seemed terrified of his own shadow. His classroom reeked of garlic and anytime he looked in Harry's direction, his scar throbbed painfully.

History of Magic, taught by the ghost Professor Binns, was just as bad. Binns's monotonous voice and complete lack of enthusiasm regarding his subject succeeded in making what should have been the fascinating topic of goblin rebellions more tedious than reading the back of a cereal box.

Fortunately, both Transfiguration and Charms more than lived up to Harry's expectations. While Potions left Harry feeling the slightest bit puzzled. Harry's first impression of his Head of House, Professor Severus Snape was that he held an intense dislike toward him; he was careful not to display his hostility outright, likely because Harry was one his snakes and it would have only give Slytherin house a bad name. But, more often than not, Harry was able to catch a gleam of distaste in the man's eyes whenever he was looking in his direction. Instead of being cowed by the somewhat intimidating potions master, Harry went out of his way to mollify his displeasure; the few times Professor Snape spoke to him, he made sure to keep his tone even and respectful, he did his best to keep the conversations between Draco, Blaise, and himself to a minimum, and he paid the assigned potion and the written instructions that went along with it especially close attention to ensure it came out as near perfect as possible. And while Snape may not have been showing him the same favor he exhibited toward some of the other Slytherins, Draco most notably, by the end of the lesson he was at least no longer looking at him as if he were something he'd scraped from the bottom of his cauldron.

By the end of his first day, Harry was exhausted and looking forward to a warm meal to replenish his waning energy. However, when he reached the Great Hall, he veered off of the course that would lead him to his house table and headed in the direction of the Ravenclaws.