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wand back into his trunk. "Stupid spell -- George gave it to me, bet he |
knew it was a dud." |
"What house are your brothers in?" asked Harry. |
"Gryffindor," said Ron. Gloom seemed to be settling on him again. "Mom |
and Dad were in it, too. I don't know what they'll say if I'm not. I |
don't suppose Ravenclaw would be too bad, but imagine if they put me in |
Slytherin." |
"That's the house Vol-, I mean, You-Know-Who was in?" |
"Yeah," said Ron. He flopped back into his seat, looking depressed. |
"You know, I think the ends of Scabbers' whiskers are a bit lighter," |
said Harry, trying to take Ron's mind off houses. "So what do your |
oldest brothers do now that they've left, anyway?" |
Harry was wondering what a wizard did once he'd finished school. |
"Charlie's in Romania studying dragons, and Bill's in Africa doing |
something for Gringotts," said Ron. "Did you hear about |
Gringotts? It's been all over the Daily Prophet, but I don't suppose you |
get that with the Muggles -- someone tried to rob a high security |
vault." |
Harry stared. |
"Really? What happened to them?" |
"Nothing, that's why it's such big news. They haven't been caught. My |
dad says it must've been a powerful Dark wizard to get round Gringotts, |
but they don't think they took anything, that's what's odd. 'Course, |
everyone gets scared when something like this happens in case |
You-Know-Who's behind it." |
Harry turned this news over in his mind. He was starting to get a |
prickle of fear every time You- Know-Who was mentioned. He supposed this |
was all part of entering the magical world, but it had been a lot more |
comfortable saying "Voldemort" without worrying. |
"What's your Quidditch team?" Ron asked. |
"Er -- I don't know any," Harry confessed. |
"What!" Ron looked dumbfounded. "Oh, you wait, it's the best game in the |
world --" And he was off, explaining all about the four balls and the |
positions of the seven players, describing famous games he'd been to |
with his brothers and the broomstick he'd like to get if he had the |
money. He was just taking Harry through the finer points of the game |
when the compartment door slid open yet again, but it wasn't Neville the |
toadless boy, or Hermione Granger this time. |
Three boys entered, and Harry recognized the middle one at once: it was |
the pale boy from Madam Malkin's robe shop. He was looking at Harry with |
a lot more interest than he'd shown back in Diagon Alley. |
"Is it true?" he said. "They're saying all down the train that Harry |
Potter's in this compartment. So it's you, is it?" |
"Yes," said Harry. He was looking at the other boys. Both of them were |
thickset and looked extremely mean. Standing on either side of the pale |
boy, they looked like bodyguards. |
"Oh, this is Crabbe and this is Goyle," said the pale boy carelessly, |
noticing where Harry was looking. "And my name's Malfoy, Draco Malfoy." |
Ron gave a slight cough, which might have been hiding a snigget. Draco |
Malfoy looked at him. |
"Think my name's funny, do you? No need to ask who you are. My father |
told me all the Weasleys have red hair, freckles, and more children than |
they can afford." |
He turned back to Harry. "You'll soon find out some wizarding families |
are much better than others, Potter. You don't want to go making friends |
with the wrong sort. I can help you there." |
He held out his hand to shake Harry's, but Harry didn't take it. |
"I think I can tell who the wrong sort are for myself, thanks," he said |
coolly. |
Draco Malfoy didn't go red, but a pink tinge appeared in his pale |
cheeks. |
"I'd be careful if I were you, Potter," he said slowly. "Unless you're a |
bit politer you'll go the same way as your parents. They didn't know |
what was good for them, either. You hang around with riffraff like the |
Weasleys and that Hagrid, and it'll rub off on you." |
Both Harry and Ron stood up. |
"Say that again," Ron said, his face as red as his hair. |
"Oh, you're going to fight us, are you?" Malfoy sneered. |
"Unless you get out now," said Harry, more bravely than he felt, because |
Crabbe and Goyle were a lot bigger than him or Ron. |
"But we don't feet like leaving, do we, boys? We've eaten all our food |
and you still seem to have some." |
Goyle reached toward the Chocolate Frogs next to Ron - Ron leapt |
forward, but before he'd so much as touched Goyle, Goyle let out a |
horrible yell. |
Scabbers the rat was hanging off his finger, sharp little teeth sunk |
deep into Goyle's knuckle - Crabbe and Malfoy backed away as Goyle swung |
Scabbers round and round, howling, and when Scabbets finally flew off |
and hit the window, all three of them disappeared at once. Perhaps they |
thought there were more rats lurking among the sweets, or perhaps they'd |
heard footsteps, because a second later, Hermione Granger had come in. |
"What has been going on?" she said, looking at the sweets all over the |
floor and Ron picking up Scabbers by his tail. |
I think he's been knocked out," Ron said to Harry. He looked closer at |
Scabbers. "No -- I don't believe it -- he's gone back to sleep-" |
And so he had. |
"You've met Malfoy before?" |
Harry explained about their meeting in Diagon Alley. |
"I've heard of his family," said Ron darkly. "They were some of the |
first to come back to our side after You-Know-Who disappeared. Said |
they'd been bewitched. My dad doesn't believe it. He says Malfoy's |
father didn't need an excuse to go over to the Dark Side." He turned to |
Hermione. "Can we help you with something?" |
"You'd better hurry up and put your robes on, I've just been up to the |
front to ask the conductor, and he says we're nearly there. You haven't |
been fighting, have you? You'll be in trouble before we even get there!" |
"Scabbers has been fighting, not us," said Ron, scowling at her. "Would |
you mind leaving while we change?" |
"All right -- I only came in here because people outside are behaving |
very childishly, racing up and down the corridors," said Hermione in a |
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