Saturday, November 9th, Slytherin Common Room
Harry decided to wait until a week into November before trying out the Slytherin digs. That way they might have calmed down from the shellacking they'd received during the game.
Being an apprentice meant Harry was keyed into all the houses and had an override password like the teachers used. As he entered the common room, immediately all eyes there centered on him. It was mid morning and the room wasn't full, but there were still plenty of students. Draco Malfoy was sitting in a chair reviewing a book when Harry walked in.
Draco caught Harry's eye and arched his eyebrow as if to ask if he was here to stay for a bit.
Harry nodded slightly and Draco got up to explain a few things to the apprentice. And maybe get the inside scoop on the winking conspiracy. If he could get that one solved, then he could again concentrate on finding out why those pesky house elves kept hiding his socks.
"Moving in today?" Draco commented as Harry met him in the middle of the room.
Harry nodded. "Just for a few weeks. I want to see if I like this house any better than the others."
"You do know we have an initiation to spring on you, right?"
"Does it involve me getting spanked with a paddle and having to say, 'Thank you sir, may I have another?'"
"No."
"That's good. Because I'm not into that."
"Don't tell Flint that because I'm sure he'd want to try it out. Guy's a total wanker."
Harry smiled. This Draco was so unlike the one he'd first met. "So I've noticed. I take it the initiation will be magical?"
"Of course," Draco sniffed.
"Same type sprung on every incoming first year?"
Draco shook his head slightly. "Actually, some of the prefects speculated you would have been here sooner than now and went so far as to prepare some particularly vindictive spell clusters to send your way."
Harry feigned his hurt. "Why? What did I ever do to them?"
Draco understood the jibe. "Harry, really. Don't you recall the Slytherin/Gryffindor match? You know, where you beat all of our players up."
"They started it."
"I'm sure they did. And it was a wonderful learning opportunity for them, but now that you're here, they want you to pay for their embarrassment."
"So how long does this initiation go on for?"
"I could lie and say for an hour, but since I like your style, I'll tell you the truth. It's probably going to go on for about a half hour."
"How long is the initiation for 1st years?"
"Usually takes less than a minute seeing as they don't know how to defend themselves from the stingers. You, however, have a reputation already of knowing shields."
"And what am I supposed to do during all this time?"
"Why, survive of course."
"Who should I look out for most of all?"
Draco turned and indicated an older student with black short black hair talking animatedly to a group of four other boys. "My guess would be Max Graile, a 6th year prefect whose family is really into dueling. After Slytherin's defeat in the game, he spelled the team to double their weight for an entire day. He said it was apparent they weren't in good enough shape and needed to lose some of their baby fat to play competitively. He's okay most of the time, but when it comes to dueling, he wants to win in the worst way."
"Any helpful hints?"
Draco began to move away as Harry noticed that more Slytherin students (particularly the 7th year students) came into the common room, wands drawn. Max and the other students moved apart to better surround him. It wasn't hard since he was in the center of the common room (where he'd intended to be after all).
"If you want to end this hazing quickly, do it in Slytherin style to gain their respect. Otherwise, you might find yourself repeating this a couple more times before your two weeks are up."
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