Sorting Ceremony

At that thought, Ron grew even more enthusiastic!

He simply looped his arm around Harry's and slowly entered the Great Hall with the main group of young wizards.

Those who knew understood that they were entering Hogwarts for the Sorting Ceremony required at the start of term.

Those who didn't might have thought the two of them were heading into a church to register their marriage...

Harry: ...

Seriously, Miss Weasley.

Could you watch how you're behaving?

Harry now seriously suspected that Ron hadn't done this by accident or without thinking, but was doing it entirely on purpose!

After all, Ron was only bad at studying. At other times, he did seem to have a bit of a brain...

Especially when playing Wizard's Chess or stirring up trouble, Ron was practically the one with the most ideas.

After all, just look at Ron's little amber eyes-he was still glancing over at Draco's spot!

To make Draco angry, Ron even very boldly pulled a face.

His arm went straight around Harry's neck, too, as though they were the best of buddies.

Ron: This feels great!

He watched as Draco could now only stare helplessly while he manhandled Harry however he liked, leaving Draco to seethe with jealousy and anger from afar.

Tsk, you helpless little Miss Malfoy~

Seeing this scene, Ron couldn't have felt more satisfied.

Whew~

That awful blond groundhog used to bring up her father every single day, always looking down on people like me who came from poor wizarding families.

Well, look at you now!

I've got Harry, and I can keep doing whatever I want with him.

Are you angry? Are you furious?

Hehehehe~

That's right, be furious. Be angry.

The angrier Draco became, the more excited Ron grew.

If only Ron weren't less than particularly clever, with very limited tricks at his disposal.

If she had the ability to use Legilimency and see into Draco's mind right now.

Ron could probably have kissed Harry outright, leaving Draco standing there shedding little pearls of tears.

Harry looked at what Ron was doing, then at Draco's eyes, which had instantly reddened, and couldn't help facepalming again.

It's over.

There is something seriously wrong with this Hogwarts. Is it too late for me to drop out?

Nobody told me Draco had been gender-swapped, and nobody told me Ron had been gender-swapped too!

Even less had anyone told Harry that Draco and Ron would launch into a romantic battlefield as soon as they came to school-before they had even reached Hogwarts...

Seriously, can even friendships turn into romantic battlegrounds?

Moreover, in the original story, because of Hermione's own problems with emotional intelligence, her interactions with Ron and Harry at the start of term had actually been far from pleasant.

But now...

Honestly, it took something special for Ron and Draco to scare even Hermione.

Of course, now that he was here, Harry certainly wouldn't have been happy about actually dropping out.

Following Professor McGonagall's footsteps.

Harry and Ron slowly stepped into this ancient, mysterious, powerful magical castle of Hogwarts as well!

"That damned redheaded freak, that shameless vixen..."

Draco stared at Ron's retreating back with reddened eyes.

That little redheaded girl was clearly grubby and dressed in rags, so why was Potter still willing to let her get close?

Am I not pretty?

Pfft, pfft, pfft, making friends has nothing to do with that. But shouldn't Potter be forming a friendship with a wizard from a background like mine instead?

Damn it! This is infuriating!

Why did he run off with Weasley?!

Just you wait, you damned, shabby Miss Weasley.

Once her father sent over the new glasses.

Then she would have Potter dressed from head to toe in clothes bought by the Malfoy family.

Hmph, hmph~

Damn you, Weasley. How could you possibly compete with me?

At that thought, an arrogant sneer appeared directly on Draco's face.

Potter had only just entered the wizarding world, so he might not know the prestige of pure-blood families, much less what sort of standing the Malfoy family had in the wizarding world as a whole!

Still, that didn't matter.

Potter would find out later. She would let Potter know exactly whom he ought to befriend.

As for afterward...

If Potter begs me, should I readily agree, or hesitate a little before accepting?

Yes, Miss Malfoy's thoughts were fast-forwarding as usual. Pay them no mind.

"Miss?"

"Miss?"

Seeing Draco stop, Crabbe and Goyle called to her in puzzlement.

How strange. Why was the young miss suddenly so cheerful?

Hadn't she been furious just a moment ago?

Why was she smiling now?

And judging by that smile, it was already comparable to when Aunt Narcissa gave her a giant teddy bear...

"Stop rushing me. You keep making so much noise."

The corners of Miss Malfoy's lips curled up slightly as she rolled her eyes at Crabbe and Goyle in displeasure.

Her long legs carried her forward with confident strides, her face full of scorn and disdain.

She quickly caught up with the main group and reached the doorway on the other side of the Great Hall.

Bring it on, Sorting Ceremony!

And Potter, you'd better watch yourself.

You're definitely going to regret this.

I'll show you exactly what kind of person deserves to be your friend, who deserves the effort you put into making friends!

Remember, put your heart into it, don't be a heartbreaker, Potter!

"Hogwarts... the Great Hall..."

Harry and all the other first-years followed Professor McGonagall into the Great Hall of Hogwarts.

Hogwarts looked distinctly lively this year.

Perhaps it was because everyone knew that the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, would be starting school this year.

Many young wizards craned their necks, eager to see exactly what this legendary figure who had ended the wizarding war looked like.

Quite a few even looked as though they had seen a ghost after noticing how intimate Harry and Ron were.

That expression was especially evident on the twin brothers, Fred and George.

Seriously, this Chosen One really is something else...

Isn't this Mr. Chosen One's taste a little bizarre and extreme?

How could he even take a liking to our hopelessly stupid little sister...?

For a moment, even Fred and George couldn't tell whether Harry was tempting Ron or Ron had taken the initiative to hook up with Harry...

Anyway, this is far too hard to judge. Let Mum have the headache later, hahahaha...

"Hohoho, another new year. How wonderful..."

As an old wizard standing in the middle of the Great Hall, wearing a pointed wizard's hat and blue-purple wizard's robes, his head covered in white hair, waved his hand.

Professor McGonagall brought over a tattered pointed wizard's hat and placed it on a stool.

Clearly, the Sorting Ceremony was about to begin at Hogwarts!