Chapter 4: Draco's First Encounter with Potter + Extra 1: The First Friend (Harry's Perspective)
When the Malfoys emerged from the snow-white building that towered over the surrounding shops, the street was already brighter with sunlight.
The goblin guards in scarlet and gold-studded uniforms bowed to them and sent Gringotts' important customers away.
In Diagon Alley, the number of wizards coming and going gradually increased, and they flowed continuously on the narrow cobblestone street.
With the start of school approaching, little wizards from almost all over Britain come here to buy school supplies, which makes it difficult to keep a distance from others when walking - you risk bumping into others wherever you go.
The Malfoys didn't really enjoy this level of excitement. They paused on the steps of Gringotts, none of them wanting to immediately walk into such a busy crowd.
"These people have made Diagon Alley as crowded as a pigsty." Lucius said impatiently, narrowing his eyes.
"It will be faster if we act separately." Narcissa made a quick decision.
"Okay, I'll go to Flourish and Blotts to buy some books." Lucius said simply, playing with his snake-head cane.
"Isn't it ladies first? Don't I have a choice?" Narcissa glanced at her husband arrogantly with her blue eyes, her tone slightly provocative.
"A proper gentleman would not let his wife walk around the streets with a pile of thick books. Cissy, why don't you go to Ollivanders and take a look at Draco's wand? Or, see if there are any new witch robes." Lucius looked at Narcissa, and a hint of imperceptible tenderness flashed in his arrogant gray eyes.
"Lucius, you're shopping for Draco today." Narcissa pinched Lucius' arm in a sly tone. "I'm going to Ollivander's to get the best wand I can. Draco, how about you go to Madam Malkin's Robe Shop and order some custom wizard robes, then meet me there?"
"I have no objection." Draco said calmly.
Why didn't he notice these details in his previous life - their ubiquitous little movements?
In this life, when he was paying attention everywhere, he discovered that his parents had been secretly making dog food in front of him.
Draco Malfoy in his previous life was a blind and foolish son who lived in his own world.
Before long, Draco was standing on a footstool in Madam Malkin's robe shop, having his length measured with a safety pin by a young witch.
His attention was not on the robes, because through the window of the store, he could vaguely see Potter and the gamekeeper named Hagrid walking towards the store.
There was no mistaking the huge, elephantine figure of the gamekeeper, whose fierce, rough, featureless face and beetle-like eyes made it hard not to notice him in a crowd.
Before Potter arrived, Draco put aside his usual arrogance and gently asked Madam Malkin, "Madam, I would like to ask if you sell invisibility cloaks?"
"Child, why are you asking this? This is not a question a little boy should ask..." Madam Malkin was a short and fat woman dressed in purple, who smiled sweetly at the guests.
But if you think she's easy to talk to, you're being naive. Draco knew very well that the seemingly gentle Madam Malkin was quite shrewd and knew her limits. She wouldn't easily sell such high-end, expensive magical fabric to a little boy who was just about to start school.
At this moment, she even looked at Draco with suspicion because he made such an age-inappropriate request.
But a pure Malfoy always knows how to use sweet talk and deception to achieve his goals.
"I'm asking this on behalf of my mother. You know, she's busy buying other things for me and doesn't have time to come." He put on an innocent smile and acted serious.
Madam Malkin believed his story. She put on her sincere smile again and said to him, "In that case, my dear boy, I will give you my business card and catalog. Madam Malfoy can place an owl order at any time, just attach her autograph. We are capable of providing the highest-end magical clothing for wizarding families."
By the time Potter pushed the door open, the business card and catalog were already quietly lying in Draco's dragonhide storage bag. This retractable storage bag, only the size of a palm on the outside, but with an internal space of dozens of square meters, was very popular among wizards because it was lightweight to carry.
Invisibility cloaks were something wizards coveted even more. They were not cheap and were also very rare. Draco still remembered that in his first year in his previous life, he had been deducted 50 points from Slytherin for wandering around the school at night.
With this thing, if you want to do something secretly in Hogwarts, it will be much more secretive. Draco vaguely remembered that Potter had an invisibility cloak, and he would bet his hair that Potter must have used it a lot.
While Draco was daydreaming, Madam Malkin had already asked Harry Potter to stand on another footstool next to him and began to measure his body.
Draco made up his mind to appear as affable as possible. If he wanted to be on Potter's side, he couldn't mess things up again.
"Hey, are you going to Hogwarts too?" Draco asked tentatively.
"Yes," said Potter. He looked a little embarrassed.
At this point, Potter probably knew nothing about the wizarding world. It was said that before coming to Hogwarts, he had been living with a Muggle family. What a life... Draco discreetly glanced at Harry's clothes and shoes beneath his robes... It seemed that the Muggle family hadn't been kind to him.
For a moment, Draco didn't know what to say to start the conversation. At this moment, talking about anything would seem pretentious.
Talking about parents, Potter's parents are both dead; talking about family background, although Potter's family is rich, it is obvious that the money has never reached Potter's pocket; talking about the issue of pure-blood and half-blood, Draco dared to swear with all the gold Galleons in his pocket that Potter would be full of disgust towards him again, just like in his memory.
Talk about something Potter likes - Quidditch?
But has the current Potter ever touched a flying broom?
No matter how interesting a topic is, it will undoubtedly be a significant psychological burden for an overly ignorant person.
"Do you know which house you will be sorted into?" After thinking for a long time, Draco could only choose a routine and boring topic.
"I don't know." Potter became even more embarrassed.
Obviously, Potter had no idea about the "sorting".
Draco suddenly felt a strange sympathy for him.
Is it really okay to enroll in Hogwarts with such uncertainty?
What has he experienced over the years?
Didn't those irresponsible Muggle relatives tell him anything?
Look at him, he looks like a goose waiting to be slaughtered.
Sighing inwardly, Draco tried to put on a friendly, non-sarcastic smile. He tried to instill understanding in his tone and said to the boy, "Don't be nervous. I see you're not very familiar with the Hogwarts houses. If you don't mind, I can introduce them to you."
The black-haired boy looked at him curiously and nodded.
"There are four houses in Hogwarts: Slytherin, Gryffindor, Ravenclaw and Hufflepuff. These four houses correspond to the founders of the four houses." Draco glanced at him and saw an expression of sudden enlightenment on his face.
"The four colleges require students to have different qualities. For example, Slytherin prefers ambitious and aspirational students, while Gryffindor prefers courageous and adventurous students—" Draco noticed that Potter was silent, but his expression was serious, as if he was memorizing these points of knowledge in his mind.
How sad! These are things that are so familiar to young wizards, yet Potter acts as if he has found a treasure.
What had Dumbledore done—what had he been doing all these years?
His beloved "savior" lives like this, and he doesn't even think about taking care of him?
Draco was complaining in his heart, but he didn't stop talking and continued to introduce diligently: "Ravenclaw values fairness and erudition, while Hufflepuff prefers loyalty and integrity." Potter kept nodding beside him.
"In mainstream thinking, most people want to join Gryffindor. Dumbledore, the current headmaster of Hogwarts, is also from Gryffindor." Draco looked at Potter's thoughtful expression and guessed that he must be very eager to join Gryffindor.
"Do you want to be in Gryffindor too?" Potter asked suddenly.
"No," Draco said bluntly, "I'll probably go into Slytherin. Both my parents are Slytherins."
Draco never thought about entering another college, not even if he was reborn.
He was a Slytherin through and through, and he never thought there was anything wrong with this house.
He said lightly, "Some people think that all Slytherin wizards are dark wizards. Because the Dark Lord was also a Slytherin..."
As Draco expected, Potter finally looked him in the eye.
"V...the You-Know-Who also attended Hogwarts?" Potter looked a little uneasy.
"Yes." Draco answered casually on the surface, but in fact he meant something. "Hogwarts has been established for a thousand years, and has only produced one person like this. Slytherin also produced many outstanding wizards in its early years. Not all Slytherin students will become the Dark Lord. Using the Dark Lord's mistakes to negate the achievements of an entire school is a bit of a generalization, isn't it?"
Potter said nothing more and nodded silently again.
Draco finally came to his conclusion: "In short, I think it's not advisable to label someone based on their appearance before you get to know them thoroughly."
Potter was lost in thought, looking at him, as if he was moved.
Draco smiled slightly and turned to look at Potter. "For example, that man outside," he raised his chin at Hagrid who was holding two ice creams outside the window. "Ordinary people would be scared when they see such a big guy. They would think he must be a barbarian."
He noticed Potter's unconvinced look and changed the subject, continuing, "But I don't think that's necessarily the case. I'll bet you a Chocolate Hopping Frog that he might be pretty nice to his friends."
"Of course." Potter seemed a little happy. He finally opened up. "I know him. He works at Hogwarts."
"Gamekeeper, huh?" Draco said flatly.
"You knew him, too?" Potter asked.
"He seems to have a knack for magical creatures. Maybe one day, we can learn something from him." Draco suddenly remembered the damn hippogriff in third grade.
He curled his lips, automatically ignoring the fact that he had provoked the beast first.
And then there are the endless streams of blast-tailed skrewts and flobberworms.
Merlin... what on earth could students possibly learn from Rupert Hagrid? Useless trivia about blast-end skrewts?
Potter didn't notice the subtle sarcasm in Draco's words. He took the initiative to open the conversation, "Oh, he's a nice guy. He came shopping with me."
"You'll make more friends when you get to Hogwarts," Draco said.
He wisely didn't ask why Harry's parents weren't shopping with him.
Potter was silent for a moment. He glanced at Draco and then asked cautiously, "What's a Chocolate Hopping Frog?"
Merlin, he didn't even know this, Draco sighed.
"A kind of wizard candy. Frog-shaped chocolate, you can collect wizard pictures inside..." Draco cheered up and introduced it to him.
As he was talking, he suddenly remembered his past life. He took the initiative to seek out Potter to make friends on the express train, but ended up being met with a cold shoulder.
I think Potter would like this, right? There were a lot of chocolate jumping frogs on the table.
Goyle, the good-for-nothing, was bitten by Weasley, the stupid rat, when he took Potter's chocolate jumping frog without asking.
Actually, it's quite cheap - just picking it up without asking or anything.
However, Draco was too angry at the time to stop Goyle.
At that time, he reached out to Porter, but Porter refused and said to him coldly, "I can tell who is different."
That sentence is really hurtful to one's self-esteem.
Thinking of this, although Draco maintained a reserved smile, he couldn't help feeling a little blocked in his heart.
"My dear, the dress has been measured," said Madam Malkin.
Let's quit while the atmosphere of their conversation is still pleasant. Draco jumped down from the footstool lightly.
"Then we'll meet at Hogwarts. I'm Malfoy, Draco Malfoy, and you're..." At this moment, he was nervous in his heart, but his face showed a determined expression, and he stretched out his hand to Potter -
"I'm Harry, Harry Potter." Potter hurriedly stretched out his hand and shook hands with Draco.
"Well, nice to meet you, Harry Potter." Draco smiled faintly on his pale face and walked out of Madam Malkin's robe shop.
It went pretty well, didn't it? The moment the door of the robe shop closed, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Extra 1: The First Friend (Harry's Perspective)
During his eleven years in the Muggle world, Harry was often teased by his peers for his baggy clothes and glasses that were held together with tape.
Before his classmates even had a chance to understand what kind of person he was, they were scared away by his slovenly appearance and the threat posed by Dudley and his gang. For example, when the groups were divided in physical education class in elementary school, he was always the only one left at the end.
The neighbors also thought he was abnormal - thanks to years of rumors spread by Aunt Petunia and Uncle Vernon.
Draco was the first person to tell him that you can't judge a person by their appearance alone.
"It's not a good idea to label someone based on their appearance before you fully understand them." When the platinum-haired boy said this, Harry felt a little warm in his heart.
He could sense the difference between Draco and him.
The way he dressed, the tone of his voice, the elegance and refinement that was inadvertently revealed in his words and deeds, all made Harry vaguely realize that they were from two different worlds.
There was in his demeanor the confidence of a child from a well-off family.
He seemed to have never been treated harshly by the world, which made Harry feel a little ashamed of himself.
Draco showed him kindness and shook his hand. He was a little arrogant, but when he spoke, Harry didn't find him annoying, and even felt that he had some truth in his words.
He even saw through Harry's embarrassment and explained a little about the Hogwarts Sorting. This was new knowledge to Harry, and he was a little grateful that the boy didn't get impatient because of it.
Moreover, when Draco heard his name, he neither showed disgust like a Muggle-born child nor made a fuss like a wizard-born child. Instead, he remained very calm.
This was a kind of calmness, peace and equality that he had never experienced before.
Hagrid was Harry's first friend from the wizarding world, but Draco was probably the first one to meet his age.
Even if he wanted to go to Slytherin, he was different from Voldemort, who was from Slytherin, wasn't he?