"It's not fair, lah! Why am I the only one in the other dorm?" Pansy complained.

At her first breakfast at Hogwarts, her voice overpowered the aroma of muffin dough and the steam lingering from her breakfast tea.

"You can go to Professor Snape and protest if you're upset," Draco suggested to Pansy with a straight face as she stifled a laugh.

"Ruthless Miss Malfoy ......," Pansy glanced at the high table where Professor Snape was dining and leaned over to lie lightly on the long table, beaming and burying her face in the crook of her arm in a low complaint.

Draco and Daphne shared a smirk at Pansy's frustration.

As soon as Draco's trio appeared in the Great Hall, they attracted a lot of curious glances. The Malfoy family was, after all, one of the most important families in the wizarding world, and being so close to Draco meant that Pansy and Daphne quickly became the talk of the campus.

Pansy's downcast appearance naturally caught the attention of many surprised students. Many thought that a traditional aristocratic girl with a surname like Twenty-Eight would not show her emotions so easily in front of outsiders.

"Don't feel bad, except for sleeping, we're still together all the time, ah." Daphne had felt a little uncomfortable with Pansy's disregard for table manners, but now she just patted her shoulder and reassured her gently.

"Oooh, but I just want to be in the same room as you," Pansy said with a hint of demoralization in her tone.

"I'll ask ...... for you again," Draco could only cry and laugh at the same time, while coldly glaring back at a few pairs of eyes that couldn't stop stealing glances.

Before the words were finished, they were drowned out by the voices rising and falling in the Great Hall.

"Is he here?"

"Saw him, saw him! Right next to the big guy with the red hair!"

"Is he the one with the glasses?"

"Did you see his scar?"

The words were so exciting that even Pansy looked up and joined Daphne in looking toward the entrance to the Great Hall.

"Harry Potter again?" asked Draco, but without turning around, just in an icy tone.

"Looks like he and the Weasleys are coming in for breakfast."

Before Pansy could finish her explanation, Draco had sprung to her feet.

"I can't eat anymore, I'm going back to get ready for class."

Without waiting for Pansy and Daphne to react, Draco had already made her way to the doors of the Great Hall.

Seeing the crowd around Harry Potter blocking the way, Draco gave a light, impatient cough.

As the students quickly made way for her, Draco sprinted past, muttering to herself as she dropped the words that caused the lively atmosphere to freeze, "Tacky as hell".

---

The first week of classes at Hogwarts had been more difficult than expected, but not without its rewards.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

Draco noticed, with a touch of impatience, that some of the teachers shared the students' excited reaction to Harry Potter's arrival, which was unbecoming of a teacher.

Charms, for example, was a course Draco had been looking forward to, taught by the Head of Ravenclaw, Professor Filius Flitwick.

However, Professor Flitwick fell head over heels with excitement when he mentioned Harry Potter in class. Charms immediately became Draco's most hated class.

Had it not been for Professor Flitwick's masterful teaching, his constant emphasis on the essentials of successful spell-casting, and his warnings to students not to wield their wands blindly, but to first grasp the principles of magic, Draco would have been on the verge of mentally classifying Charms as even lower than History of Magic.

"Recognise magic, don't just rely on the wand."

That's what Severus had taught Draco a long time ago.

Professor Flitwick seemed to have a similar view. At the end of the class, he'd have the students pull out their wands and practice casting spells, but most of the class was spent just understanding how to chant and wiggle their wands to effectively exorcise magic.

Draco quickly realized that some of the professors were so poor that it was difficult to understand how they were able to teach at Hogwarts.

Such is the case with Defence Against the Dark Arts, which Pansy is most looking forward to.

Professor Quirrell would often blanch and just swear about her adventures, but never give a serious talk about what the Dark Arts were and how students could defend themselves against them.

However, there are some professors who are wise in their words and have a strength that should not be underestimated.

Such is the case with Flitwick, who, despite the fact that his reaction to Harry Potter displeased Draco greatly, is an extremely powerful teacher .......

Professor McGonagall, who teaches Transfiguration (and is also Head of Gryffindor), is a similar case.

Unlike Professor Flitwick, who was tame and made a point of following the rules, Professor McGonagall began by giving the students a stern warning as soon as they entered the classroom.

"Transfiguration is one of the most complex and dangerous types of magic in your classes at Hogwarts," she said.

"Anyone caught playing in class will be asked to leave immediately and will never be allowed in my classroom again."

And then there was a nod of the wand that turned the podium into a piglet.

Pansy and Daphne jumped for joy.

Draco, however, just mentally concentrated on her notes.

Severus had also said that Potions was the most complicated and dangerous course of all.

And Draco clearly agreed with Severus' explanation more than the ever-strict Professor McGonagall.

As the bell rang and Transfiguration ended, Draco finally confirmed the biggest takeaway of the week. In the first exercise, trying to turn a match into a sewing needle, Draco was the only Slytherin student who managed to turn the match's flame into a needle.

Draco, still reeling from her failure, receives a rare compliment from Professor McGonagall:

Slytherin gets five points for Draco's excellent performance.

As a result, Draco becomes the first freshman to earn points for Slytherin.

At the end of the lesson, many of the new students happily crowded around them.

Daphne and Pansy just smiled silently from the sidelines.

Looking at them, Draco winked playfully.

Clearly getting on well together, it was only natural that Draco should be the star freshman in the House Cup for points.

What really made Draco happy about Professor McGonagall's praise was the valuable information she received.

It was that, apart from her, the only other girl in the year who had managed to deform games in Gryffindor was a girl called Hermione Granger.

Harry Potter, it seemed, was nothing more than a name.

"Smug, huh, looks like you beat Harry Potter?" Pansy whispered pleasantly in Draco's ear on the way back to the common room.

"We'll see for ourselves in Potions tomorrow, won't we?" Draco spoke softly, trying to contain the joy in her heart.

Even though it seemed from Professor McGonagall's strings that Harry-Potter's performance was rather mediocre, Draco still had to confirm it with her own eyes.

And then Draco seemed to remember something and couldn't help but frown.

"Rather ......"

Before she could say anything, Daphne had taken over.

"That girl called Granger?"

"She seems really good at it, everyone's talking about her."

"It's just that she doesn't seem to be very popular ......"

Draco turned her head and her eyes widened in surprise.

It hadn't occurred to her that Daphne would be so interested in the gossip of the students.

Daphne seemed to see Draco's surprise as well, and with a bit of shyness on her face, she explained quietly.

"People will be afraid of you and Pansy, so they will be looking for me to talk to ......"

"Yes, yes, yes, everyone's favorite is the gentlest Miss Greengrass."

"Awwww ......!!!" Pansy pinched Daphne's cheeks and mocked her, and Daphne could only protest helplessly.