Disclaimer: I've never even been to Europe, let alone live there.
Oh, and Beanatrix LeString gave me a riddle, to my surprise: dead in the center of an island is a rabbit. It is six feet in each direction to one edge. If one hop is equal to one foot, how many hops does it take for the rabbit to get to one side of the island? If you don't get it, read it through once more.
My Answer: The rabbit would have to hop one time, right? Because if it hops once then it's on a side and not the middle anymore... Unless it's not a trick question... Blerg. :D ? Thanks for the riddle, I hope I got it right!
Before I could even try to appreciate the subtle beauty of the way each food plate was decorated, it was almost gone. The steak had been reduced from a handsomely stacked pyramid to a sloshy red mess, and the sweetly cut bread had been spread sloppily across its dish. Outraged, I only reluctantly took a bite from my salad, now splattered with chicken oil and steak sauce.
"What's the matter with you?" a boy sitting next to me said snidely. "Food not delicate enough for your system?" He appeared to be a Second Year, and one that could easily beat me up.
"If you must know," I retorted bravely, "I am a vegetarian, and this seems to be the only non-meat product I can reach." The boy curled his lip into a sneer. "Who do you think you are, anyways?"
"Piers Higgs," the boy answered. "You?"
The corner of my mouth twitched into a devious smile. "Scorpius Malfoy." He immediately stopped eating. "Weren't paying enough attention to the Sorting, were you?"
Higgs' eyes widened. "I, uh . . . Please just forget I said anything!" The Malfoy family had once been a big part of Voldemort's Death Eater group, and that still threatened the less-than-pure-bloods, even if I did normally disapprove of it most of the time. This was one of the exceptions that I loved.
Continuing to eat my small salad, and fancy croûtons, I was only to be stopped by the girl sitting beside me. I recognized her from the Ceremony as Lydia Crumpet, and noticed that she was eating only light fruit.
"Hullo," she uttered slowly, with a Scottish accent and a distant look in her eye. "I was wonderin' how a Malfoy could be a vegetarian. Yer' family was very close to ta' Dark Lord – at least in the First War – and murdered many filthy Mudbloods and blood traitors, yet ya' can't stand ter' eat a simple bit o' meat."
I tilted my head slightly, immediately disliking the girl. "As far as I can tell," I remarked coldly, "I wasn't alive during either war, and I haven't killed any people, either." This was exactly the kind of occasion in which I did not like the attention due to my Malfoy status.
"Maybe, but how could ya' come from a family like that, yet still be a bloody vegetarian?" The girl's face was still unusually blank. Either some dumb bloke had randomly decided to cast the Imperious Curse on her, or Crumpet . . . That was weird, if not dangerous for an eleven year old girl!
"I really don't think that you should be talking," I suddenly told her, the words forming in my lips before they reached my head.
Crumpet gave me a slow, empty stare, and asked me to repeat myself, in the single word – no, not even a word – of, "Yuh?"
I rolled my eyes at the girl, despite the serious accusation I was about to make. Part of me was worried I would be wrong. How funny. "I said that I don't really think that you should be saying such things," I repeated clearly, "when you're a wizard yet still hyped up on Muggle drugs."
The brunette girl (pretty as she was, the brainless look set on her face disturbed me) blinked slowly, waiting a few moments to process exactly what I had said. "Woul'nt say that," she finally told me, as her slow drawl became a little less definite. "I don't think me mum buys 'em from those dirty Muggles. 'Don't use any, though. Not one in me family does."
I raised an eyebrow. "Really, now? I recognize the symptoms. Besides, why does your mum buy drugs for you when you never even use them, anyways?"
"'Never said that. I don't even use 'em. S'not illegal, anyways." She might have looked triumphant if the drugs weren't effecting her so.
I sighed, feeling a bit disappointed. I was in the same House as a girl like this? Maybe Ravenclaw wasn't so bad. "Overdose is."
"'Don't think . . ." but she cut herself off, as in some sort of deep thought. I doubted she realized that Muggle laws were wizard ones, as well. "S'maybe not," she then muttered, more to herself than me.
I sighed at the disappointment that I felt for my House. The other Slytherins, so far, seemed rude, obnoxious, and stupid. If only I had listened to Rose and gone on into Ravenclaw. It had only been a side choice for me, with Slytherin winning in a ratio of about five to one, but the Sorting hat had at least offered it.
Plus, if I were in Ravenclaw, then I would have dated . . . that's another story, but let's just say that being in Ravenclaw would have made it a lot easier to date my then future wife. Might have made things get started faster, too.
But no matter how stupid I thought my House was, I was in it, and was just going to have to deal with it for the time being. Besides, first impressions weren't always accurate, right?
When everyone was done eating their dinner, the untidy food on the table and in people's hands vanished, and were replaced with delicious desserts. Pies, cakes, sorbet, and any other treat I could think of was available, but while my House-mates piled on the ice cream sundaes with cookie sandwiches and pumpkin pasties, I took a single lemon tart, not feeling very hungry anymore. Higgs and Crumpet seemed to be in the same boat as me, as they took nothing either.
I looked one table over and saw Rose eating with her brothers. I smiled at her, and she cared enough to look up and smile back at me.
"Ya' like 'er?" Crumpet gabbed, breaking the moment. "I di'nt know Slytherins and Gryffindors could like one another."
I blushed, looking back at Crumpet. "Wha . . .? What are you talking about? Rose is my friend!"
"First name terms already, Malfoy?" the girl drawled. "For your sake, I 'ope she's pure-blooded." I honestly didn't know whether Rose was or wasn't, but I didn't care. It wasn't as if we were going to get married or anything close to that. Me and Rose? Crazy.
I went back to eating my tart, which is when the new First Years around me began talking about their blood status. I had already known that Sobee Goyle was pure-blooded, but was surprised when she said that it was an arranged marriage, so it didn't really count to her. Andrew Reuben revealed that his mum was a Muggle, which made Gabriella Parks, who had two half-blood parents, look strangely happy.
"Both of my parents are pure-bloods," William Gamp proclaimed proudly, looking rather arrogant about it. "My mum went to school here, but my dad was at Durmstrang. They met when shopping for new school robes, actually."
Callum Rosier looked up from his dessert. "But isn't that Sophia girl in Gryffindor your sister?" he asked suspiciously. "I don't think that she's pure." A lot of those included in the conversation stopped to glare at Gamp, as if he were lying.
"We're . . ." the boy paused for a moment, "third cousins on my dad's side. Her side of the family was cut off because of her father being an ugly Squib. Then he ruined her blood even more by marrying a Muggle woman. 'Course she ended up in Gryffindor, just like everyone said her father would have."
I noticed that no one bothered to ask me about my heritage, but I knew that it was because most wizards already knew. Scorpius Malfoy is a pure-blood. I wondered if the Gryffindors had to put up with the same kind of blood-crap, and made a mental note to ask Rose later.
Instead of dragging on with the foolish topic, I looked up at the High Table that the teachers were eating at. The only people I recognized, though, were Professor Flitwick and Headmaster Slughorn. Two others that really caught my eye were an enormous man with curly dark hair draped over his head and covering his face as a flowing beard, and a relatively muscular looking man that appeared extremely angry for whatever reason.
There wasn't a centaur eating at the table, and I felt slightly disappointed, as I had once been told a rumor about one who taught Divination. I was tempted to ask about it, but didn't feel particularly bold enough to try.
Finally, the desserts vanished, as well. It was then when I realized that the Headmaster was standing up. "Now that you have finished your dinners, it is time I tell you a few things about the school.
"First, I am sure that you all know about the Forbidden Forest being, well, forbidden." The huge man chuckled to himself, and I rolled my eyes at his pitiful excuse for humor. "No magic is to be used in between classes in the hallways, either.
"Anyone interested in Quidditch will want to contact Mr. Tase if wishing to play for House Teams. The trials should be held sometime within the second week of term, depending on your House captain.
"It would also be noted that student clubs are things in which I have no authority over, and I will allow myself to look the other way as long as advertisements are placed on the common room bulletins, instead of painted across the walls of the castle.
"And now, I'm afraid, it is time for bed."
Each House followed their respective prefects, each First Year wondering where their part of Hogwarts was. I, for one, already knew because my dad had told me, being that confident in where I would end up.
The Fifth Year prefects of Slytherin were the ones to lead. They introduced themselves proudly as Brandon Vaisey and Evelyn Irving.
We followed them down the castle, passing through marble staircases and chattering paintings. There was one part, even, where we had to stand completely still in one particular spot, until the floor completely engulfed us, bringing us to an otherwise inaccessible floor. When we at last reached the part of the dungeons we were headed, many of the First Years were groaning with exhaustion.
The door to our common room looked just like an ordinary pillar, except it had a faint silver snake curled around it. The patterned serpent began to move as the prefects reached it, and Irving told it, "Gillyweed." The snake hissed in reply, as the pillar moved sideways to reveal an open hole in the wall.
Everyone entered the Slytherin common room to find a comfortable looking couch and a warm, flickering fire. Vaisey then led us boys to our dormitory, as Irving led the girls to theirs.
Something I noticed when we reached it, was that there was a poorly filled hole in the ceiling near one of the beds. Making sure to choose a bed as far away from it as possible, I still felt a bit worried. Perhaps it was a closed passageway that actually let to the bottom of the lake? I dared not unblock it for this reason, not wanting to drown in my own bed.
The window showing a full moon was closed by one of my roommates, but I didn't bother to check which one. The candle near my bed was quickly turned off, and I lay wide awake in bed, despite my extreme tiredness.
Why was it that I wanted to go to Hogwarts, again? Why was it that I refused to be home-schooled like my mother had all but insisted? I had remembered arguing that school was going to be an adventure, and that it would be an exciting thing I might one day regret not living through.
I didn't feel adventurous or excited – just queasy and a tiny bit nervous. Already, I'd forgotten to take into account that I'd never left home before for longer than twenty four hours. Boarding school? Why had I said yes to that? Sure, it did have a few little perks, like being the best one in the UK.
Still, without it I never would have met Rose, or anyone else smart enough to compare with me. Sure, I might have made friends without it, but Mum and Dad would have kept me isolated for the majority of my youthful years.
Thinking about my soon-to-be grand time at Hogwarts, I smiled a little bit. Even though my House-mates were stupid arses who threw the word Mudblood in every once and a while, I thought I might have a good time, anyways. Besides, not everyone in Slytherin could be nearly as prejudiced as they seemed. Rolling over in my bed, I realized that Hogwarts might not be nearly as much of a downer that it suddenly seemed.
Looking at my watch, I blinked with surprise. "Twelve?" I whispered to myself, although rather loudly. "Shit!" Classes started tomorrow, and students needed to get up bright and early in order to get any breakfast. Taking off my watch, I got under the covers. It was going to be a long day.
Thought of the Day: What is it that makes people assume that Slytherin is evil? There are many times in the books, or in real life where people refer to Slytherins as such, when there Slughorn is, so obviously not. Perhaps being cunning and manipulative are traits that are easy to abuse? There is no true answer... It's only something to think about.