28 UGLY

"Sigh! I have never read so many books in my life." Ron said closing the book in his hand.

"Yeah! and the worst part is that we still can't find who Nicolas Flamel is." Harry said laying back on the chair.

"Harry, Ron... I have found who Nicolas Flamel is." Hermione came in with a huge book in her hand.

"What!"

"Really?" Both Harry and Ron said at the same time.

"Yes, look." She said showing them the book in front. "Nicolas Flamel is the only known maker of the Philosopher's Stone!"

"The what?" said Harry and Ron.

She pushed the book toward them, and Harry and Ron read: The ancient study of alchemy is concerned with making the Sorcerer's Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The stone will transform any metal into pure gold. It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal. There have been many reports of the Sorcerer's Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his six hundred and sixty-fifth birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life in Devon with his wife, Perenelle (six hundred and fifty-eight).

"I knew it" Harry said rushing back into his room and coming out with a Wizard Card, "I told you I'd read the name somewhere before, I read it on the train coming here -- listen to this: 'Dumbledore is particularly famous for his defeat of the dark wizard Grindelwald in 1945, for the discovery of the twelve uses of dragon's blood, and his work on alchemy with his partner, Nicolas Flamel'!

"The dog must be guarding Flamel's Sorcerer's Stone! I bet he asked Dumbledore to keep it safe for him, because they're friends and he knew someone was after it, that's why he wanted the Stone moved out of Gringotts!" Hermione said.

"A stone that makes gold and stops you from ever dying!" said Harry. "No wonder Snape's after it! Anyone would want it."

"And no wonder we couldn't find Flamel in that Study of Recent Developments in Wizardry," said Ron. "He's not exactly recent if he's six hundred and sixty-five, is he?"

"You really are a genius, Hermione." Harry complimented.

"Yeah! See I told you, we don't need Malfoy's help." Ron said proudly giving Hermione a thumbs up.

Hermione coughed and didn't say anything. She wondered what their reaction would be after they find that Draco was the one who gave her the information.

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Draco and Theodore were in the hall doing there homework.

"Sigh! Who gives this much homework to a first-year student." Theodore complained, "That bloody ghost, I will get him one day."

That day all of them were punished by Professor Binns, who gave them tons of homework as punishment for being late.

"I wonder if there is a spell to exorcize ghost." Draco said, he too was irritated by this homework. They had to remember all the events of Wizarding Revolutions. The events weren't even accurate since the dates differ from book to book.

As they were complaining and doing their homework, they heard some quarreling outside the door. Normally Draco wouldn't care much but he heard Crabbe's voice.

"Let's go." He said to Theodore.

Outside some older Hufflepuff students were making fun of Crabbe and Goyle cornering them.

"Hey! aren't you a pureblood? Why don't you show me your magical powers then." An older boy said

"Yeah! You just call me a mud-blood, didn't you?" Another senior said, "Let's see what makes you so special." He said taking out his wand.

"Let's not go too far guys." A handsome boy said.

"What are you talking about Cedric, you heard this kid, he insulted me," The senior replied ready to hit both of them with a spell.

"Expelliarmus." A light came knocking the boys wand.

All of them turned their heads towards the voice.

"Hey! Let's not go too far, shall we." Draco repeated what Cedric said, walking between them with a smirk. Theodore lazily followed but he had his wand ready in his hand.

The Hufflepuff student recognized who the other person was and the boy named Cedric came forward.

"We don't want any trouble but your friend is the one who insulted us first." He said in a calm voice.

Draco nodded, "I heard it." he said looking at Crabbe and Goyle who had lost a lot of weight in this couple of months.

Both of them looked nervously towards Draco, "Draco, we didn't.."

"Is there a reason?" Draco asked making the duo confused, "Sigh! Is there a reason you called that guy a mudblood?"

"He's been making fun of us ever since we joined Hufflepuff," Crabbe said looking down.

"He kept pushing us again and again." Goyle added. "We didn't say anything at first thinking he would stop but he didn't and today, I accidentally used that word when he tripped me." Goyle said getting afraid, he knew Draco didn't like that word very much.

Draco nodded and looked at Cedric, "Cedric, can I call you that?"

Cedric nodded,

"As you just heard, your friend is the one in fault here, even though I hate the word mudblood, I don't like people bullying my friends either." He said with a cold voice staring into Cedric's eyes. "So today since both parties are at fault, I shall leave it alone but in the future control your friends."

Cedric sighed and looked at his friend, The boy looked down and didn't say anything.

"I have warned them before and I will make sure there isn't a problem in the future." He said

Draco nodded and looked at Crabbe and Goyle, "If they cause you any problem in the future come to me and control your lips."

Crabbe and Goyle nodded obediently. "Thank you."

Draco turned to look at the boy, "You asked what makes a pure-blood special, didn't you?"

The boy looked at him and didn't say anything. He knew the other party was a genius and he wasn't sure he could defeat him.

"You see, we pure-bloods are the center of the wizarding community, from the ministry to other higher-level jobs. We pure-bloods are involved in everything related to magic. So I will suggest you to not keep getting ahead of yourself since your future might be in the dark."

"Are you threatening us?" The other boy asked with an angry expression

"Another Muggle-born, I assume." Draco said turning towards Cedric, "You are a pure-blood, aren't you? So explain to them what I was trying to convey."

Cedric didn't say anything and stared at Draco.

"Just so you know, this isn't a threat its a kind suggestion." Draco said walking away, "Take it or leave it."

Theodore stared at Cedric for a while and walked away along with Draco. Crabbe and Goyle looked thankfully at Draco and walked inside the hall leaving Cedric and his gang alone.

"Watching out for your competitor?" Draco asked teasing Theodore.

"Hmph! Do you think he can defeat me?" Theodore said, Theodore had been hanging out with Cho for some time now and he knew a boy named Cedric from Hufflepuff liked her as well. He had been wanting to meet the other party for a while now but seeing Cedric face-to-face made him nervous.

"Hahaha... it's not about strength or your fighting capability, Theodore." Draco laughed, "You know, no matter how brave a Knight is, a Princess will always marry the Prince unless..."

"Unless what?"

"Unless you attack her heart before the Prince can use his charms." Draco smirked, "If nothing works, you can kidnap the Princess away."

"Do you think we live in a medieval era?" Theodore said getting annoyed

"Well, I was talking about the medieval era." Draco grinned, "or do you really consider yourself a knight?"

"Che... I need some help." He said surprising Draco.

"What? I think I heard you incorrectly." Draco said looking back at Theodore.

"I said, I need... you know what forget it."

"Okay! No need to act so shy." Draco said, "I don't have much experience in this area either."

"You don't have experience?" Theodore laughed, "You have a girl hanging around you every time and you are telling me that you don't have any experience. Don't make me laugh."

"I really don't. I just act like I have some experience." Draco said with a serious face.

"Are you serious?" Theodore stopped laughing and looked at Draco.

"Yeah!" Draco said with a grim face.

"So all this time you were just acting like a lady killer?"

"Yup."

"So how bad are you at this?" Theodore asked, "Are you bad at this than me?"

"Worse than you." Draco replied with a straight face.

"How do you do it, man?" Theodore was seeing Draco in a new light.

"I just do whatever I think a girl thinks its funny or good." Draco said,

"Teach me." Theodore said, "I am sure if you can do it then so can I."

"Are you sure it takes a lot of courage and training to do so?" Draco asked.

"Yes." Theodore nodded.

Inside Draco's briefcase both, Theodore and Draco were studying the art of getting girls.

"So the first thing we need to realize is that we are ugly." Draco said seriously

"We are what?" Theodore asked confused.

Draco went over and slapped Theodore, "Do you think you are handsome? Go look at yourself in the mirror."

Theodore was scared of this Draco, and hurriedly stood up walking towards the mirror,

Draco walked behind him, "Look in the mirror."

"Look at your ugly rabbit face."

"Look at your tall lanky body. You look like a skeleton covered with a layer of skin."

Theodore wanted to cry, "I am at least average."

Another slap came flying towards him, "Average is still ugly."

Theodore held his cheeks in pain wanting to escape but he knew he couldn't. The whole space inside the suitcase was controlled by Draco.

"I am ugly, say it."

"I am ug--"

"Put some energy into it and say it!!"

"I AM UGLY!!" Theodore yelled.

"Good, since now we have realized how we look on the outside--"

"We need to look in the inside?"

*Slap* "Don't interrupt me." Draco said, "No one cares about what you are like in the inside unless you are marrying that person."

Theodore nodded hurriedly, afraid another slap would come flying his way.

"So we need to decide what we want to pretend as ourselves." Draco said sitting back down, "We are Slytherin and with our ugly faces a bad boy character suits us the best."

"But I think I read in a magazine that girls like kind --." Seeing Draco raise his hand he closed his mouth.

"You need to be good looking to act kind, otherwise you will just get friend zoned."

"What's a friend-zone?"

"The friend zone is an unholy situation in which one member of a friendship wishes to enter into a romantic relationship but get's rejected, with words like. 'Let's just be friends.'" Draco explained, "Do you want Cho to say those words to you when the time comes."

Theodore imagined Cho rejecting him when he confesses his love to her. Theodore hurriedly shook his head, he didn't want that.

"Good! So don't be too kind to her." Draco said, "Girls like freedom, so learn to be a little open, you don't see me chasing Pansy, Daphne or Hermione everywhere do you?"

Theodore nodded noting down the points.

"The next step is easy and you have already succeeded in it." Draco said, "You saved her when she was in trouble so you have already left a mark in her heart. I can say for sure that right now, she values you more than Cedric."

"She does?" Theodore asked getting happy.

*Slap* "Don't get too happy, you fool?" Draco said, "A girls heart changes faster than a chameleon changes its color. If Cedric plays his card right with his pretty face you wouldn't be able to take her back."

"So what do you want me to do?"

"Right, now the iron is hot, but don't rush in either." Draco said, "Play it cool, say a lot of cheesy things, buy her gifts, no its still to early for buying gifts... buy her beautiful presents on her birthday and Christmas so it doesn't look like you are a desperate creep. The other important part is don't get too shy. She is the one that should be blushing, not you."

"So I should act cool even when my ears and cheeks are getting red as you do?"

*Slap* "Hey! What was that for?" Theodore slapped back.

"*Cough* Sorry! I got a little too into this. I am new at this, just like you but hey at least, I am trying." Draco said holding his cheeks.

"So what do I do next?"

"I don't know, I have never reached so far before." Draco said, "But luckily for me, things are playing out well."

"That's true." Theodore nodded, "So we can conclude that after we reach that stage we need to let things play on its own."

"Yeah! you can say that." Draco nodded, "Hey, aren't Cho's parents Asians?"

"Yeah! why?"

"Make sure to send them gifts as well." Draco said, "From what I have heard, for Asian people, the first thing you've got to do is get in the parent's good side. If you succeed, Cedric can't even get close to her."

"Really?"

"I think so." Draco said

Theodore nodded, "Hey! I have known you since we were little, when did you manage to collect so much information?"

"*Cough* Its a talent." Draco replied. In reality, all this information was collected in his previous life from the power of observance. Having no friends throughout school you get better at this skill more than you think. So after observing his classmates dating and breaking up, he managed to collect data on dating but unfortunately, he never got to try it till now.

After a while, both of them came out the suitcase with a red face.

"Why are both of your cheeks so red?" Pansy asked

"Don't ask." Both Draco and Theodore said at the same time.