Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter
Recap: Harry set up a plan to go into the past and become the next Dark Lord. He found out that his mother was a time traveler and that he was the head of the Aven family, a rich and powerful wizarding clan. He set up a ritual to take Ginny and himself back to Tom Riddle's first year at Hogwarts. He took on the name Ayilis Aven and Ginny took the name Jinseri Aven.
Chapter 3: The Express
September 1st, 1938
Ayilis and Jinseri quickly put their trunks on the trolley. King's Cross Station was particularly busy today, as it was the first day of Hogwarts and the train station was filled with students. Harry smirked. Everything was going according to plan.
The two time travelers had arrived in mid-May, giving them plenty of time to arrange everything satisfactorily. The newly christened Ayilis had had no problem in becoming the official head of the almost-extinct Aven clan. Jinseri had informed Headmaster Dippet of the return from abroad of two school-age purebloods, which resulted in the delivery of acceptance letters in July. The three Aven trunks were safely stored in Gringotts, and Jinseri and Ayilis were packed and ready to re-experience their first year at Hogwarts as Slytherins.
Harry pushed the trolley through the barrier. The platform was bustling with students and parents giving tearful goodbyes. Harry and Ginny pushed their way through the crowd and onto the train. They picked a compartment to the back of the train and pushed their trunks onto the racks. Harry had just sat down on his seat and pulled out a book when he was distracted by a commotion outside his window.
A small boy wearing what appeared to be rags was getting pushed around. The bullies had already pushed over his trunk and all of his supplies lay spilled on the ground. Harry walked quickly off the train and over to the scene. After pushing his way past the spectators into the center, he turned to the main instigators.
"What is going on over here?" Harry said in his best better-than-thou voice.
"Just showing the Mudblood his place, you got a problem with…" the spokeman's voice trailed off as he spotted the ring on Harry's finger. The ring showed the Aven crest as well as the symbol that stood for the Head of a family. The boy paled and tried to fix his mistake by slightly bowing to him. "I apologize, Lord Aven, I didn't know that you were starting school this year. I should have spoken with more respect. Please forgive my behavior."
Harry nodded and waved them off. He leaned down and held out a hand to the fallen boy, saying, "I must apologize for them. The world would be a better place if there were not as many wizards of that type. My name is Ayilis Aven. May I ask yours?"
"Tom Riddle," the scrawny boy replied. Harry smirked, pulled Tom to his feet, and casually waved his other hand at the trunk. It immediately righted while the scattered school supplies neatly and economically packed themselves. "Why did those boys react to you like that?" Tom asked curiously.
"Oh that, well, I am the head of an ancient and powerful pure-blood family known as the Avens." Harry smirked again and Tom gasped. "That is why they called me Lord Aven."
Tom's eyes widened and he quickly gave a sort of half bow, "I'm sorry. You shouldn't have wasted your time on me."
"Nonsense, you are a wizard, aren't you?" After Tom's nod, Harry said, "Well, then, it is my duty as one of noble wizardry line to welcome you into the wizarding world." Harry waved his wand and started floating the trunk onto the train. "Let's go then. I will help you get settled." Harry and Tom got onto the train and went to the compartment Harry had already picked out. Even with three people, it looked almost empty. In fact, the entire train looked bigger, and then Harry remembered that more than half of the wizarding world had been wiped out by Voldemort and his predecessor, Grindlewald. There were bound to be more wizards today than in the future.
Jinseri only looked up from the book she was reading when Tom sat down next to her. She smiled happily and slipped a little closer to him.
"So what's your name?" She asked while putting her book in the bag she had next to her.
"Tom Riddle. What about you?" He answered while scooting away from her.
"Jinseri Aven. I'm this idiot's cousin. So are you excited about going to school?"
"Only a little bit," Tom answered, looking every bit like he was scared out of his wits by the thought of going to school. "But it will be better than staying at the orphanage."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Jinseri lied.
"So, what house do you think you will be in, Tom?" Harry cut in.
"I think I would like to be in Slytherin, although I heard that they don't normally accept Muggle-borns."
"Oh, nonsense, I sure that you will get into whatever house you want to be in."
"So, know any wizarding games yet?" Jinseri asked.
"No, I didn't even know there were wizarding games." Tom looked nervous.
"Well, of course there are. Let's start with exploding snap." Jinseri looked excited as she started digging in her bag.
Just then the compartment door opened and the three saw what looked like another first year dragging her trunk behind her.
"I'm sorry to barge in like this, but every other first year compartment is full and I couldn't find anywhere else to sit. Is it okay if I sit here?" The girl had brown hair and enticing violet eyes.
"Of course, I could never deny a lady a seat." Ayilis stood up and shook her hand. "My name is Ayilis Aven," he pointed to Tom, "this is Tom Riddle, and that lummox in the corner that hasn't even looked up is my cousin, Jinseri."
"Nice to meet you," she answered as she pushed her trunk onto the rack, "Oh, I'm so sorry, where are my manners? My name is Kinslo Vandom." Just as she was sitting down the door opened again, this time showing a boy and a girl.
"Hello, come in and sit down. There's plenty of room in here," Jinseri said after finally finding the exploding snap cards. She helped push the two trunks onto the rack and shook both the girl's and boy's hands. "My name is Jinseri Aven, and that is my cousin, Ayilis. The other two are Tom Riddle and Kinslo Vandom." Tom and Kinslo nodded at them and moved aside to make more room on the benches.
The girl spoke first. "My name is Domino Txildo, and this is my maternal cousin, Myles Henston. We are both purebloods." She pushed her black hair out of her deep blue eyes after she said this and sat down stiffly.
"And my name is Myles, if you didn't guess, and don't worry about her. She's just stiff around new people." The boy was much more casual and charismatic. He smiled and ruffled his strawberry blond hair.
"Well, now that the introductions are finished, why don't we sit down and start this game of exploding snap?" Jinseri smirked and passed out the cards.
The group seemed to get along fine. Everyone was a pureblood except Tom, and they all seemed to know each other from various dinner parties that they had attended as kids. They all seemed to think they would get into Slytherin and were surprised when they heard that Tom also wanted to be a Slytherin.
"You know, it's unusual for a Muggle-born to get into Slytherin," Kinslo remarked.
"I know, but I really think that I would fit in there. I would like to be dorm mates with you guys." Tom was surprised when the others laughed at him. "What's so funny?"
"Tom, there are no dorms in Slytherin." Myles answered.
"What do you mean?"
"Well, the other houses have to have dorms because there isn't a lot of room in the towers, but Slytherin has most of the dungeons to itself. Everyone in Slytherin gets their own room, but you have to fix the rooms up if you want to live in them. On the first day of the year and the start of every semester afterwards, every Slytherin gets to pick a new room. There are very few furnished rooms, and if you want one, you will have to fight to get it. The seventh years usually get the best rooms because they have the most power and knowledge, but Lord Aven here could probably get a good room easily, because no one will want to get on his bad side," Myles explained.
Domino then took over. "Every pureblood is raised to know how to fight so that when they go to Hogwarts, they will have a better chance of being higher in the hierarchy."
"There is a hierarchy?" Tom said nervously.
"Yes. Every year has its leader, and the others of that year usually follow what the leader does outside the common room. However, inside the common room, it's survival of the fittest. The leader must be the strongest of the group, so there are fights at the end of the semester to see who gets what spot." Domino continued.
"This is designed to prepare you for the real world. It is very harsh inside the common room. In the other houses, house elves pick up after you, but in Slytherin, you have to earn the luxury. You have to learn to make it to the top. If you aren't the smartest or fastest or strongest, you have to have something else to help you get to the top, like blackmail or a certain skill no one else has," Myles said.
"It's dog eat dog." Kinslo finished.
"I don't believe that." Everyone looked, surprised, at Ayilis. "I think the best skill you can learn is making and keeping powerful friends. People you can trust to protect your back while you're fighting the front. Sometimes you can't be the leader, but you can back up someone else while they protect you. It's a win-win situation."
"I agree with Ayilis. I would follow him to hell and back because I knew that nothing would happen to me while I did," Jinseri added. The group sat in silence for a few minutes, cards forgotten while thinking over what the two Avens had said.
Finally, it was Myles who spoke. "I guess I never looked at it that way. I was raised to think that you had to be on top no matter what, but I wouldn't mind following you, Lord Aven." Kinslo and Domino nodded as if agreeing to what Myles said. He put out his hand. "Let's see how you do. You know that most of the year won't just follow your lead automatically you will have to prove to them that you are worth the loyalty." His eyes sparkled as if he too was looking forward to the first semester fights.
Ayilis smirked. Not even at Hogwarts yet and I have my first follower. Not too bad, Harry, not too bad at all. "I gladly accept your offer and will make sure that I prove to you that I am a worthy leader." Harry took his hand and was surprised when another hand fell on top of theirs.
Kinslo smirked widely at him. "What he said." She nodded over to Myles. Domino and Tom placed their hands on the pile next. Jinseri finished it off. They all smirked at each other for the next few seconds before they let go.
"Now, let's finish this game," Jinseri said. They all let their carefully constructed masks break for a second while they laughed. A feeling of camaraderie grew as they picked up their hands again.
An hour later, they finished their first game and took a break before starting the next one. Jinseri used this time to make her way to the bathroom and was surprised to hear some crying in one of the stalls. Jinseri opened the door to that stall slowly. A brown haired girl was crying her eyes out inside. Jinseri carefully sat down next to her.
"What's the matter?" Jinseri asked softly while patting her back. Unfortunately, this only caused the girl to cry harder. "Shh, it's ok; just tell me who to beat up." That got a choked laugh out of the girl.
"It's nothing, just my sister," the girl whispered into Jinseri's shirt.
"If it were nothing, you wouldn't be here crying, would you?"
"Helda told me that I'll never make it into Gryffindor. And she's right, I won't because I'm such a coward. Then my parents will be really mad at me, and Helda will make fun of me and tell people that I'm the stupid twin again." She began sobbing again.
"It's fine," whispered Jinseri as she began to rock the girl. "You're not stupid, and you're not a coward. Who is Helda, anyway?"
"She's my twin, but she was born first so she's the heir and I'm just a stupid little extra person that nobody really wants or needs, especially not my parents. She makes fun of me a lot. But she's right. I'll never get into Gryffindor, and I'll probably be in Hufflepuff or something."
Jinseri hugged the crying girl closer. "There isn't anything wrong with Hufflepuff; it's as good as any other Hogwarts house. However, as your parents obviously don't realize how great you are, you will need to show them. Become a Slytherin with me. My cousin Lord Aven will protect you. Don't go running back to your sister. You are better than her and you should know it."
"You really want to be friends with me? But I'm so weak; I won't be any help at all."
"That doesn't matter; I'll show you how to help. Come on." Jinseri helped the girl off the floor and wiped off her tears. "Follow me." Jinseri walked out of the bathroom and to the compartment with the girl right behind her the entire way. She pushed open the door and pulled the girl in beside her. "This is…" Jinseri just noticed that she still didn't know the girl's name.
"Hilda Moonstone." She said shyly.
"Right. She will be joining us for the rest of the trip." Jinseri sat down in her spot again and gestured for Hilda to follow. Hilda made her way to the seat and then suddenly tripped, falling face first onto the floor. Ayilis got up off his seat and offered her a hand.
"Welcome to the group, Hilda. You will fit in perfectly, I'm sure." Ayilis helped her off the floor and into her seat. "Now where were we? Ah yes, I was just passing out the cards."
"What house do you want to be in, Hilda?" Kinslo asked softly while taking her cards from Ayilis.
"I was thinking about Slytherin, actually." She smiled at Jinseri.
"Great, you'll be with the rest of us then."
"I just had an idea. Domino, you said that the entire dungeons made up the Slytherin rooms, right?" Ayilis cut in.
"Yes, I think that every room that is connected to one of the Slytherin common hallways can be used as a room," Domino replied.
"Well, I was thinking-why don't we pick out a hallway and make all of the rooms into a little hideaway from the rest of the Slytherins? This way we won't have to fight for the good rooms, and we'll be away from the hustle and bustle of the power players of the hierarchy," Ayilis said.
"Hierarchy?" Hilda spoke softly. Domino and Myles took over and, once they introduced themselves, repeated what they had said before.
"So, all we would have to do is find an unused hallway with a lot of rooms attached, and we could make ourselves a common room of our own for just us seven. We would have a place where the other Slytherins couldn't spy on us or find us easily. What do you guys think? We could prove that Slytherin isn't all about being a loner," Ayilis said.
"I think it would be a good idea." Myles said. Everyone else nodded in agreement.
The rest of the trip passed quickly as the septuplet talked about their hobbies and played more card games. The boys walked out of the room when the girls were changing, and the girls gave the boys the same courtesy. Once they got to the train station, they lost each other in the large crowd.
"First years over here! Calling all first years to the boats!" The voice wasn't the same as Hagrid's large bellow, but it was very commanding in its own way. The man belonging to the voice was a tall (to an 11 year old) blond man. He didn't give any explanation to the large crowd of children surrounding him. Harry did a quick head count and rounded off the number of first-years at around 70, give or take a few.
The blond haired man led them to a fleet of boats that looked much the same as they did 60 years from now, rickety and old. Ayilis got into a boat and looked around for his friends. He spotted Jinseri and Tom, but the rest were lost in the tide of children rushing into the boats.
"Everyone, please get into a boat. Remember, only four to a boat." The Professor said as he directed them to the boats. When they got there, Ayilis, Jinseri, and Tom all got into a boat with a very scared-looking girl. Ayilis couldn't stop himself as he asked her, "What's the matter?" As soon as he said it, he regretted it, as the girl latched herself onto Ayilis and started crying on his shirt. Ayilis, surprised at the action, soon got over it and started rubbing her back and whispering small things to her that he thought would make her feel better. "Now, now there. What seems to be the problem?"
The girl, who had stopped sobbing and was now just sniffing, whispered into his shirt,
"I'm sorry about this. I just had a bad experience with water, and I haven't been near it in five years."
"It's okay. I hold crying girls all the time." The girl gave a choked laugh at this, and Ayilis went on. "Now, nothing seems to be a problem, besides the fact that my shirt is wet, and I can deal with that. So you just stay there as long as you need to. I will save you from the big bad water, ok?"
The girl gave another choked laugh and then snuggled up to Ayilis even more. Jinseri and Tom looked at him like he was crazy, and he just gave a small shrug. After all, why turn someone away if they might be useful in a few years? There was no reason for him to be stupid like Draco. You don't turn away potential allies. They sat quietly for a few minutes as the boat started moving. Jinseri, who was getting very uncomfortable with the silence, tried to make conversation.
"So what's your name?"
"Oh, I'm Matilda Benosofits," she whispered into Ayilis's shirt. Jinseri coughed a little to cover up her laugh.
"So, Matilda, are you excited about going to Hogwarts?" Jinseri asked.
"Oh yes, very much. I couldn't wait to go here ever since my older brother got his letter." As Matilda said this, she looked up at Jinseri, but as soon as she did she saw the water and stuffed her head back into Ayilis's shirt.
"Oh, so your family is all magic?" This time it was Tom that asked; he seemed curious as well.
"No, my brother is and now I am. We weren't sure that I would be a witch, but I'm glad that I was. I was so looking forward to going here. My brother says nothing but good things about it. He's a 4th year this year. I wonder if I'll go into the same house as him. He's in Ravenclaw." Matilda said all this in one breath. As she finished, the boats arrived on the shore.
"We're here," Ayilis said softly to her. Matilda slowly looked up. When she saw that the boats had tied up, she leapt out of the boat and onto the shore. She looked as if she was about to start hugging and kissing the ground. The other three smiled at her antics and got out as well. Matilda blushed and looked down at the ground when she saw them looking at her.
"All students over here. Follow me." The professor led them all to the great hall, where they were greeted by a much younger Dumbledore. Dumbledore nodded to the professor, who took the hint and entered the hall.
"Welcome, first years, to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. I am Professor Dumbledore, and I will be your Transfiguration professor. If you are sorted into Gryffindor, I will also be your Head of House. In a few minutes, I will come back and the sorting will begin. I suggest you all tidy up." After he said this, he went inside the door and everybody started talking about the sorting.
"So, how do you think we will be sorted?" Tom asked, and surprisingly, it was Matilda that answered.
"My brother told me in his first letter that he got sorted into Ravenclaw by putting on a hat. He also said that the hat sang first. I don't really think that's possible, do you? I mean, a singing hat?"
"Weirder things have happened before. This is the wizarding world, you know," Jinseri responded. "You know, I once heard you had to fight two trolls as a sorting ceremony." Both of the Muggleborns in the group started shaking. Jinseri and Ayilis started laughing. The two purebloods didn't have a chance to tell them that it was a joke before the doors to the Great Hall opened once again. Dumbledore organized everyone into a single file line and led them through the door.
The Great Hall looked much the same as it did in Harry's time. Even 60 years in the past it was the most beautiful part of Hogwarts. The sky was clear tonight, and Ayilis could see all of the constellations scattered about the night sky. As Hogwarts was out in the country, it didn't have a lot of city lights obscuring the beautiful night sky.
Ayilis was so caught up in the sky that he missed the sorting song, but he smirked as the boy and girl in front of him were quickly sorted into Hufflepuff and Gryffindor.
Ayilis stalked up to the stool as his name was called and bowed to the hat. By this time, the rest of the hall was whispering just as much as they had the time Harry Potter went to the hat. As the hat slipped over his eyes, the last thing he saw was the expectant looks of 500 children.
Hello, time traveler. I didn't expect you, young Mister Potter.
Well, I try to be unpredictable, Gilfred. Harry smirked to himself.
That you do indeed. I would ask how you know my name, but as you have blocked it from your memories, I am guessing that you don't want me to know.
You would be guessing right, old friend. I know how much sway the Headmaster has over you, and even though Dippet won't think to ask, I am sure the next headmaster will not hesitate to use that advantage over you.
I understand, but you do know I will have to repeat this conversation if asked, do you not? Gilfred replied.
I am well aware of this. I think that it is time, Gilfred, to sort me, and you know where I need to go, even if you don't want to admit it.
The voice seemed to almost sigh. Very well. Goodbye, Lord Aven. I do hope that this turns out for the best. Come talk to me every once in a while. Goodbye, great-grand nephew. "SLYTHERIN!" The shout came as no surprise to Harry, and he smirked as the hat was taken off his head.
Gilfred heard one last thought from Harry, and it was so quiet he later thought that it was a trick of his imagination. Goodbye, Gilfred Gryffindor.
Harry approached the Slytherin table. The older students parted to allow him a spot, and he sat down without interruption. After all, why annoy a potential ally? Jinseri went right after Ayilis, and although he didn't know what was said, he could guess that it was close along the lines to his conversation with Gilfred.
"Benosofits, Matilda," was called next. After about a minute or so with the hat on her head, it shouted out, "Ravenclaw." Harry and Ginny clapped politely for her as she sat down next to an older boy who hugged her; probably her brother.
After two more sortings, the next girl caught Harry's eye. The reason she stood out so much was more because she didn't stand out. If Harry hadn't seen her standing in the first year line, he wouldn't have even guessed she was in his year. It was almost like a notice-me-not charm was cast on her. As he looked closer at her, he began to see an aura around her, and then suddenly the spell came into focus. There was a powerful spell around the girl-one that had the same result as a notice-me-not charm but was much, much stronger. Harry didn't think anyone, except perhaps Dumbledore, had the ability to see the spell, and Dumbledore was preoccupied at the high table. With average brown hair and blue eyes, there was nothing that really stood out about this girl except her name, which was called as Harry was scrutinizing her.
"Nzirv, Bziyilfts." It was an odd name, to be sure, but Ayilis was sure that this girl could be very useful. When the hat shouted "Hufflepuff", Harry smirked.
With the spell and a Hufflepuff tie, she was almost a custom-built spy. If Harry could get her to join his little group, she would be very good at gathering information on everyone in the school. With the charm, no one would notice her, and with a yellow and black crest on her robes, people wouldn't be suspicious of her. Harry noted her down as a person to befriend later.
Two more people passed into houses without Harry noticing, but once again his eye was drawn to the next first year, "Clauidous, Hemin." However, this time it was for the opposite reason. The boy strutted to the stool and stood arrogantly in front of the school before the hat was placed on his head. It was barely more than a second before the hat shot out "Gryffindor". Harry was only slightly surprised to see that he was in the enemy house. The boy walked and seemed so much like Draco Malfoy that it was scary. Harry felt an immediate antipathy to him.
The ceremony passed slowly, but Harry kept track of first years that he thought would be useful to approach or that stood out as people he didn't want to know. A pair of twins in particular looked like good allies as they each walked to the Slytherin table.
Myles was the next one in the group to get sorted, and the hat barely touched his head before it yelled "Slytherin". The line was getting shorter, and Harry eventually took out a book to write down the names of those he should approach. However, Harry came to attention as he heard a name called.
"Moonstone, Helda." Harry absently remembered her as the girl who had sat with them on the train and vaguely wondered if she would get her wish and join Slytherin. However, his attention was brought back to the girl when she walked up to the hat almost as arrogantly as Clauidous had. He was shocked when the hat called out, "Gryffindor", but regained his composure as the next name was called.
"Moonstone, Hilda." Ahh, that would explain it, thought Harry. They're identical twins. The hat took almost 3 minutes to decide with the shy, timid girl that they had spent the train ride with, but finally it shouted out "Slytherin". It seemed that Harry had gained another follower, and he didn't even have to do much. Jinseri should be his recruiter more often.
A few more names passed by and Harry silently wrote down who he should look at. Harry once more jerked to attention when a familiar name popped up.
"Riddle, Thomas." Ayilis and Jinseri held their breath, but knew it was almost certain that he would join them in Slytherin. They didn't have to wait long to find out, and once again Tom was sorted into "Slytherin". Ayilis smirked. Yes, everything was going according to plan.
The rest of the sorting passed without incident, except for a few more people getting sorted into Slytherin. Domino and Kinslo both joined the group at their portion of the table. The last kid, "Yasmite, Isail", was sorted into Gryffindor.
Ayilis nudged Jinseri and passed her his notebook under the table. Jinseri quickly copied the list that Ayilis had been writing since the start of the sorting and pushed her list of recruits into her bag. They would look into those possibilities starting tomorrow. Headmaster Dippet stood up to make the customary beginning-of-year speech and smiled at all the students. He warned against pranks and spells in the hallways but, surprisingly, didn't mention the Forbidden Forest.
The septuplet ate dinner quickly and only made innocent small talk. As all Slytherins knew, conversations at the dinner table were apt to be overheard. As the first years finished up their meals, the dessert cleared from the tables. Ayilis glanced around and noticed that most of the people in the hall were done with their meals and seemed to be just waiting to get to their common room. In fact, it seemed like the only house that wasn't falling asleep at their tables was Slytherin House. Headmaster Dippet stood up while Ayilis was observing the hall.
"Once again, students, it's a new year at school, and I am happy to say that this year we have no new additions to the staff. Caretaker Hubert would like me to remind all students that there is a curfew and that all students caught out of bed will be punished accordingly. I would also like to remind students to respect the other houses and not to fight with classmates." At this he looked sternly at both the Slytherin and Gryffindor tables. "That is all for tonight. I would like to wish you a good year at Hogwarts."
The prefects stood up first and called the first years to them. Ayilis paid attention as an older Slytherin girl stood up. "Hello, first years. I am Cami Farien and I am a Slytherin prefect, so if you have any questions, please come to me. Now follow me. I will take you to the common room that will be your surrogate home for the next 7 years." The first years followed her down the stairs and soon found themselves at what looked like a blank wall in a dead ended hallway. "Independent thought," Cami said to the wall, which opened to a green and silver room.
The common room hadn't changed much through the years, it seemed. The room was still filled with green and silver couches and armchairs; there were also a couple of bookshelves placed against the walls and a large fireplace that many chairs were stationed around.
While the first years studied the room, many of the older students placed themselves around the room. From what Harry and the others could see, the seventh years got the chairs closest to the fireplace and seniority determined the proximity to the fire; all the way in the back of the room were the second years. Ayilis wondered silently why they were all staying in the common room and not moving to the dorms, but then he remembered that there were fights for the best rooms.
Harry was looking at the students trying to find each year's leaders when the entrance suddenly opened once again. This time, though, it wasn't another student, but a much older man who could have been very handsome if not for the scars that littered his face and hands. The scarred man walked to the center of the room with the grace that only a fighter could possess.
Once the man got to the center of the room, he turned sharply to the group of first years.
"My name is Professor Damon. I am the Slytherin Head of House as well as the Defense against the Dark Arts professor. I am here to welcome you to Salazar Slytherin's House. I will meet you at a later time to discuss all that you need to know about protecting yourself from the other houses, but right now the best thing I can do is give you one piece of advice. You will have to be the best you can be to make sure that the other three houses do not trample all over you. Anything that the other houses can possibly use against you they will, and they will not hesitate."
"You are considered by many to be part of the dark or evil house of Hogwarts, but this is false. You are neither dark nor evil, you are children. I am sorry to say this, but you will have to grow up fast. To help you develop your potential quickly, our house founder Salazar Slytherin himself created a program of training that we Slytherins rigidly adhere to today. It will teach you to be the strongest and smartest wizards in the wizarding world. Not only will you have to fight for the best rooms, you will also have to fight for the privileges and rights that come from being on the top."
"There will be tournaments every three weeks to see who wins privileges. If you are not skilled with dueling, don't worry because there are other contests. As first years, you will get one hour to look at all the rooms in the dungeons. If you find one you like that has already been claimed, you will have to fight for it. As Slytherin is the smallest house in Hogwarts and has the most dorm space, you will have a chance to get your own room. However, don't get too comfortable because every quarter someone else will get a chance to take the room from you. As you look at rooms, the older students will be in the dueling room fighting for rooms. When you are done and you have found the room you want, come to me and I will tell you if it is already taken and, if so, who you have to fight for it."
"One more thing: you don't have to fight for a room, but you must give payment of some kind to the other person if you don't fight. Good luck." After he finished his speech, he turned to the rest of the students and started talking to them about the fights that would be going on while the first-years looked at rooms.
Ayilis, Jinseri, Hilda, Kinslo, Domino, Tom, and Myles crowded around each other, and the other 8 first-year Slytherins started to wander about, looking at the rooms.
Jinseri started. "Ayilis and I have a lot of practice transfiguring and conjuring furniture and other things, so furnishing our rooms won't be a problem. However, we first need to find a place that will fit our needs. We have the entire dungeons, so it shouldn't be too hard to find something."
Myles took over. "Well, I guess we need a long hallway with 8 or 9 rooms and maybe a bathroom, if possible."
"I would like to have a fireplace in at least one of the rooms, and the hallway should be wide enough for two people to pass without touching," Ayilis said "So, that's basically what we're looking for. We should separate to go look at rooms; that way we can cover more space. Let's meet back here in 20 minutes and go over what we found." Everyone nodded to each other and took off briskly down a different corridor.
Twenty minutes later found most of them waiting around for Jinseri and Hilda. At the 22 minute mark, they were all surprised to see both Hilda and Jinseri running back to them, both with a large bag under each arm. They were smiling and laughing at one another as they arrived. Ayilis raised an eyebrow at them.
"Well, while the rest of you were searching old and dusty corridors that haven't been used in forever, we both managed to find the two corridors with the nicely furnished rooms in them. Let me tell you, they were worth fighting for. One of the best ones I saw had the same charm on its ceiling as the ceiling of the Great Hall has. All the rooms had really cool things in them. One room even had bookshelves covering each wall. So when we ran into each other, we talked for a bit and decided that the best course of action wasn't to fight for these rooms, but just take the best things out of them." Jinseri started laughing again as she said this, so Hilda took over.
"I know that it can be hard to do a lot of magic at one time, and I know it would be hard to make all of our rooms just the way we want them, so we have the entire contents of 11 of the best rooms in our bags, all shrunk and ready to be set up in whatever room we choose to put them in. I really want to see the faces of the winners when they walk into the rooms they fought so hard for only to find that they have no bed, dresser, or desk. We would have been along sooner, but I had to learn the shrinking charm, and believe me, I got plenty of practice." She and Jinseri fell into laughter again, and this time everyone else joined them. However, Ayilis cut them off after a minute because they still had to find a good hallway.
They spent the next six minutes running to each hall that was considered a maybe until they found something perfect. It was a long wide hallway that had 9 rooms and a bathroom at the end of the hall. Four of the rooms had fireplaces, and they were all about the same size, with one significantly bigger. The only problem with the hallway was that it was cut off from the main Slytherin common room by a five minute walk, but everyone agreed that it was better that way. Even though there wasn't an easy exit, it was perfect.
After Ayilis conjured a table in the largest room, Hilda and Jinseri carefully unloaded the bags and set the miniature versions of each stolen room on the table. As the other four crowded around the table, Ayilis cast anti-summoning charms on everything in the miniature rooms. Then they sat around the table and looked at the 11 shrunken room sets.
Ayilis was given first choice and decided to pick a dark-red room that had a very large desk and two bookshelves, as well as a few comfortable looking armchairs. Jinseri got next pick and chose a red and brown room that had a work table as well as potions shelves. Domino got a white and black room with a large white shag rug. Hilda chose a bright golden room that had her smiling. Tom chose a green and silver room that left no question as to where his loyalties lay. Kinslo went next and picked a tranquil blue room. Myles, lastly, chose a green and gold room. Of the 4 rooms left over, they decided to put the one with all the bookshelves in the largest room, which was the one that they were currently assembled in. It was also decided to use it as a main room as well as a library. They decided that the last empty room would be a potions and Herbology lab.
They all moved to their chosen rooms and began to set up the furniture. Ayilis, Domino, and Hilda had the only bedrooms with the fireplaces, but the main room also had a large one. As everyone else resized their furniture and started arranging their rooms, Ayilis walked to the entrance to the hallway and started casting wards.
In the few years that Harry had to himself before he went to Hogwarts, the two things that had always fascinated him were wards and ancient runes. Harry spent a lot of his free time reading books that focused around these subjects, and when he got to Hogwarts it was one of the many things he studied secretly on his own. He was disappointed that in the future he never got a chance to take Ancient Runes, but he had thought at the time that it might draw attention to the fact that he was smarter than he appeared.
Harry set up many of the easy wards he knew. The most important one was the notice-me-not ward that would hopefully keep away anyone he didn't want until he had the time to set up more complex wards.
The septuplet once again met in the hallway leading out to the main common room, and Ayilis explained the wards to them. He quickly showed them the wand movement and spell needed to key them into the wards, and after everyone was finished, they walked back to the common room.
The other 8 first years were already there looking nervous except for a pair of twins that were talking quietly about something and making big illustrated movements. As it was close to the end of the hour they had been given, many of the first years were really tired and ready to go to bed. Professor Damon didn't make them wait long and soon walked out of one of the doors connecting the common room with other parts of the dungeons.
He had a piece of parchment in one hand and a quill in the other. The other first-years quickly went over to him and started naming the rooms that they wanted.
Ayilis walked over calmly and waited patiently for the girl in front of him to finish describing her room. After she had finally left, he said, "Professor Damon, I have chosen a room in one of the unused sections in the back. I do not think it has a name, as it was very dusty when I went there." Damon just nodded and wrote something down. The others mostly said the same thing, except for Domino, Kinslo, and Jinseri. They each chose one of the better rooms, because chances were they were already claimed, and they each wanted to reinforce their images as ordinary first-years.
Jinseri was the first to be entered into a fight with someone else; she had chosen the room with the charmed ceiling. The dueling room was one of the largest rooms in the castle- almost the size of the Great Hall if Ayilis measured right. In the center was a raised platform covered in cushions and, from what Ayilis could see, many protection wards to completely protect the audience and protect the duelers from death or serious injury-after all this was a school.
Jinseri walked onto the platform and bowed silently to her opponent, a tall teenage boy with what looked like a serious acne problem. Jinseri wanted to lose to this guy, but she also wanted to lose believably-she was, after all, one of the infamous Avens, so she would have to know how to defend herself. The pimply boy wasn't surprised that a first year wanted to take the room, but he didn't want to hurt her in the duel. Jinseri could tell by the way that he was looking at her that he was underestimating her. That was all right because she wanted people to think she was weak. This would give her an advantage later if she ever needed to pull off the inexperienced-first-year pretense.
The duel started out slow. The older boy was just casting Petrificus totalus and Expelliarmus at her first year spells. Jinseri wasn't going to go down that quickly, though, and put up a shield to protect her. She pretended to wear out quickly and went down to a Stupefy. When she was revived, she shook the boy's hand and went over to the stands to sit next to Ayilis.
"Well, was I believable?" Jinseri questioned.
"Yes, you did very well at losing. I just hope that others can fail as believably as you have," Ayilis replied without even looking away from the platform where another couple was dueling.
Myles laughed at Jinseri's expression and said, "Don't worry. I think everyone believed that you were incompetent." Jinseri got a furious look on her face and stormed out of the room. Myles and Hilda laughed together while everyone else smirked.
Kinslo was supposed to go next on the dueling form, but instead withdrew herself from the competition after looking at her opponent. She didn't want to get hurt, but it worked because now everyone thought she was weak.
Domino had her duel next and went down easy to a well-placed Petrificus totalus to her legs. Afterwards, they all headed back to their rooms. It had been a long day and most of them were very tired. Ayilis was the only one who stayed awake.
He looked over the list and started putting names to faces. The twins he saw were named Ropert and Rupert Dismi. Myles, Domino, and Kinslo didn't seem to know them, but even so, that wasn't an indication that they weren't pureblood. Ayilis smirked and put away his list. He lit the fire and crawled into his warm red blankets. The time had come, and he was at Hogwarts. Part 1 was in motion, and he already had his first recruits. Time to get this on a roll.
Alrighty than, now this might be a personal record so don't get to comfortable with the update spend, but now that I've got a wonderful fantastic beautiful beta, mergirl, that will hopefully get my ass into gear about writing these chapters quicker, but please be patient with me. I know that this is hard, but I don't think is that big of a story anyways so hopefully there won't be anybody following this story religiously(just an expression, not a political statement). Okay, now that my life is officially over, I'm back at school, this time a boarding school, made with hard ass teachers who wanted me to find 45 books on one history topic.
But enough about me, tell me about you, drop me a line, just click on that little box in the left hand corner and I will get back to you, It's calling to you. Alright, that's all for now folks, till another day! Rain
P.S. Remember your unique just like everyone else!
Update: I have changed the hair color of Domino from red to black. I don't think anyone else cares, but I do. Sigh.