He reached for a bread roll before adding "Oh, and I think that I'll be taking five house points from you Draco, for that little bit of name calling. Really, a prefect should set a better example than that."
This of course did nothing to warm the opinions of most of the other Slytherins towards him, but Harry found that he did not particularly care. There was something oddly satisfying about slapping Draco down in the middle of all his house mates.
Malfoy's face turned a more vivid red as he shouted "Shut up Potter, and go sit with the rest of the Gryffindorks."
"And that'll be another five house points," said Harry "Keep this up Draco and I'll be awarding you another strike, your second out of three in the first two days of term."
Malfoy sat down.
"Not very bright, is he?" asked Harry.
"I've always maintained that he only ended up in the house of the cunning by default of being completely unsuited to any of the other three." said Daphne.
Harry nodded at that. Draco was neither hard working nor loyal to any other than himself, which eliminated him from Hufflepuff house. He did not appear to be particularly witty nor capable of learning from his mistakes, which eliminated him from Ravenclaw. He did not appear all that brave or all that interested in the differences between right and wrong (unless it was against him) and so that eliminated Gryffindor. And he was not particularly cunning, a desired trait for Slytherins, but he was ambitious, therefore he was a Slytherin.
He wondered how many other students had been simply sorted into their houses by default.
A shadow fell across Harry and he turned to face the overgrown bat that was blocking the light.
"Potter, return to your own house table and stop antagonising my students."
"If they become antagonised by someone who is merely doing their job then that is hardly my fault," replied Harry "As for my seating arrangements, I have already talking them through with the Deputy Headmistress and the Ministry of Magic. If you have a complaint I suggest that you talk with them."
"Twenty points from Gryffindor!" sneered Snape.
Harry snorted and replied "Good luck with that. I am no longer a Gryffindor."
"Well then, you'll just have to serve a detention instead," said Snape "Come to my office immediately after dinner."
"What for?" demanded Harry, but Snape just turned and walked away.
Harry scowled as he watched Snape go. Then he caught sight of Malfoy's triumphant face and had to fight the urge to take two hundred house points from Slytherin just because.
"What a jerk," said Astoria.
"Yeah, hard luck Harry," said Tracey from her seat opposite them.
"Hard luck for him," said Harry "I'm not going."
"You're not?" asked Daphne, sounding surprised.
"As much as he might like to think he can, Snape cannot punish me simply for doing what I am supposed to do."
"He's not gonna let that stop him, you know?" asked Tracey.
"I know," said Harry "But like I said, if he's got a problem with me sitting here then he will have to take it up with the Wizarding Examinations Authority and the Minister's office as it is they who appointed me to my position as Student Advisor, and all the duties that the title entails."
"If you don't mind my asking, why did you take the position in the first place?" asked Daphne.
"I have come to realise that the students in this place often require someone to help fight their corner," replied Harry "God knows most of the staff aren't up to it and most of the prefects are chosen out of favouritism rather than merit."
He looked pointedly towards Draco as he said this.
"True enough I suppose," said Daphne "I can honestly say that without your help Draco and his cronies would have gotten away with their actions on the train."
"My point exactly," said Harry "Certain people in this place have been getting away with bad behaviour for far too long. Just wait. By the end of the year, Hogwarts is going to be unrecognisable."
He paused for a moment before asking "Oh, by the way, can you recommend any of the boys in your year that would make a good prefect? Malfoy won't be holding the title for long and I'll need to name a replacement."
"Blaise Zabini is probably your best option," said Daphne "though I wouldn't exactly recommend him."
"Why?" asked Harry.
"He's smarter than the rest but like Malfoy in many other ways," replied Daphne, simply.
"Well, if I run out of options for the boys, then there will just have to be two girl prefects," said Harry.
"Would that work?" asked Tracey.
"It'll have to. Maybe having that as the end product will result in students in the lower years bucking their ideas up."
Dinner was soon nearing an end and, when Daphne, Tracey and Astoria stood up to leave, Harry went with them.
"Trying to avoid detection are we?" asked Tracey with a smirk.
"Yep," replied Harry "I've got a date with Padma and I'll be damned if I'm gonna let Snape ruin it."
"A date with Harry Potter?" said Tracey thoughtfully "So that's how you're rewarding prefects for good work."
"Very funny." muttered Harry.
"Won't you two dating cause a conflict of interest?" asked Daphne.
"Not in the least," replied Harry "I can be professional. Besides, does Padma seem like the kind of prefect I'd need to punish?"
"I suppose not," agreed Daphne.
"She might appreciate a good spanking from you though," added Tracey with a grin, causing Daphne to shriek "Tracey!" and slap her hands over her younger sister's ears as Harry nearly choked on his own tongue.
"Remind me to never get you and Hannah Abbott together," said Harry, looking around.
They were in the Entrance Hall now, and he spotted Padma standing over by the golden statue of the wizard who had been employed by the founders to convert an old muggle castle into a school.
"You'd better get going," hissed Daphne "The greasy one is on the move."
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