"Can I call you Tori? You know Tori, I'm a great friend."
"I don't get it, why are you being nice to me?"
"Maybe I don't want to see you friendless."
When Victoria Silvers, who comes from a long line of Slytherins, is sorted into Gryffindor her life...
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The rain was still pouring down the following day so Tori wasn't surprised when Angelina announced that quidditch was canceled. She was, however, surprised to hear that Harry had found a place for them to practice.
"What? Where?" Alicia was the first to speak up. "Tonight, eight o'clock, seventh floor opposite that tapestry of Barnabas the Barmy being clubbed by those trolls."
Tori nodded, getting up and rushing to tell the twins in Lee. At five to eight they followed the instructions, leading them to the tapestry. There wasn't anything there until Tori heard Alicia gasp.
A highly polished door had appeared in the wall. Tori was staring at it, looking slightly wary. She reached out, seized the brass handle, pulled open the door, and led the way into a spacious room lit with flickering torches like those that illuminated the dungeons eight floors below.
The walls were lined with wooden bookcases and instead of chairs, there were large silk cushions on the floor. A set of shelves at the far end of the room carried a range of instruments such as Sneakoscopes, Secrecy Sensors, and a large cracked Foe-Glass that Tori was sure had hung, the previous year, in the fake Moody's office.
Harry, Ron, Hermione Ginny, Neville, Lavender, Parvati, and Dean were already inside when they entered.
"Woah..." Tori gasped, looking around.
''Well," said Harry, slightly nervously as he stood in front of everyone. "This is the place we've found for practice sessions, and you've — er — obviously found it okay."
''It's fantastic!" Cho Chang said, and several people murmured their agreement.
''It's bizarre," Fred nodded, frowning around at it. "We once hid from Filch in here, remember, George? But it was just a broom cupboard then."
''Hey, Harry, what's this stuff?" asked Dean from the rear of the room, indicating the Sneakoscopes and the Foe-Glass.
''Dark detectors," Harry explained, stepping between the cushions to reach them. ''Basically, they all show when Dark wizards or enemies are around, but you don't want to rely on them too much, they can be fooled..."
He gazed for a moment into the cracked Foe-Glass for a moment before turning back towards them. "Well, I've been thinking about the sort of stuff we ought to do first and — er — " He noticed a raised hand. "What, Hermione?"
''I think we ought to elect a leader," Hermione said.
"Harry's leader," said Cho at once, looking at Hermione as though she were mad.
''Yes, but I think we ought to vote on it properly," Hermione shrugged unperturbed. "It makes it formal and it gives him authority. So — everyone who thinks Harry ought to be our leader?"
Everybody put up their hand, even Zacharias Smith, though he did it very half-heartedly.
''Er — right, thanks," said Harry, scratching the back of his head. "And — what, Hermione?"
