I was having a hard time concentrating on the undertaking my father had laid out for me upon my admission to Hogwarts. My mission was to get to know Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived, and possibly get on his good side, for he could be the most important person I would ever meet. The new Dark Lord.

However, it was difficult for me to show my animosity toward him, as he was a Gryffindor, and also try to see if he was showing any signs of depravity. As a Malfoy, it was seen by many as my duty to be the purest Slytherin I could be, but unlike my father I had trouble acting rude to everyone who looked at me the wrong way. Harry actually seemed like a nice guy, and I think we could have been friends if I hadn't been ordered to "prove my worth by showing my evil".

And then there was that girl... as I gazed around the Slytherin common room, at all of the pure-blood girls my father would deem suited for me, none were as attractive as the Muggle-born girl that had become friends with my adversary. I could barely even remember her name, but there was something about her that was... different. Different from every girl I'd ever met.

My brutish crony, Vincent Crabbe, interrupted my
thoughts. He was yelling to me across the common room to "come check out what he did". Although I hadn't really taken a liking to him or my other "friend", Gregory Goyle, I went to go talk to him anyway. They, though oafish and stupid, were somewhat helpful in my mission to show the Dark Lord my usefulness. And to succeed, I knew I would need all the help I could get.