Oooh look - a second chapter!
GoldenRacehorse - Thank you very much:). Yes, he has been abused. No, the boy from the boat is not a Malfoy, but from another very high up supremacists wizarding family.
WizardingWhovian - For starters, fabulous name! Secondly, thank you very much!
Once again, constructive criticism would be most welcomed - I am always trying to make my work better and the only way I can do that is if people point out where I am going wrong.
Just like every other first year, Will immediately looked up at the ceiling when he first walked into the great hall, ignoring the hundreds of students, dressed in the same black robes, sitting at the four elongated wooden tables running the length of the hall, or the sizable teachers' table at the front of the hall on the raised floor, where a multitude of bright colours sat - what was on the ceiling was much more interesting; a starless dark sky, hidden by faint, grey clouds, hundreds of thousands of glowing candles floating in mid-air below the, what could have been, open sky, smiling down upon the great hall from high above, flickering from the opening of the humongous varnished wooden doors that lead into the room.
Huddled together like a pack of penguins, the group of twenty-five, or so, students walked down the thin aisle between the two middle tables, stumbling past the older, seated students, spreading out when they reached the front of the hall, in front of the grey stone steps. Once the group had stopped, an elderly man, with a beard so long and white he may as well have been Father Christmas, stood up, tapping his crystal goblet with an equally large silver metal spoon, hushing the quiet chatter that filled the hall, echoing off the walls.
"Welcome, welcome, to both the old and the new students and teachers. I believe the sorting hat has a few words for you all before you are separated into your separate houses," he said, sitting back down on his grand chair that towered over everyone, making the other teachers' chairs look like planks of wood, even though they still looked to be finely hand-crafted.
A worn down, pointed, black hat, sat on the stool that was placed in front of the newest students, upon the uneven steps, opened its dusty mouth and began singing a crackled, slightly out of tune, song.
"In times of old, when I was new,
And Hogwarts barely started,
The founders of our noble school
Thought never to be parted.
United by a common goal,
They had the selfsame yearning
To make the world's best magic school
And pass along their learning.
"Together we will build and teach"
The four good friends decided.
And never did they dream that they
Might someday be divided."
The sorting hat preceded to go into detail about the different qualities of the houses, and how the four founders fell out over who entered the school, setting the scene for the new students at Hogwarts, as usual. But then it continued, following a completely different path, spreading confusion across the great hall, consequently.
"And now the Sorting Hat is here
and you all know the score:
I sort you into Houses
because that is what I'm for.
But this year I'll go further,
listen closely to my song:
though condemned I am to split you
still, I worry that it's wrong,
Though I must fulfil my duty
and must quarter every year
still, I wonder whether sorting
may not bring the end I fear.
Oh, know the perils, read the signs,
the warning history shows,
for our Hogwarts is in danger
from external, deadly foes.
And we must unite inside her
or we'll crumble from within
I have told you, I have warned you...
let the Sorting now begin."
Few people understood what the sorting hat was on about, and consequently, the great hall burst into loud conversation, trying to decipher the sorting hat's warnings.
"What was that all about?" Harry questioned.
"The end of last year, you dimwit," Hermione said, hitting him on the shoulder.
"Has it ever given warnings before?" Ron asked.
"As a matter of fact, it has," Nearly-headless Nick said, appearing in the middle of the table, going through all the empty platters, creating a translucent barrier in between Harry and Hermione, and Ron. "The last time it did was during the first wizarding war, in 1970, 25 years ago. It's been silent ever since, but nevertheless, it's warnings return, as does someone else," Nearly headless Nick said.
A brutal glare was sent to the back of the hall, focused on golden trio… and Nearly-headless Nick, by McGonagall, the now borderline-ancient witch, tapping her foot impatiently as she waited to read out the shorter-than-usual list of first-year names. After recent events, it had become common knowledge that the list had dramatically decreased due to the events the year before, and the students who had appeared had only done so as they were either Muggle-born and therefore not heard about the return of Voldemort, or even heard about him at all, or had parents who thought that 'the chosen one' and the head of Hogwarts had been rolling lies off the tips of their tongues for years. The three, like the rest of the great hall, returned to silence, allowing McGonagall to continue with the sorting ceremony. Turning back to her list, McGonagall read out the first name: "Abercrombie, Euan." One by one, as they were called out, the students walked up to 'center-stage', taking a seat on the rocky wooden stool, all eyes on them, either looking smug, the sorting hat speaking before it had even touched the student's head, or looking terrified, the sorting hat taking its sweet time.
The three waited, longing to see where Will would be placed, Hermione sitting on her 5 galleon bet that Will would be placed in Slytherin, whilst Ron was adamant that he would be placed into Gryffindor, Harry deciding that it wasn't worth it.
"Davies, William," McGonagall called out, the timid boy appearing from in the middle of the slowly thinning crowd of first years, walking up the crooked stone steps, and getting up onto the stool, struggling as the stool seemed to be as tall as he was.
"Ahhh, a half-blood - oh, and what a shame, the magical side of your family is dead." The hat said, bursting into speech the second it had touched a single strand of Will's messy hair.
Will sat there, in shock, looking down at his hands as he picked at his nails, which had already been picked at so much that sensitive, red skin behind the nails was showing. Already everyone knew that half of his family was dead, as well as the fact that he was half-blood. Apparently, after hearing everyone talking in the train station, they had even more stick from the wizarding world than Muggle-borns, as their parents had 'fraternised with the enemy'. He chewed the inside of his thin lower lip, aware that it would start bleeding if he chewed too hard, trying not to get too anxious, too worked up, as his constantly unbalanced nerves rose high once more.
"So, you've gone through a fair bit already - quite the brave man; you'd go on to be a great Gryffindor - a great wizard indeed. However, you also have ambition, and courage too, I see - you'd be an excellent Slytherin as well. You are extremely lucky, in your case, to have the chance to be in either house, but what damage could be caused if you were placed in the wrong house? Although I said I wished not to split the pupils at this school apart, catastrophic effects could be the consequence of misplacing you, boy - it won't be just you affected, either, but the people around you also. Important discoveries may be left undiscovered, like unturned rocks. I must choose, though - you'd better be in… Slytherin!" The sorting hat shouted, it's crooked fabric mouth closing as McGonagall took the hat of Will's head, the boy sliding off the seat, accordingly; he wanted to be out of sight from everyone's stares as quickly as humanly possible. Unlike all of the other first years, who had been sorted, Will was sent off with silent chatter, as opposed to the loud claps, welcoming the other students. Walking over to the Slytherin table, he sat down, next to one of the older ones - another giant with blonde hair that was incredibly neat and tidy, in a way that made him seem rather important - all these giants weren't as bad as they first seemed appeared; they were nothing like the ones at home.
Trying to control his breathing, he wrapped his arms around his stomach, ignoring everyone, even though they were all greeting him - he wasn't enjoying the attention at all - everyone staring at him, and consequently turned away from everyone, looking vaguely in the direction of where all the other 1st years were, disregarding the fact that even though he couldn't see everyone, all the Slytherin that is, it didn't mean they weren't there. Just to think, he could have been in Gryffindor, where there were people he had already met; what's done was done, though.
"You were right then, 'Mione, about him going to Slytherin," Ron said, slightly disappointed that Will hadn't been placed in Gryffindor, picking two chicken drumsticks from the large platter, alternating between the two - despite being 4 years older, he still hadn't learned any table manners from the first year, back when it was acceptable to eat in a pig-like manner. The rest of the first years being sorted, followed by the usual speech made by Dumbledore every year, telling the first years that the Forbidden Forest was out of bounds, and that magic was not permitted between lessons in the corridors. He had then proceeded to announce changes to the staff team, the sickeningly sweet Umbridge, clad in a pink attire, taking over with some pathetic speech that not many had bothered to listen, notwithstanding the fact that Harry had had a rather unpleasant experience with her already.
"Let's be honest here - I'm always right," Hermione said, laughing. "Joking - I know I'm not," she said when she saw the looks on the other two's faces. "You still owe me 5 Galleons, though."
Looking over to where Will was sitting, near to the front of the hall, Hermione sighed, Ron and Harry turning around see where he was sitting, also. "Moreover, Malfoy decides he would sit next to him," Ron said, turning back round.
"You are aware that Malfoy was there first, right? Anyway, it could be worse," Harry said.
"As a matter of fact, I'm aware that Malfoy was there first, but the point was, why did he choose to sit right at the end, where he knew the first years would sit? And moreover, what are you on about when you say it could be worse? Malfoy is the school's own version of Voldemort, the son of a family of Death Eaters, and you think it could be worse? He'll poison him!" Ron whisper-shouted.
"Voldemort is definitely too harsh - you are equally as similar to Voldemort, Ronald, as Draco - he just hates a lot of people... and sometimes hurts people too, but nevertheless, he's not a murderer," Hermione said. "Although it may be true that Malfoy has his ways, he may not even talk to him, considering he's a half-blood - if he doesn't talk to Will he can't be poisoned."
"If we've had enough talking about Draco's similarities with the Dark Lord, can we talk about how neither of his sidekicks seems to be with him," Harry said.
"Maybe they've finally seen the light," Hermione said.
"Maybe…"
Staring at the mountain of food that had suddenly appeared in front of him, after Dumbledore's oh-so-joyful death speech ended, Will decided it was too much - the past two days had been exhausting, both physically and mentally; he hadn't seen more than a couple of crackers in the last week, however, was now surrounded by enough food to feed all the people on his estate for weeks and it was overwhelming.
Instead of doing what everyone else had done, piling up their plates high enough to reach the gates of heaven, pigging out on a feast that would be perfect for gods, Will sat back, watching everyone else eat; the blonde giant next to him seemed to have had the same idea, only taking a few salad leaves himself.
Happy that the food had appeared, Will began to get a little more comfortable - the arrival of the feast meant everyone stopped giving him, or the other first year's for that matter, strange looks, as they were too preoccupied with the food. Saying that - Will had noticed the three giants, back from the train, occasionally look at him as if he was doing something wrong - he'd been here for an hour and was already doing something wrong, but he didn't know what. Backtracking over the day, he tried to work out what he had done - maybe the ginger giant was regretting giving Will his school robes, or maybe he decided that Will wasn't deserving of his mother's help, or maybe they were angry because he was in Slytherin - he'd heard everyone talking about Slytherin, how they were all evil, and were all set out to become Death Eaters. Unaware of what Death Eaters were, Will skipped over the detail. However, he knew what evil meant; he didn't like the sound of being considered evil - all he ever tried to do was be good, but then again, Father hated him - maybe it was because he was evil.
It had only taken a mere three hours for the school population to eat their weight in food, before deciding that maybe they shouldn't have gotten so lost in the magnificent feast. After a few final words from Dumbledore: "a, ba, cub," which, once again, confused the entire school, including most of the teachers, Dumbledore dismissed the students.
"Slytherin first years, follow us!" the blonde-haired giant, who Will had been sitting next to, shouted, standing next to a girl with short frizzy hair and soft features, except for her striking green eyes. The group of 10 first years stood up, following the two fifth years through the crumbling hallways and down to the dank, dark dungeons, following them through the entrance to the common room (a stretch of wall in an empty corridor). Will didn't notice any of the features of the room, as the only colour, apart from the emerald green, was the black cloak of a man standing in the middle. The man was, like seemingly everyone else Will had met, a tall thin man; he had deep black eyes that sat in his sallow skin, crooked yellow teeth, and a large, hooked nose, all framed by greasy black hair that went down to his shoulders, which, from there to the floor, were covered in thick black layers of fabric.
"My name is Professor Snape. You will refer to me as 'Sir' or 'Professor Snape," the man said, once everyone had entered the room. "Rules," he said, with a thick, deep voice. "You will be in bed by 10:30, and will be awake at 6:30, when you will get washed and changed and be eating breakfast by 7:30," the dark man said, looking directly at Will and Draco, who had been standing behind the younger boy. "You will eat 3 square meals every day, whether you like it or not," he said, again, looking in the direction of the two boys. "You will do any homework you get on the day, and revise everything you have learnt at least twice a week - Slytherin is not for slackers!" Looking around the room, he forcefully said: "Do I make myself clear."
"Yes, sir," the group chorused back.
"All of you go to your dorms. Draco, come with me," Professor Snape said, turning on his feet, the blonde giant, which Will now knew as Draco, following on his tail.
The group of first years walked to up the stairs, splitting into a group of boys and a group of girls when they reached the dorms. Unfortunately, Will had been placed with the beefy boy from the boats, as well as the silent, threadbare twins, and another boy that he was yet to meet, but looked just as big, or bulkier still, than the first. He had a close shaved head of dark brown hair and a very round face, squinty, piggy eyes, and a bulging nose, pointed upwards like a pig's nose. It wouldn't be a surprise to anyone if they found out he also ate out of a trough, not that he did, mind you, but he may as well have done for the past eleven years.
"You can go next to the door, so you don't wake up the rest of us up when you start wandering. No doubt you will, bastard blood," the original boy said.
"Bastard? What does that mean?" the largest boy asked. He may have been the biggest, but the size of his brains seemed half the size.
"It means half-blood, you idiot."
Will tried to ignore the remarks from the other four. It was quite obvious who the alpha male of the pack was, who had the most power and control over everyone else, who would end up with a group of cronies that didn't like him really but were too scared to say any different. He knew to avoid now, and before the end of the first day had turned too; in theory would try to stay as far away as possible from the porky boy, but being in the same dorm would cause issues. The group got ready for bed, Will closing the thick cotton curtains around his bed, giving him privacy to get changed into the blue striped pyjamas that he had found in a small bucket in the corner of the dormitory; a lost property of sorts.
Opening back up the curtains, Will got into the bed, blowing out the candle on the bedside table, just as the rest of the boys had already done, staring up at the ceiling, noticing all the cracks in the plaster that had been highlighted by the moonlight that was shining brightly through the small window that was placed in the centre of the wall opposite.