The Good Slytherin Chapter 1
Outline
This story is a parallel story to J.K Rowling's Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. The main protagonist is Albert Lau, a first-year Slytherin student. His father is the Malaysian Ministry of Magic's High Commissioner to the British Ministry of Magic. Albert comes from a family of Slytherins. While taking the Hogwarts Express to Hogwarts for the first time, he befriends a Gryffindor girl: Ariahana Hallenstein, a former New Zealand resident. Readers will find the text peppered with references to Malaysia and New Zealand. Perak is a state in Malaysia while bomohs are Malay witch-doctors. Hallensteins is a prominent clothing store chain in New Zealand. Within Commonwealth countries, High Commissioner is the equivalent of Ambassador. Please note, all of the characters and locations with the exception of the Lau family and the Hallenstein girls rightfully belong to J.K. Rowling. Note: many Malaysians use Western first names while retaining their Asian family names.
Exposition
It was a busy morning at London's Platform 9 ¾. Everywhere, wizarding families were preparing to send off their children to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Porters were loading suitcases and cages full of owls and other pets onto the storage carriages. The air rang with the endless chatter and footsteps of people. Near the entrance, a newspaper boy was selling the latest edition of the Daily Prophet. The headlines read "Potter Acquitted: Ministry finds Harry Potter Not Guilty of Improper Use of Magic."
"Come on, hurry up Albert. The train is about to leave in fifteen minutes," said a flustered female voice
"Don't stress the boy out too much," replied a male voice "We're still early."
The two adults were followed by an eleven year old boy, carrying a bagpack and dragging his roller back suit case along. Albert Lau was a Malaysian boy with jet-black hair and olive-skinned. Albert came from a prominent Malaysian wizarding family. His father, Patrick Lau, had recently been appointed as the Malaysian Ministry of Magic's High Commissioner to the British Ministry of Magic. His mother Janet Lau was a senior official in the Malaysian Magic Ministry's Department of Foreign Magical Relations. Albert and his parents had all of yesterday buying uniforms, textbooks, and stationery at Diagon Alley, a popular wizarding shopping area in the heart of London. That morning, Albert had found his wand or rather the wand had picked it. It was a nine inch wand with a unicorn-hair cone. While not the most powerful and resilient of wands, unicorn hair-cone wands were known within wizarding circles for producing consistent magic, resisting the Dark Arts and for being the most faithful of wands.
Behind them, two tall and lanky youths followed. They were twins and were Albert's older siblings. Edmund and Elizabeth Lau were former alma mater of Hogwarts. Both had attended Hogwarts through the Merlin Scholarship programme, which allowed a small number of international students to come study at Hogwarts each year at a subsidized rate. Edmund and Elizabeth Lau had both graduated from Hogwarts with outstanding marks a couple years ago. Edmund had recently found work as an Auror at the Malaysian Ministry of Magic while Elizabeth was working as an intern at a leading Wizarding accounting firm in Singapore. Aurors were highly trained magical law enforcements who were trained to investigate crimes relating to the Dark Arts. Two generations of the Lau family had attended Hogwarts. All were members of Slytherin house, one of the four main houses at Hogwarts. Most but not all Slytherins had a reputation for an unhealthy interest in the Dark Arts and blood purity.
Shortly later, the Laus were greeted by a pale man with long, pale blonde hair. He was accompanied by his son, a slender fifteen year old lad who also had pale blond hair and cold grey eyes.
"Lucius, it's a pleasure to see you again," said Patrick Lau, extending a hand and gesturing for Albert to come forward "Albert, this is Mr Malfoy, and this is his son Draco."
Albert shook hands with Malfoy, feeling the cold touch of the older boy's clammy hands.
"Hi Draco, it's a pleasure to meet you," said Albert, trying to beam a smile.
"Nice to meet," replied Malfoy, his voice betraying an arrogant tone. "At Hogwarts, you'll find that some wizarding families are better than others. It's always handy to have friends in high places."
"Thanks, but I'll be able to look out for myself," replied Albert, hiding his discomfort
"Malfoy has been made a Prefect for Slytherin house this year," added Lucius Malfoy in a confident tone "He has the power to collect and deduct house points. Hopefully, we'll win this year. We have always come second for the past four years since that blasted Potter joined Gryffindor."
After loading his baggage into the cargo compartment, Albert turned to give his family one final hug before catching his first ride on the Hogwarts Express.
"Now don't worry, little brother," said Edmund "It was painful at first for me and my sister to go away from home. But you'll find friends…"
"And, careful not to get on the wrong side of any of the teachers," added Elizabeth reassuringly "Especially Professor Snape."
"Now, Albert," said his father Patrick "Remember, you can always write to us. We're only an owl away in London. And you're always be welcome at home for the holidays."
"Son, I've packed in a packet of instant mee goreng [fried noodles] for you," added his mother Janet "Just, whenever you're feeling homesick for good old, spicy Malaysian cooking."
After parting with his family, Albert stepped into the Hogwarts express. The first three carriages were packed with students and staff members. Entering the fourth carriage, he saw Malfoy and three of his friends occupying one compartment. There were two big-built and mean-looking boys and a pug-faced girl in black robes. Albert quickly recognized the girl as Pansy Parkinson, the other new fifth-year prefect for Slytherin house. Like the other two boys, Pansy had a mean and arrogant expression on her face.
Albert turned the door knob and peered into the compartment. In a timid but polite voice he asked: "Excuse, me can I squeeze in with you."
Draco Malfoy, who had been engrossed in a conversation with one of the boys turned and snarled irritatingly: "Bloody oaf, can't you see this room is full!"
Rebuffed by Draco, Albert exited the compartment and walked to the final compartment on the left. Inside, there sat a freckled face orange-haired girl. She was also a first year student, judging by her new uniform and size. Turning the door knob slowly, Albert peered into the compartment and asked: "Excuse me, is there room to spare?"
The girl flashed a kind smile and said, "Certainly, there's plenty of room. Plus I'll like someone to keep me company."
The trained rumbled as it steamed its way north to Hogwarts. Soon, the buildings and warehouses gave way to cottages, fields, and rivers. The whistle of the Hogwarts' Express's engines filled the air.
"How long will this journey take?," asked Albert
"We'll be at Hogwarts just in time for dinner," replied the girl "Oh, I have always been dreaming of this day. My sister has been there for three years and this will be her fourth year."
"What's your name?," asked Albert "My name's Albert Lau and I'm from Malaysia. And this is my first time in the UK."
"My name's Arihana Hallenstein," replied the girl "Me and my family move from New Zealand when I was three years old. My father Keith is a Muggle and teaches at Oxford University. My mother Maia works as a manager at the Nimbus Racing Broom Company."
Nimbus was best known for producing the Nimbus 1000, a heavily sought-after broomstick by many Quidditch teams. A few years ago, Draco's father Lucius had reportedly purchased several Nimbus 1000s for the entire Slytherin Quidditch team. It did them no good since they could never beat the Gryffindor team with Harry Potter around. For about half an hour, the two talked about their families and their lives. Albert learnt that Arihana came from an all-girl family had two sisters: an older one name Melanie and a younger one named Cheri. Melanie was turning fourteen and was entering her fourth year at Hogwarts. Cheri was seven and was still living at home with her parents in Oxford. He found Arihana to be a kind and gentle girl. Even though she came from a Gryffindor family, he felt much more comfortable around her than Draco and his fellow Slytherins.
As they were chatting, Albert caught a glimpse of a teenaged boy with untidy jet, black hair and green almond eyes walking past their compartment. For Albert, there was something recognisable about that boy. He had just been browsing through his dad's copy of the Daily Prophet that morning.
"Arihana, who's that boy?," asked Albert
'Why, haven't you heard. That's the famous Harry Potter, the Boy Who Lived," replied Arihana "Oh, my sister Mel is absolutely crazy about him."
Arihana than explained that there had been a great Wizarding War more than a decade ago. A bad wizard known as Lord Voldermort or "He Who Must Not Be Named" had attempted to take control of the Wizarding World. There had been a great war and Voldemort's followers had been defeated but many wizards and witches had been killed. It had been prophesied that a special boy born at the end of July 1980 would defeat the Dark Lord. In an attempt to circumvent this prophecy, Voldermort had attempted to kill the baby boy but somehow had been destroyed, or so it was thought. The baby Harry was the only person to have survived the "Killing Curse", hence the nickname "The Boy Who Lived." During his first year, Harry had joined the Quidditch team. In his second year, Harry had defeated a basilisk, a giant monstrous snake which had been attacking students. The previous year, Harry had been the youngest contestant to be picked to participate in the Triwizard Tournament, a gruelling interschool wizarding competition. Harry had won following the suspicious death of Cedric Diggory. There were persistent reports that "He who Must Not Be Named" had returned but the Ministry of Magic had dismissed these as baseless rumours.
Shortly later, a teenage girl with brown hair entered the train compartment. She looked like an older version of Arihana except for her brown hair.
"Albert, this is my sister Melanie," said Arihana "Mel, this is my new friend Albert."
The girl extended a hand and Albert gave her a soft handshake. Melanie then gently taught Albert that it was the proper thing to give a firm handshake when greeting each other in Western countries.
Melanie sat down beside her sister and offered Albert a chocolate frog. The frog leapt onto Albert's jersey but he caught it with his left hand and slotted it into his mouth. The frog had a rich cocoa taste. The chocolate frog's box came with a collectible card of Albus Dumbledore. Based on the history books at his Malaysian wizarding school in the jungles of Perak, Albert had learnt that Dumbledore had played an important role in defeating the Dark Wizard Grindelwald in 1945. Dumbledore was now the Headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and was over a hundred and ten years old. One of his last assignments had been to do a poster on Dumbledore. He had gotten a B+ for it.
"It's a disgrace that the Ministry has mounted a campaign against Dumbledore," said Mel "They're removed him from the Wizengamot and the International Conference of Wizards. Just for telling them the plain truth that He Who Must Not Be Named has returned."
"Did Harry really see "you know who"?," asked Arihana
"Hey, Dumbledore never lies," replied Mel irritatingly "Minister Cornelius Fudge is just a coward living in denial."
Albert listened to the two sisters' conversation without making a word. News of Cedric Diggory's death during the Triwizard Tournament had filtered down to Malaysia. Like its British counterpart, the Malaysian wizarding newspaper The Bomoh Times had depicted Dumbledore and Harry Potter as fear mongers seeking to make a quick buck. Dumbledore's report that Voldemort had returned had sparked a heated dinner table conversation between his parents and his siblings. While his parents had dismissed Dumbledore's claims as fear-mongering, his siblings argued that they should take Dumbledore's word seriously. His older siblings disliked the xenophobic pro-pure blood sentiment that dominated the Malaysian Ministry of Magic's discourse. Muggles were blamed for driving wizards and witches underground in Southeast Asia. Their conversation soon turned to other matters: the Sorting Ceremony. Mel gave her little sister advice about what to expect.
"When you arrive at Hogwarts, the Sorting Hat will sort all the first years into houses," explained Mel "There are four houses at Hogwarts: Gryffindor, Ravenclaw, Hufflepuff, and Slytherin. Whatever you do, don't get sorted into Slytherin."
"Why?," asked Arihana "What's wrong with Slytherin?"
In a low voice, Mel whispered: "That's where all the Dark Wizards go to. That's the house of you know who."
Arihana nodded in agreement. Albert said nothing, unwilling to antagonize his new-found friends. Albert knew deep down that his family expected him to join Slytherin. His dad had been sorted into Slytherin, and so had his brother and sister. But they had not turned out bad. Deep down in his heart, Albert wanted to prove that not all Slytherins would turn out bad like Voldermort. He liked the Hallenstein girls but this was a point he had to disagree on.