Harry Potter: The Gryffindor Warrior - HP / Hogwarts

[Chapter Size: 1700 Words.]

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The boy was pale, with platinum blonde hair, yet his gaze was haughty as he looked down on others. He was accompanied by two stocky boys, both at least two sizes smaller than Dudley but much taller than their peers. He carried himself like an older brother assuming leadership.

The boy scanned the room, furrowed his brows slightly, and then, suddenly, his eyes lit up.

At that moment, Harry's fringe was slightly messy, revealing a glimpse of his lightning-shaped scar.

"So, you're... Potter?" The platinum-haired boy looked Harry up and down, disbelief in his expression.

"Obviously," Harry said smugly.

At least a dozen young witches and wizards standing at the door fell silent.

Obvious? How was that obvious? However, several of the girls' eyes were gleaming, their expressions suggesting they wanted to devour Harry alive.

"Alright, Potter." The platinum-haired boy took a deep breath and nodded, seemingly accepting the fact. "I'm Malfoy. Draco Malfoy."

"Ahem." Hermione and Ron coughed twice, trying to stifle their laughter.

"Pfft." Harry couldn't help but chuckle.

The surname Malfoy was a bit odd, it could easily be associated with words like untrustworthy or sly if one wasn't careful. That was one thing, but Draco? Draco? Just how narcissistic did a parent have to be to give their child that name?

It was like meeting someone named Great Dragon in an English-speaking context, just asking to be mocked.

Draco glared at Harry but said nothing. Instead, he turned his attention to Ron and Hermione.

"Red hair, freckles, and second-hand robes. You must be a Weasley," Draco sneered, eyeing Ron with disdain. Ron's face immediately turned as red as his hair.

He was wearing a somewhat worn-out set of robes, the edges slightly frayed. Given that he had mentioned having four older brothers (technically five, but only four had come up in conversation), the origin of those robes was obvious.

Strangely, Draco didn't comment on Hermione. Instead, he looked back at Harry. "Surely, you can see that not all wizards are equal. I could offer you some valuable advice about choosing the right friends."

Harry tilted his head, glancing at the two stocky boys standing behind Draco, who looked utterly ridiculous. He looked at them, then at Draco. Looked at them again, then back at Draco.

"Sorry, but I have my doubts about your judgment," Harry said seriously.

This time, Ron and Hermione couldn't hold back their laughter.

"Potter..." Draco, who had been smirking moments ago, froze as his expression darkened.

"Here's some advice for you, show respect. Otherwise, you'll end up no better than your parents. They got what they deserved for keeping bad company. In my opinion…"

Draco never got to finish his sentence.

He was already doubled over, clutching his nose as blood visibly trickled between his fingers.

Gasps of shock echoed through the room.

Harry flexed his fingers, but the grin on his face only grew wider. "I have some advice for you too, I don't like people talking about me. And I definitely don't waste time arguing with people weaker than me. Got it, weakling?"

"You, you dare?!" Draco groaned in pain, still holding his nose. "Crabbe, Goyle, get them!"

Draco's two bulky lackeys seemed to snap out of their daze after witnessing their leader getting punched. One of them reached out to grab Harry.

However, the moment his eyes met Harry's, his body froze.

The next second, Harry grabbed the boy's wrist and yanked him forward. As his body stumbled ahead, Harry rammed his shoulder into the boy's chest while simultaneously hooking a foot behind his calf.

"THUD!"

The stocky boy, who was nearly twice Harry's weight, crashed to the floor. If Draco hadn't dodged quickly, he would have been flattened beneath him.

"No way, no way! With skills like that, you still think you can pick fights?" Harry spread his hands mockingly, looking from the stunned Draco to the other lackey, who stood frozen in fear, clearly hesitating to take a step forward.

"You, you just wait! This isn't over!" Draco stammered, terror flashing in his eyes as he saw Harry advancing toward him. He grabbed his groaning, incapacitated friend and bolted toward another carriage in the distance.

By now, a crowd of twenty or thirty students had gathered to watch. Most of them looked astonished, while some of the girls were staring at Harry with eyes practically burning with excitement.

Harry turned to the onlookers and flashed a friendly smile.

"Hello, everyone. I'm Potter, Harry Potter. Some of you may have heard my name, while others haven't, but that doesn't matter. We have an entire school year to get to know each other, and I hope it'll be a pleasant one. Now, if you don't mind, I think I need a little rest."

After saying that, Harry nodded again, returned to the compartment, and closed the door behind him.

"You... how could you hit someone?" Hermione finally reacted, staring at him in shock.

"That was brilliant, Harry!" Ron's eyes were shining. At that moment, in his mind, Harry had become as impressive as Alberta Toothill or Samson Wiblin, both wizards known for their dueling prowess and legendary status.

Neville furrowed his brows but remained silent.

Harry grinned at Ron before turning to Hermione. "Didn't I tell you before that I'd find an opportunity to beat him up? Now that he showed up, I had to do it."

Hermione: "..."

When Harry said that, she suddenly remembered that earlier, when they had been discussing Voldemort, Draco had indeed butted in with an arrogant and condescending attitude.

She had been furious at the time, and when Harry had mentioned finding an opportunity to punch him, she had nodded?

But she hadn't actually expected Harry to go through with it.

For a moment, silence filled the compartment.

Then, out of nowhere, Neville clapped his hands and laughed. "Haha! I get it, Harry, you're laughing because Malfoy's two friends didn't look too good after that fight."

Harry: "..."

Ron: "..."

Hermione: "..."

Ron immediately started questioning Harry about how he had gotten so strong. Though Hermione pretended not to care, Harry noticed her little ears twitch slightly beneath her hair, clearly, she was listening intently.

Harry chuckled and made something up.

In truth, he had picked up a few hand-to-hand combat tricks from Dudley, who practiced boxing and mixed martial arts. Harry had found it interesting and learned a bit, though he had never actually put it to use.

Defeating someone like Draco was no problem, but handling the two stocky boys was another matter.

The real reason Harry had dealt with them so easily was that he had used a little mental magic in the process.

The fear technique worked simply by making eye contact, causing the target to feel an inexplicable sense of dread. This fear effect was controllable, Harry wasn't using it at full strength, so it wouldn't make anyone go berserk. It usually just made people freeze in place or weaken their legs momentarily.

That was enough. When your opponent's limbs were weak and their mind was foggy, knocking them down was incredibly easy.

Luckily, the stocky boy hadn't been as massive as Dudley. Otherwise, even if he had been dazed for a second, Harry might not have been able to knock him down purely because of his weight.

"Speaking of which, my dear cousin should be starting at a new school right about now, shouldn't he? I wonder how that's going for him." Harry mused.

As the conversation continued, the sky gradually darkened. At some point, Ron's twin brothers, Fred and George, barged into the compartment, chattering excitedly and spouting all sorts of nonsense, leaving Harry feeling slightly dizzy.

One thing he did learn, though, was that the small cloth pouch Hagrid had given him for storing gold coins had actually been made by the twins.

After goofing around for a while, the twins dashed off to find their next source of entertainment.

Harry glanced at his watch, only to realize it had stopped at some point.

"As expected..." He wasn't surprised in the slightest. This was an electronic watch from Japan, and the quality was excellent. But that wasn't the issue, Harry had read in a book that electronic devices wouldn't work at Hogwarts. He had brought the watch along just to test that theory.

And sure enough, it had stopped working.

So, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a mechanical watch. It was already 5:30 PM. If the book was correct and the train wasn't delayed, they would be arriving in about thirty minutes.

"I think we should put on our robes now," Hermione said after checking the time. The other three nodded, and the boys were promptly kicked out of the compartment.

Harry, standing by the door, pursed his lips. "Seriously? All this fuss just to change into robes?"

When the boys were finally allowed back in, Harry noticed that Ron's school robes were quite old, while only Neville's shirt looked new.

"The Weasleys' financial situation must be really tough." he thought.

After they had all changed and chatted for a while, a voice echoed throughout the train:

"We will arrive at Hogwarts in five minutes. Students, please leave your luggage on the train. It will be brought to the school for you."

Harry noticed there were no speakers or microphones anywhere. That meant the voice had to be transmitted by magic.

He was familiar with an Amplification Charm, which could make a voice incredibly loud. But this was different, the volume wasn't overwhelming, yet every student on the train could hear it perfectly.

The train gradually slowed down, and a faint sense of nervousness settled in Harry's chest.

However, glancing at the three friends around him, who looked even more nervous than he did, his own nerves faded away.

Outside the window, the world was pitch dark. Finally, the train came to a complete stop.

Harry knew, they had arrived at Hogwarts.

******

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