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The Serpentine Chain Part One

Chapter One – Year of the Serpent

"Two new teachers," Constance Malfoy whispered to her neighbour, Richard Marlowe. Looking away from where the Slytherin first years were gathered at the foot of the table, the brown haired sixth year glanced up towards the staff table. Headmaster Dippet was making his usual start of term speech – welcoming the new students and running through the rules and regulations of the school. There were indeed two new additions to the staff. A tall, thin man with untidy brown hair was sitting in between the Potions master and the Head of Ravenclaw, Lydia Grey. He was tapping his fingers on the table, somewhat nervously. At the other end of the table there was a woman, red hair scraped severely back into a chignon, dressed immaculately in expensive looking charcoal grey robes.

"One's got to be Divination," Richard whispered back. "Haven't a clue who the other one is, though."

A pale faced boy sitting on the other side of Constance leaned forwards slightly, and broke in, saying, "The scared looking one is Christopher Cale – he's taking the upper years for Chantwork."

"Singing?!" whispered Richard, horrified. His musical inability was well known to Slytherin students.

The pale boy smirked, pushing back long dark hair from his face. "It's not a compulsory course, don't worry. Students who don't study Ancient Runes aren't eligible anyway – you need to be proficient in that to read the Chant scripts."

Richard Marlowe relaxed somewhat, to Constance's amusement. Brilliant at anything involving numbers, he'd taken Arithmancy instead of Ancient Runes. Changing the subject, he whispered "What house, do you think?"

"Ravenclaw, definitely," said Constance, in tones that would brook no argument. "He looks like one."


Aurelius Snape nodded. "He was friends with my cousin when they were students here. That's how I know him – he's visited once or twice."

"That takes the tally of staff with Ravenclaw tendencies up to three then," mused Constance. "We're still under-represented. Typical."

"Three ex-Gryffindors – four if you count Dippet – but what about the Hufflepuffs? They've only got Bloom to look out for them," Richard asked.

"What about the Hufflepuffs?" murmured Aurelius, the corner of his mouth quirking. The others grinned.

"They don't need representing," Constance scoffed. "They've got no House pride whatsoever. As competitive as turtles, the lot of them. But we've only got two ex-Slytherins amongst the staff to look out for us. There's a deliberate pro-Gryffindor bias. It's discrimination!"

Aurelius was gazing at the new female teacher, chewing his lip. "My cousin never said anything about her. She's got to be the Divination teacher."

"Dippet'll tell us in a minute," Richard said. "He's nearly finished blathering on about Hogsmeade."

They looked at the Headmaster, who was drawing Rules Regarding Extra Curricular Outings and Activities to a much longed for conclusion.

"And finally, I must ask you all to welcome our new members of staff," Dippet said, beaming at the assembled students. The man – Cale – flinched almost imperceptibly at this, Constance noticed, but the woman remained impassive. "Professor Cale will be taking elective Chantwork for the NEWT students, and Professor Haven is of course, the new Divination teacher. I need hardly say that I hope they are made to feel most welcome at Hogwarts."

There was polite applause.

Aurelius turned back to his friends. "The Havens – they're a very old wizarding family. She might be Slytherin-friendly."

"My uncle seems to like her," Constance pointed out, and in truth, the usually unsociable Defence Against the Dark Arts teacher was talking to Professor Haven with great enthusiasm. The youngest of three brothers, he had been involved in various enterprises only just verging on respectable, and had been forced into teaching by her grandfather, in order to avoid scandal. "And he's pretty hard to please."

"Brilliant," Richard said, satisfied. "That's our marks sorted for DADA, Potions and Divination then."

"What do you mean, Potions?" asked Aurelius. "My cousin's a Ravenclaw. He'll only put family first - which is right and proper and as it should be," he added, sniggering. "Not that my marks need boosting."

"God knows we could do with a proper Divination teacher," Constance said thoughtfully. "Lockhart was appalling."

Richard's eyes lit up. "Constance Malfoy…..I sense….much excitement in your tealeaves…a turbulent time is ahead of you…Venus…the planet of love …..danger and romance lurk in every corner…isn't Orion sparkling tonight? Just like your eyes my dear…..love is just around the corner…I have foreseen it!"

"Shut it Marlowe!" snapped Constance, instantly going red. "He was just an old fraud."

"A very good looking old fraud," Aurelius said casually. "Not my type, of course, but I hear the Malfoy family aren't picky. Disgrace to the wizarding community, if you ask me."

The two boys collapsed in laughter. Constance folded her arms and glared into her pumpkin juice, ignoring the treacherous twitching of her lips.

"If you would kindly stop chattering," she said acidly, "I'm quite interested to see who's going to be Head Boy and Girl this year. Of course, if you're not interested, if you don't care whether a Slytherin has been picked or not…"

"Yes, Minerva," muttered Richard, but subsided.

Armando Dippet had been talking about the duties and responsibilities of the Head students in such detail that even the most conscientious student would have been hard pressed to feign interest. Despite this, House Slytherin had a vested interest in his speech. Gryffindor and surprisingly, Hufflepuff had been hogging the damn positions. It had been eight years since one of their own had been nominated, a deliberate slight according to Constance. And now, according to the Serpent rumour mill, Felix DuPré was in the running, thanks to Professor de la Tour's constant plugging.

"It gives me great pleasure to announce that Amber Vetinari is Head Girl," said Dippet, smiling in the general direction of the Ravenclaw table. There was enthusiastic applause around the Great Hall – Amber was well liked.

"My money's on Verity Black," muttered Constance bitterly. "He's Godric's Golden Boy."

She wasn't alone in her feelings – across the Hall, the Gryffindors were already congratulating Black. A trifle premature, she thought, and scowled.

Dippet continued. "And last but not least, I give you Felix DuPré as Head Boy. My congratulations to both of you."

Looking across the Hall at the disgruntled face of Verity Black, Constance smirked. The Slytherin table erupted into applause. Felix DuPré was grinning openly, and even Professor de la Tour looked slightly less impassive than usual.

The noise lasted all night, despite the best efforts of the newly responsible Head Boy.

It was going to be Slytherin's year.