Chapter 097

"Well, I suppose that's as good a reason as any," Harry replied with a mild dose of sarcasm. The grin on his face as he sat down next to her and Hannah let the girl know he was joking. "So you want to know my secret to escaping unfavorable predicaments with people like teachers and parents?"

Tracey blinked several times at the large vocabulary he had just used. While the girl wasn't dumb by any stretch of the imagination, few if any of the people she knew used such complicated words. Harry just liked saying large, complex multi-syllable words because it made him sound more intelligent. After a moment or two she gave him another nod.

"Well," Harry leaned in and cupped a hand to his mouth, as if he were about to share some great secret. Tracey, eager to learn how he could get himself out of trouble time and time again with mere words, leaned in to hear his words of wisdom.

Harry smiled as his mouth stopped right next to her ear. The others also leaned in, hoping to learn his secret as well.

"It's a secret."

"Prat!" Tracey hissed as she took a swipe at him. Harry chuckled as he leaned back and rubbed the shoulder she smacked.

"That really hurt you know," Harry said with a small grin. "Is this how you show your appreciation after all the assistance I've given you with your classwork?" he moaned piteously while tossing the others a wink. "I don't know if I can continue to help such a violent and unruly girl."

"You did kind of deserve it, Harry," Hannah informed him, speaking up before Tracey could. Said girl huffed at Harry, but decided let the pig-tailed blond speak for her. Being the closest to the pair. she had been able to hear his words much more clearly than the others, and would admit to being disappointed about not learning how he could be so persuasive. "I kind of want to hit you myself."

"But you wouldn't do that, would you, Hannah?" asked Harry with slightly pleading eyes. Hannah flushed a bit, and Harry continued. "You're not like that abusive and violent girl over there, are you?" he continued, pointing over at Tracey.

"Oi!"

"Of course not," Hannah said, turning her head away from Harry for a second. "But that doesn't mean I'm not disappointed. And while I wouldn't hit you, I wouldn't stop Tracey from hitting you either."

Harry tried to give Hannah his best pout. Unfortunately pouting was not an expression he had ever practiced before, so his face looked more comical than cute and caused his friends to laugh at him. Huffing, Harry fought to contain a smile as he saw how well his unification plan was working.

The transition from thinking in terms of Houses to that of a unified group of friends from different walks of life had not been seamless; there was still the occasional problem, but it was going much more smoothly than he had originally anticipated. Really, the only issues that had cropped up was when Blaise and Tracey had shown up to study with them that first Saturday.

It wasn't anything they had done wrong, in fact, Tracey had been rather nervous about sitting with a bunch of people from other Houses. No doubt many of the older students of her House had informed them about how the other Houses hated and distrusted people in Slytherin simply for being in the House of Snakes, and it had given her a fear of opening up to people not of her House. She had actually been on her best behavior because of that.

No, the problem had not come from the two Slytherins but from everyone else. It was a very unfortunate circumstance, but the fact of the matter was that whoever had informed Tracey of the distrust the other three Houses held against Slytherin had been right. No one trusted the House of Snakes. All of the first years in the other three Houses had been told of how untrustworthy Slytherins were and warned to watch out for them. This led to his other friends becoming quiet and tense when Blaise and Tracey showed up.

This hadn't stopped Harry though. In an effort to breach the gap dividing Slytherin from the other three houses, he had spent most of that study session talking to Blaise and Tracey. He helped them with their homework, talked with them about their interests and hobbies, and did everything he could to not only make them feel comfortable but let the others know that he trusted them.

Trust was the main issue here. No one trusted anyone from Slytherin because of the misbegotten rumors that Slytherin produced Dark Wizards. Once again, Harry had to curse that damnable fool, Voldemort, for ruining a once noble house with his mad ideals and idiocy. The stain brought about by the actions of the most recent Dark Lord even made people forget that Merlin himself, a man not only known for being the most powerful wizard in existence, but also for being the most muggle friendly wizard in history, had been in Slytherin House. Were Voldemort not already dead, Harry would've mercilessly crushed the man for making his goals that much more difficult.

Despite the minor hardship that came with two Slytherins joining their study group, the others eventually overcame their differences and now Tracey and Blaise were as much a part of the group as Susan and Hannah were.

He now had friends in all four houses, and once people began to see that the rivalries certain houses held for each other (Slytherin and Gryffindor) could be overcome, he would be able to expand his influence into each house with more ease.

"What about you, Susan?" Harry turned his attention to the redhead who, upon being put in the spotlight, let out an 'eep!' as her cheeks took on a light pink coloration. It was actually an improvement from the way her entire face used to turn as red whenever he addressed her. "You're not disappointed in me, are you?"

"Ah, um..." Susan seemed to struggle to find the right words to tell him, and the red on her face began to gradually darken the longer the others at her table stared at her. By the time she finally did speak, she looked like she wanted to disappear beneath her robes. "No?"

"Thanks, Sue," Harry said, completely ignoring the way his red-haired friend blushed at the nickname he had given her. He turned to look at the Tracey and Hannah. "See that, why can't you two be more magnanimous and sweet like her?"....