A First-Year Summer Vacation with Cassandra (Part 1)

Bonus Chapter: My First-Year Summer with Cassandra (Part 1)

With the arrival of summer vacation, the Great Hall at Hogwarts was not as noisy as usual.

The students boarded the buses and left one after another, leaving only a small number of students still at school, waiting for the next bus to arrive.

Little Harry didn't leave; he didn't know where to go.

He just went to Principal Phineas Black's Headmaster's Office to ask the Headmaster for permission to stay at school during his leave.

"Harry?"

Gareth's voice rang in little Harry's ears.

Little Harry looked up, saw it was his good friend, and forced a smile at him.

Having spent a year in this era where he knew no one, Harry felt he didn't quite belong here.

Even if it's bad, it won't be worse than Number Four, Privet Drive, Little Whinging, a hundred years from now, right?

However, he is now facing a rather awkward problem: during summer vacation, everyone has to go back to their own homes, and Hogwarts, in principle, does not allow students to stay on campus during the holidays.

This means he has nowhere to go.

However, Headmaster Black Phineas Black stated that it was possible for him to stay at the school if he wanted, but he would have to stay with him.

"Gareth." Little Harry hugged his legs and forced a smile at Gareth.

"What are your plans for the holidays?" Gareth sat down beside him, offering him a candy. "Are you really going to stay at school? With Headmaster Black? Good heavens... how about you come home with me?"

Harry hesitated for a moment, then shook his head.

He has received far too much kindness from the Weasley family since he enrolled in school.

But being as cautious as he was, he truly didn't want to push his luck any further, lest he be disliked by others.

"Don't worry, Gareth," Harry said, forcing a happy smile. "Actually, Headmaster Black is quite..."

He thought for a long time, but still couldn't come up with a suitable adjective.

"God, I don't want you hanging out with that jerk," Gareth said quickly. "Seriously, man, you should come home with me. My parents want to meet you..."

Before they could finish speaking, a sweet but arrogant voice rang out behind them.

"Weasley, if I heard correctly, you want my little lackey to come home with you, right?"

The two turned their heads together, and what they saw was the extremely arrogant face of a young girl.

The girl's eyes were full of pride, and a beauty mark under her eye added a touch of aloofness to her temperament.

It's Cassandra Malfoy.

"Malfoy!" Gareth couldn't sit still any longer, jumping to his feet. "I won't allow you to bully Harry!"

Girls' height development always starts earlier than boys'; even when Gareth stands up, he's still a head shorter than Cassandra.

From this perspective, Gareth appears to be less imposing than Cassandra.

"Bullying?" Cassandra smirked, looking down at Gareth. "If that's what you think... well, you should leave now. I have something to discuss with my lackey."

Harry saw that Gareth seemed about to say something more, so he tugged at Gareth's sleeve.

"Gareth..."

Gareth turned around.

"Don't worry, I'm fine. See you in a bit," Harry whispered.

He didn't want to implicate Gareth, because he had also heard about the Malfoy family's status in the Magical World.

"Are you really okay?" Gareth asked with concern.

"It's okay, don't worry," Harry said.

Gareth sighed. Since Harry had said so, he had no reason to stay any longer.

So he had no choice but to leave the Great Hall and stand far away at the door to prevent Cassandra from abusing Harry.

"Alright, now it's just the two of us, Miss Malfoy," Harry said in a low voice, sounding quite unsure of himself. "Please don't hesitate to ask if you need anything."

He was genuinely afraid of offending the Malfoy family's eldest daughter in front of him. If he were expelled from school in this era, his fate would be even worse than that of the Dursley family —he wouldn't even have a room in the stairwell.

"Ha, you're smart enough to know your place." Cassandra crossed her arms and looked down at Harry. "You're not going anywhere during the holidays—understand? You're coming back to the Malfoy Manor with me. You're not allowed to leave with the Weasley, or stay at school!"

"Why... why?" Harry felt a little suffocated.

"Malfoy is really annoying," he thought to himself. "Looking at her, she really is like a venomous snake that has spotted its prey."

"Why?"

The girl smiled slightly, "Ah... it's nothing, you're my follower, so naturally you have to come home with me—do you expect next semester's scholarship to cover your expenses for the entire academic year?"

"You mean?" Harry asked in a low voice.

"Like I said at Christmas, my dad and brother are both very busy and don't have time," Cassandra scoffed. "And I need to practice my Charms ... understand?"

"Are you going to make me your target?" Little Harry asked pitifully, head down.

From an angle he couldn't see, a hint of heartache flashed in the girl's eyes.

"Then why don't I just buy some dummies?" the girl said arrogantly, raising her chin. "I need an opponent who can fight me, someone at least half my strength. I hope you can meet my requirements—if you don't, I'll fire you and send you back to keep Headmaster Black company! Do you hear me?"

"In addition, your salary is thirty Galleon per holiday." The girl's tone began to grow impatient. "I'll give you one minute to think about it."

Harry did a quick mental calculation.

Thirty Galleon...

This was a huge sum of money for him... thirty Galleon meant he could buy some spellbooks, a better cauldron, or some new clothes...

"I, I understand, Miss Malfoy," Harry quickly replied, not wanting to miss this opportunity to make money.

Even if it means being used as a target by Miss Malfoy, he thought to himself.

"Snort."

Cassandra smiled with satisfaction.

"You're smart enough, Potter," Cassandra said cheerfully. "Well then, I'll have Kiki help you pack, and the Malfoy family's carriage will be waiting for you at the school gate."

"Thank you, Miss Malfoy," Harry said quickly.

He was still curious about who Kiki really was.

The girl walked away with light steps, her heels clicking crisply on the Great Hall floor.

I saw some comments saying that I deliberately wrote Harry as a blockhead, a typical Japanese-style gentle male protagonist, and that Cassandra's feelings for him were not apparent.

No, buddy...

Have you really read the original books? Do you understand what kind of person Harry is?

Dude, you should say that to Ginny in the original story, and see if she ignores you or not.

In the original books, Harry enters the Magical World as the Savior, showered with various halos, and has no worries about food or clothing, yet he's still as clueless as Ginny...

Do you expect Harry, who is penniless, knows no one, and needs to rely on others to survive, to understand the feelings of a haughty young lady for him?

Harry can't even be described as having a high opinion of himself, okay?

Even Harry in the original story, who had friends he would die for, a tolerant Headmaster, a selfless Hagrid who loved him, Godfather would eat rats for him, and inexhaustible wealth, still had an indelible inferiority complex. How much more so for Harry from a hundred years ago?

I'm writing fan fiction, not original work... Harry's character will evolve, but he can't escape J. K. Rowling's creation.

Anyone with a modicum of logic would never believe that Harry from a hundred years ago could have sensed Young Lady Malfoy's feelings...

Alright, without further ado, please vote with your monthly tickets.

I'll write a sequel when I'm in a good mood.