......
"George, it's been a long time!"
As soon as George reached the first floor, he heard a shout from above. Turning his head, he saw Harry, Hermione and Ron walking down the marble staircase.
"Good morning, Harry, Hermione, and who might this be?"
"Hello, my name is Ron. Harry said that you helped him escape from Diagon Alley last time, that's so cool!"
Ron's tone was slightly excited.
That's the famous Diagon Alley, a place where his twin brothers have always dreamed of exploring.
"You and Harry are even cooler, flying in a magical car from London to school, making the Prophet Daily, and even crashing the school's enchanted holly bush."
Hermione, on the side, somewhat sarcastically mocked.
Ron heard this and his face instantly froze:
"Alright, you can stop giving us lessons now. We don't want that either."
He found that Hermione was sometimes really a miniature version of Professor McGonagall, always saying she liked to give them big lectures, but in fact, sometimes she was even more brave than they were.
Harry took a step forward, dodging the argument between Ron and Hermione, and asked George,
"We didn't see the sorting ceremony yesterday. Which house did you get assigned to?"
"Slytherin."
George took out the Slytherin badge that had been distributed yesterday, which he hadn't had a chance to pin on his chest yet.
Harry saw this and immediately showed a disappointed expression.
"It would have been better if you had been assigned to Gryffindor."
Deep down, he still had some prejudice against Slytherin, especially with Malfoy and other annoying guys, as well as the head of house who was his most hated Snape.
George smiled:
"Any house will do as long as I'm studying at Hogwarts."
"Good morning, George!"
Then, a shout came from above again, this time as Ginny, Colin, and Luna came down the marble staircase.
"Do you know them?"
Harry and Ron, seeing Ginny and George greet each other, were also taken aback.
"Yes, we were in the same compartment on the train yesterday, and George took really good care of us."
Ginny saw Harry there, and her voice immediately got a lot quieter, and her actions became more ladylike.
"Thank you for taking care of Ginny."
Ron, who had a change in attitude upon hearing that George was sorted into Slytherin, now regained his positive impression of George and even made a point of expressing his gratitude.
Actually, he had deeper prejudice against Slytherin than Harry. Before coming to Hogwarts, he once believed that all bad wizards were from Slytherin.
"That is... could you do me a favor and take a photo with Harry Potter?"
Colin handed the camera to Ron, his eyes twinkling as he looked at Harry:
"I'm Colin, and I want to take a photo with you to send to my dad. It would prove that I've met you. My dad is a milkman, and there are no one else in our family except me..."
Ron took the camera with a somewhat helpless expression, as initially when he first met Harry, he didn't behave much better than this guy. He could understand.
After taking the photo, the group walked and chatted their way to the Great Hall.
At this time, the Great Hall had already attracted quite a number of young witches and wizards having breakfast, and the four long tables were piled high with various foods prepared by house-elves, such as pumpkin soup, pickled herring, bread, eggs, and fresh meats.
Since different houses usually do not sit together during breakfast, George went to the Slytherin table, Luna to the Ravenclaw table, Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny and Colin to the Gryffindor table.
"You're a first-year, yet you seem to know Harry Potter and his friends?"
George had just sat down when the blonde Malfoy and his two lackeys, Gaul and Crabbe, sat opposite him.
Due to Pansy's teasing yesterday, he had a memory of George. Just seeing George chatting happily with his most disliked Harry made him feel instantly annoyed.
"Quite friendly, I guess."
George took a bowl of pumpkin soup and a stack of meat, replying casually.
Being close to Harry would inevitably offend Malfoy, which he had long been aware of. In fact, he would still offend Malfoy even if he wasn't close to Harry.
Because he wanted to become the best student in the whole Hogwarts, and even join the Quidditch team, he would definitely steal Malfoy's thunder.
Never mind, little Malfoy, not his father, Big Malfoy, and he poses no threat to him.
"Friends? Slytherin and Gryffindor are enemies, they will never become friends. You'd better stay away from them, or I'll teach you how to become a Slytherin witch!"
Malfoy's attitude towards George was clearly unsatisfied, and his tone was full of warnings.
And George replied in a calm manner:
"Who I choose to be friends with is my freedom, you should worry about yourself."
"I heard that last year's first place in the final exam was Hermione Miss from Gryffindor, and we Slytherin, who have held the House Cup for six years, lost to Gryffindor. You guys are really worthless."
He deliberately raised his voice when he said the last sentence, so much so that even the young witches at the other tables looked over.
"What did you say? You dare to call me worthless? You half-blood have no right to call me worthless?"
Malfoy flew into a rage upon hearing George's words, pounding his hand on the table so hard that the bread, piled up like a small mountain, collapsed.
George put down the spoon in his hand, looking up at Malfoy:
"I understand that our Slytherin headmaster is also a half-blood, so do you discriminate against our headmaster?"
"The headmaster... naturally is different from you; I was just saying that."
Malfoy's tone immediately weakened down.
Pureblood discrimination against half-bloods is quite normal, but such things cannot be said openly because there are also many half-bloods among the senior Slytherins, and the headmaster is also a half-blood.
He was just caught up in his anger.
"You, a new first-year student, have quite the attitude. We Slytherins rely on strength, not just words."
At this time, Pansy, who was sitting among the second-year students, walked over.
Although she teased Malfoy yesterday, it didn't mean she wasn't on Malfoy's side. The Malfoy family was a prominent pureblood family, and she might very well marry Malfoy in the future to elevate her own family.
So when she saw Malfoy being bullied, she naturally had to come to his defense.
"That's exactly what this young lady said. The excellence of Slytherin is proven by strength, so I'm not targeting him. I mean, everyone in your year, you're all worthless!"
George elegantly wiped his mouth and stood up, speaking in a tone that left countless young witches gawking at him.
"If you're not all worthless, how could the six-year winning streak of the House Cup be ended in your hands?"
Here's the truth, I'll say it today, as long as I'm here, the first place will always belong to Slytherin. The House Cup is mine and I will win it back from Gryffindor.
But unlike you all, I'm not hostile to students from other houses because of this kind of benign competition.
Competition is competition, friends are friends. Whether it's Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.
I will befriend anyone worthy of friendship, I will proudly win glory for Slytherin with my strength, that's the proper demeanor a Slytherin should have.”
......
