Two weeks passed, and Harry gradually settled into a routine.
He became rather close friends with Blaise and Pansy. Daphne was, of course, already a close friend of his, but their bond did grow stronger, too. Harry spent a bit of time with Tracey Davis, but overall, she and he weren't as close as, say, Harry and Pansy.
On the not-Slytherin side of things, Harry grew very close to Hermione Granger and Padma Patil, who were both Ravenclaws. Harry wasn't too big of a fan of a lot of the Hufflepuffs (Susan Bones being the only noticeable exception), and the Gryffindors all seemed to have something personal against him.
One morning, just after lunch, the Slytherin first years are heading out to a courtyard to practice flying. The biggest problem with that was that their flying lessons would be with Gryffindor first years, who pretty much loathed the Slytherins.
Harry and Daphne walked out into the courtyard together, and he and the blond were in a whispered conversation about their latest Charms class.
They stopped alongside Pansy and Blaise, and they stood opposite the Gryffindors. Harry looked up and down the row of students who bore a lion crest on their chests.
There were only two people who really took Harry's notice.
The first was a round-faced boy who Harry recognized as Neville Longbottom. He and his parents had come over to visit periodically, as Lily and Neville's mother, Alice, were good friends. Neville's father Frank came over every now and then, but his job at the Ministry kept him occupied. Harry expected Alice would be back at work now, but she had taken off Ministry work while Neville was growing up.
The second was a lovely Indian girl who looked identical to the gorgeous Padma Patil. Harry recognized her as Parvati Patil, and she seemed a little less outwardly hostile towards him than the rest of the Lions, but maybe he was just imagining it.
The flying teacher, Madam Hooch, came over to them then, and began speaking about how to properly use the broom.
"Hold your right hand out over your broom, and say 'Up!'" Madam Hooch explained. At her last word, her broomstick, which was laying on the ground, sprung up to her hand.
Harry extended his hand and with practiced ease, said 'Up'.
The broom jumped smoothly into his hand, just like it had over the years when Lily and him flew around the spacious property of the manor.
She wasn't big on playing Quidditch, but had a certain delight whenever she was on her broom, zooming around, something she said that Harry's Quidditch loving father had implanted in her.
Looking around, Harry saw that only Draco Malfoy and Blaise's brooms had jumped up into their hands.
"Alright! Now, if your broom didn't leap up, bend down and grab it. We're going to work on mounting the broom." Madam Hooch said, and everybody prepared to mount the broom. Poor Neville, who Harry guessed had never been on a broomstick in his life, mounted too hastily, and shot off towards the high arch of the castle wall. The tip of the broomstick snapped on impact, and Neville tumbled down to the earth.
Madam Hooch hurried over to Neville amid snickering from Malfoy and his large cronies who gave Slytherin a bad name.
"I need to take him to the hospital wing. All of you better keep both feet solidly on the ground until I return!" Madam Hooch ordered, and hurried off with Neville.
Harry turned back to Daphne, who had a bit of pity on her face, but then he heard Malfoy's high-pitched laughing, and turned to look at Draco Malloy holding a glass orb in his hand, about the size of a Muggle baseball.
It was a Remembrall.
"Looks like Longbottom dropped something." Malfoy laughed cruelly, "Let's leave it somewhere for him to find."
Then, without hesitation, Draco jumped on his broom to fly up towards a large tree.
"Let me guess… you're about to go fight him." Daphne said dryly from beside Harry. He grinned at her.
"It's a matter of principle, Daph. Besides, Neville's my friend, and I don't want him getting his things nicked." Harry said, and rocketed up in the air on his broom, hovering up in front of Draco, who looked surprised at Harry's complete ease while operating the broom.
"Hello, Draco. Give me back Neville's Remembrall." Harry tried peace, despite knowing that wouldn't work.
Draco shook his head, smirking. A particular charm that his mother had taught him for around the house things rose up to the forefront of Harry's mind.
"Accio Remembrall!" Harry cried, pointing his wand at Draco. The Remembrall leaped from Draco's hand to land neatly in Harry's. Now Draco looked really shocked.
Harry performed a tidy loop-the-loop for the crowd of first years below, and then came back down to earth smoothly.
"Show off." Daphne said warmly.
"It's in my blood, I suppose." Harry grinned.
"A Summoning Charm is really advanced magic!" exclaimed Parvati Patil, who was now looking at Harry in wonder.
"Oh, uh, my mum taught me a bit of spells." Harry said, surprised at the admiration in Parvati's eyes.
"Well, it's amazing! Do you think you can teach me?" Parvati asked. The brown-haired girl beside Parvati, Lavender Brown, nudged Parvati meaningfully.
"Us?" Parvati amended.
"Uh, sorry, I wouldn't be a very good teacher." Harry said. The two girls looked disheartened.
"Well, maybe you can just teach us a bit?" Lavender asked hopefully. Harry's eyes flicked down to the two girls' busts, looking for indication of their magical prowess. From the looks of things, Parvati was significantly more gifted than Lavender. No real surprise, as Padma had nearly identically sized breasts to Parvati.
The tiniest obscene image of the two Patil twins naked rose up in Harry's mind, but he tried hastily to silence it.
"I suppose I could help a little bit over the weekend or something." Harry relented. Parvati and Lavender both gave delighted smiles.
———
After flying class, Harry and Daphne were walking through the hallway together when Draco and his two large goons got in front of them.
"Potter." Draco said bitterly, "You humiliated me in front of the entire class! This demands a duel!"
Harry stared at him, and glanced incredulously at Daphne, but saw grave seriousness in her eyes.
"Wait, you're serious?" Harry asked.
"Of course I am!" Draco replied indignantly.
"Oh. Then, uh, sure, we can duel." Harry shrugged. Maybe this was a pureblood tradition. Lily taught Harry plenty about the Wizarding world, but she neglected a lot of the more archaic practices, like dueling.
"Who's your second?" Draco asked. Harry blinked.
"Daphne." he said, a bit unsure about what he had just signed her up for. A glance sideways showed that she wasn't too upset about it.
"Who's yours?" Harry challenged, still unclear on what it meant. Draco looked between his two goons.
"Crabbe." he decided.
Harry nodded, and the three Slytherin boys walked off. Harry turned to Daphne. Daphne, who was used to Harry knowing nothing about pureblood traditions, began explaining immediately.
"Whenever a wizard feels his honor has been challenged or impaired, he has the right to call a duel. The job of the second is to step in in case the primary dueler becomes unable to." Daphne explained.
"Right. And Draco thinks he can beat me?" Harry raised his eyebrows.
"Don't get cocky, dear betrothed. Draco's father is well-versed in Dark Arts. I wouldn't put it past Draco running off to the Owlery as we speak to ask for some good curses to use against you." Daphne said.
"Hm… you might have a point." Harry sighed, "Maybe I should ask Mum for some pointers."
"Or a certain ravishingly beautiful blond who has a deep knowledge of dueling." Daphne suggested.
"Hannah Abbott?" Harry frowned thoughtfully.
Daphne gave an outraged laugh and shoved him.
"I meant me, Potter." Daphne scoffed.
"Obviously." Harry grinned.
"I do expect to be referred to as Mrs. Daphne for the duration of your education." Daphne said with a smirk.
"Maybe I should ask Hannah Abbott." Harry grumbled. Daphne linked her arm through his and laughed.