Harry stormed through several carriages before coming to a stop. His confrontations with Ron and Hermione had him literally trembling with suppressed rage.
He had not planned on being so harsh with them, but Ron's whole attitude had just caused him to snap at them.
The accusation from Ron that Harry had deliberately obtained his new position purely to outshine the red headed git hurt deeply, but it also woke Harry up to a truth about Ron that he had long known, but long ignored.
Ron was a glory hound.
Any chance to be the centre of attention and Ron took it. And that forced Harry to wonder if the only reason that Ron befriended him in the first place was so that he could bask in the reflected glow of Harry's own personal fame. He had certainly lapped up all the attention he could get after partaking in the events of the second task of the Tri-Wizard Tournament back in February.
In fact he had greatly embellished upon his role, claiming to any and all who would listen that his placement at the bottom of the lake for Harry to rescue him had been the end result of his single-handed struggle against fifty spear-wielding Mermen who had to beat him into submission before tying him up, a tale which stood in stark contrast to those of the other hostages, all of whom told how they, Ron included, were escorted to an office, told what was going to happen and then were put into an enchanted sleep after agreeing to take part.
And any chance to outshine Harry completely was manna from heaven in Ron's eyes. And his reaction to Harry's new position meant that Harry could almost see the prat now, strutting about the Burrow, smug in the knowledge that he had been granted a prefects badge whereas Harry had not.
And as far as Harry could tell, that was all that the position of prefect meant to Ron. It was something that he had that Harry did not. That was the prat's reason for valuing the position bestowed upon him.
Then on top of that there was Hermione, who had the gall to not only attempt to pass off the blame for her own mistake onto others, but to then try to question him about where he had been during the summer, after it had been she who had decided to not only cut off all contact with him during those weeks, but to also keep his pet owl hostage so that he could contact no one else.
Said owl was still on his shoulder and caught his attention with a soft, mewling pyee-pyee.
Harry reached up a hand and scratched her affectionately, and muttered "Well, at least I've still got you Hedwig."
In answer the female snowy owl butted her head affectionately against his cheek.
Harry moved on to the next carriage, and was quite surprised to make out raised voices coming from the compartment at the far end.
As he got closer, he realised that one of the voices belonged to Draco Malfoy.
"This this is Slytherin business, Patil, so it doesn't concern you. Now butt out."
The voice of the fifth year Ravenclaw prefect Padma Patil responded "For your information, Malfoy, when I am on patrol and bad behaviour is my business!"
"Oh, why don't you just piss off you stupid cow?" asked the snide voice of Pansy Parkinson.
"Fine," retorted Padma, and there was an edge to her voice now "Fine then. I'll leave, and I'll get Harry. And I'm quite sure that he will take great pleasure in informing your head of house that you have each gotten a strike against you before the school term has even officially started!"
"Oh please," scoffed Malfoy dismissively "Potter can't do anything to me and he knows it."
At this, Harry slid the door to the compartment open and said "Can't I, Draco? Are you absolutely sure of that?"
Harry was pleased to see Draco's usually sneering face pale slightly at his sudden entrance. Like all bullies, Draco Malfoy lived in fear of being discovered for what he really was by an authority figure. Or at least, an authority figure who could be bothered to take the time and effort to actually punish him for his misdemeanours. And whether he actually publically acknowledged it or not, Draco knew, on some level, that Harry Potter was one of those authority figures.
His reaction was only momentary however, and he quickly fixed a superior sneer on his face, drew himself up and demanded "What are you doing here Potter? Poking your nose into other peoples' business?"
"I am merely doing my job, Draco," Harry replied calmly "As I am required to make sure that all prefects are able to perform their duties effectively, I am patrolling with them to see how well they are doing. When I heard the raised voice of Prefect Patil, here, I realised that she was dealing with a troublesome student or two, and decided to come and see her in action. Can you imagine my surprise to find that she was locked in a dispute with not one, but two other prefects, one of whom attempted to undermine her authority whilst the other verbally insulted her? Not behaviour very becoming of prefects."
For the first time in their respective lives, Draco and Pansy both simultaneously managed to summon the willpower to not bite out and ill thought out retort.
Harry took the time to take a look around the compartment. Aside from Padma, Draco and Pansy, there were five other Slytherins present. Two of them were Malfoy's personal goons, Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle, two individuals who were extremely lacking in the brains department and were mostly there to look intimidating.
.....
Can't wait to read more exciting chapters then what are you waiting for Join my p*atreon right now.
Get 60+ Premium chapters.
Link: p*atreon.com/Earthly_Writer (Remove the *)
2 Chapters for all free members.