71 The Journey Back Home

"I just can't believe that Dumbledore is so biased! How could he give points to Potter and his bootlickers in one go at the end of the year feast? He didn't even give other houses a chance to catch up!" raged Caspar Yaxley to the disinterested audience.

"It was obvious that the Headmaster wanted Gryffindors to win. Otherwise, would he also reward Longbottom for doing nothing?" rolled her eyes Daphne and went back to flipping her Witch Weekly magazine.

Draco and his friends were currently sitting in the train compartment, on their way home for the summer vacation. Everything would have been alright, however, their pleasant journey was interrupted by an unwelcome presence of Yaxley and the other Slytherins, who decided on staging a pity-party with their housemates. Surprisingly, Alex was among those who came to disturb the group.

"I can't believe that I am saying this, but Yaxley is right," muttered Susan. "Gryffindors were the last in points, yet they won the whole thing in one swoop when Professor Dumbledore awarded the points for Potter's and his friends' bravery in the third-floor corridor – which was forbidden, to begin with. It's unfair, and I can't even imagine how you guys felt at that time when the decorations changed colors because of it."

Draco sighed and closed the book he had been reading when it became apparent that the topic wouldn't die-off and the unwelcome guests would stay.

"The results won't change no matter how much we whine about it now," he spoke up, instantly attracting the gazes of others. "However, there are some things we can do so that the situation doesn't repeat in the future."

"Oh? What do you have in mind?" Alex spoke up for the first time since he came in. His blue eyes flashed with interest as he stared at Draco inquisitively.

It seemed that the Russian boy disliked losing a lot.

Draco ignored him and closed his eyes for a second to gather his thoughts. A moment later he opened them once again and explained:

"No one made a big deal out of this yet. The Slytherins have been winning the House Cup for the last six years, so older years don't really care about this defeat. Even Professor Snape won't say much on this topic, I expect. Besides, everyone is more interested in what Potter had done to earn those points, rather than anything else. And with the coming vacation, summer plans, trips abroad, etc. – students will soon forget about this incident."

"Huh… And here I was wondering why our older housemates weren't more outraged," muttered Yaxley under his nose. Everyone ignored him.

"So, what you are saying is that this incident will soon be forgotten?" raised an eyebrow Alex. "Then… should we blow it up a bit?"

Daphne raised her head, finally looking interested. Theo also closed his book and turned to hear Draco's opinion.

"Yes, we should," agreed the blond boy as he elegantly leaned back into his seat. "However, even if we make it known to the whole world that we lost unfairly - no one will care about one defeat after all these wins that the Slytherin achieved over the years. Many of our housemates also, most likely, didn't shy away from rubbing in the continuous victories into other houses' faces, so we won't get support from them. Hell, even Professors won't be sympathetic."

"Then?" wondered Hannah. Her huge chocolate-brown eyes were wide as she attentively listened. One may have thought that she was directly related to this incident from the way she seemed to be determined to help. "What should we do?"

The other Slytherins eyed her silently, as though wondering since when a Hufflepuff was involved in their scheming. But, since she was Draco's friend, they didn't say anything and concentrated their attention on the blond boy's next words.

"It's simple, really," Draco smirked, feeling like some kind of evil overlord with a bunch of minions from the way they all looked at him. Now he could certainly understand where Voldemort's megalomaniac tendencies came from. "We spread a rumor that if this happened to Slytherins this year, who's to say that it won't happen again next year to some other house?"

"Ah, you mean to picture Potter as Dumbledore's poster boy? Say that no one is exempt from being treated unfairly when it comes to the savior?" Daphne nodded with realization.

"Well, something like that - just with more focus on Dumbledore. After all, that's where the problem comes from," Draco corrected with a hidden grimace. He didn't want for Harry to be made into an outcast by all houses – Merlin knows, the boy would have plenty of other problems to deal with in the future! And it wouldn't be good if the Slytherin house once again came to the forefront as his major enemy.

"Yes, with all our connections across other houses - it is quite possible," smirked Daphne as she glanced over the compartment.

After all, Hannah and Susan were Hufflepuffs and had sway in their house. Draco, Theo and herself had many friends from the pureblood circles, while Alex had also made many acquaintances amongst purebloods, half-bloods, and even muggleborns. The other Slytherins too – they weren't sorted into the house of the ambitious for nothing, and they all knew how to take advantage of connections.

Everyone in the compartment was smart and could also think of the same things, judging by the way their eyes shined with confidence. There was only one anomaly…

Most of the gathered students' eyes, which were gleaming as they regarded each other with mutual understanding, stopped on one boy, whose face was scrunched up in confusion - indicating that he was completely out of the loop.

"…"

"Yaxley, I am sure that you will also be of use… Maybe as a cheerleader?" Alex patted the confused boy's shoulder consolingly, lips stretched into an ever-present pleasant smile.

There was a moment of silence before the compartment broke out in laughter.

"You..! You all!" Yaxley suddenly stood up as he angrily pointed his finger at Alex, then at the rest of the still sniggering housemates. "Just you wait and see!"

With those words, the boy left in a huff.

Needless to say, it was a pleasant journey back home.