The Dark Prince

first day| three

First Official Day

"GOODMORNING!" Blaise exclaimed, effectively waking up his three roomates, though Blaise and Theodore slept in a joined room next door to Draco’s and Zi’s

Yawning, Zi sat up on his bed watching as the other three young wizards began to get ready, only standing to get ready as well when instructed to by Draco

While getting dressed, Zi struggled to fix his tie and looked to his cousin who noticed his hands fumbling

“Let me help you, Zi,” Draco mumbled, a smile on his face as he tied his little cousin's tie for him,”I’ll teach you later, okay?”

“Kay,” Zi whispered, nodding as Draco pushed his curly hair from his face

“We’ll get you a hair tie too, it’ll be hard to read with all your hair in your face,” He commented as Theodore and Blaise walked into their room again

"Are you guys ready to go to breakfast?" Theodore asked Blaise and Draco nodded in reply,"Then, let's go. "

¥

"This breakfast is so delicious, " admitted Theodore as he bit into the pancakes.

"I told you so." Blaise sat up straighter in excitement and munched on the muffin,”Are you not going to eat anything else, Zi?” he questioned the boy who sat silently watching them eat his plate still basically full of all the food Draco placed out for him

“Zi not hungry,” Zi mumbled softly, his eyes downcast as he felt their confused stars

“Little Zi, you need to eat-” Draco tried, only to have the Dark Lord’s son to look at him with teary eyes

“Please,” Zi whispered, the golden specks of his eyes shining brightly as his doe eyes stared into Draco’s soul

The platinum blonde’s young heart broke at the sight and he could find it in himself to force his cousin to eat anymore.

“Okay,” Draco gave in, noting to try and help Zi with this later

¥

Zi sat next to Draco in the  classroom and opened his potions book while waiting for the class to fill up. Slowly reading, using the skills he learned from Snape a few days prior. It took him a few minutes to read all the words but he at least could read them now with understanding.

Within minutes, the class was filled with students and Severus Snape walked into the room.

He looked up when Snape closed the door roughly. Snape took out a piece of parchment
and started a roll call. "Hermione Granger."

"Here," said the girl with the bushy hair at the Gryffindor side of the class.

"Neville Longbottom."

"H-here."

"Draco Malfoy."

"Here."

"Ron Weasley. "

"Here."

Snape stopped and looked up,then looked at Potter as he said the name, "Harry Potter."

Harry Potter glared at him."Here.”

"Unfortunately." tutted Snape and went back to the parchment. He looked up again and this time looked at Zi, his eyes softening, "Zi Lestrange- Riddle,"

“Here,” Zi spoke, many of the students tensing at both his name and snake-like voice. All reminded of who he was the child of.

Harry couldn't take his eyes off of Zi. He felt drawn to him in a way and he didn’t know why.

He had heard things from his parents about, ‘He who shall not be named’, but they hadn’t told him that he had a son. He was sure they would now force him to train harder in order to defeat him, however he didn’t see a reason to defeat nor hate Zi.

The kid who shared his age seemed nothing but innocent and confused. He didn’t seem to know anything about the wizarding world nor its political state which favored Harry’s family and not his.

He was intrigued to say the least.

"There will be no foolish wand waving, or silly incantations in this class. As such, I don't expect many of you to appreciate the subtle science and exact art that is potion-making. However, for those select few. ." Snape glanced at the Slytherin's, eyes stopping a few more seconds on Draco, who proudly smirked,"..Who possess, the predisposition. .. I can teach you how to bewitch the mind and ensnare the senses. I can tell you how to bottle fame, brew glory, and even put a stopper in death,.. Then again, maybe some of you have come to Hogwarts in possession of abilities so formidable that you feel confident enough to not pay attention!"

Ron nudged Harry harshly in the ribs, making him finally look away from Zi, who didn't even pay him a glance.

"Mister Potter. our new celebrity. " Snape's lips curled coldly. "Tell me,what would I get if I added
powdered root of asphodel to an infusion of wormwood?”

He tutted when Harry stayed quiet"You don't know?" He asked, continuing when Harry shook his head. "Well, let's try again. Where, Mr. Potter, would you look if I asked you to find me a bezoar?"

"I don't know, sir." Harry muttered, narrowing his eyes at the man who was obviously trying to embarrass him

"Pity. Clearly, fame isn't everything, is it, Mr. Potter?" Snape questioned mockingly

"Clearly, Hermione knows. " Harry nodded his head towards the said girl,whose hand was up in the air the whole time.

Snape glared at him. "20 points from Gryffindor. For your information Potter, Asphodel and Wormwood make a sleeping potion so powerful it is known as the Draught of the Living
Death, a Bezoar is a stone taken from the stomach of a goat and it will save you from most poisons. As for Monkshood and Wolfsbane, they are the same plant which also goes by the name of Aconite,” he informed, Zi and most Slytherin’s being the only ones to copy the information

Though Zi didn’t write it himself, his quill began to move on its own and copied down each word Snape spoke. It seemed his magic still found its way to give him what he needed.

“Well,why aren't you all copying this down?" He snapped, looking around the room, causing the rest to copy his words down as well,”20 points to Slytherin, it seems you’re the only competent house,” he muttered, the slytherin’s smirking

¥

“We made it! Can you imagine the look on old McGonagall's face if we were late?" asked Ron Weasley as he rushed into class with Harry Potter.

The cat on the teacher's desk jumped into the air and turned into Professor McGonagall, causing Zi to gasp in excitement.

Ron gulped,"That was bloody brilliant!" He tried changing the subject.

"Oh, thank you for that assessment, Mr. Weasley. Perhaps it would be more useful if I were to transfigure you and Mr. Potter into a pocket watch? That way one of you might be on time!" McGonagall said, raising a brow at both boy’s

"We got lost.." Potter replied, looking ashamed.

"Then perhaps a map? I trust you don't need that to find your seats. " McGonagall shot back, pointing to the empty chairs. Potter and Weaslev nodded, going to take their seats.

As class continued, Zi’s pencil began to take notes once more before he felt eyes on him. Turning around he found himself making eye contact with Harry who averted his eyes quickly.