Chapter 32: Chapter 32: You're All Useless
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"George, long time no see!"
As soon as he reached the ground floor, George heard a shout from above. He turned to see Harry, Hermione, and Ron descending the marble staircase.
"Good morning, Harry, Hermione, and this one?"
"Hi, I'm Ron. Harry said you helped him escape from Knockturn Alley last time. That's so cool!"
Ron's tone was somewhat excited.
That was the infamous Knockturn Alley, a place his twin brothers dreamed of exploring.
"It's nothing compared to how cool you and Harry are, flying a magical car from London to school, getting into the Daily Prophet, and even crashing into the Whomping Willow."
Hermione, standing nearby, quipped sarcastically with a hint of passive aggression.
Ron's face immediately stiffened at her words.
"Alright, can you stop lecturing us? We didn't want that to happen either."
He found Hermione was sometimes a miniature Professor McGonagall, always wanting to lecture them, even though sometimes she was clearly braver than them.
Harry stepped forward, dodging Ron and Hermione's argument, and asked George:
"We didn't see the Sorting Ceremony yesterday. Which House were you sorted into?"
"Slytherin."
George pulled out the Slytherin emblem, distributed yesterday but not yet pinned to his chest, from his pocket.
Harry's face immediately showed regret.
"I wish you could have been sorted into Gryffindor."
Internally, he still harbored some prejudice against Slytherin, especially since Slytherin had annoying people like Malfoy, and its Head of House was Snape, whom he disliked most.
George smiled.
"Any House is fine. As long as I'm studying at Hogwarts, I'm content."
"Good morning, George!"
At that moment, another shout came from above. This time, it was Ginny, Colin, and Luna descending the marble staircase.
"You know each other?"
Harry and Ron were momentarily stunned to see Ginny greeting George.
"We shared a compartment on the train yesterday. George took very good care of us."
Ginny's voice immediately softened, and her movements became more ladylike, seeing Harry there.
"Thank you for looking after Ginny."
Ron, whose opinion of George had shifted slightly when he heard George was sorted into Slytherin, now reverted to his previous positive view of George and even expressed his gratitude.
Compared to Harry, his prejudice against Slytherin was actually deeper. Before coming to Hogwarts, he had once believed that all bad wizards came from Slytherin.
"Um... could you please take a picture of me and Mr. Harry Potter?"
Colin handed the camera to Ron, his eyes sparkling as he looked at Harry:
"My name is Colin, and I want to take a picture with you to send to my dad, to prove I met you. He's a milkman, and everyone in our family except me..."
Ron awkwardly took the camera. He hadn't behaved much better when he first met Harry, so he understood.
After taking the photo, they walked and chatted until they reached the Great Hall.
By now, quite a few young wizards were already having breakfast in the Great Hall. The four long tables were piled high with all sorts of food prepared by the house-elves: pumpkin porridge, pickled herring, bread, eggs, and fresh meat.
Different Houses generally didn't sit together for breakfast, so George went to the Slytherin table, Luna went to the Ravenclaw table, and Harry, Ron, Hermione, Ginny, and Colin went to the Gryffindor table.
"First-year, you seem to know Harry Potter and his friends?"
No sooner had George sat down than the blonde Malfoy, accompanied by his two cronies, Goyle and Crabbe, sat opposite him.
Pansy's teasing yesterday had made him remember George, and seeing George chatting happily with his most detested Harry just now immediately put him in a bad mood.
"You could say we're friends."
George took a bowl of pumpkin porridge and a plate of fresh meat, replying casually.
Being close to Harry would inevitably offend Malfoy; he had known this all along. In fact, even if he weren't close to Harry, he would still offend Malfoy.
Because he intended to become the most outstanding student in all of Hogwarts and even join the Quidditch team, he would certainly steal Malfoy's thunder.
But it didn't matter. Little Malfoy wasn't his father, Lucius Malfoy, so he posed no threat to him.
"Friends? Slytherin and Gryffindor are enemies; they can never be friends. You'd best stay away from them, or I'll teach you how to be a proper Slytherin wizard!"
Malfoy was clearly displeased with George's attitude, his tone full of warning.
George, however, replied indifferently:
"Who I make friends with is my freedom. You should mind your own business.
I heard that last year's top student in the final exams was Miss Hermione Granger from Gryffindor. Our Slytherin House Cup, which we held for six years, also went to Gryffindor. You're really useless, aren't you?"
When he said that last sentence, he deliberately raised his voice, causing even the young wizards at other tables to look their way.
"What did you say? You called me useless? What right does a half-blood like you have to call me useless?"
Malfoy immediately flew into a rage at George's words, slamming his hand on the table, making the small mountain of bread piled on it collapse.
George put down his spoon and looked up at Malfoy:
"As far as I know, our Head of Slytherin is also a half-blood. Are you discriminating against our Head of House?"
"Head... the Head of House is naturally different from you! I was only talking about you."
Malfoy's tone immediately softened.
Pure-bloods discriminating against half-bloods was normal, but it couldn't be said openly, because there were quite a few half-bloods among the older Slytherins, and the Head of House himself was also a half-blood.
He had simply been too angry just now.
"Such a small first-year, yet such a big mouth. In Slytherin, we compete with skill, not words."
Just then, Pansy, sitting at the second-year table, walked over.
Although she had teased Malfoy yesterday, it didn't mean she wasn't on Malfoy's side. The Malfoy family was a prominent pure-blood family, and it was very likely she would marry Malfoy in the future, raising her own family's standing.
So, seeing Malfoy being put in his place, she naturally had to come and help.
"This young lady is right. Our excellence in Slytherin speaks through skill. So, I'm not just targeting him. I'm saying, all of you here, your entire second year, are useless!"
George elegantly wiped his mouth, stood up, and declared loudly, in a tone that left countless young wizards dumbfounded.
"If you weren't useless, how could you let the House Cup, which we'd won for six years, end with you?
I, George, am stating it right here: with me present, first place will always belong to Slytherin, and I will win the House Cup back from Gryffindor.
But I am not like you useless lot. I won't hostilely compete with students from other Houses just because of healthy competition.
Competition is competition, and friends are friends, whether they are from Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, or Hufflepuff.
I will make the friends I want. I will honorably win glory for Slytherin through my strength. That is the true spirit of Slytherin."
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