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Welcome, stranger, to the ancient House of Slytherin. We greet you most sincerely.
Stranger? Why stranger, you might say. You cannot possibly be a stranger to this House can you? You know fully well of its tricksy ways and understand how its members work.
Ah, but you see, you are, because what you may think you know hasn't even touched the surface of its complex nature. How, in Merlin's world, can you possibly know what it's like when you haven't even had one proper conversation with a Slytherin, let alone studied one.
The Slytherin House which you see is distorted by centuries of pre-judgement, as have the other Houses of Hogwarts. With lies and half-truths they have become shallow caricatures of their former glory.
The merciful, diligent House of Hufflepuff is now seen as the 'wimps' and the 'big babies' of the school, the one whose the jokes are nearly always on.
Ravenclaw, the House of the knowledgeable, those whose sparkling wit was famous for lighting up any conversation, is now seen as overly studious to the point of dull, and are known to many as being the 'second best' out of the Houses to be in.
Noble Gryffindor seems to have come out as the best, being the house of heroes, though is also known for being the stupidest, that opinion particularly upheld by their rival house, Slytherin. Even this rivalry is born from pre-judgement, Gryffindors and Slytherins loathe each other on principle.
And at last, Slytherin. The House of the Snake. Oh so many, many prejudices held against them, though it wouldn't be harsh to say it was well deserved. Cruel, sneaky, back-stabbing, lying, unfriendly, unpleasant, malicious, arrogant, self-centred, self-obsessed, selfish, pureblood, inbred, snobby, Muggle-hating, cheating, no good, evil DEATH EATERS!!
Isn't that how you see them, how everyone, even themselves, see them?
That's because that's what they are like isn't it? Hmm, maybe, maybe not, who knows? Think of it this way; is it the people who make the prejudices against themselves or the prejudices the people who they are?
What do you think?
There is no set answer. There is no right or wrong. Just as there is no good or evil, it is not so black and white.
Why do you look at me like that? Of course there's good and evil, you say, take Harry Potter and You-Know-Who, that's a perfect example of good and evil.
Is it? Is it to everyone? Isn't good and evil relative? Different for every person? To the Dark Lord does it not seem that he is good and Harry Potter is evil? True, his methods and ideals are harsh and disgusting, but is it evil? What is evil but a four letter word that is used too often and carelessly.
Well, that is what a Slytherin would say, if they were smart. We seem to have gotten slightly off the subject; they are who we are talking about.
This House has an incredibly strange and unhealthy power structure, a power structure which you almost certainly never would get in the world outside Hogwarts, where people aren't sorted by what sort of personality they have. As well as being unhealthy, it is also very, very fragile. Imagine this, a group of people, all ambitious, all power hungry, all with a fierce desire to prove themselves, to a greater or lesser degree. Who would be on top, what method would others try to make others fall, who would deceive and betray whom? To be in this house is like being in a cutthroat business, dangerous and paranoid.
Let us study one year group of Slytherins. Ah, the new sixth years, the golden year of whom everything seems to happen to and the one you are the most familiar with.
Harry Potter's year.
Who are in it? There are only, what, nine of them. Well, let us take a look at them closely.
The number one of this group is obviously Draco Malfoy, I'm sure you're familiar with his name. With a powerful father and a rich, pure heritage and not to mention his family's close link with the Dark Lord makes him the self appointed leader of this Slytherin Year. It's mainly his confidence that everyone would bend to his every whim that does it but his closeness with Harry Potter, though it may be based on mutual animosity, does help, making himself closer to another source of power. His relationship with the rest of his house is not particularly good; very, very few of them does he look to as even near his equal. Because of this, he isn't close to anyone and finds talking to them difficult. This does not remarkably bode well with the others, who mainly who view him with secret scorn. His confidence, though, repels any attempts of mutiny from these people. However, this confidence has suffered a major blow ever since the arrest of his much admired father, making cracks in his arrogant exterior and feeding the inner black hole of his self deprecation.
The next in the line is probably Blaise Zabini. Good looking, haughty, rich with a beautiful mother and a new father every few years, Blaise has potential to be top if he had the Draco's confidence. It is the case, however, that his severely low self esteem holds him back. Though it is well hidden (he is a Slytherin!), the others can sense it, like a dog can sense fear and he is very much conscious of this. In fact, his insecurity makes him even more insecure and that in turn does the same and so on. A vicious cycle. The source of his under confidence is really quite simple.
He is a bastard child. He does not know who, or what, his father is or was. He was born, from what he could guess, from a one night stand and his mother either does not know who or just won't tell him. He finds this very difficult to deal with. Blaise also has similar issues as Draco with social interaction, not as bad as Draco I must add, but an issue none the same. He can be very pleasant and (though he would never admit it) fiercely loyal once he accepted someone but most people get intimidated by his coldness to even try to get close to him. He also harbours a great resentment towards Draco, mostly to do with jealousy, but keeps it to himself to save his skin.
Pansy Parkinson is, curiously enough, the leader of the Slytherin girls. She isn't the prettiest or the smartest (you can say that again) or the most funniest or powerful or respected much by anyone but still, she is. What I am certain about is that she is a first class bitch, manipulative, self obsessed and loud. She is very very loud. And a terrible gossip too. She has an excellent sense of storing and using information, which you never want her to remember, whether for blackmail or for self gain. She has an unstoppable infatuation with Draco, and agrees on everything he says. As her family used to say, little Pansy doesn't really have an original opinion in her head, and she's fine with it. My guess is that the rest of the Slytherin girls just found it easier to let her be leader, or she would have been screaming her head off till the world ends.
Next is Daphne Greengrass, now there's a girl who's Slytherin to the core. Beautiful, sociable (when she wants to be), observant, quick thinking and can lie her way out of anything. A natural actress, she can adapt to any sort of person that she thinks best for that time. She's quick to gain the trust of others and then use it to her own cunning. She could have been anything but for the moment she keeps herself on the quiet. Why? Because she is muggle-born. Not the first muggle-born to be ever put in this house, but one of a very few and, like the others, she kept it secret.
Tracey Davies is a character that is not really thought about. A tall girl, willowy, cold and hardly talks unless it was a snide comment delivered in a dead pan tone, she seems to have little interest in others. However, she has an ability to change the size of her presence, she can make it larger than life, giving her intimidating power to the max, or she can make it so small no one realises she's there. She would have been lonely if she hadn't been best friends with Daphne, who more than made up for her lack of speech. She also is the little sister of the infamous previous Ravenclaw captain, Roger Davies, and rather than admiring him and trying to prove herself to him (like many younger siblings do) she views him as something of no particular use or worth and does not like being associated with him, and vice versa. It does not need to be said that their relationship is rocky.
Theodore Nott is a strange character. He is hardly ever with the other Slytherins or with people in fact, much preferring his own company, he is like a shadow on the wall. Always playing little or no part in activities between houses, he is a loner by choice rather than circumstance. Though disliked by most, he is well respected especially by Draco. Theodore is one the only people Draco (reluctantly) sees as an equal, being the only son of the Death Eater, Avery Nott, and for being as clever as or even cleverer than Draco himself. The feeling, however, is not mutual.
Vincent Crabbe and Gregory Goyle. The goons of the house. These two are hardly ever seen without the other and it seems that they only live to serve Draco. Perhaps it is, they are not known for their brain power or magical ability so serving someone stronger and smarter may be their best option. Well, that's the theory behind following the dark lord, isn't? The only reason they got into this house, it seems, was their desire to prove themselves to their fathers. Well, the only reason Vincent got in anyway. Gregory may have got in by fluke.
Millicent Bulstrode generally acts like dogsbody to her 'majesty' Pansy, whom she idolises. She doesn't speak much; her thick frame says all she needs to be said. Following Pansy around like her shadow, Millicent only boosts Pansy's ego, who in turn had made her turn from the tomboyish, crazy haired loser to a Pansy clone, just not quite, with her black hair never quite as perfect and her manicured nails always retaining that nervous bitten look. She doesn't give away much but is there more to her than we think?
Well there you have it; a brief summary of each of our Slytherins, all of whom will experience some changes, some big, some small, in their coming year. So, without further ado, let us enter their lives….
Hello! Sorry for all the readers of my other works for my long, long absence. Nevermind, I promise to give all my best to this new fic, of which you've just read the prologue to! So review?