Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter in any shape or form. (Or star wars)
Geth342: I was really surprised by the feedback i got. Thank you all very much, it made me really happy :) I hope you enjoy this chapter. Nothing else to say excpet please read and review (any advice given is gratefully accepted)
Chapter 2: Blossoming Friendship
The table on the far left of the room burst into wild cheering. I smiled shakily, took the hat off and walked over to them. I slid onto the end of a bench and a proud faced boy wearing a prefect's badge patted me on the back as a way of welcome. I was astonished (to say the least) that I had been put into Slytherin but I decided not to mention it. Looking up at the group of unsorted kids, I looked for Tammy. The expression on her face was almost comical. She clearly couldn't believe my good fortune and was staring at me. I caught her eye.
"Charles, Philip." Some brown haired kid with a lazy eye walked forward to the hat. Tammy mouthed something at me.
What? I mouthed back. I never learnt how to read lips, so it was no wonder I didn't have a clue what she was saying. She tried again, exaggerating each word.
I thought you were muggle born. Why are you in Slytherin?
I pulled a face back. I wasn't going to mouth every reason the hat gave me to her. She shrugged and turned her attention back to the hat as Philip Charles was made a Gryffindor.
The sorting went on. Shelly was almost immediately put into Ravenclaw, which made me snigger. My three other year mates (two girls and a boy) looked at me strangely so I passed it off as a cough. I was pleased that pompous Shelly had not gotten her wish to go to Gryffindor. The next point of interest was when Professor Trent called:
"Langtree, Seifer" The boy who had winked at me wandered forward. The hat went on his head and a few seconds afterwards it declared him a Slytherin. I cheered along with the rest of my house. Seifer slid onto the end of the bench next to me, winked at me again and turned to watch the sorting. I had absolutely no idea why he kept winking at me.
A few more people were sorted into different houses. Whenever someone was sorted into Slytherin I cheered. As was expected of me, although one or two of my new year mates seemed a bit oafish. Like Kisser's friends.
"Rowland, Tamara" Tammy walked forward nervously. I crossed my fingers under the table. For all my misgivings and hatred of people, I liked Tammy and hoped she would be in Slytherin. Although given her loathing of my new house, I doubted she had the same feelings. The hat stayed on her head for a minute or two, quite long compared to most people. I wondered what it was saying to her. Then:
"HUFFLEPUFF!" The table on the far right cheered as Tammy made her way towards them, smiling. I groaned.
"What's with the groaning?" Seifer turned around to ask me this.
"Huh?"
"Why're you groaning? She looks like she deserves Hufflepuff. Bunch of no-brainers, them." He was whispering now. I scrutinised him closely.
"How can you tell just by looking?" I asked carefully. I was on uneven ground here. To my surprise, Seifer looked apologetic.
"Oh, I forgot, she was the girl you were talking to in the line. Let me guess, you wanted her to be in Slytherin?" I nodded. "Too bad. Still, you'll make friends here…although how come you don't know anyone?" The thought seemed to come to him at the same time it had come to me. Of course, as a respectable Slytherin, I should have had connections. I thought quickly.
"My parents made me live in Wales in a small wizarding village. I was basically the only kid there, so I don't really know anyone." Seifer nodded understandingly.
"Well, that sucks. But stick with me and you'll be sorted in no time." I smiled gratefully and we turned back to watch the end of the sorting.
After 'Zinnias, May' was made a Gryffindor, an old lady made her way to the front. I pulled a face- was the whole castle filled with ancient people? It was much like my fictional village, so I supposed I should have felt right at home there.
"Now that the sorting has ended, I imagine you are all hungry. I shall not deter you from the feast- the speech will come after. Now, by all means, let the feast begin." She clapped her hands and suddenly food appeared on the plates. I stared in wide eyed amazement. Seifer laughed appreciatively.
"Now that's what I'm talking about. I'm starving." With that he grabbed a chicken leg and some potatoes and put them on his plate. Around me, other students were doing the same, so I quickly heaped some turkey and rice onto my plate and began to eat. I didn't want to look like an outsider so I kept astonishment to a minimum. Whilst eating, I turned to Seifer.
"What was the old lady's name anyway?" I asked. Seifer gulped a mouthful of potatoes down then replied:
"You serious? That's Professor McGonagall, the headmistress. She's ancient. She was teaching when Harry Potter was in school." My eyes widened. How old did witches and wizards live to? Seifer was still disbelieving so I quickly added:
"My parents told me nothing really. I swear they wanted me to be a muggle." I put as much contempt as I could into that word. Seifer looked understanding.
"Who would do that? Still, you're here now where you belong." I grinned. He was right. I had been in the school for roughly half an hour and I had already made one friend of sorts. I also had Tammy, even if she was in Hufflepuff. I had made more companions in a few hours than I had in six or seven years. I turned my attention back to eating.
After the main course had gone, desserts came up. A few of the other first years began talking to me and Seifer, about families.
"I'm a pure blood of course," A girl called Florrie Selwyn was remarking. I gulped. What if everyone was a 'pure blood'? Thankfully another girl, Jade Fornoy replied to the statement with:
"Ah, I'm a lousy half blood. My great great great granddad was a mudblood. We don't speak about him though." The others looked sympathetic and carried on talking.
"What about you Zac?" Adam Etasyl, a blocky dark skinned boy asked after a few minutes. I was the only one who hadn't commented on my heritage. I swallowed my last mouthful of ice-cream.
"Oh, I'm a half-blood like Jade. But my parents practically tried to raise me as muggle. I'm well out of that though." I put a sorrowful look on my face and they murmured sympathies. Underneath the façade I smiled to myself. This was easier than I'd ever dreamed. Before anyone could comment further, McGonagall stood up and clapped her hands. The food disappeared and everyone turned to face her.
"I hope that you're all full up. You're classes will begin tomorrow. First years, follow your prefects to your common rooms after I finish talking." She surveyed us. "There are a few rules that need to be laid out now. Firstly, the Forbidden Forest is forbidden to everyone."
"Well, duh!" Seifer whispered in my ear. I grinned.
"Secondly, our caretaker, Mr. Rewn has a list of items that are NOT to be used in the corridors, classrooms or common rooms. If we catch you using these items you will be put in detention. A copy of the list will be put on each of the notice boards in the common rooms. Make sure you check it." She paused to glare at a few people. I guessed they were the resident tricksters. "Finally, Quidditch tryouts will be held in the second week of term and are open to all people from second year and above. If you wish to try out please pass your name to your head of house. Now, all of you, off to bed. Goodnight." She clapped her hands and a few of the older students stood up. A tall, good looking boy called for the first year Slytherins to follow him, so we got up and left the room after him. As we walked, he talked a bit.
"My name is Karl Gravel, and I am one of the prefects for Slytherin. Any questions, ask one of us, we're the ones with the nice shiny badges on." He sniggered. I growled under my breath. I don't like being mocked.
"Hey, chill Zac," Seifer murmured. "They're gonna treat us like idiots until one of us takes them out." He mimed throwing something at Karl. I smiled humourlessly and carried on listening.
"When we get to the common room, the other prefects will explain a few things and then you'll be sent off to sleep. Just one word of advice now though. If you see a poltergeist called Peeves- ignore him until you can actually perform magic. Got it?" He didn't wait for an answer. Instead he swiftly took us down a set of stairs which ended with a stone wall and stopped. "Listen carefully, first-years, I'm not repeating it again. This is the password to get into the common room, do not tell any non-slytherin about it." He paused and turned back to the wall. "Asp."
The wall slid back, much to my amazement. We walked in to a stone room with seats and tables. Green and Silver hangings hung off walls and an emerald fire crackled by one of the walls. Five of the six prefects were already there. Karl joined them. The proud faced boy motioned for us to sit down. We sat.
"Now, I know you're all tired, but a few rules have to be cleared first," he began. "You are all Slytherins now. As such, everyone else at Hogwarts will mistrust you. If anything goes wrong, the nearest Slytherin will be blamed. The only teacher you can trust is Professor Chappell, our head of house and the potions master. The only ghost is the Bloody Baron. You can't miss him; he's covered in silvery blood." We laughed. "In addition, rivalries within this house are unacceptable. If anyone argues with a fellow house member, you will come to us, the prefects, and we will sort it out. If you see a fellow Slytherin being attacked, you must come and help them- remember: if someone messes with one Slytherin, they mess with every Slytherin. Wear your colours with pride. Any questions, ask the prefects. My name is Willis Nome and I am senior prefect of Slytherin. Now, are there any questions?" We shook our heads. "Good. Now go to bed and make sure you're awake by seven so that we can show you where the showers and toilets are. Dismissed." I resisted the urge to give an army salute. Instead I followed the other boys up a set of stairs and into a room marked 'first year boys'.
To my surprise, our luggage was already in the room. My stuff was at the bottom of a gigantic four poster bed, which I assumed was mine. The other boys were looking around the room with as much astonishment as I was. Then, a small boy with spiky black hair called Jake Whitrow jumped onto his bed and said:
"Well, I don't know about you lot but I'm shattered. I think it's time to go sleep." The rest of us murmured agreement. I went to the bed next to Jake's and Seifer went to the bed next to mine. After pulling the curtain shut around my bed and getting changed into some old pyjamas, I lay on my new bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about the day's events.
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I didn't remember falling asleep, but I must have done because I got a shock when Adam poured water on my head, waking me up. I jumped up snarling.
"Hey, what are you doing you freak?" I yelled. The other boys fell about laughing. Adam attempted to explain, but couldn't speak for laughing. I readied myself to jump at him when Jake managed to get a few words of explanation out through his laughter.
"We're...meant to be up by seven but….you were snoring even when we….when we sang. So Adam got some water from his bottle and he…he…" Jake dissolved into more laughter. My face burned bright red. I had forgotten what a heavy sleeper I am. Seifer noticed the look on my face.
"Hey, it was only a joke. Don't get so worked up." I looked at him and pulled a comical face.
"Says the guy who woke up dry this morning." I replied and smiled at the others. They smiled back. I forgave, but I didn't forget. I never forget anything that's been done against me.
"We've gotta go and see those prefects, don't we?" Tahir Hovorak, another dark skinned boy with a sly pointed face remarked. I grabbed my watch from my trunk at the bottom of the bed. It said 6:52 AM. I nodded at Tahir. The others looked around wildly.
"So…what do we need?" Adam asked. I stared at him.
"How dumb are you Adam? We're going to shower…hmm; perhaps we need our potions book." I said sarcastically. "We need our clothes moron. And a towel unless you like walking around wet." Tahir sniggered.
"What, like you?" Adam retorted. I looked down at myself. He had a point. I smiled tightly at him.
"Yeah, but whose fault was that?" I asked, keeping my hot temper in control. Seifer stepped in between us.
"Guys, remember what Nome said yesterday? No arguing. People are gonna be against us enough- don't make it worse." We glanced at him, then at each other. Adam held out his hand.
"You are a worthy opponent Zac Carew." He looked me up and down. "Seifer's right- no fighting." I looked at his outstretched hand and then shook it. We smiled at each other again, but this time they were genuine smiles.
"So," I remarked as we gathered our clothes and headed for the door, "do you think that Nome was being serious about the whole 'everyone will hate us' thing?"
"Yeah. My older brother's a Slytherin." Jake replied. "He says that he got a detention once when someone got hit by a trip jinx and he happened to be nearby. It was ridiculous- no one had any proof that it was him." Adam whistled.
"Wow, sounds rough. But yeah, after You-Know-Who and the Death Eaters, no one really trusts Slytherins any more." We walked into the common room. The girls were already there, as were a few other early risers. "What houses were your parents in Zac?"
I thought quickly. They couldn't have been in Slytherin because I had said that they tried to raise me as a muggle.
"My dad was in Ravenclaw and my mum was in Gryffindor." I said quickly. "What's it to you?" Adam shrugged.
"Just wondering. If it makes you feel better, my parents were both Slytherins but my grand father was a Hufflepuff." There was no time for further conversation as the prefects came into the common room. A hulking girl with a permanent sneer on her face went over to the girls. Willis came over to us boys.
"Right, first years. Girls follow Karen, boys follow me." Willis didn't appear to be much of a morning person because he did not say another word to us. We left the common room then after heading down the corridor about two meters the girls stopped at a large painting of three children and a tree. Willis made us continue walking.
About two more meters after the girls had stopped there was another large painting, this time of two wizards having a duel. To my surprise, when we stopped in front of it, the wizards suddenly stood up straight and looked at us enquiringly. No one else seemed bothered by the moving picture so I said nothing. Either I was going mad or this was another normal magical thing.
"Shedding." Willis said in a clear voice. The portrait swung open and revealed a room inside. Seifer and Tahir looked mildly surprised but Adam and Jake acted as though they had often seen portraits open which they probably had. We walked into the room.
Inside there were some benches and doors. Willis pointed to the benches, ordering us to sit.
"Okay, quick briefing children," he said patronizingly. I bristled angrily. "Door on the left leads to the toilets, door on the right leads to sinks and mirrors, door straight ahead of you leads to the showers and baths. Don't tell the password to anyone and do not attempt to go into the girl's bathroom. Am I understood?" He recited in a bored voice.
"Yes…" None of us were sure how to address him.
"Willis." He finished for us. Then he stood up, informed us that breakfast would be at eight and left. We looked at each other for a moment and then I put my robes on a bench and went off to the showers. The others followed my lead.
Roughly half an hour later we were all washed, dressed and hungry. We left the bathrooms and Adam headed away from the common room. I pulled him back.
"Where are you going?" I hissed. Seifer moved to stop any argument we might have but I shook my head at him.
"To breakfast," Adam replied, bemused. I pointed at his pyjamas.
"What, with your pyjamas and toothbrush? That's a smart thing to do, isn't it?" Adam looked down in surprise and grinned.
"Good point Carew."
"Thanks Etasyl. Why are we using surnames?" I shot back. Tahir shook his head.
"I can see you two forming a blossoming friendship. Asp." The wall slid back. We went into our room, put our clothes away and headed to breakfast. This turned out to be a very interesting experience as none of us could remember the way to the Great Hall and so we argued. By the time we reached the Great Hall, Jake and Tahir weren't speaking, and it was only my resolve not to lose every ally I could have in Hogwarts that had stopped me from hitting Adam. Seifer, as usual, was the cool head and had gotten us to breakfast relatively unscathed.
"Here we are," He said grandly, walking through the door, arms spread wide. Adam scoffed.
"You're so full of it Langtree." He stopped and smiled. "But, you're the one who got us here so my stomach thanks you." Seifer laughed.
"It was only because that ghost, the Bloody Baron, gave me directions. If you four hadn't been arguing so much, you'd have seen him too."
"Hey, look at the ceiling!" I exclaimed, interrupting their little happy time. Tahir stopped glaring at Jake and looked up.
"Yeah, what about it?" He asked after a moment, but I could tell he was as surprised as I was. He was still annoyed about the argument.
"It's like what's outside." I replied.
"Well done Mr. Obvious." Tahir murmured. I glared at him.
"And you see ceilings like this all around I suppose." I said sarcastically. Sarcasm is one of my greatest talents. Tahir shuffled.
"No…but this is written in Hogwarts: A history. Didn't you read it?" Seifer laughed again as we sat down on one of the benches.
"Tell me you didn't read it Tahir. No one reads that book."
"My brother never got past the first chapter." Jake added. I smiled gratefully. At least I wasn't the only idiot. And soon enough I would know enough magic to stop people thinking that of me.
"Jake, Tahir," Seifer began. We all looked at him. "Before I forget, you two have to stop arguing."
"Why should we?" Tahir said stubbornly.
"Because the Gryffindors are already giving us hostile looks. You want to have no friends?" Seifer replied reasonably. Jake and Tahir looked at each other uncertainly and then Jake held out his pale hand.
"Sorry Tahir. I shouldn't have sworn at you." Tahir clasped the hand.
"Yeah, I'm sorry for pushing you." I rolled my eyes when none of them were looking. Why on earth were they obsessed with hand shaking? Before I could say anything, more students sat down next to us and food appeared on the plates. I suddenly realised how hungry I was and spent the next ten minutes eating.
Whilst eating each of us got passed a timetable. I looked at mine.
8:50 -9:50 – Herbology (R)
"Hey, what do you think the R means?" One of the girls asked.
"Ravenclaw probably. A lot of the classes are shared." Her friend replied. I scanned down the timetable. Most of my classes were with Gryffindor but I had Charms with Hufflepuff and Defence Against the Dark Arts was just by ourselves. Seifer nudged me.
"Hey, Defence Against the Dark Arts is just us. No idiots to screw up. Great!"
"Yeah," I replied enthusiastically. "One lesson where we're not gonna have to duck random spells." I smiled at the thought. From what I had gathered, the other houses seemed to be idiots and a liability to the magical world. I might not be a true member of the magical world, but when I heard about the other houses I made a promise not to do anything to destroy it- I would treat magic with the reverence it deserved.
"And no one preaching how we're misusing magic." Seifer added, grinning.
"Or trying to correct the way we think." I laughed. Of course I didn't know then how the other houses would act, but Tammy had said that no Slytherins were worth anyone's time, and at home people were always telling me off for my ideas. Seifer nodded in agreement then got up and said that we should get our Herbology and Charms stuff. Also our Transfiguration books as that was after the break. We decided to follow his advice.
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When we left the common room, Seifer came up with the very good idea of asking someone (a Slytherin obviously) for directions to Herbology, so we arrived outside the greenhouse with ten minutes to spare and no arguments (which seemed to be a record for us). The girls arrived and then the Ravenclaws. I groaned as I spotted one of the Ravenclaw girls- Shelly. Jake looked at me but before he could say anything, Shelly came over.
"Hello Zac," She said somewhat frostily.
"Hello Shelly," I murmured back. I didn't really want to speak to her but as always she was determined.
"So, you're in Slytherin now?" She asked even though it was obvious that I was. I was about to ask her whether she was blind or not when I realised what she was getting at. I sighed.
"Can I have a word with you Shelly? Like…over there." I gestured to a tree a few meters away. She nodded primly and walked over to the tree.
"What's going on?" Jake hissed as I began to walk.
"I need to talk to her about something and I don't want her little friends overhearing." I replied sneeringly. He shrugged and nodded. I walked over to the tree.
"How did you get in Slytherin?" Was the first thing she said, as soon as I reached the tree. "Why are you in Slytherin?" Was the second. I watched her patiently.
"Have you got anymore questions?" I asked quietly when she finally shut up. The blonde shook her head. "I'm in Slytherin because that's where the hat put me. And, incidentally…" I drew a breath. This wasn't going to be easy. "I would like it if you didn't mention my parents to anyone. I know I can't stop you if you want to tell anyone but…it's just possible that my house will kill me if they find out." I smiled weakly. "They're not exactly full of love for muggle borns." Shelly thought for a moment.
"Zac, you don't actually think I would do something like that?" She sounded offended. I said nothing. I had thought that actually. I know that if I had been in her situation I would have used the information. She carried on speaking. "I told you, I have nothing against muggle borns, which includes informing the Slytherins who they are. Besides, Tammy would kill me if I told them. She likes you for some reason." She tossed her hair back. "If that's all, I'm going to Herbology. They're going in now." I looked over towards our disappearing classmates. She was right. I set off after her.
"Shelly…" I called. She glanced back.
"Yes?" She had her frosty voice back.
"Thanks. I really appreciate it." It hurt me a lot to say it, but I felt I had to. I know when thanks has to be given and that was one of those times.
Shelly didn't reply. Instead she went into the greenhouse. I rolled my eyes before following her. It seemed that it wasn't us Slytherins who were rude- it was just about everyone else.