The Secret Society Ch. 3.1 (Harry Potter)

Read Chapter 2.2 here 

The first thought in Harry’s mind when he saw the room was that it was smaller than last year. Significantly so, from what he could remember.

Someone had tampered with his room assignment. Harry had made sure to reserve the largest room available for their year. In fact, he had done so since his first year. It was one of the few privileges that Harry took advantage of once he reinforced that he wasn’t a half-blood that would turn into a bootlicker.

After living in a cupboard for the majority of his life, Harry hated the idea of living in a small room. Even more than that, the fact that someone had the gall to downgrade his living space enraged him. It was like all the work Harry had done to better his life could be taken away by the whim of some little pureblood shite.

Harry stood at the doorway as he tried to quash his rapidly growing anger. Even if he felt it was justified, nothing good would come from him flying off the handle.

The only ones that had the power to change the room assignments were the Prefects. Technically, Snape also had the power, but no matter how petty he was, this was not something he would do. That left Draco Malfoy and Pansy Parkinson.

The former was the boy that called Harry a filthy half-blood. The one that woke him up to the reality of what House Slytherin really was.

Malfoy also happened to be the one that continually tried to fuck with Harry, no matter how unsuccessful his past attempts were. However, it looked like it finally succeeded. The fact that Malfoy had the guts to do this meant there was something new that gave him confidence.

Harry exhaled slowly and stepped into the room after closing the door behind him. The trunk levitating behind him slammed onto the floor loudly as Harry walked over to the bed.

The looks Harry had gotten when he entered the common room from Malfoy and his cronies suddenly made much more sense. That lot generally tried to pretend like Harry didn’t exist since they could do nothing to him.

Harry was thankful that he had a habit of skipping the sorting in the past. It gave him the opportunity to bring himself under control so Malfoy wouldn’t be blasted into smithereens on instinct. Plus, Harry needed to come up with a plan of action. This slight couldn’t be left unanswered.

Harry’s ears perked up when he heard a door being closed. He quickly strode out of the room to see Nott walking to the common room. After hastily sealing the door behind him, Harry followed his new neighbor.

“Nott!” Harry said with a raised voice, “I have something to ask you.”

Harry ignored that Nott looked like he’d rather be anywhere but here.

“I have to head to the great hall. I don’t have much time to waste.”

For Harry, that was more telling than any answer Nott might give him. The boy was a loner, not being part of Malfoy’s group and not quite fitting in with the other purebloods. When Harry had spoken to Nott in the past, he was eager to make the conversation last as long as possible, most likely keen to socialize with someone he didn’t view below his station.

“You don’t?” Harry asked casually, “Shame. You’ll have to make time, I’m afraid. Tell me. What has Malfoy been up to?”

“I don’t know,” Theodore walked back to make some space between them, “Just stay out of his way this year. I can’t be seen talking to you. Sorry.”

Harry didn’t bother to stop Nott from speed-walking away from him. He was busy being frustrated about being surprised by what was happening. For Harry, that meant far more significant issues were at hand.

His sources among the purebloods stayed silent about this, which meant they saw no more need for his services. Harry didn’t blame them but was more concerned about what caused it.

Since Greengrass seemed to have no hesitation with staying in contact, this could be quickly patched up with her help, but that would give the girl far too much power over him. It would be terrifying for Harry to fall into her clutches.

“Just when I thought it was going great, everything went to shite. A perfect way to start the year,” Harry muttered as he made his way to the common room. There wasn’t much point staying behind to make any sort of plans. How could Harry do that when he wasn’t even sure what had happened. This was more than Malfoy being a prick like usual.

The common room was much less packed than before, with most students leaving for the sorting. Luckily, Zabini was his antisocial self and was brooding in front of the fireplace.

Harry sat in the armchair next to him and greeted, “Zabini.”

“Potter.”

“Why does Nott look terrified to speak to me?”

Harry was confused when Zabini looked at him like he was an idiot. He quickly looked through his memories to see if there was something that he had missed, but nothing stood out.

“Are you asking this for free?”

“What do you want in return?” Harry was prepared to make a deal for his own peace of mind.

“Tell me what I want to know about Daphne.”

Harry could feel from Zabini’s reaction that this wouldn’t be a fair trade, but he was more than willing to take a loss just so he wouldn’t be at a disadvantage when he went to the great hall. The problem was that a contract couldn’t be made right now. Harry had no desire to occupy the hospital bed,

“That I can’t do,” Harry made to stand up, “I’m sure there are others that could help me.”

“Wait,” Blaise stopped him from leaving, “Give me a larger discount. Ten percent, and we have a deal.”

“Done,” Harry was curious about how worthless this information was for Zabini to ask so little.

“It’s his return. With who your parents are, is this a surprise?”

Harry blinked, wondering if his intelligence had fallen recently. Harry had been so immersed in his life at Hogwarts that he didn’t consider that a seismic change in the world outside would affect it. The return of the Dark Lord would definitely qualify.

“That’s the reason?” Harry did his best to sound unaffected, “How disappointing. What about you? Why are you not like Nott?”

“Mother says she has already prepared to return to Italy if things are out of control.”

Harry gave a mental nod to the infamous Mrs. Zabini. Killing multiple husbands without getting caught must require some amount of brainpower. Having a contingency when everything went to shite was smart.

“Good to hear, Zabini,” Harry said as he got up, “Have the galleons ready tomorrow, and I’ll tell you what you want to hear about Daphne.”

As he left the common room, Harry wondered how the seating was arranged at the Slytherin table. He usually had a seat reserved between year-mates with equal ‘standing.’ That simply meant that Harry was grouped together with a bunch of arrogant purebloods.

There was no doubt that had been changed without notice. If it hadn’t been mandatory to sit with the house they belonged to for the sorting, Harry could have easily avoided embarrassment by sitting with his ‘friends’ in Ravenclaw. It looked like he would have no choice but to be demoted to sit at the end with the other rejects of Slytherin.

Harry quickly accepted the new reality, but that didn’t mean there weren’t thoughts of revenge brewing in his mind. His only solace was that his business in the other houses wasn’t affected at all. Slytherin was lost for now, but that wouldn’t last forever.

His housemates had forgotten that Voldemort wasn’t in Hogwarts to protect them.

Harry's green eyes flashed with rage before it was quickly extinguished as he stepped into the noisy great hall, leaving no trace that it had ever existed.

Read Chapter 3.2 here