The long journey is finally coming to an end.
They climbed staircase after staircase, passed through creaking doors, circled corners and curtains, and finally arrived at the end of a corridor.
There hung a huge portrait there, depicting a plump lady in a pink silk dress smiling at them with a look of scrutiny and curiosity in her eyes.
"Password?" the Fat Lady asked in a pleasant voice.
"Dragon scum," Percy answered clearly.
The painting wobbled and swayed as it moved forward, revealing a circular opening.
Percy led the students inside.
Having gone through so much already, the students weren't surprised at all, as if they had already gotten used to Hogwarts' style of being full of traps and mechanisms.
"There's more than one password," Percy explained to the new students as he went inside, "So there's no need to worry about anyone leaking the information."
Draco thought to himself that Prefect Percy targeting him again.
The phrase "leaking the news" sounds so natural and fluent.
However, he did indeed do his job conscientiously; at least in terms of maintaining the safety of Gryffindor, he was genuinely sincere.
After tapping Draco, Percy continued, "The password can only be found on the notice board in the common room. Remember to check it regularly, otherwise you won't be able to enter the dormitory if the password changes."
The new students all nodded, and some even subconsciously glanced back at the portrait that had just been closed, as if trying to memorize the entrance.
Upon entering, you'll find yourself in Gryffindor's common room.
The warm air, mixed with the crackling of burning firewood, the musty smell of old parchment, and the cloying sweetness of candy, wafted over, making the freshmen momentarily disoriented.
Scarlet and gold banners hung from the ceiling, Incendio in the fireplace, armchairs were soft and comfortable, and several round tables were scattered around, with candy wrappers and open books still on them.
"Quiet! First-year students, look here!"
Percy's voice cut through the noise like a precise, slicing spell.
He had already stood in front of the huge stone fireplace, patting the edge of the bookshelf next to him with his palm, the Prefect Badge on his chest reflecting a silver light in the firelight.
The noise subsided quickly, like the receding tide.
Whether it was Ron, slumped in his chair, Neville, standing nervously next to Harry, or Hermione, who had already taken out her notebook, they all instinctively straightened their backs and looked in that direction.
Draco didn't move, but slowly turned his gaze to Percy.
"First and foremost," Percy's voice was clear, making sure everyone could hear him.
"Under no circumstances should the password to the common room be shared with students from other colleges. Avoid discussing it in public as much as possible. The password changes every Monday and will be posted on the bulletin board on time."
His gaze swept across the entire room, and when he spoke of the other colleges, it casually brushed past the solitary figure at the door.
"Strictly adhere to the curfew. No one may linger within the castle grounds after 9 PM. Mr. Filch and the patrolling professors will not tolerate violations, and Gryffindor will lose points as a result."
Percy's tone was flat, yet carried an iron weight.
"Your luggage has been delivered to the dorms. Boys, the stairs are on the left; girls, on the right. Entering the girls' dorms is strictly prohibited. The stairs are magical; the consequences of violating this rule... you don't want to experience."
As he spoke, he glared again at George and Fred, who were trying to build a tower out of Chocolate Frog Card on the other side of the fireplace.
Finally, the fireplace is for warmth only; it is strictly forbidden to put any unknown magical items or... food into it.
The twins shrugged innocently and casually pushed over the half-built "tower," making a crisp crashing sound.
"The class schedule will be distributed at breakfast tomorrow. Please familiarize yourself with the classroom locations and the Hogwarts staircases beforehand." Percy paused, seemingly recalling his own embarrassing experience as a freshman, "Because the staircases are quite unique and might make you late, but being late is unacceptable."
Percy continued talking about: the library rules, the Prefect's responsibilities, the location of Professor McGonagall's office, Nearly Headless Nick, the purpose of the bulletin board...
"... Everything you do affects Gryffindor's House Cup points." Percy's voice suddenly became more serious at this point.
His gaze swept over again, this time lingering on Draco's face for a distinct half-second. "I hope to see our hourglass full by the end of the year."
A brief pause.
"You are now members of Gryffindor," Percy said somewhat abruptly. "This means upholding the honor of the house. If you encounter difficulties... you can ask your classmates and Prefect for help."
"Now," Percy said finally, "You can go to the dorms. Boys on the left, girls on the right. Goodnight!"
"Finally over..." Ron muttered with relief, grabbing Harry and rushing towards the spiral staircase on the left.
Seamus and Dean followed, laughing heartily.
Neville, carrying Trevor, jogged after him, nearly tripping on the stairs.
Hermione carefully closed the notebook, nodded slightly in Percy's direction, and then strode towards the stairs on the right, her gaze thoughtfully sweeping over Draco was still standing there.
The crowd surged noisily toward the staircases on both sides like receding tide, quickly disappearing down the spiraling stone steps.
In the warm yet messy common room, only the crackling of the fireplace remained, along with the whispers of a few upperclassmen huddled in armchairs in the distance, and Draco standing there.
Draco waited until everyone who had gone upstairs had disappeared before he climbed the spiral staircase.
Each floor of the staircase is assigned to a grade, and each floor's entrance door frame has a sign indicating the grade.
Draco reached the seventh floor before the sign on the door read "First Year".
It seems that the previous seventh graders had just graduated on this floor, leaving empty dorm rooms that could accommodate this batch of new students.
There are four dormitory rooms and one washroom inside.
The names of the people living in this dormitory are written on the left side of the dormitory door.
Draco was assigned to the same dormitory as Harry and Ron, along with two other roommates Neville and Seamus.
[Ding! Original storyline added, Fortune Points +20!]
From outside the door, Draco could hear Ron's complaints from inside.
" Merlin's stinky socks!" He gasped, his voice jarring in the suddenly silent room. "He really... lives with us?!"
Draco pushed open the door and entered.
The soft click of the door hinges turning brought the noise in the room to an abrupt halt.
All four people turned their heads at the same time.
Draco walked in.
The air in the room seemed to freeze instantly.
Four pairs of eyes were fixed on him.
Ron's smile froze, as if someone had suddenly pressed the pause button.
Draco's gaze swept across the room and found the bed with his name engraved on the bedpost.
Without pausing, he walked straight over.
The leather shoes stomped Silencio on the carpet.
Finally, he sat down on the edge of his bed.
Dead silence.
Only the distant crackling of the fireplace, faintly emanating from the common room, sounded exceptionally clear in the small space.
In the end, it was Draco who broke the silence.
"Hi there," Draco said, looking at them. "We'll be roommates from now on."
As he spoke, he casually took out his wand and the shrunken suitcase, and used " Engorgio " to restore the suitcase to its original size.
The box thudded slightly on the carpet, making a dull thud.
But this sentence was like a pebble thrown into a frozen lake.
Ron was the first to react.
He blinked incredulously for a moment, then let out a short, mocking laugh.
"Did you hear that, Harry?" He turned to Harry beside him.
Then Ron's voice suddenly rose, filled with exaggerated mockery. "Our noble, new roommate is greeting us! 'Hello!' -- Merlin, I thought he'd only ever look down on people!"
Harry did not respond immediately.
He was looking at Draco, his eyes filled with complex emotions.
That sentence was too simple, too "normal." It didn't seem like a gesture of goodwill; it was more like... a test? Or perhaps a clumsy attempt to establish the most basic connection?
Either way, it made him feel deeply uneasy.
"What does he want?" Harry whispered to Ron, more as if asking himself.
"What are you doing? Putting on airs!" Ron spat. "You think we'll forget who he is and what kind of mess his family has made just by saying a few human words? Dream on!"
Seamus nudged Neville with his elbow, lowered his voice, and said with an excited, gossipy look, "Hey, he actually spoke up. I thought he was going to be a mute statue all night."
The moment Neville heard "Hello," it was as if he had been struck by a weak electric current.
There was no way to respond to Seamus's words.
He jolted, and Trevor fell with a thud onto the carpet in his arms, bouncing away.
Neville's face instantly drained of all color, then flushed red, and then turned deathly pale.
He opened his mouth, but no sound came out; only a faint, gasping sound escaped his lips.
He said "hello" to us.
This realization weighed heavily on Neville's chest.
He's saying "hello" now... Should I say something? Say "hello, Malfoy "?
No, no! Ron will kill me! But not saying anything... is too rude, Grandma said... Oh, Merlin!
Neville was so anxious that he almost suffocated.
Trevor jumped to his feet, but he didn't dare to grab him.
Draco remained unmoved by Ron's taunts, as if they were nothing more than a passing breeze.
Silence fell over the dormitory again, broken only by the sound of Draco packing his things.
Draco took out everything he needed and used a " Pack " function to automatically put his clothes and books back in their places, neatly arranged on the bedside table and bookshelf.
The movements were clean and efficient, without the slightest hesitation.
"Do you need my help?" Draco asked casually, his gaze sweeping over their luggage still scattered on the floor.
Ron jolted as if pricked by a needle, looking up abruptly. "Help us?! With your little stick?! Malfoy, are you still not awake after Troll stepped on your head? Who needs your help! Stay away from our stuff! Who knows what kind of evil curse you might cast on it!"
Neville shook his head frantically, while Harry and Seamus looked on warily, as if Draco's wand tip might spew out something terrible at any moment.
"It seems you don't need it," Draco said casually.
He grabbed his change of clothes, turned and left the dormitory, heading to the washroom at the end of the corridor to wash up and prepare for bed.
The door closed gently behind Draco, shutting out those complex and wary gazes.
Tomorrow is the real hurdle that needs to be taken seriously.
That's also the hardest part.