can i have this?
it's not my fault the teachers have favorites. that hermione granger --
bet you loved that, didn't you, potter? famous harry potter. can't even go into a bookshop without making the front page.
look, potter. you've got yourself a girlfriend!
that's right. and that's not all that's new this year.  as one, the seven slytherins hold out seven brand-new gleaming broomsticks. the gryffindors look stunned.
that's right, weasley. you see, unlike some, my father can afford to buy the best.
no one asked your opinion, you filthy little mudblood.
enemies of the heir, beware! you'll be next, mudbloods! draco's eyes find hermione, just as filch appears.
all right there, scarhead? harry turns, eyes malfoy malevolently. behind him, a bludger drops into frame, begins to streak toward his head.
training for the ballet, potter? harry glances at malfoy's sneering face. buzzing inches above malfoy's left ear is.  the golden snitch. harry charges. malfoy gulps, swings clear, and watches harry rocket past. as harry chases the plummeting snitch, malfoy follows in hot pursuit. they race downward, trailing the hissing snitch deep into the trench circling the pitch. shoulder to shoulder, they race madly, driving and dodging the wooden support beams that crisscross their path. directly behind them, the bludger follows, shattering the beams as it dogs harry. malfoy kicks harry, forcing him to the edge of the trench. harry brushes the wall, battling for control. malfoy turns, snickers, then looks back.  and finds himself heading smack into a wooden beam. panicked, he tries to pull up. too late. broom meets beam and malfoy spirals out of the trench and -- thwump! -- flat on his back in the middle of the pitch.
scared, potter?
serpensortia! to harry's horror, the tip of malfoy's wand explodes and a long black snake slithers forth. snape smiles with amusement.
crabbe. goyle. where have you been? pigging out in the great hall all this time? draco is walking towards them, glances witheringly at percy.
and what are you doing down here, weasley?
come on, boys. weasley thinks he's going to catch slytherin's hair single-handed.
listen to this.  draco grabs the daily prophet, reads the front page.
'arthur weasley, head of the misuse of muggle artefacts office, was today fined fifty galleons for bewitching a muggle car. "weasley has brought the ministry into disrepute," said lucius malfoy, a governor of hogwarts. "he is clearly unfit to draw up our laws and his ridiculous muggle protection act should be scrapped immediately."' grinning, malfoy glances over the paper at harry and ron.
arthur weasley loves muggle so much he should snap his wand in half and go join them. you'd never know the weasleys were purebloods, the way they behave. embarrassment to the wizarding world. all of them. ron growls. harry elbows him. draco looks surprised.
what's up with you, crabbe?
well, go to the hospital wing and give all those mudbloods a kick in the arse for me! you know, i'm surprised the daily prophet hasn't reported all these attacks yet. i suppose dumbledore's trying to hush it all up. he'll be sacked if it doesn't stop soon. father always said dumbledore's the worst thing that's ever happened to this place.
what? did you say that i was wrong? you think there's someone here who's worse than dumbledore? ron stiffens. worried. harry thinks, then:
good one, goyle. you're absolutely right. saint potter. he's another one with no proper wizard feeling, or he wouldn't go around with that mudblood granger. and people actually think he's the heir of slytherin. harry and ron exchange a glance. harry leans closer to draco.
you know i haven't, goyle. how many times do i have to tell you? but my father did say this much: it's been fifty years since the chamber was opened. he wouldn't tell me who opened it -- only that they were expelled -- but i know this: the last time the chamber of secrets was opened, a mudblood died.
so it's only a matter of time before one of them's killed this time. as for me.  i hope it's granger. as malfoy grins, ron's fist rises.  when harry stops him.
what's the matter with you two? you're acting very.  odd.
hey! where are you going?