For 16 Galleons

Chapter 11

The next morning began in a rush. As usual, Harry had to physically haul Draco out of bed and push him towards the bathroom. He suspected that it was mostly an act and that Draco just enjoyed the attention. It was rather a fun way to start the morning.

The two boys brushed their teeth and combed their hair. The Malfoys had discovered that if they let Harry's hair grow out just a bit it was more manageable and looked much better. He was just glad they didn't insist he slick it back like Draco's. It wasn't long enough to tie back but it still looked pretty cool. Once they were in their new school uniforms they grabbed their book bags and raced to the Great Hall for breakfast. They almost ran down Weasley and another Gryffindor boy.

"Ponce," Weasley called after them. Draco just sneered and kept heading to the Slytherin table. Harry sat at his end and filled his plate. While eating heartily he paid close attention to his master's new enemies.

"Say, Hermione, did you catch the names of the Gryffindors last night?" he'd already figured out that she was a sharp one.

"Hmm? Oh yes. Which ones are you interested in?"

"Who's the boy with Weasley," he said as he pointed out Weasley's friend. The boy had blond hair and looked wiry. He thought he remembered him as having blue eyes.

Hermione carefully looked over at the Gryffindor table. "That's Logan Smith. I haven't heard much about him but I have a feeling his temper matches Weasley's.

"Thanks. I want to keep an eye on them."

"Good idea," Dean piped in. "They tried to give Master Blaise a hard time on the way to breakfast this morning."

After they finished eating they joined the other slaves waiting at the doors for Professor Lupin to collect them for class. Harry had never seen so many collars before. They were all very similar in design. They were each a dark colour with their owner's gold or silver crest attached. It appeared that all of them were made from the same magical metal as his. As he observed the other slaves, he reached up and brushed his fingers along his own collar. It had become a comfort to him, knowing that it meant he belonged to someone.

Harry thought he might like this professor quite a lot. The man spoke softly but clearly and smiled most of the time. There was an aura of inner strength about him that comforted Harry. He decided this was a man you wanted to please, not cross. Somehow he sensed that this man could be extremely dangerous if he wished. The professor led the slaves down a flight of stairs and a couple of long passages. They ended up in a rather large classroom not too far from the Slytherin dorms.

The older students took their seats and Professor Lupin directed the new First Years to a grouping of desks at the front of the class.

"We will begin with roll call and introductions. When I call your name, you will tell us the name and house of your master," Professor Lupin announced as he opened a scroll. He proceeded down the list alphabetically. All in all there were 40 slaves. The only one that surprised Harry was a girl named Alicia, who's master was named Katie Bell. He wondered if that was the daughter of Mr. Bell, his trainer.

"Now then," the professor said as he finished. "You will notice that each year group sits together in a cluster with the youngest of you in the front and the oldest in the back. I teach all levels in this one class and expect you all to be on your best behaviour. You should endeavour to remember that it is a privilege to be educated at Hogwarts. Your masters certainly don't have to send you here. You will receive the best education that we can give you. You will learn Transfiguration, Charms, Defense Against the Dark Arts, Herbology and Potions. You will be tested periodically for aptitude in other areas such as Arithmancy, Ancient Runes, Care of Magical Creatures and Divination. If you show skill in any of those areas your masters will be notified and we will determine if you should be taught those skills."

Harry watched with rapt attention as the professor walked about the room handing out papers. He was excited. This was it. He was starting classes at Hogwarts.

"Your classes will be focused on how to use your skills in the service of your masters. In Charms and Defense, you will learn how to duel alone and in conjunction with another. Periodically you will join your masters in Dueling class. This is so that you can learn to protect them and get them out of dangerous situations. Each of your masters is a potential target. They are either the children of wealthy old families or Ministry officials, in some cases, both."

This upset Harry. He had never considered that Master Draco could be a target. He didn't know what he would do if anything ever happened to his master. He vowed to do whatever he had to do to protect Draco.

"In class, you are not allowed to use your wands unless I instruct you to do so. Outside of class you are not allowed to use them at all unless instructed by your master or unless your master is in danger. Do I make myself clear on that?"

Forty heads nodded.

"Good. Your masters will receive a quarterly progress report on each of you. If I see that any of you need help in any area, I will either help you myself or assign an older student to tutor you." He returned to the front of the class and looked out over the students. "This is a large class. I need you to pay attention to what you are doing and not disrupt things. I must teach every level so some of your time will be on your own with your year group. Please write down any questions you have on your lessons as you think of them and when I get to your group we will go over them. If you are stuck and can not proceed until your question is answered, please raise your hand and I will have an older student assist you."

"Please note that I am basically your Head of House. Any problems that you need to bring to the attention of the staff, you will bring to me first."

"Throughout the day, Madam Pomfrey will be taking small groups of you out for your check up. She and I should be notified of all health issues you may have."

That was bad news. Harry hated being poked and prodded by medi-wizards.

Professor Lupin paused and with a mischievous look in his eye announced, "We will also occasionally have flying classes with Madam Hooch. In a couple of weeks there will be Quidditch tryouts for the slave teams. You must have your master's permission to try out. If enough of you are interested and talented I would like to have two teams this year."

This caused excited murmuring throughout the class. Harry grinned over at Dean, who grinned right back. It looked like Justin, the only Gryffindor First Year slave and Lisa, who belonged to a Ravenclaw, were interested too.

"Lastly, you are not to bring any silver into this class. I know that some of your collars have silver on them and you can not remove them. However, nothing else should be brought into class. If your masters did not tell you, I am a werewolf and therefore highly allergic to silver. Anyone caught purposely disobeying this rule will serve detention with the Deputy Headmaster. You will not enjoy it."

Lisa raised her hand.

Professor Lupin smiled at her and asked, "Yes, Lisa?"

"Um, will you be teaching us on the full moon?"

"Unless moonrise happens before class is over, yes. The day after a full moon, Thibault, Professor Snape's slave, will teach the class. You will treat him with the utmost respect. And no, you are not in any danger. I am privileged to be working with Professor Snape, who developed the Wolfsbane potion. It allows me to retain my humanity during my transformations."

Over the excited murmuring, he instructed, "Now if you will all get out you Charms books, we will begin class. Open up to the first chapters. Years two through seven please begin reading after you pass your Summer work to the front of the class. First years, I will be with you as soon as I collect the assignments."

At lunch time, Harry and Draco had eaten quickly and met outside the Great Hall. They excitedly told each other about their morning classes and Harry asked Draco's permission to try out for the Quidditch team. Draco thought it was a brilliant idea.

"You can out fly any of them, I bet," Draco had said proudly.

When he told Master Draco about Professor Lupin being a werewolf, he was rewarded with an astounded "Woah. That is really cool. Will you get to watch him transform?"

Harry had mostly enjoyed the rest of the day. The only bad thing that had happened was when the First Years had needed help with their Transfiguration work. The Fifth Year that had come over to help them, Bradley, had been an arse. Harry didn't like him at all. He wasn't bad to Harry but Sally Ann had trouble understanding a particular section and Bradley had been quite snotty about it. Harry had a feeling that Bradley wasn't going to be the only slave he wouldn't like. Some of them looked pretty obnoxious.

After classes Harry, Hermione and Dean went to dinner together. He had just met Draco outside the doors again so they could walk back to Slytherin together when they heard a familiar voice.

"Look at that. With the way Malfoy can't seem to do anything without his slave you'd think they were going out," called Weasley.

"Hey Malfoy, who gets to be the girl?" Smith added.

Before Harry or Draco could do anything two boys had the Gryffindors slammed up against the wall. It was Justin and his master.

"You might want to watch what you say about slaves, Weasley," hissed the Gryffindor. "Just because there aren't many of us in Gryffindor who own them, doesn't mean we will roll over and let you insult us."

Weasley gulped up at the larger boy and nodded. Smith was trying to nod also but found it hard with Justin's forearm across his neck.

"Let the slime go, Justin. I'd hate to have you catch something."

The boys backed up and the two Gryffindors took off down the hall.

"You didn't have to do that. We can take care of ourselves," Draco said angrily.

"I know you can but I couldn't pass up the opportunity. I have to room with those prats and have been looking for a way to warn them off," he answered with a shrug. "I'm sure you'll get plenty of opportunity to kick their arses."

"All right then." Draco stuck out his hand, "I'm Draco Malfoy. This is Harry."

The boy smiled crookedly, "I'm Theodore Nott. This is Justin." The two masters shook hands and the boys nodded at each other. "Justin tells me that he and Harry are both going to try out for their Quidditch team."

"Yeah, I expect Harry to fly the others into the ground."

"I expect the same from Justin. He's a heck of a beater."

The boys talked a bit more while Harry and Justin grinned at each other, then went their separate ways. Harry and Draco chatted with the other Slytherins while studying in the common room. After a few hours they went to their room and got ready for bed.

While getting things ready for the next day Harry asked, "Master Draco?"

"Yes, Harry?"

"Did you notice that Mistress Millicent and Hermione didn't study with the rest of us?"

"Hmm, you're right. They only stayed for a few minutes then went up to Millie's room. I wonder what's up with that?"

To be continued.